US election TODAY, December 19th

 The US presidential election is ... special, to say the least.
Today, the "Electoral college" is going to decide who the American President is going to be...
Let's see whether it's Donald J. Trump or Hillary who gets the most electoral votes.
During the primaries, Bernie Sanders was not chosen to represent the democratic party.

Life is not perfect but...

Carl Sagan .

"You Are Here on the  Pale Blue Dot ... on our tiny world, that small planet."

                                          This is a famous video by Carl Sagan

"Our posturing, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in this universe are challenged by this pale light, the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

Carl Edward Sagan (/ˈseɪɡən/; November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist , author, science popularizer, and science communicator. in astronomy and other natural sciences. He is best known for his work as a science popularizer and communicator. 

Learning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9MtAfDswzQ
 Just chose to put a pic instead of the video. It is craftily preventing from allowing me to integrate it! Never mind, justwatch the link! Thanks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9MtAfDswzQ

Randall's esl-lab

This is the site that made me want to create this blog... OMG! 11 years ago.
Randall's site is great, really and as I was trying to tell him a belated thank you, I looked for him on twitter and found, not his twitter account but this video.
And his youtube channel. Here they are:


Thank you so much Randall for your site which is obviously a VERY GOOD WAY for English learners to improve their English skills.
Kuddos for it all and thank you so much for making me want to help my pupils on the web.

Elllo, still free for a few documents.

So as I was checking the blog, I discovered that elllo.org in the Oral comprehension section of the column was not totally for free anymore. I think this is very sad. I wonder if their "business plan" will be successful... I wish they'd asked their users to chip in. Well, I might buy their lessons some day, who knows?
Anyway, for now, we still have some free lessons available so keep on learning English with elllo and with others.

Prince Ea vs The school system

Prince Ea just sued the school system... 
"Richard Williams, aka Prince Ea, is an amazing spoken word artist who helps make people aware of their lives and surroundings. With his videos, he reminds us that we can make a difference. He has a new video about the modern school system and how, in his opinion, it needs to be improved. It shows that the school curriculum may not be as perfect as we thought. Does it need to change? Well, we'll let you watch and decide for yourself."        Boing boing



Hi all, I had not posted anything for a long time. Well, I was sick, still am actually but I'm better so I can post again. Hope to come back to school in 2017.  Time will tell. In the meantime, do learn and prosper, no matter what, no matter how. Sincerely. E.B.

U.S. : How to get a passport

Great map and great 1'53'' video http://uk.businessinsider.com/renew-us-passport-24-hours-new-york-agency-2015-8 about IMMIGRATION in the U.S. The U.S. is a country of immigrants too. "Realizing your passport has expired days or even hours before a flight can be costly, and it can potentially ruin your travel plans. Most people make the mistake of paying expeditors who charge up to $500. The New York Passport Agency, with an average 4.5 star rating on Yelp, can turn your paperwork around the same day for just $170." http://uk.businessinsider.com/baml-immigration-state-map-2015-8?r=US&IR=T

We are citizens of planet Earth

Call to Earth - A Message from the World's Astronauts to COP21

Obama's response to the Paris Attacks.

Extract: "France is our oldest ally." ... "Those who think they can terrorize the people of France, or the values that they stand for are wrong. The American people draw strength from the French people's commitment to Life, Liberty, Pursuit of happiness. We are reminded, in this time of tragedy that the bonds of Liberté, Egalité and fraternité are not only values of the French people I care so deeply about but they are values that we share and those values are going to (gonna) endure far beyond any act of terrorism or the hateful vision of those who perpetrated the crimes this evening." Indeed, Freedom, equality and fraternity are attainable goals.

Undersea cable: From sign language to the web.

"It's strange to think that so much effort on such a large scale is devoted to something the size of a human hair. But optic fiber allows the modern world to talk to itself."

Nice read about "How the first cable was laid across the Atlantic", back in 1858 http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-01/18/transatlantic-cables/viewall For Nerds only: A 35 mn conference about the history of it all. Nerd Nite SF: "20,000 Leagues Under the TCP: The Undersea Internet" by Chris Woodfield https://vimeo.com/29975179

Limitations and creativity

The power of constraints: Phil Hansen at TEDxKC(Kansas City)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgoAFS3xu74&feature=youtu.be

Dismaland

Used to be in the U.K., will be in Calais soon.
Banksy and his artists friends remodeling idea of amusement parks.

Fighting to spread the truth

Harvey Wasserman:  

This man wants you to know the truth about Fukushima

13 minutes in:

"The fact of the matter is that Tepco like ever utility company in the U.S. has no financial liability for any of the damage that they do. 

It is not in the interest of # PG&E or any other corporation that owns a Nuclear power plant to protect the public safety because there is no money in it.”

  

On moveOn.org
http://front.moveon.org/this-man-wants-you-to-know-the-truth-about-fukushima/#.VgLnpPRdsUp

Distracted

From Jonathan Safran Foer's novel

 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Are You There?
 For the 2nd forms and all!!

SHUTDOWN:

 The California-Fukushima Connection - 

BACK TO SCHOOL!

We!lcome new students.
CONTACT ME before the "Rentrée" if you feel like it. I hope yo.u will.
POST A COMMENT!
Parents or tutors, feel free to contact me too.
I will greatly enjoy reading your comments or mail. arago2311(AT)gmail.com

Contact info MUCH APPRECIATED and will allow us to communicate if necessary

Doodling : vive le gribouillage!

Baccalauréat 2015

FOR MY PUPILS
Congrats to those who have passed it.
Bon courage à tous ceux qui vont au rattrapage. 
Work well and cheer up!
Following the results closely and wishing you the best!

....... Suite et fin: 

ça y est le 2ème tour est sorti. Je suis tellement heureuse pour ceux qui ont réussi à passer ce cap.

TES :

Bravo à Lorine, Mohamed, Ramzi, Meredith, Onieka et Alexandre.
Peut-être retrouvera-t-on Christophe, Mounia, Alioune et Mamadou l'an prochain?

Un an c’est vite passé…Cheer up!

TSTI

Bravo à Navid, Lisa, Baye Mor.

Désolée pour Manon, Nicolas et Fanny. See you next year in Arago ?