What teachers make

A thought about teaching as we begin spring break.

Thank goodness, it's finally passed!

For anyone who thinks that having health insurance isn't necessary, take a look at my healthy 18-year-old son's bill for an appendectomy. Even less pretty than his scars!

Perspective

We live around the little red dot labeled "Sol." This chart was created by Harvard academic Samuel Arbesman. But we should still do our homework, so that someday we can be as smart as Dr. Arbesman! Want more? Read his blog here.

A new useful tool for school!

Getting caught up on my online reading last weekend, I came across this David Pogue New York Times blog entry on Microsoft's Skydrive service. This is a free 25 GB server share somewhere in the "cloud" where one can store files. This is the perfect solution for Digital Art and Photography classes where large files are created. Rather than save work on a flash drive to bring home, students can save their work on their Skydrive. A related program, SDexplorer, allows one to treat the Skydrive just like a flash drive or a floppy disk, dragging and dropping files from the school or home computer to the Skydrive. A nifty, free, solution to a longtime problem. How nice!

What the...

In yesterday's Washington Post we learn that Virginia's Attorney General wants state universities to allow discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. "It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including 'sexual orientation,' 'gender identity,' 'gender expression,' or like classification as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy absent specific authorization from the General Assembly" says Ken Cuccinelli. Perhaps voters in Virginia deserve the same "information," and Cuccinelli and members of the State Assembly can outline their sexual practices prior to the next election so that everyone is fully informed!

Film

My photography class has been shooting Tri-X the past couple of weeks, getting their hands wet in the darkroom and learning to slowwww down the process of creating photographs. Though several years have gone by since I spent significant (any?) time in the darkroom, I still love the quiet, the smells, the anticipation, the pace, and the unique vision that is part of the experience. So as I wind down from what has been a tough week, I stumble across this, perhaps the best costume ever for a photographic subject. No, it's not Photoshopped. Just don't shoot it on Tri-X!

Because life is a multiple choice test.

There's an interesting article in last week's Washington Post about the Commonwealth of Virginia curtailing the use of portfolio assessments in lieu of the multiple choice Standards of Learning test. But what is the real issue? One quote gives a clue: "Portfolios can be valuable assessment tools within classrooms, but they are problematic for a large-scale accountability program, in which cost-effectiveness, consistency and validity are paramount, Wright said. Teachers spend many hours compiling portfolios, and local school systems are responsible for scoring the tests." The emphases are mine. Scoring the SOL multiple choice test takes seconds, and requires a machine rather than a teacher. So the implication is that the multiple choice test is more valid, because so much of life is like a multiple choice test (sarcasm mine). Cost effectiveness rates only a passing mention. Perhaps the Virginia legislature should have their effectiveness measured by a multiple choice assessment rather than by an evaluation of the body of their work. It might raise their scores.