So here's the recap on what I want you to do this week:

1) Fill out the "culture essay worksheet" and email it to me Thursday. (the file is on the class homepage; just download it and type in your answers.

2) Read and comment on (using Diigo) the sample essay called "Sample Culture Essay" above.
Then take a look at the grading rubric (file on the class homepage), and as a comment on this message, rate it in each of the six categories. How do you justify your ratings?

Let me know if this doesn't make sense.

Just read a bit about the story This American Life did about Foxcomm in China, and how they're now retracting it. This week's broadcast is all about their retraction and how it came to happen, and it contained echoes of Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair and Rick Bragg and the discussions we've had about journalistic ethics this year. So if you get a chance to catch This American Life this weekend, I'd recommend it. (And you can always download the episode as a podcast onto your mobile device of choice).

For the weekend: Find and bookmark five pieces that you think might help you inform your thinking about your culture essay. And this about both your topic and your lens -- don't just search for "Star Wars" if that's your lens, for example -- look for people discussing The Hero's Journey or whatever broad idea you expect looking at "Star Wars" will help you illuminate. And when you're done, write a few sentences as a comment on this message about where you are now. What are you hoping to write about? What don't you know yet?

Here's a link, if you need one.

The assignment: write about the book -- how does it connect to the context of the time? (3/4 of a page). Read the essay. Reflect on Menand's analysis -- another 3/4 of page.

Add the descriptions you wrote at the end of class today to this chart:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kxmrbaWOxMsHTioP_YB0qt-VPxxChoOygLxvTtZuGl8/edit

I'll take a crack and combining everything into a draft for Thursday's class.

And here's the reading for Thursday. My question for your journal entry:
This piece reviews a wide range of research on the effectiveness of technology in education. What 1-2 things do you take away from it? What does the research review leave you thinking about the direction the Newton Public Schools should take in regards to technology?

http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/technology-in-education/

Watch these videos and respond as a comment on this message: Does Newton South need to embrace mobile learning and one-to-one computing? Should we be more like the schools and universities in the videos? (I have to admit that I feel as if I should be earning product placement fees from Apple for giving this assignment).

So our last debate topic is about technology in the classroom. Let's start with this essay from a magazine called Educational Leadership. Read it, and add at least three comments using Diigo (ironic, I know, given his argument).