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All Blog Posts Tagged 'teaching' (8)

Of Extinct Fauna and ESL

I enjoy teaching English to my classes, here in Japan. I've been working on getting a project ready for one year of students which I hope they'll enjoy and learn from.

They're reading a story about the Kakapo, a flightless parrot-like bird in New Zealand. The Kakapo is an endangered species that people are working hard to save. After reading the passage, I thought it'd be a great idea to reenforce their new vocabulary, by taking a look at some extinct animals from the Quaternary… Continue

Added by Nerdlass on September 27, 2011 at 3:00am — 2 Comments

Why Islam's rules for fasting in Ramadan don't make sense

Like many other religions, Islam proclaims that ritual fasting is a good thing in the eyes of God (in that case Allah). And of course there are some rules and regulations for it.

As with the prohibition of alcohol however the rules for fasting don't actually meet the standards one could expect of a God.

"O you who believe! Observing As-Sawm (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)?…

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Added by Tarentola Mauritanica on January 20, 2011 at 8:59am — 1 Comment

Why Islam's prohibition of alcohol doesn't make sense.

Muslims usually don't drink alcohol. I say usually because I know quite a lot of Muslims that do drink some alcohol and do other stuff they shouldn't do. But never question their religion!!! Might get you into trouble.

Now the prohibition can be explained quite easily using the following verse in the Quran:

“O ye who believe! Intoxicants and Gambling, (Dedication of) stones, And (divination by) arrows, Are an Abomination – Of Satan’s handiwork; Eschew such (abomination), That ye… Continue

Added by Tarentola Mauritanica on January 19, 2011 at 4:00am — 11 Comments

Saudi curriculum taught in UK schools (part 2)

It seems that the story about UK free schools teaching part of the Saudi curriculum finally made it into some media across the pond. The new york times has…

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Added by Tarentola Mauritanica on November 24, 2010 at 1:47am — No Comments

Official Saudi national curriculum taught in the UK causes concern

(original BLOG)

As the BBC reports…

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Added by Tarentola Mauritanica on November 22, 2010 at 8:18am — No Comments

Molding the minds of our nation's youth... or... Woot! I got a job!

Okay, so it's not teaching Science or History or anything where I can really counteract any of the bizarre brainwashing of society by religious institutions.

But this is now officially the blog of a bona-fide high school Theatre teacher!

Interviewed this morning. Got offered the job this afternoon. Fill out paperwork and get the keys to my theatre some time next week, and then the real work begins!

This is HUGE for me and my family both as my first "real" career-type… Continue

Added by Pirate Bard on July 2, 2010 at 11:19pm — 5 Comments

Creationism, You Gotta Be Kiddin'

When I was teaching biology in the late ‘60s, I’m trying to picture what would have happened if a colleague came up to me and asked if I were teaching the biblical account of creation. It was after all a Catholic school.

I’m trying to think of what I would have replied if my job weren’t on the line. As tennis great John McEnroe liked to yell, “You can’t be serious. You want me to teach the story of Adam and Eve and the talking snake in a science class? How about Shadrach, Meshach,… Continue

Added by Richard Goscicki on September 3, 2009 at 3:30pm — 15 Comments

Philosopher Richard Rorty on Teaching Fundamentalist Students

Wow! I just stumbled across this while doing some research. Richard Rorty was an American philosopher. He taught at Wellesley, Princeton, Stanford and the University of Virginia before his death in 2007. Here is what he said about teaching the children of religious fundamentalists:

“It seems to me that the regulative idea that we heirs of the Enlightenment, we Socratists, most frequently use to criticize the conduct of various conversational partners is that of ‘needing education in… Continue

Added by Chrys Stevenson on June 15, 2009 at 7:28am — 3 Comments