Flocabulary and the Power of Educational Hip-Hop

Flocabulary and the Power of Educational Hip-Hop
http://education.cu-portland.edu/category/blog/news
Posted February 18, 2015

I came across this article about using hip hop style music videos and rhymes as an aid in teaching. I watched two of the videos, one was about the 5 elements of a story and the other was a vocabulary lesson. Both were engaging. This article is a review of the company and its program

Here is a taste of what they do

Blogging about Critical Issues in Education

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Unless you are already in the practice of checking news and media sources on a regular basis, it can be challenging to stay current on the issues being discussed in relation to our field. This blog has been created to support exploration of educational issues from a variety of sources. We will talk about some of the different media venues we might want to use and I have also included some links to the right.

Our goal is to cultivate a habit of practice of regularly monitoring or reading and writing/posting reviews [or annotated bibliographies as appropriate] on important educational topics. Aim for at least one posting a week, and try looking at a variety of sources outside of the ones you typically frequent. Sources can include newspapers, research journals, books, book chapters, magazines, and radio segments or podcast, television shows, and credible internet media. In other words...the gamut!

Tips:
→ Practice your blogging skills and embedded visuals or multimedia.
→ Please ensure links are live.
→ Don't forget to add a label so that we can access posts by themes. A number have already been created in previous posts created by my students in other courses, so use those or create new ones as needed.

Posts can be either a short form annotated bibliography, or a summary that includes the following:

• Title
• Source/Author/Date
• URL Link
• Key Points
• Relevance
• Intended Audience

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Countries With The Widest Gap Between Rich And Poor

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24/7 Wall Street
December 6, 2011 at 6:30 am
http://247wallst.com/2011/12/06/countries-with-biggest-spread-between-rich-and-poor/

'“In OECD countries today, the average income of the richest 10% of the population is about nine times that of the poorest 10%,” the study reports. And in many of these countries, income inequality is increasing as more and more wealth is concentrated in the hands of the rich.'

10. New Zealand       9. Australia       8. Italy      7. United Kingdom       6. Portugal

5. Israel         4. United States      3. Turkey        2. Mexico        1. Chile

Read more: Countries With The Widest Gap Between Rich And Poor - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2011/12/06/countries-with-biggest-spread-between-rich-and-poor/#ixzz1fsKDf34r

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The Trouble With Homework

By ANNIE MURPHY PAUL
NYTimes
September 10, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/opinion/sunday/quality-homework-a-smart-idea.html?pagewanted=1

Quality Homework: A Smart Idea

This is an interesting article that provides some good strategies for giving HMK that are reminiscent of things we cover in Educational Psychology..

Spaced Repetition - instead of concentrating study of information in single blocks, have students work with the same material in briefer sessions [even along with other information] spread over a longer period of time.

Retrieval Practice - using tests to reinforce vs. assess what students know.

Making students work a little harder to understand information [so they recall it better] through:

Cognitive Disfluency - e.g., leaving blanks or missing letters; or

Interleaving - mixing things up vs. grouping similar things by type.

GRADING THE DIGITAL SCHOOL In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores

NYT by MATT RICHTEL
Published: September 3, 2011
Being a technology advocate, I always bristle at articles like this that question whether technology is helping to improve education. In the face of the argument that it has not helped to improve test scores, I would counter that there are many other positives that technology brings [although I like to think that it should also help to increase scores]. On the other hand, I do believe a balance is needed - that is, there's a time for technology and a time for other things like pencil and paper or just plain rich f2f interaction. I also strongly believe that pedagogy must come first - i.e. inform the use of technology - that technology is not a panacea and that educators need to know learn how to effectively use it.  This article provides an interesting overview of technology in America's schools.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/technology/technology-in-schools-faces-questions-on-value.html?pagewanted=1&emc=eta1

What I wasn't taught in school about the Pilgrims

Until I read this blog article which includes exerpts right out of William Bradford's journal, I had no idea the Pilgrims plight depended more on their system of organization than anything else. It's a short article and I am interested to hear what everyone has to say about it.

It really is amazing what is left out of our history, social studies and economics studies based on the political leanings of the teachers that taught me.

I thought Jeff might find this article fascinating especially. Enjoy!

LA Times: Dual-Language Classrooms Flourishing

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/08/local/la-me-bilingual-20110508

Teresa Watanabe

5/8/2011 (accessed 6/1/2011)

This is a solid article on dual language classrooms in Los Angeles. It addresses, briefly, the history of concern with these unique classrooms, the scientific research that counters the opposition, and the (sometimes surprising!) support from affluent families that is helping many of these programs to stay afloat and in fact grow despite budget crunches.