Job openings at OKCPS
Oklahoma City schools Superintendent Karl Springer left me a voicemail last night referring to yesterday’s post about the Dallas district layoffs. Here’s part of his message:
“Hi Wendy, it’s Karl Springer. Hey, I’ve been reading your blog on the Dallas Independent School District. We have openings in Oklahoma City for some teachers – several elementary positions. Be nice to be able to get some of those people from Dallas to apply.”
If you know someone who was affected, you might want to pass this information along. A list of vacant positions is available here: www.okcps.org/jobs/okcpsvacancy.pdf.
Moving comments from teachers let go from Dallas schools
Expected layoffs came today for teachers across the Dallas Independent School District. This is a simple post to send you over to the Dallas Morning News’ education blog, where you can read posts from those teachers and their colleagues about the impact today is having. Some comments are rather poignant.
http://dallasisdblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/10/an-open-post-for-those-who-wer.html
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
School dropouts: Your feedback
I covered a student summit yesterday at the Cox Convention Center where 200 high school freshmen from Oklahoma City talked about school dropouts.
You can read the story and watch related videos at www.newsok.com/news/education.
Then share your feedback here.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Dissecting the teaching of science
CutoutDissection.com. It’s more than a Web site. It’s also the legal name of a North Carolina 19-year-old formerly known as Jennifer Thornburg.
Thornburg changed her name and started a Web site by the same name to protest animal dissections in schools, according to this article.
Separately, Oklahoma City science teacher Sherry Groeger-Godwin was selected from Northeast Academy as one of 185 middle and high school teachers nationwide as a fellow in the year-long 2008 New Science Teacher Academy. The program is designed to curb what the National Science Teachers Association says is a high attrition rate of science teachers.
Groeger-Godwin is one of four teachers selected from Oklahoma. The others are Holdenville resident Orvilla Coleman of Moss Public School in Holdenville, Mead resident Angela Joines of Silo Public School in Durant, and Pryor resident Leland “Terry” Newton of Union Intermediate High School in Broken Arrow.
Share your thoughts on dissections and science education in general in the comments section below.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Educators’ piggy banks
Educators should be paid like babysitters, says EducationNews.org columnist Robert Archer, who’s going on his 13th year as an English teacher in Washington state. They should be paid baby-sitting wages not to insult them over the work they do, but because he figures they would make more money. Archer admits he doesn’t have all the kinks worked out for his idea, which is based on what his children’s babysitter charges, but it’s an intriguing one to read nonetheless — just click here.
Meanwhile, this article from Education Week illustrates what some school districts nationwide are facing as the economy stumbles. Their actions, such as halting new school construction, are compounded by worries about future hits if sales tax revenue declines further as consumer spending constricts.
And this bit of news out of Tulsa gives a glimpse into how the state’s largest district is dealing with both factors: teacher pay and a tight budget.
Share your thoughts on teacher pay and school funding — particularly the views in the above links — below in the comments section.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Interesting ed news
First, a follow-up to a story earlier this week that bullying affects one-third of Oklahoma children. Newsweek magazine published this timely article about just how those who are bullied come to be targeted. The link is counterintuitive according to the article: children who are bullied start out as children who show aggression early in their lives.
And second, two stories related to reading. TIME magazine reports that reading — by all accounts a sedentary activity — may actually help young girls lose weight. And this New York Times story talks about the new idea of linking books and video games together.
Share your comments on these stories below, or share links to other national education news that caught your attention.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Lights, camera, $5,000: Can Oklahomans win contest again?
A competition won by Oklahoma students last year is commencing for another year.
The 2009 C-SPAN Student Cam competition is open to students in grades sixth through 12 who produce a five- to eight-minute documentary that includes C-SPAN video.
This year’s topic asks what the most urgent issue is for the new president to address after taking office, and why.
Jenks High School students Scott Mitchell and Nick Poss won the national competition last year for their video, “Leaving Religion at the Door.”
Union High School students Bryant Hunter and Bryce Culhane also took a third-place prize for their video, “Same Sex Marriage.”
Entries must represent more than one point of view and must be uploaded to www.studentcam.org by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.
A total of $50,000 will be awarded to students and teachers. The grand prize is worth $5,000. Winners will be announced March 10.
The competition is sponsored by C-SPAN Classroom.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Children join walk to school effort for a day
I was up earlier than usual this morning to cover International Walk to School Day. I went to Western Village Academy, a charter school in northwest Oklahoma City that accepts all students in the neighborhood.
The morning weather was brisk – cool enough that I could see my breath when I reached the school just after 7 a.m. – but invigorating, too.
You can read more about the walk at Western Village and watch a video about it tomorrow on NewsOK.com.
In the meantime, I’d like to know: Did you walk to school growing up, and do you let your children walk now?
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Driving Miss Daisy, and other highlights from last night’s board meeting
Last night’s Oklahoma City School Board meeting was held at John Marshall High School instead of at the administration building.
The meeting started out with a rather significant turnout, and Chairman Kirk Humphreys told the crowd they made up “the greatest number of happy people I’ve seen in some time.”
The school’s choir kicked off the meeting with two songs, and first-graders from Martin Luther King Elementary School followed with one more. I don’t know what to make of it, but I did notice that only two of the twelve first-graders were boys.
The audience dwindled to just less than 50 people, including district administrators, once those presentations and the recognitions of more than 70 teachers and students were done. In other words, there were no more public comments than usual — three people spoke last night — because the meeting was held out at a school site.
Still, I liked seeing more of a school, even if the lack of wireless Internet access meant I had to wait to file my story about a truancy contract until after the meeting. (UPDATE: This link will take you to the PowerPoint presentation made to the board last night about the truancy program.)
The move also made for a little more banter among board members. At a previous meeting, Thelma Parks made a small fuss about traveling elsewhere, and Humphreys offered to pick her up and alluded to the movie Driving Miss Daisy.
“I did come as Miss Daisy, and he was really nice to me,” Parks said Monday as the meeting came to a close.
“And she was totally charming,” Humphreys cut in before Parks wound down her remarks.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
All kinds of minds
After leading workshops last week at a regional math convention, state Teacher of the Year Heather Sparks is back in the news again.
All Kinds of Minds, a nonprofit organization that tries to help struggling students, issued a congratulations today to Sparks.
Sparks graduated from an All Kinds of Minds program called Schools Attuned and went on to become a program facilitator.
The Oklahoma City Taft Middle School teacher said the professional development she received through Schools Attuned “significantly changed” her teaching and helped her with her algebra and pre-algebra lessons.
Oklahoma was the second state to launch a statewide Schools Attuned program thanks to funding from the state Legislature and Department of Education. The funding allows people to go through the training without paying the standard $1,500 fee.
More than 2,500 Oklahoma educators have gone through the program to date. If you’re one of them, share your thoughts on the program below.
UPDATE: Sheryl Flowers with Schools Attuned called me this morning, Oct. 7, to update the number of Oklahoma educators who have gone through the program. She said it’s up to 3,904 in 231 districts.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
