CC Dropout Rates

Bryan Guillermo stared at his dismal grade report and considered dropping the math class he had just begun at City College of San Francisco.

It was fall 2004. Two months into his first semester, Guillermo already felt overwhelmed by the basic algebra, quadratic equations and polynomials covered in class.

"I'm really bad at math," he admitted, remembering that he also considered dropping chemistry, nutrition and astronomy. "It was a challenge to understand what they were talking about."

Guillermo's academic struggles are the norm in California community colleges - and the vast majority of students hoping to earn an associate degree or a vocational certificate drop out instead, according to a new study that points to an alarming trend at California community colleges.

Read more . . .

Sir Ken Robinson: "Changing Educational Paradigms" Animated

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

www.youtube.com

This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award.

I don't think Robinson's material will prove surprising, but I hope it proves engaging and even fun in this animated format. (Fun being a very serious topic; animation, in the fullest sense, being the object of our enterprise as teachers, yes?) And, if you disagree or find the models insufficient or simplistic, the play of mind may prove worthwhile anyway and should set up meaningful discussions.

I am finding this illustrated presentation on educational paradigms and divergent thinking useful in considering how I want to plan my next semester's classes. I like the emphasis on the arts, but I also like that Robinson named mathematics and science as well. As many instructors in our department have, I've been quietly working with my own students on being academically energized through the popular science texts we're using--Flotsametrics and the Floating World, The Outlaw Sea, The Devil's Teeth--and through Barry Lopez's essays in About This Life, among others. Playful curiosity and comprehensive watchfulness seem useful, fruitful qualities to foster in ourselves and in our students, one reminder that I find in the above animated lecture.

How (and how well) have our own "divergent thinking" skills survived in the face of the "educational system" that we have experienced, surmounted, and served these past years? Luck? Childlike play? Engaging that playful curiosity on behalf of research and teaching tasks? And so forth?

Human Tutoring

In Higher Education, a Focus on Technology

By STEVE LOHR

The education gap facing the nation’s work force is evident in the numbers. Most new jobs will require more than a high school education, yet fewer than half of Americans under 30 have a postsecondary degree of any kind. Recent state budget cuts, education experts agree, promise to make closing that gap even more difficult.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and four nonprofit education organizations are beginning an ambitious initiative to address that challenge by accelerating the development and use of online learning tools.

An initial $20 million round of money, from the Gates Foundation, will be for postsecondary online courses, particularly ones tailored for community colleges and low-income young people. Another round of grants, for high school programs, is scheduled for next year.

Just how effective technology can be in improving education — by making students more effective, more engaged learners — is a subject of debate. To date, education research shows that good teachers matter a lot, class size may be less important than once thought and nothing improves student performance as much as one-on-one human tutoring.

Read more . . .

Ben Bac Sierra: Lecture TOMORROW

Literature Club Lecture Series

Join the Literature Club in the official

Friday Lecture Series

TOMORROW

we will be presenting

. . .

Transforming the Ugly

into the Sublime:

A

Lecture by

Benjamin Bac Sierra,

author

of

Barrio Bushido

Friday October 15 1:15-2:30

Batmale Hall Room 349

If these lectures don’t satisfy your thirst for Literature, join the

Literature Club every Friday 1:15-2:30 in

Batmale Hall Room 349

Contact the Literature Club at Litclubccsf@gmail.com for more

information or to get involved

_Barrio Bushido_--Ben Bacsierra's New Novel

Jump to Ben's blog!

The son of Guatemalan immigrants, Benjamin Bac Sierra was born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission district, at one time the heart of Latino culture in Northern California. Living the brutal “homeboy” lifestyle, at seventeen he joined the United States Marine Corps and participated in front line combat during the first Gulf War. After his honorable discharge, he completed his Bachelor’s degree at U.C. Berkeley, a teaching credential program and a Master’s in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Currently, he is a professor at City College of San Francisco.

Interview, Readings and New Book Almost Here!

Hey all! My new novel, Young Junius, is almost here!

Last night KRCB (Sonoma's NPR) aired this interview on their "Word by Word" show with host Gil Mansergh. Give a listen if you'd like to know more about YOUNG JUNIUS or hear me read parts of the book. Click here to hear.

I'm also happy to announce the following events. Hope to see some of you (and/or your students) out!

• Friday night 10/8 at A Great Good Place for Books - 7PM - 6120 LaSalle Ave., Oakland (Montclair)
• Saturday night 10/9 as part of Litcrawl at the Mission District Police Station (in the community room, NOT a cell) at 7:15 to 8:15. 630 Valencia St.
  
• Tuesday 10/12 at Books Inc. in Opera Plaza - 7PM - 601 Van Ness, SF

I know we're all hitting that crazy-busy point in the semester, but we shall carry on! More info and events at my website and my readings/events page. THANKS!