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motorcycle reforms

I remember having mixed feelings when reading Motorcycle Diaries. I had a hard time reconcling the journal entries of a slightly angry idealist with the violence of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. It seemed that he genuinely cared about the plight of the Read More...
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2010 04 9

John Spencer

4 Comments

who should we blame?

The politician blames the districts and the principals and the teachers for failing to educate the low-income students. The teachers blame the politicians and the districts for the constant interference. If that doesn't work, they blame one another. Timmy Read More...
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2010 03 22

John Spencer

8 Comments

measuring the twigs while the tree dies

While sitting in a PLC Audit meeting, a teacher sits their quietly for forty minutes. It's common in a group of mostly white males to unintentionally censor and African-American woman. Call it white noise. Sometimes a screaming injustice just sounds like Read More...
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2010 03 18

John Spencer

2 Comments

the perils of being a moderate

My left-wing progressive friends feel disenchanted with Obama. The slogans of hope and change have run dry and they're confused by a president who has failed to pass health care reform, continues to pursue war and has bailed-out large corporations rather Read More...
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2010 03 12

John Spencer

11 Comments

a tiny reform

Students in my second hour are working a documentary project about rethinking schools. I begin with the assumption that the research portion will be rocky, but instead I find that students are enagaged. Many of the lower readers (and the class has a high Read More...
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2010 01 31

John Spencer

12 Comments

seven opposite trends I see in education

Okay, so the last post was a bit gloomy. But here are a few opposite trends that I can easily see happening within that framework: Districts becoming better at communicating with the public and therefore regaining public trust. With this there is great Read More...
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2010 01 22

John Spencer

13 Comments

what if it was a conversation?

Yesterday I commented, "The Race to the Top was actually coined by the Germans, except by race they meant Aryan and by 'the top' they meant global domination." They stare at me awkwardly. It was supposed to be funny, but I guess Nazi Germany probably Read More...
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2009 12 2

John Spencer

13 Comments

postmodern McDonald's

About six months ago, they razed an older McDonald's near our neighborhood. In Phoenix, the term "old" can be applied to any building over twenty years. My guess is they had built the plastic wonderland in the early eighties. A few weeks later, they posted Read More...
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2009 11 9

John Spencer

0 Comments

postmodern McDonalds

About six months ago, they razed an older McDonalds near our neighborhood. In Phoenix, the term "old" can be applied to any building over twenty years. My guess is they had built the plastic wonderland in the early eighties. A few weeks later, they posted Read More...
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2009 11 9

John Spencer

0 Comments