Distinction without a difference
Erin is right to question Doug Elliott’s attempt to split hairs between a “slowdown” and a “deceleration”. But Elliott’s parsing ranks a distant second behind Russ Marchuk in the field…
Education
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Ellie Mae O’Hagan and Nicholas Shaxson annihilate the claim that perpetually lowering corporate and upper-income tax rates offers any competitive advantage: Tax…
Someday, this could all be ours
Sure, we know that an undue obsession with standardized testing leads to incentives for administrators and teachers to cheat in order to give the impression of improvement. But that’s nothing…
Peter Kent Didn’t Age Well
Kent looks the same… but his mind has left him. Amazing CBC coverage of climate change from the early 1980s. Bob McDonald, Peter Kent, and others make appearances: Attention Washington:…
Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Stephen Maher points out why we shouldn’t believe the Cons for a second when they claim to care about cracking down on offshore…
To Be or Not To Be
What Shakespeare was talking about in the famous soliloquy from “Hamlet” was not all about whether it’s better to end your life or to continue to endure pain and heartbreak.…
On impending failures
Lest anybody see the high-profile Atlanta example of standardized testing fraud as an isolated incident, Valerie Strauss writes about how Sask Party-style mandatory testing has produced similar problems across the…
Oil Spills Create Jobs
I’m severely disappointed in the lack of vision that conservatives have regarding our economy. Faced with information that burning a lot of fossil fuel is not able to be sustained…
Building A School In The Cloud
It’s TED Talk Tuesday on 350orbust, and here’s another paradigm-shifting presentation. As an educator Sugata Mitra’s presentation is thrilling, because I know firsthand that the current education system is outdated…
Someday, this could all be ours
Yesiree, frequent standardized testing sure does help teachers focus on what’s most important… Ms. Parks admitted to Mr. Hyde that she was one of seven teachers — nicknamed “the chosen”…
homeschooling history
Wow. A letter to the editor in the Nanaimo Times reminds me why teaching history properly is so important. The letter has been removed but a screen shot of it…
Teaching history to my homeschooled kids
Wow. A letter to the editor in the Nanaimo Times reminds me why teaching history properly is so important. The letter has been removed but a screen shot of it…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Edward Greenspon discusses the importance of a public service whose focus extends beyond the narrow interests of the government of the day:…
Portable Planetarium Brings Space to Kids
The Peterborough Planetarium has been started by just two people with the primary goal to bring an excitement of space and our global environment to kids in Ontario. Being a…
Slightly Aged Column Day
Here, on how Brad Wall’s willingness to see the long form census scrapped suggests that his government’s push toward mandatory annual standardized tests for all students can’t be explained by…
Wab Kinew at UofR Minifie Lecture
On Tuesday I tried to live blog Wab’s lecture from my smart phone, but the WiFi or something else wasn’t working right. The lecture will be online soon, and is…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jason Fekete reports on the growing recognition that tax evasion and avoidance are serious global problems – and the Cons’ attempt to be…
Those Who Can’t Do…
Source: CBC News: Province Won’t Limit Classroom Sizes, Minister Says There certainly is no shortage of things to talk about; from SGI motorcycle rates, to unanimous approval to move forward…
Subsidizing Reality in BC
B.C. premier’s office mobbed over child-care costs CBC News Posted: Mar 9, 2013 4:49 PM PT Lots of people complain that those who cannot afford childcare should simply stay home,…
Tomorrow on Earthgauge Radio: The Ecology of Ottawa and Awakening the Skeena
Ever wondered where your water comes from and where your wastewater goes? What about your garbage? Electricity and heat? What did Ottawa look like a couple hundred years ago? Tomorrow…