What will the future of education bring under Maine's School Rationalization Law?Deborah's Questions:
. . . what would a new model of public education look like? We all have ideas. What are your ideas for a new model of public education?
by Harold Shaw, Jr.
I just got caught up on my Special Education Paperwork this week - what a great feeling. The Special Education Director had nice things to say about the IEP, that I submitted, but I feel we are still running a bit blind when preparing the new State DOE Special Education forms.
Maine DOE http://www.maine.gov/education/forms/specservices.htm has mandated the use of certain forms, formats and language to be used on the forms. But it seems as though what is expected is still actually a bit of a moving target? They have provided sample IEPs, but these seem very basic to me?? and don't seem to give enough information regarding the criteria to create a quality IEP that is actually useable by others. Maybe I am just a bit anal about this, but...I am the one held accountable if they are not done correctly (legally and professionally).
My Special Education Director is an outstanding administrator and yet sometimes she too, has many questions. But I guess that I have to be patient (not something I am good at) the first year of any new system there are bound to be modifications and changes as people actually use and discuss the issues with those forms. But it still is frustrating to try to create a quality product (IEP) that actually is useful to the classroom teacher (for those that will read them) without trying to play "pin the tale on the donkey". I just hope DOE is understanding when they come in for a Special Education Records site review regarding these first year IEPs or what happens if the IEP becomes one of those being reviewed at hearing.
Has anyone else had similar questions or concerns about the new Special Education Forms and Formats. I guess I am just feeling a little cynical and frustrated today.
Thanks Harold
"Education should begin in research and end in research….An education which does not begin by evoking initiative and end by encouraging it must be wrong. For its whole aim is the production of active wisdom."
~ Alfred North Whitehead
"The first information survival skill we will all need is the ability to decode propaganda and demythologize the highly commercialized and entertainment-based U.S. culture. Psychologists politely call it 'resistance to enculturation.' Writer Ernest Hemingway had a less elegant term: 'crap detecting.'"
~ Karl Albrecht
Want some great resources for teaching media literacy? Check out the Center for Media Literacy.
Interested in doing local/oral history with your students? Need a model to get you started? Check out Laura Richter's notebook for rich suggestions, templates and examples. This is a gem created in the MLTI Noteshare application and saved as web files. Laura is an expert in working with children in investigating local history as demonstrated at Our Town Skowhegan Maine.A great conflict was about to come off between the Birds and the Beasts. When the two armies were collected together the Bat hesitated which to join. The Birds that passed his perch said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Beast." Later on, some Beasts who were passing underneath him looked up and said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Bird." Luckily at the last moment peace was made, and no battle took place, so the Bat came to the Birds and wished to join in the rejoicings, but they all turned against him and he had to fly away. He then went to the Beasts, but soon had to beat a retreat, or else they would have torn him to pieces. "Ah," said the Bat, "I see now."
"He that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends."
"I was in a great discussion the other day with a colleague about the idea of curiosity. We were doing our usual toiling with the question of why students aren't motivated to learn; they don't seem to pick up skills from the classroom or the world around them. We came to the point wishing we could have students who were more curious. We, both of us being high school teachers, wondered what happens to students between that time in elementary school where curiosity is abound, and the time they enroll in our classes." Continued . . .
"I had a brainstorm! An epic moment, an epiphany, if you will. I was going to create a Note Share lab report notebook. In this notebook, kids would follow the basic format of the lab report, until the results section. There, they would narrate movies I had created using the digital microscope. Students would use the movies to describe what they saw, what they knew about microorganisms, and so on. It seemed like pure genius." Continued . . .
Ann Bell of Oxford Hills Middle School came back enthusiastic about using Noteshare after attending a workshop in Auburn with Barbara Greenstone. She has successfully created and shared over the local network her notebook on matter. Anne sees great possibilities with this tool in her daily classroom work. But she had a question that has me stumped:
