Balzac ND Little Chinese Seamstress

• study questions
  
• Map available - large.
• Wikipedia on the book by Dai Sijie
• Wikipedia on author (semi-autobiographical?)
  
• Poster images found at Stefan Landsberger's sight.
• history of Chinese Communist Party
  

Characters:

1. Ma - our narrator most of the time. Dr.s kid. 18 ?
   
2. Luo - Dentist's kid. 19
   
3. The Little Seamstress (aka: ) age?
4. Tailor
5. Village chief - ex opium grower.
   

Setting
Phoenix mtn near ChengDu ? Year (?)

Books worth reading.

• Nien Cheng, Life and Death in ShiangHi
• Kristoff and WuDunn, China Wakes

Pictures from my travel in the area

Celebrating Math Month

March is math month. In addition to Square Root day (3-3-9) there's Pi Day (3-14-9).

If you are looking for math applied to youth oriented pop culture - there's a moving math poem from a Harold and Kumar movie. Maybe it's more surprising than moving.

Let me know if anyone has ideas to use the following geometric brain teaser courtesy of Bruce Stewart via the Boing Boing blog.

Lectures: gone in 60 seconds

The Chronicle of Higher Ed. 3-6-9 has a fascinating FREE article on effective online lectures. Called "microlectures" the context discussed is community colleges. While some doubt that their topics can be boiled down, the article interviews a variety of deans and course designers who have been won over. IMHO, this may be because the format requires the teacher to break complex ideas down into more easily digestible chunks. Students love it.

NOTE: these microlectures should be combined with readings and activities that require them to explore the ideas.

The format encourages active learning. Read more.

The following extended quote is take from the article.

HOW TO CREATE A ONE-MINUTE LECTURE

David Penrose, a course designer for SunGard Higher Education who developed San Juan College's microlectures, suggests that it can be done in five steps:

1. List the key concepts you are trying to convey in the 60-minute lecture. That series of phrases will form the core of your microlecture.

2. Write a 15 to 30-second introduction and conclusion. They will provide context for your key concepts.

3. Record these three elements using a microphone and Web camera. (The college information-technology department can provide advice and facilities.) If you want to produce an audio-only lecture, no Webcam is necessary. The finished product should be 60 seconds to three minutes long.

4. Design an assignment to follow the lecture that will direct students to readings or activities that allow them to explore the key concepts. Combined with a written assignment, that should allow students to learn the material.

5. Upload the video and assignment to your course-management software.

Twitter anyone?

Twitter has gotten a lot of attention in higher ed and beyond lately. The Chronicle has a video on how a prof uses it for teaching, and not only is it widely considered a social justice tool, but also the L.A. Fire Dept. uses it (text and audio from NPR), the Nat'l Red Cross uses it in disaster response, and it was found more effective in saving lives during the Virginia Tech than conventional communication.

What is it?
The folks from commoncraft have a 2 minute explanatory video at YouTube, and Wikipedia breaks it down as well as anyone. In a nutshell - it's blogging in 140 keystrokes or less using primarily phones.

Why is it important?

• Recent studies and projections on the future of the internet and communication see hand held devices/ phones as the dominant connection tool to be.
• The overwhelming majority of students have cell phones

Any texting savvy faculty and staff here? Anyone interested in using Twitter for academic purposes? Early alert?

Would you like faculty development information - opportunities, resources, etc. delivered thourgh twitter?

Fantastic opportunity

Does anyone doubt the impact of Langston Hughes on American and world culture? The distinguished poet, playwrite, novelist/ short story writer defined the Harlem Renaisance and came out of Lawrence, KS - just a stone's throw away. Are there English teachers who haven't taught, "Theme for English B"?

• Langston Hughes E-texts
• lesson plans
• audio - "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" , free thru Librivox - the African American Collection.
  

Ron McCurdy will be presenting his acclaimed Langston Hughes Project sometime on or about March 11, 2009. He's taken this act to Carnegie Hall already. It's a multi-media performance incorporating music, poetry/ spoken word and an impressive visual experience. There's talk of using the Performing Arts Center (PAC).

Barb Clark-Evans tells us he is seeking collaboration - particularly from English literature and composition teachers.

Dr. Ronald C. McCurdy is Chairman of the Jazz Studies Department and Professor of Music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (USC) and is Past President of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). Prior to his appointment at USC he served as Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC. He has served as Professor of Music and chair of the Afro-African American Studies Department and served as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1997, Dr. McCurdy served as Visiting Professor at Maria-Sklodowska- Curie University in Lublin, Poland. In 2001 Dr. McCurdy received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Kansas. (source - his website)

Enhancing Teaching and Learning Conference

KCPDC sponsored a teaching and learning conference here this weekend. Documents, handouts and an archive of what presenters have sent to me is available. Despite the awful weather (I spun out on I-70), attendance was respectable.

Dr. Mike Neal, assistant dean of the KU school of education, provided the plenary / keynote address. He noted that in the past - life was experience rich and information poor, so that students may have reacted better to instructors who functioned as fonts of knowledge. He conveyed his own past growing up on the farm and his experiences in college. Life today however, is "information flooded and experience poor." This demands new approaches by educators. We face a crisis in education and those who adapt will shape a new and revitalized future.

He added that the days of "Sit and Get" are over. There are a new 3 R's: "relationships, relevance and rigor."

Below will be an compiled video of many of the sessions I got to sit in on.

PODStock: Podcasters' Conference

This spring, in May 1st and 2nd (a fri and sat), Kansas will be home to a national podcasting oriented ...conference (?) The "stock" in the name connotes either love and peace or angst and exploitation - depending on your Generation. Either way it makes you think something will happen beyond the expected or prepared for. I want to go.

According to their website:

Podstock is a brand new conference designed to bring podcast creators and those who see the real value of podcasting as creators and consumers together. We'll have breakout sessions on podcasting for beginners, as well as sessions for and by seasoned pros. We'll explore podcasting as well as many other web 2.0 tools that can enhance learning and communication in your world. We invite you to join this site and add your thinking to the initial planning for this event. The conference will be held in Old Town Wichita, located in Wichita, Kansas and host participants from all over the country. It will be 2 days of education, learning & fun, so we hope you won't miss it!

You can also check out their social networking community (Ning).

By the way, the logo is an owl on a microphone - not Hello Kitty. Am I the only one who saw a resemblance?