Taking the daily grind out of public schools




No more pencils no more books, no more teacher’s dirty dancing looks!!! Valley High is stepping up to enforce a grinding policy that is long overdue. In response to parent concerns, students will have to sign a pledge to stop grinding at school dances. They even seem to have clearly defined grinding: “usually involves a boy facing a girl’s backside and their bodies rubbing together“. Whew…that leaves open the front to front rubbing of my generation and it seems that the GLBT students are off the hook as well. I love it when schools try to limit student expression. I recommend a strict dress code for the dance…perhaps jocks and cups for all students and an appropriate selection of songs that will not elicit erections…square dancing anyone?


Hold your water!




Coney Island PS 90 has a zero tolerance pee policy to be envied. Of all of the serious problems facing public education, 5th grade teacher Stephanie Warner has crystallized the key issue to student success…self bladder control! If only we could hold off on the impulse to use the bathroom at age 10 we could then be prepared for success in virtually every other endeavor. And what a novel use of token reinforcement…Ms. Warner allows children who can control their bladder needs and don’t use any of their “toilet tickets” the opportunity to trade in these tickets for prizes…like a discount at the local urologist!  BF Skinner would be so proud.



If four math teachers have a combined IQ of 300...



Greetings again from the deep south! A suburban Atlanta teacher has regrettably resigned after assigning math homework to 3rd graders that included word problems about slavery and beatings. While I am not astonished about this coming from Georgia, I am shocked that the teachers can actually cipher word problems! Four teachers from Beaver Ridge Elementary School assigned said homework, only one has resigned.  Imagine the teacher planning meetings that arrived at this lesson plan. Talk about collaborative brilliance. Apparently they spent several days pondering not only this gem of an assignment, but also how to arrive at the correct mathematical solution! Does this really require teacher certification?

STORY: Georgia teacher resigns over slavery math lesson
 http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/18/georgia-teacher-resigns-over-slavery-math-lesson/


We've got spirit how about ...U-tah




We’ve got spirit, how about…U-Tah?

The Canyons School District (Draper, Utah) decided to veto their student’s top choice for school mascot, the cougar, because it is disrespectful to women. Thank you for teaching these kids an important lesson…when it comes to decision making, majority vote doesn’t really count for much. The board of education will probably let these high schoolers decide what color crepe paper may be used for homecoming, or even go out on a limb and let them choose Coke or Pepsi. But when it comes to a school mascot, how could they possibly be trusted with such a life altering judgment? And, did anyone poll the cougar population ( I mean the four legged ones)? My bet is that they would be opposed to an affiliation with such tight-minded, anti-democratic folks. So much for the graduation address from Courtney Cox or Joan Collins.

STORY: Cougar Mascot Vetoed For Utah's Corner Canyon High School For Being Offensive Toward Women


Elem. School Teacher Indicted on Child Porn Charges


Justin Coleman, 35, of Falls Church, Va., has been indited on two counts of child pornography. The 4th grade teacher allegedly forced students to engage in sex acts and video tapped them without them knowing. 

STORY: Elem. School Teacher Indicted on Child Porn Charges


Word of the Week: Connoisseur



The Vocab Film Festival Word of the Week is:  Connoisseur.
Check out this recent student contest submission to the Vocab Videos Film Festival....

Vocab Videos currently is running a contest where you can submit your own vocab video and photo entries for a chance to win over $20,000 in scholarships and monthly and grand prizes from A-List Education, Zinch, Knewton, & Cerebellum.

Get your students involved for a fun class project opportunity! Support participating nonprofit organizations—Harlem Children’s Zone, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, Urban Word, and Year Up—just by voting on your favorite entries. Special prizes and donations go to the nonprofit with the most votes at the close of the Festival.


BREAKING: New Mexico Outlaws Corporal Punishment in Schools!



Heart Magazine magazine named New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez  “Woman of the Year” for her dedication to children’s advocacy and her efforts to keep children safe – and today she lived up to her reputation as she signed into law HB 172  - a law prohibiting corporal punishment as a disciplinary sanction in public schools. 

Earlier this month Martinez signed an Anti-Bullying Bill into law and HB172 will further increase protections for New Mexico school children. 

We spoke with renown Author and Educator Rosalind Wiseman, who recently hosted a bullying discussion from the White House, who had this to say:
“Any school that condones or doesn't explicitly condemn corporal punishment as a disciplinary strategy will have no credibility to talk to its students about bullying. Simply, if the students know the adults in the school can hit, slap them or worse, it sends the message that physical domination is how you address conflict. I honestly, can't think of a worse policy to alienate our children. ”
New Mexico is now the 31st state to outlaw corporal punishment in public schools. The United States is one of the only developed countries in the world that allows Corporal Punishment in schools - with 107 countries having national bans in place.



Police Pepper Spray 8 Year Old in Classroom



An 8 year old boy throws a temper tantrum -- albeit a somewhat dangerous one, where he pulls wood off the walls, and the police come in and pepper spray him.

What do you think? To spray or not to spray?

Story: Police pepper spray 8-year old


Word of the Week: Upbraid



The Vocab Film Festival Word of the Week is:  Upbraid.
Check out this recent filmmaker contest submission to the Vocab Videos Film Festival....

Vocab Videos currently is running a contest where you can submit your own vocab video and photo entries for a chance to win over $20,000 in scholarships and monthly and grand prizes from A-List Education, Zinch, Knewton, & Cerebellum.

Get your students involved for a fun class project opportunity! Support participating nonprofit organizations—Harlem Children’s Zone, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, Urban Word, and Year Up—just by voting on your favorite entries. Special prizes and donations go to the nonprofit with the most votes at the close of the Festival.


INFOGRAPHIC: THE COST OF DROPPING OUT


The Cost of Dropping Out via CertificationMap.com” width=


URGENT! Call RIGHT NOW to end Corporal Punishment in NM!


Governor Susan Martinez will be on New Mexicos biggest talk radio show today at 11am eastern, 15 minutes from now. There is a Corporal Punishment Ban that passed the house and senate that is just waiting for her to sign... Please call-in and ask her to sign the CP BAN into law! You can listen live to Bob Clark’s show on its web site at http://www.770kkob.com/ The call-in number is (505) 243-3333. We are SO CLOSE to our first big http://LostTheBelt.org/ victory! LETS ROLL!


Word of the Week: Bewilder




The Vocab Film Festival Word of the Week is:  Bewilder.
Check out this recent filmmaker contest submission to the Vocab Videos Film Festival....

Vocab Videos currently is running a contest where you can submit your own vocab video and photo entries for a chance to win over $20,000 in scholarships and monthly and grand prizes from A-List Education, Zinch, Knewton, & Cerebellum.

Get your students involved for a fun class project opportunity! Support participating nonprofit organizations—Harlem Children’s Zone, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, Urban Word, and Year Up—just by voting on your favorite entries. Special prizes and donations go to the nonprofit with the most votes at the close of the Festival.


 
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