Comments on: Do You Know?– New Orleans

By: Tilt Impro » DYK - New Orleans Remix

Tilt Impro » DYK - New Orleans Remix — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:46:19 +0000

[...] just got back from New Orleans – I believe she was attending ASCD’s annual conference. She writes: So I tried to write about New [...]

By: Balance, Anyone? | Reflection 2.0

Balance, Anyone? | Reflection 2.0 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:14:35 +0000

[...] some interesting reading (and some balance), try these – Do You Know – New Orleans – The Line Open Thread – Your Favorite Teacher Blogs – Beyond [...]

By: Bill and Joe's Excellent Adventure : Huh, That’s Interesting…

Bill and Joe's Excellent Adventure : Huh, That’s Interesting… — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:33:16 +0000

[...] you cannot get away from that reality. You can only learn to exist within it. I think this is where Dina’s post about New Orleans hits it right on the head (oh, and I work with Dina, and she almost always hits it right on the [...]

By: Dina

Dina — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:03:38 +0000

@Jim: thanks. I’m cooking up an idea for a benefit concert to help fund a small group of students and me to come down, possibly February recess 09. We’ll see what my principal thinks of this 537th crazy plan I’ve proposed this year.

@Gail: Thanks for the link. I’m not in New Orleans myself, but hope to serve in whatever small way as an advocate.

@Kate: Big fan of your work. Welcome.

Tamara also left a nice comment on the original link, which I replaced with the Youtube embed. Thanks.

By: Jim in New Orleans-SPED teacher

Jim in New Orleans-SPED teacher — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:26:45 +0000

The most concrete suggestions I could come up with at this point, Dina, are as follows:

1. Come visit us; come bring a group to help re-build some houses, if possible. I look out my classroom window everyday and see 12 FEMA trailers where there used to be open field; these are teachers displaced from the southern end of our parish (county) where Katrina made landfall. They still don’t have a house to live in, and those FEMA trailers are pretty cramped.

2. Keep spreading the word. We pretty much have to help our own selves, but maybe spreading the word about our levees and what the Army Corps of Engineers failed to do (a.k.a. U.S. Government) may help prevent catastrophes in other places. Go to levees.org to see what you can do from far away.

3. If you know of any grants that would fund an approximate $60,000 for an Intervention Coordinator for our high school, let me know. We are in desperate need of one to help keep at-risk kids from falling through the cracks. At present, we special education teachers try to identify these kids and do interventions, but since we have students of our own to teach, track, and take care of, our often-heroic efforts often fall short.

4. Pray. For us in SE Louisiana, this is a very real power and helps keep us grounded.

Dina, your thoughts are so heartfelt and get right to the essence of what we are going through here. Again, my many thanks for what you have done through these blogs, because many people will come to understand our plight because of you.

Many blessings to you!