Barriers of Cost Culture revision

Does? Informs

Education reformers talk about lengthening the school year, but quickly run into barriers when they notice that state and local governments cut, not grow, the school budgets.

The Romance of Summer

Does? Illustrates

This paragraph illustrates, with the example of huckleberry finn, how summer can be made into an educational resource without taking the fun out of the season.

11/23/10

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!  ENJOY YOUR WEEK!!!!!  EAT A LOT!!!!!

have a great time
- Cesar B. Joshua B.

The Case Against Summer Vacation paragraph 4 & 5 revision

The paragraph connects the idea that students are the same as athletes or musicians; if the athletes or musicians performance suffers without practice, the students education will suffer without practice too. Paragraph 4 continues to say that the idyllic view of summer is not the same for underprivileged kids.

Paragraph 5 mentions Ron Fairchild and his organization being a small part of a larger movement that dramatizes how to "stop the summer slide by coordinating, expanding and improvising summer enrichment programs." It presents the idea that there is a lot of supporters like President Obama, who has created a national summer learning day to bring attention to the issue.

David Von Drehle

Today in class we focused on the article writer David Von Drehle who is a reporter for Time magazine. In his 32 year career he has written 3 books and many journalistic articles. He is a graduate of Oxford University with a masters in literature as a marshall scholar. We also learned about logos, ethos, and pathos. Those 3 words basically helps us break down the article we read into how logical the article is, how much of an expert the writer is, and how emotional the author gets with his writing.

The Case Against Summer Vacation re-reading

When re-reading the article, we answered questions associated with it.

What is summer associated with? And school?

Summer is associated with liberty, creativity, and play. While school is associated with oppression, regimen, and work.

Why is larking through summer a luxury we can no longer afford?

Student are competing with around the world, who are in many cases spending four weeks longer in each school year.

Is summer really a lark for many children? What is it really? For many children, especially of low income families, summer is a season of boredom, inactivity, and isolation. 

Is that your experience as well?

For us, summer is a season to relax. Its a season to spend time with friends and family

What is healthy stimulation during the summer months according to the authors? 

To keep their minds and bodies exercising, kids can attend sleep away camps, go on family vacations, spend times in museums and libraries. They can also attend enrichment classes

If they keep the same schedule when you are parents, what kind of summer activities will you plan for your children and why?

If the same schedule does continue, we could make them sign up for any social activities. That way they would not be home all day.

The Case Against Summer Vacation

Today in class we read an article titled The Case Against Summer Vacation. The article, in my opinion, focuses on the point of summer vacation taking away from kids learning. Also, this article talks about giving kids more education without them thinking that their summer is being taken away. It mentions programs all around the world that help kids keep learning during the summer, instead of them being at home and forgetting what they have learned