Links Worth Talking About 3-6-16

Links Worth Talking About is my weekly post of curated links about education, books, and apropos of nothing.

And let's start right off with apropos of nothing...

If we weren't laughing we'd all be crying, which is why Travis Jonker decided to make us laugh with this post: Donald Trump Reviews Children's Books. 

 Pernille Ripp shares an important post about looking beyond punishment when kids act out.

This week a fake New York Times article circulated saying that Senator Elizabeth Warren endorsed Bernie Sanders. Many people fell for it. So this was a really great opportunity to talk with my students about things like background information, context, (why does it matter that Elizabeth Warren apparently endorsed Sanders?), motivations (why would someone want to make a fake NYT article about Warren in the first place?) and why it's important to know your sources.

Are you coming to #nErDcampMI in July? This year they're putting out a call for day 1 proposals.

The articles against homework continue to pile up. Here's the most recent one. I particularly found this quote provocative: 

Homework does have an impact on young students, but it’s not a good one. A child just beginning school deserves the chance to develop a love of learning. Instead, homework at a young age causes many kids to turn against school, future homework and academic learning. 

Back in 2014, Jennifer Gonzalez wrote this wonderful blog post on Cult of Pedagogy about incorrect spelling and why we should allow kids to do it.

Another huge thing teachers need to keep in mind is what we are asking students to do all day: sit passively. Here's a Washington Post article that brings up this very issue.

Celebrate Getting Your Nerd On

My husband and I are currently between houses. We're still living in our old house, but we're doing work on the new house and will be completely moved in next weekend.

Gettin' my Nerd on at my new hometown library

Yesterday I changed the address on my driver's license. What's the first thing I did after that? Went and applied for a library card of course! I've been jonesin' to apply for a new library card because I often put stuff on hold that isn't available right away... so because we'll be moving soon, I haven't been putting anything on hold at my current library because I knew we'd be moved by the time it came in. Now that I have a home library again, all is right with the world.

And I am such a book nerd that after my husband and I applied for our library cards, I asked the librarian who was helping us to give us a tour -- because I plan on taking advantage of all that my my new library has to offer. So my husband was especially excited to see that our new library lets you check out "unusual items" like various tools for home improvement, crafting, and music -- even outdoor games like lawn chess, ping pong, and giant Jenga. And given that we're moving to a city that has significantly higher taxes than where we currently live, I definitely plan on taking advantage of all that my tax dollars are paying for. :)

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres