Viral Vicissitudes

Re:tro-Grades, Education-Wise: The Old and the Knew Failing In, Out of Fashion:   Trending, that is. evolving, along with revolving, as in "...society and the professional world continue to evolve and change with the growth of technology and the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution..." This, as Education as an institution tries to continue transforming, adapting, incorporating these changes after its inception as an industry of delivering essential information and skills to all students, as in "public education", which eventually became "compulsory"...ever since the First Industrial Revolution came to US here. So, what's new and what's falling out of fashion, and what can we borrow, as in "wisdom" from previous generations of learners and those who taught us, on behalf of those learners of the future? While this can't be honestly covered, as in "intellectual honesty", in one post, I as your host... Hosting, educatio...

Re:Active, In-gredients of Extra! Curricular Programming: going to P.O.T. (?) "So it Seems" "All In"-Tuition: The answer to "What happens when you combine one's willingness to participate enthusiastically with the willingness to pay an additional sum, to either come before or stay after, to enjoy some extra! curricular involvement? While not in every school, all activities, there has been a trend over the past several years to at least re-cover part of the costs of such programs, as in kind of a 'co-pay' which research in health care has demonstrated people seem to appreciate things more if they "pay in", which is in turn related to the "psychology of attribution" (I've covered this here before, ample examples). In this case, the extra! funds may go to pay for the additional art supplies needed or, in the case of hockey, probably a larger sum to pay for "ice time". Then, of course, there's the cost, accounting f...

Re: Entering Extra! Curricular Activities: Inter-ludes, Pre-cludes, and Pre-ludes.   (A pause before the action) The Pause Clause:   Those that are both written, unwritten, but implied, on behalf of all those who would consider either prior to, or on the tail end of an already long school days, stay "after hours" to participate in something extra! curricular. Whether as a participant, coach, or parent volunteer. It's important, if not critical, instrumental to the success of these various "programs" as well as in preventing "burnout" among participants, to pause before re-entering the school building, stepping back on to the school grounds. Sometimes this can simply take the form of going home and getting a 'power snack' (debatable what constitutes😋), knocking off a few assignments in order to not have this on your mind while participating...or in the context of a planned, written interval requirement on behalf of all (especially athletic) par...

Re:Programming, Extra! Curricular Types. Part 1: Deemed Extra! by definition, designation...resignation                                                                 "Above and Beyond!" Yet another quote (exclamation mark usually implied) that I elevate here, in the context of roles, in the process of educating our young, working together even when we can't be, in building both "strong minds and bodies", promoting all the educational "taxonomies" (main categories of things we are collectively trying to germinate, cultivate), in helping each and every one of them to reach their "full potential" (a word combination that becomes about as welcome as "fingernails on a chalkboard" to the recipient student), with the end goal of getting them to aspire, even to find themselves on the list of the "Best and the Brightest", an annual...

Re:vering PTA:    Part Two "I" before "E", "U" before me: Two lessons, nicely rhymed, that we were all taught by parents and teachers alike, early and often, over and over, across different settings and audiences, that "in almost all cases, with a few notable exceptions..." Easy Peasy eh? Easy to commit to memory, if not commit oneself in daily practice. But what about, instead of "notable exceptions" we reflect on, in order to bring to mind the roles of those adults who have aligned themselves, to "better (our) lives in education, health, and safety..." How they work together on all our behalf, that both are necessary and neither is sufficient "in and of themselves"...So, what happens when, instead of the ordering of the alphabet, instead of one of the first mnemonic devices in trying to make a run in the spelling bee, we ask ourselves: what happens when we substitute "i" for "e" (or the other wa...

Re:Alignment, Tri-Angular Type: PTA in Re-view. Part One (deserving of at least two) 125 Years in the Making; what have we learned? "TYAMBRAH" - Shorthand, which preceded, perhaps a forerunner of texting, this formal "Thank You" to Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst, who managed to bring together over 2,000 people in D.C. for a common purpose (imagine that), "to discuss questions most vital to the welfare of children and the manifold interests of the home" An alliance envisioned by these two women, which has persisted, survived two WW's, a Great Depression, Pandemic, and even political divide..."to better the lives of children in education, health, and safety..." Yes, in case you missed it, you can either send a belated "Thank You" to these two, or at least say "Happy Birthday" ("Happy Anniversary" if you prefer), exactly eight months late, as the organization known as PTA turned 125 on 2/17/22. An ...

 What, Re:Course, do I really  have?!" RATS! "Make good choices!"   Early and often -- as in early in life, early and throughout the day, from the adults in our lives, those looking after us...which grew to include teachers, coaches, and, for some of us, trainers. Collectively, forming a team, a syndicated, synchronized (more common word, in contrast to 'asynch' coursework over the past few pandemic, school-from-home years) approach to educating us, whipping us into shape, from home to school, to home again, or stopping at the gym before arriving home as we aged. All the while being reminded, we "have a choice" REALLY ?!  "It's not up for debate" A refrain we started hearing shortly after from adults again, sometimes from the very same ones who had told us we had choices to make...the earliest glimpses of, lessons in, hypocrisy (?) Or just a simple mixed message, which became too numerous to count, even after we learned to count past 100, ...

Re:Turn to Common Sense: Core Training; Training Common Core.  Kinesiological, Pedagogical...Rats! Lots in Common here. Re:setting, updating the scene: So, you've managed to get a millage and/or a bond, to build a building. Or, in the case of a "gymnasium", you've secured a loan to purchase an already existing building, with or without 'facilities', in need of some re-novation. Now your job is just starting, as now  it's time to fill the seats and fill their minds...to fill the work stations and get some (literal) heavy lifting done. Now it's time to plot a course, to purchase a curriculum, a bunch of courses, work-out routines. And now , of course, it's time to recruit and hire those who will, once filled, instill motivation, a desire to learn, get in shape...teachers and trainers that, together with those in other support positions, will form a team for the long haul...lots of common ground here...and there. What every ('busy')body knows:...

Re:Building: It doesn't (just) take a millage, village - A Re-Telling...same old story(?) Setting the stage: I already did this on your behalf, a few days ago here (see 10/9), in developing the backdrop, the behind-the-scenes of what it really takes to stage a debate. Or here, today, what it takes to bring about a "neighborhood school" - the brick-and-mortar type, where many students around the world still assemble to get their core curriculum disseminated, even where there are still "assemblies" held and where, of course, many still are allowed to bring things for "show and tell" (topic of an upcoming post😔?), a version of which you are about to experience from both sides, in the form of a re-telling of a "Dickens" of a tale, as well as illustrations, word pictures that might bring to mind a study of contrasts. But first, let me once again set the stage, frame of mind, so that I might have "your undivided attention" (common intro ...

Re:Staging a Debate: Behind the scenes, prior to, before and after..."The Great Frame-Up" Backdrop: Or, in other words "setting the scene", stage (literally): often deserving, warranting, garnering lots of attention, in developing a story, a play....debate...soon to be forgotten. Under-rated, appreciated? It's a matter of debate...But here, in this post, from this host, I thought it worthy of our collective, communal (as in "a village") attention, prior to moving on to the actual debate, prior to the framing of the actual argument...to build an appreciation for all those who brought, organized, argued about the what , how , and even when  the debate would be presented on "prime time", when the most would likely tune in...each of these deserving of our attention, all of which are necessary  but not sufficient  (see 10/6) in organizing and when, after an incredible, unseen, amount of time and effort, is put into something, especially when ...

"Re-Solved": It does not take a village; it's not that simple - necessary, not sufficient.  An ongoing debate: P.O.T. (see 10/4)   "Resolved" A word that signals that a debate is about to start, as in high school or college debate teams, which prepare for such action, 'normative statements', by being prepared to take both sides of an argument, envisioning themselves as either the affirming  or negating  team on the particular topic, subject under consideration, debate..."resolutions being selected annually by affiliated schools..."  Joint Resolutions: Those that are passed by both the Senate and the House (of Representatives), both of which represent U.S. in different ways, 'proportionately', after an incredible amount of debate by our 'Founding Fathers'. What's provided for each and every one of US in the Constitution...including, of course, "The Bill of Rights"...rights that are spelled out, as well as some calls...

Re:Cruitment, Re:Tention: Going to P.O.T. - An Intro, "Prelim"😟 Students, Teachers, Athletes, Programs: I've written here about, re:garding, many sub-topics associated with the larger topic of "School Daze", including those associated with actual subs themselves, which will become an area of increasing demand as the school year progresses, re:gardless of  CV counts...and will continue to be an area of opportunity for aspiring part-timers -- if the figures forecasting how many currently in the teaching profession, at least those in public education, even an approximation, within what statisticians refer to as "standard error of measurement"...what we, as psychometricians have to incorporate into test scores, especially when we interpret them to parents and teachers, make longer term projections...are prepping to leave the profession for greener pastures. Some of the reasons they have given, the ones that have complained more openly, have been touched o...

Re:Surfacing; evening out the playing surface - beating the system. "We should've learned by now..." Odds and Evens: Even prior to our first formal lesson in math, the number line, we had ample lessons in how best to "count off", every other one, in forming teams..."Us" versus "Them". Even when we tried to circumvent the system, strategically plan, place ourselves in line, even getting out of line on occasion, faking that "I gotta' go", after which I got back, realigned, in order to get on the same team, as our "buds"... "You'd think we would've learned..." "Buddy System" As in " Some   system !" In the context of a moving story that called "Them" to action, literally, as in calling into action...enlisting in the armed services, on the verge of WW II. A story that we all should have learned from, in trying to beat the system. Of our father's option of enlisting under ...