Watch the teachers of Bayshore on Long Island in New York at their conference day as they create a flash mob that satirizes Common Core, stats, and Governor Cuomo!
Watch the teachers of Bayshore on Long Island in New York at their conference day as they create a flash mob that satirizes Common Core, stats, and Governor Cuomo!

Loved it! Those are my kind of TEACHERS!
LikeLike
Creative resistance. Love it.
LikeLike
Diane….Thanks for sharing the news about Mike K heading to ND to support the pipeline protesters. I do a great deal of work on the Standing Rock reservation. The tribal chairman is a man of integrity. What the energy company is doing here, running ramshod over sacred grounds, to say nothing of threatening the Missouri River should a leak every occur, as well as hiring a security company to spend guard dogs into the crowd trying to protect the sacred ground, all defies belief. This story deserves greater national coverage and a response from both presidential candidates and the current administration. I urge greater public support for the Sioux and their supporters.
LikeLike
Ah! Bay Shore retains its creative leadership in spite of the gag order. Bay Shore has a history of creative, intelligent, and strong leadership.
When the NYState Leaning Standards were issued they immediately had committees applying those well researched standards to each grade level.
When the teachers found their reading program out dated they formed committees to study the programs that various companies were proposing and invited reps to present to the faculty. Teachers experimented for a year with their materials; meetings were held; and a vote was taken. When a program was selected we told the district what we needed – not the reverse. That can’t happen today because Pearson Co. bought up the major book companies and has a monopoly on the textbooks.
When there was a need for take-home books, teachers put their heads together; wrote a grant for literature books and developed the so called “Share-a-book” club. Other teachers sponsored two-for-one book fairs with the purpose of putting books in the homes in lieu of making money. Some would go to the warehouse to purchase books for classroom libraries and home use.
When there was a need to inform parents, evening workshops were offered. Teachers volunteered to present various thematic workshops giving the parents a choice. Transportation was provided where needed along with baby sitting and a door prize as an added incentive to attend. For those who couldn’t attend the evening workshops, a morning meeting was provided.
If teachers needed an update on the latest research, teachers would spend their summer attending literacy classes in Ohio and Arkansas. They would come back and share via workshops during after school hours. Workshops among neighboring districts were organized to share their ideas. Workshops were held among neighboring districts bringing in literacy experts to demonstrate and explain new, proven methodology.
The teachers’ parking lots were filled hours before classes began and hours after the children left. There were grade level meetings and impromptu ones among teachers sharing ideas. Long before CT teachers devised a way to prevent suspension, ( http://www.wnyc.org/story/preschool-suspensions-really-happen-and-thats-not-okay-with-connecticut/ ) these teachers developed their quiet, cozy area where children could go and be by themselves to unwind with a book. Some teachers had a little tent, another had a miniature den built with a deck on top, inside the classroom, others had pillows on a rug in a corner used not as a punishment but as a means to deal with their emotions.
Special area teachers: music, art, gym, and librarians were actively involved with the yearly school-wide triathlons blending together creativity, movement, and application.
Literacy night had three areas of concentration: air, sea, and land in the largest areas in the school – gym, art room, library and cafeteria. Teachers became story tellers, actors and others readers.
Whenever there was a need, the teachers solved the problem and didn’t wait to be told by the administration. Oh the harm the CC has done to the children, parents, and teachers. Possibly Bay Shore teachers are turning a new leaf and taking charge of their own destiny instead of listening to the corporate world. Power to the unions!
LikeLike
Amen! Well said!! So proud that my children are the 3rd generation to go through the Bay Shore Schools in my family along with having my mother and grandparents all teaching in the district in years past. Bay Shore has always had such a dedicated, creative, caring staff that is willing to go above and beyond for their students and community.
LikeLike
Hope this isn’t too late, but here’s another great video–it went viral, & Dwayne Reed (no, not Duane Read!), a student teacher in Skokie, IL, was written about in WaPo, the Miami Herald, other publications & was touted on Good Morning America. It just makes you happy to watch it, & it’s nice to post some positive :>) here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBLcuGunRxU (If this doesn’t work, simply Google Dwayne Reed, Stenson School, Skokie)
LikeLike