Rick Ayers

William Ayers

Crystal Laura

"Overturns common misconceptions about charter schools, school "choice," standardized tests, common core curriculum, and teacher evaluations. Teachers have always been devalued in the United States, but in recent years the pace and intensity of attacks by politicians, the media, and so-called education reformers have escalated sharply. Indeed, the "bad teacher" figure has come to dominate public discourse, obscuring the structural inequities that teachers and students face everyday. This book flips the script on enduring and popular myths about teachers, teachers unions, and education that inform policy discussions and choices. Some of these myths, such as "student scores on standardized tests should be used to evaluate teachers," have ushered in an era of high-stakes exam-centric classrooms. Other myths, such as "unions are good for teachers but bad for kids," have led to reduced protection and rights for teachers in public schools, making it harder for educators to serve their students. By unpacking these myths, and underscoring the necessity of strong and vital public schools as a common good, Ayers and Laura challenge readers - whether parents, community members, or policymakers - to rethink their own assumptions about teaching and education"--

And 20 Other Myths about Teachers and Teaching

You Can't Fire the Bad Ones!

Bernardine Dohrn

Essays present arguments against zero-tolerance policies found in schools across the United States.

Resisting the Drive for Punishment in Our Schools : a Handbook for Parents, Students, Educators, and Citizens

Zero Tolerance

Isabel Nunez

Crystal L. Laura

Inspired by the life and work of Bill Ayers, particularly his advice to "teach into the contradiction', Diving In reflects the intellectual adventures that Ayers has always encouraged those around him to undertake. Written by leading educators and activitsts, the collected chapters within this book are as diverse as the myriad contradictions that teachers encounter in their day-to-day practice and their out-of-class musings. The contributors use themes suggested by Ayer's work to open up new perspectives and discourses on key issues in education, such as education as a human right, participatory democracy, social justice, and liberation. Diving In offers much-needed hope at a time when teachers need it the most.

Bill Ayers and the Art of Teaching into the Contradiction

Diving In

Rick and William Ayers renew their challenge to teachers to teach initiative, to teach imagination, to "teach the taboo" in the new edition of this bestseller. Drawing from a lifetime of deep commitment to students, teaching, and social justice, the authors update their powerful critique of schooling and present classroom stories of everyday teachers grappling with many of today's hotly debated issues. They invite educators to live a teaching life of questioning--to imagine classrooms where every established and received bit of wisdom, common sense, orthodoxy, and dogma is open for examination, interrogation, and rethinking. Teaching the Taboo, Second Edition is an insightful guide to effective pedagogy and essential reading for anyone looking to evolve as an educator.

Courage and Imagination in the Classroom, Second Edition

Teaching the Taboo

Laura Crystal

Overturns common misconceptions about charter schools, school "choice," standardized tests, common core curriculum, and teacher evaluations. Three distinguished educators, scholars, and activists flip the script on many enduring and popular myths about teachers, teachers' unions, and education that permeate our culture. By unpacking these myths, and underscoring the necessity of strong and vital public schools as a common good, the authors challenge readers--whether parents, community members, policy makers, union activists, or educators themselves--to rethink their assumptions.

And 18 Other Myths about Teachers, Teachers Unions, and Public Education

"You Can't Fire the Bad Ones!"

The death of a student, especially to gun violence, is a life-changing experience that occurs with more and more frequency in America's schools. For each of those tragedies, there is a classroom and there is a teacher. Yet student death is often a forbidden subject, removed from teacher education and professional development classes where the curriculum is focused instead on learning about standards, lesson plans, and pedagogy. What can and should teachers do when the unbearable happens? An Empty Seat in the Class illuminates the tragedy of student death and suggests ways of dealing and healing within the classroom community. This book weaves the story of the author's very personal experience of a student's fatal shooting with short pieces by other educators who have worked through equally terrible events and also includes contributions from counsellors, therapists, and school principals. Through accumulated wisdom, educators are given the means and resources to find their own path to healing their students, their communities, and themselves.

Teaching and Learning After the Death of a Student

An Empty Seat in Class

The death of a student, especially to gun violence, is a life-changing experience that occurs with more and more frequency in America’s schools. For each of these tragedies, there is a classroom and there is a teacher. Yet student death is often a forbidden subject, removed from teacher education and professional development classes where the curriculum is focused instead on learning about standards, lesson plans, and pedagogy. What can and should teachers do when the unbearable happens? An Empty Seat in Class illuminates the tragedy of student death and suggests ways of dealing and healing within the classroom community. This book weaves the story of the author’s very personal experience of a student’s fatal shooting with short pieces by other educators who have worked through equally terrible events and also includes contributions from counselors, therapists, and school principals. Through accumulated wisdom, educators are given the means and the resources to find their own path to healing their students, their communities, and themselves. “A dreadful script had been written for our school and town (and the world) but this did not mean that a new script could not be written by us. We didn’t have to subscribe to the tragic script beyond our control. It was time to rewrite.” —Lee Keylock, high school teacher, Sandy Hook, CT “This book is a meditation on the unspeakable horror and ensuing anguish that follows the death of a student. A heretofore taboo subject, teachers have much to share about their creative, improvisational praxes when shared cultural scripts in urban classrooms are unavailable. This moving and poignant text illuminates as much as it inspires. —Angela Valenzuela, Professor of Education, University of Texas, Director of the Texas Center for Education Policy “Written by the most important kind of expert, someone who has been there, Dr. Ayers candidly discusses his own struggles following the violent death of one of his students. This book serves as an invaluable guide, providing research and practical tools on how to respond to a student death and facilitate a safe space in the classroom where students can ask questions, express emotions, and process their grief. This is a must-read for every teacher, administrator, and counselor so that a school is well prepared in the event of a tragedy.” —Heidi Horsley, executive director, Open to Hope Foundation, adjunct professor, Columbia University School of Social Work “For those who teach, this book will likely evoke painful memories of loss and unrealized potential that accompanies the tragedy of any student's death. Classrooms and communities are worlds of their own, where saving one life or inspiring someone in even the most minute or momentary way can mean saving a whole world. Ayers's book honors the lives of both teachers and students. It is a book for all of us.” —Jack Weinstein, director, San Francisco Bay Area, Facing History and Ourselves

U. S. Department U.S. Department of Commerce

Wayne Jansen

Mobile phone forensics is the science of recovering digital evidence from a mobile phone under forensically sound conditions using accepted methods. Mobile phones, especially those with advanced capabilities, are a relatively recent phenomenon, not usually covered in classical computer forensics. This guide attempts to bridge that gap by providing an in-depth look into mobile phones and explaining the technologies involved and their relationship to forensic procedures. It covers phones with features beyond simple voice communication and text messaging and their technical and operating characteristics. This guide also discusses procedures for the preservation, acquisition, examination, analysis, and reporting of digital information present on cell phones, as well as available forensic software tools that support those activities.

Guidelines on Cell Phone Forensics

Rick and William Ayers renew their challenge to teachers to teach initiative, to teach imagination, to “teach the taboo” in the new edition of this bestseller. Drawing from a lifetime of deep commitment to students, teaching, and social justice, the authors update their powerful critique of schooling and present classroom stories of everyday teachers grappling with many of today’s hotly debated issues. They invite educators to live a teaching life of questioning—to imagine classrooms where every established and received bit of wisdom, common sense, orthodoxy, and dogma is open for examination, interrogation, and rethinking. Teaching the Taboo, Second Edition is an insightful guide to effective pedagogy and essential reading for anyone looking to evolve as an educator. What’s new for the second edition of Teaching the Taboo! A deeper exploration of issues of white privilege and racism and war and peace. A more thorough examination of the problems with math and science education, including possible solutions. An expanded exploration of the importance of creative writing for validating individual and community experiences. A more thorough discussion of Freire’s work and comparison to the radical teaching projects of African American activists in the south during the Freedom Schools. An in-depth look at how students can be part of co-constructing historical narratives and analyses. An update on school struggles in Atlanta, Chicago, and Seattle. Praise for the first edition of Teaching the Taboo! “For those frustrated by the thrust of educational 'reform'…this book provides what can be described as both a challenge and a set of alternatives.” —Education Review “Drawing from a lifetime of deep thinking about education and courageous commitment to precious students, Rick and William Ayers have given us a marvelous book. Their devastating critique of the pervasive market models in education and their powerful defense of democratic forms of imagination in schools are so badly needed in our present-day crisis!” —Cornel West, Princeton University “Teaching the Taboo is provocative, challenging, funny in places, wild but sensible enough to be useful, inspiring, and practical for educators who are working to negate the educational madness that is infecting the schools.” —Herb Kohl, author of 36 Children and Painting Chinese Rick Ayers is a university instructor and founder of the Communication Arts and Sciences small school at Berkeley High School, and teaches at the University of San Francisco. William Ayers is a school reform activist and a Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Rick Ayers

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