Wednesday, December 1, 2010

John Hardy - My Green School Dream

Join John Hardy on a tour of the Green School, his off-the-grid school in Bali that teaches kids how to build, garden, create (and get into college). The centerpiece of campus is the spiraling Heart of School, perhaps the world's largest freestanding bamboo building.

For this 6 page esl lesson in a .pdf format, download directly from:
John Hardy - My Green School Dream

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Michael Specter: The Danger of Science Denial

Vaccine-autism claims, "Frankenfood" bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public's growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress.

For this 10 page esl lesson in a .pdf format, download directly from:
Michael Specter: The Danger of Science Denial

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share

Monday, November 8, 2010

Dave Eggers - Once Upon a School

Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, author Dave Eggers asks the TED community to personally, creatively engage with local public schools. With spellbinding eagerness, he talks about how his 826 Valencia tutoring center inspired others around the world to open.

For this 13 page esl lesson in a .pdf format, download directly from:
Dave Eggers - Once Upon a School

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share

Monday, October 25, 2010

Sugata Mitra: The Child-Driven Education

Education scientist Sugata Mitra tackles one of the greatest problems of education -- the best teachers and schools don't exist where they're needed most. In a series of real-life experiments from New Delhi to South Africa to Italy, he gave kids self-supervised access to the web and saw results that could revolutionize how we think about teaching.

For this 8 page esl lesson in a .pdf format, download directly from:
Sugata Mitra: The Child-Driven Education

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share

Friday, October 8, 2010

Derek Sivers - How to Start a Movement

With help from some surprising footage, Derek Sivers explains how movements really get started. (Hint: it takes two.)

For this 3 page esl lesson in a .pdf format, download directly from:
Derek Sivers - How to Start a Movement

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share

Thursday, September 30, 2010

James Randi's fiery takedown of psychic fraud

Legendary skeptic James Randi takes a fatal dose of homeopathic sleeping pills onstage, kicking off a searing 18-minute indictment of irrational beliefs. He throws out a challenge to the world's psychics: Prove what you do is real, and I'll give you a million dollars. (No takers yet.)


For this 18 page esl lesson (nine pages per partner) in a .pdf format, download directly from:
James Randi's fiery takedown of psychic fraud

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share

Saturday, June 19, 2010

David Deutsch: A New Way to Explain Explanation

For tens of thousands of years our ancestors understood the world through myths, and the pace of change was glacial. The rise of scientific understanding transformed the world within a few centuries. Why? Physicist David Deutsch proposes a subtle answer.

For this 7 page esl lesson in a .pdf format, download directly from:
David Deutsch: A New Way to Explain Explanation

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Ann Cooper Talks School Lunches

Speaking at the 2007 EG conference, "renegade lunch lady" Ann Cooper talks about the coming revolution in the way kids eat at school -- local, sustainable, seasonal and even educational food.

For this 11 page esl lesson in a .pdf format, download directly from:
Ann Cooper Talks School Lunches

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share

Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Genius

Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story.

For this 11 page esl lesson in a .pdf format, download directly from:
Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Genius

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share

Friday, January 8, 2010

Arthur Benjamin's formula for changing math education

Someone always asks the math teacher, "Am I going to use calculus in real life?" And for most of us, says Arthur Benjamin, the answer is no. He offers a bold proposal on how to make math education relevant in the digital age.

For this 2 page esl lesson in a .pdf format, download directly from:
Arthur Benjamin's formula for changing math education

Please feel free to comment with constructive suggestions for future lessons.



Share