Technology

Every fall, it seems, discussions about the role of technology in the classroom dominate the education news headlines. For many, the panacea to our educational ills http://www.salon.com/technology/feature/2006/09/14/basic/index.html

21st Century Education

The marketing idea "21st Century Education" has been buzzing for a couple of years now. The problem is that
http://boston.com/community/blogs/rock_the_schoolhouse/2011/03/bill_gates_doesnt_like_the_lib.html
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/01/gates_tells_governors_they_might_determine_public_university_program_funding_based_on_job_creation#Comments
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/foundationnotes/Pages/bill-gates-110228-flip-the-curve.aspx

Don't make me buy stuff just 'cuz it's green

A friend sent me a link to Pepsico's packaging strategy the other day: http://www.pepsico.com/PressRelease/SunChips-Kicks-Off-Earth-Month-With-Introduction-of-Worlds-First-100-Percent-Com03312010.html

Would this make me more likely to want to buy Sunchips? Nah. But given our administration's push on green jobs, maybe this would be

Strength and the Mountains

Two months, and many years ago, my parents said goodbye, and I began my first adventure of living away from home.
The first semester was extremely difficult, as it is for many. In my case, it seemed like every time the phone rang in the common hall for me, it was news of another friend who died. Car accidents, hiking accidents, medical emergencies... the knock on the door seemed to happen far too frequently, and I claim, unjustly, for a 17 year old.

On Deception

When I was a student, one of the ways that I paid the rent was to teach piano lessons. I didn't have a studio at home, so I went to people's homes. It happened that many of my students came from families that were fabulously wealthy - the kind that owned entire floors of a building, or even the whole building.

After I had been teaching for some time, I managed to work up the courage to ask one particular family why there were 4 CRS (French riot police) with Uzis who were guarding the building on the corner - 1 building away from theirs. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was the home of Suya Arafat. Now, this was in 1995, well before the death of her famous husband. I was a little surprised, to say the least. I'm not sure if we even knew that Ibu Mazen was even married at this point, but we certainly knew that he had chosen to stay in Ramallah with the Palestinian people. 

Pulling out of Cynicsm

There are days when I don't know myself anymore, and I wonder how I can only see the empty side of the glass. Humor goes so much further than complaining, yet it seems like every other word out of my mouth is more negative than anything else.

Operating on the incremental step process, I will try to look at things in an upbeat fashion, just for today, and see how that goes. Although, I have a meeting with A's teacher this morning, so I know this will be difficult.

The Plight of the Honeybees

For quite some time now, beekeepers have been alarmed about a phenomenon called sudden colony collapse.
This occurs when a hive dies for no apparent reason. Speculation about the causes have ranged from cell phone tower interference to excessive use of pesticides on crops. This link, from the New English Review, points out that there is less death in beehives located in cities rather than the countryside. Could extensive use of pesticides be at the core of the problem?