Posted on

Welcome Reception for Marty Brooks Postponed

>Because of scheduling conflicts, the Board of Education is postponing the public welcome reception for Dr. Martin Brooks, the incoming Superintendent of Schools at the Ed Center, originally scheduled for Monday, June 11, 2007.

Posted on

Marty Brooks responds to readers Inquiry

>Dear Ms. Edwards:

Thanks for this note. I’d like to make a few comments about the link you attached. The math wars, like the whole language wars of the past decade, are based on a false dichotomy: traditional education v. progressive education. Good instruction focuses on the needs of the child – every child, one by one – and no one approach meets the needs of all children.

The math issue is interesting in that the battle seems to be pitched around algorithmic fluency v. conceptual understanding. They are not mutually exclusive. Both are essential for mathematical literacy. Students who learn algorithms procedurally without conceptual understanding aren’t truly fluent because although they are able to answer questions correctly on tests (when the questions are posed in the precise format the students are used to seeing), they often have difficulty knowing whether to (and how to) apply that algorithm to new and different situations. Teaching for conceptual understanding helps children develop efficient strategies for computing. Understanding the concept that underlies the algorithm helps students know how and when to apply it, helping them to become more proficient in solving new, differently presented problems and/or more complex problems.

Programs don’t teach children, teachers do. Good teachers vary their instruction – and their materials – based on student response.

Respectfully,

Marty Brooks

Posted on

Wreck-O-vation or Renovation?

Ridgewood _Train_station_theridgewoodblog

IMG 1803.0
NJ Transit has announced their intention to make Ridgewood’s train station
fully compliant with provisions of the American Disabilities Act (ADA) by
installing high level, wheelchair accessible platforms. Ramps and/or
elevators will be constructed to facilitate platform access from street
level. The platforms will be approximately 700 feet long, and equipped with
canopies to provide shelter in inclement weather. The canopies will also
house lighting, closed circuit television cameras, and loudspeaker paging
equipment.

At the suggestion of Village Council members, NJ Transit has proposed
constructing the platforms and canopies at a location that would shift train
embarkation and disembarkation to a point beginning at, or beyond, Franklin
Avenue and heading magnetic north. That is, the southernmost end of the
platforms would be located at Franklin Avenue (or north of Franklin Avenue);
their northernmost end would be approximately 700 feet further up the
tracks. Constructing the platforms and canopies at this location would
ensure that the vista between North Broad Street and the Garber/Wilsey
Square areas would not be blocked by the high level platforms and canopies.
In conjunction with completion of the ADA related renovation project, NJ
Transit will shift disembarkation for homeward bound commuters to the train
doors facing Pease Library (instead of those facing North Broad Street).
Commuters will exit onto a high level platform, and then make their way to
staircases or elevators, then through pedestrian underpasses to North Broad
Street. Staircase and underpass access will also be provided to the
existing commuter lot opposite Garber Square.

Is protecting the vista between North Broad Street and Garber/Wilsey Square
important enough that commuters won’t mind such a significant shift in the
point at which they will be getting on and off their trains? Also, will
there be evening delays associated with a trainload of commuters trying to
access a limited number of staircases from the high level platform to
pedestrian underpasses? What do you think?

Posted on

Breaking News North Jersey Media Outed on the Ridgewood Blog

>the Ridgewood Blog has learned from a poster that someone using the North Jersey Media (ISP) has been posting comments on the Ridgewood Blog …..hummmm

Anonymous has left a new comment on your postReaders Comment on the Ridgewood News Editorial“: There is one or two anonymous posters on this blog who work for the North Jersey Media Group…I find that very interesting…

Anonymous has left a new comment on your postReaders Comment on the Ridgewood News Editorial“: Reverse DNS LookupResults204.91.248.42 resolves to”mail4.northjersey.com”Top Level Domain: “northjersey.com”Johnny, one thing you should know: nothing on the net is confidential…

Its seems that more then “anti goverment grumblers” read the Ridgewood Blog