Comprehensive Educational Platform

Great start to season

April 12th, 2011

What a great start to the season.

Just one day into the WCSSAA senior boys soccer schedule and three squads have already identified themselves as legitimate contenders for the Premier League title.

A fourth might also have what it takes.

Eastwood, Grand River and Cameron Heights made statements on Wednesday with victories on the opening day of the season, while Waterloo Collegiate looks to be a threat despite falling 4-2 to Cameron Heights.

Grand River will only get better when Sasa Radosevic and Ljuoba Stojkovic return from suspension, while Eastwood will be much improved if Aaron Schneebli is cleared to play. The gifted defender recently parted ways with the Toronto FC Academy but has yet to receive the go-ahead to play with the Rebels.

Camerons opening-day victory comes less than a week after winning the Trojan Cup tournament, so the Gaels appear to be the real deal.

Read more…

Tags: Great Start, Season

Posted in Education Sport Minute | No Comments »

Christopher Davidson on Political Repression in the United Arab Emirates

April 11th, 2011

In the current issue of Foreign Policy, Christopher Davidson, author of Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success: The Vulnerability of Success and Abu Dhabi: Oil and Beyond, discusses the increasingly repressive tactics in the United Arab Emirates.

In the face of increasing calls for political reform and events of the Arab Spring, the rulers of the UAE have imprisoned activists and increased censorship. Davidson looks at current conditions which is characterized not only by political repression but growing unemployment and an increasing disparity between rich and poor. In assessing the future of the UAE Davidson writes:

Overall, the UAE regime seems to be following Saudi Arabias direction on the Arab Spring. No protests or dissent of any kind will be tolerated, even if that means political prisoners have to be taken and the countrys international reputation damaged in the process. The arrests have broken several clauses in the UAEs Constitution, notably Article 26, and have served to warn the entire national population that nobody is above reproach.

Read more…

Tags: Christopher Davidson, Davidson

Posted in College Section | No Comments »

‘Gay Caveman’ Is Sensationalized Story, Say Professors

April 9th, 2011

John Hawkins, a paleoanthropologist and associate professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, criticized the repeated headline of “gay caveman” in various media outlets and argued that the skeleton that was found was neither – gay nor caveman.

In his blog, he said that while the burial position of the prehistoric skeleton reported last Tuesday was unusual, it is virtually impossible to tell if the person was a homosexual by examining the skeleton.

Kristina Killgrove, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, also questioned the logic of even applying the modern term “gay” to describe the ancient remains in her blog, Bone Girl.

The subject of Hawkins’ and Killgrove’s diatribes is the reported discovery of a male during an archaeological dig in the Czech Republic. Archaeologist Katerina Semradova told reporters that her team had possibly found “one of the earliest cases of what could be described as a ‘transsexual’ or ‘third gender grave’” buried in a Prague suburb. She was referring

Read more…

Tags: Caveman, Gay Caveman

Posted in Education Stories | No Comments »

Richard Kahlenberg on Cathie Black

April 8th, 2011

The qualities needed to run the New York City public school system not only a knowledge of education, but also some understanding of the circumstances of regular New York City students and their families are not easily learned in the penthouse suite.—Richard Kahlenberg on the resignation New York City school chancellor Cathie Black

Richard Kahlenberg author of Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles Over Schools, Unions, Race, and Democracy, has been participating in an ongoing debate on the New York Times site on education. Not surprisingly todays subject was the resignation of school chancellor Cathie Black after a controversial three-month tenure.

In his post Putting a Theory to Rest, Kahlenberg argues that Blacks resignation should force us to reconsider a in education reform that experts from the private sector should be called in to fix up the mess of public education. B

Read more…

Posted in College Section | No Comments »

Senate passes school finance bill

April 8th, 2011

The measure, in combination with other bills, sets total program funding next year at a bit more than $5.1 billion in state and local funds. Current year school funding is $260 million less than school support was in 2009-10.

Sponsor Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, said, “We’re making the least bad choices. … It is what it is. I wish it were different.”

Several senators followed Bacon to the microphone, some to vent and some to challenge others’ assumptions about school funding. Here’s a sampling:

Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, argued that something must to be done to increase local funding of schools to reduce the burden on the state. Harvey blamed part of the education funding squeeze on skyrocketing Medicaid costs.

Later in the evening, the Senate passed an amendment to the main budget measure, Senate Bill 11-209, that restores the $5 million funding of the Colorado Counselor Corps. The Joint Budget Committee had recommended cutting the program to $2.5 million. Bacon and K

Read more…

Tags: Bill

Posted in Education Stories | No Comments »

Skype opens new worlds for students and teachers

April 6th, 2011

It used to be considered a shiny new toy for teachers, used more for entertaining students than educating them. But Skype has evolved into an instructional tool that teachers are increasingly using for new purposes.

“It’s great for oral language practice for my English language students,” said Alice Mercer, a computer lab teacher at Oak Ridge Elementary in Oak Park.

Skype, a free video calling site, also is being used to take students on virtual field trips and as a resource for teachers to share ideas.

“It takes down the walls of the classroom,” said Fay Crooks, a second-grade teacher in New Jersey, as her video and voice streamed into Mercer’s Oak Park classroom.

Mercer and Crooks have paired their second grade-students as pen pals since October.

Both teachers have used the students’ relationship to teach geography, writing, reading and other skills. They also talk about time zones and how the Oak Ridge students are beginning their day, while Northfield Community School has already had lunch.

Read more…

Tags: Teachers

Posted in Education Stories | No Comments »