Each week, members of the WFPL News team spotlight interesting stories we've read and enjoyed, for your weekend reading pleasure:
Gabe Bullard:I still remember my fifth grade teacher telling the class to "get out your trappers." She was referring to Trapper Keepers. By this time in the '90s, though, Trapper Keepers were a bit retro, and the zippered, twill-and-fake-leather Mead Five Star binder was king. I always took the decision to call binders "trappers" as a a sort of Kleenex/tissue, Jello/gelatin switcheroo. But even if this is what my teacher was doing, it was more accurate than most of us knew. Trappers were technically just the name of the folders inside of the Trapper Keeper. This, and many more facts can be gleaned in Erin McCarthy entertaining history of the Trapper Keeper on Mental Floss. Read The History of the Trapper Keeper.Devin Katayama:What do you think of unschooling? That's the question a friend posed to me this week, linking to this article. To understand the concept, think the opposite of any structured classroom or school setting. This also leaves out charter schools, Montessori schools or any schools of the future (like New York City has). Unschooling is a completely free, unstructured learning environment that's based mainly on curiosity and wonderment. It's homeschooling without any expectations and textbooks. My answer to my friend: As a child, I enjoyed the traditional school setting. I enjoyed the complexities of the social and institutional structure in which I had to work, play and live. But I also understand that it's not for everyone. Read The Democratic Education of Unschoolers.Joseph Lord:This one's a pretty short read, but it's interesting nonetheless. Gov. Steve Beshear, Kentucky law enforcement and others have been trying to raise awareness about the dangers of texting while driving. But here's the problem: Rules banning the activity don't appear to be working long term. Read Why Texting While Driving Bans Don't Work.
