What we know about teaching writing

The teaching of reading is the subject of much national and international study and the focus of considerable attention from education administrators and politicians, as well as educators. The teaching of writing receives less attention. Yet it is both complex and an essential part of education. This paper presents an overview of research into the teaching of writing in Anglophone countries from the last 40 years or so. Unlike the teaching of reading, there appears to be little controversy over the most effective approaches: researchers in the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia appear to be in broad agreement about the most effective ways of going about this complex task. While those learning to write in English have to struggle with a particularly opaque orthography, the findings from the studies cited below could also apply to teaching in other languages, particularly those with alphabetic orthographies

Solutions to the 1d Klein-Gordon equation with cutoff Coulomb potentials

In a recent paper by Barton (J. Phys. A40, 1011 (2007)), the 1-dimensional Klein-Gordon equation was solved analytically for the non-singular Coulomb-like potential V_1(|x|) = -\alpha/(|x|+a). In the present paper, these results are completely confirmed by a numerical formulation that also allows a solution for an alternative cutoff Coulomb potential V_2(|x|) = -\alpha/|x|, ~|x| > a, and otherwise V_2(|x|) = -\alpha/a.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Environmental Racism: How Governments Are Systematically Poisoning Indigenous Communities & the U.N.’s Role

This note examines the practice of toxic waste dumping on indigenous lands and how it fits within the broader concept of environmental racism. It further evaluates the international human rights framework and how the United Nations and other international bodies interact with this concept and provide means for protection against this illicit practice. Further, it examines the role of the Special Rapporteur on the Implications for Human Rights of the Environmentally Sound Management and Disposal of Hazardous Substances and Wastes and how he, in his role as Special Rapporteur, can provide relief to indigenous communities suffering the effects of this governmental practice. It delves into such occurrences in specific countries, as well as evaluates the universal human rights of the Right to Information and the Right to Life

What we know about teaching writing

The teaching of reading is the subject of much national and international study and the focus of considerable attention from education administrators and politicians, as well as educators. The teaching of writing receives less attention. Yet it is both complex and an essential part of education. This paper presents an overview of research into the teaching of writing in Anglophone countries from the last 40 years or so. Unlike the teaching of reading, there appears to be little controversy over the most effective approaches: researchers in the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia appear to be in broad agreement about the most effective ways of going about this complex task. While those learning to write in English have to struggle with a particularly opaque orthography, the findings from the studies cited below could also apply to teaching in other languages, particularly those with alphabetic orthographies

Fluid

For my thesis body of work, I created sculptures comprised of glass and other components. Through material explorations, trial and error, and experimentation, I further developed my sensibilities toward glass. By stretching, curving, stacking, and encasing glass, the resulting sculptures are abstract and self-referential. Through the process of creating, I made many discoveries. I hope viewers will connect with the work and create their own dialogue amongst the sculptures. Experimentation and trial and error were key to the body of work. Implementing my knowledge of glass and the successes of previous attempts, I created controlled scenarios to manipulate glass. Once the desired phenomenon occurred, I froze the moment in time for all to witness. I created jigs to exact specifications, but with a crude and innate sensibility. I orchestrated the events, but not without serendipity\u27s influence. The next pieces were like a call and response; I made adjustments based on the previous tests. I played a mental chess game with myself, thinking logically through different options and approaches, until I reached my next move. Winning or losing was never important, just the experience of playing the game. By strictly working in this manner, I opened many doors. Many parameters were also set to help me focus yet simultaneously provide more potential in the one narrowed field of experimentation. Reacting to the material, keeping variables fixed, and making acute adjustments, this truly was a scientific exploration. I feel like I have only scratched the surface of this way of making. The possibilities are immense and a similar method of working has the potential to be applied to many different materials. For this exploration, I focused on the fluidity of glass

Book review: Handbook of early childhood literacy

Joanne Larson and Shira May Peterson highlight the paucity of research on how talk is used in pre-school settings compared to school settings. They locate the wealth of research studies on talk and discourse in formal learning settings in terms of the different ideological positions adopted. They use two continua; Streets (1995) distinction between ideological and autonomous conceptions of literacy and whether the function of literacy is seen as fixed or fluid to separate the studies into four quadrants, each with a distinctive ideological base. This means that their analysis does not highlight the groundbreaking impact of individual studies, but it does illustrate very effectively how ideological assumptions shape both research design and the resulting recommendations for practice. It also highlights some key research problems: that ideological rigidity means researchers can miss opportunities to build on each others' findings