In an opening lecture for my journalism class, I listed the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. I’ve referred to the importance of the First Amendment several times, but I haven’t listed the freedoms in class. One week after the opening lecture, I asked students to list those freedoms on…
Wish I’d known this technique when I spilled tea all over my JC Superstar script. (I did the paper towel and fan thing, but didn’t try leaving the book under weights overnight — probably because I needed to use the script at rehearsal.) Similar:''The Balloon Hoax'' by Edgar Allan PoeWhen steampunk was speculative fiction, …AmusingReading-Is-Fundamentalists…
His despair is only part of his artistic journey. When researching Poe last year, I was surprised to come across an anecdote about him playing leap-frog with his wife and splitting his pants, causing both of them to collapse in fits of laughter. I’m sure it was the memory of joyful moments like this that haunted him as she lay dying and long after she was dead.
Similar:In September, 2003, I was blogging about the emerging fad of internet plagiarism, ethnical…In September, 2003, I was blogging about…CultureQ Who? (ST: TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 16)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…MediaVideo-Game Violence Is Now a Partisan IssueScholar and essayist Ian Bogost traces t…CultureThe Missing Will, by Agatha Christie (WAOB Audio Theatre)I had a…
Like vegan pizzas and secular Christmas celebrations, I can hear and understand the reasoning behind why people like football, but their explanation does nothing to make me want to participate on any level. So it’s very interesting to me to read this report of an apparent cultural shift, sparked by concerns about brain injury. You…
I’ve recently processed and absorbed my recognition of the “left brain vs right brain myth.” (One side of the brain may work harder on some tasks, but there’s no evidence to suggest that whether a person is logical or creative has anything to do with how that person’s brain hemispheres relate to each other.) The…
Your mileage may vary, but I immediately thought of Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, who states this problem in negative terms. Yes, she’s a made-up character delivering a line in a movie about an imaginary ring from a fantasy book, but anyone who really understands Tolkien’s story will have reflected on the…
Kim Ash teaches the Newseum’s “Fighting Fake News” class. Whereas teachers once feared that teenagers would fall for everything they read online, now they’re concerned young people won’t believe anything they read. —Washington Post Similar:Fact Check: No, an NPR story on the Trump supporters' attempted coup dated January 6, 2021…According to the Internet Archive, this…
Is your academic essay a bit short? First, make sure that you have formatted your draft as required (usually professors ask you to double-space). Faking a longer paper won’t make your writing any more persuasive or intelligent or analytical or factual. It won’t help you to learn what your instructor wants you to learn. My…
Similar:Merry Christmas 2018PersonalDaughter made a Rainbow Loom Marty McFly. Note vest jacket and hover board.PersonalSpanish dance @laurelballettheater @westmorelandsymphony The NutcrackerDanceHamlet!PersonalYour first #blender3d retractable #steampunk landing wheels will be your worst. But you ha…Your first #blender3d retractable #steam…AestheticsWhen students don't show up during office hours: I adjusted the cabinet and added a new (s…Aesthetics
When you’re a homeschool parent, you go with what works. Yes, Carolyn, you may have my plaid bed sheet. Finish reading this book on Scottish history and I’ll take more pictures. No, you may not wear your kilt to church. Similar:How Daydreams and Videogames Can Make Us Confident In Real Life (Yes)Is there a daydreamer…
Carolyn: “Does no one have a kind word for my Scotland?” Similar:A pie slice from the ring surrounding the ballroom, from the #steampunk bedtime stories I …AestheticsThe Best of Both Worlds, Part 2 ( #StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 1) Your res…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break …PersonalFirst page of a student’s Texture project.…
Each element of the periodic table gets its own haiku. What a clever project — traditional haiku frequently celebrate nature. An interactive review of the periodic table — composed of 119 haiku The elements, in haiku Similar:The Missing Will, by Agatha Christie (WAOB Audio Theatre)I had a great time playing Hastings in t…CultureHappy St. Crispin's…
Wife: “What did you do with your bedsheet?” Me: “Is that my missing belt?” Girl: “Kilt-y as charged.” Similar:Love Online”The exchange of love letters was centra…Culture9 Photography Tips (Steve McCurry) 9 Photography TipsAestheticsAll the Classroom’s a StageSome good observations in this essay. As…AcademiaItalian journalist to be beatified for helping Jews escape persecutionJournalist who helped saved…
Similar:Stunning writing in this WaPost reflection on the Trump campaign's journey from a gold esc…I’m stunned by the writing. Here’s just …CultureDon't Help Your Kids With Their HomeworkGreater parental involvement in school (…AcademiaPost Gazette Corrects Headline of Seton Hill iPad FollowupEveryone makes mistakes. As a student jo…AcademiaI love my students enough to teach them the…
Fascinating academic effort to find a pattern in apparently random conspiracy theories that regularly pop up in our infostreams during social crises. Experts usually dismiss them because they are so wild and unlikely, and have thus failed to notice their impact. Starbird’s insight was to map the digital connections between all this buzzing on Twitter…
I did in fact search YouTube for videos featuring corridors on the starship Enterprise. And I found this bizarrely satisfying video, featuring not just corridors, but also doors. (Whoosh! Whoosh!) I remember this — our first look at Captain Kirk in the 1979 “Star Trek the Motion Picture.” Similar:Birthright, Part 2 (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season…
Similar:Listening to Weird Al's "Word Crimes." Awesome. My teaching method does not involve sham…AmusingI pulled out a shelf on my teaching station and was greeted by this lovingly arrayed arsen…PersonalPompeii artifacts at the Carnegie Science Center The lighting was very low, so the phot…AestheticsAudisee Presents: The War of the WorldsAs new age synthesizer music, a…
Student (shouldering backpack and heading for door): Why does MLA Style have to keep changing? Me (checks clock): Well… Similar:Hidden Spaces, New Possibilities I’ve often had dreams about returning …CultureSchool ditches rules and loses bulliesSwanson School signed up to the study by…CultureThe Lost Art of Proofreading Plenty more where those came from. T…AmusingWired and Business…
I posted a new handout with tips on surviving group projects in college. Employers value applicants who can work in groups. Most college students say they hate group work, but in the real world, few people work alone. Your assigned partner for a class project may be slow to respond because he or she is dealing…