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

Is Your Font Racist?

I really found this post on WSJ very interesting when thinking about marketing/advertising literacy. In this particular post is focused on the racial undertones on the "fake-brushstroke “oriental” typeface" used to by advertisers to demonstrate that something is "Asian-y." I think this is relevant to us as future educators to understand the amount of information (culture,stereotypes,images) contained in a single font.

"Fashionable" Grammar

Here's an article by John McWhorter in the New York Times about the changing nature of English - it pretty much corresponds to what we read from him for class.

TAG Boston

I'm attaching the link for the webpage of TAG Boston, of which Ross is a member. If you'd like to contact him, you can email him through the organization's contact info. Additionally, if you're interested, you should feel free to attend any of the events/meetings. I've been to a few, and they are very inviting and open to new people. It might be a good way to become connected with other Boston area teachers beyond your immediate schools.

http://tagboston.org/

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

The discussions we've been having in class lately reminded me of the TED talk I've linked below. It was given by a Nigerian author who speaks from personal experience about the importance of introducing aspiring members of the literate world  (i.e. our students) to stories they can relate to. Her insistence on authenticity seems to support a lot of the theories we've been considering lately that stress authentic classroom experiences as a  gateway to meaningful understanding.  

http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

Some Levity for Friday Via WSJ.com

Teaching Taco Bell's Canon
An opinion piece from the WSJ noting that, "Today's students don't read. As a result, they have sometimes hilarious notions of how the written language represents what they hear."

Changing Education Paradigms

This video is similar to Sir Ken Robinson's Ted talk, but it is a RSA animate video and speaks a bit more about the historical and economic contexts of education.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/07/09/america-desperately-needs-more-stem-students-heres-how-to-get-them/

Forbes article by an IBM VP related to our STEM discussion

McWhorter and Airplane!

This video from Airplane! reminded me of the McWhorter piece on dialects in America. In case you haven't seen the movie, two of the passengers on the plane only speak "jive," and these are clips of them during the movie. It's clearly meant to be funny, but I definitely think that it resonates with McWhorter's point about how different American dialects are comparable to different languages, and that they shouldn't be seen as inferior because they deviate from the standard.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/52051ec56f/airplane-oh-stewardess-i-speak-jive-from-dirttron

Does school kill creativity? What about literacy instruction?

bell hooks on cultural criticism and transformation