CA is the next in line to pass the Protect Children from the Harms of Social Media Act, which limits the "addictive feel" of social media for minors. Bill 976, known as the "Protecting Our Kids From Social Media Addiction Act," introduced by Sen. Nancy Skinner and supported by CA School Administrators, Common Sense Media, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, pulled attention to the potential impact on tech giants. It's to help kids get parental consent for social media that use addictive feeds to create algorithms on kids under 18, limit data collection on minors without consent, and restrict the sale of such information, but it does not require age verification. The law goes into effect next year. As someone who stood with the Wolf project when it first started and still does, as well as the Trevor Project, I fully support this bill. I believe more states should have laws like this, especially since I remember the days when I was on the internet as a child. While I'm far older than I think most in this class, so the Internet was more of an unknown when I was younger, I remember the adults who reached out to a 13-year-old me, knowing I was 13 or even when I was 16. I also know the pull apps like TikTok or Facebook have on me as an adult and how I've had to learn to limit my time on them. I-Pad kids is a genuine term, and said for a genuine condition.

It originally started in August 2021, when they complained that the books had, "pornographic and sexual content in a children's section" and that she had been checking it out for months to prevent others from getting to it. The books in question were: Seven "Butt and Fart" books with titles like "I broke my Butt!" and "Larry the Farting Leprechaun." Four young adult books touching on Sexuality and Homosexuality, such as "Gabi, a Girl in Pieces." "Being Jazz: My life as a (Transgender) Teen," and "Freakboy," "Caste" and "They Called themselves the KKK" two books about the history of racism in the USA. "In the Night Kitchen," which contains cartoon drawings of a naked child, and "It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies," "Growing Up," and "Sex and Sexual Health." When the new library board was appointed, they did not allow Amber Milum, the library director, back into the meetings as she had originally purchased the books.

It was Judge Jacques Wiener Jr. who emphasized that books cannot be removed just because officials disliked their viewpoints. "Government actors may not remove books from a public library with the intent to deprive patrons of access to the ideas with which they disagree. Because that is apparently what occurred in Llano Country..." Within Twenty-four hours of the issuance of the mandates, the books were required to be publically visible and accessible on the shelves once more. It is once again another case of pearl-clutching bigots scared that children will learn outside of a box they don't want people to escape from and the government, for once, standing by the law they're supposed to be protecting.

Dismantlinng of the Department of Education is a continued rumbling around the presidential election. The Department of Education is not without flaws, and for decades, many educators and citizens alike have grappled with the decisions made by the office regarding testing, dissemination of funds, ensuring equitable educational standards and measures, etc. The problem is we don't fully understand what the department does when voting for it.

"What does the Department of Education do?"

The Department of Education governs all levels of education, from early childhood to college. Working with metrics that establish Americans' recognition of the growth in learning in American schools, what challenges are being faced, and where to fix the ones that need to be addressed.

They help create programs such as free and reduced lunch, early childhood education, financial aid, and dual credit. Federal guidelines for testing, student achievements as well and credentialing for schools.

For many Americans who don't understand, the deconstructing of the Department of Education doesn't seem like a massive loss. However, it's a high-performing department that would be an enormous loss to the teachers who depend on it the most.

Denise Pope mentions at the start of the article, "The first things kids would do is go to the back of the paper, look at the grade, and then never read the comments." A 2021 study confirms this is a common problem- students see the grade before they see the feedback, and they're more likely to ignore the teacher's feedback entirely, leading to a drop of two-thirds of a letter grade on future assignments.

Advocates for the A-F or Percentage grading argue that grades provide students and their caregivers with a simple, bird's eye view of academic achievement and are "one of the primary means of communication between the institution." A 2014 study shows that schools make quick judgments about student learning readiness- compared to standardized tests, high school grades are a stronger measure of students' "capacity to resist momentary temptations, regulate emotions, and sustain effort across days, months, and years in pursuit of important goals," all of which are crucial skills that help college and career success.

So, what would be better?

Less Feedback is better feedback-

Hours you commit to grading and commenting on every assignment and quiz are likely met with a shrug. Focus on providing less feedback that's more targeted, the best feedback that helps students "understand what mistakes they made, but also why they made these mistakes and what they can do to avoid them next time." Since students tend to skim, it's better to aim for a few high-impact areas and helpful help. Not errors, but regions to hone skills.

Fewer grades mean less stress for everyone-

Time spent grading is often uncompensated, a more significant driver for teacher stress. Many other professions have clear boundaries between work and personal life; teachers often choose to spend outside their contracted hours engaging in activities that could help them educate students more effectively. Students' well-being, too, benefits from fewer grades. "grades appear to play on students' fears of punishment or shame, or their desires to out-compete peers, as opposed to stimulating interest and enjoyment in learning tasks." Instead of stamping a grade on every assignment, consider lowering the stakes and deploying more practice tests, encouraging students to adopt rough draft thinking and using formative assessment tools.

Grading obligations reduce teacher creativity and innovation-

Finding engaging ways to convey knowledge within a discipline is the bread and butter of good teaching and requires a lot of preparation. In a 2022 survey that included measurements of various teacher activities, lesson planning and grading consumed virtually equal shares of time and strategies that might unlock a school's best teaching practices.

Grades are inherently unstable indicators-

in a recent study of over 33,000 middle and HS report cards, almost 60 percent of final course grades failed to show the corresponding scores on standardized exams. Accuracy is all over the map, and good intentions won't fix the issues. Grades often fail to provide reliable information about student learning.

Grading conveys an artificial sense of completion-

Grades can feel like a stamp of approval or disapproval from an authority figure- and the feedback following can often lead to lower grades. Students often develop an "excessive focus on grades," research explains.

Grading reduces opportunities for Student practices-

To develop basketball/football players who are great writers, you need to strike a balance between practice and feedback. Teachers have to balance what they can provide and what they cannot offer. Constructive feedback might not fit what is needed and can hold back a student with excessive over-grading.

Grades are less motivating than you think-

Grades may motivate the high performers, but for those who are average or struggling, they will seem daunting or will not light that fire.

Peer grading helps you- and students, too-

Grading itself is a learning opportunity, so asking students to help grade their own work or even each other helps everyone in the classroom. It's not lazy.

More types of Data is better-

Using multiple strategies to find out what best fits your students instead of sticking to only one type of style can help those struggling in your classrooms.

Food and beverage producer Kraft Heinze has pulled Lunchables that it created specifically for the reduced-price school lunch program in 2023-2024. It was supposed to be protein-enriched and contain reduced levels of saturated fat and sodium to meet the program's requirements. Instead, nutritionists and advocacy groups were not thrilled with the lunch. They said it not only was "highly questionable," but it contained higher levels of sodium than store varieties and more lead compared to ready-made meals from several other companies.

The company said the decision to pull out of the mark was based on a lack of demand. The company described the business impact as "negligible," saying sales of the school-designed meals were less than 1% of overall Lunchables sales. Knowing there is more lead in the school lunches, and having seen the viral posts about the lunches, I'm not surprised by the lack of sales.

The article also discusses the issue of maintaining diversity in the school's student body. A decline in diversity increased following the Supreme Court decision striking down Affirmative action policies in 2023. They want to ensure that college remains affordable for all students, not just those who can afford it. This change honestly should happen in more schools. College is seen as a leisure activity for many people, yet you're required to have it for many jobs. Thus, you're placing yourself in debt that you'll be forced to keep for the rest of your life. In other countries, college is free, or at most within the 700-900 dollar range per year. America is one of the only places in the world where we're forced to take out such large loans for the cost of education, and it's nothing more than just a bit higher than a High School teaching score in other parts of the world. College loans are a scam, so a school seeing that the prices limit those who can attend is refreshing to see.

The separation of church and state should always be in place, especially regarding schooling. There are other religions in schools, and America is not supposed to be a Christian or Catholic country. Will the other biblical or Religious texts be added to each classroom if this passes? If not, will we be allowed to sue so that they can be? It's getting horrible that we keep having to have this fight for schools to remain religious-free all because some fanatics want to keep bringing religion to public schools. If you want a religious school, go to a religious school, not a public school.