It’s now October! Can you feel it? Our focus is being divided into the myriad of different directions. We’re entering the heart of a school year. To that end, I’m going to present a smorgasbord of different articles in this “un-themed” newsletter.
In the American Catholic news section:
- Kathleen Porter-Magee, the Superintendent of NYC’s Partnership Schools, offer a great blog post ontheir 5-year mark which speaks to the future of all American Catholic schools.
- The Catholic school system in Billings hopes to sell a now-abandoned school building
- Massive parish consolidation plan announced for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The article touches on issues many of us face: fewer priests, lower attendance, older physical plants, fewer sacraments, etc.
- A blogger in Massachusetts argues that Catholic schools could remain open if school choice were implemented
- Father Stanley Rother was beatified last week. He has been declared the first American-born martyr.
- Louis Catholics work to unite city amid racial tensions
- The innovative Bishop Kearney HS in NY is spotlighted
- Pope Francis advocates for migrants
- An Australian university publishes a report on the origins of Church sexual abuse.
- Alt-right Catholics are getting faith leaders disinvited from speaking at colleges. In the K-12 system, we need to pay attention to the breakdown of discourse and rise of authoritarian tactics.
- NCR has a nice summary of the “heresy” allegations against Pope Francis, which seem to be a small fringe group without any widespread support.
- South Carolina bishop blesses the brand new Elizabeth Ann Seton HS
- The ACE Teaching Fellows video highlights the great work of the ACE Teachers
In the Leadership section:
- The Farnam Street Blog offers The Difference Between Open-Minded and Closed-Minded People. When is the last time you changed your mind?
- The Dangerously Irrelevant blog offers How School Leaders Can Combat Filter Bubbles and Fake News
- Tanner Higgin in Edutopia offers a primer on Protecting Student Privacy on Social Media
- Education Week presents The School Climate Problem (and What We Can Do About It)
In the Teaching & Instruction section:
- Why Students Forget—and What You Can Do About It by Youki Terada in Edutopia is a great read on brain science.
- Elizabeth Garcia presents a great guide to Project-Based Learning, Meshelle Smith offers a primer on Genius Hour in Elementary School, and Vicki Davis offer 5 Ways to Flip Your Classroom
- Terry Heick argues that cognitive load theory is the most important thing a teacher should know and Lisa Nielsen argues that It’s Class Load, Not Just Size, That Matters
- Katrina Schwartz covers the reasons for shifting to an intentional advisory model in order to assist students
- Larry Ferlazzo offers a web page on national anthem protests which can be combined with 8 Ways Teachers Can Address White Supremacy, How to Create a Simple Timeline-Based Game, Making Social Studies more Social for all Kindergarteners and Can Teaching Civics Save Democracy to provide more social studies resources.
- Lisa Nielsen offers ideas on teaching financial literacy.
- 48 Critical Thinking Questions for any subject is a valuable resource
In the Miscellaneous section:
- The HBR article on the 4-digit price of the new iPhone echoes an oft-argued claim about where to set a tuition level—too low makes it affordable but also risks seeming of low quality, too high makes it unattainable but seemingly of high value.
- HBR’s article on Bruce Springsteen and rock star leadership is quite insightful
- The Hechinger Report gave a great compilation of Voices from DACA students
- A great article on the decline of marriage from the New York Times How Did Marriage Become a Mark of Privilege is insightful
- Because I’m a parent of two young boys, I’m always reading articles like Fragile Boy Friendships and Why They Matter So Much
- StoryCorps released an animated video on the Vietnam War. With the new attention being paid to the Vietnam War, it’s a worthwhile watch.
Dr. Tim's Blog 