February 02, 2006

on schools and learning

This is a placeholder for a bit I'd like to write about an article on standardized education.

July 18, 2005

Howtoons

Must check this out in more detail when I have the time:

Howtoons are one-page cartoons showing 5-to-15 year-old kids "How To" build things. Each illustrated episode is a stand-alone fun adventure accessible to all, including the pre-literate. Our Howtoons are designed to encourage children to be active participants in discovering the world through Play-that-Matters -- fun, creative, and inventive -- and to rely a lot less on mass-consumable entertainment.

June 07, 2005

ads in textbooks

Leela: Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?

Fry: Well sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio. And in magazines. And movies. And at ball games and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts and written on the sky. But not in dreams. No siree!

March 28, 2005

IntarWeb U

Parand thoughtfully provided a short list of interesting online academic courseware from Harvard, MIT, and Berklee (the music school, not a typo). The Harvard videos remind me of the fun educational/classroom shows (like Mechanical Universe or French in Action) I used to watch on UHF channels. I was just thinking about online music lessons, too...

because 'budding' sounds better

As if we didn't have enough to worry about, now it looks like a bloc of southern school districts are successfully removing science from all textbooks. Sigh.

"But Chris," you say, "They're just calling for the removal of sex ed and evolution and the heliocentric model and other such blasphemies. Surely there's still room for Newtonian physics and some of the less-witchy forms of alchemy." In reply I just sigh again and continue stocking my remote mountain treehouse with food, water, and Heinlein novels.

March 04, 2005

Anger turns to derision

An update on the Buster in Vermont controversy I ranted about earlier: An absolutely idiotic article by Bill O'Reilly underscores the basic misconception involved. O'Reilly claims that the issue isn't gay couples, it's that "sex in general is an inappropriate topic for small children."

And there you go. The first thing Bill O'Reilly thinks of when he sees two women working on a farm in Vermont is sex, of such a prurient nature that the mere hint of it would sear a child's eyes for life. We might look at such a show and see a family working together to make maple syrup, but O'Reilly (and, by his deduction, the toddlers of America) see hot girl-on-girl action.

It's all so clear now.

January 31, 2005

ok, define 'freedom'

Gack! According to this CNN article, high school kids don't understand what the First Amendment protects:

when told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.

January 26, 2005

Anger!

The past few days it's seemed like the Intarweb has been trying especially hard to make me angry. I was able to ignore most of the disturbing reports up to now, but this one has me hoppin' mad:

The nation's new education secretary denounced PBS on Tuesday for spending public money on a cartoon with lesbian characters, saying many parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles.

...The episode features two lesbian couples, although the focus is on farm life and maple sugaring.

It's hard to describe my seething anger over this particular issue. It reminds me of how racist parents wouldn't let their children watch Sesame Street because it showed white and "colored" children playing together happily. How dare lesbians make sugar in Vermont! Decent people shouldn't have to watch that!

Grrrr...

August 29, 2004

It's not Oxford, but...

I just came across the BBC's "Learning Site", featuring fun, educational games and even online classes. For some reason, I think this may especially be kk's cup o' tea (har har).
(I'm off to try the Italian course!) (Or maybe English, since I split an infinitive.)

April 19, 2004

The Healthy Cafeteria?

I find I'm having a very positive response to Connecticut's plan to take junk food out of schools. I wish my schools had been like this (though I wouldn't have wished that at the time). I must be a real grown-up now. Hmph.

February 06, 2004

Go Grand Haven Kids!

This is very long, but it rocks. It completely rocks. Here I am in conservative Western Michigan and today's paper has this letter in it, written by students in Grand Haven High School's World Religions class. I didn't see the letter they're responding to, but this is so clear and bold and confident. I hope I get some of these brave kids in my classes.

Continue reading "Go Grand Haven Kids!"