Appreciating -- and Assessing -- Teachers - SchoolBook Two New York Times pieces help to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week. On Saturday, Charles M. Blow focused his Op-Ed column on a teacher near and dear to his heart: his mother, a teacher of 34 years who volunteered in a school after she retired, then won a seat on the school board. "Through her I saw up close that teaching is one of those jobs you do with the whole of you - trying to break through to a young mind can break your heart," he writes. He goes on to say: In his On Education column in The Times on Monday, Michael Winerip writes about one effort to improve teaching, and identifies one more way that the Pearson company is profiting from the national accountability movement. Pearson has formed a partnership with Stanford University to develop a new national licensing procedure. But 67 of the 68 students studying to be teachers at the middle and high school levels at the University of Massachusetts" Amherst campus are protesting. Among the Amherst students" objections is the depersonalization of the process, the challenge of producing the videos and concerns about confidentiality of the schoolchildren that would be in the videos. But Amherst students are the only ones participating in the study who are resisting, Stanford officials said. And the study to develop the new system is of interest to many states that are looking for ways to weed out people who are not fit for teaching before they enter the profession. Do you have a message for a teacher, in honor of Teacher Appreciation week? And PTA members, parents and others: Send us your photos of events in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week at your school. We will publish the best ones later in the week. Gotham Schools" Rise & Shine post has a more complete list of what was in the news this weekend. Coming up this week: The Eagle Academy schools are celebrating Eagle Week, with a variety of events through May 12. The schools, which are devoted to "empowering Latino and African-American young men to become academic achievers, engaged citizens, and responsible men," kick off the week on Monday with a day of community service. On Tuesday there will be a policy and issues forum at Columbia University to discuss the media's portrayal of young men of color. You can find the full list of events at the Eagle Academy Foundation Web site. And according to the city's Department of Education, schools must register by the end of the day Monday so guidance counselors, parent coordinators and other staff members involved with helping students with the high school application process can view an informational Webcast on May 9 or May 16.