This is a challenging writing task. Presidential biographies are a staple of children’s book publishing, and of classrooms across the country. Nonfiction for children is a surging category, particularly in light of a Common Core mandate that schools put greater emphasis on it in their curriculum. Publishers like Penguin Young Readers, Scholastic and Time for…
All of us with Facebook accounts do work for Mark Zuckerberg. Our tagging, sharing, and liking gives Facebook valuable information that advertisers use to reach us. This article describes how Facebook has been courting news organizations, asking them to provide content tailored to Facebook’s needs. Facebook is not interested in an informed, educated public that…
My kids have never seen The Princess Bride. (This is an odd pop culture gap for my 80s-obsessed girl.) Similar:KLINGON STYLE (Star Trek Parody of PSY – GANGNAM STYLE)Silly fun, just in time for the 25th ann…AestheticsContext matters. Trump called MS-13 gang members “animals,” but critics say he was talking…There are many, many legitimate, evidenc…CultureSocial…
A literary work is a powerful tool for simulating what it’s like to inhabit someone else’s life. Not just tolerating difference, or grudgingly giving “the other side” equal time; but generating real empathy for the diversity of humanity. There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away Nor any Coursers like a…
It’s extremely important to understand what a wide range of people are thinking about, and that includes being exposed to influential ideas that I disagree with. I’d rather not hide from an idea that has power, especially if it turns out I can do something about the issue. The headline is a little misleading… there…
NASDAQ.com throws shade via Reuters: Snapchat is popular among people under 30 who enjoy applying bunny faces and vomiting rainbows onto their selfies, but man yon Wall Street are critical of its high valuation, slowing user growth and lack of profitability. Joel Randewich, NASDAQ.com Similar:Haven (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 10) When a low-stakes rom-com…
Free speech is valuable. It’s dangerous to set the precedent that it’s okay to censor speech as long as you side with the censor and against the position being silenced. A New Jersey school district has suspended a teacher after yearbook photos of two high school students were altered to remove President Donald Trump’s name…
Similar:I really enjoyed powering through Wilson’s Century Cycle during winter term.AwesomeEnjoyed watching the restored version of the hugely influential 1927 sci-fi movie #Metropo…Enjoyed watching the restored version of…AestheticsYes, we will see almost anything branded Sherlock Holmes.PersonalToday I didn't save the world, but I did help a student while power-walking at the mall.I’m far from perfect,…
Similar:I'd like to speak to the manager. Yes, I'll wait right here. The manager is of course somewhere e…AestheticsClassroom Vignette: MLA StyleStudent (shouldering backpack and headin…AcademiaProfessoring. With an(other) apple pie cupcake.I touched up and board-ified a presentat…AcademiaJerz Nerdcation 2013On a visit to the Washington DC area for…CultureGreensburg Holiday ParadePersonalEmpty InboxMy to-do do list and…
Similar:‘Broken Age’ ReviewThis will be my self-reward when I finis…Cyberculture1,000-pound rosary sends heavy message: PrayThe rosary that retired quarry worker Be…AestheticsGiving Obsolete Books an Afterlife as Theatre PropsOnce, someone really cared about these o…AestheticsWhat Borges Learned from CervantesBorges reinvented Don Quixote as a playf…BooksGoogle Books ruled legal in massive win for fair use (updated)Update in…
Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. Best case scenario? A virtual reality game that is either based around Portal or Half-Life, or unites the franchises into one experience. Valve has invested heavily in VR and clearly values the technology as an entertainment phenomenon – the Portal demo for Vive is one of the…
Similar:Until next term, I have zero more unmarked assignments. #fistpumpUntil next term, I have zero more unmark…AcademiaAn important day to remember.Never again.PersonalI almost cried when I saw this entrance to the children's section of the Kansas City …PersonalHow exactly do bridges bridge? How do rivers rive? How much detail does my model of #medie…How…
Similar:Children of the Holocaust return to Auschwitz and pay tribute to those who saved themIn the last chaotic days of Nazi Germany…CultureSix rainbow-colored objects, arranged like THIS?These are shoe-holding racks at a local …AestheticsA Merry Look at Journalism in "The Year Without a Santa Claus"In the classic stop-action TV special “T…AestheticsFall 2020 Midterm Grades: SUBMITTEDPersonalRediscovering…
MTV recently ditched the “Best Actor/Actress” awards in favor of “Best Actor,” which suggests the gender-specific term “actress” is less popular among MTV’s target audience. I added that detail, fixed some broken links, and updated the graphic. See Writing Tips: Gender Neutral Language. Similar:Pippin! Last show today at 2pm.CultureJournalists Prefer "Said"Journalists prefer the neutral “said”…
With the money I saved by working on the car (watching a lot of YouTube tutorials) I bought a new midrange zoom, in the hopes I won’t miss shots by swapping lenses. And now my camera bag won’t quite zip shut. #ConspicuousConsumption Similar:My 11yo, of the opening chapters of a YA novel with an orphan…
Similar:More #blender3d #cgi practice. Added workstations underneath the chief engineer's sta…PersonalCelebration of Writing — a big presentation day for freshman writing classes.PersonalStudents whom I haven't met yet… Students whom I haven’t met yet, I’l…AcademiaNow I can relax a bit. (But just a bit.)PersonalSights, Sounds, and Smells of Elizabethan TheaterSomewhere during my education I picked…
Similar:What if the DC rioters had been Black? I think we know the answer | Aja Hannah This is not just an issue of a dou…Current_EventsIrony in Blakes7 Reboot?RT @Laroquod: @DennisJerz If #Blakes7 tu…BusinessNgram for "postpartum depression," "rest cure" and "yellow wallpa…Filing this for the next time a student …BooksOut of the Zuckersphere, (back) into…
While doing some spring cleaning around my computer desk at home, I noticed that there are scores of old PC games that are still stacked up within arm’s reach, even though I no longer even use a computer with an optical drive at that workstation. But these are games that have sentimental value for my…
Oppressors deny their own agency and dehumanize their victims by using the passive voice. I want my students to recognize this deliberate strategy, and to look for hidden actors and dehumanized recpients of injustice. (I try to teach about active and passive verbs in a more lighthearted way, but I only bothered to photograph and…
The voice of Wallace has died. The silly, plummy, character-driven steampunk/sitcom hybrid Wallace & Gromit films were a big influence on the tone of the “Captain Gearhart and the Magnificent Blimpship” steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell the kids. Peter Sallis has died at the age of 96, his agents have announced.The actor…