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Yearly Archives: 2014
Prestige and college
Some interesting facts and opinions in this piece.
The moral: perhaps the prestige is not the be-all and end-all.
“The Real Price of College”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/06/25/325497878/the-real-price-of-college
Sometimes the statements will be set in print, and sometimes you will need to listen. (One of the aspects of the new California testing that I find intriguing is that the student is given headphones with which to listen to a short piece, then answer questions.)
So, start practicing: set aside the time of the piece, and some time on which to reflect upon what is said.
Oh, about note-taking: the average speech is 100-250 wpm, while your handwriting is about 25 wpm.
You have a lot of practicing to do!
Considerations of the idea of free college.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/06/19/322563525/free-college-for-all-dream-promise-or-fantasy
Before you read, a review:
Fact: a statement that can be verified.
Opinion: what someone thinks, believes, or wishes.
As a citizen, you have to be a sharp listener and a quick discerner of what is fact and what is opinion.
If it is opinion, is it well founded? Do you agree? How does it affect you?
Does an opinion bind you?
“The word gap”: better vocabulary, better chances.
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/29/257922222/closing-the-word-gap-between-rich-and-poor
What conclusions do you draw from this?
Read.
Read challenging books.
Read newspapers, magazines, different genres, opposing opinions.
Read print and spare the backlight.
Read.
How deeply edited should the personal statement be?
http://www.npr.org/2014/02/07/267840088/whats-wrong-with-getting-help-on-a-personal-essay
The writing has to be your own. A good editor is an ally, but the wordsmithing should be yours.
iPad and child development
Further considerations of new tech and reading comprehension.
Your health as an investment
When I think about what to teach, to share, to say, I am guided by this thought: What do I wish someone would have told me when I was in that student seat?
I believe that exercise and fitness is interwoven with cognition.
The journal as a true memory
You think you will never forget feeling this way. The emotion, the memory, burns in you, consumes you.
You will forget. The details will blur, shift, fade, disappear.
The daily journal is your chance to chronicle your life: the feelings, the details.
When older, and those younger in your life ask you what it was like — when they accuse you of never being young yourself! — the record will stand as you have written it today.
Understand me?
Traditional print may lead to better comprehension compared to ebooks
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/10/students-reading-e-books-are-losing-out-study-suggests/
If there are interactive features in the ebook, the distraction appears to affect comprehension and recall.
Kingsley Andersen 