Meet In CommonNews

News in Fullerton, CA

The Hechinger Report · Fullerton, CA

TEACHER VOICE: The future of personalized learning cannot be built on technology alone

By the time many of my high schoolers enter my algebra classroom, they already know what their school thinks they are bad at. They carry labels before they ever open a notebook: “remedial,” “unmotivated,” “low-performing.” Too often, personalized learning begins with those labels. We start with a low score or what we believe students cannot do — a missing skill or an academic gap — and then build instruction around fixing it. I think we should start somewhere else: with what students care about, what they want to become and what already makes sense to them. The starting point matters because personalized learning is supposed to do more than respond to academic gaps. Personalized learning is supposed to tailor instruction and learning experiences to support a student’s individual strengths, needs, interests, goals and pace. But whether it fulfills that promise depends on the information we choose to prioritize.

Nearby reporting

Stories from surrounding communities, closest first.

Long Beach Post · La Puente, CA

Nearby: La Puente, CA

This new horror-themed coffee shop isn’t a gimmick. For the owner, it’s deeply personal

After Sabrina Arellano opened Coffinated Coffee in La Puente in October 2022, the coffee shop’s Instagram account gained 41,000 followers. Coffinated Coffee has a menu of drinks inspired by quintessential horror movies, games, TV shows and books. It was Arellano’s grandmother who first turned her onto all things horror. On Saturday, Arellano opened the shop’s second location on First Street in Downtown Long Beach. The Long Beach Post sat down with Arellano to learn more about Coffinated Coffee and its spooky menu. The interview has been edited for clarity and length. How did Coffinated Coffee come to be? My grandma and I grew up loving everything horror and spooky-related. We were really close, so I get a lot of the demented, dark humor from her. I love it, but she got really sick – she had cancer – and so I [put everything] on pause to take care of her. In 2021, she passed at home.

Long Beach Post · Long Beach, CA

Nearby: Long Beach, CA

White House confronts Long Beach congressman over planned probes, claiming possible ‘criminality’

The White House has issued a warning to Democrats over their planned probes into the Trump administration, going as far as claiming that such investigations — a standard oversight function of Congress — may amount to “blatant criminality.” White House counsel Will Scharf issued the warning in a letter dated Monday to Long Beach’s congressman: Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Garcia most likely would chair the powerful panel in the new Democratic-controlled Congress that is seated in January. Garcia warned Trump officials to “lawyer up” as his party was on the way to stunning victories in last week’s midterm election. In response, Scharf wrote that “threats to executive branch officials designed to deter them from public service, or process designed merely to abuse or instill fear in the recipient may cross the line into blatant criminality.” The letter’s existence was first reported by Punchbowl News.

Long Beach Post · Long Beach, CA

Nearby: Long Beach, CA

Things to do in Long Beach this weekend — including puppy Pilates, Twilight Bingo night and a plant pop-up in Torrance

Laugh it up at the Mexican Monk’s “Puro Laffs” comedy show (Thursday, Nov. 12) The Mexican Monk Brewhouse in Paramount hosts a weekly lineup of events, but this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. comedian Ricky Novella hosts a night of laughs. The hilarious lineup includes comedians George Perez, Drea Meyers, Juan Garcia, Gill Chris and Johnny C. The show is free and open to all ages (but be warned, the comics are uncensored). Seating is first come, first served, and you can also get a draft beer and a pizza for $15. For more information, check out the Mexican Monk’s Instagram page here. Play Twilight bingo with Marissa Bode at Confidential Coffee (Thursday, Nov. 12) You may know actor and disability activist Marissa Bode from her starring role in “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good” as Nessarose Thropp, but Bode is also a huge vampire enthusiast. She is hosting a “Twilight”-themed bingo night on Thursday at Confidential Coffee at 7 p.m.

Long Beach Post · Long Beach, CA

Nearby: Long Beach, CA

Off-duty sheriff’s deputy killed in motorcycle crash. It’s Long Beach’s 41st fatal wreck this year

Editor’s note: This story was updated with the announcement that Maciel was a sheriff’s deputy. An off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy died in a motorcycle crash near Marina Pacifica on Friday. The crash happened at about 11 p.m. at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Second Street, according to Long Beach police. Martin Maciel, 40, was heading south on PCH when he collided with a vehicle traveling east on Second Street, throwing the rider from the motorcycle, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. Link The other vehicle’s driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, who believe speed was a contributing factor in the crash. Police did not specify which driver they suspect was speeding. The Sheriff’s Department said Maciel was a 10-year veteran of the force and an Army Reservist.

Long Beach Post · Long Beach, CA

Nearby: Long Beach, CA

‘The Mosquito Bowl’ movie tells a tragic WWII story. For this 102-year-old veteran, it was personal

John McConnell was running laps on the track at Thornton Township High School outside Chicago in 1942 when an alumnus and football star he knew from the neighborhood pulled up and started running alongside. Bob Baumann was a star tackle on spring break from the University of Wisconsin and was set to play for the Chicago Bears. McConnell, a senior on track, was flattered to have such company. “He came over and said, ‘Let’s run a mile,’” recalled McConnell, who was the fastest miler at the school. “Here was this guy, 60 pounds heavier, running with this punk kid. It was the toughest mile I ran all season.” McConnell, now 102 and living in Long Beach, was thrilled then to share a few laps with such an athlete clearly on his way to a pro football career and more. It was the last time McConnell would see him. With World War II raging, Baumann enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942 while still a student and was killed in Okinawa.