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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Why Dictation is Vital to Second Language Acquisition

I was reading in my Teaching Listening Comprehension, when I stumbled on the answer to a years-long debate I have been having with myself. Why should dictation prove to be so absolutely successful in nailing down the sounds and related "conventional forms" and combinations of letters of the... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Hispanic Dropouts Decrease by Six Percent in Des Moines

A quick pre-shower search on the media for interesting stories and quotes of the day found nothing. Roland Burris is dominating the news, to his detriment. But when I got to school and logged on to take roll, voila! There it was: the new numbers for DMPS dropouts. This is copied and pasted from a... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Putting Middle School on Japanese Blocks, part 2

Solution: After having experimented with a variety of aforementioned strategies, middle schools remain at-risk, middle school children remain the most at-risk population, and as established, middle school itself is the seedbed from which grows the failure, lethargy, and despondency that leads to... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Putting Middle School on Japanese Blocks

PROBLEM Ask any parent, teacher, or student: where do children begin failing and getting lost? Every one will answer: "Middle School". Ask high school dropouts when they first decided they were going to have to quit school: same answer. Why? Middle school, a big change from junior high, is the age... Sign in to see full entry.

More Murder In Mexico Last Year than America' total Iraq War Dead

"...When you step back and take a broad look at Mexico's growing carnage, it's easy to see why El Paso's city leaders think legalization doesn't look so bad. Mexico's drug problem is not the drugs. It is the illegality of the drugs. "Legalization is not the perfect solution. But treating currently... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, December 22, 2008

I Heard Myself Say

The reason we have the fifty percent dropout rate, one of the reasons, or the reason it's not coming down after ten years is, because the synthesis and application activities don't get done. That's what I was trying to say in my UIU lecture on December 6 this year. Maybe it wasn't clear. It goes... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Five Things I Can't Talk About In Class

Introduction. A. The bureaucracy. How many here tonight were born before 1989? Nearly everyone. How many here tonight remember 1989? My youngest child was born in 1989. It was an astonishing event. But listen to a few of the events that took place in 1989: December 29 Vaclav Havel becomes president... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Thanks to MandaLee for this. Obama's Daily Reading and Samples

Biography Derek Walcott was born in 1930 in the town of Castries in Saint Lucia, one of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. The experience of growing up on the isolated volcanic island, an ex-British colony, has had a strong influence on Walcott's life and work. Both his grandmothers were... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Back in the 'Hood Pt 3

Well, I've decided to withdraw from my curricular grroup. It's worse than a waste of time. Our moderator is a competitive spokesman for the permanently deranged. And he's determined to bring in all the old crap. So, there's no responibility. Only accountability, and that's just not good enough for... Sign in to see full entry.

Back in the 'Hood Part 2

Well, nothing ventured nothing gained, I suppose. It was a tightly-controlled, risk-taking activity, like in most bureaucracies. We accomplished nothing. I would have suggested that the supervisors stay home next tiime. But who's going to do the intimidating? Good question. Sign in to see full entry.

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