Podcasts about senior dad stan goldberg

There is a lot of controversy today about how we teach and manage our schools. Competing forces are pressing their agendas on teacher seniority, evaluating teacher performance utilizing test scores and assessing, assessing, assessing. New twists to the old all lockstep teaching model “the factory system” called common core standards are being pressed upon the public as the ideal way to teach. Are these new ways to teach or just a new method to leech money out of the public trough into private hands? Renée Dinnerstein has been a teacher for many years and is now a consultant. She specializes in teaching children in the early grades. She is a leading spokesperson for learner motivated content-based teaching methods and is one of the founders of a teacher committee that is providing feedback and requests for reevaluation of the new core standards for the New York City public schools. She joins Senior Dad Stan Goldberg to discuss some ways that have worked in educating young children. They also discuss some of the pressing educational issues of the day such as charter schools, teacher evaluations, testing, student evaluations and a look to the future. Renée Dinnerstein a positive voice for educational change.

Is there any value to homework? Adam Maltese from Indiana University has released a new study that analyses the time students spend on homework and how they perform on standardized tests and how homework effects their grades. He joins Senior Dad Stan Goldberg to discuss his study and teaching methods related to homework and training the teachers he educates.

Homework can be a very divisive issue. It pits parents against children. It sets up uncomfortable conferences between teachers and parents. There are different ways of viewing the value of homework depending on your economic or ethnic backgrounds. In recent literature, particularly in the United States, there have been scores of books denouncing the value of homework. In this show Senior Dad Stan Goldberg speaks with Richard Walker of the University of Sydney Australia about his new book “Reforming Homework” and what his views are pertaining to the value of homework and how it should be viewed. Definitely a different slant than most education reformers have been hearing and the point of view that should be considered. Richard Walker, Reforming Homework.

How do we effectively educate our children? What makes a good education system? These are real fundamental questions. David Kirp a professor at the University of California, Berkeley has spent time researching this issue in public schools that have started approaching the methods of education differently. He has written a new book called “Improbable Scholars” where he writes about real life examples he has investigated. David shares how we can educate students and not discard the slow learners, the special education kids, older teachers or students whose first language is not English. David joined Senior Dad Stan Goldberg for a half hour video interview that will change your perspective on the future of education. If I had two spots open on the panel to speak about public education I would choose Sir Ken Robinson and David Kirp.

No one can ever promise you that you would be happy. Maybe you thought that happiness just happened like a sunrise. In reality we can learn techniques to make ourselves and our families happier. Happiness expert Dr. Christine Carter joins Senior Dad Stan Goldberg to discuss methods we can use to help our families be happy during the holidays and have our children grow up to be happier adults. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Seth Rosenfeld was an investigative reporter for the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle. But it was his work for the Berkeley University newspaper, The Daily Californian that started him on a 30 year journey that culminated in the writing of his book" Subversives the FBI's war on student radicals and Reagan's rise to power". It took five lawsuits for the FBI to release over 200,000 pages of classified information about government spying. Seth Rosenfeld joins Senior Dad Stan Goldberg and gives us some insight into his fascinating book. Karen Siris a bullying intervention expert joins senior dad Stan Goldberg to discuss how to stop bullying behavior. Karen is the author of "Stand up" a new book to help teach kindergarten through 4th grade how to counter bullying and support positive behaviors.

Seth Rosenfeld was an investigative reporter for the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle. But it was his work for the Berkeley University newspaper, The Daily Californian that started him on a 30 year journey that culminated in the writing of his book" Subversives the FBI's war on student radicals and Reagan's rise to power". It took five lawsuits for the FBI to release over 200,000 pages of classified information about government spying. Seth Rosenfeld joins Senior Dad Stan Goldberg and gives us some insight into his fascinating book.

There was a time that Robyn O’Brien never gave a thought to what she or her family ate. One day at breakfast, her fourth child ate a scrambled egg, turned red, started looking like a blown up balloon, and changed Robyn’s view of allergies and nutrition forever. Nutrition education became a basic of Robyn’s family. As Robyn learned more about how food is produced, she was alarmed by all the dangers we are never told about. She shares what she has learned in a conversation with Senior Dad Stan Goldberg, as they talk about what to feed your family, the links from genetically engineered milk hormones to breast cancer, prostrate cancer, and ovarian cancer. They talk about government penalties to organic growers, and about school lunches. Robyn O’Brien, “The Mighty Nutritionist”

Every parent wants to have a happy child. Some are born happy and some are not and that’s that. Maybe not. Christine Carter, Director of the Greater Good Science Center at University of California at Berkley, shares techniques that you can use to make your child happier. A child’s feelings of happiness can be adjusted as much as 40%. Senior Dad Stan Goldberg chats with her about happiness habits, the happiness set point, learning how to correct a child’s mistakes without damaging the child, how to raise emotionally literate children, and benefits from altruism.Christine Carter- Teaching your child happy ways.

Do we have freedom of speech in schools? Over the past several years we have seen an assault on free speech. Onerous censorship not only gagged the mouths of our scientists, but perhaps more troubling, there is a pervasive involuntary censorship that citizens have placed on themselves for fear of speaking out. What are students and parents rights to speak out at school? Can someone edit your email? Can your viewpoint be censored in committee? Can a student article in the school newspaper be censored? Will the IRS take away the tax status of a 501(c)3 because of something said on non-profit’s listserv? Should free speech of members be restricted? Senior Dad Stan Goldberg is joined by David Greene, Executive Director of THE FIRST AMENDMENT PROJECT, Mike Hiestand, Legal Consultant for the Student Press Law Center and Rachel Norton, Mother, Listserv Moderator and newly announced candidate for School Board.

When a parent like Katy Franklin, who has a child with autism, donates time to aid other parents, it is a gift. Time is at a premium in her life. She is helping other parents navigate the special needs program of the San Francisco Unified School District.  Katy is a member of the Community Advisory Committee on Special Needs of the San Francisco Unified School District School Board.  The Committee sends out a newsletter twice a year from the committee to the parents of extra needs children in the district, that is distributed by the San Francisco Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA).One issue was sent out, and then the difficulties began. When given the second newsletter in July 2007, the SELPA manager David Wax assured the Committee that it would be translated into two languages.  This took until January 2008 but came back without any translation. A further delay was caused when the Committee was told there were “issues” with the ‘frequently asked questions’ section of the newsletter. Katy had included the questions the Committee members are continually asked by parents in an effort to increase the knowledge of the parents.  It became an issue for SELPA because these questions and answers educated the parents on their rights in getting an equitable education for their child. At that point, SELPA and David Wax sent a letter from a law office telling the committee that they were not allowing pages two and three to be sent out (including the question/answer section). This is a case of a government agency censoring, without authority over the Committee, but it gets worse.  Under the guise of investigating a complaint of Katy’s, SELPA sent a lawyer to Katy’s son’s school to investigate his homework and all communication between Katy and her child’s teacher. It gives you goose bumps. You can download the newsletter and the letter from the law office and see for yourself what SELPA doesn’t want parents to know.  After you listen to the interview that Senior Dad Stan Goldberg has with Katy Franklin please listen to the closing segment as Katy perhaps provided us with the clue for us to tease out an answer as to why some autism numbers in the SFUSD appear so out of proportion. 

What if all your family’s medical history could not be accessed? Not for you parents, nor your grand parents. It would definitely make it difficult to figure out to which illnesses your child is susceptible. Unfortunately, this is what has happened to medical research and illness data in this country. Derva Davis, author of “The Secret History of the War on Cancer”, and is the Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, talks with Senior Dad Stan Goldberg about the negative effects of censoring and withholding information by our Federal Government. She describes the very real risks we face as we follow this dangerous policy. Are fear, intimidation, and donor profits now the main driver of government funding? How can we change the course? Derva Davis- A voice of courage.

How do you get across to the President of the United States that the education policy he is embracing will destroy public education? How do you make a president who panders to the wealthy understand that the push for education privatization is nothing more than an attempt to suck money out of the public coffers and will not benefit children? There is a movement in our country to commercialize education. In Seattle there is hotbed of testing and privatizations where Dora Taylor is fighting Bill Gates and Eli Broad. Dora is the founder of Seattle Education 2010 and one of the organizers of the recent Save Our Schools march to Washington DC. An active member of Parents for Public Schools (CPPS) and founder of parents across America (PAA) Seattle, Dora joins Senior Dad Stan Goldberg to share what is happening in the battle for Seattle, current events, and how she views the future. Dora Taylor- Two Billionaires and a Mom.

Do school districts lie to parents of extra needs children? Joann Collins thinks so. An extra needs advocate for over 15 years and a mother of two grown children with extra needs she has written a book about it. "Disability Deception: Lies Disability Educators Tell and How Parents Can Beat Them at Their Own Game". JoAnn Talks to Senior Dad Stan Goldberg about the book and how parents can be effective when working with schools and school districts. They talk about the shocking Autism numbers in the San Francisco schools where 1 in 48 Caucasian children are diagnosed with autism. JoAnn’s view of the current extra needs landscape will open your eyes. Warning to parents of typical children: you will be shocked to hear what your school district (country-wide) is doing in this emerging civil rights issue.There was a time that Robyn O’Brien never gave a thought to what she or her family ate. One day at breakfast, her fourth child ate a scrambled egg, turned red, started looking like a blown up balloon, and changed Robyn’s view of allergies and nutrition forever. Nutrition education became a basic of Robyn’s family. As Robyn learned more about how food is produced, she was alarmed by all the dangers we are never told about. She shares what she has learned in a conversation with Senior Dad Stan Goldberg, as they talk about what to feed your family, the links from genetically engineered milk hormones to breast cancer, prostrate cancer, and ovarian cancer. They talk about government penalties to organic growers, and about school lunches. Robyn O’Brien, “The Mighty Nutritionist”Stan tells of pets

Buy fresh and support local farmers. Senior Dad Stan Goldberg visits the Alemany Farmer's Market with his family for the family's weekly visit.Sara Bennett co-authored “The Case Against Homework” with Nancy Kalish. Both have been guests on my show in the past. On this show I share with Sara some of my homework wins and losses and she shares with us what the last 3 years running stophomework.com was like.The Spark Program identifies at-risk middle-school students who need to be motivated by the relevancy of school and matches them with people in industry that are employed in the student’s “dream job”.  The student then becomes an intern at that profession for one semester going to the job after school hours. Chris Balme, Co-Founder and Executive Director, shares the genesis of Spark and what they are doing to reduce dropouts.  What type of job does a child want?

What if all your family’s medical history could not be accessed? Not for you parents, nor your grand parents. It would definitely make it difficult to figure out to which illnesses your child is susceptible. Unfortunately, this is what has happened to medical research and illness data in this country. Derva Davis, author of “The Secret History of the War on Cancer”, and is the Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, talks with Senior Dad Stan Goldberg about the negative effects of censoring and withholding information by our Federal Government. She describes the very real risks we face as we follow this dangerous policy. Are fear, intimidation, and donor profits now the main driver of government funding? How can we change the course? Derva Davis- A voice of courage.Every parent wants to have a happy child. Some are born happy and some are not and that’s that. Maybe not. Christine Carter, Director of the Greater Good Science Center at University of California at Berkley, shares techniques that you can use to make your child happier. A child’s feelings of happiness can be adjusted as much as 40%. Senior Dad Stan Goldberg chats with her about happiness habits, the happiness set point, learning how to correct a child’s mistakes without damaging the child, how to raise emotionally literate children, and benefits from altruism.Christine Carter- Teaching your child happy ways.Stan visits Mc Donald’s

When we first met Senior Dad-to-be, Bob Brockob, he was filled with the anticipation of impending fatherhood. On this his forth visit to our show we have a 10 month check in with Bob to find out how this minimalist architect and education chair of OceanFilmFest.org is adjusting to being the dad of Max and how it has changed his life. For some reason the issue of inclusion seems to invoke strong passions. Everyone views it differently. Add in the prescription for a least restrictive environment, and wow that gets everyone really churning. You can just see everyone in the room tighten their backs as they set their positions in stone. Walking blindly into this loaded mine field, Senior Dad Stan Goldberg meets educator Paula Kluth, a fifteen year veteran of special education. Paula has helped schools and school districts transition from exclusion to inclusion. She has held workshops to broaden the understanding of both parents and educators on the benefits of inclusion. The discussion moves through the hot topics and then on to some common ground when discussing the positive benefits of inclusion (it’s not just that it can be less expensive for a school district). Paula Kluth- Everyone is Included Stan tells of the tummy ache

Patrick Henry Hughes was born enabled. His father, Patrick John, relates that when Patrick was four months old, the sound of the piano soothed the child, and by the time Patrick Henry was a-one-year old he was playing tunes on the piano. In the ensuing years Patrick Henry learned to play the trumpet and developed his voice. When Patrick applied to college he wanted to be in the pep band. The band director said ‘no problem’, however, all pep band members were also members of the marching band. This was somewhat of an obstacle for Patrick since he was born without eyes and had a muscle disease that made him wheelchair-bound. His father said that he’d be willing to move Patrick around in the formations. And so what is extraordinary for some is normal for this family. We talk to the two Patrick’s and hear about their new book, I Am Potential. Listening to the optimism of the Hughes family, where Patrick is the oldest of three boys, I can’t help but feel the strength and devotion of Patrick Henry’s parents. Eight lessons on living, loving, and reaching your dreams. “Home for the holidays?” Or, “let’s get this party started?” The holidays can be a stressful time for families under the best of circumstances. For your child with autism, they can be particularly difficult. Familiar routines are out the window and unfamiliar – and sometimes unfair – expectations arise at every turn. Listen in and hear how to empower your child with autism during this bustling time.  Internationally known award-winning author and columnist Ellen Notbohm (Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew) and San Francisco special needs activist Katy Franklin join “Senior Dad” Stan Goldberg in the Autism Briefing Room, explaining how the holidays effect their children with autism and their friends and families. Hear tips what to do before and during holiday parties and strategies for graceful departure. What to do about gifts and gift lists, and how to handle the lure of those attractive TV commercials?  Ellen and Katy share some of their experiences with their children and what works for them. Some of the lessons we learn apply to teaching and handling all children as well as helping us begin to understand the challenges of a family with a child with autism.Stan tells of time going fast

So why do we continue to administer this modern cod liver oil-or even demand a larger dose? Kohn’s incisive analysis reveals how a set of misconceptions about learning and a misguided focus on competitiveness has left our kids with less free time, and our families with more conflict. Pointing to stories of parents who have fought back-and schools that have proved educational excellence is possible without homework-Kohn demonstrates how we can rethink what happens during and after school in order to rescue our families and our children’s love of learning.Senior Dad Stan Goldberg does his homework

The truth, according to Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, is that there is almost no evidence that homework helps elementary school students achieve academic success and little evidence that it helps older students. Yet the nightly burden is taking a serious toll on America’s families. It robs children of the sleep, play, and exercise time they need for proper physical, emotional, and neurological development. And it is a hidden cause of the childhood obesity epidemic, creating a nation of “homework potatoes.” Senior Dad Stan Goldberg chats with Sara Bennett and learns what the value of homework is.

So why do we continue to administer this modern cod liver oil-or even demand a larger dose? Kohn’s incisive analysis reveals how a set of misconceptions about learning and a misguided focus on competitiveness has left our kids with less free time, and our families with more conflict. Pointing to stories of parents who have fought back-and schools that have proved educational excellence is possible without homework-Kohn demonstrates how we can rethink what happens during and after school in order to rescue our families and our children’s love of learning.Senior Dad Stan Goldberg does his homework

For some reason the issue of inclusion seems to invoke strong passions. Everyone views it differently. Add in the prescription for a least restrictive environment, and wow that gets everyone really churning. You can just see everyone in the room tighten their backs as they set their positions in stone. Walking blindly into this loaded mine field, Senior Dad Stan Goldberg meets educator Paula Kluth, a fifteen year veteran of special education. Paula has helped schools and school districts transition from exclusion to inclusion. She has held workshops to broaden the understanding of both parents and educators on the benefits of inclusion. The discussion moves through the hot topics and then on to some common ground when discussing the positive benefits of inclusion (it’s not just that it can be less expensive for a school district). Paula Kluth- Everyone is Included