Humanities II

New Jersey state lawmakers have introduced legislation to make the penalties in cyberbullying cases harsher there. But Palfrey says more laws on cyberbullying aren't going to change bad behavior. Instead, adults need to reach out to young people in the new world they live in that is both virtual and real. "We need education; we need mentoring; we need parenting. We need to have good law enforcement," Palfrey says. "We need to have social workers figure out how to reach out in cyberspace, as well as in real space. ... It's an all-hands-on-deck kind of issue."

Nice lesson plan for movie and poem Howl. Resources for beats.

Review and story of West End Blues

In my free ebook Google for Teachers I included directions for creating and publishing a quiz using Google Documents forms. Recently, Dr. Mark Wagner published a blog post that includes directions for creating formulas that will result in quizzes created in Google Docs forms being self-graded. His post includes a video screencast and slides.

CIVIL WAR TO CIVIL RIGHTS A NATIONAL DIGITAL HISTORY PROJECT FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS  The coming year, 2011, marks the 150th anniversary of president-elect Abraham Lincoln's inaugural train trip from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, DC and the presidency of a nation on the eve of civil war. Inspired by that anniversary, the National Park Service invites high schools classes to join in a national digital project on the broader theme of inaugurations - new beginnings.

GOP using fear of terrorism.

Three little words: I am gay.

Missed perfect game.

And now, a rebuttal from inside the cotton-wool tunnel. That, according to Laurence Sunderland, is the safe, heavily padded place where critics of him, his wife Marianne and their 16-year-old daughter Abby live, cushioned from life's dangers and risks. If the names sound familiar, there's a reason. Abby Sunderland is the California girl whose attempt to become the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the globe ended in near tragedy when her boat became crippled by storms in the Indian Ocean. Laurence and Marianne are the parents who let her go.

If the initial account stands up, we're talking about the incivility of the passenger. If an alternate account turns out to be true -- some passengers say Slater ignited the confrontation with his own brusque behavior -- we might find guilt on both sides. But either version vindicates a belief that simple courtesy has become a lost art. I'm reminded of how, when we kids would ask my mom for something, she would prompt us: ``What's the magic word?'' The magic word was please. And when you'd received what you'd asked for, there was another magic word: thank you.

By the time you read this, Terry Jones will have burned the Quran. Or not.

Saturday is International Burn a Koran Day.

A personal look at illegal immigration

It was just such an exciting time across the board, so much change going on -the end of World War I, women getting the right to vote, Prohibition being enacted, of course, which is where the series begins. It was just a great time of upheaval. And when I had read about the character Steve plays, Nucky Thompson, this was just such a perfect guy to set a series around.

Nearly 100 years have passed since their ideologies clashed concerning the best way to improve the plight of African-Americans. Dubois said we could show white people we were their equals through intellectualism and liberal arts education. Here's the full text of Dubois' The Souls of Black Folk. And Mr. Dubois' response to Mr. Washington is here. Washington said that the only way we could become equal was to create our own businesess, learn trades and create an economic base in which we owned the capital, land and economic resources. Here's Washington's Up From Slavery in full text. So I ask you -- a 100 years later, who won? Who had the best suggestion? Was there a best suggestion? Were they both right?

Washington and DuBois's impact on the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

website companion to the documentary

More than a filmmaker, Byron Hurt is an anti-sexist activist who provides cutting-edge male leadership, expert analysis, keynote addresses, and workshop facilitation in the field of sexual and gender violence prevention and education. He is the director of the documentary Hip Hop and Beyond.