This is one of those rare days that are holidays, but not for me. So that’s a bummer. In fact, we both have to work five days this week (I realize I shouldn’t lament that fact, what with so many people out of work, but still).
Congratulations to the oil companies, as gas prices are the highest ever for a Washington’s Birthday (or whatever this is) holiday. They say $4.25 by April (some of you are probably already close to that). I think the only solution is tax cuts for rich people.
For those of you who don’t follow John Cusack on Twitter, you may have missed his cusetweet:
John Cusack @johncusack
Snowy day in the cuse – really nice people around these parts
He’s here filming an indie movie with Emma Roberts and others. Not that we think it’s a big deal or anything.
Oh well, time for me and my entourage to get the day started.
Tax cuts for the wealthy woulld certainly help but that tar sands pipeline, mining uranium in the Grand Canyon and perhaps some drilling in the in the Alaska wildlife preserve would solve the problem. What will definitely NOT help is alternative energy so don’t let your mind go there.
Price of gas going up? Nah, those oil folks wouldn’t manipulate prices in an election year. They are true patriots who only care about the well being of all of us.
Steve Ball, executive principal at the East Literature Magnet School in Nashville, arrived at an English class unannounced one day this month and spent 60 minutes taking copious notes as he watched the teacher introduce and explain the concept of irony. “It was a good lesson,†Mr. Ball said.
But under Tennessee’s new teacher-evaluation system, which is similar to systems being adopted around the country, Mr. Ball said he had to give the teacher a one — the lowest rating on a five-point scale — in one of 12 categories: breaking students into groups. Even though Mr. Ball had seen the same teacher, a successful veteran he declined to identify, group students effectively on other occasions, he felt that he had no choice but to follow the strict guidelines of the state’s complicated rubric.
“It’s not an accurate reflection of her as a teacher,†Mr. Ball said.
Spurred by the requirements of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition, Tennessee is one of more than a dozen states overhauling their evaluation systems to increase the number of classroom observations and to put more emphasis on standardized test scores. But even as New York State finally came to an agreement last week with its teachers’ unions on how to design its new system, places like Tennessee that are already carrying out similar plans are struggling with philosophical and logistical problems.
Principals in rural Chester County, Tenn., are staying late and working weekends to complete reviews with more than 100 reference points. In Nashville, teachers are redesigning lessons to meet the myriad criteria — regardless of whether they think that is the best way to teach. And at Bearden High School in Knoxville, Tenn., physical education teachers are scrambling to incorporate math and writing into activities, since 50 percent of their evaluations will be based on standardized tests, not basketball victories.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/education/states-address-problems-with-teacher-evaluations.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper