Collection of links

Good Morning students,

Here are some links to help you with background for your projects :

Detroit

New Orleans

Your presentations should be posted to the blog by Monday morning, 9am.

TED Talk - Barry Schwartz: The way we think about work is broken

US Library of Congress

 Tomorrow, September 16th, we're going to visit the Library of Congress.  It is located at 101 Independence Ave SE, across the street from the US Capitol building.  It opens at 8:30a.m. and closes at 5p.m.  The closest Metro station is Capitol South on the Orange or Blue lines.  When you exit the metro station, walk 2 blocks to the north on 1st street.
     We can take a free guided tour around the building which starts every hour, at the half hour and lasts about 1 hour.  We're looking forward to it because there are a lot of interesting things to learn there.  See you tomorrow! 

Field Trip to the National Botanic Garden

Tomorrow, Thursday, September 9th, we are going to visit the National Botanic Garden located on the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol Building on the corner of 3rd St. SW and Independence Ave SW.  The closest metro stop is Federal Center on the Blue, Silver, or Orange lines. 
 

    

We will be making a short video in 2 teams, Dalal and Kelvin will work together on Team 1 ; Huy and Ahmed on Team 2.  Each team will be responsible for producing a voice over on Friday.  See you tomorrow!

Sharing knowledge

     Yesterday, we had a meeting with all students in English as a Second Language (ESL) and Information Technology (IT). We talked about happiness and goals.  There were a lot of  international students and professors.  Also, some of  the students shared their experiences, and knowledge while the others were listening.  The professors were active in the discussion. Also, we had our pictures taken while we were talking and smiling.  We also had snacks together. I think it was useful because we shared our experiences, practiced English, made friends. It influenced us to know each other and speak and listen to different accents. Also It encouraged shy students to talk.
      Finally, I have some recommendations to improve the meeting.  We should  let the students share in choosing the topic for the discussion. Ask each  student  to write a question and ask the group about their opinions. We should  try to make the meeting informal, and we can start with a story or something funny to let students feel relaxed in the meeting. We should mention the goal of this meeting and explain the benefits.  If any international students want to bring their  food or coffee, we can talk about it. In addition, we should organize the seats to let each one see the others.

Do you have any recommendations to improve the meeting?

  

New Orleans 10 Years After Hurricane Katrina

I've read a news about New Orleans "Ten Years after Katrina, New Orleans Is a Different City". In 2005, one-thousand-eight hundred people are believed to have died because of Katrina. Federal Emergency Management Agency were blamed on the problems after the storm lack of coordination between politicians, relief organizations, the military.

Now New Orleans is a different city after was struck by the Katrina 10 years ago. The city has recovered and changed. President Barack Obama has visited New Orleans. The city’s demographics (the statistical data of a population) also have changed. New Orleans used to be a old city 10 years ago, but now it is a younger city than it was before. Much of the city’s housing that were destroyed by the Katrina has been rebuilt, the city has built more bridges, roads and improved  schools...Businesses, trade and visitors have returned to New Orleans. Now they have more jobs for people with an education or valuable skills. New industries and investment in small, start-up technology companies are growing. They have almost 500 restaurants and they had 9.3 million visitors last year.

But there still some problems, the rising cost of living has flipped some of the city's neighborhoods. African-Americans who have returned have been less likely to share in the abundance (the good things of life, prosperity). White people are displacing black people who were here before.

Field Trip to Busboys and Poets

Tomorrow, the 2nd of September, we're going to visit Busboys and Poets.  Busboys and Poets is the name of a world-famous restaurant which is located at 2021 14th St, NW Washington, D.C. 20009.  

We will meet at the U St Metro Station at 10a.m. and walk to the coffee shop from there.  We'll have coffee and conversation, so save your appetite!  See you there!