(From the blog of Mister Journalism: Reading, Sharing, Discussing, Learning)
By Jeff Salisbury https://misterjournalism.wordpress.com/
First, a comm
ent. This op-ed focuses on my brother’s adopted home state of New Mexico, but it could just as easily be about Michigan. Priorities are priorities and values are values. It is true as the writer notes, as citizens we must be certain our elected officials understand what we value and prioritize tax revenues and craft budgets accordingly. — JLS
As state budget cuts loom, we must review what we value | Albuquerque Journal
By Winthrop Quigley / Journal Staff Writer
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Absent a massive and highly unlikely increase in the global price of oil and natural gas, New Mexico state government must come up with $700 million or more in spending cuts very soon.
Budgeted spending in fiscal year 2017, which began July 1, is expected to exceed revenue by $458 million. The state had to empty its reserve fund to pay its 2016 bills, money the government wants to replace so it can cover future deficits, including a projected $211 million deficit in the 2018 fiscal year. A special legislative session is expected to convene soon to balance the current budget and replenish the reserve fund.
Since Gov. Susana Martinez is adamantly opposed to tax increases and new taxes and since our constitution forbids the state from running a budget deficit, legislators will have to cut spending in this fiscal year.
At times like these, I’m reminded of the Gospel of Matthew, where it is written, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” A government budget is an expression of the values elected officials believe the citizenry shares. In a perfect world, there would be the time, energy and political maturity to review what our state values and then carefully cut those things that we the people do not value.
…Read the full essay at this link. Please. Then share, discuss and learn.
https://www.abqjournal.com/837029/as-state-budget-cuts-loom-we-must-review-what-we-value.html
Do We Give Students Too Much Choice? – from Education Week
COMMENTARY
Do We Give Students Too Much Choice?
There is an increased focus on student choice in K-12 education today. This focus has created more student-centered classrooms that use problem-based learning and differentiation of instruction to give students agency in what and how they learn. As a high school teacher, I understand why teachers feel the necessity to cater to all of their students’ strengths by providing opportunities for student choice. But, as schools try to incorporate student-centered initiatives into the classroom, there is often a lack of critical consideration for the potentially negative effects increased choice may have on student learning.
Read more of this commentary here:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/08/24/do-we-give-students-too-much-choice.html?r=681614748&cmp=eml-enl-eu-news1
How Finland Keeps Kids Focused Through Free Play – from The Atlantic magazine
An American teacher in Helsinki questioned the national practice of giving 15-minute breaks each hour—until he saw the difference it made in his classroom.
Like a zombie, Sami—one of my fifth-graders—lumbered over to me and hissed, “I think I’m going to explode! I’m not used to this schedule.” And I believed him. An angry red rash was starting to form on his forehead.
Yikes, I thought. What a way to begin my first year of teaching in Finland. It was only the third day of school and I was already pushing a student to the breaking point. When I took him aside, I quickly discovered why he was so upset.
Throughout this first week of school, I had gotten creative with my fifth grade timetable. Normally, students and teachers in Finland take a 15-minute break after every 45 minutes of instruction. During a typical break, students head outside to play and socialize with friends while teachers disappear to the lounge to chat over coffee.
I didn’t see the point of these frequent pit stops. As a teacher in the United States, I’d spent several consecutive hours with my students in the classroom. And I was trying to replicate this model in Finland. The Finnish way seemed soft and I was convinced that kids learned better with longer stretches of instructional time. So I decided to hold my students back from their regularly scheduled break and teach two 45-minute lessons in a row, followed by a double break of 30 minutes. Now I knew why the red dots had appeared on Sami’s forehead.
Come to think of it, I wasn’t sure if the American approach had ever worked very well. My students in the States had always seemed to drag their feet after about 45 minutes in the classroom. But they’d never thought of revolting like this shrimpy Finnish fifth-grader, who was digging in his heels on the third day of school. At that moment, I decided to embrace the Finnish model of taking breaks.
Once I incorporated these short recesses into our timetable, I no longer saw feet-dragging, zombie-like kids in my classroom. Throughout the school year, my Finnish students would—without fail—enter the classroom with a bounce in their steps after a 15-minute break. And most importantly, they were more focused during lessons.
At first, I was convinced that I had made a groundbreaking discovery: frequent breaks kept students fresh throughout the day. But then I remembered that Finns have known this for years; they’ve been providing breaks to their students since the 1960s.
What’s most important is not where kids take breaks but how much freedom we give them from their structured work.
Please follow thus link to read, share, discuss and learn! http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-finland-keeps-kids-focused/373544/
…until next time, keep reading, sharing, discussing, learning.
