Literacy Voices Roundup – December 12

The “C’s of Change”: Students — and Teachers — Learn 21st Century Skills

This PDF from the National Council of Teachers of English discusses the role technology plays in teaching and learning: “The skills today’s students need ‘are often referred to as “the C’s of change,”‘ says Donald Leu, co-director of the New Literacies Research Lab at the University of Connecticut. They include creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, self-control and comprehension. Yet, too often today, schools don’t teach these needed skills, because they are stuck in a 20th-century time warp, says Leu.”

Bilingual volumes could help write children’s future

From The Sacramento Bee: “The Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services’ Mother-Baby Program… is offering a new reading class among several parenting courses given through the program, which requires that participating parents attend one class per month in exchange for the free goods and services… The class, which largely serves a Spanish-speaking population, emphasizes that parents spend 15 minutes a day reading to their children.”

Science Friday: Videos

These videos make science fun for kids (and adults)! Choose from videos such as Water Balloons in Space, How the Fly Evades the Swatter, Cheese: Not the Same Mold Story, Turning Carbon Dioxide into Stone and many more. You can also subscribe to the Science Friday Video Podcast.

Most likely to succeed: How do we hire when we can’t tell who’s right for the job?

From The New Yorker: “There are certain jobs where almost nothing you can learn about candidates before they start predicts how they’ll do once they’re hired. So how do we know whom to choose in cases like that? In recent years, a number of fields have begun to wrestle with this problem, but none with such profound social consequences as the profession of teaching.”

Two-way tutors: Youths learn to read with confidence

From TulsaWorld.com: “About a year ago, Ashley Simpson was afraid to read aloud during class because she struggled with the words. Now, the second-grader’s Christmas list is full of books. Ashley, who attends Marquette School in Tulsa, is one of about 100 students receiving free one-on-one tutoring at the Northeastern State University reading clinic at the Broken Arrow campus. The clinic had its grand opening last month, allowing the tutoring program to be housed under one roof, which includes the latest technology and better amenities for students and parents.”