TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

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TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby blackturtle.us » Fri Dec 11, 2015 9:42 am

The board meeting this evening lasted a bit over an hour. Several community members were on hand for student awards, but left well before the end of the meeting. Four non-employees stayed to the end of the meeting, two of which were presenters. Board member Sandy Sprouse was absent.

Superintendent Comments - Supt. Keith Tomes talked a little about a conference he and some board members attended down in San Diego. He and the board members agreed that the conference was enjoyable, but gave no specific details other than that they ate some meals together while on the trip.

Board Organization - During the next year Deana Garrison will serve as Board President, Samantha Mclean will serve as Clerk and Sandy Sprouse will be Board Representative. Although board meetings will still be held on the second Thursday of each month and open session will continue to begin at six, closed sessions will start a half hour earlier than has been the case in the recent past.

Elementary Principal - Alan Tsubota provided information about dental health services which will be provided by a dental group out of Loma Linda. Students will receive dental exams in January and be provided with treatment in March. Also the Christmas Program will be held Friday, December 18th at nine in the morning. The 18th will be a half day for students.

Athletic Director - The board requested that the Athletic Director provide updates regarding CIF meetings on a regular basis.

HS Counselor - Provided the board with an update about the Parent Project.

New maintenance employee hired.

California STEAM - A presentation regarding a charter school program was given. The presentation lasted at least twenty minutes. Lots of information provided about various programs relating to language courses, technology courses, etc. Board members asked questions about the financial relationship that would exist between the group running the charter school and the school district. Answers were somewhat ambiguous.

Financial Report - Although the current financial state of the district is very good, the usual warnings about patterns of overspending and uncertainty about future revenues were expressed. Specific questions about cafeteria finances were discussed at some length. One board member asked if the cafeteria would better serve the needs of students if the district were to opt out of receiving federal assistance so as to have more freedom to serve food items which students would actually ingest (as opposed to simply dispose of in the closest garbage bin).

Next regular board meeting: January 14, 2016
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby wildrose » Sat Dec 12, 2015 9:46 am

A Kids' Coding Expert Says We're Making Computer Class Way Too Boring
Computers are not just expensive typewriters or a way to automate ordinary tasks, they are a tool that can be used to create extraordinary things. The sad truth is that 99% of the time in schools computers are used to do ordinary and dull tasks. As a retired teacher I'd like to see my profession prove the critics wrong. Teachers can learn to use technology to do more than powerpoints, glorified worksheets/tutorial/busy-work, and ordinary office tasks! We need to turn the 99% of wasted opportunity into something meaningful instead of allowing the status quo to persist.
"Coding is not just a set of technical skills," he tells NPR Ed. "It's a new way of expressing yourself. It's similar to learning to write — a way for kids to organize, express and share ideas. But instead of putting words into sentences, now they can create animated stories."

LINK: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/12/11/458782056/a-kids-coding-expert-says-were-making-computer-class-way-too-boring
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby mrgreen » Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:27 pm

Suspected Terror Hoax Shuts Down LA Schools :smack:
They say that they get terror threats everyday, but what made this one special was that it was sent from an IP address in Germany. Any high school nerd knows how to spoof an IP address. There are quite a few ways of doing that. It's not even what you'd call a hacker level skill. There must be at least a couple thousand students in Los Angeles who could have easily done that kind of thing from their smartphone.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby mrgreen » Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:37 pm

Sarcastic people are smarter, sexier & more successful
It's hard not to be sarcastic when talking about all the stupid things the schools in Los Angeles have done in recent years. There was the iPhone scandal and now this. Any of those kids who hacked the iPhone security system the school district put in place could have easily spoofed the IP address so it looked like the message was sent from Germany. If schools are supposed to help people to become more intelligent, then how come such unintelligent people run most schools? It's one of those weird conundrums that just don't seem to have a satisfactory answer.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby twister » Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:33 am

mrgreen: I think you're talking about iPads, not iPhones. There was some kind of thing where LAUSD purchased tens of thousands of iPads complete with keyboards and the students hacked the security on them almost immediately. There was also some kind of kickback scandal with some educational software company and the FBI had to get involved. It was a mess.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby wildrose » Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:24 am

twister: A couple different numbers on the iPads, but one article I saw said it was over 43 thousand. It also mentioned the price of iPads as being over $750 each and that most districts are opting for much less expensive Chromebooks.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby MojaveMike » Sat Dec 19, 2015 8:24 am

Designing for Youth - Making Games for Players Under 14 - Extra Credits
People who design games for children can learn a lot from teachers and teachers can learn a lot from people who design games for anyone.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby twister » Thu Dec 24, 2015 7:35 am

Santa Claus Field Trip Causes Controversy
After failing to see the obvious for five minutes, these two airheads finally figure out the real problem with their whole discussion in the last few seconds of the video. Santa has nothing to do with Christianity!
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby tronagirl » Thu Dec 24, 2015 12:21 pm

Why This MIT Dropout Started an Anti-College
Tests and grades don't measure what you can do, but they are traditional components of the educational system. It's about time that we depart from tradition.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 10, 2015

Postby panamint_patty » Thu Dec 24, 2015 12:49 pm

How the Maker Movement Connects Students to Engineering and Technology
This seems like it would be good for changing the way schools operate, but how would they make sure that all kids learned all the core concepts they need to know in order to graduate? If a kid does a bunch of projects, but never needs to learn about the structure of an atom, for instance, then how would a kid learn that concept? I guess my point is that it would be hard for a kid to get a full education only doing project after project. Somewhere in there students have to study in the traditional way.
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