LET'S HAVE A TRULY GRASSROOTS BOYCOTT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ON SEPTEMBER 8

I will not participate. They can fire me.

See links here

http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/bts.html

FROM 7-12 plans

After the Speech:

Guided Discussion:

What resonated with you from President Obama’s speech? What lines/phrases do you remember?
Who is President Obama addressing? How do you know? Describe his audience.
We heard President Obama mention the importance of personal responsibility. In your life, who exemplifies this kind of personal responsibility? How? Give examples.
How are we as individuals and as a class similar? Different?
Suppose President Obama were to give another speech about being educationally successful. Who could he speak to next? Who should be his next audience? Why? What would he say?
What are the three most important words in the speech? Rank them. What title would you give this speech? What’s the thesis?
What is President Obama inspiring you to do? What is he challenging you to do?
What do you believe are the challenges of your generation?
How can you be a part of addressing these challenges?
Video Project:

Teachers could encourage students to participate in the Department of Education’s “I Am What I Learn” video contest. On September 8th the Department will invite K-12 students to submit a video no longer than 2 min, explaining why education is important and how their education will help them achieve their dreams. Teachers are welcome to incorporate the same or a similar video project into an assignment. More details will be released via www.ed.gov.

Transition: Teachers could introduce goal setting in the following way to make the most of the extension activities.

“When you set a goal, you envision a target you are going to reach over time. Goals are best when they are Challenging, Attainable, and Needed (CAN). For example, a good goal might be “I want to boost my average grade by one letter grade this year so I can show colleges I’m prepared.” But, every good goal also needs steps that guide the way. These steps keep you on track toward achieving your goal. For example, my first step might be, to improve by a letter grade in all subjects for each report card. My second step: to complete 100% of my homework for all my classes the first week of school. My third step: to study an extra hour for all my tests each marking period. My fourth step: to attend tutoring or get an adult to help me whenever I don’t understand something. My last step might be the most important: to ask an adult in my life to check on me often, to make sure I’m reaching each of my steps. Your steps should add up to your goal. If they don’t, that’s okay; we fix them until they do add up!

Let’s hear another example of an academic goal for the year, and decide what steps would achieve that goal…

Now I want you to write your own personal academic goal for this year and steps you will take to achieve it. We can revise our steps each marking period to make sure we are on track.”

Extension of the Speech: Teachers can extend learning by having students

Create decorated goals and steps on index card sized material. The index cards could be formatted as an inviting graphic organizer with a space for the goal at the top and several steps in the remaining space. Cards could be hung in the room to create classroom culture of goal setting, persistence and success, and for the purpose of periodic review. (See “Example Handouts”).
Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants or puzzle pieces or trails marked as steps. These could also be hung around the room, to be reviewed periodically and to create a classroom culture of goal setting and for the purpose of periodic review.
Interview and share their goals with one another and the class, establishing community support for their goals.
Create incentives or contests for achieving their personal goals.
Write about their goals and steps in a variety of genres, i.e. poems, songs, personal essays.
Create artistic representations of their goals and steps.

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My favorite task:

What is President Obama inspiring you to do? What is he challenging you to do?

President Obama is inspiring me to forward this lesson plan to hundreds of individuals to let them know how intrusive he is.

Bravo!

Kids will learn more at a museum, the zoo, or just playing in the park.

7-12 Grade Menu

Grades 7-12 Menu of Classroom Activities: President Obama’s Address to Students Across America
Produced by Teaching Ambassador Fellows, U.S. Department of Education
September 8, 2009

Before the Speech:
• Quick Write or Think/Pair/Share (Students spend a few minutes Thinking and writing about the question; Paired with another student to discuss, then Sharing their ideas with the class as a whole). What do we associate with the words responsibility, persistence, and goals? How would we define each term? A teacher might create a web of student ideas for each of the words.
• Quick Write or Brainstorm: What are your strengths? At what are you successful as a person/student? What makes you successful at these efforts? List at least three things you are successful at and why you feel successful with these tasks.
• Short readings. Notable quotes excerpted (and posted in large print on board) from President Obama’s speeches about education. Teacher might ask students to think alone, compare ideas with a partner, and share their collaborations with the class (Think/Pair/Share) about the following: What are our interpretations of these excerpts? Based on these excerpts, what can we infer the President believes is important to be successful educationally?
• Brainstorm or Concept Web: Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us? How will he challenge us? What might he say?
• Brainstorm or Concept Web: What other historic moments do you remember when the President spoke to the nation? What was the impact? Students could create a Cause/Effect graphic organizer.

During the Speech:
• Listening with a purpose: personal responsibility, goals, persistence. Teachers might ask pairs of students to create a word bank from the web of any one of the terms (personal responsibility, goals, or persistence) at the top of a double-column style notes page. On the right-hand side, students could take notes while President Obama talks about personal responsibility, or goals, or persistence, trying to capture direct quotations. At the end of the speech, students could then write the corresponding terms from the word bank in the left hand column, to increase retention and deepen their understanding of an important aspect of the speech.
• Listening with a purpose: Inspiration and Challenges. Using a similar double-column style notes page as the one above, the teacher could focus students on quotations that either propose a specific challenge to them or inspire them in some meaningful way. Students could do this individually, in pairs or groups.

Transition/Quick Review: Teachers could ask students to look over the notes and collaborate in pairs or small groups. What more could we add to our notes? Teachers might circulate and ask students questions such as: What are the most important words in the speech? What title would you give it? What’s the thesis?

After the Speech:
Guided Discussion:
• What resonated with you from President Obama’s speech? What lines/phrases do you remember?

You beat me to the punch ;-)

I’ve haven’t heard anything about this at school. Are you sure this is true?

How about a rebuttal?

I stated earlier that it would be a great day for a Tea Party!

Hi, b! BTW, did you see the stuff about the conference call with the National Endowment for the Arts?

Howdy, Miss mewzilla- yep, and it's disgusting-- I linked to it in that file I maintain on Duh!1®...

Government schools are socialism pure. They are the government owned means of production. Why wouldn't they become socialist in spirit after being socialist in practice? You are what you do.

Shun socialist schools. Don't send your kids to socialist schools. What's the point of keeping them away for one day out of the year?

Hi chalkfarmer. Read here: http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/bts.html

LEAD & MANAGE MY SCHOOL
Letter From Secretary Arne Duncan to School Principals August 26, 2009
Classroom Activities
Grades preK-6 download files
PDF (64K) | MS Word (32K)
Grades 7-12 download files
PDF (108K) | MS Word (80K)
Please note that the time of this speech has changed to 12:00 noon eastern standard time.

Dear Principal:
In a recent interview with student reporter, Damon Weaver, President Obama announced that on September 8 — the first day of school for many children across America — he will deliver a national address directly to students on the importance of education. The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.
Since taking office, the President has repeatedly focused on education, even as the country faces two wars, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and major challenges on issues like energy and health care. The President believes that education is a critical part of building a new foundation for the American economy. Educated people are more active civically and better informed on issues affecting their lives, their families and their futures.
This is the first time an American president has spoken directly to the nation's school children about persisting and succeeding in school. We encourage you to use this historic moment to help your students get focused and begin the school year strong. I encourage you, your teachers, and students to join me in watching the President deliver this address on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. It will be broadcast live on the White House website www.whitehouse.gov 12:00 noon eastern standard time.
In advance of this address, we would like to share the following resources: a menu of classroom activities for students in grades preK-6 and for students in grades 7-12. These are ideas developed by and for teachers to help engage students and stimulate discussion on the importance of education in their lives. We are also staging a student video contest on education. Details of the video contest will be available on our website www.ed.gov in the coming weeks.
On behalf of all Americans, I want to thank our educators who do society's most important work by preparing our children for work and for life. No other task is more critical to our economic future and our social progress. I look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead to continue improving the quality of public education we provide all of our children.
Sincerely,
Arne Duncan

Those students that write the best essay about President Obama will receive a handsome dagger.

Here’s another one....
Maybe you can find out if their school is partaking in this crap.

I posted this on another thread:
Please do not allow your children to go to school on this day. This is hypnotism flat out. It has a cadence, leading suggestions, an anchor (note-taking) and follow up. It will make EVERYTHING the teacher says from then on about “issues” have a connection to Obama and his wishes..ie commands. Please investigate further. Maybe it isn’t as it appears in this piece, but if it is. Just NO.

Please acquaint yourselves with hypnotic suggestion, NLP and various techniques and then teach your children about them. They need to know what to watch for, certain language patterns, gestures, anchoring, cadences, mirroring. I suggest two examples. In the movie Cabaret there is a scene at a Beer Garden where the song starts out slow, patriotic and slowly builds into a frenzy. The other is the movie SWING KIDS, which more or less tells the entire story. But in it is a scene which shows a technic similar to the one in Cabaret...this is called pacing and mirroring. If you start out where someone is and gradually up the tempo you can lead them where you want.

From the upper grades indoctrination:

"[prior to speech class should take] Notable quotes excerpted (and posted in large print on board) from President Obama’s speeches about education . . . Based on these excerpts, what can we infer the President believes is important to be successful educationally? . . . Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us? How will he challenge us? What might he say? . . . What other historic moments do you remember when the President spoke to the nation? What was the impact? . . . What is President Obama inspiring you to do? What is he challenging you to do?"

Unless memory fails.. similar efforts vis-a-vis President Reagan and children were more about America. Quotes from Reagan's speeches about America. Were children ever asked to explain being inspired by Reagan, the man? Did Reagan ever claim that that "shining city on a hill" was his?

Reagan was about America! America! America! America!

Why would he be doing this if he is only going to be president for 4 years or even o.k. 8?

I already told my granddaughter about Obama. She is only soon to be 8. So I called to day to reinforce my thoughts. I understand she may have to participate, but I wanted her to remember what I had told her...she understood. I am actually considering paying her parents to keep the kids out of school that day!! But I figure they will still be ‘influenced’ with pictures or other materials...