Posted under Just For Fun & Online Schools & PPC & Parents & Private Schools & School Choice & Suburban Schools & Teachers
Here it is Wednesday afternoon, and I can’t stop pacing the floor — well, in between playing with my Legos, that is. Pacing, playing Legos. Pacing. Playing Legos. — Pacing — Playing Legos — Blogging!!!….
Why? you may ask. Because I’m impatiently waiting for a decision from Judge Martinez about the lawsuit trying to shut down the Douglas County Choice Scholarship Program. Well, I did interrupt my pacing and playing Legos long enough to catch a great Your Hub article by Douglas County’s own Karin Piper: More than 500 kids may lose in Dougco Scholarship lawsuit. You should check it out, too.
If after reading Piper’s article you need to get your mind off the whole lawsuit and local voucher situation, may I recommend a piece by Innosight Institute’s Michael Horn about why digital learning will liberate teachers:
Today, teachers spend a significant amount of time engaged in what we call “monolithic” activities—one-size-fits-all, standardized activities that are designed to reach the mythical middle of a class of students. As documented in the book Delivering on the Promise: The Education Revolution, this includes such things as lecturing, managing classroom behavior, scoring papers and tests, preparing for state testing, updating grade books—and I’d add to the list such things as lesson planning for one-size-fits-none lessons (see Chapter 5 of Disrupting Class).
…[Most teachers] can’t really focus on facilitating actual learning. In what is an incredibly noble field in which adults try to make a meaningful difference in the lives of their students, today’s system works against them doing so at every twist and turn.
Read the entire article to find out what Horn says about the tremendous potential of digital learning to help transform the professional lives of many teachers.
That’s all I was going to say, but then I just realized that the two largely unrelated articles I shared in this post were written, respectively, by Horn and Piper. (The waiting for the injunction decision is really getting to my 5-year-old nerves.) Yes, a coincidence, but what can I say? Maybe a little bit of the classic Baroque Water Music piece Alla Hornpipe will help ease your nerves — or at least give you something catchy to hum while you’re pacing the floor along with me:
Just don’t be a smart-aleck and suggest that I can’t Handel all this waiting. (You can thank one of my unnamed Education Policy Center friends for all the horrible puns today.)
Terry Graham on 11 Aug 2011 at 10:25 am #
My grand-daughter has sensory integration issues and ADD, and some effects from her parental situation. We have custody of her, and with much counsel, it has been determined she would do better with a smaller class room size. The school she got accepted into has 15 children per class.
Our daughter also received the voucher and gives her an opportunity to repeat her grade, in a new school enviroment. Her charter school refuses to hold her back each year.
We have been unable to purchase school supplies, unable to finalize travel arrangements because of ACLU fighting a great program for parent choice. The judge’s delay in making a decision has caused a negative domino effect in our personal lives and in the schools the children were going to, and their prior schools in Douglas County.
My husband and I have paid taxes for years, and feel we should be able to choose where we want our taxes to go to for our children and our grand-children that we currently obtain custody and in the process of adopting.
Douglas Co will be getting 25% of our tax money alloted to each child, without having to educate them, so it is rediculous when I hear parents say their children will be cheated.
ACLU supposedly fights for people’s rights, yet discriminates against people and their religious rights.
I have so much more to say, but trying to remain calm, and help our children/grand-children not be worried about the results of adult selfishness.
Eddie on 11 Aug 2011 at 2:47 pm #
Terry, Thank you for sharing your grand-daughter’s story. When last month we made the video of 13-year-old scholarship student Nate Oakley (who has Asperger’s), we knew there were many others out there in Douglas County with compelling stories:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZhhS716dIQ
The waiting must be very hard on you. We remain hopeful with you that the judge rejects the request to enjoin the program, and that the decision comes very soon.
Ed is Watching » Colorado and Indiana Families Both Waiting for Significant Choice Scholarship Rulings on 11 Aug 2011 at 3:49 pm #
[...] thought I was going crazy yesterday waiting for a ruling on the Douglas County Choice Scholarship injunction request? Another day, and [...]