Summary: Jokes: The Book Lunching with a friend in a fast food restaurant, I was telling her about a teenager who had rear-ended my car. The teen blamed me for the accident. "She called me every name in the book!" I said. Just then I looked over to the next table where two nine-year-old boys had apparently been paying close attention to my story. One said to the other, "There's a book?" A Birthday Number A couple phoned a neighbor to extend birthday greetings. They dialed the number and then sang "Happy Birthday" to him. But when they finished their off-key rendition, they discovered that they had dialed the wrong number. "Don't let it bother you," said a strange but amused voice. "You folks need all the practice you can get." On Our Mind: Gifted Bias: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/nyregion/01gifted.html?ref=education "Graduation" Summer Time From the Twitterverse: Advisory: Bullying Awareness Project Teacher Page: http://www.ldcsb.on.ca/schools/cfe/rpt/RPT_Zero_Tolerance/teacher.html Student Page: http://www.ldcsb.on.ca/schools/cfe/rpt/RPT_Zero_Tolerance/student.html Listeners: Robert sent along the web site: http://www.hippocampus.org/ Tech Tools: Notalon http://bitbucket.org/saketh/notalon/overview Webspotlight: UDL Discussion http://lisaslingo.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-wont-more-teachers-set-up-udl.html?spref=fb Rethinking Schools As a special introduction to our new website, the text of the entire summer issue of Rethinking Schools is accessible here, free of charge. If you aren’t already a member of Rethinking Schools, we hope a look at the exciting and thought-provoking articles in this issue will inspire you to join. http://www.rethinkingschools.org/index.shtml Will the iPad make kids smarter? http://www.examiner.com/x-46117-Long-Island-iPad-Examiner~y2010m6d5-Will-the-Apple-iPad-make-kids-smarter?cid=channel-rss-Gadgets_and_Tech News: Districts' Financial Crisis Is Not the Time to Talk Reform By Harold J. Kwalwasser Financial chaos does not promote positive change. When districts’ funding is uncertain, administrators and school boards have no time to worry about innovation and transformation. All life is sucked from discussions of reform. The nitty-gritty of how to balance the budget, whether it is how many teachers to fire or which programs to cut, drowns out any consideration of real, long-term improvement. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/06/03/33kwalwasser.h29.html?tkn=XQQF13b3BxIwIjwm%2FHgRJ0uyoj6rmBYizVXS&cmp=clp-edweek 4 Day Weeks gain popularity During the school year, Mondays in this rural Georgia community are for video games, trips to grandma's house and hanging out at the neighborhood community center. Don't bother showing up for school. The doors are locked and the lights are off. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/06/04/358869usfourdayschoolweek_ap.html?tkn=WVTFdqIRlkDrbw0wXdYDRUmFzEFsRwCKamBh&cmp=clp-edweek States' Fiscal Condition Still Dismal, New Report Finds By Alyson Klein on June 3, 2010 10:30 AM State finances remain as bad as they have been in decades, and the fiscal picture isn't likely to clear up anytime soon, according to a report released this morning by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2010/06/states_are_still_in_terrible_f.html Events & Happenings:
