Fortress of New York

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "A Fortress that Didn't Come to Be." The article states, "It was a city humbled and scared, where the possibilities of destruction had been recalibrated. It was Sept. 12, 2001. The day after...New York would become a fortress city, choked by apprehension and resignation, forever patrolled by soldiers and submarines. Another attack was coming. And soon."

The article explains, "Eight years later, those presumptions are cobwebbed memories that never came to pass. Indeed, glimpses into a few aspects of the city help measure the gap between what was predicted and what actually came to be."

Questions for Younger Children

1. Do you think that it is possible to know what is going to happen tomorrow? Why or why not? What kinds of things can we know will happen tomorrow? What kinds of things won't we know until tomorrow comes?

2. How do you think that this school will be different ten years from now? Come up with as many different ideas as possible?

3. Do you have an imaginary friend? (Have you ever had an imaginary friend?) Tell us about your imaginary friend? Why do you think that kids soemtimes create imaginary friends?

4. Have you ever been afraid that something would happen? Why were you afraid of this thing happening? Did the thing end up happening? Why or why not?

Questions for Older Students

1. Vocabulary terms to discuss: Humbled; Incoherent; Novelty; and, Mandated.

2. According to the article, "Christopher Gravagna didn’t feel right that people had to buy their patriotism (when they bought flags). 'That was ridiculous,' he said. 'Why should people capitalize on flags at that time?'” Do you agree with Mr. Gravagna? Why or why not? Try and argue the question from both perspectives.

3. Why do you think that the expectations that people had of New York City on September 12, 2001, did not come true? Do you think it says anything about the nature of the American people that New York City did not change as much as people expected? Why or why not? Is it good, bad or perhaps both good and bad?

4. If you could go back in time to September 12, 2001 and tell something to the worried people, what would you say? Even if they truly believed that you came back in time, do you think that you could say something to make them feel better? Why or why not?

Obama Talks to Congress

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "With His Top Priority on the Line, President Reframes Critical Debate." The article begins, "After a month of angry town hall meetings and dire predictions about the state of his top domestic priority, President Obama moved forcefully Wednesday night to take the initiative on health care -- and in the process rejuvenate his presidency and unite his fractious Democratic Party."

The article further states, "It is rare for a presidency so young to have so much on the line. No single speech can create consensus on health-care legislation, and in that sense this was not the make-or-break moment described by some commentators. But Obama has staked his presidency on this issue, and his advisers knew it was long past time for him to assert himself in a more demonstrable way or risk seeing the entire enterprise slip away."

Questions for Younger Children

1. What do you think is the nicest thing that somebody can say to somebody else? Why?

2. Describe a time in which you have asked somebody else to help you do something? What did you ask them to do? Did they help you? Why or why not?

3. Do you think that it's important to learn to speak in front of other people? Why or why not? Do you think that there is a nice way to ask somebody else to help you do something and a way that isn't so nice? Explain!!

4. Have you ever interrupted somebody else when they were in the middle of talking? Why did you interrupt? Have you ever been interrupted when you were in the middle of talking? How did it feel to be interrupted? Why?

Questions for Older Students

1. Vocabulary terms to discuss: Domestic; Fractious; Liberal vs. Moderate Wings; (if you want to see some strange looks) Dickering.

2. Do you think that there are significant differences between the skills needed to win a Presidential election and the skills needed to be an effective President? Describe the differences. During this legislative negotiation what one skill do you think that President Obama should use from his campaign expertise to support his Presidential agenda? Explain!

3. Though only alluded to in the article, Rep. Joe Wilson interrupted the President last night, during his address. In England, it's common for members of Parliament to heckle the Prime Minister during addresses. Do you think that the President deserves the respect of Congress? Does the Prime Minister deserve the respect of Parliament? What can we learn about culture from the fact that a behavior that is acceptable in England is frowned upon in the U.S.?

4. What three questions do you have about the current health insurance debate? Why do you think that these questions are important? Go ahead and find the answers to these questions, to the best of your ability.

The Cost of Cards

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Overspending on Debit Cards is a Boon for Banks." The article states, "Banks market (charging customers to spend more with their debit cards than they have in their accounts) as overdraft protection, and the fees it generates have become an important source of income for the banking industry at a time of big losses in other operations. This year alone, banks are expected to bring in $27 billion by covering overdrafts on checking accounts, typically on debit card purchases or checks that exceed a customer’s balance."

The article continues, "...The price is enormous. According to the F.D.I.C. study, a $27 overdraft fee that a customer repays in two weeks on a $20 debit purchase would incur an annual percentage rate of 3,520 percent. By contrast, penalty interest rates on credit cards generally run about 30 percent.

Questions to Consider for Younger Children

1. Describe a time in which you either earned some money or somebody gave you money? Do you like having money? Why or why not?

2. Have you ever wanted to buy something for yourself and found that you did not have enough money to buy it? What did you do? How did you feel? Why?

3. Do you think that somebody else should always give you money to buy whatever you want? Why or why not?

4. Have you ever borrowed money from somebody? Why did you borrow it? When somebody else loans you money do you think that it would be fair to pay them back the amount of money that they loaned you plus a little more? Why or why not?

Questions for Older Students

1. Vocabulary terms to Define/Discuss: Cover (financially); Overdraft; Federal Reserve Bank; Federal Regulations.

2. What is the difference between credit and debit? In what situations would it make more sense to use a credit card than a debit card? Why? In what situations would it make more sense to use a debit card than a credit card? Explain?

3. Do you think that banks should be allowed to charge fees, around $35, if somebody spends more with a debit card than he/she has in a checking account? Why or why not? Now, to challenge your thinking skills, develop an argument for the other side of this question.

4. Do you think that the New York Times should have run an article about overspending on debit cards on the first page of the newspaper? Is this really a current event? Why or why not?

Barack Obama will Address Students

As you might have heard President Obama is set to address students across America on Tuesday, the first day after Labor Day. I'm guessing that many students have already returned to school - but Tuesday is traditionally the first day back. He'll be on C-Span and education channels. Some conservative individuals are complaining he should not be taking up school time. For example, take a look at this article from the Homeschool Examiner. My friend Vicki Davis posted this link to a set of resources to help students understand and think about the speech, posted by the United States Department of Education.

The resource suggests reading a book about American presidents or Obama.

Student as Hunter/Farmer

Yesterday I posted a Tweet considering using the metaphor of hunter or farmer for the student. @lauradoggett responded "Stephen Covey uses the metaphor of school as farm- very powerful. There are no shortcuts to deep learning." Based on Laura's response I did some additional research and found that Covey makes the argument that in school real learning often doesn't occur because students cram for their exams at the last moment. On a farm, however, there is no cramming. Every seed and animal must be nurtured to the fullest extent or they don't develop and produce to their potential. According to Covey, schools should ideally be treated as farms.

My main point in wanting to compare students to hunters or farmers is because I want students to be seen as the key actors. Hunters must chase their prey just as in an ideal educational setting students would chase knowledge. (Students cannot simply be spoonfed or the information won't be as meaningful to them.) After hunters catch their prey they use it in a variety of ways (sometimes the prey is put on the wall, other times it is barbecued, other times it is roasted). Similarly, after students acquire information they should use it in a variety of ways.

Though I unfortunately think that some people will be turned off the hunter metaphor, the farmer metaphor seems to neat and orderly to me. Learning is not a neat and orderly process. Instead it is the process of following clues from one point to another, just as hunters, and hunting dogs, often follow the scent of the quarry.

By the way, this idea is not meant to be fully fleshed out. It started as a Twitter reply to @lauradoggett and then I realzied that I could never convey a meaningful message on this topic in 140 characters or less.

GM's New Unveiling

Yesterday I was invited to participate in a General Motors event for consumers. The event started at the GM Tech Center in Warran, MI. We then moved across the street where we watched pilot assembly of the new Volt, an electric car that can get up to 40 miles on one charge and 300 miles on a single tank of gasoline, giving it a total distance of 340 miles. Later in the day, we visited the GM Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan. While at the Proving Grounds I had the opportunity to drive in a Volt. The New York Times is running an article on the Volt today entitled, "G.M. Says Volt will Get Triple-Digit City Mileage."

1. Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of GM, explained that GM has been developing innovative, green friendly cars, for years. One of their largest problems is getting the word out to the public. If you could advise GM on three successful strategies to most effectively get the word out to the general public at the beginning of the Twenty First Century what would you advise? Why?

2. Bob Lutz explained that the federal government does not want to control GM operations, as a socialist government might. Instead the government simply wants to get its money back that it invested in GM. Based on your knowledge of the GM bailout, do you think that Mr. Lutz is correct? Why or why not?

3. In the introduction to this blog post, I explained the information that I learned about the Volt, yesterday. The information contained in the linked article contains some discrepancies. What can we learn about the written word from the differences in these two accounts? Is it really ever possible to verify the accuracy of written/spoken words? Why or why not? What questions would you ask in an attempt to verify accuracy?

4. What three industries do you think that it is most important to learn about in order to understand the United States economy? Why these specific industries?

Fewer People Laid Off

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "247,000 Jobs Lost in July; Rate Falls Slightly to 9.4%." The article states, "Although businesses are expected to keep cutting jobs through the rest of the year, the Labor Department’s latest figures offered some faint signs that the sinking job market was approaching bottom."

Perhaps there's some faint signs of hope in a macro-sense but from a micro-perspective it still hurts to be unemployed. Karen Triplett, 61 of Atlanta said, "I’m beyond down to basics...My daughter’s tried to help me. My son has given me money. But what I can’t do, I can’t do.”

1. Is it easier to look at the economy from a macro perspective or a micro perspective? What does the word easier, even mean?

2. What do you think is the single most powerful thing that you can say to somebody who is down on thier economic luck? Why is this powerful?

3. If you had $1 Billon to spend to improve the economy, what would you do with the money? Do you think that you could make a different with $1 Billion? Why or why not?

4. Do you think that the U.S. economy is ever going to return to its previous heights? Why or why not? If you believe that it will return, how long will it take? Why will it take this amount of time?