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2012-02-10T09:24:00.001-06:00

Fun And Games For The Kids!

Below are some reading links that will help your child practice different skills in reading. With younger children it will be important to help guide them to activities that will be beneficial for them! To help keep them safe, always pay close attention to the sites that your child is accessing!

Reading Resources for younger students

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/picturematch/

Match pictures to 5 letters that you specify.

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/abcmatch/

ABC memory with beginning sounds.

http://www.storyplace.org/preschool/activities/shapesonact.asp

Finding shapes! Shape recognition leads to letter recognition.

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/alphabetp13.htm

Put puzzles together on-line for each letter.

http://pbskids.org/wordworld/characters/game_frm.html

Frog's Rhyming Machine

http://www.playkidsgames.com/alphabetGames.htm

Practice your ABC's with this site!

http://www.starfall.com/

This website offers a variety of reading activities for emergent readers.

http://pbskids.org/games/alltopics.html

This website offers a variety of reading activities for emergent readers.

http://tv.disney.go.com/playhouse/index.html

This website offers a variety of reading activities for emergent readers.

http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/games/

This website offers a variety of reading activities for emergent readers.

http://kids.nypl.org/reading/Childrensebooks.cfm

Read Children's e-books on-line through the New York Public Library

http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/

Reading stories and play games with Clifford the big red dog!

Reading Resources for older students

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=ww2

Practice word building and vocabulary.

http://www.eduplace.com/tales/

Create your own wacky tales!

http://resources.kaboose.com/games/read2.html

This website offers a variety of reading activities.

http://www.rif.org/kids/readingplanet/gamestation.htm

This website offers a variety of reading activities.

www.freerice.com

This website focuses on vocabulary, social studies and math. It donates rice to the UN World Food

Program with each correct answer.

Reading Resources for all ages

http://www.readinghorizons.com/lemonsforliteracy/lemons.html

How to Play

Click on the correct answer.
If you get it right, you will get a harder word. If you get it wrong, you will get an easier word.
For each answer you get right, we will donate money that goes toward literacy materials for a site in need.

http://www.spellingcity.com/?task=view

Use this website to practice your weekly spelling words!

http://www.highlightskids.com/Stories/h11FreeStoryTop.asp

This website has a ton of activities to go with this popular magazine!

http://www.storylineonline.net/ Books are read to you by celebrities!

http://www.brainquest.com/kids

This website gives age appropriate questions with multiple-choice answers.

Reading required.

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

This website focuses on Math but it is a very valuable resource!

http://www.kyrene.org/reading/

This website goes right along with your child’s regular reading program.

http://www.globalclassroom.org/ecell00/javamath.html

This website has a wide variety of games that your child can play across the curriculum.

127-Year-Old Cuban Still Awaiting Recognition as World's Oldest Person

2012-02-03T08:58:00.002-06:00

127-Year-Old Cuban Still Awaiting Recognition as World's Oldest Person

Published February 02, 2012

Fox News Latino

Juana Bautista de la Candelaria Rodriguez shows a civil registry document that states she was born on Feb. 2, 1885, during a party ahead of her 127th birthday, at her home near the neighborhood of Santa Rosa in Ceiba Hueca, where she was born in the Granma region of eastern Cuba, Wednesday, Feb.1, 2012. Bautista, who is also known as Candulia, was born Feb. 2, 1885 according to the civil registry, making her possibly the oldest person in the world.(AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)
Students visit Juana Bautista de la Candelaria Rodriguez, sitting center, during a party ahead of her 127th birthday on Feb. 2, at her home near the neighborhood of Santa Rosa in Ceiba Hueca, where she was born in the Granma region of eastern Cuba, Wednesday, Feb.1, 2012. Bautista, who is also known as Candulia, was bornFeb. 2, 1885 according to the civil registry, making her possibly the oldest person in the world.(AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)
Juana Bautista de la Candelaria Rodriguez shows a ring given to her by her mother when she turned 15, during a party ahead of her 127th birthday on Feb. 2, at her home near the neighborhood of Santa Rosa in Ceiba Hueca, where she was born in the Granma region of eastern Cuba, Wednesday, Feb.1, 2012. Bautista, who is also known as Candulia, was born on Feb. 2, 1885 according to the civil registry making her possibly the oldest person in the world.(AP Photo/Franklin Reyes) (AP2012)

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The battle over who is the world’s oldest living person continues.

Cubana Juana Bautista de la Candelaria Rodríguez claimed that she turned 127, which would make her 12 years older than the official record holder, the 115-year Besse Cooper of Georgia. Cooper was declared the world's oldest in January of last year, after Guinness learned that Maria Gomes Valentin of Brazil died. Gomes Valentin was 48 days older than Cooper..

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Bautista’s identification papers claim that she was born on Feb. 2 1885 in the town of Ceiba Hueca, where she still lives. However, her claims are not recognized internationally and the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which verifies longevity information for Guinness World Records, doubts her age.

"The evidence gives us no reason to believe the claim," Robert D. Young the Senior Claims Investigator for the Gerontology Research Group, told Fox News Latino last year. "If you take a look at the documents that she [Bautista] is showing, it looks like the document is from the 1950s."

Young also pointed out her uncharacteristic physical attributes such as talking, standing and walking with assistance. Young believes other evidence is needed to prove her age, such as a marriage certificate or documentation that proves the age of her children.

Relatives Say Cuban Woman Marks 126th Birthday

"She just doesn't exhibit the attributes of a person who would be 126 years old," Young said. "There is no such thing as a 116-year-old that can walk around, let alone a 126-year-old.”

Young added that there has never been a case of someone being 123, much less 126.

To put her alleged age in perspective, Bautista would have been born the same year that Grover Cleveland became president of the United States, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City, Louis Pasteur successfully tested an anti-rabies vaccine and the Washington Monument is dedicated.

Isolated Peru tribe makes uncomfortable contact

2012-02-01T15:29:00.002-06:00

Isolated Peru tribe makes uncomfortable contact

By FRANK BAJAK | Associated Press – 50 mins ago

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LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian authorities say they are struggling to keep outsiders away from a clan of previously isolated Amazon Indians who began appearing on the banks of a jungle river popular with environmental tourists last year.

The behavior of the small group of Mashco-Piro Indians has puzzled scientists, who say it may be related to the encroachment of loggers and by low-flying aircraft from nearby natural gas and oil exploration in the southeastern region of the country.

Clan members have been blamed for two bow-and-arrow attacks on people near the riverbank in Madre de Dios state where officials say the Indians were first seen last May.

One badly wounded a forest ranger in October. The following month, another fatally pierced the heart of a local Matsiguenka Indian, Nicolas "Shaco" Flores, who had long maintained a relationship with the Mashco-Piro.

The advocacy group Survival International released photos Tuesday showing clan members on the riverbank, describing the pictures as the "most detailed sightings of uncontacted Indians ever recorded on camera."

The British-based group provided the photos exactly a year after releasing aerial photos from Brazil of another tribe classified as uncontacted, one of about 100 such groups it says exist around the world.

One of the Mashco-Piro photos was taken by a bird watcher in August, Survival International said. The other two were shot by Spanish archaeologist Diego Cortijo on Nov. 16, six days before Flores was killed.

Cortijo, a member of the Spanish Geographical Society, was visiting Flores while on an expedition in search of petroglyphs and said clan members appeared across the river from Flores' house, calling for him by name.

Flores could communicate with the Mashco-Piro because he spoke two related dialects, said Cortijo, who added that Flores had previously provided clan members with machetes and cooking pots.

The Mashco-Piro tribe is believed to number in the hundreds and lives in the Manu National Park that borders Diamante, a community of more than 200 people where Flores lived.

Although it's not known what provoked the Mashco-Piro clan to leave the relative safety of their tribe's jungle home, Beatriz Huerta, an anthropologist who works with Peru's agency for indigenous affairs, speculated their habitat is becoming increasingly less isolated.

The upper Madre de Dios region where the tribe lives has been affected by logging, she said. "They are removing wood very close."

Meanwhile, Huerta said, naturalists in the area and Manu National Park officials told her during a recent visit that a rise in air traffic related to natural gas and oil exploration in the region is adversely affecting native hunting grounds, forcing increasing migration by nomadic tribes.

The clan that showed up at the river is believed to number about 60, including some 25 adults, said Carlos Soria, a professor at Lima's Catholic University who ran Peru's park protection agency last year.

"It seemed like they wanted to draw a bit of attention, which is a bit strange because I know that on other occasions they had attacked people," Cortijo said by phone from Spain. "It seemed they didn't want us to go near them, but I also know that the only thing that they wanted was machetes and cooking pots."

Cortijo said the group lingered by the river a few minutes, apparently to see if a boat would pass by so they could ask for some tools, something authorities say they had done in the past.

"The place where they are seen is one of heavy transit" of river cargo and tourist passage, and so the potential for more violent encounters remains high, Soria said.

That is compounded by culture clash. The Mashco-Piro live by their own social code, which Soria said includes the practice of kidnapping other tribes' women and children.

He said the Mashco-Piro are one of about 15 "uncontacted" tribes in Peru that together are estimated to number between 12,000 and 15,000 people living in jungles east of the Andes.

"The situation is incredibly delicate," said Huerta, the government anthropologist.

"It's very clear that they don't want people there," she said of the area where the clan has been loitering, noting that it had ransacked a jungle ranger's post that authorities later removed.

One of the clan's likely fears is being decimated by disease borne by outsiders, as has occurred with other uncontacted peoples, Huerta said.

But its also a mystery why they have appeared in an area so heavily trafficked, she added.

After the first sightings, and after tourists left clothing for the Mashco-Piro, state authorities issued a directive in August barring all boats from going ashore in the area. But enforcing it has been difficult as there are few trained and willing local officials.

Authorities say they aren't sure why Flores was killed. It could be that the Mashco-Piro were angry because he hadn't provided them with more machetes and cooking pots. Or perhaps it was because they considered the farming plot where he was killed too close to what they considered their territory.

Cortijo, the Spanish archaeologist, said the loss of Flores makes reaching any understanding with the Mashco-Piro very complicated.

"The problem is that 'Shaco' was the only person who could talk to them," he said. "Now that he's dead it's impossible to make contact."

Hello

2011-12-30T07:32:00.000-06:00

Milwaukee to LA on Amtrak in 1987!

2011-11-11T15:34:00.002-06:00

Summer 1987 West Coasting

Disclaimer – The names of the people in this story have been changed to protect their identity, but the following is a true account on my days during early summer 1987.

Chapter One: Let the Journey Across the USA Begin - Milwaukee to Chicago.

In order to begin this in the correct manner, I must first tell you that this has been on my mind for quite some time. And that makes almost no sense, so I will begin. On June 30, Jody, a close friend dropped me off at the Amtrak station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 6:20 AM. I was thinking to myself, “what in the world am I to do with all of this free time?” So the most logical thing for me to do was to lighten my load. Out of my backpack I grabbed an old pair of socks and a pair of beat up jeans. I stashed the clothes next to some bushes so that maybe the next time I come through here I would be happy to find them or perhaps another homeless person could find some use in having these old clothes.

Oh yeah - I must paint a picture of the surroundings. Well I am located next to a river in the hot morning sun. As I glance at my timepiece, it is still 7:30 AM. I am undecided on what to do for the morning as the train that I am booked on leaves at 12:30 PM. I tried to sleep, but that did not work, because if I sleep I might get ripped off. From reading the book Let’s Go USA, I found a lot of information pertaining to traveling. For example, keep your wallet in your front pocket, keep money in a safe place i.e. nears one’s body, don’t go out after dark, don’t travel alone, and don’t talk to street people while walking. But do have a good time. After reading and watching the wind carry the birds, the time passed and now at 10:30 I find myself on my second cup of coffee at the Amtrak station realizing how much a cup of black coffee affects the nervous system on an empty stomach, especially in the morning hours. Well, I only had four hours of sleep the night before. So the rest of the morning was spent people watching. 12:00 Noon, I move to get into line as they are calling the train number that is on my ticket. I am the fourth person in line and people are pushing and shoving to get into the train. Suddenly I board the train looking for a seat to sit in and I notice that the train is moving.

While my mind is occupied with a near by radio station, Q 93 FM cornfield after green cornfield fulfill the scenery. I dose off for what seemed to be a short moment, but it was longer than expected. About an hour later the train shaking awaked me. Glancing out the window, I noticed that we were getting closer to Chicago. It is a well known factor that the train tracks pass through some of the richest backyards of America as well as some of the slum areas too. My train was nearing the city limits and while looking out the window something caught my eyes. Underneath the viaduct were a couple of beat up old chairs, ripped paper bags, broken wine bottles and discolored blankets. In tramps terminology this was a jungle. A jungle is a place to hang out for a day or two. Reasons for my using the word tramps are because Chris Steve and myself went for a freight train ride from St Paul MN. To Milwaukee, WI and we were too tramps for a week’s time. That trip was the best time of my life well almost the best.

Chicago is labeled the windy city for a good reason. I ran down to the grand central station from my train and in the process I almost got knocked off my feet from the whipping wind. I entered the station to find that the train has a three and a half hour layover. Killing time soon became my favorite pastime, for it was the only thing to do. Now remembering last years trip (Summer 1996 - I traveled by Amtrak from San Diego to Milwaukee after spending much of the summer working at Berkeley tire and six weeks after that I headed down to visit Scott, my friend in the military stationed in Coronado Beach Naval Base) and how much of a drag the high priced, frozen and processed food was, I think I will stroll down town to find some good food for the three days I will be on the train. In Grand Central Station of Chicago there was an information booth, it seemed as though the place were built just for me to ask them the questions that I had. So I asked, “How do I get to the store from here?” The man behind the booth said, “Across the street and to you left.” I was thinking to myself that these directions are way too easy. And lo and behold, guess what – I was lost. The directions were indeed way to easy. After asking several different people on the street where is the nearest grocery story that have reasonable prices, I found one. Now picture this I had everything on my person, including my huge blue Kelty framed backpack, I found myself in a upper scale, high class store and the people were looking at me like I was some sort of weirdo. But I didn’t care. I went about my business. I walked around the story selecting things that I know were to last for the three day Amtrak train ride from Chicago to Los Angeles and later to San Diego. I bought apples, oranges, cherries, grapes, plumbs, pop-tarts, and pudding packets. This, thinking to myself, is a fruit diet excluding the pop-tarts and pudding packets. This was both cheap and nutritional. In the check out line I saw a bag that would fit my needs, asked how much it was and the lady behind the cash register said it was 37 cents. “I’ll take it,” I barked out. So I packed all of my recently purchased goodies in the new 37-cent bag and I was off. I hiked back to the train station.

Chapter Two: In the Grand Central Amtrak Station

In the Grand Central Station I glanced at the time and I could see that it was getting close to my departure. I make sure that I had my tickets and I prepared my bag for travel. Working myself through the mass of people, I found train’s number three and this was the train bound for California. The track was labeled S 26, and I was amongst more people. The man behind the gate let us go to the train. Pushing my way through the people I managed to get to the train, there must have been fifty people in front and one hundred behind me. They were all walking as if there were a fire or something. I stepped on the train and saw two open seats waiting just for me. I glanced out the train window, seeing all the people yet to board the train, thought to myself “this is good to be true two seats for me.” Some one is going to be seated next to me. Guess what? Here he comes. He asked kindly, “Is this seat taken?” I shook my head and I said, “Sit down.” In description of the person I have to first say the John Lennon type glasses and his age - I am guessing about 28 years old. He told me something right of the bat: He is going to be interesting to talk to. Learning that he was originally from Madison, Wisconsin. And now he is living in New York. Rich has a degree in English from the University of Wisconsin and now taking the summer off to travel. Find out more and more about Rich like his destination is the same as mine: Los Angeles. He is headed for the West Coast then to San Francisco Bay Area. After that he is headed to Seattle, Washington. I am headed to San Diego. Once I reach LA to visit a good friend who is in the Military I tell him. I showed Rich my book that I was reading. Let’s Go USA. And we started talking about the youth hostels that are located all around the country to put people up for the night or two for dirt-cheap.

The conductor comes on the PA to say that right now our train is going through the richest cornfields of America. I got out of my seat and headed to the observation car. The observation car is a two-leveled passenger car that is filled with windows. There are windows on the top and the bottom there are more windows and a snack bar. The observation car is located one car behind my car. Amtrak always plays movies to occupy the people’s time. These movies are free. As I write this the move “Ruthless People” is playing. I went down to the lower level and purchased a coke. I was amazed at the price that I had to pay. A whole 60 cents and they give you a cup with ice. Then I found a table with a couple of young ladies at it. The ladies had a small talk conversation going on between them, so I decided to move on. I spend the rest of the afternoon watching the Illinois clouds roll past in the sky while the Midwestern sun sank slowly on the cornfields. The sun sets late in the day. Just as the sun was setting on the horizon, I noticed an attractive young lady stepping down to the first level. She stood for a long while and then as a person left the seat, she sat down. I saw that she was sitting by herself and I wanted to accompany her. “Where are you headed?” speaking softly as I slowly moved to her side of the car. Her reply was, “Oh, I am headed for Kansas City, Missouri and I boarded in Springfield, Illinois.” As the conversation went on I learned that her name was Lisa and that she was eighteen years old. It seemed as if the time flew by while talking to Lisa. She was a great conversationalist. We exchanged addresses and I took a picture of her while seated in the bottom level of the car that we were in. Then I walked her back to her car and saw her off. The time was 12 o’clock midnight and now the train slowly comes to a standstill in Kansas City, Missouri. Lisa departed the train. I will probably never see her again.

A conductor was at the bottom of the car and said something to the effect that she was a pretty girl. I responded, “Yeah, I know.” He asked me where I was going. I told him I was headed to the West Coast. He inquired if I was going to work out there. I told him that I was out there last summer and I really enjoyed it and I had so much fun that I decided to save all of my Wisconsin winter taxi cab driving money and return to California for the summer. He said, “If I were you, I would stay because of the nasty weather here in the Midwest and in California it is always nice weather.” I left the lower part of the car and returned to my car with a smile on my face.

When I got back to my chair, I found that Rich was fast asleep. I did not want to bother him, so I grabbed my leather jacket and a blanket and spit. I headed to the observation car to lay down. I was in dreamland very fast as I was extremely tired. The cleaning person awaked me at 4:30 am. The cleaning person was very nice about waking me up. He basically said that I needed to move. I collected my stuff and found a place on the other side of the car. At the crack of dawn I woke up. 6:30 AM. Sunrise. June 30^th, 1987. Kansas. All I could see for miles and miles were wheat fields. Golden wheat fields. I ran back to my chair where Rich was still sleeping and I grabbed my camera so that I could capture the moment with the slowly raising Kansas sun.

Chapter Three. The Scenery and the People Kansas to LA

With a pop tart and a piping hot cup of coffee in my hand, the breath taking scenery that surrounded the train tracks America took me aback. I started to chat with an older lady, who sat next to me about her experiences and difficulties with Amtrak. She was a high school teacher and was taking the summer off to travel. She had three children along to experience the travel feeling. Amtrak had put her up for the night with three meals included. If I can recall correctly she had difficulties leaving Chicago. She, her name slips my mind at the moment, that, “one summer of travel is equal to one semester of study at the university level.” Meantime the states whipped by, hours past and I was having the time of my life. Kansas, Colorado and now New Mexico. The roads in American were built for automobiles and the train tracks were built before that. What I am trying to say is that the train drifts along through places that have been around for more than one hundred years. I want to say that it is much more beautiful to be on the train tracks than the roads of American as the train tracks go where the auto does not.

In the observation car I met a young man from the state of Indiana. John has just graduated from college. He is headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He hope to land a job at a high school there and wants to make a career of teaching. As our conversation turns to the sights, John was mentioning that the cactuses were starting to bloom as well as the landscape was changing ever so fast. We both noted that Kansas was as flat as one could see and New Mexico was grown over by boulders with bright green moss on the top. Some times the train twisted so much that we could see the front and the rear of the train. The train was moving just barely as we snaked along the rivers and canyons and mountains and valleys. I was bust snapping pictures so that the memories could live on.

I went back to my car, found my chair and fell asleep. The time pasted and I was unaware that the train had stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I glanced at my schedule to see how long of a lay over there was to be here in Albuquerque. I had some time. I quickly rushed out side to grab some of the Southwestern air. It was extremely hot. The temperature was 104 degrees Fahrenheit and dry. Being that I am from the Midwest, I know what hot and humid air felt like, but not the dryness of this air. The conductor shouted, “All Aboard!” I jumped back on the train and grabbed my chair and caught a glimpse of some Mexican ladies selling jewelry. It seems that had come to the city with hopes of making a few bucks. It looked to me like those ladies spend hours making those necklaces and bracelets and their work was true Art. The train slowly departed and I scanned the local radio stations with my walkman – I was picking up radio stations from all over. Because of the large metropolis of Albuquerque, New Mexico there were many of rock and country stations to listen to. All of the songs I longed to hear were being played. Bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, Phil Collins, U2 and Crowded House were just a few that I tuned it. But the negative aspect was that as soon as I tuned into a song the station would fade…

Once again I was attracted to the outside because of the two mile freight train that paralleled our train. A four engine Santa Fe looked very pretty rolling through the Arizona plains while the sun sang ever so slowly. I was running out of things to keep me occupied in my chair, so after the sun set I went to the observation car to see which movie was playing. I did find a chair there to kick back in and watch Top Gun. During the beginning of the movie there was a rather high classed man who asked me if they could join me at my table because the rest of the seats were taken. I welcomed them and we started chatting. The father mentioned to me that they like the movie Top Gun so much that they purchased it. As the small family was half playing cards and half watching the movie, I managed to get some words flowing in the conversation. From the style of clothes to their accent, I was trying to guess where they were from. My best guest was that they were from somewhere in California. I asked them straight out and they told me that they were from Long Beach, California. That California family spent the day at the Grand Canyon and lived high off the hog in and out of hotels and restaurants. That is what I gathered from the conversation.

Chapter Four: Into the Night.

Meanwhile Rich, the guy that sat next to me in my coach was at the opposite end of the car talking to a very cute young lady and a dude. We started to talk and the talk drifted into the night. By now it seemed to be 2:30 AM. I said good-bye to all of them and said that it was very nice to meet you all. Everyone went to there respectable seats. I was thinking to myself as I was leaving the bottom floor of the observation car and getting prepared for sleeping, I am going to crash in the upper part of the observation car so that I can stretch and sleep comfortably. Within moments I was fast asleep.

Daybreak – 5:30 AM Date is July 2, 1987. My mouth is covered with what appears to be scum as I have not brushed my teeth for a few hours. I brushed my teeth and slowly got prepared to leave the train. As I glaced at my schedule I noticed that we would be in LA in four hours. I found my way back down to the snack bar and saw that Rich was in line too. The line was super long and I shouted to him to get me a cup of coffee and I will pay him back. I sipped on my morning coffee and reflected on the entire journey from Milwaukee to LA on Amtrak. To be continued…. Someday….

Sam Fields

How do you measure life?

2011-11-09T10:31:00.001-06:00

"The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away." Wayne Dyer

Learning to Read

2011-11-09T10:19:00.001-06:00

Learning to read is a process, one that requires mastering three basic skills. These skills are syntax, semantics, and phonics. Syntax (grammar and punctuation) is the way words, phrases, and clauses go together to create sentences and paragraphs. Semantics is the way words and sentences in a group relate to one another. Phonics refers to the sounds letters make and the relationship between written and spoken words, or comprehension.

part three of gender course and the last blog entry....

2011-11-05T16:50:00.000-05:00

Option 4 Aggression – Chapter 4

1. Describe in your own words the differences between boys and girls fighting – specifically how each:

Boys and girls fight differently. According to the author boys initiate a fight up to 20 times more than girls. It is interesting to not that boys respond to the fighting in a way that boys become better friends after the fight. Just the opposite, girls who fight loose friendships with the girls she fought. Furthermore, girls fight using the silent treatment instead of fists. This use of ostracizing the girl who lost seems to me more of a long-term impact than the boys style of fighting. I think that the boys have a need to fight because they think that aggression equals fun. Once again, the boys who fight each other tend to be sitting at the lunch table together. They are friends once again. Boys and girls approach fight differently. The out come of the fight is very different too among the genders.

2. Second, reflect upon how each gender views aggression and how they respond to aggressive situations. In our world of reductions in physical education/recess time and general ‘play’ time in classroom – as well as the safety issues in our home environments – how do you see boys’ and girls’ behavior changing?

Boys are more physical and girls are more verbal when confronting aggression. The boy who is being bothered by another boy will eventually hit that perpetrator. The girl who is being bothered by another girl will use words and ostracizing tactical to anger the perpetrator.

Regarding a reduction for physical education/recess time, it seems that there will be more aggression in the classroom instead of on the playgrounds. It is difficult to keep all of the energy caped up in the children and not expect them to act out. Therefore, the teacher will have to provide extra time in the lessons to deal with the disciplinary issues that rise on a day-to-day basis.

Also regarding aggression between boys and girls, there seems to be a trend to move away from competition sports during physical education class. When winners and losers are replaced with physical activity in which you compete against yourself, there seems to be less fighting.

Boys use aggressive behaviors with girls in order to befriend them. Girls do not do this. The boy thinks he is making friends with the girl by being a bully. According to the author of the book, boys don’t experience pain the same way that girls do.

ssf

How are you doing?

2011-11-03T09:30:00.000-05:00

Have you ever looked at yourself through the eyes of your children? What do they think of you? What do you think they think of you? When your children drive away and off to college, work or tech school, what are they driving away with from you? Wisdom, Honesty, Happiness? How can you assess this or measure this? When you die, will your family say, "He raised me well, he sure had fun in life, he contributed something to this world"? What is next after death?

Trucks and Cars I have owned 1982-Present

2011-11-02T14:56:00.000-05:00

1971 Orange Chevy Pick Up Truck 20
1969 Black Chevy Pick Up Truck 10
1969 El Camino Hot Rod Gold
1972 Buick LeSabe Tan
1973 Pontiac Bonneville Red
1974 Cadillac Gran de Ville
1980 Buick Le Saber Blue
1978 Ford Pick Up Truck
1989 Subaru DL Tan
1993 Toyota Corolla Tan
1998 Subaru Outback
1997 Mazda 626 LX
2003 Honda Odyssey LX

Gender Application Questions 738

2011-10-30T19:56:00.000-05:00

Sam Fields, M.Ed.

Course 738: Gender Matters: How Boys and Girls Learn

Application Requirement

Application Requirement I: Co-Ed Classroom

Single gender classrooms are not always feasible. So for this activity, we ask you to create the ideal gender based co-ed classroom for the grade level/subject you teach. How would the room look? What kinds of things would occur inside? What would the interactions look like? How are you meeting the needs of both girls and boys, given what you have learning in this course?

Be sure to include the following in your application:

a. instructional strategies – take a subject or concept and indicate instructional strategies that would be used specifically for boys and specifically for girls (this may be in narrative or T-Chart/graphic organizer form).

b. room set-up (diagram of narrative)

I currently teach at two elementary schools. I am the bilingual (Spanish) ELL support specialist. Essentially what I do is to assist the mainstream classroom teachers with Reading and Math. I have three pull out Reading Groups and the rest of my time is being used as an itinerate classroom teacher. I help the teachers with the material that they are presenting. The reason that I state this aforementioned material is to give you a picture of my position.

I will focus on the fourth grade pull out reading group. I have six female students and two male students. The objective is to introduce and teach grammar concepts. The room is divided into two parts. I have been assigned the back portion of the classroom and there is a divider in the middle of the classroom. I have a large table at which the students sit and we carry out many of our lessons there.

If I were to teach in the ideal gender based co-ed classroom, the room would look much the same as it does currently except during the guided practice time during the classroom time. During these guided practice time, the boys would be working on their own activity and the girls would be working on their activities. The goals and objectives of the boys and girls would be the same.

Specifically, if I were teaching the four types of sentences, I would have the girls complete a worksheet while the boys would have four sets of note cards. On the note cards would be sentences that the boys would have to line up on the floor to create sentences. The sentences would be color coded to have them understand the different types of sentences: statement, command, interrogative and exclamatory. This is due to the fact that boys at the elementary level are more kinesthetic learners (generally) in that they learn by doing and moving around as stated by the author in Why Gender Matters book.

The girls would be doing the worksheet at a different table. They would be instructed to use four different color pencils or markers to distinguish between the four types of sentences: Red = Statement, Blue = Command, Yellow = interrogative, and Green = exclamatory sentence. They would be identifying the sentences on the worksheet using those given colors.

This is how my classroom would look during our class instruction time. The boys would be on a different set of tables and the girls would be at another. Each gender would be working toward the same goal or objective, yet they would be doing different activities to accomplish these goals.

If the classroom gets noisy during this activity I would simply raise my hand and the students would raise their hands and remain silent and ready for my next instruction. In a co-ed classroom, I feel that it is important to treat each gender the same when making disciplinary corrections. When I was working at the middle school level there were many a times when I can recall where there were two boys who were constantly interrupting me. I called them out side the classroom from time to time to remind them that when I am teaching they need to be respectful and quiet. I would do the same for the girls in the class had they spoken out of turn as the boys did.

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Option 1: Drug Use Prevention Plan

Create a drug use prevention plan that incorporates the knowledge and strategies you have learned from the text. a. Address the points made by the author in Chapter 7, specifically describing how drug use differs between boys and girls, including why they each use. b. The prevention plan could be in the form of a staff/parent/student presentation or a staff/student/parent handbook. Must be on page in length

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It’s Not My Kid!

Drug Use Prevention Plan for Parents

This Drug Use Prevention Plan is intended for parents or guardians who want to be more aware of the current ideas regarding teen-agers and drug prevention. With this information presented you, as the parent, will be better equipped to understand the present day teen-ager regarding the current drug use and how to prevent the use of drugs. Girls and boys are different. Therefore, to better facilitate this Drug Use Prevention Plan, it will be broken down by genders.

Reasons why girls use drugs Reason why boys use drugs

Girls using drugs to stay up and be skinnyGirls need to have their self-esteem raised and this is often the reason why girls are using drugs Girls use drugs because there is a tremendous amount of pressure to perform well and parent place high academic expectations on them Boys using drugs to explore and be part of the groupBoys want to be sensation-seekers and risk-takersBoys are often encouraged to use drugs when you discourage them It is difficult to talk sense to a teen-aged boy because they are a teen-ager

*Girls and extracurricular activities Research revealed that girls who participate in three or more extracurricular activities were less likely to smoke cigarettes and less likely to drink or use marijuana*Build a bond with your daughterIt is best that the parents build a bond with the daughter so that they will not use drugs*Join a health club: Consider and go to work out with her. *Participating in extracurricular activities did not prove to be any type of prevention for the boys * Use direct disciplinary action to stop the drug taking behavior is to: take away portable video games and stationary video games, consider grounding the son, take away the driving privilege for weeks at a time*Join Boy ScoutsConsider joining boy scouts so that he can camp, ski, snowboard, or mountain climb

For both genders – Boys and Girls alike – Use Positive Discipline*Positive disciple is having dinner together every day. Eat and talk about their day. In this fashion, the parents know where their teen-agers are, they know what is happening in their teen-agers lives, and they know what their teen-agers are eating. *Key Point: The parents who are involved in their teen-aged children’s live are less likely to do drugs. *For more information, please visit these websites.http://drugabuse.gov/pdf/prevention/RedBook.pdfhttp://www.learningforlife.org/lfl/resources/99-349.pdfThank you and have a great day!

Application page 653 paper 5! One to go!

2011-10-29T16:23:00.001-05:00

Sam Fields, M.Ed.

Course 653: Reaching Young Reader: Improving Reading Skills K-3

Application Requirements

Application Requirement 1:

Lesson Design

The text is filled with ideas and strategies for lessons/projects. Design one detailed lesson (or 2-3 separate mini-lessons if you would rather) for use in your classroom.

The Detailed Lesson Title: Hand Signal Reading

Objective. All students will use hand signals to completely understand the uses of four common punctuation marks: commas, periods, question marks and exclamation marks.

Materials. Copy of Papa’s Spaghetti by Joy Cowley and illustrated by Marie Low. (Level 12 according to Running Records) Students will also need pencils and the hand out provided. The hand out is to be completed upon finishing the story.

Book Summary. The family is having spaghetti for lunch. The children notice all the things that should not be in the spaghetti. The first thing that is in the spaghetti is fly. The father gets a spider to chase away the fly away. The spider is chased away by the bird. The bird is chased away by the cat. The cat is chased away by the dog. This continues with lion and elephant until the animals have completely finished Papa’s Spaghetti.

Punctuation signs

Period = hand

Comma = index finger

Quotation marks = ring finger and pinky finger

Exclamation marks = stand up

Sequence.

Step 1. Distribute the book “Papa’s Spaghetti”

Step 2. Do a picture walk with the students. Turn the pages and with out reading the book and ask the students to share their thoughts about what they think the book is about.

Step 3. Turn the to page 2 and teacher reads the first page using hand signals. Teacher demonstrates by reading the story aloud.

The words from the book are bolded and italicized.

From Page 2

Papa make spaghetti, (teacher places his finger next to lips in a curved fashion to illustrate a pause the sentence)

A pot of hot spaghetti. (teacher holds his hand in a stop fashion as if directing traffic to show that there is a full stop or period at the end of the sentence)

He put it on the table. (stop sign hand = period)

Teacher places his hands next to his mouth with the thumb, index finger and middle finger on top of each other and the ring finger and the pinky finger in the air to signal the quotation mark.

“Here’s your lunch,“(finger on lips = pause)

said Papa. (Stop sign hand = period)

Step 4. Teacher continues to read as the demonstration continues on Page 4

But Mama cried, “Oh Papa! (Teacher stands with hands at side of body. This signals an exclamation mark)

Teacher sits down but continues with quotation hand signal.

There’s something wrong with out lunch today. (Stop sign hand = period)

There’s a fly in our spaghetti! (Exclamation mark body signal)

A fly in our spaghetti!” (Exclamation mark body signal and ends the quotation mark signal to point out that the narrator is speaking)

And Papa replied, (finger on lips = pause) (Teacher begins the quotation signal)

“Don’t worry. (Stop sign hand = period)

I’ll send a spider to chase it away.” (Stop sign hand = period)(Teacher ends the quotation mark signal)

Step 5. The teacher calls on one student to read a page of the book and use the appropriate hand signals. The teacher calls on the next student until all of the students have had a chance to demonstrate the proper use of hand signals that were presented at the beginning of the lesson.

Page 6

Then Tony cried, “Oh Papa! There’s something wrong with our lunch today. There’s a spider in our spaghetti! A spider in our spaghetti!” And Papa replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll send in a bird to chase it away.”

Page 8

Then Anna cried, “Oh Papa! There’s something wrong with our lunch today. There’s a bird in our spaghetti! A bird in our spaghetti!” And Papa replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll send in a cat to chase it away.”

Page 10

Then Michael cried, “Oh Papa! There’s something wrong with our lunch today. There’s a cat in our spaghetti! A cat in our spaghetti!” And Papa replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll send in a dog to chase it away.”

Page 12

Then Tina cried, “Oh Papa! There’s something wrong with our lunch today. There’s a dog in our spaghetti! A dog in our spaghetti!” And Papa replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll send in a lion to chase it away.”

Page 14

Then Baby cried, “Oh Papa! There’s something wrong with our lunch today. There’s a lion in our spaghetti! A lion in our spaghetti!” And Papa replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll send in a elephant to chase it away.”

Page 16

And everyone cried, “Oh Papa, NO MORE!”

Step 6. Teacher directs the student to complete the hand out. The goal of the hand out is to check comprehension. The students are to use the book to find the correct spelling of the seven things that were in the spaghetti. See hand out.

---------------------------

Name

Papa’s Spaghetti

What was in the spaghetti?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

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7. Teacher collects the hand out and corrects for any errors. Then the teacher summarizes the hand signals and as well as the story. This is the end of the lesson.

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Application Requirement 2:

Implementation and Evaluation

a. Implement the lesson you have created with at least on group of students.

Tuesday October 18, 2011

Grade 1.

Small Group Reading

8 students

I implemented the lesson on hand signals. This was the perfect number of students to introduce this hand signal lesson. First we did a picture walk with the book so that the students knew what to expect in the book. Next, I read the first two pages. I demonstrated the hand signals very slowly and clearly. It went very slow at first, but as we had each student attempt the hand signals, things went a bit more smoothly. The students even started to laugh a bit as we paged through the book. It was a great deal of changing hands, standing up and again signaling with their hands, but by the end they seemed to understand.

b. Reflect on the success of the lesson(s). Each of the following sections should be 2 paragraphs.

1. Aspects of the lesson/activities that particularly pleased you.

I really liked that fact that the group size was perfect. There were just enough textbooks to go around the table so we did not have to share books. Although it seemed almost confusing for the students at the beginning, they were able to catch on to the hand signal punctuation lesson.

The first hand signal that I had to demonstrate was comma followed by the period. Some of the students shared with me that they had never read this way before. I think this was a great way to introduce the proper uses and meanings behind the punctuation. It was a nice way to demonstrate that the punctuation can come alive.

2. What part of the activities needs improvement? What changes would you make before doing them again?

Activities that need improvement and changes would be to pre-teach the specific reasons for each of the punctuations. If I had focused on the period for a few days with out the hand signals, the students would have understood the lesson a little bit better. The same goes for the comma.

There are many places to put a comma. For example, a comma is usually followed by a close quotation. Commas are in sentences where there is a series of item. Comma is used just before the word “but.” My point is that had I had the chance to teach the reasons and placements of commas, the lesson would have gone smoother and the students would have understood more.

3. The reaction of students: Did they enjoy the activities? Did they (the students) meet your goals?

The students enjoyed the activity and they met their goal. It was fun to watch their reaction to the hand signaled reading lesson. I truly enjoyed watching them get confused about which hand signal to use. I was there to guide them if case they made a mistake and quite a few of the eight students did make a mistake.

The goals were met as our over arching goal was to improve reading skills. This was the perfect story to use for this lesson, as it was a cute fictional story that kept the students interest. They like how at the end of the story, there was no spaghetti left over as all the animals had eaten it all.

Please see the pictures of the first grade reading group with which I worked on this lesson plan.

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Application requirement 2 continued.

Design an additional lesson for use in your classroom. The lesson should include at least one strategy introduced in the text. Be sure to include the 3 parts listed under 1 above.

Objective. Students will increase their word awareness while listening to the teacher.

Materials. Harcourt Trophies Textbook, Series “Catch a Dream” 1-2: First Grade Literature book. Dan’s Pet by Alma Flor Ada pages 10-23. One textbook per each student is needed.

Overview of lesson

Please correct me!

Teacher informs the students that he is having problems reading today and he want the students to follow along the reading and help the teacher by correcting the words that he misses or replaces using another word. The students have to read along very carefully to catch the mistakes. The students take turns sharing what the teacher has missed or what words the teacher has changed. This way the teacher is preparing the students to become close and critical readers.

Story summary.

This is a realistic fictional story about Dan having a baby chick for a pet on the farm. He is very careful to take especially good care of the pet chick. The pet chick grows into a rather large chicken. One day Dan can’t find the chicken. Mom calls to Dan to tell him where his pet chicken is resting. Dan sees that his pet chick that grew into a chicken is now a mother chicken and had many chicks. Suddenly Dan had many chicks as pet.

Sequence.

Step 1. Teacher passes out textbooks and instructs students to turn to page 10.

Step 2. Teacher instructs the students to do a picture walk through the book to familiarize the students to the story.

Step 3. Teacher tells the student that he is having problems reading today. He needs volunteers to help him read the story. He tells the students to correct his when he makes a mistake or skips a word.

The words in the story Dan’s Pet

Textbook Version

Dan’s Pet

Dan held a small baby chick. It was soft in his hands. “Can I have her as a pet?” “Yes, Dan,” said Mama. “I’ll call her Jen,” said Dan. Dan helped with Jen. Dan fed Jen and all the hens. Dan fed Jen every day. Jen got very big! One day, Dan didn’t see Jen. “Jen! Jen!” Dan called. “Jen is in here,” said Mama. “Look at her eggs.” “Oh, my!” said Dan. “Now I will have lots of pets!”

Please correct me! Version

Dan’s Pet

Step 4. Teacher reads the following text as the students follow along and the students make the corrections.

Please note: The bolded words are the words that the teacher has changed and is anticipating that the students notice and therefore call out the correct word instead of the word that was read by the teacher.

Dan held a big (students call out ‘small’) baby chick. Page 12.

It was soft in his hands. Page 13.

“Can I have her as a pet?” “No (students call out ‘Yes’), Dan,” said Mama. Page 14.

“I’ll call her Jim (students call out ‘Jen,’) said Dan. Page 15.

Dan helped with Jen. Page 16.

Dan fed Jen and all the cows (students call out ‘hens.’) Page 17.

Dan fed Jen every week (students call out ‘day.’) Page 18.

Jen got very small (students call out ‘big!’) Page 19.

One day, Dan didn’t see Jen. “Jen! Jen!” Dan called. Page 20.

“Jen is in here,” said Papa (students call out ‘Mama’). “Look at her eggs.” Page 21.

“Oh, my!” said Dan. “Now I will have lots of cows (students call out ‘pets’)!” page 22.

Step 5 Instruct the students to turn to page 23 of the textbook and tell them that we are going to talk about the story. Tell the student to look at the “Think and Respond” questions.

1. What is Dan’s Pet?

2. What does Dan’s pet do?

3. Is Dan surprised? How can you tell?

4. Why will Dan have lots of pets now?

5. Would you like to have pets like Dan’s?

Why or why not?

Step 6. Summarize the activity that you did with the students. Tell them that the reason that you did this activity was to teach the students to be critical readers and tell the students that their comprehension is greater when they are critical that the information in the story was correct.

Ssf.

738 Gender Course - Article Responses

2011-10-16T18:59:00.002-05:00

Sam Fields, M.Ed.

Course 738: Gender Matters: How Boys and Girls Learn

Article Requirement

Please read each article and respond to each question below.

“With Boys and Girls in Mind”

1. Knowing that there is a difference in the ways in which boys and girls learn is half the battle. After reading this article, what are the three things you would like your colleagues to know so they are better equipped to recognize the differences in the ways in which boys and girls learn?

This was a very interesting article that you lead us to read about the differences in the ways in which boys and girls learn. Since part of my day is spent teaching and working with kindergarteners, I can easily pick out three things that would immediately help my colleagues to learn how to approach the differences between the ways in which boys and girls learn. I really liked the fact that the article addresses that boys need to take many more breaks to help digest the information taught. The “rest state” is something that I could share. The girls can continues to function mentally with having to take a break. Their brains work differently.

I also enjoyed learning and I will share that the boys are more prone to be Learning Disabled, ADD, ADHD, and have other learning disorders. The boys are the ones with the higher percentages of Ds and Fs and well as disciple referrals. This is a result of the fact that the teachers were not educated in learning about the difference between genders. We, as educators, need to look at the ways in which we go about teaching to both genders and try to alter our approach so that both genders are able to excel.

2. What is the Nature-Based Approach? How do you see this approach changing instruction and classroom environments?

Nature-Based Approach is a way to connect human attachment and education strategies to biological understanding of human learning. Essentially taking the information gathered during PET scans and MRI testing of boys and girls while learning a specific topic. The brains of these boys and girls were trying to learn the information but the boys and girls brains did so differently.

I see this approach changing instruction greatly and the establishing of the classroom environments only if the teachers are made aware of the Nature-Based Approach. If indeed the teachers are made aware of the approach, I see the success of boys and girls enhanced greatly. The girls would become better at math and science and the boys would be better at language art lessons. Furthermore, just bringing to the attention to the teachers that boys need to take more breaks in learning, would lessen the number of claimed cases of ADD and ADHD because the teachers would understand that boys need to move around and the boys can easily become distracted or bored in the traditional classroom. It makes sense to help the teachers understand that there is a difference between boys and girl and the ways in which they learn.

“Closing Gender Gaps in Science”

1. Daniel Brown, the teacher who believed he was fair but later learned about the gender inequity he displayed in his classroom, shows us that even when we are conscious of gender disparities we may not always be equitable. Knowing this, first describe the way you will make a conscious effort to be equitable in your classroom. Next, explain why you would (or would not) be willing to have another teacher observe you teaching.

In my classroom I have had Popsicle sticks in a bucket to equate the distribution of activities and whom I called upon. Knowing that the class at that time was majority girls make me gender basis toward girls. As I look back at this Popsicle strategy, it seems to me to be leaning toward the female gender. I need to change my strategy for calling on the students. Knowing what I did in the past is the first step in making a conscious effort to be equitable in my classroom. I don’t teach AP physics like Mr. Brown, but I can take steps in trying to allow the girls to respond to my questions and not allow the boys to interfere in the answers.

Let’s be honest. Having another teacher observe you in the classroom can be nerve racking. However, if it will increase my teaching ability and improve the equity of me calling on both genders, then I would welcome another teacher to observe me. I would like to share an experience with you. I once videotaped myself giving a spelling test and correcting the spelling test. I noticed how I make lots of comments to the students, which referred to the disciplining of the students. I noticed that the disciplining instructions were not carried out. I will go back and watch that same videotape to see how I responded to the boys and girls.

“Teaching to the Minds of Boys”

1. The article encourages educators to pay attention to the ways in which boys learn by including lessons that are kinesthetic and experiential. Knowing this, describe how you will modify one lesson plan that you currently use to better accommodate boys’ learning styles.

I am an ELL teacher in an elementary school. Specifically I teach grammar to a group of 8 students: two males and six female. One of the many objectives for the class is to learn the four different kinds of sentences. The four kinds of sentences are declarative sentence, exclamatory sentence, imperative sentence, and interrogative sentence. After reading this article, I will present the lesson in this manner. I will use the kinesthetic learning opportunities to the classroom for all of the students.

I think that I will not separate the boys and the girls as I think that both genders will benefit from this lesson. I will use note cards. On the 8 note cards will be the one sentence from each of the kinds of sentences. There will be eight more note cards with the punctuation on them (question mark, exclamation mark and two with periods). The students will work in pair to properly match up the kinds of sentences with the correct punctuation. The boys and girls will be moving around and working together to accomplish the learning target goal.

“How Teens View Single-Sex Classes”

1. In this article, the information and research about single-sex classrooms is generally positive and promotional. Explain your perspective on single sex classrooms and describe whether you will advocate for this model in your classroom/school and why, or why not.

This article mostly addressed the fact that there was much less bullying taking place in the same-gender classes. According to the kids interviewed there was an increased level of concentration and therefore less distractions taking place. Also the data, albeit very little, pointed to an improvement of the academic test scores in the single-sex classes. The children in the middle school seemed to favor the same-sex classes. The high school kids seemed to want to have co-ed classes.

All of the aforementioned information leads me to believe that the single-sex classes are indeed advantageous. However, there is one huge drawback that the article did not touch upon and that is the cost of having single-sex classrooms. There are many huge middle schools around the country, but when you have a total of one hundred middle school students in a school, the logistics become difficult to have same gender classes.

In conclusion, there are many advantages of having single-sex classes in the middle schools today. There are much less distractions and much more concentration occurring, giving an end result of improvement of state test scores. However, cost of implementing such schools is a major hindrance.

book study course 653

2011-10-13T15:33:00.005-05:00

Sam Fields, M.Ed.

Course 653: Reaching Young Reader: Improving Reading Skills K-3

Course Study Guide Questions

Please allow me to begin this paper with a quote. “There are only 43 common speech sounds (phonemes) in English and these are represented by about 89 common spellings. Learning the phonics code produces the biggest learning bang for the smallest instructional buck.” (January 17th, 2009, Mark Pennington, MA Reading Specialist) (http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/top-ten-reasons-to-teach-phonics/)

1. From Chapter 2: Suppose a parent approached you and said, “Phonemic Awareness is not essential.” Based on your reading of this chapter, how would you respond? (2-3 Paragraphs)

Phonemic Awareness is indeed essential. I will demonstrate why phonemic awareness is essential. Most western written languages are built on the concept that the graphemes correspond to phonemes. Most phonemes are regular which means that you can be guaranteed that when a child sees a letter (grapheme) there is a sound (phoneme) associated with that letter. If the child does not know the basic phonemes, that that child must rely exclusively on sight words. Once the child learns how to read, there are a limited amount of sight words that a child can remember. Therefore, learning and recognizing the phonemes is the foundation of learning how to read.

Phonemic Awareness is researched based. Kindergarteners who have phonemic awareness do better in school. It is a major indicator of success in school if the child has the knowledge of how to manipulate the phonemes. Phonemes are the building blocks of most western languages, especially the English language. The National Reading Panel (NPR) says that phonemic awareness is essential for learning disabled students, students who experience difficulties with reading and the very young pre-school aged students as well. Phonemic Awareness is very important in the early years of school instruction.

2. On page 16-28, several phonemic activities are described. Choose one that you can envision using with your students, and identify which critical skill(s) this activity teaches (from the list in Figure 2.1 on page 11).

Do the Phoneme Shuffle (page 26)

The critical skill that this activity teaches is stated in the objective. It says that “Given a word and directions to substitute a phoneme, students will substitute phonemes in words.” This activity focuses on the manipulation of the phonemes in words. The students will be essentially playing with the syllables and sounds to make and/or create new words.

3. From Chapter 3: Why teach phonics? (Your response should be 2-3 paragraphs).

Phonics is the key to learning how to read. Children need to know that each letter has a sound associated with that letter. If children know the sounds that letters make, then they can place several letters together to make a word. Once the children place several words together they are creating a sentence. If the children understand the sentence, they are on their way to comprehension.

Phonics is very important, however, it should not be the only approach. The children must be introduced to sight words. Although, the English language is somewhat predictable, there are some words that don’t follow the phoneme structures presented in the classroom and therefore the reason to introduce sight words. Along with any great reading program, there should be a component of read aloud time or literature.

Therefore, in combination with sight word, read aloud time and literature, phonics instruction is vital in the early years of reading instruction. Structured instruction on phonics gives the children that ability to decode, read and write, comprehend, think and reflect. Without phonics, reading would be an incredibly difficult task. In some recent students, the instruction of phonics actually changes the activity of the brain. Teaching phonics to children is just good sound instruction.

4. From Chapter 3: Describe the five most important points/concepts you took away from this chapter – perhaps the five things you will most likely take back to apply in your classroom and why. (3-4 sentences each)

1. We must teach children that there is a relationship between letters and their sounds. They must be made aware that each letter makes a sound and when the letters are placed next to each other, these sounds and letters create a word. (page 31)

2. Listening a teacher read a book aloud is one of the many ways that children develop print awareness. Print awareness is also taught by displaying the printed words in one’s classroom with posters. Posters, charts and graphs on the wall give the student the understanding that it is important to read and comprehend the written word.

3. I found it very interesting and I will take to my classroom the charts on page 36 and page 37. I will either enlarge these charts or I will reproduce them on the computer to demonstrate to the older students how important it is to memorize the sounds of letters at an early age. I will focus on the sound’s and key word’s column to show to the students.

4. I also liked the chart on page 40. I will use this in my classroom and possibly at home. These thirty irregular words for beginning readers are very important for the students. If they students are made aware of these words and they memorize these words, then reading will become less cumbersome. This is an excellent chart.

5. The websites that teach are always a highlight of the chapters. I was introduced to www.ldonline.org. This is a fabulous website resource, not only for aspects dealing with and pertaining to Phonic and Word Study, but it provides a wealth of knowledge that I can access any time. I will use this website and others provided in these chapters in my studies and in my classroom.

5. From Chapter 4: Choose a fluency strategy you are most excited to try in your classroom. Design an activity for this strategy that you could use with your student (feel free to use the text examples as a guide).

Showcase Readers

I know how we can use this “Showcase Readers” strategy. We are reading Todd’s Box. The story is about a mom who never has enough time to devote to her son. Her son is always seeking attention but the mom is in such a hurry, she doesn’t even notice that the son has a box in his hands. It is when they arrive at home for the bus ride that Todd shares his box full of interesting things that the mom pays attention to the son. It is a short cute grade 1 story. Todd’s Box can be found in the Trophies Series. Here is a description of what I might do in my classroom. I will call two of the best readers to the front of the room. I might ask student A to read page one and student B to read page two of the story, alternating until they complete the story. I will then make a big deal, kind of a celebration for the job done well, i.e. reading the story with fluency and expression. The next week I might highlight another two students who I might deem great readers.

6. From Chapter 5: Design a sort activity. Be sure to provide the list of words you will include, as well as some possible categories for students to use.

I will choose Steep and Greet. They appear in a second grade spelling list. I would first write “Steep” on a note card. “Steep” would be the head card. Then I would write: up, high, dangerous, incline on for separate note cards. I would proceed with the word “Greet.” I would then write: hello, salutations, hi, hey on separate note cards. On the table I would place the head cards face up and I would turn the other cards down. Then one at a time I would have the student come to the front of the room and pick a card and then ask the students to decide on which pile or category would the work that they picked belong. We would repeat the process with the work “Greet” until all the words are in the respectable places. That is how I would design a short word sort activity.

7. From Chapter 5:

a. Design a four square map for a concept in your curriculum. You may model your map after the example on page 88. Be sure to complete the map with examples, non-examples, etc.

b. Provide a brief description of how you will incorporate the four-square map you designed into your classroom (How when where might use it?)

WordBungalow What are some examples?A cottage of one story.

What is it?A one-storied thatched or tiled house, usually surrounded by a veranda. What are some non-examples?A multilevel apartment complex

Here is a brief description of how we might use this approach to vocabulary in our classroom. We are studying vocabulary in the fourth grade grammar/reading group. We come upon this word “bungalow.” None of the students can tell the teacher what it means. We turn to the dictionary for help. The teacher has a transparency with the Four-Square Vocabulary Map on it. The teacher completes the Vocabulary Map. This is how I may use it in my class. This could be used for the weekly spelling words that are given out every Monday and tested on during the Fridays. I really think that by giving a non-example, the student can begin to understand what is not and therefore understand what the word means.

8. From Chapter 6: Choose a reading selection in your curriculum and design a series of questions as modeled on page 115. Be sure you include at least 2 questions in each of the following categories (“Right There,” “Think and Search,” “On My Own”)

Jack and Rick – pages 74-88

A brief summary

Genre: A fantasy story about something that could never happen. Jack is a rabbit and Rick is a bear. These talking animals what to play together but they are separated by a stream. Jack cannot lift the log that could form a bridge for Jack to cross in order to play with Rick. Rick gets a rope and helps move the log to form a bridge. Rick falls in while cross the log and Jack helps Rick out of the water with the rope. Finally they play together.

By David McPhail

Grade 1 Trophies

Subtitle of book: Guess Who

There are three types of questions: Right There, Think and Search, On My Own. The following questions pertain to this story.

Right There:

Who is the author? Who are the main characters, Where does the story take place? What are the names of the main characters?

Think and Search:

Why does Rick want to play with Jack? How heavy do you think the log is? What time of day is it? What season do you think it is?

On My Own:

If you were Rick and Jack would you help your friend across the river? How deep do you think the water is? Do you think the water is cold? What lesson do the characters help us understand?

9. From Chapter 6: Choose a reading selection in your curriculum and design an inference activity. Be sure you activity is at least as long as the examples on page 116.

Todd’s Box – A brief summary

Genre: Realistic fiction stories sound like they could have happened, but the didn’t. Todd is a little boy who is seeking attention from his mother. His mother is too busy to pay attention to him as they make their way home. Todd arrives home and shows his mother the box full of wonderful things that Todd has collected on the way home. Finally the mother is happy to see the items.

The text is as follows:

“Look Mom! I can dig in the sand. Not now, Todd. Look Mom! I am on the rocks. Hop off, Todd. Look Mom! The ant is so fast. Don’t pick it up, Todd. Look Mom!

It is a pond. We have to go, Todd. Look Mom! Here is a gift for you. Look in and see. Oh, Todd! It’s a box of surprises!

By Paula Sullivan and Illustrated by Nadine Bernand Westcott Page 98-111

Grade 1 Trophies

Subtitle of book: Guess Who

1. Give students passage or textbook to complete a picture walk and then read to themselves silently.

2. Read as a class aloud the story.

3. Tell the students that sometimes parents are in a tremendous hurry and they don’t think they have time to slow down to listen to their children.

4. Read the story again and ask what happened in the story.

5. Thinking aloud – I think Todd is very sad – the book does not say that he is sad, we have to pick this information up based on the story – this is called inferring information for the story.

6. Questioning the students, why do you think that Todd’s Mom does not want him to pick up the ants? Could it be that the ants could bite Todd and the Mom?

7. On the bus ride home, Todd finally has a moment to give the box to his Mom. Todd’s Mom opens the box and looks inside. At this point Todd’s Mom is very happy, but do you think she is also sad because she did not pay attention to her son during the walk through the park where he was collecting all of the items in the box?

8. By the way in which Todd’s Mom responds to Todd and the box do you think she is happy? We have to sometimes infer that the characters are happy from the information throughout the story.

10. From Chapter 7: According to the text/author, what important reading skills are essential in your grade level?

According the author on page 127 the important reading skills which are essential for grade 1 are the following: phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, decoding, irregular word reading, decodable text reading, connected text, oral and reading vocabulary, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. These are the essentials for grade one. Another way to examine this is the skills that are essential are phonological awareness, phonics and word study, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. They are all essential at the first grade level.

Yesterday - Song I will learn soon!

2011-10-13T09:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday guitar chords

From: "Steve Previdi"

Subject: Re: Beatles' "Yesterday"

Yesterday

by Lennon & McCartney

F F Em A7

Yesterday... all my troubles seemed so

Dm Dm/C Bb C Bb/F F

Far away... Now it looks as though they're here to stay

C/E Dm7 G7 Bb F

oh I believe in yesterday...

F Em A7 Dm

Suddenly.... I'm not half the man I used to be

Dm/C Bb C Bb/f F C/E Dm7 G7

There's a shadow hanging o--ver me oh yesterday came

Bb F

suddenly

(Chorus)

G/A A7 Dm C Bbmaj7 Dm/A Gm C7 F

Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say...

G/A A7 Dm C Bbmaj7 Dm/A Gm C F

I said something wrong now I long for yesterday

(end of Chorus)

F Em A7 Dm

Yesterday.... Love was such an easy game to play....

Bb C Bb/F F Dm7 G7 Bb F

Now I need a place to hide away.. oh I believe.. in yesterday

(repeat Chorus)

F Em A7 Dm

Yesterday.... Love was such an easy game to play.....

Bb C Bb/F F Dm7 G7 Bb F

Now I need a place to hide away... oh I believe.. in yesterday

F/C G/B Bb F

Mm mm mm mm mm.......

Steve Previdi " But I don't want to go among mad people"

p00020@psilink.com Alice remarked."Oh, you can't help that,"

said the cat,"We're all mad here."

From: macon@cbmvax.commodore.com (Glen Macon)

025

Title: YESTERDAY (Beatles)

C E Am G F

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

G C

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

B Am D F C

Oh I believe in yesterday

C E Am G F

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be

G C

There's a shadow hanging over me

B Am D F C

Oh, yesterday came suddenly

E Am G F Dm G C

CHORUS: Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say

E Am G F Dm G C

I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday

C E Am G F

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play

G C

Now I need a place to hide away

B Am D F C

Oh I believe in yesterday

CHORUS

REPEAT LAST VERSE

From: thomask@ifi.uio.no (Thomas Krog)

Subject: CRD: Yesterday

(c) Lennon/McCartney

F Em7 A7 Dm /C Bb

Yesterday All my troubles seemed so far away

C Fsus4 F

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

C/E Dm G Bb F

Oh I believe in yesterday

F Em7 A7 Dm /C Bb

Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be

C Fsus4 F

There's a shadow hangin' over me

C/E Dm G Bb F

Oh yesterday came suddenly

Em7 A7 Dm C Bb Dm Gm6

Why she had to go I don't know

C7 F

she wouldn't say

Em7 A7 Dm C Bb Dm Gm6

I said something's wrong now I long

C7 F

for yesterda-a-a-ay

F Em7 A7 Dm /C Bb

Yesterday Love was such an easy game to play

C Fsus4 F

Now I need a place to hide away

C/E Dm G Bb F

Oh I believe in yesterday

F G Bb F

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

What if God was one of us?

2011-10-13T09:29:00.000-05:00

One Of Us
by Eric Bazilian, as recorded by Joan Osborne
as transcribed by R.Kilby (arkay@connectnet.com)

Capo 2nd fret (key of F#m)

Em - C+9 - G - D

    Em        C+9 G             D
If God had a name, what would it be?

                Em            C
And would you call it to his face

G            D
If you were faced with him

    Em       C+9    G              D
In all his glory -- what would you ask?

            Em       C+9       G   D
If you had just one question?

C+9             G     D
Yeah... yeah... God is great

C+9             G     D
Yeah... yeah... God is good

C+9            D
Yeah... yeah... yeah... yeah... yeah...

         Em      C+9       G   D
What if God was one of us?

         Em      C+9       G   D
Just a slob like one of us?

         Em      C+9    G             D
Just a stranger on the bus trying to make his way home

         Em      C+9       G   D


If God had a face, what would it look like
And would you want to see?
If seeing meant that you would have to believe,
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets

Trying to make his way home...
Like up to heaven all alone...
Nobody calling on the phone...
Except for the Pope, maybe in Rome.

The Secret to Living Well on $20,000 a Year

2011-10-10T08:32:00.002-05:00

Financially Fit Feedback: Take Our Survey »

The Secret to Living Well on $20,000 a Year

Kimberly Palmer
Monday, October 10, 2011

More from

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at USNews.com
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at USNews.com
A Financial Checklist for 30-Somethings
at USNews.com

Last week, we ran a story on living well on $40,000 a year, featuring a special education teacher who supports his family of four on that relatively modest salary. Fifty people commented on the article, many of whom argued that living on $40,000 a year was hardly an impressive feat.

"I could live like a king on $40,000 a year. Try living on $22,000 a year and see how that goes for you. And I have a family of three," said Joyce of Maine.

Connie from Texas expressed a similar sentiment: "I would feel really rich if I made that kind of money? Why don't you have an article on how to live on $17,000 or $20,000 a year?"

To do just that, we tracked down Joseph Fonseca, a writer currently living in Seattle who supports himself on $20,000 a year. Fonseca, 28, authored a first-person piece in the Washington Post over the weekend describing his "10 cities, 10 years" project, in which he moves every year and starts over in a new town. An aspiring novelist, he plans to eventually write a book about his quest. We spoke with him by phone to get more details about just how he makes ends meet. Excerpts:

Do you avoid a lot of the expenses that many of your peers spend money on, such as technology and meals out?

For the most part, yes. I have a lower-end Android phone because I needed a new phone. I went as cheap as possible. I don't own a car, I rely on public transportation, and sometimes biking. I have a laptop, because I need it for writing. I do have Internet access because it's pretty important to get online. My only extra bill is Netflix, and I'm considering getting rid of that. I don't go out to eat, or just for special occasions. I cook for every meal. I don't drink coffee. I try to stick with water. I do go out to bars, but not every night. That's my best way to meet people and experience cities.

What's your typical meal?

I usually buy a pound of beef and a package of chicken and make easy Mexican dishes. I get some vegetables and mix it all together and throw it on a tortilla. I do a lot of pasta dishes. When I'm working, I usually pack a lunch, I make a sandwich plus chips or cookies to get me through the day. Then I get home and cook a fuller meal. I try to have a good mix [of food] so I don't get sick. My brother taught me little tricks to take different ingredients around the house, like seasonings, to make a sauce that's different and more unique, to give yourself different tastes.

What about clothes?

Once or twice a year, I might get a few new things, like an extra pair of jeans or pants, or a couple shirts, but I still have shirts I wore to college, so they're six or seven years old or older. If a job requires certain clothes, then I'll buy clothes for that. I maybe get one new pair of shoes a year and make them last as long as possible. I mostly shop at cheaper places, like thrift stores or Salvation Army or Goodwill. Those are good places to hit up.

What about going on dates?

I was in a relationship for a couple years, and we'd go to movies or bars. I like to go to movies, so I try to find cheaper movie places. We'd go to parks and take books or play a board game out there. We'd go to free art exhibits or save up and make a night of it. When I lived in Nashville, I'd get free passes to art museums where I worked, so I'd use that.

Do you indulge in any luxuries?

I splurge on things with friends, like going out to bars. To me, the most important thing is to have fun with friends. I'd rather spend $30 or $40 to go out with friends and have those memories that buy a bunch of CDs or random things. What's the hardest thing to do without? There are days that I wished I had a car. Sometimes public transportation isn't great. But for me, the benefits of not having a car outweigh that [feeling].

Do you have health insurance?

I don't. I had one job that offered it, so I had it for a little and went to the doctor and got a clean bill of health. I do have the thought, if I get sick or hurt, I can't afford to go to the doctor. Luckily, I rarely get sick. If I start to get sick, I try to eat a little healthier. I've been hurt a few times, but just made do.

Do you have any savings for emergencies?

My savings all go toward the move each year, so long-term, I don't have any savings. I also don't have any debt. I try to save $3,000 for each move, and that gives me a little security to settle in and put down deposits.

Do you anticipate or look forward to having a higher salary one day?

Not necessarily. I hope to make my career as a writer. My goal has always been to do that. I've never been someone that wanted to be settled into a career. I may or may not have a family some day. I don't see myself as someone that will own a house and have property. I basically just want to be someone who at some point can say, "I'm a writer full-time." Hopefully it would pay more than $20,000 a year, but I could live a satisfactory life on $50,000 a year and be a writer and do other things if I had to. To me, life experience, traveling, and meeting people is so much more valuable than having a nest egg.

If I had children, I would want to make enough money to support them. But as long as I'm unattached, I'm just concerned about my life. I don't imagine I'll ever be a well-off business person. As long as I have enough money to be happy in my own life and satisfied with my goals and not relying on others, then I'll be happy.

What about retirement--do you plan on ever saving enough to retire?

I don't think about it too much. To retire requires having a career to retire from. My ambition is to be a writer, and I'd love to be writing into my old age, to be like Vonnegut and write until the day I die.

Do you have any advice to others trying to live on $20,000 a year?

You can get rid of so much stuff and you'll realize how little you're really missing. It's about prioritizing what you really need in life. It's hard to save and stick to a strict budget if you don't have a reason, or if you're just vaguely saving. You should have a goal you're working toward, a career goal or an artistic goal.

This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit

Gender Q 6 - Q 14

2011-10-09T20:15:00.002-05:00

6. The author suggests that many aspects of today’s schools are not developmentally appropriate.

a. The author argues that many kindergartens are not developmentally appropriate for young boys. What proof/reasoning does he provide? Boys and girls develop at different ages in life. Girls develop fine motor skills and language sometimes up to five or six years earlier than boys. This enhances the argument that kindergarten for boys is too early to start a formal school setting. The author contends that 30 years ago kindergarten was a social learning experience, but today it is more academic. Boys just don’t have the fine motor skills to write numbers and letters. Some boys are better to wait one year before starting kindergarten.

b. The author claims that today’s curriculum and teaching methods often negatively impact girls in the middle and upper grades (pages 98-106 and pages 253-261). What proof/reasoning does he provide? Women use a different part of their brain when working on spatial tasks than do men. Girls are more interested in realistic use of numbers. Boys, on the other hand, like to think abstractly at the middle school age. We as educators must learn how to teach the boys and girls differently. They can both learn the mathematical theories, concepts, ideas, and formulas. However, the materials that we uses with each gender must be different in order for each gender to completely understand the concepts.

7. Chapter 6 explores important gender-based sexual issues. The chapter is quite eye-opening.

a. Briefly describe 1-2 items that are most surprising to you. According to the author, sex is different today than it we 20 years ago. I found it most “eye-opening” or interesting that the youth of today do not date any more in the traditional definition of dating. Today the young boys and girls just “hook-up.” There is much less time and value paced on the relationship and much more emphasis placed on sex. The author summed it up very clearly by stating that, “Dating has been replaced by house parties and a culture of hooking up.” (page 121.) (Sax)

b. Given the various issues presented in this chapter, what is one specific thing you can do in your role with students to have a positive impact in this area? As a teacher one specific thing that I can do is tell the students with which I work that you as a student should strongly consider to discuss your options as a couple and date each other and get to know your mate rather than mate your classmates. If a couple gets to know each other first, the chances of premature separation are much lower. That is to say, if you know who you are getting involved with, you will be much more satisfied in life later on.

8. Chapter 8 is devoted to a discussion of discipline. Much of what the author suggests is controversial and may not resonate with what you know/experience as an educator.

a. What is one thing in this chapter that you disagree with (or have reservations about)? Why? First, it is interesting to note that there is very little addressed regarding the differences of gender in this chapter. Where it is addressed, it is very lightly stated in that we should discipline the girls at younger age. We as parents should use positive discipline on girls who are 12 years old and under and boys who are 14 years old and under. I know that the maturity of girls and boys differ, but I fill that when it comes to disciplining children, we as parents should treat boy genders the same.

b. What is one new thing you gleaned from this chapter that you will integrate into your relationships/interactions with students? The one new thing that I will integrate in my relationships with the student with whom I work will be that I become stricter. I do not have any issues at this point as I am transitioning from the middle school level of teaching to the elementary level. Two years ago I was teaching in the middle school and I was very strict with one of my classes. As a result, they responded very well. However, I noticed that I did not have to be that strict with the young students expect for a select few. These grade three students did get out of hand, so it was challenging accomplishing much in that class last year. This year I have started out of the tough side and my classes are going much smoother.

c. The author uses the term ‘induction’ and ‘power assertion’ in the chapter. Define both terms. Induction is defined in the book as placing the person doing the bad act on the receiving end. Basically stating to the child, “How would you like it if Frank tossed a book at you and it hit you in the foot?” According to the author, induction works best for girls. Power assertion works best when disciplining boys. Power assertion is spanking the boy and/or holding the boy back physically.

9. Throughout the book, Dr. Sax uses examples of how medications are used for both boys and girls to curb or change behaviors.

a. Summarize his perspective on medications in 3-4 sentences. Dr. Sax has the idea that there is too much use of medications in the USA. He sites that the use of medication during the last ten years has more than doubled. He thinks that the setting of kindergarten is not appropriate for all boys as they have a difficult time sitting still. He believes that these boys are wired to move and are less motivated to learn about letters than the girls. He argues that today too many boys are drugged with Ritalin to keep the boys calm to listen to the teacher.

b. Share your perspective regarding the use of medication for students. Last year I worked with a student who was on Ritalin in the third grade. I could tell if he had taken the drug. It really calmed him down. I personally think that the drugs that are administered to the kids are an excuse for the parents to not discipline their children. If there would be more mothers and fathers involved with the upbringing of their children, we as a society would be much better off and there would be less use of the calming drugs being used.

10. In Chapter 10 the author has positive things to say about gender-separate schools and activities. What is the evidence/rationale? The author contends that if girls were in an all school setting, they would take more science and math courses and just the same when boys are in an all boys school, they are more prone to register for music and the fine arts classes. The author is quick to point out that in some all boys and all girls classes the absenteeism dropped, standardized test scores dramatically improved, and those attending college rose as well.

11. Please respond to one of the three options below.

a. You have very-averse girls in your classroom; you would like them to be less timid. What are 2-3 strategies you could use?

b. You are worried that you may have a student like Caitlyn (Chapter 7) in your classroom. What are 2-3 strategies you could use to help a student like her?

I choose Kristen.

c. You have a Kristen (Chapter 8) in your classroom. What are 2-3 strategies you could use to help a student like her? Kristen is out of control at age 12. She is smoking and staying up until all hours of the night talking to her friends on the phone. If I were her mom or dad (it seems that there is no Dad in her life), I would start with little disciplinary actions. I would start by grounding Kristen. She cannot leave the house for three days. Then I would take her telephone away from her. I would end the contract with the cellular phone company so that she has no recourse. I would take away her computer and/or make it so that the password does not work to get to the Internet. I would do all of these steps and slowly reintroduce the privileges one by one as her behavior improves. As the author so clearly stated on page 188, “Children have the inalienable right to food, clothing, shelter and medical care. Everything else is a privilege.” (Sax page 188.)

12. Below are a series of false statements (given the findings of the text). Please choose three of the statements and discuss why they are false.

a. Boys and girls do not show gender-typical toy preference at a very early age. (page 27).

b. Teenage boys would be much better off in we encourage them to talk more often about their feelings (page 30). Girls love to express their feelings whereas boys do not. This is due to the fact that emotions and speech in the male brain is not well connected. This means that males find it hard to express their feelings. In the male brain, the part of the brain that is connected to the emotions is called the amygdale. Males need to learn how to talk about their emotions whereas this is much easier for females. The female brain, however emotions come from the amygdale and move to the cerebral cortex. This is made evident by MRI studies of the adolescent brain.

c. Girls systematically over-estimate their own ability; while boys are more likely to underestimate (Chapter 3) The opposite was pointed out in the book when the author presented us with the study done on college freshmen taking intro to psychology and the ring toss experiment. Boys like to show off more than girls. Boys take bigger risks and over-estimate their abilities more than do girls. Dr. Sax points out that when a female sees a flooded road she is most likely to turn around and return whereas the male sees it as a challenge and goes through the flooded road. Males are innately more of a risk taker and often times over-estimate their abilities.

d. The brain is not organized differently in male and females (Chapter 2) Girls like to looks at faces and boys like to look at moving objects. This was a study that was presented in the book. The study was highlighted on pages 18-19 where the girls were more interested in faces and the boys were more like to enjoy looking at the mobiles. Therefore the gender differences are biologically determined. The author also pointed to a study regarding retinas. The retina is so close to the brain that it is sometimes considered to be part of the brain. It males the retina is thicker thus letting in less light that the female retina. The female sees colors differently that does the male.

e. Friendship styles of girls and boys are not all that different (Chapter 5) Not this one

f. The following education effort works well with boys: “This is your brain. This is your brain in drugs.” (Page 156) Not this one

13. List 3 beliefs you held regarding gender that have now changed or have been questioned due to reading this text.

Hearing: I was not aware the males and females hear differently. It is interesting that the author points this out in the early part of the book in chapter two. He illustrates this with the study presented on pages 17-18. This has a direct implication for me as a co-teacher in a Kindergarten classroom. There have been many times where the teacher would be saying to me, “Wow, I don’t think that boy heard a word that I said.” Well this is very true in the male brain hears different sounds than does a female brain.

Seeing: Again, let me illustrate this my stating the that Kindergarten boys tend to color most of their daily journals in dark dull colors and filling the pages with objects of cars, houses and toys. The Kindergarten girls, on the other hand, love to use more colors that are in the rainbow and the girls tend to draw pictures of themselves as well as other family members and maybe a swing set or other piece of the playground. The girls see differently because as the book points out that the retina of a girl is thinner than a boy.

Feelings: I was aware that girls like to talk about their feelings more than do boys, but I was not aware that there was a specific reason for this phenomena. The female brain is wired differently than the male brain and there are MRI brain scans to prove this difference.

14. There are many issues explored in the text that these study guide questions have not addressed. Pick one issue of particular interest to you and describe what you learned and how it will impact your teaching.

update as of 10-8-11

2011-10-08T16:01:00.003-05:00

Sam Fields, M.Ed.

Course 738: Gender Matters: How Boys and Girls Learn

Course Study Guide Questions

1. In Chapter 1, Dr. Sax makes a case for hearing deficits/differences between boys and girls. What does the research indicate? This research has very interesting implications. First of all if more teachers would be aware of this fact that boys hear differently than girls do, there would be seating charts changed throughout the kindergarten classes and beyond. What I mean to point out is that girls have a very sensitive hearing system than do the boys. This research directly states that a girls hearing system in superior to that of a boy.

What implications might this have for you (or teachers in general) in the classroom? The implications for this hearing difference would be that the boys would sit in the front of the class and the girls would sit toward the back of the classroom. Furthermore the teacher would have to check for the boys understanding a great deal more than the girls. In addition to giving instructions orally, the teacher could make arrangements for written instructions.

2. Chapter 2 discusses the differences in the retina and how boys and girls see the world, specifically with regard to faces, motion and color. What does the research indicate? It reveals that girls are programmed to tune into facial expressions and boys are programmed to focus on moving objects. In regards to color, girls are much more specific when in comes to determining certain colors and boys are less concerned about specific colors because their retina is thicker. The girls’ retinas are thinner in general.

How will the information you have gleaned so far affect your instruction and feedback to students? It is interesting to note that I co-teach in two Kindergarten classes at two different elementary schools. I have noticed this difference first hand whereas when given the boys and girls the assignment of “trace your name and draw a picture in your drawing journal.” The girls tend to draw pictures of themselves, family and friends in bright colors and the boys are busy drawing pictures of cars, building and schools. The boys’ pictures tend to be dark, gray and/or black. This will affect my instruction by not requiring the same expectations for both the boys and the girls. I will encourage creativity for both the boys and girls, not focusing on the outcome of the number of colors used. After all it is their journal of how they see the world.

3. Based on your reading in Chapter 3:

a. Describe at least 2 reasons what boys engage in risky behavior. It is my understanding the boys engage in risky behavior because they get a thrill from such behavior. As the book states the risky behavior gives the boys “a pleasant tingle.” The second reason I think why boys want to engage in risky behavior is to show off. They are out to impress girls. The boys don’t want to appear as weak or inferior to girls.

b. How does the discussion of “learned helplessness” on page 47-49 illustrate a gender difference in the area of risk taking? The girls have learned to be helpless by society’s instruction. Girls are taught by society to take fewer risks than boys take. They are not rewarded in the same fashion that boys are rewarded. It appears the in our society the adults don’t give the girls the same types of experiences that are given to the boys. The girls learn to accept the fact that they can’t do certain things through the idea of “learned helplessness.”

4. “Affirm the Knight” (page 64-72). How does this statement relate to boys and to the research on aggression? Boys are more aggressive because they want to appear tough. Furthermore, the author of the book points out that girls feel pain differently than boys do. So if the boys basically experience less pain than the girls, the boys will be more aggressive in their actions and activities. Aggression among girls destroys girl friendships, but the very same aggressive behaviors among the boys seemingly builds deeper friendships among themselves suggests the author.

5. Chapter 5 is dedicated to a discussion of how gender differences impact student learning and student relationships/interactions with teachers. What findings are particularly helpful or relevant for you and your student population? The student population with which I work is Kindergarten through fifth grade. I found it helpful for me to have learned that I must be more patient with the female population when it comes to make assumptions and drawing conclusions. Although the story in the book discusses a bright high school student, the relevancy to the student’s story is important for me. It discouraged the girl who was very good at math and science from continuing to take the physics class was interesting. Mr. Wallace should have been more considerate with Melanie. Mr. Wallace unintentional set Melanie on a course in life, which was different from the path that she was to pursue because of one misunderstood homework assignment. Girls want their teacher to like them and boys want to like the subject area in order to do well.

What impact will these finding have on your teaching? I think the immediate impact of these finding will have on my teaching is that I will take a different approach to girls. With the girls I will try to develop the relationship more than with the boys. I will directly ask the boys if they understand the material and ask the boys if I can clarify the material any more. When discussing what the proper book to check out of the library is, I am more likely to suggest a fictional story for girls and suggest a more factual book for boys. We need to demonstrate that reading is exciting and after we develop this intrinsic motivation in the students by suggesting novels for girls and non-fiction books for boys, than we as professional educators can move on to other topics.

Sam's List...

2011-10-08T13:16:00.000-05:00

Sam’s Bucket List

1. Find, marry, love cherish and respect the most beautiful Christian woman in the world. (DONE)

2. Raise three wonderful children. (IN PROGRESS)

3. Travel to 25 of the 200 countries of the world. (DONE)

4. Live and work (teach) in three different countries of the world. (DONE)

5. Establish a satisfying and fulfilling career in education. (IN PROGRESS)

HAVE TO DO YET…

6. Watch a live Flamenco performance with my beautiful wife and wonderful children in Madrid, Spain.

7. Travel to and visit the Canary Islands with family to meet Mario Castro Burgos.

8. Travel and spend three days in Jaca, Spain with family.

9. Live and work (teach) in a Latin American country on a full bright exchange.

10. Visit San Diego, California for five days with family.

11. Take some graduate and undergraduate university courses in History, Political Science, Economics, Philosophy and Psychology.

12. Drive the coast of California.

13. Bicycle from Wausau, Wisconsin to Wautoma, Wisconsin with a friend.

14. Start a tiny business selling popcorn with family.

15. Go to Disney world for a week.

16. Travel around Lake Michigan.

17. Travel to the Keweenaw Peninsula and Copper Harbor in upper Michigan with family.

Stay tuned…

Steve Jobs ...

2011-10-06T08:21:00.001-05:00

Steve Jobs Earned His Place in the American Business Pantheon

By Daniel Gross | Contrary Indicator – 12 hours ago

Steve Jobs, who died on Wednesday, was a singular figure in American business history. He will go in the pantheon of great American entrepreneurs, inventors, and innovators, alongside John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and Sam Walton.

Jobs didn't invent computer technology, or the cell phone, or the notion of digitizing music. But he invented methods, business models, and devices that turned each into significantly larger cultural and economic phenomena.

To a degree, one might look back on the arc of Jobs's career and conclude that he simply rode a series of technological waves. But Jobs, and the company he led, rode the waves while pushing back against them.

In an industry frequently hostile to design, Jobs's Apple banked on it. In an industry in which products simply got cheaper every year and everything tends toward a commodity, Apple's products were able to command a premium. And in an age of pinched consumer spending, millions of people were eager — even desperate — to shell out for the latest version of the iPod, the iPad, or the iPhone.

In an era frequently characterized by executive greed and massive pay for significant underperformance, Jobs worked for a dollar a year. At a time when many founding CEOs step down when they hit their late 40s and early 50s to chase other pursuits (a la Bill Gates), Jobs stuck with it. In an era in which many experts fretted about the ability of America's economy to thrive and innovate, Apple grew into a major exporter. Apple now represents American brands, the way McDonald's and IBM and Coca-Cola once did.

In an era in which equity values stagnated, Apple's stock thrived. The performance of the company's stock, which is now worth $322 billion, up from a few billion in 2003, is one of the great examples of value creation in modern history.

It's difficult to put a tag on what it is precisely that Jobs did. He didn't create a fundamentally new business structure, the way John D. Rockefeller did with the vertical integration of Standard Oil. He didn't democratize a product that had only been available to the very rich, as Henry Ford did with the Model T. And he didn't fundamentally alter the distribution, logistics, and production systems the way that Sam Walton did with Wal-Mart. Under Jobs, Apple simply created a bunch of really cool products that people decided they needed to have. And have again. While Apple had brilliant ads, and while Jobs was an excellent salesperson, Apple's rabid, evangelizing fans have been the most effective marketing tool. When it comes to clothes, or shoes, or cars, my kids, 13 and 9, are largely indifferent to brands. When it was time for them to get their own computer, it had to be a Mac.

There are three basic business stories: the rise, the fall, and then the comeback. Jobs provided a vivid example of each. He started Apple Computer in the 1970s out of the proverbial garage with Steve Wozniak, only to be pushed after the company had gained scale. Returning to helm the company in 1997, he led a comeback that was, in many ways, far more impressive than the original rise.

Yes, Steve Jobs got rich in the past decade. But he didn't so at the expense of his shareholders. In fact, they grew rich along with him. And Apple didn't prosper at the expense of partners. The walled-garden approach of iTunes and the Apps store goes went against the grain of the notion that everything online should be free. But it was, at root, a courageous act. And it served as a kind of affirmation for content producers. And perhaps that's why he got such good press.

Several industries in the past decade found themselves essentially powerless in the face of the internet and the advent of digital technology. But Jobs and Apple invented devices and business models that encouraged people to pay: for music, for television shows and movies, for books, and for applications. By continuing to roll out new products, Apple has really expanded the playing field for content creators. It's much more compelling to watch a movie on an iPad than it is on an iPod.

The highest form of charity is helping somebody find a job or a means to support themselves. Just so, one might argue that the highest form of business is creating a profitable enterprise that allows and encourages other people to innovate and find means to support themselves. Apple has done that time and again. Yes, the publishing and music industries have griped over payment terms. But Apple is allowing individuals and companies to reach truly massive audiences at a relatively low cost. It has rescued some markets, revived others, and created entirely new ones.

This century is only a decade old. But it's a safe bet that in 2099, when analysts and historians are looking back, Steve Jobs will be remembered as one of the giants of 21st century business.

Daniel Gross is economics editor at Yahoo! Finance

Our next home. (Just Kidding)

2011-10-04T08:05:00.001-05:00

This $1.2 million home is built into a dune in Atlantic Beach, FL.
Photo: Curbed

Above-ground houses: could there be anything that's more over?

Turns out those smiley Lennon-style glasses on that glassy knoll are the legit windows of a legit house, and said house was carved into a dune in Atlantic Beach, Fla. Built in 1975, Dune House is the brainchild of architect William Morgan, who didn't want any interlopers messing with the character of his block — to this day, he lives next door. "I'm very particular about the buildings on either side of my own home." he says.

"The property is original oceanfront dunes that are very beautiful, and we were very interested in preserving the ecological character of our environment as closely as we could," adds Morgan. "So we surveyed the existing property and then we designed a house that would then be a profile of the original site."

Shortly after Morgan completed the project—actually two symmetrical apartments connected by a main landing—it piqued the interest of Playboy magazine, who was in town to photograph Morgan's digs. They were so taken that they photographed Dune House, too.

You could probably hit the ocean with a 3-iron with practice.
Photo: Curbed

Now listed for $1.2M, the property first hit the market at the tail beginning of 2009 when Morgan grew tired of renting it out. "I think it happened to coincide with the real estate downturn, the bursting of the bubble, so this particular kind of quality tends to suffer accordingly," he says. It was taken off the market this past November and was re-listed a couple months later for $1.4M.

When it's time to retreat from the sun, you still have a view.
Photo: Curbed

So what, pray tell, does life inside Dune House look like? Each 750-square-foot apartment consists of a two-story living area with one bedroom and one bathroom and built-in furnishings designed to fit the space. "I built it like a seashell," Morgan says. "It's a little like being in a submarine. When you go down the stairs, you go along the curved side of the shell to descend into the main living area, which looks out through very large glass doors onto the oceanfront. So you have a sense of being in the dune and looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean."

This dune home seems optimal for entertaining guests.
Photo: Curbed

As for heating and cooling—the first question we had after we stopped staring at the pics—apparently this part of Florida is ideal for this sort of living arrangement because the grass roof assumes the temperature of the ground water there: 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidifiers in each unit control the humidity. Sounds heavenly!

Now, about that buyer: "I think it could be a weekend retreat for someone who lives elsewhere—a seasonal retreat," Morgan says, later adding, "It's very quiet, by the way. You don't hear rain when it's raining, because there's earth that covers the roof and the walls of the house." Thus concludes today's moment of Zen.

Stuff I have been studying .... Beautiful Brains

2011-09-28T12:53:00.000-05:00

Beautiful Brains

Moody. Impulsive. Maddening. Why do teenagers act the way they do? Viewed through the eyes of evolution, their most exasperating traits may be the key to success as adults.

By David Dobbs

Although you know your teenager takes some chances, it can be a shock to hear about them.

One fine May morning not long ago my oldest son, 17 at the time, phoned to tell me that he had just spent a couple hours at the state police barracks. Apparently he had been driving "a little fast." What, I asked, was "a little fast"? Turns out this product of my genes and loving care, the boy-man I had swaddled, coddled, cooed at, and then pushed and pulled to the brink of manhood, had been flying down the highway at 113 miles an hour.

"That's more than a little fast," I said.

He agreed. In fact, he sounded somber and contrite. He did not object when I told him he'd have to pay the fines and probably for a lawyer. He did not argue when I pointed out that if anything happens at that speed—a dog in the road, a blown tire, a sneeze—he dies. He was in fact almost irritatingly reasonable. He even proffered that the cop did the right thing in stopping him, for, as he put it, "We can't all go around doing 113."

He did, however, object to one thing. He didn't like it that one of the several citations he received was for reckless driving.

"Well," I huffed, sensing an opportunity to finally yell at him, "what would you call it?"

"It's just not accurate," he said calmly. " 'Reckless' sounds like you're not paying attention. But I was. I made a deliberate point of doing this on an empty stretch of dry interstate, in broad daylight, with good sight lines and no traffic. I mean, I wasn't just gunning the thing. I was driving.

"I guess that's what I want you to know. If it makes you feel any better, I was really focused."

Actually, it did make me feel better. That bothered me, for I didn't understand why. Now I do.

My son's high-speed adventure raised the question long asked by people who have pondered the class of humans we call teenagers: What on Earth was he doing? Parents often phrase this question more colorfully. Scientists put it more coolly. They ask, What can explain this behavior? But even that is just another way of wondering, What is wrong with these kids? Why do they act this way? The question passes judgment even as it inquires.

Through the ages, most answers have cited dark forces that uniquely affect the teen. Aristotle concluded more than 2,300 years ago that "the young are heated by Nature as drunken men by wine." A shepherd in William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale wishes "there were no age between ten and three-and-twenty, or that youth would sleep out the rest; for there is nothing in the between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry, stealing, fighting." His lament colors most modern scientific inquiries as well. G. Stanley Hall, who formalized adolescent studies with his 1904 Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education, believed this period of "storm and stress" replicated earlier, less civilized stages of human development. Freud saw adolescence as an expression of torturous psychosexual conflict; Erik Erikson, as the most tumultuous of life's several identity crises. Adolescence: always a problem.

Such thinking carried into the late 20th century, when researchers developed brain-imaging technology that enabled them to see the teen brain in enough detail to track both its physical development and its patterns of activity. These imaging tools offered a new way to ask the same question—What's wrong with these kids?—and revealed an answer that surprised almost everyone. Our brains, it turned out, take much longer to develop than we had thought. This revelation suggested both a simplistic, unflattering explanation for teens' maddening behavior—and a more complex, affirmative explanation as well.

The first full series of scans of the developing adolescent brain—a National Institutes of Health (NIH) project that studied over a hundred young people as they grew up during the 1990s—showed that our brains undergo a massive reorganization between our 12th and 25th years. The brain doesn't actually grow very much during this period. It has already reached 90 percent of its full size by the time a person is six, and a thickening skull accounts for most head growth afterward. But as we move through adolescence, the brain undergoes extensive remodeling, resembling a network and wiring upgrade.

For starters, the brain's axons—the long nerve fibers that neurons use to send signals to other neurons—become gradually more insulated with a fatty substance called myelin (the brain's white matter), eventually boosting the axons' transmission speed up to a hundred times. Meanwhile, dendrites, the branchlike extensions that neurons use to receive signals from nearby axons, grow twiggier, and the most heavily used synapses—the little chemical junctures across which axons and dendrites pass notes—grow richer and stronger. At the same time, synapses that see little use begin to wither. This synaptic pruning, as it is called, causes the brain's cortex—the outer layer of gray matter where we do much of our conscious and complicated thinking—to become thinner but more efficient. Taken together, these changes make the entire brain a much faster and more sophisticated organ.

This process of maturation, once thought to be largely finished by elementary school, continues throughout adolescence. Imaging work done since the 1990s shows that these physical changes move in a slow wave from the brain's rear to its front, from areas close to the brain stem that look after older and more behaviorally basic functions, such as vision, movement, and fundamental processing, to the evolutionarily newer and more complicated thinking areas up front. The corpus callosum, which connects the brain's left and right hemispheres and carries traffic essential to many advanced brain functions, steadily thickens. Stronger links also develop between the hippocampus, a sort of memory directory, and frontal areas that set goals and weigh different agendas; as a result, we get better at integrating memory and experience into our decisions. At the same time, the frontal areas develop greater speed and richer connections, allowing us to generate and weigh far more variables and agendas than before.

When this development proceeds normally, we get better at balancing impulse, desire, goals, self-interest, rules, ethics, and even altruism, generating behavior that is more complex and, sometimes at least, more sensible. But at times, and especially at first, the brain does this work clumsily. It's hard to get all those new cogs to mesh.

Beatriz Luna, a University of Pittsburgh professor of psychiatry who uses neuroimaging to study the teen brain, used a simple test that illustrates this learning curve. Luna scanned the brains of children, teens, and twentysomethings while they performed an antisaccade task, a sort of eyes-only video game where you have to stop yourself from looking at a suddenly appearing light. You view a screen on which the red crosshairs at the center occasionally disappear just as a light flickers elsewhere on the screen. Your instructions are to not look at the light and instead to look in the opposite direction. A sensor detects any eye movement. It's a tough assignment, since flickering lights naturally draw our attention. To succeed, you must override both a normal impulse to attend to new information and curiosity about something forbidden. Brain geeks call this response inhibition.

Ten-year-olds stink at it, failing about 45 percent of the time. Teens do much better. In fact, by age 15 they can score as well as adults if they're motivated, resisting temptation about 70 to 80 percent of the time. What Luna found most interesting, however, was not those scores. It was the brain scans she took while people took the test. Compared with adults, teens tended to make less use of brain regions that monitor performance, spot errors, plan, and stay focused—areas the adults seemed to bring online automatically. This let the adults use a variety of brain resources and better resist temptation, while the teens used those areas less often and more readily gave in to the impulse to look at the flickering light—just as they're more likely to look away from the road to read a text message.

If offered an extra reward, however, teens showed they could push those executive regions to work harder, improving their scores. And by age 20, their brains respond to this task much as the adults' do. Luna suspects the improvement comes as richer networks and faster connections make the executive region more effective.

These studies help explain why teens behave with such vexing inconsistency: beguiling at breakfast, disgusting at dinner; masterful on Monday, sleepwalking on Saturday. Along with lacking experience generally, they're still learning to use their brain's new networks. Stress, fatigue, or challenges can cause a misfire. Abigail Baird, a Vassar psychologist who studies teens, calls this neural gawkiness—an equivalent to the physical awkwardness teens sometimes display while mastering their growing bodies.

The slow and uneven developmental arc revealed by these imaging studies offers an alluringly pithy explanation for why teens may do stupid things like drive at 113 miles an hour, aggrieve their ancientry, and get people (or get gotten) with child: They act that way because their brains aren't done! You can see it right there in the scans!

This view, as titles from the explosion of scientific papers and popular articles about the "teen brain" put it, presents adolescents as "works in progress" whose "immature brains" lead some to question whether they are in a state "akin to mental retardation."

The story you're reading right now, however, tells a different scientific tale about the teen brain. Over the past five years or so, even as the work-in-progress story spread into our culture, the discipline of adolescent brain studies learned to do some more-complex thinking of its own. A few researchers began to view recent brain and genetic findings in a brighter, more flattering light, one distinctly colored by evolutionary theory. The resulting account of the adolescent brain—call it the adaptive-adolescent story—casts the teen less as a rough draft than as an exquisitely sensitive, highly adaptable creature wired almost perfectly for the job of moving from the safety of home into the complicated world outside.

This view will likely sit better with teens. More important, it sits better with biology's most fundamental principle, that of natural selection. Selection is hell on dysfunctional traits. If adolescence is essentially a collection of them—angst, idiocy, and haste; impulsiveness, selfishness, and reckless bumbling—then how did those traits survive selection? They couldn't—not if they were the period's most fundamental or consequential features.

The answer is that those troublesome traits don't really characterize adolescence; they're just what we notice most because they annoy us or put our children in danger. As B. J. Casey, a neuroscientist at Weill Cornell Medical College who has spent nearly a decade applying brain and genetic studies to our understanding of adolescence, puts it, "We're so used to seeing adolescence as a problem. But the more we learn about what really makes this period unique, the more adolescence starts to seem like a highly functional, even adaptive period. It's exactly what you'd need to do the things you have to do then."

To see past the distracting, dopey teenager and glimpse the adaptive adolescent within, we should look not at specific, sometimes startling, behaviors, such as skateboarding down stairways or dating fast company, but at the broader traits that underlie those acts.

Let's start with the teen's love of the thrill. We all like new and exciting things, but we never value them more highly than we do during adolescence. Here we hit a high in what behavioral scientists call sensation seeking: the hunt for the neural buzz, the jolt of the unusual or unexpected.

Seeking sensation isn't necessarily impulsive. You might plan a sensation-seeking experience—a skydive or a fast drive—quite deliberately, as my son did. Impulsivity generally drops throughout life, starting at about age 10, but this love of the thrill peaks at around age 15. And although sensation seeking can lead to dangerous behaviors, it can also generate positive ones: The urge to meet more people, for instance, can create a wider circle of friends, which generally makes us healthier, happier, safer, and more successful.

This upside probably explains why an openness to the new, though it can sometimes kill the cat, remains a highlight of adolescent development. A love of novelty leads directly to useful experience. More broadly, the hunt for sensation provides the inspiration needed to "get you out of the house" and into new terrain, as Jay Giedd, a pioneering researcher in teen brain development at NIH, puts it.

Also peaking during adolescence (and perhaps aggrieving the ancientry the most) is risk-taking. We court risk more avidly as teens than at any other time. This shows reliably in the lab, where teens take more chances in controlled experiments involving everything from card games to simulated driving. And it shows in real life, where the period from roughly 15 to 25 brings peaks in all sorts of risky ventures and ugly outcomes. This age group dies of accidents of almost every sort (other than work accidents) at high rates. Most long-term drug or alcohol abuse starts during adolescence, and even people who later drink responsibly often drink too much as teens. Especially in cultures where teenage driving is common, this takes a gory toll: In the U.S., one in three teen deaths is from car crashes, many involving alcohol.

Are these kids just being stupid? That's the conventional explanation: They're not thinking, or by the work-in-progress model, their puny developing brains fail them.

Yet these explanations don't hold up. As Laurence Steinberg, a developmental psychologist specializing in adolescence at Temple University, points out, even 14- to 17-year-olds—the biggest risk takers—use the same basic cognitive strategies that adults do, and they usually reason their way through problems just as well as adults. Contrary to popular belief, they also fully recognize they're mortal. And, like adults, says Steinberg, "teens actually overestimate risk."

So if teens think as well as adults do and recognize risk just as well, why do they take more chances? Here, as elsewhere, the problem lies less in what teens lack compared with adults than in what they have more of. Teens take more risks not because they don't understand the dangers but because they weigh risk versus reward differently: In situations where risk can get them something they want, they value the reward more heavily than adults do.

A video game Steinberg uses draws this out nicely. In the game, you try to drive across town in as little time as possible. Along the way you encounter several traffic lights. As in real life, the traffic lights sometimes turn from green to yellow as you approach them, forcing a quick go-or-stop decision. You save time—and score more points—if you drive through before the light turns red. But if you try to drive through the red and don't beat it, you lose even more time than you would have if you had stopped for it. Thus the game rewards you for taking a certain amount of risk but punishes you for taking too much.

When teens drive the course alone, in what Steinberg calls the emotionally "cool" situation of an empty room, they take risks at about the same rates that adults do. Add stakes that the teen cares about, however, and the situation changes. In this case Steinberg added friends: When he brought a teen's friends into the room to watch, the teen would take twice as many risks, trying to gun it through lights he'd stopped for before. The adults, meanwhile, drove no differently with a friend watching.

To Steinberg, this shows clearly that risk-taking rises not from puny thinking but from a higher regard for reward.

"They didn't take more chances because they suddenly downgraded the risk," says Steinberg. "They did so because they gave more weight to the payoff."

Researchers such as Steinberg and Casey believe this risk-friendly weighing of cost versus reward has been selected for because, over the course of human evolution, the willingness to take risks during this period of life has granted an adaptive edge. Succeeding often requires moving out of the home and into less secure situations. "The more you seek novelty and take risks," says Baird, "the better you do." This responsiveness to reward thus works like the desire for new sensation: It gets you out of the house and into new turf.

As Steinberg's driving game suggests, teens respond strongly to social rewards. Physiology and evolutionary theory alike offer explanations for this tendency. Physiologically, adolescence brings a peak in the brain's sensitivity to dopamine, a neurotransmitter that appears to prime and fire reward circuits and aids in learning patterns and making decisions. This helps explain the teen's quickness of learning and extraordinary receptivity to reward—and his keen, sometimes melodramatic reaction to success as well as defeat.

The teen brain is similarly attuned to oxytocin, another neural hormone, which (among other things) makes social connections in particular more rewarding. The neural networks and dynamics associated with general reward and social interactions overlap heavily. Engage one, and you often engage the other. Engage them during adolescence, and you light a fire.

This helps explain another trait that marks adolescence: Teens prefer the company of those their own age more than ever before or after. At one level, this passion for same-age peers merely expresses in the social realm the teen's general attraction to novelty: Teens offer teens far more novelty than familiar old family does.

Yet teens gravitate toward peers for another, more powerful reason: to invest in the future rather than the past. We enter a world made by our parents. But we will live most of our lives, and prosper (or not) in a world run and remade by our peers. Knowing, understanding, and building relationships with them bears critically on success. Socially savvy rats or monkeys, for instance, generally get the best nesting areas or territories, the most food and water, more allies, and more sex with better and fitter mates. And no species is more intricately and deeply social than humans are.

This supremely human characteristic makes peer relations not a sideshow but the main show. Some brain-scan studies, in fact, suggest that our brains react to peer exclusion much as they respond to threats to physical health or food supply. At a neural level, in other words, we perceive social rejection as a threat to existence. Knowing this might make it easier to abide the hysteria of a 13-year-old deceived by a friend or the gloom of a 15-year-old not invited to a party. These people! we lament. They react to social ups and downs as if their fates depended upon them! They're right. They do.

Excitement, novelty, risk, the company of peers. These traits may seem to add up to nothing more than doing foolish new stuff with friends. Look deeper, however, and you see that these traits that define adolescence make us more adaptive, both as individuals and as a species. That's doubtless why these traits, broadly defined, seem to show themselves in virtually all human cultures, modern or tribal. They may concentrate and express themselves more starkly in modern Western cultures, in which teens spend so much time with each other. But anthropologists have found that virtually all the world's cultures recognize adolescence as a distinct period in which adolescents prefer novelty, excitement, and peers. This near-universal recognition sinks the notion that it's a cultural construct.

Culture clearly shapes adolescence. It influences its expression and possibly its length. It can magnify its manifestations. Yet culture does not create adolescence. The period's uniqueness rises from genes and developmental processes that have been selected for over thousands of generations because they play an amplified role during this key transitional period: producing a creature optimally primed to leave a safe home and move into unfamiliar territory.

The move outward from home is the most difficult thing that humans do, as well as the most critical—not just for individuals but for a species that has shown an unmatched ability to master challenging new environments. In scientific terms, teenagers can be a pain in the ass. But they are quite possibly the most fully, crucially adaptive human beings around. Without them, humanity might not have so readily spread across the globe.

This adaptive-adolescence view, however accurate, can be tricky to come to terms with—the more so for parents dealing with teens in their most trying, contrary, or flat-out scary moments. It's reassuring to recast worrisome aspects as signs of an organism learning how to negotiate its surroundings. But natural selection swings a sharp edge, and the teen's sloppier moments can bring unbearable consequences. We may not run the risk of being killed in ritualistic battles or being eaten by leopards, but drugs, drinking, driving, and crime take a mighty toll. My son lives, and thrives, sans car, at college. Some of his high school friends, however, died during their driving experiments. Our children wield their adaptive plasticity amid small but horrific risks.

We parents, of course, often stumble too, as we try to walk the blurry line between helping and hindering our kids as they adapt to adulthood. The United States spends about a billion dollars a year on programs to counsel adolescents on violence, gangs, suicide, sex, substance abuse, and other potential pitfalls. Few of them work.

Yet we can and do help. We can ward off some of the world's worst hazards and nudge adolescents toward appropriate responses to the rest. Studies show that when parents engage and guide their teens with a light but steady hand, staying connected but allowing independence, their kids generally do much better in life. Adolescents want to learn primarily, but not entirely, from their friends. At some level and at some times (and it's the parent's job to spot when), the teen recognizes that the parent can offer certain kernels of wisdom—knowledge valued not because it comes from parental authority but because it comes from the parent's own struggles to learn how the world turns. The teen rightly perceives that she must understand not just her parents' world but also the one she is entering. Yet if allowed to, she can appreciate that her parents once faced the same problems and may remember a few things worth knowing.

Meanwhile, in times of doubt, take inspiration in one last distinction of the teen brain—a final key to both its clumsiness and its remarkable adaptability. This is the prolonged plasticity of those late-developing frontal areas as they slowly mature. As noted earlier, these areas are the last to lay down the fatty myelin insulation—the brain's white matter—that speeds transmission. And at first glance this seems like bad news: If we need these areas for the complex task of entering the world, why aren't they running at full speed when the challenges are most daunting?

The answer is that speed comes at the price of flexibility. While a myelin coating greatly accelerates an axon's bandwidth, it also inhibits the growth of new branches from the axon. According to Douglas Fields, an NIH neuroscientist who has spent years studying myelin, "This makes the period when a brain area lays down myelin a sort of crucial period of learning—the wiring is getting upgraded, but once that's done, it's harder to change."

The window in which experience can best rewire those connections is highly specific to each brain area. Thus the brain's language centers acquire their insulation most heavily in the first 13 years, when a child is learning language. The completed insulation consolidates those gains—but makes further gains, such as second languages, far harder to come by.

So it is with the forebrain's myelination during the late teens and early 20s. This delayed completion—a withholding of readiness—heightens flexibility just as we confront and enter the world that we will face as adults.

This long, slow, back-to-front developmental wave, completed only in the mid-20s, appears to be a uniquely human adaptation. It may be one of our most consequential. It can seem a bit crazy that we humans don't wise up a bit earlier in life. But if we smartened up sooner, we'd end up dumber.

Quote from the Book I have been reading!

2011-09-27T10:40:00.000-05:00

"Good parenting requires knowledge, insight, and understanding. It is your job as a parent to know your child - not only to know who he/she is now, but also to sense who he/she could become, where his/her hidden strengths lie. You have to know your child better then he/she knows himself/herself. And you have to resist the tendency to push your child in a direction that worked for you or for one of your other children."
Why Gender Matters
By Leonard Sax, M.D. Ph.D.

K-3 Readers Course

2011-09-18T15:03:00.002-05:00

Sam Fields, M.Ed.

Course 653: Reaching Young Reader: Improving Reading Skills K-3

Course Study Guide Questions

1. From Chapter 2: Suppose a parent approached you and said, “Phonemic Awareness is not essential.” Based on your reading of this chapter, how would you respond? (2-3 Paragraphs)

2. On page 16-28, several phonemic activities are described. Choose one that you can envision using with your students, and identify which critical skill(s) this activity teaches (from the list in Figure 2.1 on page 11).

3. From Chapter 3: Why teach phonics? (Your response should be 2-3 paragraphs).

4. From Chapter 3: Describe the five most important points/concepts you took away from this chapter – perhaps the five things you will most likely take back to apply in your classroom and why. (3-4 sentences each)

5. From Chapter 4: Choose a fluency strategy you are most excited to try in your classroom. Design an activity for this strategy that you could use with your student (feel free to use the text examples as a guide).

6. From Chapter 5: Design a sort activity. Be sure to provide the list of words you will include, as well as some possible categories for students to use.

7. From Chapter 5:

a. Design a four square map for a concept in your curriculum. You may model your map after the example on page 88. Be sure to complete the map with examples, non-examples, etc.

b. Provide a brief description of how you will incorporate the four-square map you designed into your classroom (How when where might use it?)

8. From Chapter 6: Choose a reading selection in your curriculum and design a series of questions as modeled on page 115. Be sure you include at least 2 questions in each of the following categories (“Right There,” “Think and Search,” “On My Own”)

9. From Chapter 6: Choose a reading selection in your curriculum and design an inference activity. Be sure you activity is at least as long as the examples on page 116.

10. From Chapter 7: According to the text/author, what important reading skills are essential in your grade level?

Course 738 Gender

2011-09-17T16:44:00.000-05:00

Sam Fields, M.Ed.

Course 738: Gender Matters: How Boys and Girls Learn

Course Study Guide Questions

1. In Chapter 1, Dr. Sax makes a case for hearing deficits/differences between boys and girls. What does the research indicate? What implications might this have for you (or teachers in general) in the classroom?

2. Chapter 2 discusses the differences in the retina and how boys and girls see the world, specifically with regard to faces, motion and color. What does the research indicate? How will the information you have gleaned so far affect your instruction and feedback to students?

3. Based on your reading in Chapter 3:

a. Describe at least 2 reasons what boys engage in risky behavior.

b. How does the discussion of “learned helplessness” on page 47-49 illustrate a gender difference in the area of risk taking?

4. “Affirm the Knight” (page 64-72). How does this statement relate to boys and to the research on aggression?

5. Chapter 5 is dedicated to a discussion of how gender differences impact student learning and student relationships/interactions with teachers. What findings are particularly helpful or relevant for you and your student population? What impact will these finding have on your teaching?

6. The author suggests that many aspects of today’s schools are not developmentally appropriate.

a. the author argues that many kindergartens are not developmentally appropriate for young boys. What proof/reasoning does he provide?

b. The author claims that today’s curriculum and teaching methods often negatively impact girls in the middle and upper grades (pages 98-106 and pages 253-261). What proof/reasoning does he provide?

7. Chapter 6 explores important gender-based sexual issues. The chapter is quite eye-opening.

a. Briefly describe 1-2 items that are most surprising to you.

b. Given the various issues presented in this chapter, what is one specific thing you can do in your role with students to have a positive impact in this area?

8. Chapter 8 is devoted to a discussion of discipline. Much of what the author suggests is controversial and may not resonate with what you know/experience as an educator.

a. What is one thing in this chapter that you disagree with (or have reservations about)? Why?

b. What is one new thing you gleaned from this chapter that you will integrate into you relationships/interactions with students?

c. The author uses the term ‘induction’ and ‘power assertion’ in the chapter. Define both terms.

9. Throughout the book, Dr. Sax uses examples of how medications are used for both boys and girls to curb or change behaviors.

a. Summarize his perspective on medications in 3-4 sentences.

b. Share your perspective regarding the use of medication for students.

10. In Chapter 10 the author has positive things to say about gender-separate schools and activities. What is the evidence/rationale?

11. Please respond to on of the three options below.

a. You have very-averse girls in your classroom; you would like them to be less timid. What are 2-3 strategies you could use?

b. You are worried that you may have a student like Caitlyn (Chapter 7) in your classroom. What are 2-3 strategies you could use to help a student like her?

c. You have a Kristen (Chapter 8) in your classroom. What are 2-3 strategies you could use to help a student like her.

12. Below are a series of false statements (given the findings of the text). Please choose three of the statements and discuss why they are false.

a. Boys and girls do not show gender-typical toy preference at a very early age. (page 27).

b. Teenage boys would be much better off in we encourage them to talk more often about their feelings (page 30).

c. Girls systematically over-estimate their own ability, while boys are more likely to underestimate (Chapter 3)

d. The brain is not organized differently in male and females (Chapter 2)

e. Friendship styles of girls and boys are not all that different (Chapter 5)

f. The following education effort works well with boys: “This is your brain. This is your brain in drugs.” (Page 156)

13. List 3 beliefs you held regarding gender that have now changed or have been questioned due to reading this text.

14. There are many issues explored in the text that these study guide questions have not addressed. Pick one issue of particular interest to you and describe what you learned and how it will impact your teaching.

Interesting ....

2011-09-08T13:48:00.000-05:00

Closest Human Ancestor May Rewrite Steps in Our Evolution

By lt | LiveScience.com – 4 hrs ago

A startling mix of human and primitive traits found in the brains, hips, feet and hands of an extinct species identified last year make a strong case for it being the immediate ancestor to the human lineage, scientists have announced.

These new findings could rewrite long-standing theories about the precise steps human evolution took, they added, including the notion that early human female hips changed shape to accommodate larger-brained offspring. There is also new evidence suggesting that this species had the hands of a toolmaker.

Fossils of the extinct hominid known as Australopithecus sedibawere accidentally discovered by the 9-year-old son of a scientist in the remains of a cave in South Africa in 2008, findings detailed by researchers last year. Australopithecus means "southern ape," and is a group that includes the iconic fossil Lucy, while sediba means "wellspring" in the South African language Sotho. [See images of human ancestor]

Two key specimens were discovered — a juvenile male as developed as a 10- to 13-year-old human and an adult female maybe in her late 20s or early 30s. The species is both a hominid and a hominin — hominids include humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and their extinct ancestors, while hominins include those species after Homo, the human lineage, split from that of chimpanzees.

To begin to see where Au. sediba might fit on the family tree, researchers pinned down the age of the fossils by dating the calcified sediments surrounding them with advanced uranium-lead dating techniques and a method called paleomagnetic dating, which measures how many times the Earth's magnetic field has reversed. They discovered the fossils were approximately 1.977 million years old, which predates the earliest appearances of traits specific to the human lineage Homo in the fossil record. This places Au. sediba in roughly the same age category as hominids such as Homo habilis andHomo rudolfensis, which were thought to be potential ancestors to Homo erectus, the earliest undisputed predecessor of modern humans. [10 Things That Make Humans Special]

"As the fossil record for early human ancestors increases, the need for more accurate dates is becoming paramount," said researcher Robyn Pickering at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Small but humanlike brain

Most aspects of Au. sediba display an intriguing mix of both human and more primitive features that hint it might be an intermediary form between Australopithecus and Homo.

"The fossils demonstrate a surprisingly advanced but small brain, a very evolved hand with a long thumb like a human's, a very modern pelvis, but a foot and ankle shape never seen in any hominin species that combines features of both apes and humans in one anatomical package," said researcher Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. "The many very advanced features found in the brain and body and the earlier date make it possibly the best candidate ancestor for our genus, the genus Homo, more so than previous discoveries such asHomo habilis."

The brain is often thought of as what distinguishes humanity from the rest of the animal kingdom, and the juvenile specimen of Au. sediba had an exceptionally well-preserved skull that could shed light on the pace of brain evolution in early hominins. To find out more, the researchers scanned the space in the skull where its brain would have been using the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France; the result is the most accurate scan ever produced for an early human ancestor, with a level of detail of up to 90 microns, or just below the size of a human hair.

The scan revealed Au. sediba had a much smaller brain than seen in human species, with an adult version maybe only as large as a medium-size grapefruit. However, it was humanlike in several ways — for instance, its orbitofrontal region directly behind the eyes apparently expanded in ways that make it more like a human's frontal lobe in shape. This area is linked in humans with higher mental functions such as multitasking, an ability that may contribute to human capacities for long-term planning and innovative behavior.

"We could be seeing the beginnings of those capabilities," researcher Kristian Carlson at the University of Witwatersrand told LiveScience.

These new findings cast doubt on the long-standing theory that brains gradually increased in size and complexity from Australopithecus to Homo. Instead, their findings corroborate an alternative idea — that Australopithecus brains did increase in complexity gradually, becoming more like Homo, and later increased in size relatively quickly.

Modern hips

This mosaic of modern and primitive traits held true with its hips as well. An analysis of the partial pelvis of the female Au. sediba revealed that it had modern, humanlike features.

"It is surprising to discover such an advanced pelvis in such a small-brained creature," said researcher Job Kibii at the University of the Witwatersrand. "It is short and broad like a human pelvis ... parts of the pelvis are indistinguishable from that of humans."

Scientists had thought the human-like pelvis evolved to accommodate larger-brained offspring. The new findings of humanlike hips in Au. sediba despite small-brained offspring suggests these pelvises may have instead initially evolved to help this hominin better wander across the landscape, perhaps as grasslands began to expand across its habitat.

When it came to walking, investigating the feet and ankles of the fossils revealed surprises about howAu. sediba might have strode across the world. No hominin ankle has ever been described with so many primitive and advanced features.

"If the bones had not been found stuck together, the team may have described them as belonging to different species," said researcher Bernhard Zipfel at the University of the Witwatersrand.

The researchers discovered that its ankle joint is mostly like a human's, with some evidence for ahumanlike arch and a well--efined Achilles tendon, but its heel and shin bones appear to be mostly ape-like. This suggested the hominid probably climbed trees yet also halkid in a unique way not exactly like that of humans.

Altogether, such anatomical traits would have allowed Au. sediba to walk in perhaps a more energy-efficient way, with tendons storing energy and returning that energy to the next step, said researcher Steve Churchill from Duke University in Durham, N.C. "These are the kinds of things that we see with the genus Homo," he explained.

What nice hands …

Finally, an analysis of Au. sediba's hands suggests it might have been a toolmaker. The fossils — including the most complete hand known in an early hominin, which is missing only a few bones and belonged to the mature female specimen — showed its hand was capable of the strong grasping needed for tree-climbing, but that it also had a long thumb and short fingers. These would have allowed it a precision grip useful for tools, one involving just the thumb and fingers, where the palm does not play an active part.

Altogether, the hand of Au. sediba has more features related to tool-making than that of the first human species thought of as a tool user, the "handy man" Homo habilis, said researcher Tracy Kivell at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. "This suggests to us thatsediba may also have been a toolmaker."

Though the scientists haven't excavated the site in search of stone tools, "the hand and brain morphology suggest that Au. sediba may have had the capacity to manufacture and use complex tools," Kivell added.

The researchers do caution that although they suggest that Au. sediba was ancestral to the human lineage, all these apparent resemblances between it and us could just be coincidences, with this extinct species evolving similar traits to our lineages due, perhaps, to similar circumstances. [Top 10 Missing Links]

In fact, it might be just as interesting to imagine that Au. sediba was not directly ancestral to Homo, because it opens up the possibility "of independent evolution of the same sorts of features," Carlson said. "Whether or not it's on the same lineage as leading to Homo, I think there are interesting questions and implications."

ODE

2011-08-05T06:55:00.005-05:00

ODE

For Intelligent Optimists

Are You Learning?

2011-08-05T06:23:00.003-05:00

ARE YOU LEARNING?

We can set up an environment that is conducive for a toddler to eat. We can place several types of food in front of the toddler at the table, provide spoons fit for their small mouth and chop up the food into bite size pieces, but we cannot make the toddler eat.

This is the same at bedtime. We can play all day with the toddler to tire him/her, allow the toddler to eat as much as he/she would like, give a bath, brush his/her teeth, and kiss them good night. We can even lay a blanket down, place a pillow near their head, turn off the lights and say Night, night, but we cannot make them sleep.

This is the same with you (the learner in this classroom). We can provide you with paper, pencils books, educational movies, and computers. We can present ideas, concepts, and tell wonderful stories in meaningful ways through the use of overhead projectors, pictures, and graphic organizers, but we cannot make you learn. Learning is your decision.

ARE YOU LEARNING?

Mr. Fields

2006/03

Our Summer time moments

2011-07-23T09:07:00.000-05:00

Please watch this video on living life by Steve Jobs.

2011-06-01T14:29:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

Visiting Sandy's Farmette

2011-05-31T14:23:00.002-05:00

Garden is in for the season.

2011-05-27T16:34:00.000-05:00

Our Travels to Ecuador in 1998

2011-05-25T12:13:00.001-05:00

Ecuadorian Jungle Christmas Vacation December 1998.

Tuesday December 22, 1998, we woke to the cool refreshing air of Quito, Ecuador. We had many things to do including changing more dollars to sucres, pricing jungle trips at area travel agencies.

Wednesday morning December 23, 1998. We stayed in the city all day.
Thursday December 24, 1998, better known as Christmas Eve around the world, we were taxiing once again to the airport of Quito. We were not going home, but instead we were headed to the Jungle. Our flight (11:15 AM) took us due East towards the Amazon River. It wasn’t long, about an hour and we were on the ground in a small little city called Coca (on the edge of the Amazon Jungle). The man identified himself as the owner of Jarrin Excursions and told us to jump in the truck. About five minutes later he directed us to a 30 ft (by 3 ft) boat that was idling in the water with one other tourist waiting patiently. Then we launched off. We learned a lot that day about the Napo River. (The Napo River is a tributary that floats into the Great Amazon) Just think, we left at 1 PM and we did not see but maybe 15 other human begins on the way to the camp. We arrived at 6 PM, a half-hour before sunset. Personally, I thought it was one of the most beautiful boat rides ever in my life. When we arrived, we had just enough energy to eat the great big provided meal (soup, meat, rice, beans, and salad accompanied with water) and fell fast asleep in the little cabin. Maria had a hard time getting used to the loud bird songs but as for me I was out like a light (or shall I say like a candle, as there were no conventional lights.)

Christmas Day 1998. Everything about the Jungle excursion was “Heavy Duty.” In the jungle we saw huge hanging tropical trees, monstrous mosquitoes, gigantic worms, and lovely long leaves. We heard loud tropical bird cries, buzzing bugs, and slowly drifting water of the river. On Christmas morning we set off on five-hour guided trek, tracking through the Amazonian primary forest and we enjoyed the beauty at large. We watched large poisonous ants do their daily work, chipped pieces off of cinnamon trees, and learned about the hundreds of medicinal plants of the jungle. After the walk we arrived back to camp and a warm delicious meal awaited us. In the afternoon we canoed silently gliding down the tributary, which lie in front of our camp. On this occasion we saw a pelican floating from treetop to treetop among many other birds.

Saturday December 26, 1998. We anticipated piranha fishing upstream. After a hot breakfast, we putted up stream to the guide’s recommended fishing spot. No less than fifteen minutes passed with our primitive fishing lines in the water and Maria pulled up the first piranha. In the evening we returned to the camp and the cook had a surprise waiting for us.freshly fried piranha. And the guide cut out the teeth of the piranha that Maria caught and gave it to her for good luck.

Sunday December 27 after a small breakfast, we climbed aboard the boat at 9 AM. The boat ride up to the city of Coca was very beautiful, but too long. We stopped along the river bank at mid-day to have a snack and arrived to Coca at 5 PM. We had traveled 180 Kilometers up the Napo River. The trip took a total of eight hours. We checked in to our reserved luxurious hotel overlooking the Napo River and fell fast asleep.

Monday December 28, I was wandering about the hotel in search of a hot cup of coffee and later in the lobby I found the big screen hotel TV equipped with Direct Satellite TV. “How very modern!” I thought. After a 30-minute blast of news, I ventured out to the deck to watch the sun rise over the jungle trees. Maria, still fast asleep, was getting caught up on her beauty rest as the night before she spent in front of the TV. Well, what do you expect after seven days without it? At 9 AM we taxied to the Coca airport and boarded the 50 seat-airplane for Quito. An hour later we landed in Quito, Ecuador.

Sam Fields, M.Ed.

COLIN POWELL'S SPEECH

2011-05-10T14:57:00.003-05:00

COLIN POWELL'S SPEECH ------WORDS TO DIGEST-----A

COLIN POWELL'S SPEECH ------WORDS TO DIGEST-----A MUST READ Read and share with your positive friends...

The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.

Consider this: Never receive counsel from unproductive people. Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person. Don't follow anyone who's not going anywhere.

With some people you spend an evening: with others you invest it. Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life. Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships. If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights. "A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses."

The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate - for the good and the bad.

Note: Be not mistaken. This is applicable to family as well as friends. Yes...do love, appreciate and be thankful for your family, for they will always be your family no matter what. Just know that they are human first and though they are family to you, they may be a friend to someone else and will fit somewhere in the criteria above.

"In Prosperity Our Friends Know Us. In Adversity We Know Our friends." "Never make someone a priority when you are only an option for them." "If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.."

---COLIN POWELL

Boy Scouts!

2011-04-26T15:27:00.002-05:00

Boy Scout Oath, Law,
Motto and Slogan
and the
Outdoor Code

Boy Scout Oath or Promise

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Note that the Boy Scout Oath has traditionally been considered to have three promises. Those three promises are delineated by the semicolons in the Oath, which divide it into three clauses. The three promises of the Scout Oath are, therefore:

Duty to God and country,
Duty to other people, and
Duty to self

DUTY TO GOD AND COUNTRY: Your family and religious leaders teach you to know and serve God. By following these teachings, you do your duty to God.
Men and women of the past worked to make America great, and many gave their lives for their country. By being a good family member and a good citizen, by working for your country's good and obeying its laws, you do your duty to your country. Obeying the Scout Law means living by its 12 points.
DUTY TO OTHER PEOPLE: Many people need help. A cheery smile and a helping hand make life easier for others. By doing a Good Turn daily and helping when you're needed, you prove yourself a Scout and do your part to make this a better world.
DUTY TO SELF: Keeping yourself physically strong means taking care of your body. Eat the right foods and build your strength. Staying mentally awake means learn all you can, be curious, and ask questions. Being morally straight means to live your life with honesty, to be clean in your speech and actions, and to be a person of strong character.

Boy Scout Law

A Scout is:

Trustworthy,
Loyal,
Helpful,
Friendly,
Courteous,
Kind,
Obedient,
Cheerful,
Thrifty,
Brave,
Clean,
and Reverent.

Be clean in my outdoor manners
Be careful with fire
Be considerate in the outdoors, and
Be conservation minded.

The Life of the Fields Family

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127-Year-Old Cuban Still Awaiting Recognition as World's Oldest Person

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