Month: January 2014

Worry about Working Conditions

Worry about Working Conditions

Reading Time: 5 minutes

I just read a recent Hartford Courant article about an op-ed piece written by middle school English teacher, Elizabeth Natale, of West Hartford Connecticut.  Elizabeth stated in her article that she was considering quitting her job because of government education reforms that are “stripping the joy out of teaching and doing nothing to help the children.” [i][1]  A week after publishing Elisabeth’s editorial, The Courant discovered her comments had gone viral and were receiving supportive responses from teachers all over the country. The Courant quoted education author, Jonathan Kozol, “There’s no question that Elizabeth Natale has captured the mood among classroom teachers who are caught in the straitjacket of the Common Core and the entire regimen that evaluates teachers on the basis of their students’ scores on virtually meaningless standardized exams.” [2] Continue reading “Worry about Working Conditions”

Geese in the Winter Sky

Geese in the Winter Sky

Reading Time: 4 minutes

geese The last of the ponds where I live froze over this week.  The bitter cold weather has made it a struggle for the geese to find food, and the few remaining flocks of geese can be seen overhead, heading for warmer regions. The sight of the birds streaming across the sky, in V-formation reminds me of the often quoted parable, “The Wisdom of Geese”.  The way the geese fly in a pattern to conserve energy and use the uplift from the birds in the front of the V suggests lessons to be learned by people who work together in teams.  The “wisdom” to be gained from the flight patterns of geese is that teams who share a common goal and a sense of community will arrive at their intended destination more efficiently, because (like the geese) they accept help of another, and simultaneously offer benefit to their peers. As a goose falls out of the V-formation, it suddenly feels drag and resistance and quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the aerodynamic properties of the V-pattern. What are the big lessons here?  If you have as much sense as a goose, you will stay in formation with those headed where the team wants to go. And, just like geese, a well-functioning team will stand by each other when the going gets tough. Continue reading “Geese in the Winter Sky”

Honoring MLK in Iowa City and Beyond

Honoring MLK in Iowa City and Beyond

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Iowa City Community Schools (ICCSD) decided to hold school on the Martin Luther King, Jr., federal holiday this year.  The Coalition for Racial Justice strongly opposed this decision and asked the school board to honor the MLK Holiday and cancel school on Monday, January 20.  The school board decided not to cancel school in 2014; instead, they passed a resolution that ICCSD should not hold school on the holiday in 2015 and beyond. The board also appointed liaisons to the Coalition for Racial Justice and the Center for Worker Justice to improve communication and community representation in future decisions.  Continue reading “Honoring MLK in Iowa City and Beyond”

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