Who is Vera Lynn?
Who is Dame Vera Lynn?

Dame Vera Lynn, DBE (born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917), widely known as "The Forces' Sweetheart" is an English singer, songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during the Second World War.

She is/used to be the British Lale Anderson, turns 97 today and announced a new album of 40 old and well known and also yet unknown titles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Lynn

Here's the article with an interesting video.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10708970/Dame-Vera-Lynn-97-to-release-new-album.html

And if you still don't know her voice, listen to her, I'm sure you'll recognize her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHcunREYzNY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuHYnzWHS7o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSMuTm649Hk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M57DpA2sbis

In her talk, longtime English teacher Patricia Ryan asks a provocative question: Is the world's focus on English preventing the spread of great ideas in other languages? (For instance: what if Einstein had to pass the TOEFL?) It's a passionate defense of translating and sharing ideas. (Filmed at TEDxDubai.)
Video, 10 min.

http://www.4teachers.de/url/6017

Widespread ignorance bordering on idiocy is our new national goal. It’s no use pretending otherwise and telling us, as Thomas Friedman did in the Times a few days ago, that educated people are the nation’s most valuable resources. Sure, they are, but do we still want them? It doesn’t look to me as if we do. The ideal citizen of a politically corrupt state, such as the one we now have, is a gullible dolt unable to tell truth from bullshit.


http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/mar/20/age-of-ignorance/

Worth reading!

This month, the American Library Association released its 2014 State of America's Libraries report, along with the 2013 list of the top 10 most frequently challenged books.

A "challenge," according to the ALA, "is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness."




Klickt mal die Liste an, dann bleibt euch die Spucke weg...
z.B.
5. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain

6. "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck

10. "The Catcher in the Rye," by J.D. Salinger

Vom Hexenwerk "Harry Potter" will ich gar nicht erst reden.

http://www.deseretnews.com/top/2439/0/See-which-books-were-most-frequently-challenged-in-American-libraries-in-2013.html#q2MlTWDo0H1dJ22c.01

On a fine summer's day 110 years ago, more than 1,000 people died in a disaster in New York. It was a massive blow to the city's German community, which never fully recovered.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27930055

WINNING the world’s biggest sporting event should be a moment for unrestrained joy. And of course Germans danced in the streets last night, waving flags, honking horns, shooting off fireworks in the middle of busy intersections. To chants of “Super Mario! Super Deutschland”, Germany celebrated their 1-0 World Cup victory over Argentina courtesy of a late goal by Mario Götze.

But Germans can’t be seen to do anything unrestrained, and so Germany’s remarkable championship run has been marked by team spirit and humility.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2014/07/world-cup-germany?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/theunbearablelightnessofwinning

I never planned to teach middle school.

When I got my teaching degree, I was set on teaching high school English, but the only open position I found was in a middle school. So I took it, planning to move up as soon possible.

Well, I never looked back. Something about that age just got me. And over those years, I became kind of an expert on the idiosyncrasies of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. I figured out how to make the most of their special qualities. If you recently started teaching middle school, or you have a child this age, you’ve probably discovered these things, too:

http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/middle-school-kids/

What are your thoughts on home schooling? Take a look at what can happen when a kid leaves traditional education.

Logan Laplante is a 13 year-old boy who was taken out of the education system to be home schooled instead. Not only was he home schooled, but Logan had the ability to tailor his education to his interests and also his style of learning, something traditional education does not offer. As Logan has mentioned, when he grows up he wants to be happy and healthy. At a TEDx talk in 2013, he discussed how hacking his education is helping him achieve that goal.

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/01/07/this-is-what-happens-when-a-kid-leaves-traditional-education/

(11 min.)

The Real Christmas Village Is in China
Stockings and fake trees aren't made by elves. They're made 150 miles southwest of Shanghai, in the city of Yiwu.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/the-real-christmas-village-is-in-china/383930/

Es lohnt sich, auch die Hyperlinks im Text anzuklicken.