The History of Stupidity by Paul Tabori

It is important to read this book because we may be continuing our history. I was told that it is important to understand history, otherwise we are destined to repeat it. Read the book and judge for your self if we are repeating history. I think we are and I'm doing whatever I can to limit the damage to me personally. Perhaps, directing you toward the History of Stupidity will cause you to read it and benefit from the read. That is all I can do to ameliorate the predicament.

Transcendental Meditation

You should read what The Skeptic has to say about it. http://www.skepdic.com/tm.html

I got caught up in TM when I was a college student. I was introduced to it my the son of a Michigan State University professor's son when he recruited at Delta College. I was impress, joined the group and began meditating shortly after that. I did that for about 5 years. Then I connected with Dr. Richard Alpert, psychologist. He changed his name to Ram Dass and acted like a guru. I realized later that he was mentally sick and trashed everything that I had been taught.

I live about 15 miles form the Clearwater, FL Church of Scientology. Dr. Alpert and Al Ron Hubbard have much in common.

America's population now exceeds 307,000,000

America is on a population grow trajectory that will result in it population that will exceed 1,000,000,000 (one billion) in the near future. Learn the consequences of this by reading Juggernaut by Lindsey Grant.

U.S. Population Clock: http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html

Defective Planning

When my uncle Richard moved to Florida he bought a powerful 42" Sports Fisherman. It had two 427 motors and two fuel takes. Each could hold 500 gallons. It was at the time of the Cuban boat lift when he chartered his boat to rescue Cubans.

His plan was to charter the Sports Fisherman, collect a large amount of money and go only a short distance toward Cuba. He planned to make the ride so wild that the Cubans would want to quickly go to port. The money was nonrefundable, after all, the goal of the plan was to get and keep their money.

He anticipated that they would want their money back. That is why he had taken a hand gun. The trip to Cuban began and quickly ended in Clearwater. It was there that a confrontation over money began. Richard pull his gun. The Cubans called the cops and Richard was arrested and put in jail. What was wrong with his plan?

You don't need to plan for the future.

All you need to do is control the present. The future will only be another now that you control. So, it really isn't necessary to plan for the future. Have you noticed that this type of person talks fast and loud. They do that in an attempt to keep their life from unravelling.

Do you think I would have created LessonPlans.com if I didn't think that planning was important? I do live in the present and I do plan in the present. And, my life unfold based upon a plan; of course the unexpected happens. I knew it would, just didn't know what it would be.

I planned to go to college when I was in high school. I did and as a result, I was able to create Lessonplans.com.

You don't need to plan for the future but you should. How are you going to know what alternative to choose without a plan? I suppose you could pick one and live with the surprise.

Drawing a conclusion without knowing the reference and facts.

I needed to take grapes to share to Dancers Rendezvous but didn't have small disposable bowls. I got the grapes at one location and bowls at another. The problem developed at SweatBay. There I remembered that the cats needed food. So I pick-up a four pack of canned cat food and plastic bowls. That is all I took to checkout. On the surface it would appear that I was going to go somewhere and eat cat food. And, NO! I'm not going to serve it to anyone else.

Wednesday I'm going to be with Mike for a few hours. He without exception will jump to a conclusion with out knowing the reference and the fact and pursue it until I have to rudely challenge him. Mike has graduated from NYU with a major in Mathematics.

Mike isn't the only one that Jumps to a conclusion without knowing the reference and facts.

Hegemony

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemony

Hubris

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubris

My High School Chemistry Lab.

In Chemistry we were taught how to separate the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen. We would then causes them to recombine into water with an electric spark. That caused a pop that could be heard by the Chemistry teacher. The pop made him angry and he threatened to close the lab if it happened again. It wasn't very long when it happened again and he closed the lab for the rest of the school year. I always thought he was afraid that someone would get hurt and he would be held personally responsible. I only realized recently what we had discovered.

In Astronomy the origin of water is a mystery. I live near the Gulf of Mexico and have wondered where all that water came from. One explanation that I have heard is comets during the early formation of Earth. I think that accounts for only a small percentage of our water.
This is its source. Look at the periodic table. Hydrogen is the first element and oxygen is number eight. Put them together and add a spark and you have water. Hydrogen happens to be the most plentiful element and oxygen is also plentiful. Earth is made up of all the elements. Hydrogen is here only because it combined with oxygen as water. Any hydrogen that didn't escaped into space because our gravity isn't strong enough to hold it leaving behind water. Now you know where all that water came from. It took me 35 years to figure it out. The Chemistry teacher slowed discovery, but he didn't stop it. If his intent was to do that, then he should have shot Stephen. It only took you about 60 seconds to read this.

First World Urban Elite

That just came onto my radar for the first time. I wonder what that is about.

The city way of life rules.

I'm a country kid that went to the University. I still remember the country life. Wixom like was near me and there the city people would move to their resort homes and play with their water toys. They had more money and felt superior to us. I over heard one of the girls say when she was asked, "What are you doing here?" She responded, "Watching the grease slide."

They likely didn't know the source of the food that they were eating. Hundreds of tons of beans, corn, and sugar beats at the time were being harvested from our fields. You likely took that for granted and thought that would continue for ever.

That generation is now living in houses on some of our best farm land. We sold it to land developers. They divided into lots and wrote deed restrictions that prohibit you from growing your own food.

Mike was you to watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKEZoY-TMG4

Humm .......

I thought that teachers would be a solution and then realized that most of them and their system are the source of the problem.

I asked 10-year-old Chris when he will learn to dance.

Chris answered, "NEVER!" Then he said, "Do you want to see me do the rock-n-roll dance. To that I said, "Yes." He stood and told me to think of him holding a guitar over his head and then he smashed it onto the floor. Chris then said, "That is my dance!"

This is the third year that Chris has watched us dance and take a lesson. He never participated. He would only be there and be preoccupied with his fantasy world.

I might introduce him to a few steps. Seems that he could learn to run, run, run counter clockwise 3/4 of a circle and then hitch. That is the last 8 counts of Mad World. What percentage chance to I have of him attempting to learn that? I think it is zero.

Ignorance is bliss?

Seems like there are schemes everywhere.

I just experienced CompUSA scheme. A few last week I got caught up in the Home Depots contest scheme. I can spot them within a few minutes. Sometimes I realize what happened when I'm setting in my car. All the people that are doing this have one thing in common. They were in some one's classroom.

What are you doing to create these people?

So your son wants to buy a Fuji touring bike.

A Fuji touring bike costs between $900 to $1,100. I bought a used one a few years ago for $299. A friend said I paid too much. I feel fortunate I bought it.

I just came back from a ride on the best bike I've ever owned.

Pinellas County, Florida was agricultural.

It's not agricultural now. The only thing that remains are roads such as Brian Dairy Road. Saul's Dairy is gone without leaving a trace. I know where it was because it is in my memory. Your first responds is likely that it has no consequence to you. And, you would likely be right. But it does to the students that drank milk from those dairies.

I live in what was an orange grove. A few of us have citrus trees in our back yards that create enough for me and a few friends. I tried to sell what I didn't want a few years ago and got cited by Code Enforcement. Giving them away is also a problem.

Zoning has restricted manufacturing. There are now few areas zoned for industry. However, there are still a few zones where clean manufacturing is allowed.

Manufacturing has traditionally been where your students could eventually earn a living and support a family. That has ended. What we have now is retailing, restaurants, medical services, pan handling, street walking and law enforcement. What kind of a future is that?

I was a kid from a farming community.

I helped grow the food you eat. The field in front of my house was over a mile long and a quarter mile wide. It was some times full of corn other times beans and sugar beats. We know the source of your food and the city kids really didn't care. FFA was not a positive label and most people know know the meaning of those letters.

Unfortunately the gap between those who raise your food and those that take it for a given that they will always have the food they need is not a certainty. The ignorance of students and their parents and teachers will cause a lot of pain in the not too distance future. Think about Maslow's Hierarchy of needs again.

This problem had begun when I was a high school student. It has only gotten worse since then.

Humm .... What do you think?

Visit: http://www.ffa.org/

Quotable

I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. ~William Penn

We live like kings and queens.

Your first response to that is likely, no I don't. If you answer no to most of these questions, then you do.

1. Do you grow your own food?
2. Do you prepare your own food?
3. Do you can, dry or otherwise prepare your food for storage?
4. Do you weave your own cloth?
5. Do you make your own clothes?
6. Did you build your own house or living unit?
7. Do you maintain your own house or living unit?
8. Did you make your own transportation?
9. Do you maintain your own transportation?
10. Do you set while someone else entertains you? (A YES for this one is the same as a NO.)

If you answered no to most of these, then you live your live as a king or queen.

You might think that you could live your life differently. That is not the case. Laws, rules and regulations blocks much of what you would try to do. The other obstruction is the lack of specialized tools, knowledge and skills.

Your students are caught in the same predicament.

You know the economy is tanking when they think you are eating cat food.

My three cat were out of canned cat food and they were pestering me. So I thought it was best to go to the super market and buy cat food and a gallon of milk. I was out of that too. At the cash register a kind voice said, "Don't eat the cat food." Humm .... the milk was for me and the cat food was for KittyKat, Dixie and Pixie. The cashier likely visualized me putting the cat food in a bowl and pouring on milk.

A Twitter site for teachers you might want to follow.

http://twitter.com/SchooNoodle

Reserve you Twitter name NOW!

I attempted to reserve Stephen_Lyons and discovered that someone else now has it. I then tried Stephen__Lyons and that had not been taken. I have it now and I will not part with it.
http://twitter.com/Stephen__Lyons Visit mine and you will see what I did.

Twitter is great for announcements.

Your students will think highly of you if you are using Twitter. If you don't, you risk being thought of as being an outdated jerk. I would agree with them.

The last best hope!

Readers, writers, and books are fading away: Stephen@lessonplans.com. I doubt if I get an email from anyone. That will help confirm the premise.

Yesterday I got my issue of Wired. I found this on page 43. "A device like that [Kindle] is the last best hope paper-based companies have for coping with the reality that paper is doomed." I think that reading and writing books is doomed also. Your attention span has shrunk to the point where you are unable to read a book. Without readers of books, then what follows?

If I do get an email as a result of this post, it will likely be short and rude.

I got a surprise in my mailbox.

I ordered from Amazon.com Noam Chomsky's Failed States. It should be an enlightening read. What surprised me before getting past the cover was how cheaply made it is. I've handled a lot of books and I know what they should feel like. This one has the feel of a cheap paperback even though it has a suggested retail price of $16.

It has been a few years since I have bought a book. When was the last time you bought a book or read one. That it the problem. How many books are in your house? That is another problem.

Okay, so you and your friends don't like to read. What effect do you think that has on writers?

What happened to Junior Achievement?

I remember Junior Achievement. I was attending Midland High School at the time. After that, I lost contact with it for many years.

Junior Achievement wasn't in Saginaw High when I was there. I then taught in the Meridian school system. It wasn't there either. That may have been that Meridian was a rural school system and the people there didn't think that it was of any worth. There you were either a farmer or you worked by the hour for Dow Chemical or General Motors: you were an hourly or salary employee. One of the school board members wanted us to punch in and out with a time clock. If it was good enough for him, then it was good enough for teachers.

Junior Achievement had been in small town high schools. It see that it has now in the elementary and middle schools, if at all. It is now and that is another loss.

What happened to cause this to happen? There are multiple causes. Think about it.

Follow me with Twitter.

http://twitter.com/StephenLyons03

The fate of a high school dropout

Here in Florida there is a high dropout rate.

At this point in time, I don't want to think or write about it.

Get ready for the new school year.

Learn to use resources like TeacherPlanet and Lessonplans.com and your will be a more effective teacher.

http://www.teacherplanet.com/calendar/calendar.php?op=cal&month=7&year=2009

http://www.lessonplans.com

Thank you for reading the Educator's Blog

Tell me what you want me to write about. Stephen@lessonplans.com

A great loss of a 22 year-old.

It is with great sadness that I tell our class about the death of the Ballroom Instructor Stephan Matkowski (22), Tuesday night Inst before us, who died in a plane crash on Sunday in Virginia on the way home from competition in New York with one of his students and her husband the pilot (Checker's executive) and owner of the plane! It is so incredibly sad!
He will be greatly missed by myself for sure! He always had such a positive attitude about life and always made the transition of his class to ours very easy and fun! He was a huge part of the studio with his Ballroom background and will be really missed by the owners! Stephan was there before the new owners took over!
See you tomorrow!
Diane

Link to Michael Jackon's daugher speaking.

You can here the words spoken by Michael Jackson's daughter at his funeral. These are the most important words ever spoken.

http://www.breitbart.tv/i-love-him-michael-jacksons-daughter-gives-tearful-farewell-at-memorial/

We have become a nation of freaks.

Hi Ronald,

Those fat women next door and their kids in the pool are the continuation of nothing good. They should not be allowed to create more of their same kind. They are representative of a destructive force that is killing us and the source of our current problem.

We have become a nation of freaks.

Stephen

It's only a light bulb!

The light bulb in the attic needed to be replaced and the ceiling is very low. It is only a crawl space and little Ray enthusiastically wanted to do it. He's father thinks he is a genius. I'm sure you have experienced parents like that. Off little Ray went. When he got to the fixture, he didn't know what to do and he couldn't follow my directions but one. Ray, "Get out of there, I'll do it myself."

Remember this joke? How many ____ does it take to change a light bulb. Three: one to hold the bulb and two to turn the ladder.

It is seven times more likely that it is dad.

I was at the Green Bay grocery story and on the way out I looked at the front page of the Tampa Tribune. There I saw this headline: Child porn's dirty secret: Dads often behind lens.

Read all of it at this link.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jul/05/na-child-porns-dirtysecret-dads-often-behind-lens/news-metro/

A food binge at a restaurant

I took Nancy and Kyle (Nancy's son) out for breakfast. I thought I had enough money. Kyle was 20 at the time. He is a large boy, perhaps twice my size. Kyle ordered much more than I have ever ordered for breakfast. I thought at the time that I would let it pass because of his size. Nancy ordered very little and I cut back.

The food arrived and Kyle only ate a small percentage of what he ordered. There was enough left for Nancy and Kyle's lunch. I thought they would just take it home with them. Kyle would have none of that. He would not eat it and he would not take it home. I began doing a slow burn inside. I did not like what was happening. I paid the bill and that was the last time I took Kyle with us.

What Kyle did was execute a food binge. The consumption binge is everywhere and at all levels and it destroying us. It's happens when someone fills their Hummer. It happens when someone leaves lights on in the house so they will not have to turn them on when they come home. It happens when the obese shops at Sam's and fills their large cart with food. On and on it goes and it will eventually end. Kayle ended and so did Nancy.

Yes! There are dumb questions.

I was told by a University professor that there was no such thing as a dumb question. There is! I have just been ask by an 8-year-old more dumb questions than I can endure.

"Hungry! Will work for food."

That is what it said on his sign. There still isn't a law against begging at an intersection in Pasco county Florida.

Today a neighbor boy, about 8, hit on me for money to go to the Tarpon roller rink. I gave him a dollar. He said he needed $5 and I told him that he would have to get the rest somewhere else. The little boy doesn't know yet that the needs a permit to ask a householder for money. The only way here to beg without a permit is at an intersection. They usually do it where there is a stop light.

Wait until they post a sign. That is prohibited by code too. LOL

Twit me!

http://twitter.com/StephenLyons03

Some are already angry.

I didn't go to to the Boat Club last night because I felt threatened by angry people last Tuesday.
There I heard a long tragic story from a 52-year-old mother who was recently fired from the Home Depot.

I thought in the beginning that the arrival of the Home Depot was going to be tragic for many. It is a convenience for me. For the small independent retailers, it was the beginning of the end. My father thought that bigger was better. People like him bought from the biggest retailers. However, I continued to buy from Holiday Wholesale until it closed. It had been the source of income for a family, a few friend and a good neighbor. There I could write a check without producing a ID and get helpful advise regarding solving a plumbing problem.

The Home Depot not only caused small retailers to closed, it blocked others from starting. If you were not authorized by the Home Depot and willing to forfeit 10% of the sale, then you were not allowed into the Home Depot circle.

So if you cannot start a business, then you have to work for perhaps the Home Depot as an employee. You become wage slave. Is Junior achievement about becoming a wage slave?

Code Enforcement has gradually become a blocking factor. There is little that you can do that does not require a permit and a required license to get the permit. They both require money up-front. If you advertise and you are investigated. The result of that is usually a visit from a Code Enforcement officer. This has been extended to your own home. Yes, in most cases a permit is required to improve or repair even your own home.

Not long ago the desperate could take scrap to the Hobb's Junk yard. That now has been blocked. Every way they turn, their a source of income is blocked by rules, regulations and enforcers. This is not the end of the story. It is just that I have exceeded my willingness to write.

Their anger is justified.

Danny's Lawn & Landscaping

Daniel [14] gave me his flier today. In the past, I received one of these from a similar boy. At the time I thought it was a great idea and something I should support. It is what Jr. Achievement is all about. It is the free enterprise in action at its early beginning. Young boys providing a service that helps others and receiving money for meeting other's needs. There cannot possible be anything wrong with that or is there? There is and I'm not going to encourage Daniel.

The boys that began that path were arrested and put in a juvenile home for criminal boys. Their business venture was the beginning of the end for those boys. What happened was basically nothing. Not one of the retirees living here hired the boys to do anything. I hired them once to put out fliers. The problem occurred because I knew where not to leave a flier. All hell broke loose and I had to tell the boys to stop. That ended the money they had been receiving from me and no one else hired them to do anything. That made the boys angry. I think they were justified to be angry. They took out their anger on the club house. That act turned them into criminals.

Daniel is going down the same path. He hasn't become disillusioned yet. He will and then there is the high probability that he will become angry. Where and how he directs that anger will determine his future.If he lived in a nurturing society, he would have a bright future. Little does he know that Code Enforcement will soon visit him. They are never encouraging. They will ask him to produce a license and when he cannot do that, he will be ordered to stop. If he doesn't, then he will be ordered to appear in court. If he doesn't do that, he will be in contempt of court and there will be a warrant for his arrest. Daniel will have a good reason to be angry. I don't want to be around when he acts out.

The bottom line: When a child provides goods or services for money, they are in the the adult domain and potentially in jeopardy. In other words, when a child has to hustle for money as do many poor kids, the legal system will not be far behind. Fortunate are the kids from families where they are free from the hustle and can focus on learning, travel and socializing. All those things that are the birth right of the upper class.

My Son Died 30 Years Ago At Kent State

My Son Died 30 Years Ago At Kent State

by Elaine Holstein

Today is the 30th anniversary of the killing of four students - including my son Jeff Miller - at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard.

At a few minutes past noon today, I am once again observing this anniversary - an anniversary that marks not only the most tragic event of my life but also one of the most disgraceful episodes in American history.

Thirty years! That's 10 years longer than Jeff's life. He had turned 20 just a month before he decided to attend the protest rally that ended in his death and the deaths of Allison Krause, Sandy Scheuer and Bill Schroeder, and the wounding of nine of their fellow students. That Jeff chose to attend that demonstration came as no surprise to me. Anyone who knew him in those days would have been shocked if he had decided to sit that one out.

There were markers along the way that led him inexorably to that campus protest. At the age of 8, Jeff wrote an article expressing his concern for the plight of black Americans. I learned of this only when I received a call from Ebony magazine, which assumed he was black and assured me he was bound to be a "future leader of the black community."

Shortly before his 16th birthday, Jeff composed a poem he called "Where Does It End?" In it, he expressed the horror he felt about "the War Without a Purpose." So when Jeff called me on the morning of May 4th and told me he planned to attend a rally to protest the "incursion" of U.S. military forces into Cambodia, I merely expressed my doubt as to the effectiveness of still another demonstration.

"Don't worry, Mom," he said. "I may get arrested, but I won't get my head busted." I laughed and assured him I wasn't worried.

The bullet that ended Jeff's life also destroyed the person I had been - a naive, politically unaware woman. Until the spring of 1970, I would have stated with absolute assurance that Americans have the right to dissent publicly from the policies pursued by their government. The Constitution says so.

And even if the dissent got noisy and disruptive, was it conceivable that an arm of the government would shoot at random into a crowd of unarmed students? With live ammunition? No way!

The myth of a benign America was one casualty of the shootings at Kent State. Another was my assumption that everyone shared my belief that we were engaged in a no-win situation in Vietnam and had to get out.

As the body count mounted and the footage of napalmed babies became a nightly television staple, I was certain that no one would want the war to go on. The hate mail that began arriving at my home after Jeff died showed me how wrong I was.

To most people, Kent State is just one of those traumatic events that occurred during a tumultuous time. To me, it's the one experience I will never recover from. It's also the one gap in my communication with my older son, Russ: Neither of us dares to talk about what happened at Kent State for fear that we'll open floodgates of emotion we can't deal with.

Whenever there is another death in the family, we not only mourn the elderly parent or grandparent or aunt who has passed away; we also experience again the loss of Jeff.Elaine Holstein lives in New York. She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org[P.S. Two days after this incident, two black students at Jackson State University in Mississippi were also killed by the National Guard. These six students were peacefully and constitutionally protesting an unjust war and tragically became victims of it.]

Where would we be as a social group if ....

Where would we be as a social group if those of us who care were considered by the majority to be mentally sick? Teaching should be a caring profession. I have always thought it was. But, what if I have always been wrong?

I just got down from my roof where I had to deal with a roof problem. There I could hear the lyrics of a rap song. Repeated over and over were these words with a female voice: "He be gone crazy, he be gone crazy, he be gone crazy ...." Do you really care? These could be the words of a high school drop-out. The boy was doomed by the system. Do you really care?

Caring isn't dead ....

Caring isn't dead, but it sure has become rare. What can be done for someone that will not care for themself?

Michael expected us to be kind.

When Michael Jackson expected us to be kind, he was expecting too much. That should not be the case, but it is the majority of the time. Kind people are the exception.

This is what Warren Buffett said about our economic situation.

Tangela,

This is what Warren Buffett said about our situation. http://www.cnbc.com/id/31526130

Mike's step-son got out of jail a few days ago. His mom has negative expectation for him. The kid is doomed. Here the people, houses, and businesses are coming apart. You and James are the exception. Here, things are just going from bad to worse for most of us. We might drag everyone else down with us. 'Lawyer Bill' thinks it all just a big joke. So long as he is dunk or under the influence of something everything is cool. His wife should Baker Act him. There are always exceptions, I don't think that the excepts will save the day.

Stephen

My Twitter address has changed again.

https://twitter.com/StephenLyons03 Put this in you browser. When there, if you want to follow, click follow. Respond, if that is what you want to do.

Stephen
Editor-at-large

Twitter is being added to Lessonplans.com

This link will take you to our Twitter. http://twitter.com/Lessonplans_com (I thought it would, but it doesn't. You can get there by cutting and pasting the URL into your browser window.)

Teaching without purpose or meaning ....

... is pointless.

Speed-teaching

Speed-teaching

I watched an education segment on USF, Create. There a high school student was teaching how to write an equation that defines a slopping straight line. The teach took about 15 minutes. I was at first impressed. After I realized what had happened, I was greatly unimpressed by the disingenuous teach.

The presentation had been speeded digitally. What should have taken at least an hour spread over a few days was compressed into minutes. I learn fast, but not that fast. I think it was beyond anyone’s ability to learn. I could follow the student teacher because I had already learned what was being taught; for me, it was a review.

The speed reminded me of when I was in a speed-reading class at Midland High. We would scan down a page and flip it. Books would be read at an astronomic speeds and comprehension was supposedly high. I realized that it had been a fraud after I became an educated adult.

There are several factors that could be supporting speed-teaching:

1. Students are in a competitive environment where learning is a measure of intelligence. Those that learn the quickest and the most gain superiority. That reminds me of my nephews. Both of them went though a phase where they were encouraged to read books. They reasoned that reading more books was better than just reading a few. So they would announce periodically the number of books that they had read: 10, 32, 105 etc. They both were socially promoted and graduated from high school. (Mom was a math teacher and Dad was on the school board) One dropped out of community college the other graduated from a recreation college where he majored in mountain climbing.
2. Administrator can lower the cost of education an individual student if they can do it quicker with a non-certified student of about the same age that is paid usually nothing. And, student, parents and even Stephen will be impressed. I really was at first.
3. Most short attention span student would like it. Then they can get onto doing what they really want to do and that is not understanding how to write and algebraic equation. How many of them are interested in the ‘Y’ intercept?

The bottom line: I am not impressed with speed-teaching regardless of who is doing it.

Is this what is right about us as humans?

I wonder if this is what is right about us as humans. The following is a list of dances we have learned. I have learned only a small fraction of them, others have learned much more then I have and wonder why I am driven to learn a new dance before I have mastered the ones I already know.

It's great fun and it has a positive effect on my life.


CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNER AND THANKS, EVERYONE, FOR TAKING THE TIME TO VOTE!!

52 PokerFace/CraigBennett/intermediate43 Whiter Than White-Kim Ray/Intermediate-Advanced 29 Amame-Robbie/McGowan-Hickie/Int 29 Coochie coochie Bang Bang/Blevins/int29 Guantanamera-Kim Ray-Int25 Make My Day-Francien Sittrop-Beg/Int.24 Life Without You/Maggie Gallagher 24 Tango Cha/Thompson-Szymanski & Szekely/Int 22 Jesse James/Rachael McEnaney/Intermediate/Advanced 21 U Turn/Robbie McGowen Hickie/Beg/Int20 18 yellow Roses/Maria Tao/Intermediate20 Moonlight Kiss-Maggie Gallagher/Intermediate20 My Veronica-Peter Metelnick & Allison Biggs/ Beginner/Intermediate 20 Turn Me Loose-Simon Ward-Int 18 Hush Hush-Musk/Advanced17 Broken Glass/Scott Blevins/Int/Adv 17 Holding On To Yesterday/Peter Metelnick & Alison Biggs/int17 Insomnia/Walton/Intermediate 17 Roomba/Guyton Mundy/Int 16 Addicted-McEnaney/intermediate-Advanced16 Feel/ScottBlevins/Int 16 Here's Looking At You Kid/Steve Lescarbeau/Intermediate15 Beautiful/ShazWalton/intermediate15 Love Worth Waiting For/Maria Tao/Intermediate14 Born 2 Dance-Julia Ann Kennedy 14 Sting Me/Pamela Leader & Ray Crum/Intermediate13 Go Mama Go-Kate Sala & Robbie McGowan Hickie-Beg/Int13 Isolated-McLaughlin/Intermediate-Advanced13 Love Me Tomorrow/Peter Metelnick / Alison Biggs /Int12 human-dancer/alan birchall/intermediate 12 TOES/Rachel McEnaney 12 Wanna Be Elvis/Robbie Mcgowen-Hickie/Beg-int.11 Ease on Down/Rachael McEnaney/JP/Bracken Ellis Potter11 Halo/Neville&Julie/Int 9 And I like it/Maggie Gallagher/Int 9 Being lonely/kim Ray/int9 Go baby go/Rachel McEnaney/int9 My New Life/Offermans/Begin.8 Magic/Shaz Walton/Int-Adv 8 My Next Love/Poulsen/Intermediate 8 Never ending love/Maria Tao/Intermediate8 Not like that/Robbie McGowan Hickie/Intermediate8 Purple Rain-McEnaney/Intermediate8 Runaround Sue-Rachel McEnaney . 8 Sister Kate/Ria Vos/Intermediate7 Am I?/Cato Larsen/Intermediate7 Cha Cha/Peter Ng/Intermediate7 Cool Chick-Robbie McGowan Hickie7 Country As Can Be-Suzanne Wilson7 Downpour-Paul McAdam 7 Faith In Love/Junior Willis & Craig Bennett/Intermediate7 How Long -Jo Thompson 7 I Held Your Hand/Sevel & Poulsen/Advanced7 invisible-Junior Willis7 Mama said/Maria Tao/int7 Rio - Diana Lowery 7 Shattered/Tom Clemons/Intermediate7 Swing-N-Cha/Patrick Fleming & Zac Detweiller7 Why Did You Lie?/ Jo Thompson Szymanski & Debbie Szekely/ Intermediate6 1-2-3-Summertime/Verdonk&Bos/Intermediate6 Better In Time-Dancin' Terry/Int6 Bossy/Michele Perron/Int/Adv 6 Burning/Larsen/Intermediate6 Drop the Beat-John Robinson6 Fire On Ice/Sala/int 6 Food Chain/Scott Blevins/Int 6 Go with the Flow/Peter&Alison6 In Control/Cato Larsen/Intermediate6 In Your Backyard-Thomas Haynes 6 Just Dance/Peter Metelnick&Alison Biggs/Int-Adv 6 Just The Two of Us/Ruben Luna6 LA Secret/Robbie McGowan Hickie/Int 6 Like A Dream-Peter & Allison-Int6 Mystery Cha/Paul McAdams/int.6 Notice the Danger/Mundy/Int6 Searching/Kate Sara/Int6 Senseless Cha/Neville & Julie/Int6 Tennessee Waltz/Maria Tao/Intermediate 6 Zjozzy's Funk/Petra/Inter 5 All I Got/Robbie McGowan Hickie/Int 5 Amore Di Hielo/Ellis/int5 Boyfriend of the Year/Yvonne Anderson/Int 5 Caught in the act/Ann Wood/Int 5 Cha Cha With Me-Niels B. Poulsen 5 Charanga/Rachael McEngeny/Int 5 Crazy foot mambo/Paul McAdam/int5 Creepin’/Scott Blevins/Int5 Cuban Kiss/Poulsen/Int5 Four On The Floor/Matt Thomson & Michelle Ziminski/Intermediate 5 Galway Girls/Hodgson/Intermediate5 Gimme a chance/Maggie Gallerham/int 5 Good Time-Jenny Cain 5 It's Goin Round Round - Joey Warren/Inter 5 Lost In You-McEnaney-Int5 Miller Magic/Palmer/Simon/Cox 5 My Mamacita-Rep Ghazali-Intermediate5 My One Desire/Metelnick&Biggs/Int5 Oklahoma Wind/Teather/inter. 5 Spotlight/Musk/Int 4 1976 - Mike O'Brien 4 All Summer Long/Pim van Grootel & Daniel Trepat/Int 4 Bossy Boots / Robbie McGowan Hickie / Int 4 Cabo San Lucus/Rep Ghazali/Beginnger 4 Catch The Rain/Peter Metelnick & Alison Biggs4 Come dance with me/Jo Thompson/beg 4 Dance Off My Blues/Dan Albro/B-I 4 Earthquake - Susan Brooks4 Firecracker/Lindsay/int 4 Funkafied Blues/Jo Thompson/Int4 Girl/Craig Bennet/int 4 have fun go mad/scott blevins/intermediate 4 Headphones/Maggie Gallagher/Int4 Higher and Higher/Perry/Int 4 Hit the Lights/Sittrop/Int4 It's up to you/Kim Ray/int4 J Ho/ Maggie Gallagher/Int4 Jai Ho / Amy Christensen / Intermediate4 Jo 'N Jo Tango/ Jo Thompson Szymanski & Rita Jo Thompson/ Beginner 4 Keywest/Sala&Hickie/beg-inter.4 Little Red Book-Dee Musk (B) 4 Pacifico/Peter Metelnick & Alison Biggs/Int4 Rebel Amor/Roy Verdonk & Wil Bos/Beg-Int 4 Snowbird/Maria Tao/Int 4 Something Crazy, Neville Fitzgerald/Julie Harris4 Summer Wine/Winnie Yu/Beginner/Inter 4 T.O.P - Neville Fitzgerald/Julie Harris4 Thank You/Maggie Gallagher/Intermediate/Advanced4 Tumbling Rush/Peter Metelnick & Alison Biggs/Intermediate 3 Angel cha/Neils Poulsen/int 3 Angels on the Moon /Guyton Mundy / int/adv 3 Bad Boy/Robbie MH/Easy Int 3 Because - Neville Fitzgerald/Julie Harris3 Cruising - Neil Hale3 Did You Ever/Robbie McGown Hickie/Int3 Different Shoes/Christopher Petre/Beg Plus3 Do That Again/Scott, Buckley, Andrew &Sheila/Beg3 Don't Be Afraid Steve Lescarbeau Int 3 Fairytale/Cato Larson/ Beginner-Intermediate 3 Get Involved, Paul McAdam3 Hey! Hey! Goodbye! / Guyton Mundy 3 Hold Me Love Me/Alan Haywood/Beg/Intermediate 3 I Promise You - Craig Bennett 3 If I could Change / Ruben Luna / Inter.3 I'm Yours / Neils Poulson/Int 3 Island Girl/Peter & Alison/Beg/Int3 Lay It On the Line/Guy Dube/Inter.3 Leave the Boat/Rachael McEnaney/Int.3 Let Me Love You/Hazel Pace/Intermediate 3 Locomotion - Jo Thompson 3 No More Cloudy Days/Alan Birchall/Beg/Intermediate3 Ol Skool Company / Rona Kaye / Intermediate 3 Reach Out - Shaz Walton/Int 3 Respect/Daniel Trepat/Beg-Int3 Simplementa/Kate Sala/int3 Try To Remember/Maria Tao/Beg 3 When I Cry/Maria Hunt/Int2 All summer long/Paula Baker/int2 American Pop / Michael Barr and Michele Burton 2 Anticipation / Peter and Alison / Int2 Ay Amor/ria vos/beg.int.2 Bad Influence / Mark Furnell & Jo & John Kinser / Beginner/Intermediate 2 Bosa Nova/Phil Dennington/Int 2 Brazil/Frank Trace/Beg2 Butter Beans/Christopher Petre/BI 2 Cuckoo/McGowan Hickie/Intermediate2 Doctor's orders/Maggie Gallagher2 Don't Call Me Baby...Anymore/Barbara R.K. Wallace/Int2 Dreams Can Come True/Terri Alexander/Easy Intermediate 2 Duck Soup - Frank Trace2 Eat Mo' Grits/Dancin' Terry/Beg./Int. 2 Feed the fetish/Scott Blevins/int 2 Find A Way/Furnell & Kinser/Beg/Int 2 Hard to Breathe - Wes Smith - Intermediate Level2 Hippy Dippy Mambo - Sue Ann Ehmann - Beginner 2 How Do You Sleep?/Junior Willis/Jill Babinec/Int 2 I Dance Susan Puruleski Int 2 I Told You So/GYTAL/B 2 Inside Out/Kim Ray/I2 IRISH STEW/LOIS LIGHTFOOT 2 Kiss a Girl - Wes Smith - Intermediate Level2 Lady Gaga/Linedance N Smile/HB 2 Leaving Of Liverpool/Maggie Gallagher/Beg 2 Let's Honky Tonk/Peter Metelnick2 Lets Lie in the Sun/Cresdee/Beg Int2 Like I Never – Wood/Intermediate2 Love Sex Magic/Lawrence Allen/Beg-Int2 Make a memory/Michael Barr/int2 Miss California/Rachael McEnaney2 Nimby/Maggie Gallagher/int 2 No Need to Rush- Neville and Julie2 NuFlow/Masters in Line 2 Oh Babe!/ Johanna Barnes/ Inter 2 Partytown 4-10 / Rep Ghazali / Int2 POT OF GOLD/LIMA HRYCAN 2 Prison Break/Racheal McEnaney/Int 2 Red Dress / Peter Metelnick 2 Run Sue, Run!/Cato Larsen/Beg 2 Sag Drag & Fall/Frank Trace/B 2 Shake Yourself Loose by Kathy Hunyadi2 She believes/Kate Sala/int2 Sixty Minute Man-Dancin’ Terry 2 So Persausive - Dan McInerney/Int/Adv2 Speechless/Rachel McEnaney/int2 Stand Up Routine Jordan LLyod2 Strength in Numbers/Peter & Alison/int-adv2 Sweet Thing 2 Tempted Tonight/Michelle Burton/Intermediate 2 Thanks a lot/Robbie McGowan Hickie/int 2 The Climb / Shaz Walton / Intermediate 2 The Dance/Craig Bennett/Intermediate2 The LaLa Dance/Bos & Verdonk/Beg/Int2 The Smell of Your Sweet Perfume/Ward/I2 The way you look/Craig Bennett/int2 THE WAY/GERARD MURPHY 2 Time To Swing /Andrew Palmer & Sandra Cox / Int. 2 Under A Spell / Kate Sala / Intermediate 2 Vital Signs/Watson/Beginner Intermediate2 Viva La Fiesta(Garth Bock) 32Ct/4W/Int 2 WAVE ON WAVE/ALAN BIRCHALL2 What's the Deal (Bennet,Musk & Walton) High Int 2 WHERE WE'VE BEEN/LANA HARVEY WILSON 1 Sweet Mambo/Gytal/BI

Expectation

Just wondering about teachers' expectations for the future of their students. Do you see future caring professional people, the working class that will struggle on food stamps or do you see future prisoners? Perhaps you see a mix. Your expectations effect what they will become? Perhaps it will have no effect. We can not know with certainty if our expectations will be self-fulfilling. I think we should project a positive future for our youth.

Mike's step-son is now in jail. He wants him there and he wants him to be a career criminal. Mike has him mentally tracked in that direction. He even disclosed that he hoped the Jared would be sodomized. There is no law prohibiting having low expectations for someone, even if they are your student, child, or step-child. However, I am certain that there are ethical and hopefully religious grounds for condemning someone that does this.

"Annually, as many as 125,000 people with mental illnesses requiring immediate treatment are arrested and booked into Florida Jails" Did someone or some institution track them into that situtation?

Here is the young Jewish mind.

Watch it and weep.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371044168&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Nothing positive is going to come from people that think like this.

I do not feel safe with such behavior in my neighborhood.

Hi Mike,

I turned on the computer at 2:45 a.m. and witnessed a car being chased by a police car at a very fast speed. Soon there were several other police cars. I went out in the Ranger to see what was happening and discovered that one of the cars had crashed into a house on Holiday Lake Drive. The police car was likely faster and nudged the rear of the other car causing it to lose control.

I wonder what was so important that they would chase at what would have been at a speed greater than 100 mph and then cause an accident that resulted in great property damage and likely death.

I do not feel safe with such behavior in my neighborhood. I live on the same side of the street as the accident.

Stephen

I watched 'W' at the Lime-n-Coconut

Hi Mike:

I watched 'W' at the Lime-n-Coconut; yes, it is a movie. One that everyone should see because of the connection between one person's behavior [George W. Bush] and the consequences that we all now suffer. This would have all been prevent if Yale's admission officer and the President of Yale had denied 'W' admission to Yale. There was a novel written about those fate full days when George Bush senior was pressuring Yale administrators: A Man in Charge by Morris Philipson. They didn't stand their ground and here we are now.

You might think that this has not much to do with education. But it does. It is about high education's failure at the highest level. 'W' wanted us to think that he was the education president. If that was the case then the would be interested in financially supporting Lessonplans.com. My request for financial assistance resulted in being investigated and attacked by the IRS. It was six months of Hell.

'W' is a movie that we should all see; perhaps, several time over several years. We must learn that we should never elect someone like 'W' to be our president again.

Stephen

Preying on Teachers

I began thinking about this because of water restrictions that prohibits us from watering lawns and washing our cars. I like to keep my truck clean. Leo told me that the washing ban didn’t affect him because he never washes his car and his son refuses to do it. The son is the one that is a potential problem for us that want to wash our car. That gets me to Chris Elmore.

Chris when he was a freshman at Delta College wanted to be the sheriff of Midland County, at first, I was willing to help make that happen until I found out that he harbored a need to settle a vendetta against teachers. Chris had been the class clown when he was in high school; consequently, he was disciplined frequently and that created a need for revenge. Becoming a cop or the sheriff would give him the power to settle the score.

He disclosed to me that he planned to watch for teacher leaving school at the end of the day and arrest them for traffic infractions. After finding that out, I stopped assisting Chris. I didn’t want to be his friend and I didn’t want to help him succeed. I doubt if he graduated from Delta College and hopefully he did not become involved in law enforcement.

We like to think that our students love us or at least respect us. Perhaps 1-5 percent of them have negative memories about their school experience. The percentage could be higher. When they become adults and the table is turned, don’t expect anything positive from them.

Report: 43 kids got zapped others were tear gassed

Hi Maria,

If someone had told me that this could happen, I would not have believed them. But it did happen during Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day. There they were stun gun zapped and tear gassed. They apparently wanted them to know what their parent do as a part of their work. This would never happen in my country.

This event was reported in the May 16th, 2009, St. Petersburg Times. This is the link to the news story. http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article1001354.ece

Stephen

Lessonplans.com changes

Dear Blog Readers:

I hope you noticed the changes I made to Lessonplans.com. It seems that I made a million of them. I clicked so many times that my right hand became numb. Many of them were very small and out of sight: a pixel here, a pixel there and many code changes. Then I had to change the changes until I got it just right.

The navigation bars have been changed. That is the change that should be most visible. It took three long days. I hope it is noticed.

Stephen@lessonplans.com

Schools tweeting

Pinellas is the second Florida school district to join the online trend of send 140-characters updates out into the wold. Broward schools got there first, and Lee schools have since followed.

Zahn said she aims to tweet at least one item daily, whether it's a reminder of a board meeting, celebration of a school event or perhaps an alert of an issue needing immediate attention. "It's something we do in addition to everything else we do for communication," she said.

Aggressive Kids

Hi Maria,

Yesterday I was riding my bicycle down the street. When I heard loud music coming from an open garage. I looked toward the noise and saw a teen jerking his head to the beat. Seeing me, he bolted from a wheel chair and ran in my direction like a crazed attack dog. My bicycle is fast, so I just sped away from the problem.

That boy does have at least one parent and teachers. You may have boys like that in your school and perhaps even in your classroom. They are a major problem that needs to be solved.

I wish I could offer you a solution. I dealt with it by speeding away. Avoidance is not something you can do. I suppose that transference would pass the problem on to someone else. That would move your problem out of your classroom, but it would still be in your school.

Stephen

I listened to kids tell why they like Harry Potter stories.

Hi Mike,

They like Harry Potter stories because they see their unfolding life in those scary and frightening stories.

So there is a generation of frightened adults about to enter center stage. They have good reason to be frightened.

I was the only customer at the Boat Club last night for about an hour. Durk and I talked about predation, law enforcement, what it was like back in the 70's and how we slowly got to were we are today. 1984 arrived late, but it got here none the less.

Stephen

TeacherPlanet Needs Your Help!

We are conducting a short survey and would appreciate your feedback. We'd like to know how we're doing and what changes we can make to improve our website. Please take a few minutes to complete our survey so that we can better serve you. Take Survey!

http://teacherplanet-com.c.topica.com/maam06qabPET2bMFgKie/

Florida's tuition costs.

So you want to go to college in Florida but live out of state. I found out this morning the financial consequences of that. Out-of-state students are charged $623.75 per credit hour. The typical number of hours taken per semester is 16-18 hours. $9,980 - 11,227.50. There are two semesters in a school year and it takes 8 semesters to graduate. The tuition cost alone would be over $79,840.

That is ridiculous.

The Suncoast News is not only thinner.

This morning I noticed that Suncoast New is not only thinner, it is now shorter. They have eliminated about an inch from the length. They are obviously attempting to stay alive.

The Suncoast News is a free local news paper that depends on advertising revenue. It should be obvious what what happens when advertisers cut-back. They can cut-back only so far and then they close. When that happens, we will all suffer the consequences. Since they service my area, it will not effect you.

Is this happening in your area?

My uncle George was known for saying, "I don't care." He was a retired UAW worker that didn't read the news or books. He did watch the TV and liked his morning coffee and donut with his cigarettes.

Stephen

Google Employees

Hi Lorenzo,

Would the people like those working at Google read a newspaper? NO!
Would they have a newspaper subscription? NO!
Would they read a James Mitchener size novel? NO!

There must be exceptions, but not enough of them to be of any consequence. So to them, the loss of the Freedom of the press is not of any concern.

This short message is about the extent of their attention span.

Stephen

We are losing the press.

RE: First amendment of the U.S. Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Hi Andrew,

The Suncoast News shrinking is one more sign indicating the decline of the Newspaper industry. Some major news papers are publishing only 2 days a week, others transferred publishing to the Internet. That lowers publication cost. However, in some cases their advertising is being substituted and the revenue transferred elsewhere. That is a major problem for publishers and Google.

A free press keeps us informed. We are then able to each make decisions based upon that information. It is so important that it was written into our constitution. We do not have a free press without newspapers, writers and publishers. They are all being lost by having their financial life support gradually cut.

Stephen

The stat link has been replaced.

Hi Maria,

I removed the link to Lessonplans.com's statistics. Somewhere between 1 to 5% of the visitors have a less than creditable reason for seeing our statistics. Since, I have not a way of identifying them, I have decided to restrict availability. They will now be only available to a few insiders.

Stephen

Get our free weekly newsletter.

Welcome to Lessonplans.com.

Our pop-up offers you a free weekly newsletter. Enter you email address and click submit and it is yours.

You will see this on the Lessonplans.com pop-up.

Dear Colleague in Education, for many years LessonPlans.com has been dedicated to providing teachers with valuable resources. In addition to the site you are about to visit, and in co-ordination with The Educators Network, we send out a weekly newsletter that contains timely Lesson Planning Ideas and Resources, along with a variety of other Theme Units and Teaching Tools.

Here is a link to a sample newsletter.

http://www.teacherplanet.com/newsletter/267.htm

I thought you should know what is lost when our pop-up is blocked.

Mania and the Decline of the Newspaper Industry

Hi Maria,

I will keep it short because of the short attention span of most readers.

This morning Good Morning America made it public that the newspaper industry is in rapid decline. A major cause of the decline is the result of attempting to pander to manic side of the bipolar personality; something that can not be sustained in the long run. The computer has made it possible to keep them interested in the short run, but racing a head of them is something we can do; but in the end, they always crash into their depression stage. Some return to their manic phase, others enter the realm schizophrenia from which there is no way out.

There is already enough at Lessonplans.com to satisfy a mentally healthy mind. That does not seem to be enough. I want to know what percentage of Americans that are now mentally sick. I am sure the percentage is over 5%. It could be as high as 50%.

Stephen

The difficulty identifying what is missing.

Hi Maria,

Identifying what is missing from Lessonplans.com is almost impossible to know when one does not know what should be there. One why of knowing is compare what you see from your home computer with what you see at the library. They should be the same. The difference is the effect of censoring.

Stephen

A Revolting Experience

Hi Maria,

I went to the Tarpon Springs Library yesterday to have a first time visit to USteam.TV. That was interesting and disappointing. I also visited Lessonplans.com. I was shocked to see that they had blocked all of the advertiser's ads. You should be aware that I pay my taxes with advertising revenue and all the other expenses. The money you receive is also from that source.

The Tarpon Springs Library takes all of my intellectual property, gives it away, pays me nothing and blocks any hope of someone else paying. Those people are like thieves.

I am very unhappy with those people and anyone else that does the same thing.

Stephen

http://www.lessonplans.com/stats/

Hi Maria,

Remember the lessonplans.com header? It refreshes every 60 seconds. A counter is incremented every time that happens. It is in fact a clock. You can get the refresh count from this URL. http://www.lessonplans.com/stats/

You can also get the visitor count from the same address. Knowing this data, you can calculate the average number of seconds a visitor stays at Lessonplans.com.

This is how I know the average length of a visitor's attention span.

Stephen

St. Petersburg Time's Fast Facts

Hi Maria,

This morning I asked a Wachovia teller if she read the St. Petersburg Times. She said that she did not have time. I told her about Fast Facts. She said that she would only have enough spare time to read Fast Facts. That would be about 30 seconds. The elapse time that we have at a red light. That is also enough time to read a short message on your Iphone.

Our shrinking attention span has negative consequences. One of these is the demise of the newspaper. There are others.

Stephen

Fast Facts

Hi Maria,

The St. Petersburg Times has added Fast Facts. It is a summary of what is in the article stated as bullet points. It is for readers that want to get the main points without taking the time to read the article before darting off to something else. I would add that this began happening in the Scientific American and Scientific Mind a few months ago, but I may have already stressed the attention span of my readers. So, I will stop here.

What value is writing without readers?

Stephen

Make it relevant.

Hi Maria,

Make it relevant! Relevant to who or what? This can be a dangerous logic trap, especially when attempting to satisfy bored students.

They would be interested if only I could make it relevant to them. It will never happen, so do not even try.

Make what you do relevant to what the student will need to know at the next level. That is enough.

It is their responsibility to learn what is being taught. Telling their friends that you are a boring teacher is their non-violent way of discrediting you; remember that.

Stephen

You can now visit Lessonplans.com with your iPhone.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Maria,

Last night I visited Lessonplans.com from the Lime-N-Coconut with an iPhone. It was a first time experience for me. Prior to that, I did not think that with such a small device I could see much. That is not the case. You can quickly zoom, scroll and navigate so see what you would with your PC.

The iPhone has made the Internet available from almost everywhere. It is a giant step forward.

Stephen

Words of Wisdom

'We understand you can't save your way out of a recession; you spend your way out. "

Source: CEO/president Chuck Mulloy of Intel

Could This Person Be Perceiving Reality Clearly?

Hi Maria,

I copied the following post from Macy's Yahoo bulletin board. It appears to be the thoughts of a rapper. My first reaction was negative. At first, this person has zero creditability. Upon thinking about it for a few days. I am not so sure. I think he should be taken seriously.

Stephen
____________________________________________________________

Layoffs are coming in the investment industry because too many people are clearly pulling their $$$ out (Baby Boomers actually WANT a retirement) and there's NO NEW money coming in. There are NO CATALYSTS to move this market up. Get out NOW before you lose it all. The "Investment Professionals (LOL)" CAN'T tell you the TRUTH because they're LEECHING off of your hard earned $$$ in management FEES to feed THEIR FAMILIES (they certainly DON'T CARE about yours)!! I can tell you the truth, the financial advisers WON'T, because they need to make FEE $$$. Don't go down with them!!! Get your $$$ out of stocks and yes, BONDS also, and into CASH (Bank CD's are a lot better than losing bigtime $$$ and RUINING your life). HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU'VE WORKED FOR AND KEEP IT! These guys will say ANYTHING to keep you at the CRAPS TABLE!Capitalism is based ultimately upon two polarities: how much can I charge for my good or service? and secondly: how little can I pay my employees to sell it for me? Obviously, the aristocracy at the top would want to charge the most while paying the least. However, charge too much, no consumer will consume, pay too little, no worker will work.WHAT WE ARE EXPERIENCING TODAY IS A COMPLEX PRODUCT OF CHEAP GOODS AND UNDERPAID EMPLOYEES!! Most reported employment growth is actually a complete "ILLUSION" as these are LOW PAYING CRAPPY JOBS!!!! MOST PEOPLE TODAY BARELY HAVE ENOUGH FOR BASIC NEEDS!!!My life and world are run and controlled by corporations, not good government, nor the fable of democracy.The rich have been accumulating MASSIVE WEALTH on the backs of the poor for years. Wealth should not be a product of how much I can F'UCK over the next guy, but rather a distribution of resources "more equally" amongst all the people. The days of the $50 million/year CEO's are indeed numbered.These "PUDGY" DRUNK Wall Street PRICKS (hanging out in Miami and London on your dollar!) just want FEE INCOME from YOUR hard earned $$! They are nothing but lazy DEGENERATE GAMBLERS! Keep your $$$ and take care of your family (they sure as hell DON'T care). This economy is collapsing as we speak. Don't buy any more stock - the smart $$$ is getting out now - I hope you're not too blind or stupid to see it. Recession? You ain't seen nothin yet we're facing a DEPRESSION that WILL last longer than any of you would have ever believed. Greed does NOT work in the long run.As Abe Lincoln said: "A House Divided CANNOT Stand" - and this DOES actually hold true on Wall Street! If everyone is at each others THROATS competing, backstabbing, and trading stocks between one another trying to profit off each others' backs WITHOUT hard work - the house WILL (and actually is) coming down. People today are Lonelier and Lazier than ever before - Please DON'T buy into this PONZI SCAM happening on Wall Street.Its time for these CLOWNS in $2,000 suits on CNBC to roll up their sleeves and do an honest day's work instead of GAMBLING YOUR $$$!! They deserve to go to WORK like the rest of us and stop gambling and flapping their big mouths - they don't know SQUAT and THEY KNOW IT!I'm LAUGHING MY ASS OFF right now listening to their conflicting OPINIONS - what a JOKE!! HOLD on to your $$...none of them are LEECHING off my family anymore. The CRAPS game is OVER!!!"

Intimidation of teachers worries board member

Hi Maria,

Intimidation of teachers worries Pinellas County, FL board member. Students that intimidate teachers is something we do not like to talk about. We do not even want to admit that it is happening. Elementary and middle school student never intimidated me. However, some high school student did. I just thought it was a part of my character flaw until I met Paul Beverly. At the time he admitted to me that he intentionally intimidated a teacher was when he was in his 70's.

Paul was a large men who after graduating from high school became a Marine. He told me he hover around a certain high school teacher to make him feel uncomfortable. He was a small male teacher and Paul was a contemptuous student. I am sure that the teacher was afraid of Paul.

It is still happening. "We have had black students tell white teachers, 'We don't want youo here because this is a black school,'" Brown said. Source: St. Petersburg Times.

I feel fortunate that I do not need to deal with this problem.

Stephen

Cyberbullying on the Rise

Hi Maria,

This was in the St. Petersburg Times.

• 18 percent of students in Grades 6-8 said they've been cyberbullied at least once in the past two months.
• 11 percent of students in Grade 6-8 said they had cyberbullied another person at least once in the last two months.
• Almost one in five regular Internet users between 10 to 17 reported being involved in online aggression; 15 percent had been aggressors, 7 percent had been targets, and 3 percent were both aggressors and targets.
• 17 percent of the 6 to 11-year-olds and 36 percent of the 12 to 17-year-olds reported that someone said threatening or embarrassing things about them through e-mail, instant messages, Web sites, chat rooms or text messages.
• Girls were about twice as likely as boys to be victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying

Source: Health Resources and Service Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Bipolar [manic-depressive] Personality

Maria,

Rush Limbaugh, Manny Pardy, Jim Walker, Mary White and Robin Williams, actor, have one thing in common. They are bipolar. One thing they routinely do is talk over others. They listen only long enough to get direction. They then talk intensely, loudly and rapidly until the listener is beaten into submission. At that point the listener exits or does something to rid themselve of the annoyance.

Two of the people on this list have been teachers. Listen to Rush on the AM band. Do it from the next room. While at your computer, have Rush in the background. You should not be able to understand what he is saying. That is important because what he is saying masks his mania. It is the cadence of his speech that reveals his bipolar personality.

Ned listened to Rush religiously for years and became a Rushite before his death. I find it interesting that someone with a mental health problem can rise to prominence. Rush is the respected spokesperson for the Republican Party. He has both wealth and fame. Perhaps I should include health. From his perspective, I am sure he thinks he is healthy. From my perspective, I think he is mentally sick.

Stephen

Should Science Be Fun?

Hi Maria,

In a recent interview with Professor Neil deGrosse Tyson, Charlie Rose asked him if science is fun. The implication was that it should be. Dr. Typson instantly went on the defensive. I cringed at the prospect of what would follow.

Far to often the science teacher plays the role of the fool that delight student with explosions and amazing events. These wild-eyed science teachers are even sometimes rewarded by being recognized as the teacher of the year and showered with undeserved accolades.

Science is not fun in the sense that Joy Land is fun. Science rewards the students with the satisfaction that comes from understand and knowing that is derived from discovery. It is freedom from ignorance. It is the satisfaction that comes from knowing that having mastered the scientific method, they can discovery the solutions to yet new problems.

Science is not fun. It is much more than that.

Stephen

What are your students doing tonight?

Young partygoers arrested for trashing a foreclosed Florida home

FEBRUARY 24--A group of young Floridians invaded a foreclosed home over the weekend and threw a raucous bash that caused about $75,000 in damage and resulted in the arrest of 17 partygoers. According to police, the trashed Fort Myers home, now owned by Wells Fargo Bank, was overrun Friday night by partygoers who broke windows, punched holes in the home's walls, and spray painted graffiti inside the residence. Deputies with the Lee County Sheriff's Office arrested 10 juveniles and 7 adults (aged 18 to 25) on loitering and prowling charges. The adult defendants are pictured in the below mug shots. The underage arrestees were also charged with possession of alcohol by a minor, while the adults were hit with contributing to the delinquency of a minor counts. According to a probable cause statement, sheriff's deputies found cans of Bud Light beer in the 4000-square-foot home, and party attendees acknowledged that they congregated together "for a party in which alcohol was being served." (3 pages)

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0224091house1.html

China is becoming the largest English speaking country.

Maria,

Sheriff Bob White told the middle school students that within 10 years that China will become the largest English speaking country. I can not confirm that. It seems incomprehensible that could happen.

Stephen

Pasco Sheriff Bob White said ....

Pasco Sheriff Bob White said, "He chose to go up against my SWAT team and lost." He said that when he was addressing middle school students at the annual Law Enforcement Parade in Holiday, FL.

You can read about this even in the St. Petersburg Times, Pasco section

re: http://www.tampabay.com
Times Staff Writers: Drew Harwell, Kmeel Stanley and Erin Sullivan

Law enforcement parade began at the middle school.

Maria,

Today Pasco County law enforcement made a show of force again with a parade. It began at the middle school with patriotic songs. Sheriff Bob White was the first speaker. He began by saying that we are here celebrating freedom. He said nothing in support of academics. He stressed karate [a marshal art], sports, military and law enforcement. He told us that last night that someone had chosen to challenge the SWAT team last night and suffered the consequences. This morning I read in the paper that the SWAT team killed 'FAT BOY' while serving a warrant. There was also in the same area a 40+ acre fire that destroyed multiple houses. The timing and proximity was near enough to wonder if these events should be connected.

I was intimidate by all the large men and their guns. If their intention was to intimidate me and everyone other then themselves, then they succeeded.

A parade has an effect. It is a psychological tool for causing a commitment to be made. One that provokes a choice. 'You are either with us or against us.'

The students and the parents may think the law enforcement parade is a fun event. It is something other than that. Think about it.

Stephen

The Preoperational Stage (Years 2-7)

(Pre)Operatory Thought in Piagetian theory is any procedure for mentally acting on objects. The hallmark of the preoperational stage is sparse and logically inadequate mental operations. During this stage the child learns to use and to represent objects by images and words, in other words they learn to use symbolic thinking. Thinking is still egocentric: The child has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others.

Is hyperinflation in our future?

Maria,

"In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is "out of control", a condition in which prices increase rapidly as a currency loses its value. Definitions used by the media vary from a cumulative inflation rate over three years approaching 100% to "inflation exceeding 50% a month." In informal usage the term is often applied to much lower rates. As a rule of thumb, normal inflation is reported per year, but hyperinflation is often reported for much shorter intervals, often per month. " source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation

I have experience as you have a large percentage increase in the price of fuel. Recently, I went to the Home Depot to buy fertilizer. A 40# bag of Scott's citrus fertilizer last year was $12, about 6 months later the price is $19.98. That is a 66% increase in about 6 months.

A near trillion dollar economic stimulus is about to effect us. We might be in the early stage of hyperinflation. I never had the unfortunate experience of living through hyperinflation. We might be about to know what it feels like. I wish I could tell you what you need to know to survive.

I am going to the Home Depot now to see if I can find more inflation symptoms. [I did. Yes! There are others.]

Stephen

p.s.

"We are confronted with a broader and deeper slowdown than has been experienced in decades," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

"We will work closely with our colleagues in the G7 and the G20 to build consensus on reforms that match the scope of the problem revealed by this crisis."

The Bipolar Teacher

Maria,

"We should not be speaking to, but with. That is second nature to any good teacher." source: Noam Chomsky

What Noam Chomsky wrote is the key to understanding why someone that is bipolar should not be teaching.

There are two halves to the bi-polar personality: manic and depression. Their medication levels the extremes. This makes it possible for them to function successfully in the classroom. They seldom do because the manic phase is euphoric and gives them a false sense of effectiveness.

During the manic phase thoughts race through their mind and speech is so rapid and loud that the teacher disconnects from their students resulting in a failure to understand what the teacher is talking about. The worse case is when this disconnect results in the majority of the students talking loudly and rapidly to no one.

It is my opinion that bipolars should not be teachers, because they can not be trusted to take their medication.

Stephen

When will it end? Never!

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0212091teacher1.html

The full story is at SmokingGun.com.

FEBRUARY 12--Meet Curtis Pickard. The Georgia student was arrested this week after he allegedly used his cell phone to take "upskirt" photos of a teacher, which he then showed to fellow high schoolers. According to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report, Pickard, 17, surreptitiously snapped photos of Greenbrier High School teacher Ellen Hotchkiss on Monday. After several students on Tuesday told a school safety officer that he was showing the photos around, the officer seized Pickard's phone. The 33-year-old Hotchkiss, pictured at right, examined the images and "identified her legs and underwear from the previous day." Pickard was charged with unlawful eavesdropping or surveillance and booked into the Columbia County Detention Center, where the below mug shots were taken. He was released after posting $2600 bond on the felony rap.

Concrete Operational Stage

The Concrete operational stage is the third of four stages of cognitive development in Piaget's theory. This stage, which follows the Preoperational stage, occurs between the ages of 7 and 11 years and is characterized by the appropriate use of logic. Important processes during this stage are:
Seriation—the ability to sort objects in an order according to size, shape, or any other characteristic. For example, if given different-shaded objects they may make a color gradient.
Classification—the ability to name and identify sets of objects according to appearance, size or other characteristic, including the idea that one set of objects can include another.
Decentering—where the child takes into account multiple aspects of a problem to solve it. For example, the child will no longer perceive an exceptionally wide but short cup to contain less than a normally-wide, taller cup.
Reversibility—where the child understands that numbers or objects can be changed, then returned to their original state. For this reason, a child will be able to rapidly determine that if 4+4 equals 8, 8−4 will equal 4, the original quantity.
Conservation—understanding that quantity, length or number of items is unrelated to the arrangement or appearance of the object or items.
Elimination of Egocentrism—the ability to view things from another's perspective (even if they think incorrectly). For instance, show a child a comic in which Jane puts a doll under a box, leaves the room, and then Melissa moves the doll to a drawer, and Jane comes back. A child in the concrete operations stage will say that Jane will still think it's under the box even though the child knows it is in the drawer. (See also False-belief task).
Children in this stage can, however, only solve problems that apply to actual (concrete) objects or events, and not abstract concepts or hypothetical tasks.

Formal Operational Stage

The formal operational period is the fourth and final of the periods of cognitive development in Piaget's theory. This stage, which follows the Concrete Operational stage, commences at around 12 years of age (puberty) and continues into adulthood. It is characterized by acquisition of the ability to think abstractly, reason logically and draw conclusions from the information available, as well as apply all these processes to hypothetical situations. During this stage the young adult is able to understand such things as love, "shades of gray", logical proofs, and values.

The cognitive approach replaced the behavioral approach.

Hi Maria,

When I was teaching at Mid Michigan Community College, it was my responsibility to select textbooks for my department. At the time, every textbook had in the preface a statement disclosing that the text was a behavioral approach to the subject. There wasn't a choice.

I was then expected to spend a summer writing behavioral objectives. I told the Dean that I would not do that. It went so far that the legislators in Lansing passed a law requiring all teachers in Michigan to write behavioral objects. If they did not, state financial support would be cut.

I knew then there was something fundamentally wrong with Behaviorism. I just did not speak well enough to make the case against it.

I learned last week that behavioral approach has been replaced by the cognitive approach. The behavioral approach is dead. Yippee …

Behaviorism’s fundamental flaw is that it is based on the premise that thinking cannot be seen or measured, thus it is not important. It is only behavior that can be seen and measured that was thought at the time to be important. That proved to be the undoing of the behavioral approach.

Stephen

Behavioral approach

I recall when the all of the text book prefaces explained that the text was a behavioral approach to whatever the subject was. I'm pleased that it has been replaced by the cognitive approach.

Economic War

An Economic War has begun. If it hasn't effect you yet. It will.

Do your recall this adages? "Divide and conquer" or "Together we stand, divided we fall." This may go back to my high school years.

I now encounter indifference and denial. "If its not happening to me, then I don't care." "My belly is full." "That is your problem, not mine."

There is a story today on the front page of the St. Petersburg Times. State Farm will drop 1.2 million Florida property insurance policies. This too is causing a shock wave to pass though 1.2 million property owners. Some of you will think, "That is your problem, not mine."

The Economic War will find it's way into your life too via the phone, mail, or my someone standing on your front porch. It will come from all directions, even from foreign countries.

"Together we stand, divided we fall."

If you lose your teaching contract and ability to pay your Macy's card, then this is what is waiting for you.

Mike sent this to me. He works in credit and collection at Macy's. I would change his behavior, if I could.
__________________

People have to learn to not be lax & let their debts slide. A Due date means that the Date it is due it must be paid back . Companies are not in business to bankroll the public. When I have a due date, I pay it weeks earlier. I sent in a payment on my Master Card once that got there late. I didn't blame Master Card for my late fee. I told myself, that I had better do it right next time because I didn't like paying the late fee. People are habitually late. If my employer doesn't pay me on the date my paycheck is due, I'm pissed off. If you give a grace period, than the situation doesn't change. They think the due date id just 5 days later.
People are irresponsible. They give excuses like that they were out of town & couldn't pay the bill on time. Being out of town is no excuse for not paying your financial responsibilities. They could pay on the company web site, they could pay by phone, they could pay at a cash register at any Macy's store anywhere in the United States. They can mail a check from anywhere.
If I'm going on vacation, I pay my bills before I go, or accept that if I am late, I will have to pay the extra charge for being late.
Companies need to quit kissing customer's asses. If they are dead beats that don't take their responsibilities seriously, then cut them loose. Customers like that just cost a company money. Companies are stretched thin by these people that expect a free ride on the back of the corporations. The money lending game is tightening up. Late fees are going up, interest rates are going up, minimum payment requirements are going up, open to buys are shrinking & vanishing. The dead beats will be weeded out that way.

Consequences of Budget Cuts

There will be some of us that will lose our income because of budget cuts. We made financial commitments before we new that economic forces beyond our control would have a negative effect on us. The follow gives you a glimpse into what is looming in your near future.

I received this from Mike M. who works in credit and collections for Macy's.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This has nothing to do with me. It is about Macy's. My concern is that the transfer calls coming in from the Indian call centers are growing in number every day. The Indians now handle Visa too which they didn't a year ago the collections department has all but completely moved to India. I don't worry if they close their less profitable stores. They have over 800 stores and if they cut 20% of them, which are dead wood anyway, I don't worry. They have been around for over 150 years and are the strongest department store in existence. They have acquired too may stores too fast and have to close some. I'm not worried about them going out of business. I am worried that the part of their business I work in will not be in the United States for long.

Those Indians are intense and they really piss off customers. The company considers that business they lose to be mostly deadbeat customers that do not want to pay for what they buy.

Macy’s management thinks that the small cost of having collections done in India will offset the business lost by offending American customers.

The consequences of texting

The following post was copied from Macy's Yahoo message board.

my 40 staf where lawoff this week in short hills nj bloomd///they cutting all over and if this econimy starts,,this are the stocks that will move if dows goes up m will fallow

There are over 12 errors in this sentence.

It is not fair to conclude that these errors are the consequence of texting with a devise like a Blackberry. Some them would be. Others have another explanation.

This person appears to be a Macy's employee. Seems like they would not be qualified to be employed by Macy's. Whatever the case; something is seriously wrong.

President Barack Obama

Hi Shen,

I hope you watched Barack Obama's inauguration. It was an important event for all of us. Now there is hope that he will help us solve problems that were otherwise impossible to solve.

We are struggling here with problems caused by people who's decisions in the past created a predicament for us now living here in Holiday. Back 50 years ago my a community developer with a master plan. In the short run it created profits and cheap housing for the first wave retirees. Now the little houses are beyond their intended life span a the situation appears hopeless.

I'm sure you have your won set of problems that seem to be insurmountable. Without knowing the details, I can safely state that the probable are insurmountable. However, if you can comprehend the source of a problem, you can understand your predicament. That is some consolation.

President Obama will not likely help us at our level. It is up to us to do the best we can with cards we have be dealt.

Stephen

The Golden Rule

I began thinking about The Golden Rule a few days ago. It’s something that I was first taught when I was a Sunday school student in Edenville, MI. Later, it would occasionally be a subject of discussion on the long school bus ride to Midland High School. Then, it would gradually fade from my consciousness to resurface a few days ago.

The Golden Rule has been replaced with:

1. Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)
2. Zero Tolerance (ZT)
3. Do unto others before they can do it to you. (Preemption)
4. It is better to be feared than loved.
5. Intimidate, Dominate and Control (IDC)
6. The Rule of Law

Perhaps the Law of the Jungle should be added to this list. This may be what is controlling the behavior of humans in a city like New York.

I did not explain The Golden Rule because those that understand it do not need an explanation. Those that do not, will wonder what it is.

Freedom of the Press

The Freedom of the Press is in jeopardy. Not because a political group wants to removed it; one that hates the press and wants to control it. If it were the case, it would be easy to point a finger at the threat and counter it. However, when it is the collective action of millions of non-readers and readers that will not buy a newspaper, it is almost impossible to counter.

Apparently, it is the collective unwillingness of readers to buy a newspaper that is destroying the publishers.

This link will give you the details. http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE4BU53T20081231?sp=true

Do you get a daily newspaper? If you don't, then you are part of the problem.