Dr Flavius Akerele III's The E Team Education blog

I am taking a vacation until after thanksgiving. Wishing you and yours a good holiday! Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

Sometimes we need to just celebrate the simple things in education rather than pointing out the big bad things, so, on that note I want to share something personal. My now 7 year old daughter told us almost a year and half ago that she was going to the Olympics for gymnastics. As parents, we sometimes do not realize how determined kids can be, myself included. Yesterday, she made the official team, and this particular team has been a feeder for various US national gymnasts. It looks like she is one step closer to the Olympics and I am filled with pride about her! Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

It seems sexual assault ‘embarrasses’ certain types of institutions; professional sports and college campuses. What bothers me about the college campus is that it is supposed to be a place of learning and enlightenment, so they should know better. Instead of absolute outrage at the fact that students were sexually assaulted on a campus, we get outrage that the campus’ good name might be tarnished, we get spin control, we get threats of retaliation; but we do not get a serious solution. It is great that the schools have policies on sexual assault and that on paper they take it very seriously. However, a piece of paper is not going to protect the victim; they can wave it all they want but it will not help them. What are schools doing to put absolute fear in potential rapists? What are schools doing to change the culture to the point where rape becomes a distant memory of barbaric times instead of an everyday occurrence? “Spotlight on Campus Responses to Rape Puts Presiden...

My purpose of sharing this is to make you aware, and hopefully start talking about this issue. “The Hard-Knock (and Downright Dangerous) Lives of Teachers” “The Associated Press this week reports on the dangers teachers face on a daily basis”. “"When a 16-year-old student slammed a metal trash can onto Philip Raimondo's head, it did more than break open the history teacher's scalp, knock him out, and send him bleeding to the floor," the Associated Press writes”. “Violence against teachers isn't new ground, it's just progressively sadder ground dampened by further bloodshed. In September, the Teaching Now Blog's Hana Maruyama wrote about other recent physical assaults on teachers, including incidents in Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; Georgia; the Brooklyn borough of New York” “A master's degree in teaching does not confer upon the recipient any form of invisible shield. It does not bestow super strength or airbags. Teachers are no less im...

“For-Profits Step Up Gainful Criticism” “Representatives of for-profit colleges stepped up their criticism Monday of the Education Department’s efforts to rewrite the “gainful employment” rules that would apply to their institutions and vocational programs at community colleges”. “As a federally appointed panel kicked off a second round of negotiations over the regulations, the for-profit-college members of the committee lamented a lack of information and questioned the department’s rationale for putting forth a stricter, more sweeping proposal than the department originally suggested in its first draft”. “The department is now proposing standards that include a debt-to-income measure, a program-level cohort default rate, and a loan repayment rate. With that more aggressive proposal on the table, the negotiators Monday appeared even further apart than they did during the first round of discussions ”. Read the rest here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/19...

First and foremost, I am simply presenting a piece of information not a political opinion. This information is not new, but the author has presented in what I found was a fresh and riveting way. My hope is that you will read this and see that there is not just a social problem, but a systemic education problem that threads itself through systems from beginning to end. I am a firm believer that educators have or can find the answer to this issue. “The American Police State: A sociologist interrogates the criminal-justice system, and tries to stay out of the spotlight” “ On a winter afternoon in 2004, a woman waits in the detective unit of a Philadelphia police station. Two officers, outfitted with combat boots and large guns, enter the room. The cops place their guns on the table, pointed at her. The woman is 22, tiny, and terrified”. “The officers show her a series of photos of men from around her neighborhood. Two of the men are her roommates, Mike and Chuck, low-le...

“To improve their classroom-management skills, teachers are often advised to seek help from talented peers. To that end, we recently sent out emails and tweets to teachers asking: “What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received regarding classroom management?”” “Over 40 teachers replied with tips on everything from timed activities to relationship building. Here's a selection of their responses:” Read it all here: http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/10/14/cm_advice.html?tkn=YXLFg8Pkn%2BGLNZzj1Eqpx0r4NHi6w3gDHwyv&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2 Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam