Social Contexts of Education: Group research and presentation topics

Social Contexts of Education: Group research and presentation topics: Please add ideas for possible topics to explore and present to the class. This is one of the ways you can write yourself into the course and...

-Academic service learning program in High Schools.
-Charter school and high performing assessments.
-Boston Busing. 

An interesting article on the effects of texting and grammar

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/HealthDay667339_20120808_All_That_Txtng_May_B_Hrtng_Kids__Grammar.html?cmpid=138896554

I came across this on the internet, and immediately thought of the different types of literacies and discourses as we had discussed in class.

The Better Education System?

With all the discussion we had in class this term about the proper way to educate students for the real world v the academic world, I kept coming back to how the German education system is run.  Here is the best chart I could find of it.

The break from Elementary School and the four following schools is a division of the students.  Their grades up to that point decide on where the students will go for secondary education.  If you follow the columns to the top you will see that in order to make it to university you must be in either Gymnasium or Gesamptschule.  Those that end in Hauptschule take classes that are focused more on apprenticeship (i.e. baker, auto repairman).  This is a very interesting approach and it works for Germany, but my question is do we want something like this in the US to better prepare the students for the 'real world'?  Should we just take aspects of it? or nothing at all?

Pros and Cons to Video Games

As discussed in class - often times studies can be used to support opposing beliefs. In this article from Boston Children's Hospital's blog, Thriving, the "mediatrician" Michael Rich, MD, MPH touches on some positives and negatives to video games for adolescents, especially in regards to health, behavior and academia.

Gamers unlock protein folding mystery that baffled AIDS researchers for years

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393200,00.asp

"I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar"

Hi all,

I'm adding the link for the Harvard Business Review article that we didn't have time for yesterday in class. I urge you to read it with both a "critical literacy" sort of eye (What isn't the author considering? Whose perspective is not explored?), while also considering how we prepare our students for employers who have these perspectives.

(I also have to remind you that the author is really talking about orthographical conventions, not "grammar," at least from a linguist's standpoint.)

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/07/i_wont_hire_people_who_use_poo.html

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

I'm attaching a podcast of an interview with Rebecca Skloot, the author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the book I was telling you about in class. I think it's fascinating and has implications for issues such as how critical literacy might fit into content areas that are often perceived as more neutral.

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=123232331&m=123270824