via youtube.com
Hard to describe, but utterly fun and enjoyable. Watch and enjoy!
I just got this e-mail from the Chancellor of the NYC Department of Ed chastising the teachers' union for not allowing them to move a teaching day to be more respectful to families' religious observances. I haven't read the union side yet, but ouch, union looking sloppy on this one!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: NYC Schools Update <schoolsupdate@schools.nyc.gov>
Date: Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 3:37 PM
Subject: School Start Date, September 2010
Dear Parents and Members of the New York City Public School Community,As you are no doubt aware, the current schedule for school to start in the fall has students returning to class on Wednesday, September 8, 2010.But over the past few weeks, we heard directly from many parents and school communities concerned about the impact of Labor Day and the Jewish holidays on the first week of school. They asked us to consider moving the first day of school to Monday, September 13, 2010.Recognizing the importance of not losing an instructional school day, the parents who wrote us further proposed that our teachers and staff use that Wednesday, September 8, 2010, as a professional development day, and instead use what is known as Brooklyn-Queens day—a professional development day that falls on Thursday, June 9, 2011 as an instructional school day. Both the Mayor and I thought this proposal made sense for all involved and, in fact, would save parents the hassle of finding child-care for a one-day, mid-week holiday in June.But in order to move forward with this plan, we needed the agreement of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Unfortunately, the UFT refused our proposal and therefore we are left with no choice but to keep the calendar unchanged.I also want to briefly address UFT’s statements in the press that we should allow different schools to start classes on different days. That idea is simply not feasible. We cannot have a chaotic system where different schools start classes on different days, which would require different bus schedules as well as different food schedules. It would be confusing to parents, a further strain on our budget, and disruptive to the overall school calendar. We understand and are sympathetic to the stress some families may feel because of the schedule during the first week of school, and regret that we were unable to make a change we saw as straightforward and fair to all.But given our inability to reach an agreement with the UFT, we will proceed with starting school on Wednesday, September 8, 2010.I wish you and your families an enjoyable, relaxing summer, and look forward to seeing everyone in the fall. Sincerely,Joel I. Klein
Chancellor
From: NYC Schools Update <schoolsupdate@schools.nyc.gov>
Date: Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 3:37 PM
Subject: School Start Date, September 2010
Dear Parents and Members of the New York City Public School Community,As you are no doubt aware, the current schedule for school to start in the fall has students returning to class on Wednesday, September 8, 2010.But over the past few weeks, we heard directly from many parents and school communities concerned about the impact of Labor Day and the Jewish holidays on the first week of school. They asked us to consider moving the first day of school to Monday, September 13, 2010.Recognizing the importance of not losing an instructional school day, the parents who wrote us further proposed that our teachers and staff use that Wednesday, September 8, 2010, as a professional development day, and instead use what is known as Brooklyn-Queens day—a professional development day that falls on Thursday, June 9, 2011 as an instructional school day. Both the Mayor and I thought this proposal made sense for all involved and, in fact, would save parents the hassle of finding child-care for a one-day, mid-week holiday in June.But in order to move forward with this plan, we needed the agreement of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Unfortunately, the UFT refused our proposal and therefore we are left with no choice but to keep the calendar unchanged.I also want to briefly address UFT’s statements in the press that we should allow different schools to start classes on different days. That idea is simply not feasible. We cannot have a chaotic system where different schools start classes on different days, which would require different bus schedules as well as different food schedules. It would be confusing to parents, a further strain on our budget, and disruptive to the overall school calendar. We understand and are sympathetic to the stress some families may feel because of the schedule during the first week of school, and regret that we were unable to make a change we saw as straightforward and fair to all.But given our inability to reach an agreement with the UFT, we will proceed with starting school on Wednesday, September 8, 2010.I wish you and your families an enjoyable, relaxing summer, and look forward to seeing everyone in the fall. Sincerely,Joel I. Klein
Chancellor
Whoah, I was at Flickr and they gave me an option to preview the new photo page i.e. where you go when you click on an image in Flickr. It looks pretty elegant. It's been a long time since they've had a big change like this. I'm sure there will be plenty of flattery and critique to go around, but for now, I like it. The tour at the top is very useful, so if you get the preview be sure to use that to help you find your way around. The FAQ is also useful.
I came across SchoolTVmadeEasy.com when looking for resources for my school's budding TV news production team. It's very useful if you use Adobe Visual Communicator as your software platform, and fairly useful even if you use a different solution.
Too funny
via mta.info
The MTA's website lays out all of the new subway and bus changes in all 5 boroughs of New York City.
They also included a letter that talks about how they're trying to balance an $800 million budget deficit. People got skewered by the news media and public consensus when they had trouble paying their mortgages, and huge institutions like the MTA, the City of Pittsburgh are basically in bankruptcy. Where are the fiscal conservatives? Do they even exist anymore? I just can't believe we've created a country on debt. When you borrow more than you can ever pay off, what do you expect will happen? Frustrating.
All that being said, the new MTA chief seems to be doing some smart things to try and right a broken system. Hopeful for more progressive change.
via cbaz.com
a cool new clothing company out of Brooklyn named Chor Bazaar (translation: thieves' market) with India-inspired t-shirts like this one. This car means India to me. Iconic.
via fastcompany.com
Wow, the team that designed the new New York City subway cars and JetBlue's touch-screen terminals now comes out with furniture for the modern office. Designs that are about creating warm, workable, interactive spaces. I love the aesthetics. Read more at FastCompany.
How do you create an effective workspace? Does furniture matter? I think about this a lot when looking at classrooms. Some people are really pushing how aesthetics of a space impact performance. Just think about the average classroom where all desks face the blackboard. It suggests that the info is at the front and is being delivered to the kids - that's not necessarily bad, it is just what the room creates. Do we need to change that? I'd argue generally, yes.
via @photojojo