DC Teacher’s Clique

by philosophunk

Recently, it was reported on DCist that DC Teacher Chic, an area teacher and edu-blogger, finally had enough bureaucracy/disorganization/absurdity from DCPS and quit her full time teaching position at a southeast DC middle school. It is unknown how frequently this situation occurs, and to what extent it goes unnoticed and how much it may contribute to the dearth of experienced teachers in the city. These questions and uncertainties got me thinking about DC Teacher Chic’s situation.

Although I had never read DC Teacher Chic’s blog prior to her resignation from DCPS, it seems like an illuminating record for for the rest of the public that does not have have a sense of how absurdly disruptive a public school classroom can get. I won’t lie; when I read the first paragraph of her farewell post, my initial reaction to her resigning from her position was somewhere between distaste and resentment. When confronted with situations like this, it is easy to have a knee-jerk reaction of what one is supposed to think.

Formative Years: A School for Malia and Sasha

by philosophunk

We’ve got a new President, and the White House will soon have a new hypo-allergenic, adopted, puppy mill-rescued canine playing on the grounds. Although determining what type of puppy to get Sasha and Malia is a task that will undoubtedly receive more scrutiny than his solution to the global economic crisis, President-Elect Barack Obama has substantially bigger fish to fry in the selection of educational institutions for his adorably sweet pre-Washington daughters.

A school for their daughters is probably the most difficult choice that Michelle and Barack will have to make in the coming eight (that’s right, I said it) years. Hopefully, when the family leaves the White House, Sasha will be 18 and Malia, 15. These girls will not only be learning some of the most important lessons of their life at their new school, but they will grow into young women. Thus, it is imperative that the President- and First Lady-elect read this review of the schools that the family should consider in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. As an educator and native of this city, I am certain that I can offer the Obamas the essential informed and unbiased opinion of the area’s educational institutions of all types: public, private, parochial, and other. Whether they listen is up to the omniscient intergoogleweb.

Despite Michelle Rhee’s efforts, the DC public school pickings are slim. Thus, we will definitely disqualify them for the running. Moreover, I don’t think that the Catholic and Christian schools in the area can hold a candle to the region’s independent schools, so that pretty much rules them out as well. Thus, in order of my increasing endorsement, here is what I feel are the Obamas’ best choices of schools for Sasha and Malia.

Rock of Ages

by juliacsmith

On Saturday night, thanks to my friend Emily, I witnessed something smashing: a rock concert by Young@Heart.

The show started like many others: the lights dimmed, the curtain raised, and a short video was projected onto a screen. (It featured media clips from around the world; apparently Europe long ago caught onto this phenomenon and the US is just catching up.)

The screen went dark, s l o o o w l y raised, and revealed—this is where it gets interesting—a choir of seriously golden folks who proceeded to seriously sing and groove, accompanied by a five-piece band (and assisted by a burly, tattooed percussionist who made sure the brakes on one singers’ wheelchair were always set), for the next hour or two.

It was all very polished: the first act (for which the choir wore buttoned-up blue shirts) began with a

All That Being Said…

by juliacsmith

There are obviously a zillion people out there who DO use their blogs to shake up the status quo and promote justice, peace, and progressive causes!

One is the Changeblogging community. I don’t think I’ll be in DC on October 15, but if I were, you bet I’d be at the inaugural Changemakers/Changebloggers meetup.

Who’s responsible for this, you ask? Britt Bravo is one of the catalysts, and she gives a nice little summary in this post. She recently started a Changebloggers social network. A bunch of my coworkers and I (who, shameless plug #1, produce and/or write everything in the sidebar links with the words “idealist” in the title) all created profiles yesterday and I’m looking forward to building new and/or deeper relationships with some of the dynamos who are already there.

One of those is Qui Diaz, who dreamed up the Changeblogging meme [what the heck is a meme? I can feel some of my less tech-geeky friends glazing over, but don't! In this case, it's like those fun surveys we used to take in 8th grade, except they requires a little less agonizing than "backstreet vs. n'sync?"]:

What is one change – big or small, local or global – you want to see in your lifetime?

I want to see DC Public Schools (and neighboring Prince George’s County Public Schools, of which I am a proud product) regarded as shining examples of quality education, with steady funding for the arts, nationally, even internationally. I want the dropout rate to be zero; I want every student to find their voice and to feel prepared to access and excel in higher education if they choose; and I want every teacher and administrator to be an appreciated (including well-paid) star.

Who is already working this issue that you think others should support?

A bunch of fabulous nonprofits, including (shameless plug #2) Capitol Letters Writing Center, which I co-founded with a group of writers, community leaders, and educators. If you’re in DC, come to our orientation Tuesday night or our happy hour on 9/16! If you’re not, join our mailing list, be our fan on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Not DC-specific but truly inspiring: I recently learned about The Teacher Salary project, a Roth-Calegari-Eggers collaboration. Watch the trailer. Right now.

How are you going to use your Web/tech/marcom* skills to further this cause? (Or, what are you already doing that works?)

Ooh. With the team, I’m going to keep building the support and volunteer base for Capitol Letters through online tools. (Did I mention you should be our fan on Facebook?)

Also, we’re going to do a workshop based on NPR’s This I Believe with 12 graders in the fall. I’m going to do my best to get those voices online so you, gentle reader, can listen to the podcast!

And and and…I am going to continue to stay in touch with one of my most influential teachers, Don Fear, the “Darkroom Monster” of Suitland High School, and use my blog and Facebook to get the word out about his upcoming show at Glen Echo. Because we all are who we are because of our best teachers.

*that’s marketing communications, for the glazed-over people. And yes, I had to look it up. We’re all at a different place on our journey.