As we spend more and more time with our noses pressed to a screen, we may be more engaged with one another, but we’re not having real conversations. In this December 2013 article, Atlantic staff writer and media expert Megan Garber relates a recent conversation on the subject of conversation with tech author Sherry Turkle. …
Continue reading Not boring, not at all: Megan Garber converses with Sherry Turkle
On the eve of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, U.S. athletes are preparing for an aspect of the competition even more often overlooked than the hours of sweat that no one sees: how to pay their training and travel expenses. Los Angeles Times sportswriter and 1988 Olympic medalist David Wharton published this report …
Continue reading Paying Their Way: David Wharton on financing Olympic athletes
Should the things we tweet always be true? Or can Twitter be an appropriate medium for writing fictional dramas? For Elan Gale, of Thanksgiving 2013 tweeting fame, the medium is perfect for “reality” programming. Los Angeles Times journalist Meghan Daum takes a critical approach in this December 2013 column. Read it here: Daum, “Elan Gale’s inglorious Twitter …
Continue reading “Reality tweets”: Meghan Daum on Elan Gale’s Twitter drama
Now that cursive writing has been eliminated from the curriculum of many schools, only those with the means to learn it can write a love note in script or sign their names in style. Has cursive become a status symbol? Writer and high-school English teacher Abigail Walthausen argues that it has in this December 2013 …
Continue reading The Right to Write: Abigail Walthausen on Learning Cursive
Are print media becoming obsolete? Many people think so, with tablets and phones and e-readers all vying for our attention nowadays. Best-selling technology writer Nicholas Carr weighs in on the topic in this August 2013 article from Nautilus. Read it here: Carr, "Paper versus Pixel" With his title, Carr frames a two-sided conflict: paper vs. …
Continue reading Paper versus Pixel: Nicholas Carr on the Technologies of Reading
Among the many controversies generated by the Common Core Standards, few generate more emotional debate than the decision to eliminate cursive writing instruction. Montessori educators Bobby George and June George enter the fray armed with the testimony of a famous 19th century scribbler. Their essay was published in Quartz in Sept. 2013. Read it here: George …
Continue reading The Stroke of his Pen: George and George on Cursive Writing
The restaurant chain Chipotle has received a great deal of attention since it released its animated ad campaign featuring Scarecrow, a fictional food factory worker turned farmer and food provider. New Yorker blogger Elizabeth Weiss posted this article in September 2013. Read it here: Weiss, “What does ‘The Scarecrow’ tell us about Chipotle?” Weiss presents quite …
Continue reading Brainy Scarecrow: Elizabeth Weiss on Chipotle’s New Spokestoon
Neither statistics nor assorted interviews can give a complete picture, but the image they’re sketching isn’t pretty. Washington Post staff writers Carol Morello and Peyton Craighill, along with research analyst Scott Clement, used both methods to present an up-to-date portrait of the current state of the American Dream. Their report was published in the paper …
Continue reading Working and Dreaming: Washington Post checks in on the American Dream
Forget math and reading; athletics are what really matter. Would any educator actually say that? Would any parent? Apparently, yes, some would. Staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert discusses the situation in the New Yorker in September 2013. Read it here: Kolbert, "Have Sports Teams Brought Down America's Schools?" In talking about U.S. high schools, Kolbert makes …
Continue reading Do the Math: Elizabeth Kolbert on High School Sports and Academics
It’s still many years from appearing on the menu of your local burger joint, but the first lab-grown patty debuted this summer and it has generated some meaty discourse. Science journalist Marta Zaraska contributes to the debate in this August 2013 essay in The Atlantic. Read it here: Zaraska, "Is Lab-Grown Meat Good for Us?" …
Continue reading A Sizzling Debate: Marta Zaraska on Lab-Grown Meats
They Say I Blog 