Pearls & Onions

Here’s the rubric  I’ll use to evaluate your evaluation of the three blogs you’ve selected. Be sure to read it before submitting your post. I think you’ll find it a helpful writer’s checklist.
For those of you struggling with this first assignment, trying to wrap your brain around how to get started, I’ve created a tutorial [...]

Commenting on standardized tests such as the PSAT and SAT (and we can assume the ACT), Pink, in chapter two, states:
         These tests have become important gatekeepers for entry
          into meritocratic, middle-class society. They’ve created an
          SAT-ocracy–a regime in which access to the good life
          depends on the ability to reason logically, sequentially, and
          speedily. (29)
If [...]

Pink defines “six senses”–the “six essential abilities” he thinks individuals will need to be successful in the 21st Century (4).  In Part Two of his book, at the end of each chapter, he offers “a collection of tools, exercises, and further reading…that can help you surface and sharpen that sense” (4).
Choose one suggested tool or exercise, and [...]

In chapter three, Pink writes: 
     To survive in this age, individuals and organizations must examine what
     they’re doing to earn a living and ask themselves three questions:
       1. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
       2. Can a computer do it faster?
       3. Is what I’m offering in demand in an age of abundance? (51)
In [...]

Your final summer task is to read A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink. You’ll need to purchase your own copy of the book. It’s currently $10.50 at Amazon. If purchasing the book is a problem, please contact me, and I can secure you a copy.
Purchasing your own copy allows you [...]

Your second task in the summer assignment–one you need to begin immediately–is to select three RSS feeds, add them to your Reader, and begin reading–regularly.
At the core of the AP English Language class is argumentation. To understand the qualities that make a strong argument and the strategies writers use, we must immerse ourselves in reading arguments. [...]

Today, I stumbled upon (literally–not the digital tool) an awesome slideshow–one that explains the power of Web 2.0 tools. Check it out:

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Pretty awesome, huh, that this IBM employee is encouraging co-workers to read, write, and react. Sounds like typical English class behavior, which is exactly why blogging–when done right–can [...]