California May Mandate Inclusion of Gay History in Curricula

From April 27th issue: "Public schools in California would be required to incorporate the history of homosexuals into social studies classes if the state Assembly and Governor Jerry Brown embrace a plan approved by the Senate". Advocates are saying that if it was added to the curricula as black history and womens history was that it would help to curb stereotypes of Gay and Lesbians. Opponents are asking...what will be taken out of the curricula in order to add this information in? Although I believe that there needs to be some sort of teaching/learning of acceptance for LGBT, I think maybe one extra class or a small portion on acceptance of human beings in general would be better. Your not losing curriculum but getting the word out.

Optomitrist Groups Urge Comprehensive Eye exams for Schoolchildren

From April 27th issue. Interesting article. Optometrists and ophthalmologists in Florida are pushing to make comprehensive eye exams a must in order to get into school. They claim that it is important to get the comprehensive exam because the "free" less intensive screenings are missing some issues for some students. However, one doctor is an opponent of the required exam. He feels there are alterier motives to making it a must. He believes that most eye doctors are just out for the extra money in their pockets instead of having the students best interest in mind. I tend to agree. Maybe more doctors should be helping out in free clinics and offereing help with the cost of getting the exams and or glasses.

Budget Crunch Spurs Expectations of Increase in Pink Slips

From the April 6th issue. This really hit home hard. I hear about this everywhere. Even in Corvallis, Albany and Salem schools. This is going on everywhere and it really brings on low morale for teachers. At Monica Iniguez' Elementary school in Los Angeles, 52 teachers were given pink slips. That is almost half of the teachers. The scary part is no one knows who is going to really get the boot. The article suggests that pink slips are supposed to give teachers adequate notice so they can find other employment. However, Mrs. Iniquez tells us that it is damaging for teacher morale and also for the relationship between teachers and their administrators, As she put it, "this is ridiculous...we are putting out lives on hold". Makes me wonder...will it always be like this....will I too have to endure yearly pink slips and the unending uneasiness of not knowing if I will be working the following year and if so where?

Reexaming the Relationsip Between Academic Achievement and Social Behavior

This article is from April 6th issue. This article examines the link between students who behave badly and getting bad grades...or a lack of a link. This article reminded me that we as teachers have to be careful not to pigeonhole students into stereotypes. The article found that teachers automatically think that students who are well-behaved are probably getting good grades and students who act up are not succeeding academically. The article reminds us that we have to watch out for both behavior and academics...don't just think that a student who doesn't act up doesn't need help.

US House Votes to Reinstate DC School Voucher Program

This article is from April 6th issue. I am conflicted about State and Federal funding going towards private school tuition. However, I lean really far over towards...I do not think its right. When you start taking funding away from the already underfunded public schools to send students to a privileged private school its not right. That is funding that could be used towards teachers salaries or fixing up the schools or bringing updated technologies into Title 1 schools. The article said that the new bill will cost $300 million over five years. That is a lot of money that could be going to public schools. Every dollar helps.

High court cases focus on Police questionings at school

From February 23rd issue. When it comes to the case of possible sexual abuse I think that it is ok for them to come to the school and ask questions. However, I think that two hours of questioning is a little ridiculous. The child is tired and probably scared and most likely just wants to go back to class and therefore she just tells them what they want to know. If you ask me it sounds more like an interrogation instead of "questioning". As for the other case in which the 13 year old boy was accused of burglary, yes I believe that for one his parent/s should have been there and that he should have his Miranda Rights read to him.

U.S. Teachers seize teachable moments in Egypt's revolution

From February 23rd issue. This particular article relates to what we are learning in our classes about cross-curriculum lesson plans. Using current events and learning different aspects of the situation is a great idea to get the students critically thinking about the world. Ms. Pellam said that her students who had stereotypes of this particular area now had a better understanding of this country and this area. "Having one discussion can completely change their frame of mind". Paul Beran from Harvards Middle Eastern Studies program said, "There's this notion that if students have studied Islam, they've studied the Middle East". Not so, There has to be in-depth discussions and the students have to make connections between the lives of the Egyptian peoples and with themselves. I think that for a social studies/history teacher it could be an awesome thing to have students from America become "Pen-Pals" with students from Egypt (if its possible due to language barriers) over the internet. They could gain a much better understand of each others' countries from each other.