This year’s class Valentine card idea is a-MAZE-ingly fun and candy free! The free printable includes four Valentines per sheet. We recommend printing them on colored 8.5×11 cardstock. You can attach mini pencils or crayons or send as is! We ordered the turquoise mini pencils with one-day shipping here.
5. What are some ways that African-American students have responded to incidents of blackface on college campuses? Which do you believe have been particularly effective?
6. According to the article, how have some white people defended their use of blackface? Do you believe that the use of blackface by white people can ever be “totally innocent” or be seen as “a tribute to the person being imitated?”
7. The article concludes:
Eric Lott, an expert on blackface minstrelsy and a cultural historian at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, who is white, called the practice “indefensible,” given its roots in dehumanizing attitudes “rooted in the traffic in black bodies and slavery.”
And yet, despite the pain and the punishment, some white people seem inescapably drawn to it. “It’s just one of the ways, theatrically and in everyday life, that white Americans appear to handle their relationship to the color line,” Dr. Lott said. “And I’m not sure how you deal with that.”
What does Mr. Lott mean by his statement? Do you agree?
Finally, tell us more about what you think:
— What is your reaction to the article? What did you learn about the role of blackface in American life? Return to the surveys of American attitudes in the beginning of this piece; how do your experiences and attitudes compare to those of other Americans?
— How big a problem is blackface in America? What does the continued use of blackface tell us about the United States?
— Do you think Mr. Northam and the other Virginia politicians who have admitted to dressing in blackface in their pasts should resign from political office? Why or why not?
— What should be done to address the continuing use of blackface — particularly on campuses and universities? Should blackface be explicitly banned at all schools?
— In his Opinion piece, “Blackface Is the Tip of the Iceberg,” Jamelle Bouie writes:
… any collective reckoning with racism that comes out of this moment must go beyond the personal and offensive to the unequal depths. We should care about racist imagery, but we should care even more about our still-segregated society.
Do you agree? What might a “collective reckoning” that goes beyond caring about racist imagery look like in American society?
Related Resources
Why Won’t Blackface Go Away? It’s Part of America’s Troubled Cultural Legacy
Note: Our Sixth Annual 15-Second Vocabulary Video Challenge is underway. It will run until Feb. 18.
: a dense growth of trees, shrubs, or bushes
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The word copse has appeared in 13 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 2 in “Italian Alpine Spas, Where Sports Are an Afterthought” by Laura Rysman:
Merano, its illuminated tangle of city streets visible straight down the hotel’s front cliff, is just a 15-minute drive away, and guests often descend for dinner or a day trip. Yet the Miramonti, built on porphyry rock amid a thicket of trees, still has miles of woodland paths just out its back door, and the Merano 2000 ski slopes are a short shuttle ride away.
Set a few steps outside the hotel’s lodge, an elevated pinewood and glass cabin — Miramonti’s forest sauna — allows guests to enjoy Finnish heat while surveying the surrounding copse of firs and the mountain crests in the distance. A hot tub is tucked into nearby bushes. Smart, ash-gray linen recliners line the indoor and outdoor observation deck with a view over the valley…
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Can you find Sri Lanka on a map? What else do you know about this South Asian island nation with about 22.5 million people?
Do you think you’ll get married someday? And if so, do you anticipate you, your spouse or both of you taking a new last name?
What are your thoughts on the tradition of changing one’s name upon marriage — romantic, unnecessary or something else entirely?
In the Opinion essay “A Married Name That Looks Nothing Like Us,” Sally Ho writes about marrying a man whose last name came from his adoptive family:
Let me preface this by saying I had long anticipated the day I would marry the love of my life and willingly absorb myself into his identity. Some may see it as an old-fashioned or even oppressive belief, but feminist credibility was the least of my identity issues at this juncture of young adulthood.
Ever since I was a toddler playing wedding or mommy, I had looked forward to finding someone I loved so much that I wanted to be a part of him. The name change, to me, was not just tradition but also romantic, a beautiful symbol of the union we were committing to forever.
Yet, once I became engaged, I questioned that fantasy. While I adore Eddie’s big, rambunctious family and greatly respect my loving, hard-working in-laws, I initially struggled to feel attached to the Obermueller name because it didn’t feel properly attached to my fiancé.
As we talked through it, the official concern I relayed to Eddie was my established career as a journalist. We had been dating for five years at that point, but my career as a writer stretched twice as long. He accepted the explanation as logical and practical.
Students, read the entire essay, then tell us:
— What, if anything, resonates with you from Ms. Ho’s essay?
— Ms. Ho writes about not feeling that her husband, who was adopted at age 9, is “properly attached” to his last name. Do you feel attached to your own last name? Why or why not?
— Why do you think people choose to take — or not take — their spouse’s last name?
— What is your opinion of the practice of both spouses changing their last name upon marriage?
— What about last names for children? If two parents don’t share the same last name, what last name should any children have? Should they inherit one last name but not the other? Should the children have a hyphenated last name?
— Do you think that in the future, more people or fewer people will change their last names when they get married? Why?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Students
1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:
• What is going on in this picture?
• What do you see that makes you say that?
• What more can you find?
2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)
3. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.
Each Monday, our collaborator, Visual Thinking Strategies, will facilitate a discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking to responses to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.
Preparing for Teaching began its first run in mid-January. The course is aimed at people considering a career in teaching, and covers many aspects of what to expect before commencing teacher training by first encouraging learners to reflect on their own experiences of learning. Ellie Overland, Senior Lecturer in Education at Manchester Metropolitan University, explains “The course will help you to think about teaching in a different way to how you have done in the past. Allowing you to make the transition from being a learner, to being an educator yourself.”
The course helps learners prepare for classroom observations and introduces concepts such as behaviour management, teaching different subject areas and the process of applying for teacher training, and concludes by helping learners develop an action plan to start their teaching career. Preparing for Teaching examines teaching across a range of levels. Ellie points out that “we work with a huge number of education partners, including primary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and specialist settings. We know exactly the sort of things that you need to consider before applying to teacher training.”
At Manchester Metropolitan University, education students join us from all walks of life including straight from school, university courses, working in industry and even those already actually working or volunteering in schools. Ellie herself was once one of these students and, having worked in schools for over 15 years, is now assistant programme leader for the secondary PGCE course and is completing her doctorate researching how ICT and computing are developing in schools.
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Research insights
Making a FutureLearn course is a fun, exciting and sometimes complicated process. To make it a bit simpler I’m going to use an old familiar metaphor: the recipe.
Let’s start by taking a look at what we’re cooking up today: one course.
More specifically, one course that:
We aim to ensure every single course on FutureLearn embodies these principles and our platform is designed to facilitate them at every stage of design and development.
Now we know what we’re cooking, it’s time to examine exactly what goes into a story-telling, conversation-provoking, progress-celebrating course. What ingredients are we using?
A large selection of ideas
Every course begins as an idea, or more often than not – lots of ideas. They are usually brought to us by an organisation (typically existing partners, sometimes organisations looking to become partners) and we work with the team and educators to help them filter them. Sometimes these ideas are very specific, sometimes they’re vague and exploratory. Once a broad idea has been decided for the course, it’ll then be refined as it goes through our course design and development process.
A group of dedicated, creative people
These might be researchers, academics or industry professionals telling stories, sharing experiences and giving their perspective on the topic of the course. However these are just examples of the visible people involved – there are many more involved in the creation of a course behind the scenes (we’ll cover them in more detail in a future post very soon).
A fascinating course topic
Courses will always be focused around an educator’s key discipline, a strong topic for an institution or an area that is missing in our portfolio of courses. The course topic is a guide for the course; it helps to set the structure, tone, approach, difficulty, duration and many other factors.
Rich course content
One of the most important ingredients. Course content is created by a whole raft of people and usually spans audio, videos, articles, quizzes but we’ve also had interactive games, simulations, experiments, image galleries, interviews and more. This rich content gives the course it’s weight.
Learner’s contributions and engagement
FutureLearn courses are built around discussion, with comment sections and discussion steps filled with learner voices. A course has little flavour until it’s full of learner interactions: likes, comments, replies all bring depth and nuance. If educators provide the structure and the filling, learners add the flavour that holds it all together.
1. Take a fascinating topic, a large handful of ideas, a group of people and mix well
The topic guides the whole experience for everyone involved so make sure you pick a good solid one. Then you want to squeeze the topic a little, until some ideas start to emerge. Be sure to have an open space for ideas, you want to let them breathe. Finally sprinkle in a set of smart, enthusiastic people who will help the mix come together nicely.
2. Leave filtered ideas to stew over a short period
Sometimes a clear idea emerges right at the start. Other times ideas may need stirring, mashing and mixing to get to something interesting and usable.
3. Begin moulding course content around the idea
Once your idea is looking firm, you will start to shape some course content. When we do this, we have to be mindful of the level of the course – not all courses are introductory, some are graduate or post-graduate level, so this will affect the complexity of the resources and activities you blend together. Also: remember If the course looks a bit full – take things out while you can, they can always be preserved for the future.
4. Bake in places for discussion
Learner discussion is integral to a course, so you’re going to want to ensure the are plenty of things for learners to talk about. Don’t beat all the gaps out of your course – you want space for dialogue.
5. Serve and adjust to taste
Now all your ingredients are nicely baked together (be sure to do some tasting and testing yourself) you need to serve it up for hungry learners to enjoy. However, it’s never quite finished – as the course progresses it’s up to educators to facilitate discussion and add even more flavour where needed.
Plus – a FutureLearn course is also made of other ingredients like money, time, energy and media. With such a lot of investment, measuring the impact of a course is really important, so we do lots of testing and surveying, during and after a course so we can improve experiences in future, much like a chef regularly checking their recipe still works.
This post is the first of a mini-series about making FutureLearn courses. Keep an eye out for the other two (no more metaphors, we promise) or in the meantime check out Making FutureLearn.
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Making FutureLearn
Ensure you’re up to date with the latest thinking on key issues in healthcare with these courses from top organisations.
According to the WHO ‘without urgent action, we are heading for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries can once again kill’. Take action by learning about the challenges and potential solutions to antibiotic resistance.
Courses:
Challenges in Antibiotic Resistance: Gram
Challenges in Antibiotic Resistance: Point Prevalence Surveys
Antimicrobial Stewardship
The number of people with obesity in the UK has more than trebled in the last 25 years (BBC), a worrying statistic when obesity brings with it increased risks of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. How can we get the world’s weight back to healthy levels? Maybe we start by educating children.
Course:
There has been plenty of excitement about the possibilities of genetic sequencing, but what are the facts? Could we truly be entering an era of personalised medicine? Find out with courses exploring the cutting edge, from NHS Health Education England and St George’s.
Courses:
Whole Genome Sequencing
Genomic Technologies in Clinical Diagnostics: Next Generation Sequencing
In this time of turbulent politics right across the globe the threat of inequality seems to be increasing. Now is the time to get practical advice and learn useful strategies for ensuring everyone has access to basic healthcare and human rights.
Courses:
Towards Equity: Tackling Inequalities through Health and Social Care
Getting Care Right for All Children
Although Zika is no longer making front pages, there is still much to learn about managing this fast-moving, devastating disease, including lessons that might prove invaluable if another epidemic breaks out.
Course:
Preventing the Zika Virus: Understanding and Controlling the Aedes Mosquito
According to Diabetes UK diabetes is the ‘fastest-growing health threat facing our nation’ with over 3 million people in the UK alone living with diabetes. This presents healthcare with plenty of challenges from managing insulin treatment, to preventative measures to helping diabetic people lead healthy lives.
Courses:
Caring for older people
As medicine has improved so have life expectancies – we have never lived longer. However this newfound longevity has brought with it a set of challenges, the biggest being managing a large ageing population. Ensuring quality of life for this growing group of people is a major concern.
Courses:
Dementia: Understanding and Managing Challenging
Good Brain, Bad Brain: Parkinson’s Disease
Thankfully for the 1 in 4 adults (NHS) who will suffer a mental health issue during their lives, stigma around mental health problems is fading. However knowing how to diagnose and manage common mental health problems like depression and anxiety can still be a struggle for doctors and healthcare professionals. This popular course from the University of Reading is a good introduction to diagnosis and treatment.
Course:
Understanding Anxiety, Depression and CBT
Not found a course to suit you? Browse our wide range of healthcare courses.
In this post find some brand new courses, and a few old favourites, to help you develop a new passion, skill or hobby in May.
Unleash your inner Sorkin, Cody or Tarantino with this popular introductory course to screenwriting. Learn the basic concepts of scriptwriting and be confident in the language of screenwriting – don’t forget to thank us in your acceptance speeches.
Join An Introduction to Screenwriting
If learning a language is on your to-do list then this brand new course is for you. Over 6 weeks it will introduce you to Korean language and culture and by the end you will be able to have a simple conversation in Korean.
Create beautiful rhythms and beats with just one instrument: your computer. This course from Goldsmiths will show you how to build drum machines and synthesizers that run in your web browser using Javascript.
Join Learn to Code Electronic Music Tools with Javascript
Make May the month you destress by learning to be mindful. A firm favourite amongst learners this introductory mindfulness course will equip you with the tools to reduce your stress levels and improve your study and work performance.
Join Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance
Who says playing is just for children? Not the team from the University of Sheffield that’s for sure. Discover the history of play and learn how playing could enrich your daily life whatever age you are.
Join Exploring Play: the Importance of Play in Everyday Life
Not found a course for you? Browse all our courses starting in May.
