"Everybody today must get a prize"

By James Johnston/Daily News columnist

GHS

Posted Dec 03, 2008 @ 12:17 AM

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FRANKLIN —

What are we teaching kids about life?

There are a few things that must be clearly understood today. The rise and fall of our economic system depends on what we teach our children.

If we do not assume our roles as adults, teachers and mentors and teach a few absolutes, we are setting ourselves up for generations of failure on the world stage. First, greed is bad. Second, the inability to defer gratification is bad. Third, in life, somebody wins and somebody loses at different times. Fourth, to win with grace is good. Fifth, to lose with grace may be better. Sixth, laziness is bad. Seventh, there is a social contract to care for all members of society and to respect their equality as members of the human race.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"Doc, can you help me study?"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Sun Nov 02, 2008, 06:39 PM EST

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FRANKLIN -

Don Roemer, affectionately known as "Doc" to his students and colleagues, spent 37 years in a job he loved.

"I loved it. I loved teaching," said Roemer, a Franklin resident who worked for 27 years as an English teacher at Wayland High School, and 10 years prior as an English professor at Northwestern University and Northeastern University.

Life felt a bit empty when he retired three years ago, so he decided to fill that hole by returning to his passion, he said.

For the past year, he has volunteered as a part-time teacher working alongside a few full-timers at Franklin High School, in a pilot program he proposed last October to Franklin Superintendent of Schools Wayne Ogden. Ogden is the former assistant superintendent of Wayland Public Schools.

"I really wanted very much to have something to do with education. I missed being with the kids. I may be old, but I have a lot of experience, a lot to offer," Roemer said.

"I never got tired of the teaching, I never got tired of the kids, but I did get tired of correcting papers," Roemer said.

As a volunteer, he gets the best of both worlds: giving students one-on-one academic attention, without having to pour through essays and tests, as well as a flexible, albeit, confusing rotating schedule, he said.

Read the full article in the Franklin Gazette here

A video clip by Joyce Kelly interviewing Doc can be seen here:

Twitter - a teaching learning tool

From Nottinghamshire (yes, Robin Hood country) Tom Barrett teaches and writes a blog. This post goes into great detail on how he uses Twitter as a teaching and learning tool.

In my experience, and in the short time that I have used it, Twitter has grown quickly to play a major part in the way that I interact with fellow colleagues and professionals from around the world. In my classroom and with the children I teach it has been an exciting tool to utilise and support learning. However it is one of many tools that we have at our disposal. I do not see it replacing any of the others we use nor do I see the positive impact upon learning being exclusive to Twitter.

Read the full posting here.

Cruise around Tom's site. He has video tutorials. He has some wikis.

Do you twitter?

In the news - street play, teacher citizenship, betting on a budget

Game over for street play?

By Michael Morton/Daily News staff

FRANKLIN - Under a strict reading of a bylaw revision proposed at last night's council meeting, children playing baseball or having a snowball fight on town streets and sidewalks could get a disappointing message: game over.

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Teacher feted for getting U.S. citizenship

By Michael Morton/Daily News staff

FRANKLIN - When French teacher Mireille Malouf walked into the auditorium at Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School yesterday, she thought she had come for an assembly with a broad patriotic theme.

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Local towns would get more state aid

By Matt Kakley/Daily News correspondent

The town of Milford would receive a 10 percent increase in local aid and Franklin would receive an additional 7 percent under Gov. Deval Patrick's budget proposal.

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Patrick's budget plan would rely on casino revenue

By Lindsey Parietti/Daily News staff

BOSTON - Gov. Deval Patrick released a $28 billion budget proposal yesterday, banking on casino licensing fees to fund local aid and challenging his critics in the Legislature to come up with their own solutions to the state's fiscal challenges.

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