Now here's a film I'd like to see

Ricky Jay's tricks and treats
Native Intelligence—LA Observed
May 16, 2013

"Fred Neumann was Jay's aikido teacher. He remembered his pupil's stage trick when he turned two $1 bills into a single $2 bill, and decided to test Jay's magic mettle one day after class. Jay was in the shower when Neumann asked him to perform the trick.

""I'm not prepared," Jay objected. Then, naked and dripping wet, suddenly conjured two $1 bills and rendered them into a single $2 note. There is no martial art with that kind of power."

One solution to that pesky Ed budget? Close the school!

Albion, Mich's Only HS Shuttered Over Budget Deficit
Democracy-Tree.com
May 15, 2013

"Last night their board voted to shutter the high school altogether, with no plan in place on how and where to educate 9th through 12th grades. "

Why musicians make nothing despite hard work

Making Cents

Pitchfork

Nov. 14, 2012

Okay it's stale, but the info is still good.

"Consider Pandora and Spotify, the streaming music services that are becoming ever more integrated into our daily listening habits. My BMI royalty check arrived recently, reporting songwriting earnings from the first quarter of 2012, and I was glad to see that our music is being listened to via these services. Galaxie 500's "Tugboat", for example, was played 7,800 times on Pandora that quarter, for which its three songwriters were paid a collective total of 21 cents, or seven cents each. Spotify pays better: For the 5,960 times "Tugboat" was played there, Galaxie 500's songwriters went collectively into triple digits: $1.05 (35 cents each)."

"The answer is capital, which is what Pandora and Spotify have and what they generate. These aren't record companies-- they don't make records, or anything else; apparently not even income. They exist to attract speculative capital."

Getting your kids to help with the chores

Chores Without Threats or Bribery
Attachment Parenting International
May 15, 2013
I'll have to read this one a few times to let it soak in!

Because your four year old needs more body-conscious imagery

Brenda Chapman, 'Brave' Creator, Calls Merida's Makeover 'Atrocious'
Huffington Post
May 13, 2013

Disney Princess Makeover Sparks Outrage: Merida Petition Goes Viral
Yahoo! Shine
May 10, 2013
Also check out the slideshow of current toy makeovers at the bottom.

Only the test matters

When are people going to wake up and realize this doesn't create independent thinkers? I think it's time to review our Huxley and Orwell.

Michigan GOP Says: Teach to the Test
Democracy-Tree
May 13, 2013

"This scheme would force each individual educator to put all their energy into “teaching to the test”, much in the same way No Child Left Behind did to schools as a whole. Not only would it destroy teamwork through the unnecessary burden of teacher-against-teacher competition, but it would enforce a methodology that is proven to be harmful. Teachers would become coaches, and core curriculum subjects would become competitive sports."

But how do they do it overseas?
“Every teacher in Finland has a master’s degree.” He added: “[In Finland] We don’t believe in competition among students, teachers, or schools. We believe in collaboration, trust, responsibility, and autonomy.”

How to tell a story

How to Tell a Story
Crafting Connections
May 13, 2013

Storytelling tips from Sparkle Stories' David Sewell McCann!

Space Oddity from the ISS

Teachers: Bill Gates wants to video you for your eval

Bill Gates' $5 billion plan to videotape America's teachers
Washington Post Answer Sheet
May 10, 2013

It's the principal's job to be a coach. Really if the principals are SO INCOMPETENT that they can't evaluate their staffs, wouldn't the money be better spent replacing the principals instead?

McSchools

Open Letter to Secretary Arne Duncan: Mich. Schools are at the Breaking Point
AnnArbor.com
May 10, 2013

"Parents and concerned citizens across the state have been appalled by stories emerging from our state capital about a secret secret "skunk works" project to create bargain-basement schools. Their plan has two key parts: the first is a voucher-like debit card that students could use to "buy" bits of education here and there. Schools would become simply vendors. If a student "purchases" a bargain education, the balance on the card could be used for extras like sports fees, music lessons, and so on.

"The other part of the plan is to create the value-priced school where students could find these "value menu" bargains. The skunk works group hopes to create schools that could operate with $2,000 less per pupil than the current minimum funding — but still allowing for vendors to make a profit.

"As their documents make clear, the only real way to do this was to depend on fully online education, with a small number of teachers overseeing a large number of students in an internet-based program. What makes this so cheap, of course, is that much of the time students are interacting with canned videos and worksheets....

"Is this what education means these days? Watching videos on a computer and asking chat room questions of a teacher somewhere else who is managing 50, 70 or 100 other students?"

All blue-eyed people share a gene

Okay, so the news is a little stale. Still interesting.

Genetic Mutation makes those Brown Eyes Blue
NBCNews.com
31 Jan 2008

What teaching really is all about

Every child needs a champion

Rita Pierson at Ted

May 2013

Chilling Effect on teacher input in education

The Deafening Silence of Teachers
The Educator's Room
March 13, 2013

"To demonstrate how freedom of speech is non-existent in some schools, walk into any school and ask a teacher to go on record to discuss the ills in public education. Instead of getting an abundance of answers you will be met with a deafening silence. Silence not because teachers don't have an opinion, but silence because their words many times are used to hurt them professionally. Apparently, the first amendment does not apply to teachers."

Kids and Routines

Structure: Why kids need Routines
Aha Parenting
May 13ish, 2013
And six reasons why it's a good idea.

Frustration modification techniques

5 Things to do when you feel your temper rising
Aha Parenting
April 24, 2013

"You notice what you're feeling, you breathe your way through it, and you DO nothing.
When our temper rises, we all feel an urgent need to DO something, anything. But that's our emergency response system operating. And parenting, despite how it feels, is not usually an emergency. "

Limited teacher reward$ proposed in Nevada

Proposal for 'master teachers' with $200k annual salary has its skeptics

Las Vegas Sun News

May 3, 2013

The problem with this idea is that it likely would reward the wrong thing—test scores. Why not boost all teacher salaries and require that principals actually do their jobs: mentor and support teachers, and follow established evaluation practices? It makes me nuts that teachers are left holding the bag for all policy's ills — what about their managers? Why aren't they required to do THEIR jobs?

How to Appreciate Teachers

If America's Serious about Appreciating Teachers, Here's What it Takes
Good
May 7, 2013

" I appreciate getting a free burrito at Chipotle and homages to Taylor Mali, writer of "What Teachers Make," as much as the next educator, but the current tenor of our national conversation about education also reminds me of the dire straits our profession is in....Perhaps, teacher appreciation starts with changing the public perception of what a teacher actually does. "

On women, self-worth, and slut-shaming

Female Purity is Bullshit
Jezebel
May 8, 2013 (?)

"Girls: You do not exist to please men, and your value as a human being is not contingent upon your sexual capital."

"This entire 'conversation' is just an effort to rig a system in which men get to determine female worthlessness no matter the input. ..Meanwhile, they get to do literally whatever they want with anyone, to anyone, at any time.

Conspiracy of the Cool People does exist, CEO explains

Abercrombie&Fitch CEO Explains Why He Hats Fat People
Elite Daily
May 3, 2013

Parents, kids and social media

Cyberoparenting and the Risk of TMI
NY Times/Motherlode
May 3, 2013