8 Steps to Improve Kids’ Writing
“The younger I was, the less I wanted to revise. Kids typically have the same taste for revisions as they do veggies. ~ Paul Fleishman, Newbury winner Correct wording, sentence structure, verb tense, spelling, comma usage, and on and on… Grammar and punctuation are...
In 2022, Resolve To…
Tyler Perry had it right when he said, “Developing a good work ethic is key. Apply yourself at whatever you do because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life.” Share it, promote it, and model it every day by being reliable, cooperative,...
Thoughts for a Christmas Morning
"Random acts of kindness are those little sweet or grand lovely things we do for no reason except that, momentarily, the best of our humanity has sprung, exquisitely, into full bloom... You are doing what the best of your human soul invites you to do... In giving...
Young People’s Views and Plans, 2021 and Beyond
Mary Martin’s Peter Pan sang about perpetual youth, boldly shouting, “I’ll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up. Not me! Not I!” seemingly speaking for our kids today. Makes one wonder: “Will they ever grow up?” Adulting actually became Grammar Girl’s 2014 Word...
Question: What is the significance of September 25, 1789?
On September 17,1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention finally signed the Constitution after months of deliberation. Two years later, on September 25, Congress approved the first twelve amendments to the document. The first ten became the Bill of...
Catherine Rampbell’s Old-School Teacher, Mr. Greco: We Should All Be So Lucky!
Believing that teaching is supposed to be: well-versed and subject-centered, not political, brings me to columnist Catherine Rampbell's, “Priceless Lessons from My Sixth-Grade English Teacher.” In the piece, she gives Mr. Greco “much of the credit (or, depending on...
At What Cost Our Embrace of Tech on Our Kids
Back in February2021, News Wise reported that, “As teens' use of social media has grown over the past decade, so too has the suicide rate among younger people." Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among those ages 10 to 34. Many have suggested that social...
In and Out of School, Screened-In Lives Put Kids at Risk
Says the All Kids Bike Panel: “Kids and teens age 8 to 18 spend an average of more than seven hours a day looking at screens. The new warning from the AHA recommends parents limit screen time for kids to a maximum of just two hours per day. For younger children, age...
Biden’s America, 2021: Love It of Hate It?
In his January 20 Inaugural Address, President Biden said, “We must end this civil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative vs. liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and...
From Library Books to Sex-Related Writing Prompts, School Ain’t What It Used to Be
What’s going on in our schools has many parents in a fury, starting with several library books, that, instead of us bringing us together, are further tearing us apart… The Young Adult Library Services division of the American Library Association helps decide what...
School-Wise News: Autumn 2021
*** Pressured by the teachers’ union, the Los Angeles School District never opened during the 2019-20 school year. At the same time, it demanded that teachers not teach remotely for more than four hours a day BUT receive their full pay. *** Almost 66% of students...
Money, Money, Money 2021: Over-Extended and in Debt
Biden’s on-the-table $3.5+ trillion “Build Back Better” so-called infrastructure package expands the child tax credit, provides paid family leave, an expansion of ObamaCare, even a hefty electric vehicle tax credit. Lots of freebies and not just for the needy,...
COVID’s Relentless Hold on Schools and Their Added-On Responsibilities
We all said 2021 would be different than locked down 2020. Vaccines were coming on the scene, the world reopened, and life as we knew it would be ours again. Except it isn’t... Districtadministrator.com’s Mark Zalaznicki, in his September 28 piece, “School Closings...
September was National Recovery Month: Did You Notice Amid All the Mixed Drug Messages Coming out of the States and D.C.?
Recent preliminary data from the CDC shows that there more than 5,200 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania alone in 2020, 16% more than in 2019. Nationally, the news is even grimmer: 93,000 Americans died from overdoses in 2020, a 29% more than 2019’s 72,000. And the...
Why the Union League is honoring the great patriot, abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass with a new portrait, by John Meko, Jr.
On September 14, 2021, The Union League Legacy Foundation unveiled a new painting, a portrait of the great abolitionist and patriot Frederick Douglass. The event comes during a time when Douglass’ beliefs and values, including natural rights, limited government and...
America’s Schools, Teachers, and Students: The Stats
According to current National Education Association data, the 3 highest and lowest teacher salaries: New York: $87,738 Massachusetts: $86,315 California: $85,892 South Dakota: $49,993 Florida: $49,583 Mississippi: $47,655 According to 2017-18 data from the National...
America Veers Left At a Cost
For starters, an early August 2021 Fox News poll found that: 59% of registered Democrat voters hold positive views of socialism. 49% of those voters believe in capitalism *** Oregon’s Democratic Governor Kate Brown recently signed a bill removing proficiency standards...
The 2021 Changing Face of American Schooling
*** A new Quizlet data study found that: High schoolers in such states as Florida, Georgia, and Texas that offered some or all in-person instruction during the pandemic returned to “pre-CCOVID” levels during fall 2020. For Florida, it was a 95% of pre-pandemic...
Devil Tech or Saving Grace?
Tech, the end all and be all of American life, has revolutionized everything from how we get our meals, shop, learn, and be entertained, and, in the process, we’ve made the providers rich, including the billions spent by schools to be on the cutting edge of...
Critical Race Theory: The Fallout
Wall Street Journal’s Jason L. Riley, in his July 13 “Critical Race Theory Is a Hustle,” wrote: “A majority of American fourth- and eighth-graders can’t read or do math at grade level, according to the Education Department. And that assessment is from 2019, before the...