February 26

Well, yesterday was my birthday. It was not monumental. Got a great run in which means I had time to think. Did you know that my AP Literature applications were only at 35 this year? They have been going down each year, but this is ridiculous. Let's look at what I think is happening. My class is hard. Look at the recent blog assignments from my students examining critical theory. First they researched the theories, blogged on them then applied that theory to five passages from Heart of Darkness. This was all based on resources I had compiled for them on my Learnist. This all involved a heavy use of technology. But the real beauty, I think, in this lesson, was the use of creatively looking at the passages as if they were someone else. Understanding a critical theory and attempting to apply it. Beat me with a stick but I think it is valuable. Being able to look at something through someone else's eyes. Do you do that in Math and Science? I certainly wouldn't bash those valuable subjects, but many parents feel that those subjects are much more valuable than English. Hmmm, I don't think you should count the Humanities out folks. As a colleague of mine states:"Ultimately, too, male students(I only had 6 apply) (and their parents) are deluded if they think a myopic focus on math and science will result in long-term career success. Those are the blue-collar jobs of the new economy. And a lot of them are already being moved to countries where programming and engineering labor is cheap and abundant. It's the social and emotional skills and abstract, critical thought that will pay off in the long run." He suggested these articles, which I then tweeted out. I think all parents and students should know this, but how do we get that info out? The business case for novels and Reading makes us smarter and nicer. This last one is a report from a study, ohhh math was involved!