Dear students,

Here you are the Syllabus and Questionnaire for you to view them online or Download to your computer as *PDF.

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Syllabus:

Questionnaire:

This IGCSE combined science syllabus includes contents related to: Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

The assessment has 3 different parts (papers) and we recommend you to take papers: 1, 3 and 6.

The school year in Kenya has now been over for 4 days (we go January to late November/early December).  I have finally had time to get in some perusal of news in education outside of my immediate school and would like to take the following article and opinion letters in the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/education/15plans.html?scp=1&sq=lesson%20plans%20online&st=cse

one step further.

In Kenya, many teachers do not write lesson plans in the way Americans are used to doing.  Kenya has schemes of work which is a broad ‘lesson’ if you will, with few details indicating the steps, methodology, etc. of delivering education.  Part of the reason for this is the fact that everyone must use the Kenyan mandated textbooks. The lack of access to other books and materials makes it difficult to teach something that is not in the ‘textbook’.   Since there is no true difference, teachers have a tendency to copy the rough syllabus and direct quotes from the text book, do a few limited elaborations/examples and call it a day.  This then promotes the chalk and talk mentality common in many classrooms. It also increases the likelihood of education not ‘improving’ to the degree that it can from one generation to the next as direct copying from a text is not an effective method of learning.

To add insult to this stupefying lack of depth in  lesson planning, it is also common for teachers to buy whole sets of exams from another school so that teachers can avoid having to construct meaningful exams. Learners  in high schools are graded on two exams – middle of term and end of term, material being cumulative from Form 1 (freshman year) to Form 4 (senior year).   Because there are very few ways to ask the same questions, especially when using memorization, listing and repeating back said copied notes, the bought exams are nothing more than a money making scheme.

I explained to my teachers it would be much more effective to get a cadre of teachers from a variety of schools to craft an exam, deliver it, and have another teacher (not yourself) grade your exam and in exchange you do the same.  This process allows for teachers to develop their skill set, to share information and essentially improve/overhaul the education system.

What I find terribly sad/disturbing about the American purchasing of lesson plans is the lack of effort on the part of teachers to construct a meaningful lesson and improve their skill set in understanding, delivery of ideas to students. No, it is not easy to do lesson planning – it is also not easy to be a neurosurgeon, airline pilot, member of the armed forces or farmer.

The logic which teachers are using for selling lesson plans (not taking a vow of poverty to be a teacher) is merely obscuring the flagrant misuse of capitalism.  It is this same abuse of logic that allows Kenyan teachers to purchase exams.

For the sake of education, I look forward to working with teacher colleagues who are willing to put in the effort, time, energy to improve their craft and create a learning environment in their classroom.  Merely facilitating/ imparting a pre-measured portion of information (standards in the states and syllabus in Kenya) is insufficient to raise up students to the level of being ever inquisitive and applying their knowledge.

I believe the comments American teachers might want to think about would be the implications of being lazy and uncommitted in the face of doing one of the most important jobs in the world- passing on knowledge, culture and improving the conditions of living standards for everyone.  For my Kenyan teachers, it is not necessarily about ease of work as lack of exposure to what actually needs to happen.  Kenya has only had compulsory education for 11 years. It will take somewhere in the vicinity of another 40-90 years to ‘push’ education through the population to make it a force of bringing improvements in Kenya.

If American teachers truly wanted to obtain recognition and achieve something, they would do a stint in Peace Corps and go to a third world country.  Once one sees what happens when people are not educated (by  politics, government, poverty, etc.) and have to survive by ignorance, then they are able to reframe how they look at the SIGNIFICANCE of their career.  Education is not about test score numbers or profits (those are business concepts – see The Black Swan -by N. Taleb), rather it is about improving the human condition.

Here are some of the syllabuses for the year 2010. You can find the rest at : http://www.cie.org.uk/

IGCSE Mathematics

IGCSE Geography

IGCSE Chemistry

IGCSE Physics

IGCSE Economics

IGCSE Accounting

IGCSE Business Studies

self-portrait #1

friday’s k.t. blue designs art class focused on pablo picasso and the art of self-portraits. we took a peek at the many self-portraits that picasso did during his lifetime and talked a lot about how each of them looked different and that none of them looked exactly like the photo of picasso i showed them. i wanted the children to know that a self-portrait is less about what you look like on the outside and more about what you think of yourself on the inside. each child was given a self-portrait by a different artist (kahlo, da vinci, van gogh, arcimboldo and even a beautiful self-portrait collage done by an 11 year old boy!…see! you don’t have to be a grown-up to be an artist!).

then, in the spirit of all things picasso, we turned on some gypsy kings as background music and set to work on our own self-portraits. the children were each given a piece of flesh-colored paper to match their skin-tone and we drew the outline of our head and shoulders. turning that piece of paper upside-down, we cut out the head and shoulders and began to paint our hair, face, eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth and shirt. that piece was then glued onto a piece of vellum paper. and that paper was, in turn, glued down onto a piece of paper that i had earlier printed out with each child’s name recurring in different sized fonts. the end product? here you go…

self-portrait #2

i love how each child opted to create their eyes and nose, in particular. some choosing a little button nose, and others a long, swooping, almost abstract one. and, well, some…no nose to speak of. (which is just fine by me. i’ve never cared for noses anyway…) We also discussed and put into play the “super secret artist tip of the day” which is the little dot of white that you can put in each iris to make it seem more lifelike. we looked into each others eyes and saw that little speck of white from the reflected lights…and the kids thought that was just amazing.

the class take-home items were each of the childrens’ self-portraits in addition to one each of the famous self-portraits. the children also received the artist fun facts of the day that i put together…

picasso fun facts

can you believe picasso had 23 words in his name?

just a great class with wonderfully creative and imaginative children. how lucky i am…

I confess. I love writing a syllabus. There’s just so much possibility in one. Before all the stress of the semester are the good, positive thought vibes being sent out into the universe for good students who care about what they are studying and if they aren’t interested now, will be after sitting though some of my lectures.

I thought about this one for a long time. It’s my area, so teach by theme? chronologically? what’s good? I settled on chronologically backwards because I want the class to tackle The Squatter and the Don, and as it’s a large Victorian style novel, I didn’t want to hit them with it right off the bat. It seemed unconventional when I first landed upon the idea, but now I think it’s probably something others would probably consider. It’s really a trick for my students. I want them to be interested in the material that’s more accessible and “fun” before we strike out on why it’s that way.

Other texts on the list:

• Black Widow’s Wardrobe
• Mother Tongue
• Pocho
• The Adventures of Don Chipote

There are also poems, editorials, a short play, testimonios, films, and short stories. I’m really excited to teach this class. I need 13 students for it to make…

Double-click on the link below to open the Word document so you can save and print it.

New2ndQuarterSyllabus2009-10

Today, I handed out and discussed the English IV B syllabus (the syllabus slip is due on Monday!) and we discussed the in-school field trip for tomorrow (bring in $1!).

Folks-

I have uploaded our updated syllabus on the sidebar. The schedule tab above has also been updated to reflect the minor changes we made to our coursework.

As I had pointed out in class, there is a missing component in the class syllabus, under Course equirements. My apologies again for the error.

Midterm Oral Exam

The Midterm Oral Exam will be 10 minutes long, and will require the student to discuss one of the thesis statements from a list previously provided. The thesis statements will be given one to two weeks before the exams, and will cover roughly half of the course content. Sign-ups for midterm oral exam slots will be two weeks before the exam dates.

Economics 232 students may download the course syllabus here.

Economics 132 students may download the course syllabus here.

INTRODUCTION
The USGBC-New Orleans Chapter is preparing a competition that will feature one national project site challenge that focuses on LEED for Homes, affordable housing, universal design and modularity. The competition will comprise two categories: students and young professionals. Two student and two young professional designs will be selected from the local competition finalists and will see their designs built in New Orleans. USGBC -Announcement

COMPETITION OBJECTIVES
Although specifics have not been announced by the USGBC the course developed a fictitious site in the meantime.  The low-cost single family residential home is situated on a 32’ wide by 100’ long lot oriented north/south with the south side facing the street. The house is expected to be 800 square feet and capable of achieving LEED Platinum. Design solutions should consider various construction methodologies to attain a low-cost value.

Writen by Juintow Lin

Course Description and Objectives
One of the most difficult challenges confronting architectural students who wish to incorporate sustainable principles of design lies in understanding the appropriate tools to use and how to effectively integrate them into the design process. This course will provide a practical overview of both the tools and methodologies for incorporating sustainable principles into the design process. Students will be introduced to a number of tools, ranging from the gathering of data, to computational tools such as simulation and visualization. 

To achieve this, a design project will serve as a means to evaluate sustainable strategies. Students will work in groups to design a house in New Orleans based on the USGBC national competition.

The new competition will feature one national project site challenge that focuses on LEED for Homes, affordable housing, universal design and modularity. The competition will comprise two categories: students and young professionals. Two student and two young professional designs will be selected from the local competition finalists and will see their designs built in New Orleans. The final grand prize will be given to the home that performs the best in an 11-month verification and measurement phase. – USGBC Announcement

Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes
The challenge is to balance progressive, whole-system design with economic feasibility and constructability. In this class, students will perform the following tasks:

• Research New Orleans history, culture, and vernacular and contemporary architecture
• Research affordable housing
• Perform climate analysis
• Research appropriate sustainable strategies and formulate design priorities
• Review LEED for Homes
• Estimate plug loads
• Examine building geometry, wall/floor/roof assemblies, and window specifications for thermal performance
• Evaluate the design for shading strategies
• Research a renewable energy system
• Research a water recycling system
• Assess design for natural ventilation performance
• Assess daylighting performance
• Examine embodied energy for selected materials

Throughout the process, design and energy analysis will be carried out, both informing one another in an iterative, integrated design process. Students will also post their research and critically assess the various tools, building upon the toolsforsustainability.com online forum.

Course Structure
The course will consist of tools instruction, working sessions, and student presentations/discussions. Most documents and correspondence can be accessed through the course website, http://www.toolsforsustainability.com.

Recommended Readings

1. Kwok, Alison G. Green Studio Handbook Environmental Strategies for Schematic Design. Oxford: Architectural P, 2007.
2. Lechner, Norbert. Heating, Cooling, Lighting Design Methods for Architects. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
3. Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2006.
4. Szokolay, Steven K. Introduction to Architectural Science the Basis of Sustainable Design. Oxford: Architectural, 2003.

Please download and read the syllabus for Economics 1N (Principles of Economics with Taxation and Land Reform).