Summer vacation has either started or is very near for most of our contributors in the classroom. I think it shows in the diversity of ideas shared this week–including student portfolios!
What didn’t you know last week?
Great in-depth reporting by NPR and ProPublica about Traumatic Brain Injury from Afghanistan and Iraq and the lack of care available to vets. (Shayne/Conteach)
The North Korean government devalued the currency last November to save the state-run economy while devastating families who had managed to save money. I didn’t know this impoverished economy also forced the country to abandon a full school day. Students go to school for as much of the morning as they can stand. A former teacher says many of her students were too hungry to study. This New York Times article provides haunting details of daily life in North Korea. (Shellee/Stepwinder)
Dear Abby was a supporter of Gay Rights. Not that she was marching in Pride Parades but she was always supportive in her columns in the 70′s and 80′s and received quite a bit of hate mail as a result. (K-Rod/Kerryn)
The President is proposing a potential reconstruction of nature and society… WOAH. Definitely something I didn’t know last week. But how can he legislatively do something at this level? Maybe only in theory… Could Obama Really move the Mississippi to Save the Wetlands?. (Heidi) **That’s a crazy interesting site too. They just picked up a Twitter follower while I was checking the link.**
How many places there are to stub a toe or bump your head on a WWII submarine, or how cool parents can be when you stay up all night with them on a field trip. (Keith/Hobbes21)
The word “plutoed” was selected by the American Dialect Society as the word of the year in 2006. In that statement I learned a couple of things:
1. The word “plutoed” (meaning–To demote or devalue someone or something, as happened to Pluto when it lost planet status),
2. There is an American Dialect Society.
On a side note, less than 5% of the world’s astronomers voted on that issue. (K2/Bookworm20/Keith)
What are you reading?
Actually mostly listening, but… NPR’s Planet Money podcast. It was great at reporting on the financial crisis and it continues to provide very clear economics reporting. (Shayne/Conteach)
I’m trying to make a commitment to “longform journalism” to diversify my reading on the web, and I have every intention of reading “Your Brain on Computers: Hooked on Technology, and Paying a Mental Price.” The author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” in The Atlantic has published a book on the topic so a number of newspapers and magazines are talking about this. I know they’re all talking about it but I can’t tell you what they’re saying because I haven’t made the time to read the whole article! (Shellee/Stepwinder)
Making Gay History by Eric Marcus . Great book. Easy read, told through personal stories and accounts of what was happening from the folks that made it happen. (K-Rod/Kerryn)
Reading the required stuff for MontP. James Madison IS a “Champion of Liberty and Justice! From that list, Ralph Ketcham has written an incredible biography of James Madison. (Heidi)
Student writing portfolios, Ketcham’s Madison biography (Keith/Hobbes21)
“Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future”
This book looks at the disconnect between the scientific community and mainstream American society. The oil spill, oil drilling, and energy policy are perfect examples of how important scientific understanding are for policy decisions and yet how little attention is often given to the subject of science in our society. (K2/Bookworm20/Keith)
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You can make this a conversation by leaving your thoughts on any of the ideas shared here as a reply in the comments section. If you’d like to join us as a regular contributor to the Wavelength, drop that note in the comments and you’ll hear from me before we post next week’s collection.
stepwinder
