Proposed hit to undocumented students in Alabama

We've had a few recent discussions around undocumented student status, and I thought some of y'all would be interested in this article, which is about this piece of legislation in Alabama--dubiously named the "Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act"--that includes a prohibition on K-12 students' "participation in any extracurricular activity outside of the basic course of study." And of course, it's all in the name of jobs. It sounds like it's made it through a couple rounds of how-a-bill-becomes-a-law, though there will certainly be legal challenges if it passes.

Balloon Art!

I clicked on this link because I thought it might have something good for Devan's balloon-stencil-coolness project. But really, it's just a bunch of cool balloon sculptures. And I learned a new word: airigami--the fine art of folding air. I mean, how fun would it be to have this giant gumball machine around?? Balloon sculpture would be a pretty fantastical thing to bring into the classroom.

Procrastination Station!

Cyberped-tastic video project:

Dave Eggers on Teacher Salaries, etc.

Okay, so this opinion piece is not just by Dave Eggers, it's co-written by Ninive Clements Calegari. I didn't know who that is, but turns out she's a cofounder of 826. The authors are arguing for the importance of increased teacher salaries in education reform, particularly as a tool to lower teacher turnover. As we see a lot of, examples are made of Finland, South Korea, and Singapore. But as the article illustrates, beyond just salaries, their successes can be attributed to very different treatment and perception of the teaching profession on a national level. So the authors don't contend that increased salaries are The Solution to American Education, but that the changes it would affect could facilitate a broader progress in the attitudes toward teachers and education reform.

And, of course, Dave Eggers is a great writer (I think). And if you haven't been to 826 Chicago, you should definitely check it out! It's a great resource for students (free writing programs), and the storefront sell fun spy toys, as well as published work by youth.

And, because I know you all like TED talks:

But hey, I guess Osama bin Laden was just nabbed. Sooo we can just divert all the military dollars to schools, right?