Meme Of The Day

(via Facebook)

My Favorite Thing Today: Rhode Island's Teacher Of The Year W/ President Trump & First Lady

Rhode Island's Teacher of the Year, Nikos Giannopolous (above), shared his thoughts on meeting the president and First Lady on his Facebook page.

On Wednesday, when I met the president as Rhode Island’s State Teacher of the Year, I did not know what to expect. After a lengthy security process, we were welcomed into the Roosevelt Room where we each met Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. Shortly thereafter, we walked into the Oval Office. The man seated at the desk read prepared remarks from a sheet of paper and made some comments about CEOs and which states he “loved” based on electoral votes that he had secured.

He did not rise from his seat to present the National Teacher of the Year with her much deserved award nor did he allow her to speak. We returned to the Roosevelt Room and one by one got a photo with him and his wife. After what amounted to a brief photo op, we were ushered out of the West Wing and back onto the streets of DC.

For my trip to the White House, I wore a rainbow pin to represent my gratitude for the LGBTQ community that has taught me to be proud, bold, and empowered by my identity - even when circumstances make that difficult. I wore a blue jacket with a bold print and carried a black lace fan to celebrate the joy and freedom of gender nonconformity. I wore an anchor necklace in honor of the State of Rhode Island whose motto “Hope” was inspired by Hebrews 6:19 - “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” These words are as relevant now they were when our founding father Roger Williams was inspired by them over 350 years ago.

In previous years, state teachers of the year were given the opportunity to speak to the president for a few minutes each. Had I been given the opportunity, I would have told him that the pride I feel as an American comes from my freedom to be open and honest about who I am and who I love.

I would have told him that queer lives matter and anti-LGBTQ policies have a body count. Taking pride in queer identity means rejecting the shame imposed upon us by a harsh society. It means opening yourself up to a lifetime of criticism and misunderstanding, but knowing that it’s worth it to be able to live authentically.

Each and every queer person has been confronted with cruelty in ways many cannot imagine - verbal and physical abuse from strangers, friends, & even family; politicians callously attacking on our right to love or merely exist in public spaces; legalized discrimination for daring to be who we are. Brutality is a universal part of the queer experience.

I am one of the fortunate ones. I have been able to share the last ten years of my life with my partner who understands me better than anyone in the world. I have a mother who always allowed me to be myself, highlighting my best qualities, and building up my confidence as a shield to any bigotry I may encounter. I have a sister, brother, father, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law who have accepted, celebrated, and loved me unconditionally for my whole life. I have a chosen family of queer friends and loved ones with whom I have formed deep and supportive relationships that will last a lifetime.

There's more at the link.

National Education Association Responds To Trump Administration Rolling Back Transgender Protections

Lily Eskelsen García, president of The National Education Association, which is represents more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, issued this statement in response to the Trump administration's decision to rescind guidance protecting transgender students' use of public bathrooms in schools:

Every student matters, and every student has the right to feel safe, welcomed, and valued in our public schools. This is our legal, ethical and moral obligation. The Trump administration’s plans to reverse protections for transgender students by rescinding the Title IX guidance, is dangerous, ill-advised, and unnecessary.

We reject this discriminatory plan because it is a drastic departure from our core values. We don’t teach hate, we do not tell people how to pray, and we do not discriminate against people based on their religion, gender, or identity. Period.

As the Trump administration threatens our students and our values, we will double-down on our efforts to protect our most vulnerable citizens, including our LGBTQ students and members. We urge more states, school districts, and schools to adopt protections for transgender students. We owe to our students because they need to see us take a bold stand against discrimination whatever form it takes.

Oklahoma Teacher Tells Pre-K Student To Stop Being Left-Handed Because Satan Is Left-Handed

An Oklahoma teacher allegedly told a pre-K student to stop being left-handed because it's "sinister" and the devil is left-handed.

From News Channel4 in Oklahoma:

Zayde, like most kids in Pre-K, is learning how to read and write. And like his mom, Alisha, Zayde is a lefty. “From picking things up to throwing things, to batting, to writing, to just coloring you’d do at home with him, he’s always, always used his left hand,” Alisha Sands said.

That was until last week at homework time. Alisha asked him why he was writing with his right hand, not his left. “I just asked ‘Is there anything his teachers ever asked about his hands?’ And he raises this one and says this one’s bad,” Sands said.

Alisha sent the teacher a note and got a strong response. It was an article calling left-handedness “unlucky,” “evil,” and “sinister.” It even says “for example, the devil is often portrayed as left-handed.” Alisha couldn’t believe it. “It breaks my heart for him because someone actually believes that, believes my child is evil because he’s left handed, it’s crazy,” Sands said.

What the hell? I have many friends who are great teachers - I can't imagine any of them coming up with this nonsense.

Viral Video: West Des Moines School Teachers Parody "One More Day" From LES MISERABLES

For all the teachers and theater fans. This flash mob will make you smile.

Almost 2 million views so far.

While the West Des Moines Community School District Superintendent was beginning her speech to the staff of WDMCS at the district-wide welcome back meeting, the teachers of the district created a flash mob to the enjoyment of their unsuspecting colleagues. With only one more day of preparation left, the teachers shared their talents by performing a parody of the song, “One more day” from Les Miserables.

How about the impressive voices???

You can read the clever lyrics below the video.

Lyrics:
One day more!
Another year and one more planning day.
As we start this road to the end of May;
These students who in spring were here
Will surely come to school this year.
One day more!
--------
I am not ready for today.
What shall I do once school has started?
--------
One day more.
--------
Tomorrow you’ll be halls away
Because the summer now has parted
--------
One more day all on my own.
--------
Do we know the common core?
--------
No more time for preparation.
--------
Will my lesson be a bore?
--------
I’ve run out of planning time.
--------
Please collaborate with me
--------
Soon the students will be here
--------
One more day before we start!
--------
Do I join her for PD?
--------
Learning targets bring you freedom!
--------
Shall I join their PLC?
--------
Common assessments shall be made
--------
Formative or summative?
--------
Will you come and plan with me?
--------
The time is now, the day is here!
--------
One day more!
--------
One more day to education,
We will help these students grow!
We'll be ready for these schoolboys
We will teach what they don’t know!
--------
One day more!
--------
Watch 'em run around,
Catch 'em if they fall,
Making sure the classroom’s
Ready for them all,
Here’s a little crayon
There’s a little glue
Markers, pens, and pencils
They know what to do!
--------
One day to a new beginning

Raise the flag and say the pledge!

Every student will arrive

And I hope I will survive!

There's a new world for the teaching

There's a new world to be taught

Do you hear the school bells ring?
--------
All right,
I’ll join,
your PLC!
--------
One day more!
--------
I am not ready for today.
What shall I do once school has started?

We’ll become these student’s heroes
We will lead and they will go
We will build them a bright future,
We know things that they don’t know.

One more day all on my own!
--------
One day more!
--------
Tomorrow you’ll be halls away
Because the summer now has parted

One more day to education,
We will help these students grow!
We'll be ready for these schoolboys

Watch 'em run around,
Catch 'em if they fall,
Making sure the classroom’s
Ready for them all,
Here’s a little crayon
There’s a little glue

--------
Tomorrow we'll discover
What our God in Heaven has in store!
One more dawn
One more day
One day more!

(h/t JMG)

Funny: Actual Outgoing Message On Answering Service For An Australian High School

A school's answering machine isnt quite what you expect.

Posted by Funniest Ever on Friday, January 9, 2015

Viral Video: New Zealand Students Perform Haka Dance At Teacher's Funeral

Ok, this is awesome. Imminently watchable. The passion these students have is undeniable.

Mashable has the details:

At least 1,700 boys at Palmerston North Boys' High School on New Zealand's North Island participated in the epic performance for their physical education and maths teacher, Dawson Tamatea.

Tamatea, 55, died in his sleep on July 20, according to TVNZ. He had been a teacher at the school for almost 30 years.

"This was a very emotional and powerful performance," the school wrote on its YouTube channel. "We are extremely proud of our boys' performance and we know that Mr Tamatea would be too."

The haka has become renowned internationally due to its prominence in rugby union football, where it is performed as a war cry before matches played by New Zealand's teams.

(h/t JMG)

Openly gay Pennsylvania teacher fired for applying for marriage license

Michael Griffin, an openly gay teacher at the Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Pennsylvania for 12 years, was suddenly fired from his job yesterday - the same day he and his long-time partner applied for a same-sex marriage license.

From WPVI:

Michael Griffin says he emailed the principal of Holy Ghost Prep earlier in the week saying he may be late Friday, that he was applying for a marriage license.

After an in-service day he says he was called into the office of School President Father James McCloskey, along with Principal Jeffrey Danilak. Griffin explains, "He said, 'It's not really a secret here that you're gay.' I said, 'Correct.' He said, 'I assume this is a same sex marriage.' 'Yes.' He said if I go through with it, he had no choice but to terminate my position."

In tears, he left. His over a decade-long tenure at Holy Ghost was over. "I really didn't think that it would happen. At our school we talk about it's a community our motto is 'One heart, one mind.'"

His partner, Vincent Giannetto, tells Action News, "We applied this morning and on the same day he's fired from his job. So it kind of flipped things upside down for us."

Holy Ghost is an all boys Catholic high school located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

(via Towleroad)

Students rally around fired gay teacher in Glendora, California

Ken Bencomo (R)

This makes my heart swell a bit :)

After the wedding of a popular teacher was made public, the private school he taught at fired him. Now present and former students are rallying to his defense and demanding he be reinstated.

More than 45,000 people have signed a petition launched by Ken Bencomo's students, demanding that he be allowed to return to his job this fall. Bencomo has taught English at St. Lucy's Priory High School in Glendora, Calif., for 17 years. On July 1, a local newspaper ran a front page article about marriage equality, featuring a photo of Bencomo and his husband.

Despite an outpouring of support by alumni, faculty, and current students, Bencomo swiftly was told by school administrators that his marriage violated the Catholic church's teachings, so he had to be fired.

A press conference is planned for 9am tomorrow at the school to deliver the 45K signatures.

Brittany Littleton, an alum of the school and former student of Bencomo, had this to say about her reasons for coordinating the petition: “As a proud alum of St. Lucy’s, I am hurt and saddened by this blatant discrimination against Mr. B. No one should be fired for marrying the person they love. Along with current and former St. Lucy’s students, I look forward to taking this message, along with 45,000 signatures, directly to my alma mater. It’s the Christian thing to do.”

(via Advocate)

RIP Arthur Storch

Arthur Storch - 1925-2013

I attended university at Syracuse University and received a BFA in Music Theatre in 1985.  Arthur Storch was the head of the theatre department and Founder/Artistic Director of Syracuse Stage, the prestigious professional theatre in Central New York state.  (p.s. he also directed and appeared in many plays on Broadway like "Twice Around The Park" and "Tribute." More on his Broadway career here).

Arthur was a great teacher, but tough.  You never got up in front of Arthur and "made a run at it."  If you were going to act in Arthur's class, you better know what you are doing and how you are doing it.  Arthur wanted his students to learn craft.  HOW to act.  Not "hope" it appears.

After running a scene in Arthur's class, you would explain what aspect of the scene you worked on - intention, obstacle, environment, etc... The students would question & comment on whether they saw that work; this was often "the lambs to the lions." And then the "king of the jungle" would weigh in.  Arthur was very challenging because he cared.  He wanted you to think for yourself and never stop exploring the work.  Some times, it seemed, you were crushed by him pushing you and your process.  But every now and then, when rare praise would happen, you knew you had taken a real step forward as an actor.

As a senior, I auditioned and was invited to take Arthur's advanced acting class. 

Up to that point I never felt like I was taken seriously as an actor.   I was the "dancer boy."  Most in the class were Drama majors and directing majors; only a few Music Theatre majors were in the class.  I was excited, intimidated and scared.

In Arthur's advanced class, you could bring as much work as you liked to class and depending on the day, as much work as time allowed was done.  "Who has a monologue?  Who has a scene?"

I only did one scene in class, with dear Jill McCord.  I was scared to death.  The scene went as planned, the class gave some comments, and then Arthur offered up his estimation.  I'll never forget - with a smile, he said "I thought it was very good.  I'm glad someone hasn't wasted their parents money here at SU."  Simple, but HUGE to me!  What a stamp of approval!  I remember feeling a bit numb, and I remember seeing uber-talented senior drama major Donna Horlitz smile in the back of class.  (This post is practically a stream of consciousness, so forgive me if I leave things out).

At the next Lab (scenes in front of the full acting department and faculty on Wednesdays) Arthur made a point of asking my thoughts on a scene that day in front of the entire department.  And he did so on other occasions.  Some times he would verbally agree (!!!), some times he would just nod and move on after my comments.  But it was flattering that he thought I had something of interest to say.

One day during that senior year, he stopped me to chat about HANDY DANDY, which he had just directed for Syracuse Stage.  I told him how much I liked the play and the approach to the production.  It's hard to believe I could even admit to having an opinion about it.  He asked me questions, and wanted me to ask him questions.  We spent about 20 minutes - that I never forgot - talking about the play and the process.

All of this meant the world to me and was a serious confidence boost.

To this day, I ask the dancers and actors I work with to keep digging every day  - past opening night.  I recently staged a production of CHICAGO the Musical and all I said to my actors on opening night was "there is no finish line - keep digging."

Arthur taught me to ask questions.

He taught me about craft.

He taught me.

Thank you - RIP Arthur Storch.

National Teacher Appreciation Day 2012

I am today an amalgamation of the amazing teachers who inspired me along my journey.  My fifth grade teacher Mrs. McDaniels, my high school choir teacher Donna Norton and my college acting and dance teachers who pushed me to hone skills and explore the art of theater.

The hours those teachers spent made a difference.  How many times can you say you made a difference?

On this Teacher Appreciation Day, I'd like thank all teachers for your countless hours, your sweat and tears, and your relentless commitment to our children. You do not make enough in financial compensation, in my estimation, for taking on the task of preparing the next generation of Americans.  Thank you for answering such a higher call.

For me, nothing says what I feel about teachers better than Taylor Mali's brilliant poem - "What Teachers Make" - in the video above.  Mali is a vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching, having himself spent nine years in the classroom teaching everything from English and history to math and S.A.T. test preparation.

He has performed and lectured for teachers all over the world, and his New Teacher Project has a goal of creating 1,000 new teachers through "poetry, persuasion, and perseverance."

Visit http://taylormali.com for more on Mali and his New Teacher Project.

What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali

For the teachers.

One of my FAVORITE spoken word poems. Although I do still prefer Taylor Mali, the author, doing his solo version.

(and yes, I have favorite spoken word poems...)

Keeping The Beat: a teacher talks about schools and music education

In many ways, my "life" began in elementary school music classes. Without music classes, I would have never begun singing, which led to dancing, which led to acting, which led to my whole career. Arts programs - like music classes - not only help develop the artistic side of children but it gives kids confidence to own their own expression.

As schools face difficult budget cuts, arts programs across the country are now in danger. Losing them could deprive students of a valuable experience that they may not have a chance to have later. Many universities are facing their own budget problems, and it’s not easy for an accredited online college to lead a music class

Jay Chung, a Philadelphia music teacher, recently stood with President Obama and Vice President Biden and called on Congress to pass the American Jobs Act. The Jobs Act would help hire more teachers and improve school facilities across the country, among other things.

Watch Jay's story and see first-hand why the American Jobs Act is so important to schoolchildren in Pennsylvania.

Matt Damon's speech to teacher's rally in Washington, D.C.

Here is part of the speech that actor Matt Damon gave today to thousands of teachers, parents and others who attended the Save Our Schools march on the Ellipse near the White House to protest the Obama administration’s education policies that are centered on standardized tests.

I was raised by a teacher. My mother is a professor of early childhood education. And from the time I went to kindergarten through my senior year in high school, I went to public schools. I wouldn’t trade that education and experience for anything.

I had incredible teachers. As I look at my life today, the things I value most about myself — my imagination, my love of acting, my passion for writing, my love of learning, my curiosity — all come from how I was parented and taught.

And none of these qualities that I’ve just mentioned — none of these qualities that I prize so deeply, that have brought me so much joy, that have brought me so much professional success — none of these qualities that make me who I am ... can be tested.

I said before that I had incredible teachers. And that’s true. But it’s more than that. My teachers were EMPOWERED to teach me. Their time wasn’t taken up with a bunch of test prep — this silly drill and kill nonsense that any serious person knows doesn’t promote real learning. No, my teachers were free to approach me and every other kid in that classroom like an individual puzzle. They took so much care in figuring out who we were and how to best make the lessons resonate with each of us. They were empowered to unlock our potential. They were allowed to be teachers.

Read Matt Damon's entire speech here.

Taylor Mali on what teachers "make"

Brilliant.