June 2010

Selling It


“You really need that,” my seven year-old announced one day, pointing at the TV. An infomercial for the Buxton Organizer, a “stylish genuine leather over-the-shoulder organizer,” shows an exasperated woman digging through her purse while her MIA cell phone frantically rings. “I already have a purse,” I replied, somewhat defensively. “But look at how much stuff it holds!” my daughter breathed, while the woman on the commercial stuffed a wallet, cell phone, two water bottles, an umbrella, and what looked like an entire cosmetics counter worth of makeup into her bag. “And it comes with a little message reminder thingie,” my daughter pressed. “You know how much you forget stuff!” A year later, while I still don’t have a Buxton Organizer, my daughter has not forgotten the commercial.

I Say "Po-tato" You Say "Po-tahto": ESL EFL ELL ESFOL Resources


No matter which acronym you use, the number of U.S. students who don’t speak English as their first language is on the rise. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of U.S. public school children who spoke a language other than English at home jumped from 3.8 to 10.8 million between 1979 and 2007. That means that more than 20% of students nationwide between the ages of 5 and 17 are learning English as a foreign language. Unlike several decades ago, students learning English aren’t confined to urban school districts, either. In our bucolic suburb, for example, my second grader’s school services students speaking 17 different languages other than English, while another K-3 elementary school in town contends with 24 different languages.

Resources mentioned in this post: 

Virtual Surgery


Dr. Who?

A few weeks ago, my 5th grader sprinted off the bus to tell me that he had performed a hip replacement that day. “Really,” I said, thinking that a new euphemism had been coined for the daily recess football injury. Instead, he burbled excitedly about virtual surgeries they had performed in school that day during computer lab. My interest piqued, I decided to check out the Edheads Web site for myself. The site offers neat online simulations of surgeries and other types of materials.

Watch Your Language!


Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages.
- Dave Barry


The above quote by humorist Dave Barry is funny, yes, but would be even funnier if it weren’t so true. Despite foreign language course offerings in U.S. schools, Americans don’t seem to place much of a premium on the ability to speak languages other than English. While English is still the predominate language used in international business, the CIA World Fact Book contends that only 5.6% of the world’s population speaks English as a primary language.