http://joyhakim.com/blog Joy Hakim Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:14:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en             When I go into a classroom, in order to get a dialogue going, I usually ask an uncomplicated question or two. Here’s one I’ve tried a few times: ”When did Christopher Columbus arrive in the Americas?” I ask. At first I was astonished when no one knew the answer ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=23      Digging through old books I came across The Great Constitution: A Book for Young Americans by Henry Steele Commager. First written in 1961, and republished in 1981 by the Eastern National Park & Monument Association, it is now out of print.  Commager’s book is the very best description of ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=22 After many years living near the ocean in Virginia Beach we are packing up and moving on. Our house, perched high on an old sand dune, is rimmed by tall pines, bay laurel, and holly trees. It is filled with memories, but I have only a little time for their ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=21 Last week 8,000 microbiologists gathered under one roof (a big one) in San Diego. I was with them at an annual convention, carrying a 350-page schedule of events. Thumbing through that monster catalogue I found sessions with titles like this: Use of Luminescent Trypanosomes to Explore the Pathogenesis and ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=20 I sit alone in a home office—which overlooks a pond and trees and Colorado mountains, so I’m not complaining---but I don’t have as much contact with my readers as I used to have, and I often wonder how they are reacting to what I write. So I ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=18   University of Washington microbiologist and brain theorist John J. Medina spoke to a group of educators in Denver recently. He described the way the brain stores information, which got me thinking about the way schools work.  According to Medina, most information that we learn needs to be revisited within a ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=16 A school principal sent an email asking a question. Here's our exchange: Dear Joy Hakim, I am sure you get this question a lot but I haven't been able to find a definitive answer (or I am not looking at the right source!).  We've been using your History of US books in ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=15 Because of what I do, I meet great teachers. They are the ones who come to conferences and booksignings, who seek out a writer. California's Jim Bentley is one of those great ones. He teaches fifth grade and, in addition to having his students read history, he has them actively ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=14 The test scores keep rolling in: Reading scores stay "flat" as the gap between rich and poor becomes a chasm. In science we rank somewhere in the middle of the international scene, gazing wistfully at places like Singapore and Finland where students excel in math and physics. Are their kids ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=10 A review in the NYTimes of a new edition of "Wind in the Willows" reminded me that my older son (now in his 40ties) loved that book. His younger brother (now in his 30ties) refused to read it. When I asked him why, he said, "It's a schoolbook."          In the ... http://joyhakim.com/blog/?p=9