‘Angry Olives’ Game Skewers U. of Akron’s President – The Ticker The University of Akron’s president, Scott L. Scarborough, has seen many varieties of opposition to some of his controversial decisions. One thing he hasn’t seen, until now, is an interactive game in which his evil cartoon likeness dismantles beloved parts of the campus with an olive-loaded slingshot. A group calling itself Graduates Over Greed is behind the game, “Angry Olives,” on the website ohiopolytechnicuniversity.com. “We are a group trying to expose what President Scarborough and the Board of Trustees are doing to the University of Akron,” the group wrote in response to a request for comment from The Plain Dealer, in Cleveland, which first reported on the game. The university declined to comment to the newspaper. In the game, players are informed about some of Mr. Regardless of one’s feelings about Mr. Or you’re Evan S. Return to Top
What Is the Real Role of Police on College Campuses? Bill Taylor, the chief of police at Texas’s San Jacinto College, has spent four decades patrolling higher-education campuses. A veteran in the field, Taylor said his niche line of law enforcement dates to the 1960s and ‘70s—an era of widespread student unrest amid the Vietnam War and racial segregation, as well a growing concern that local and state police forces weren’t doing enough to mitigate the disorder. He’s seen lots of changes and improvements since then. “What happened to students and people protesting? They got brutalized. Some 50 years later, campus-police units are as ubiquitous on most college and university campuses as residence halls, libraries, and tenured faculty. A number of recent incidents, however, suggest that policing in higher education hasn’t evolved much from the violent tactics that were used to suppress Vietnam War and civil-rights activists. These phenomena are what most concern a growing body of student activists and watchdog groups.
The surprising things Seattle teachers won for students by striking Striking Seattle School District teachers and other educators walk a picket line Sept. 10 near Franklin High School in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren/AP) Seattle teachers went on strike for a week this month with a list of goals for a new contract. By the time the strike officially ended this week, teachers had won some of the usual stuff of contract negotiations — for example, the first cost-of-living raises in six years — but also less standard objectives. For one thing, teachers demanded, and won, guaranteed daily recess for all elementary school students — 30 minutes each day. What’s more, the union and school officials agreed to create committees at 30 schools to look at equity issues, including disciplinary measures that disproportionately affect minorities. Other wins for students in Seattle’s nearly 100 traditional public schools include: Special education teachers will have fewer students to work with at a time.
Make It... a Wonderful Life: Update on The Weaving Project We continue to get lots of positive feedback on our installation at the Bellevue Arts Museum. This is our wall of 500, made by students at Alcott, Dickinson, Rosa Parks, Explorer, and Redmond High School, along with friends and family too. This smaller piece of 64 weavings are the some of the ones I made... And these are some of the HUNDREDS made by visitors to the museum. Visitors are invited to make one and add it to the installation, but most artists wanted to take their treasures home with them. The Weaving Project is on display until December 1st, FEBRUARY 2nd!!!! We are looking for another display opportunity once the show closes at BAM, so let me know if you have any ideas. Make it a Wonderful Day!
Creating Community in the Classroom By Kelly Huegel, author of GLBTQ I am the author of a survival guide for GLBTQ kids, so it makes sense that I would address the bullying of GLBTQ students. But in contemplating this topic once again, it is difficult for me to tease out the subgroup of students who are (or are perceived to be) gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning from all objects of bullying writ large. This is because, in the end, I think bullying is more about the perpetrator than the target, and I think bullying is more of a societal epidemic than a school-based one. The other day, I was driving with my wife and new baby in our suburban Maryland town when a pickup truck crossed traffic in front of us. Today’s teachers have a rough time combatting bullying in their classrooms when everywhere students go, they bear witness to adults bullying one another. Actor and teacher Maria Broom has embarked on a mission to combat bullying by engendering compassion in the classroom. © 2015 by Free Spirit Publishing.
After the Trauma: Treating PTSD in Children By Barbara Gruener Part of our Counselor’s Corner series. Click to read other posts in the Counselor’s Corner. Like its name implies, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can result after a person or someone close to that person endures a traumatic event. The numbers cited on the website for the National Center for PTSD (part of the U.S. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, PTSD symptoms can be categorized into three experiences: reliving the event, avoiding the event, and hyperarousal sensitivity. KidsHealth lists the following possible PTSD symptomatic reactions. Consider this fictional encounter with a young female trauma victim: She comes into my office at lunchtime because it’s too noisy in the cafeteria today. A counseling colleague recently explained PTSD using this metaphor: Much like a smoke detector in the house, our brain’s amygdala has an important job—to alert us when there is potential danger. © 2015 by Free Spirit Publishing.
Has Your Child Had an AT Evaluation? | Smart KidsSmart Kids For students with learning disabilities, technology is an important tool in leveling the playing field, providing struggling students with the ability to access educational material that may otherwise prove challenging to understand. As Assistive Technology (AT) continues to evolve, the task of understanding what makes sense for your child becomes more complex. Thankfully there are professionals that can help. It all begins with an AT evaluation, which should be conducted by a professional or team of professionals, often including an independent evaluator, who are knowledgeable about the specific needs of your child. The evaluator should have experience and training in AT devices, services, and implementation, and be able to integrate the technologies into the curriculum through the IEP or 504 plan. A thorough evaluation may include the following components: Related Smart Kids Links
Tori's Teacher Tips: Snow Globes--- SUPER CUTE!! You will need "fake snow." It is on sale right now at Target! Put some "snow" on the center of the globe. Using a hot glue gun, cover the outside edge of a 7" clear plate with glue. Then attach to the globe part. Here are some finished ones: Hehe... she is catching snowflakes! I wish this wasn't so hard to see because it turned out SO cute... she is "shivering" but I love her boots and everything... it just fits so perfectly!
“What’s ‘Colorism’?” Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer When I began teaching in Boston, I was struck by how often students of color referred to each other as “light-skinned” or “dark-skinned.” Almost daily, I witnessed high school students identify, categorize and stereotype their peers based on skin tone. Having grown up African American in Louisiana, I was used to white people’s ideas of white superiority and even those “colorstruck” black people who preferred lighter skin. Any response to this question is complicated due to the deep legacy and influence of skin-color preference in the United States and in other parts of the world. It makes sense that teenagers—who are working out their own identities on a day-to-day basis—also engage in color-conscious discourse. Research Shows … Skin-color bias affects perceptions and interactions in ways that are at once subtle and profound. Fergus’ findings are not unique. Why Care About Colorism? What relevance do these studies hold for educators? Break the Silence
Rewriting History—for the Better Illustration by Julie Flett It was pure coincidence that, during a recent trip to Northern California’s wine country, Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., stumbled upon a perfect illustration of what’s wrong with history instruction in the United States. He and his wife were visiting an original Spanish mission at the same time as a group of fourth-graders. This kind of Eurocentric approach to American history will come as no surprise to many educators who work from scripted U.S. history curricula. To address this, Gover and his team at the Smithsonian are gearing up to unveil a program called Native Knowledge 360, a nationwide curriculum initiative to make comprehensive Indian education a priority. And that’s assuming the issue is on educators’ radars at all. Montana stands as the notable exception. The good news is that progress, while painfully slow on the whole, is being made. Recognizing Real Indians