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February 2008 - Posts

sneaky parent

I read the following on ABC's website after seeing a short video clip on yahoo. Diana Mijares, a Houston mom, got suspicious when her normally mild-mannered 4-year-old, Megan, was suspended four times from preschool for bad behavior. So she did what any Read More...
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2008 02 28

John Spencer

30 Comments

digital ghettos

The Digital Divide is not a large chasm separating the "haves" and "have nots." The notion that we can simply fill this chasm with resources and make a bridge is a failure in metaphor. Technologically, lower-income and middle-income students live in separate Read More...
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2008 02 25

John Spencer

4 Comments

too many voices

I'm listening to Sufjan Stevens, partially because I enjoy the song "Transfiguration" but mostly because I can't take anything too manufactured right now. Sometimes I think I've got the soul of an anarchist and I just want freedom. The district and the Read More...
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2008 02 19

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude

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why I am embaressed to be a Democrat

I'm not going to vote for Ron Paul, but I give him credit. His campaign is based upon intelligent dialogue and ideas. Sure, some of his ideas are nutty and some of his supporters are strange. However, I can respect his underlying philosophy of libertarianism. Read More...
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2008 02 15

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude

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can I reach the iGeneration?

In our English Language Development class (a thirty minute mandated period where I am supposed to offer scripted, factory-direct instruction) I posed the question, "Why don't kids read?" Students discussed the difficulty of reading text that has been Read More...
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2008 02 13

John Spencer

6 Comments

project collaboration - need help

I have a tech-integrated classroom and would like the students to do a project with students in another state (or for that matter another country). I would prefer the classroom to be seventh or eighth grade. Please let me know if you are interested. I Read More...

2008 02 8

John Spencer

9 Comments

why I want to quit

I recieved an e-mail this morning telling me that I need to send a list of "bubble kids." (not in the John Travolta, Boy in the Bubble way, but rather the ones who are close to reaching a higher level on the standardized tests.) I don't mind offering Read More...
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2008 02 2

John Spencer

8 Comments

should we be paid for performance?

In listening to the State of the Union, I noticed Bush touting the need for measurable results. He cited improved test scores as evidence that NCLB was working. It is always hard for me to listen to a guy ramble on about education when he makes up words Read More...
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2008 02 1

John Spencer

24 Comments