Archive for December 2013

A Chicago Public Schools' teacher education year in review: 2013

A Chicago Public Schools' teacher education year in review: 2013
I should have known 2013 was going to be a bold year for The White Rhino blog. When students, staff, and I spent our first school day of 2013 in our Chicago Public Schools high school without heat, I knew this was an injustice I had to write about. In January, according to Google analytics,... Read more »
By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
December 30, 2013 at 3:34 pm • 

My response to Diane Ravitch, author of Reign of Error

Thanks to education expert  Diane Ravitch, author of Reign of Error, for responding to my commentary titled “How Diane Ravitch Should Help Low-Income Students in 2014.”Below are excerpts of her post in italics with my response below each section. Ray Salazar, a teacher in Chicago, wrote a blog post asking me to respond to four questions. I... Read more »
By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
December 27, 2013 at 12:08 pm • 

How Education Expert Diane Ravitch Should Help Low-Income Students in 2014

As my students develop their argumentative writing, I push them to ask themselves “What are the implications of my argument?”  In other words, if our high-school community accepts their idea, what will the argument encourage the audience to believe, communicate, or do?  As we move into another year of education reform and anti-education reform with... Read more »
By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
December 24, 2013 at 12:11 pm • 
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What a former Chicago Public Schools student taught me today

A group of former students from our Chicago public neighborhood high school visited our school today.  They spoke on a panel about their college experiences to help this year’s seniors gain insights into what happens after graduation.  While I did not attend the panel, I did talk with a few of the students afterwards one-on-one.... Read more »
By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
December 18, 2013 at 9:59 pm • 

Chicago Public Schools' African American studies for all: an outdated approach

Wednesday, Chicago Public Schools announced a new curriculum that, according CPS officials quoted in the Chicago Tribune, “will allow teachers to incorporate African and African-American studies into core subjects throughout the year, bringing the district into compliance with the state requirement.” Around 9:15 a.m. Thursday, the Chicago Teachers Union sent out a tweet quoting a... Read more »
By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
December 12, 2013 at 10:09 pm • 

How a father explains Our Lady of Guadalupe to his daughter

How a father explains Our Lady of Guadalupe to his daughter
As many of us know, for Mexican Catholics, December 12 marks the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Worshipers sing mañanitas, songs of praise early in the morning. These celebrations commemorate the morning, we believe, she appeared to Juan Diego on Mexico’s City Tepeyac Hill in 1531. On this morning, I share my ofrenda,... Read more »
By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
December 12, 2013 at 3:40 am • 
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