Most people remember the first chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring for the main event, Bilbo’s party and all that entails. However, much like all of Tolkien’s works, there is an extra layer. In the first few pages of the chapter Tolkien puts on a masterclass of showing, not telling, the class divisions inContinue reading “A Long-Expected Party of poverty”
Category Archives: books
Cyteen – Too much for its own good
Clocking in at nearly 700 pages, Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh is a tome. The book was originally published as three novels, but Cherryh prefers Cyteen be published as a single story. As much as I support authorial intent, I want to push back on Cherryh’s feelings. Cyteen should be broken up into multiple (moreContinue reading “Cyteen – Too much for its own good”
Girls, STEM, and Board Games
The movement to get more girls into STEM is laudable and ongoing. Leaving aside any social and cultural barriers to girls in STEM fields, in Boys and Girls Learn Differently, Michael Gurian claims that male brains are gender-advantaged for spatial and abstract reasoning, and female brains are gender-advantaged for socialization and relationships. There are manyContinue reading “Girls, STEM, and Board Games”
It’z ‘Merikan Godz ya git!
In Warhammer 40K lore, there is some loose evidence that the Orks are able to control reality through belief. The most commonly cited example is that Orks believe that red is a fast color, so they paint their vehicles red and, then their red vehicles do go faster. True 40K lore aficionados will dispute thisContinue reading “It’z ‘Merikan Godz ya git!”
Some Like it Hot – The Windup Girl and Call Me by Your Name
At first glance The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi and Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman have nothing in common. The Windup Girl is a biopunk dystopia where agriculture companies engineer plagues to increase food insecurity as a way to access new markets and promote corporate-back regime changes. Call me by Your NameContinue reading “Some Like it Hot – The Windup Girl and Call Me by Your Name”
Audibooks are not Books
I admit that audiobooks are not my preferred form of media, but I still feel compelled to defend the art form. I dislike when people try to claim that listening to audiobooks counts as reading the book. That is patently false. If you can do it while driving, it is not reading. My problemContinue reading “Audibooks are not Books”
Play and Direct Learning
As an early childhood educator, my mom collects all sorts of books devoted to childhood development. When I told her she was going to be a grandmother, she dug through her library to pass on a few choice titles. One book was Play With a Purpose by Dr. Dorothy Einon. It must have been aContinue reading “Play and Direct Learning”
Chapter 7: What is 21st-Century Literacy?
How would you define literacy in the 21st century? How would you define modern-day collaboration? Twenty-first literacy should be divided into public production literacy and private consumption literacy. Production literacy needs to understand how large masses of people use technology because messages need to be made to fit the audience. One example of this understandingContinue reading “Chapter 7: What is 21st-Century Literacy?”
Chapter 4: Applying the 6 Ds
What challenge or problem could you apply the 6 Ds to in your life right now? I want to apply the 6 Ds to the problem of helping my students score well on their Cambridge AS General Paper exam, specifically the argumentative essay section. Standardized tests may not be the most effective assessments of 21st-centuryContinue reading “Chapter 4: Applying the 6 Ds”
Chapter 3: Additional Skills for the 21st Century
What additional skills can you think of, above and beyond those mentioned in this chapter, students will need to succeed in the 21st century? The most important skill students will need is flexibility and the ability to retrain. The world has changed a lot since Literacy is Not Enough was published in 2011. The numberContinue reading “Chapter 3: Additional Skills for the 21st Century”
The Keasy Depot 