Sections:

Article

A Teacher�s Lifeline: The AFT Common Core Horoscope...

Susan Ohanian - July 16, 2014

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers will continue to support the promise of CCSS. . . --AFT delegates, Los Angeles July 2014 ... "[W]e will continue to support the promise and potential of these standards as an essential tool to provide each and every child an equitable and excellent education while calling on the powers that be in districts, states, and at the national level to work with educators and parents to fix this botched implementation and restore confidence in the standards."�Randi Weingarten, AFT President Although the national and New York leadership factions of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) tried to keep Chicago delegates (and CTU President Karen Lewis) out of sight or submissive during the union's national convention from July 10 through July 14, 2014, it was difficult to ignore the success of the CTU in "aligning" with the community and students and setting a model for the rest of the union. Above, CTU President Karen Lewis stood before the convention while Chicago student Asean Johnson gave one of the convention's many speeches. Also standing with Lewis and Johnson at the time was Jitu Brown, a long time leaders in the community (the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, or KOCO). A moment after the above photograph was taken, Shoenice Johnson, Asean's mother, joined them in front of the 3,000 delegates and visitors to the convention. Substance photo by Kati Gilson.A Teacher's Lifeline: The AFT Common Core Horoscope . by Susan Ohanian Aries (March 21-April 19) You're the boss. Pump up that macho to write new, revised, updated Common Core plans. There's something exhilarating about planning for workers in tomorrow's Global Economy that makes you tingle.

Get ready for a serious expansion of Beauty, Truth, and Common Core in your revised classroom. Your blind and dumb ambition coupled with fierce competitiveness will ensure your success. Think lunch in the Blue Room, CCSSO Teacher of the Year, Extreme Ironing World Championship. Aries Dates of Note March 21, 1556. Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake at Oxford after retracting the last of seven recantations that same day. March 28, 1774. Britain passed the Coercive Act against Massachusetts. March 29, 2013. LearnZillion, Inc. received $1,465,525 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support conferences to deepen teacher understanding of the Common Core standards." April 2, 1972. Burt Reynolds appeared nude in "Cosmopolitan" magazine.

April 4, 2011. The AFT Innovation Fund received $1,000,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to assist teachers in understanding and implementing the Common Core State Standards." TAURUS

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Down in the dumps after a rough year in the classroom? It's not your fault that Adolf Hitler was a Taurus. Reconfigure. With the AFT at your back, there's always a way to make the Common Core work. Tauruses love to plan, teach, and evaluate a perfect lesson. That's why the AFT Common Core revision hits the spot. People call you pigheaded? Experiment a bit. Apply for one of those AFT Common Core improvement grants. This is your year to elaborate and embellish. You like routine? Here's your chance! Rid yourself of excess classroom activity and take your power and your life force back by investing only in the essentials: the AFT-improved Common Core. Stick to the Standards! But word to the wise: restrain yourself on all those buzz words and remember: on

Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy. May 19, 1962 Marilyn Monroe sang Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy even though it wasn't his birthday.. Taurus Dates of Note By 1938 it could be said that not everyone in Germany supported Hitler -- just a large majority. It was only when German arms began losing in Africa, Italy, Russia and France (as well as in the air war over Germany itself) that Germans began wondering if their megalomania (and silence over the crimes of the regime) might have been a mistake.April 20, 1889. Adolph Hitler born. April 25, 1886. Sigmund Freud opened his practice and began to collect data for his theory of psychosexual analysis.

May 7, 2014. Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates passed a resolution opposing the Common Core standards.

May 10, 1924. J. Edgar Hoover started the FBI.

June 6, 2012. The AFT Innovation Fund received $4,400,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support "work on teacher development and Common Core State Standards."

GEMINI

Gemini (May 21-June 21) It's time to give up all your jabber about the good old days and get in step with the times. What was right for the past just doesn't cut it for 21st Century learning. You can be a problem solver, so step up to the Common Core challenge. You can do it. Ask AFT for help. Be a part of the Common Core windfall of success that is coming. Be there. This is the year of perseverance and pay-off. Take advantage of the generous influence of Jupiter in your Common Core zone.

Gemini Dates of Note

May 20, 2014. New Venture Fund received $10,300,300 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support the successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards and related assessments through comprehensive and targeted communications and advocacy in key states and the District of Columbia."

May 21, 1981. US Senate approved $20 billion program for chemical and nerve-gas weapons.

May 23, 1838. Cherokees began Trail of Tears.

Not all of the pre-Civil War presidents of the United States were slave owners, just the majority. And not all the pre-Civil War presidents of the United States were outspoken racists -- just the majority. Of all those, however, arguably the most vicious both as a slave owner and racist, was the seventh president, Andre Jackson. Despite the propaganda about the "jacksonian Revolution" and the "Age of Jackson," the seventh president's version of democracy in the United States never included the majority of the human beings living within the borders of the USA during his presidency.May 28, 1830. President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act.

June 4, 2012. Student Achievement Partners Inc received $4,042,920 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support teachers nationwide in understanding and implementing the Common Core State Standards."

June 5, 2012. The America Federation of Teachers received $4,400,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support the AFT Innovation Fund and work on teacher development and Common Core State Standards."

June 6, 2011. The Council of Chief State School Officers received $9,388,911 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support the Common Core State Standards work."

CANCER

Cancer (June 22-July 22) Okay, wipe up those tears. We know you worked so hard to do the Common Core just the way David Coleman and the Hunt Institute said. And now AFT wants you to revise it. You could bake cookies for the people who want to do that work--and leave them to it. Remember that the central lesson of Common Core hasn't changed: Just because you're incredibly intuitive and inventive doesn't mean that anybody gives a shit about how you feel. You need to align yourself with your Common Core checklist of assessments and achievements. Stick with colleagues with similar lists. Don't fear that all of your luck will run dry when Jupiter leaves Cancer. You've got the benefit of Leo working on your Common Core curriculum for the next year.

Cancer Dates of Note

June 26, 2014. 600 K-2 students in Middletown, NY public schools were put in mandatory summer intervention program so they can improve their Common Core academic portfolio.

July 4, 2011. National Writing Project awarded $3,095,593 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to "increase capacity for professional development opportunities in implementing the Common Core State Standards for literacy."

July 5, 2013. The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education received $3,882,600 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support a cohort of National Education Association Master Teachers in the development of Common Core-aligned lessons in K-5 mathematics and K-12 English Language Arts."

July 6,1946. George W. Bush born.

July 8, 2013. Council of Chief State School Officers received $4,000,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support the development of high quality assessments to measure the Common Core State Standards."

July 13, 2014. At AFT convention, delegates rejected a resolution calling for the end of Common Core.

July 19, 1860. Lizzie Borden born.

LEO

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) Are you ready for a great spell of good fortune? With your fierce concentration and self-focus, you are the one to make things happen. Don't delay. With your easy charisma, you can get an early start on making those Common Core revisions happen. Let others know that you'll take charge. With AFT at your back, you can achieve rock star status for your embrace of Common Core and your students will be ready to take on the Global Economy. Leo Dates of Note

July 14, 2008. Randi Weingarten elected AFT president.

July 24, 1925. John T. Scopes convicted in Tennessee of teaching theory of evolution.

July 25, 2010. Research for Action Inc. received $1,309,409 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support pilot research and validation of instructional tools in mathematics and literacy aligned to the common core state standards."

July 26, 2010. Purdue University received $1,453,832 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to further develop the Purdue Online Writing Lab and align it."

Aug. 2, 2010. In opting out of Common Core math, Minnesota educators and lawmakers said the Standards are inadequate and that education should be controlled locally.

August 6, 1945. United States dropped an A-bomb on Hiroshima.

VIRGO

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Even though you're a workaholic, give it a rest. Kick back and watch a David Coleman video telling you how to do Common Core complex text--and then get those kids to read the text over and over and over. After all, Coleman says if they do that they might get it. Exposing yourself to such wisdom will transform your teaching technique. Then use your analytical talents to translate this message for your colleagues.

Virgo Dates of Note

Aug. 25, 1530. Ivan the Terrible born.

Aug. 29, 1758. First Indian reservation established.

Sept. 5, 1877. Crazy Horse assassinated while in custody.

Sept. 10, 1949. Bill O'Reilly born.

Sept. 11,2009. The Education Trust received $2,039,526 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to develop a set of open-source literacy courses that align to the Common Core State Standards."

LIBRA

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) If you've been feeling isolated and lonely, let Common Core revisions rejuvenate you. You like to be on the cutting edge, and Common Core revision puts you in the right place at the right time. You have Saturn and the Nodes of Fate to keep you from your one-time ambivalence about Common Core. The AFT revisions will highlight your social and professional zones. Be there.

Libra Dates of Note Sept. 23, 1952. Richard Nixon gave "Checkers" speech

Oct. 1, 1971. Disney World opened.

Oct. 8, 2013. James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy Foundation, Inc. received $1,749,070 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support states in their continued implementation of the Common Core State Standards."

Oct. 8, 2013. New Venture Fund received $3,213,686 from the Bill and Melinda GatesF oundation "to support Common Core implementation."

Oct. 9, 2013. Charter Fund Inc dba Charter School Growth Fund received $4,000,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support high-performing charter school management organizations that are implementing effecting teaching systems and the Common Core State Standards in collaboration with districts."

Oct. 10, 2013. Foundation for Excellence in Education Inc. received $2,000,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support Common Core implementation."

Oct. 10, 2011. Resolution submitted to the National Council of Teachers of English, Committee on Resolutions: NCTE will oppose common core standards and national tests.

SCORPIO

Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) You're definitely ready for the search for truth, and your signs are right to obliterate the opposition. Common Core revision will make the Phoenix rise from your curriculum ashes. Bring your all-or-nothing, smash-all-enemies spirit to this challenge. Your colleagues count on you to get the job done.

Scorpio Dates of Note

As a child growing up in Seattle after the apocalypse that followed the slowdown at Boeing, Bill Gates was still able to attend the region's most expensive private high school and eschew the Seattle public schools. Why? Because long before the term "The One Percent" was coined, Bill Gates was the son of a wealthy Seattle banker whose contacts with intellectual property lawyers helped Billionaire Bill assemble other people inventions into the "property" of Microsoft. Although Bill Gates could afford to "drop out" of Harvard, he was dropping with the aid of a Golden Parachute -- his family's fortune. There was no lifting up by his bootstraps for Bill Gates.Oct. 28, 1955. Bill Gates born.

After promising the remaining loyal Nazis of Germany that the Reich's secret super weapons would still win the war, Josef Goebbels and his wife Magda murdered their six children and then committed suicide on April 30, 1945 as the Red Army approached the Fuehrer Bunker in Berlin to end World War II. Goebbels has been the Nazi's main propagandist since he came to work with Adolf Hitler following his brilliant academic career and his doctorate in literature. Goebbels was always referred to as "Doctor Goebbels" during his years at the top of Nazi power, but he was not the only leading Nazi with a PhD, as a close study of the party's leadership and the participants in the Wansee conference shows.Oct. 29, 1897. Joseph Goebbels born.

Oct. 30, 2012 BetterLesson, Inc. received $3,527,240 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support the development of courses, aligned to the Common Core State Standards, for the purposes of helping teacher�s transition to common core and increasing their students' ability to master the content."

Nov. 2, 1755. Marie Antoinette born.

November 11, 1961. Catch 22 published.

November 14, 1908. Joseph McCarthy born.

November 15,2010 New Visions for Public Schools, Inc. received $8,149,935 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support the Common Core/Career and College initiative (C4) effort designed to improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness through key strategies."

Nov. 16, 2009. James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy Foundation, Inc. received $5,549,352 "to provide state-level policy and communications support to states seeking to rapidly implement the Common Core."

SAGITTARIUS

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Common Core revision offers you opportunity to capitalize on your nature as a Big Picture workaholic. But don't miss opportunities for social networking in this fantastic endeavor. You'll be thrilled at how fellow AFTers want nothing more than to support you in this professional venture. Much as your dynamism and "go get 'em" spirit is appreciated,know that you'll never win the Mr Nice Guy award, and please leave your weapons at home.

Sagittarious Dates of Note

Nov. 23, 1765 Frederick County, MD, repudiated the British Stamp Act.

Nov. 24, 2040 Nazis closed off the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland.

Nov. 24 1947 House of Representatives cites Hollywood Ten for contempt of Congress

Nov. 24, 2010. MetaMetrics, Inc. received $3,468,005 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to further develop an interactive, online tool that focuses on literacy in the Common Core State Standards."

Nov. 25, 2012. The Achievement Network received $3,002,252 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support implementation of the Common Core State Standards by building the capacity of school leaders and teachers to address the instructional shifts through interim assessments, coaching, network collaboration, and access to resources."

CAPRICORN

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Today's shining impetus for you comes from AFT2014: Common Core revision will lead your life. Get ready to launch a stellar career season following this historic vote not to abandon Bill Gates' plan. A huge conglomeration of planetary energies (and Bill Gates money) will propel you to the next level in your professional goals.

Capricorn Dates of Note

Dec. 23, 1888. Vincent VanGogh sliced off part of his ear.

Dec. 26, 2009. Common Core Inc. received $550,844 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to develop K-10 ELA curriculum aligned to the Common Core standards under development by CCSSO and NGA." Dec. 29, 1170. St. Thomas � Becket, the 40th archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in his own cathedral by four knights acting on Henry II's orders. Jan. 13, 1898. Emile Zola's "J'accuse" was published in Paris.

Jan 15, 2001. Judge John Penfield Jackson (of the Microsoft antitrust case) identified Bill Gates' crime as hubris, telling New Yorker writer Ken Auletta that he'd like to require Gates to write a book report on a recent biography of Napoleon). Judge Jackson said Gates has "a Napoleonic concept of himself and his company, an arrogance that derives from power and unalloyed success, with no leavening hard experiences, no reverses."

AQUARIUS

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You've got loads of planetary support to keep you thriving in whatever new projects you decide to take on. With your refusal to conform, unprecedented adventure awaits you once you sign on to Common Core revision. You're being called on to consider the bigger picture and as water-bearer, you can revise and revise and revise. Saturn puts you in a high-power status position, so be ready!

Aquarius Dates of Note Jan. 20, 1982.

Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat.

Jan. 21, 2013. The Aspen Institute Inc. received $3,615,655 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "to support the Aspen Institute's Urban Superintendents Network, develop resources to integrate Common Core State Standards and educator effectiveness policies and practices, and use lessons from the field to inform national policy."

PISCES

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) As the perpetual underdog, you know that it's your job to pull no punches when making sure students are challenged by a high bar. The cosmos will help you meet this challenge if you keep the Common Core revisions on your horizon. An opportunity is coming up soon. Check with your AFT rep. The overabundance of love for teachers that comes from AFT headquarters will encompass you. And give your students high test scores.

Pisces Dates of Note

Feb. 19, 1942. President Roosevelt issued order to intern 10,000 Japanese-American on West Coast.

Feb. 20, 1809. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the power of the federal government was greater than that of any individual state.

Feb. 24, 1803. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled itself to be the final interpreter of all constitutional issues.

Feb. 25, 2011. National Association of State Boards of Education received $1,077,960 "to build the capacity of State Boards of Education to better position them to achieve full implementation of the Common Core standards."

Feb. 26-27, 2001. The case of United States v. Microsoft Corporation, for committing monopolization was argued.

March 12, 1998. Astronomers cancelled a warning that a mile-wide asteroid might collide with Earth saying that calculations had been off by 600,000 miles.

Note: The Gates Foundation grants mentioned represent only a small part of the total and are used for illustrative purpose. � Susan

Ohanian blog July 15, 2014

Copyright 2006-2020 by Substance News. All rights reserved.