I remember using OS/2 (IBM's desktop OS) and i was always amazed that you could format a floppy and do other tasks like nothing else was going on. I never did understand why that never seemed to make it into the mainstream.
I would recommend going to your local library and checking out this audio book - http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=scholar.show_course&course_id=81. It is a college course about sci-fi and fantasy and i think it would really help you decide which books you think would be best for your class. I listened to it last year and thouroughly enjoyed it.
If you read the executive summary the salient point is that "Children at the tenth percentile of achievement (the bottom 10 percent of students) have shown solid progress in fourth-grade reading and math and eighth-grade math since 2000, but those at the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent) have made minimal gains."
The article is attempting to spin this into FUD that helping the lower performing students is having a negative impact on the upper performers, when in fact the upper performers just aren't gaining as much.
There are certainly some things that can (and should) be done better, but the tone of the article (and most of the posts) seem to miss the actual facts here.
Slashdot Mirror
Great swords and sorcery book. Completely engaging story
I remember using OS/2 (IBM's desktop OS) and i was always amazed that you could format a floppy and do other tasks like nothing else was going on. I never did understand why that never seemed to make it into the mainstream.
I would recommend going to your local library and checking out this audio book - http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=scholar.show_course&course_id=81. It is a college course about sci-fi and fantasy and i think it would really help you decide which books you think would be best for your class. I listened to it last year and thouroughly enjoyed it.
I would agree - they were very funny. They are set in the future and have discovered that God doesn't exist if that matters to you.
I have also recently read the Eragon and Artemis Fowl series - both more fantasy but still a good entertaining read.
If you read the executive summary the salient point is that "Children at the tenth percentile of achievement (the bottom 10
percent of students) have shown solid progress in fourth-grade reading and math and eighth-grade math since 2000, but those at the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent) have made minimal gains."
The article is attempting to spin this into FUD that helping the lower performing students is having a negative impact on the upper performers, when in fact the upper performers just aren't gaining as much.
There are certainly some things that can (and should) be done better, but the tone of the article (and most of the posts) seem to miss the actual facts here.