Discussion about Education

Is Standardized Testing useful and important?

Check this link and watch the interview. Click HERE.

Marshmallows

What did this researcher find out in his study?

Link to This American Life for Podcast Back To School

Thanks to those who notified me of the problem.

For the Paul Tough section, respond specifically to a few of his thoughts about education. Explain his view/idea, then agree or disagree with it based on your understanding. Further support or refute using your own details/research, or ideas.

For Act Two, explain why they believe this changes the way we practice education and what we think about learning.

Follow this link and listen to it directly on their site:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/474/back-to-school

Back To School

 Listen to this Podcast about how schools kill creativity:



Detail Robinson's points about why he believes this in your notes.

Homework for weekend 1/11/13

Watch this Ted Talk

Do you think this is a good idea? Respond to the video in specifics (look specifically for why she believes this, and whether or not you think this might be true).

Then watch this:

How does this add or change to your information or argument on this issue?
(respond in writing)

Start writing your first draft of your short story. First draft is due next Friday.

Here are the rules:

Write a short story between 500-1000 words. 
No-nos:

• murder, mystery, mahem
• extremely unique and original names: Rastafael, Clion, and Annexela are the kinds of names that get really irritating to read after a while. 
• Events that take a lot more events to explain 
• death
• long drawn out illnesses
• incredibly sad, weepy drama
• perfect endings
• lots of adverbs, especially as speaker tags (she cried forlornly)

Please

• Consider voice, think about how to make this sound like a real person
• the conclusion doesn't have to tie it up neatly. Think of it as a stopping place on the journey of life
• write about a situation you are familiar with or could have lived or experienced
• keep the conflict small. 

Lastly, keep reading your Non-fiction book.

Radiolab: Who Are You?

For this episode: Compare the techniques used on this show to the techniques used on This American Life. What was the most interesting story to you, and why? Write a sentence explaining the conclusion for each segment.

Middle School on This American Life

Listen to the podcast about Middle School for free, here. You can also go to Download this episode through iTunes, but it will cost $0.99.

For the episode, write one sentence about something interesting about each story. There are 6, not counting the "introduction". Also, identify the setup/style of this Podcast radio show. How do they run this show? What are the elements you hear?