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It is as if each of us were always hearing some strange, complicated music in the background of our lives, music which, so long as it remains in the background, is not simply distracting but manifestly unpleasant, because it demands the attention we are giving to other things. It is not hard to hear this music, but it is very difficult indeed to learn to hear it as music.

Native American languages impose on their speakers a picture of reality that is totally different from ours, so their speakers would simply not be able to understand some of our most basic concepts, like the flow of time or the distinction between objects

rash-landed on hard facts and solid common sense, when it transpired that there had never actually been any evidence to support his fantastic claims

new research has revealed that when we learn our mother tongue, we do after all acquire certain habits of thought that shape our experience in significant and often surprising ways.

Socialism, until recently, was supposed to connote political democracy, social equality and internationalism. There is not the smallest sign that any of these things is in a way to being established anywhere, and the one great country in which something described as a proletarian revolution once happened, i.e. the USSR, has moved steadily away from the old concept of a free and equal society aiming at universal human brotherhood. In an almost unbroken progress since the early days of the Revolution, liberty has been chipped away and representative institutions smothered, while inequalities have increased and nationalism and militarism have grown stronger. But at the same time, Burnham insists, there has been no tendency to return to capitalism. What is happening is simply the growth of "managerialism", which, according to Burnham, is in progress everywhere, though the manner in which it comes about may vary from country to country.

Burnham does not deny that "good" motives may operate in private life, but he maintains that politics consists of the struggle for power, and nothing else.

Lenin, indeed, is one of those politicians who win an undeserved reputation by dying prematurely.

For a while the NEA experimented with “belles-lettres,” a misunderstood term that favors style over substance and did not capture the personal essence and foundation of the literature they were seeking. Eventually one of the NEA members in the meeting that day pointed out that a rebel in his English department was campaigning for the term “creative nonfiction.” That rebel was me.

literary craft in presenting nonfiction—that is, factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid manner. To p

real demarcation points between fiction, which is or can be mostly imagination; traditional nonfiction (journalism and scholarship), which is mostly information; and creative nonfiction, which presents or treats information using the tools of the fiction writer while maintaining allegiance to fact.

Stories,

stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life.

nterprets written words. What scientists have come to realize in the last few years is that narratives activate many other parts of our brains as well, suggesting why the experience of reading can feel so alive.

“This represents a shift away from the view of education as the process of intellectual engagement through which we learn to think critically and toward the view of education as mere training. In training, you are trying to find the right answer at any cost, not trying to improve your mind.”

Not everyone who gets caught knows enough about what they did to be remorseful.

“The big sleeping dog here is not the moral issue. The problem is that kids don’t learn if they don’t do the work.”

1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: In their journals, students respond to the following (written on the board prior to class): “Imagine that you are a college admissions counselor. What would you want to know about each of your potential applicants to decide whether or not you should accept them to your college? Create a list of questions.” Students then share their responses. The teacher should write students’ questions on the board under the categories “Academics,” “Extracurricular,” “Career Goals,” “Talents,” “Personal Qualities,” and “Other.”

3. Tell students that they will be writing letters to college admissions counselors to introduce themselves and to persuade the college to admit them. Students refer to the categories and questions from the initial brainstorming exercise and answer each question for themselves. This procedure will serve as pre-writing for the actual letter.

–If you were a college admissions officer, what would you want to know about each of your potential applicants to decide whether or not you should accept them to your college?

The time to advocate for NWP is now! We need all teachers and site leaders to call their two senators on Monday, November 29. Please ask them to VOTE NO on Coburn amendment #4697 to S. 510 that would ban all congressionally directed spending in FY2011, FY2012 and FY2013. We expect a vote to be held on this amendment on Monday, November 29, 2010. Read about what's at stake: "Earmark Ban Would Result in Catastrophic Cuts for Children" (Huffington Post)