School boards, education problems, and a new $350 million dollar high school!
Teaching remains an art, and excellence remains rare – especially in a bureaucratic age. The ancient Socratic methods and modern enlightenment ideals have increasingly fallen out of favor in American public schools – from elementary and middle school to high school and adult school. The gap between the desires and needs of our students and the bureaucratic mandates of our local...
Read MorePBS Provides More Resources for ESL, EL/Civics Adult Educators
ESL/Civics tip Public Broadcasting System (PBS) continues to expand their valuable non-commercial services for listeners, including English teachers and ESL instructors. Take the free online tour of PBS ESL/CivicsLink, an online professional development service for ESL teachers. The online system “helps instructors teach speakers of other languages effectively, strengthens cross-cultural...
Read MoreWhat is the electoral college? Why does it matter?
How did George W. Bush actually become President of the United States? After all, he received fewer popular votes for President than Al Gore, didn’t he? How could Al Gore win the popular vote and still lose the 2000 U.S. Presidential election? The short, unpleasant answer is that the popular vote doesn’t count – and the only vote that matters in electing presidents in the United States is...
Read MoreEnjoying Easy English Times and Exploring the EET Website
“In every curving beach, in every grain of sand, there is the story of the earth.” Rachel Carson (1907-1964), biologist and environmentalist The mailman brought the “Summer Fun” issue of Easy English Times yesterday, and it made me smile. It’s another wonderful issue of ESL student essays, teaching tips, and classroom exercises for English language learners. The editors also...
Read MoreHave You Read English Teaching Forum Yet?
Have you read English Teaching Forum magazine yet? It is another outstanding resource for English language teachers whether working with adults in Africa, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, South America, or teaching immigrants and future citizens inside the United States. Published by the U.S. State Department, the excellent quarterly magazine includes concise lesson plans, reflective essays, and...
Read MoreTeachers Urge Google to Create Search Engine for K-12 Students
How do students conduct online research for their K-12 classes? Do they systematically pursue a topic, use critical thinking to evaluate sources, and focus on the assigned topics? Or do they wander, often confused and easily distracted, from site to site? Is it possible for Google, the creator of the best online search engine,to create a specialized search engine just for K-12 students? Could...
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