Charlottesville schools are setting up a private wiki and training teachers to use them. Wonderful! #
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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Is it me, or does making department heads approve all changes sound like a horrible idea?
“It will be a handy resource for all of our teachers who may be spending hours in the afternoon preparing lessons for the next day,” Atkins said. “Now they have at their fingertips high-quality lessons that they can select from.”
I may be way off here, but are lesson plans so fluid that “teachers spend hours preparing lessons for the next day”? – and preparing them the day before? Maybe a tweak or two but ………………..
Uh. I hadn’t noticed that. That’s really, really weak.
It’s my understanding that the department heads will only ok changes that are made after the lesson has been uploaded by the original teacher, which are being posted without having to be approved by department heads.
The wiki is still in its infancy (and still a little clunky), and I’d love to see some ability to comment on lessons – what worked, what didn’t work, the ability to ask the author why they chose to go in that specific direction, etc.
And as to Van’s question about teachers spending hours preparing lessons for the next day – I suspect that Mrs. Atkins was referring to new teachers and/or teachers who are teaching new classes. When I was a new teacher, I spent an insane amount of time preparing lessons – reinventing the wheel – because I didn’t know who to ask or if asking would make me look like someone who didn’t know what she was doing. For those teachers, this could be a wonderful resource. For teachers who have been teaching longer, this will be a great way to get new ideas for your class.