Questões de Inglês

How to Make Great Teachers

By Claudia Wallis

    We never forget our best teachers – those who imbued us with a deeper understanding or an enduring passion, the ones we come back to visit years after graduating, the educators who opened doors and altered the course of our lives. I was lucky enough to encounter two such teachers my senior year in a public high school in Connecticut. Dr. Cappel told us from the outset that his goal was not to prepare us for the AP biology exam; it was to teach us how to think like scientists, which he proceeded to do with a quiet passion, mainly in the laboratory. Mrs. Hastings, my stern, Radcliffe-trained English teacher, was as devoted to her subject as the gentle Doc Cappel was to his: a tough taskmaster on the art of writing essays and an avid guide to the pleasures of James Joyce. Looking back, I’d have to credit this inspirational pair for carving the path that led me to a career writing about science.

    It would be wonderful if we knew more about teachers such as these and how to multiply their number. How do they come by their craft? What qualities and capacities do they possess? Can these abilities be measured? Can they be taught? Perhaps above all: How should excellent teaching be rewarded so that the best teachers – the most competent, caring and compelling – remain in a profession known for low pay, low status and soul-crushing bureaucracy?

    Such questions have become critical to the future of public education in the U.S. Even as politicians push to hold schools and their faculty members accountable as never before for student learning, the nation faces a shortage of teaching talent. About 3.2 million people teach in U.S. public schools, but, according to projections by economist William Hussar at the National Center for Education Statistics, the nation will need to recruit an additional 2.8 million over the next eight years owing to baby-boomer retirement, growing student enrollment and staff turnover – which is especially rapid among new teachers. Finding and keeping high-quality teachers are key to America’s competitiveness as a nation.

(Time, February 25, 2008.)

How to Make Great Teachers

By Claudia Wallis

    We never forget our best teachers – those who imbued us with a deeper understanding or an enduring passion, the ones we come back to visit years after graduating, the educators who opened doors and altered the course of our lives. I was lucky enough to encounter two such teachers my senior year in a public high school in Connecticut. Dr. Cappel told us from the outset that his goal was not to prepare us for the AP biology exam; it was to teach us how to think like scientists, which he proceeded to do with a quiet passion, mainly in the laboratory. Mrs. Hastings, my stern, Radcliffe-trained English teacher, was as devoted to her subject as the gentle Doc Cappel was to his: a tough taskmaster on the art of writing essays and an avid guide to the pleasures of James Joyce. Looking back, I’d have to credit this inspirational pair for carving the path that led me to a career writing about science.

    It would be wonderful if we knew more about teachers such as these and how to multiply their number. How do they come by their craft? What qualities and capacities do they possess? Can these abilities be measured? Can they be taught? Perhaps above all: How should excellent teaching be rewarded so that the best teachers – the most competent, caring and compelling – remain in a profession known for low pay, low status and soul-crushing bureaucracy?

    Such questions have become critical to the future of public education in the U.S. Even as politicians push to hold schools and their faculty members accountable as never before for student learning, the nation faces a shortage of teaching talent. About 3.2 million people teach in U.S. public schools, but, according to projections by economist William Hussar at the National Center for Education Statistics, the nation will need to recruit an additional 2.8 million over the next eight years owing to baby-boomer retirement, growing student enrollment and staff turnover – which is especially rapid among new teachers. Finding and keeping high-quality teachers are key to America’s competitiveness as a nation.

(Time, February 25, 2008.)

Floating a New Idea for Going Wireless, Parachute Included

By Amol Sharma

    CHANDLER, Ariz. – Jerry Knoblach wants to bring wireless service to millions of rural Americans. His plan: Beam it down from balloons hovering at the edge of space.

    This isn’t just hot air. His company, Space Data Corp., already launches 10 balloons a day across the Southern U.S., providing specialized telecom services to truckers and oil companies. His balloons soar 20 miles into the stratosphere, each carrying a shoebox-size payload of electronics that acts like a mini cellphone “tower” covering thousands of square miles below. His idea has caught the eye of Google Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The Internet giant – which is now pushing into wireless services – has considered contracting with Space Data or even buying the firm, according to one person.

(The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2008.)

Floating a New Idea for Going Wireless, Parachute Included

By Amol Sharma

    CHANDLER, Ariz. – Jerry Knoblach wants to bring wireless service to millions of rural Americans. His plan: Beam it down from balloons hovering at the edge of space.

    This isn’t just hot air. His company, Space Data Corp., already launches 10 balloons a day across the Southern U.S., providing specialized telecom services to truckers and oil companies. His balloons soar 20 miles into the stratosphere, each carrying a shoebox-size payload of electronics that acts like a mini cellphone “tower” covering thousands of square miles below. His idea has caught the eye of Google Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The Internet giant – which is now pushing into wireless services – has considered contracting with Space Data or even buying the firm, according to one person.

(The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2008.)

Ethanol by the Numbers

    Even those who regard ethanol as the holy grail of energy policy concede that there is a right way and a wrong way to produce it. Done right, ethanol could help wean the country from its dependence on foreign oil while reducing the emissions that contribute to climate change. Done wrong, ethanol could wreak havoc on the environment while increasing greenhouse gases.

    Congress was sufficiently excited about ethanol’s promise to order a fivefold increase in production by 2022, as part of the 2007 energy bill. Less than half would come from corn ethanol, which has been on the market for years. The rest would come from other sources, like small trees and plants. These advanced biofuels are nowhere near commercial production.

    The final bill correctly included environmental safeguards. The most important is a requirement that ethanol, regardless of its source, achieve at least a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gases compared with conventional gasoline. Congress gave the necessary job of calculating emissions from various forms of ethanol to the Environmental Protection Agency.

(The New York Times, Editorials, February 24, 2008.)

Ethanol by the Numbers

    Even those who regard ethanol as the holy grail of energy policy concede that there is a right way and a wrong way to produce it. Done right, ethanol could help wean the country from its dependence on foreign oil while reducing the emissions that contribute to climate change. Done wrong, ethanol could wreak havoc on the environment while increasing greenhouse gases.

    Congress was sufficiently excited about ethanol’s promise to order a fivefold increase in production by 2022, as part of the 2007 energy bill. Less than half would come from corn ethanol, which has been on the market for years. The rest would come from other sources, like small trees and plants. These advanced biofuels are nowhere near commercial production.

    The final bill correctly included environmental safeguards. The most important is a requirement that ethanol, regardless of its source, achieve at least a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gases compared with conventional gasoline. Congress gave the necessary job of calculating emissions from various forms of ethanol to the Environmental Protection Agency.

(The New York Times, Editorials, February 24, 2008.)