The Beatles: Their social, political, economic, historical, and business impact on the world

The Beatles: Their Economic, Social, Political, and Business impact on the world

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In MY view: Two of the most creative songwriter team members of the 20th century; a heralded lead guitar player who also wrote one if not THE most celebrated love song recorded in modern times; a bassist who could inspire others with his tone and playing and brought the instrument to the foreground of audio; FOUR vocalists who could independently hold the stage; a rhythm guitarist who could savagely fight with chords, and a drummer who effortlessly used basic patterns and out-played his peers. Plus a portfolio that arguably contains MAYBE five-at-most should-could-be overlooked compositions, but due the credit for creating-expanding genres of punk, pop, and rock. And gifted visionary ideas for engineering techniques and sound effects plus orchestration.

• A charismatic event of the modern era. "More popular than Jesus."

•        Changed music: pop, recording, album covers, foreign music influences, instruments

•        Changed social trends: clothes, hair, influence of drugs and escape

•        Political change: U.S.S.R., peace movements, racial conflict

•        Global awareness of poverty and suffering: Concert for Bangladesh

•        Financial: income royalties that still continue to beat all catalogue. Sales of personal property. Remastered catalog.

•        Entertainment media: cartoons, movies.

•        Performances: sold-out shows that were hysterical for audiences.

**Rumor of Paul's death--and John's murder.

•        Efforts to stop the Vietnam War.

•        Their relationships with wives, media figures: the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

•        Bringing guest artists (Clapton) to play.

•        Their decision not to tour again--and to fight in the studio, then to go separately and release music.

"The Beatles promoted a cultural revolution in the former Soviet Union that played a part in the demolition of communism in that part of the world," said British Cold War spy and documentarian Leslie Woodhead. "The Beatles were totally illegal… the kids thought, 'the Kremlin told us this is evil music but it's not true. It's lovely music! Maybe they've been lying to us about other things as well.' That had a very corrosive impact."

Album covers and images that changed art and merchandising

 

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$2.2 million dollar drum set at auction

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Concert for Bangladesh: global social relief

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THE BEATLES CONTRIBUTE £82 MILLION EVERY YEAR TO LIVERPOOL ECONOMY

A new report has valued the Beatles to be worth £82 million ($118 million) a year to Liverpool, the city’s local newspaper the Liverpool Echo reports.  

Thousands of fans from all over the world flock to the Fab Four’s birthplace every year to pay homage. Thanks to their devotion, the city employs over 2,300 people in what is described as the “Beatles-related economy”.

In an attempt to ensure the Beatles legacy is harnessed effectively, Mayor Joe Anderson commissioned a group of researchers from the University of Liverpool and John Moores University to put a figure on the group’s continued contribution to the city.

The report confirmed that the city can expect that contribution to continue for many more years as it’s growing by up to 15 percent a year.

http://www.economist.com/node/21698219

Musical biography

The story of Paul McCartney, no ear required

May 4th 2016, 17:31 BY D.H.

PAUL MCCARTNEY is pure music, the first singer and multi-instrumentalist with sex appeal who breathed melody. He lived in our speakers and on our screens, and wrote the soundtrack of much of the 20th century. “Paul McCartney” is, by comparison, fair and solidly researched, with only a few errors of fact. The author’s British class consciousness can be catty, but as a whole, it fits the Beatles’, and McCartney’s, story. At a net worth of $1.3 billion dollars, Sir Paul is perhaps the most spectacular example pulling oneself up by the bootstraps, going from manual labourer to superstar all before turning 21, and a national treasure for more than half a century since.

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My notes

When I look back at two cultural influences in my life, there are two events that I think totally shaped who I became and how and why. Of special significance for me is that I was a child of the '60s, growing up in some of the most creative and volatile eras that America has known. These two influences were both dramatic and violent in their outcome as well as overwhelming: the Beatles and the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy. I measure their impact on my life for several reasons right up until this very moment, and for what I believe, they will continue to influence me until my dying day. These two ideas: music and political themes—changed my outlook on society in every way possible. In particular, the Beatles—because EVERYTHING they did (as a group and then as solo artists)—was examined, analyzed, discussed, and thrashed out by us—in detail and with great conviction.

Four guys from Liverpool, England, who talked in a funny accent that vanished when they sang. I didn’t understand that—nor the fact that girls just screamed and shrieked over them. It was infuriating. But their music was something different—it was EXCITING in a way that I didn’t understand. And it wasn’t the same as the sugar-sweet singing that was a daily diet on whatever kind of cheap radio was in a car or at home. Not only their singing, but the way they looked—and kept changing their appearance. It was their clothes too: the Beatles influenced my clothes and how I looked. I wore “Beatle Boots” as a 5th grader, and it was the talk of the classroom. I didn’t know what was so important, but if ANYTHING these guys did could make me seem noticed, I was impressed.

If they said it was cool, then it was so. But it was the THOUGHT that they approved of it. And their music kept shifting. When they released “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” in 1966, I was stunned. NO ONE understood it, but we all talked about it. Even adults found it mesmerizing. When the “White Album” came out later, it was the same thing all over: what the hell had happened to them, but more importantly, what was the message for us? The fact that radio stations that I could access on my cheap hand-held AM transistor radio MIGHT play a Beatles song was like looking for water in the desert: you KNEW it might be there, but you had no idea of when it would be found.

The end of the band as a unit was like losing a trusted family member—and there were the hopes that they would someday reform just one more time. When they released “Abbey Road,” it was like the magic had been made complete once again. And this new thing called “FM radio” was around now—and it was amazing! It was both underground and contemporary—and they PLAYED the Beatles with a passion. But the only way to get access to FM radio was to hope that my parents somehow got the idea that music was cool—and my mother got a large stereo console unit. It was like a doorway to a higher realm. In 1968, “Hey Jude” came out, and it was on the radio for WEEKS at length. It was the ONLY song that mattered—and the fact that it was much longer than anything else at the time was worth the difference. When the Beatles did solo material (George and Paul were the first), we all bought it like it was food for our ears. We also had our critical views of who did what and how it compared to the original group.

We changed when they changed their hairstyle. Guys either refused and wore short hair or became long-hair followers. Hippies were part of the “this is going to be me” ideal of my upcoming teen years, and at 17, I just stopped going to a barber. I remember that when I went to high school that year, someone noticed it and nudged a classmate in disapproval—but I didn’t care. The BEATLES were my role models.

The news that George Harrison was playing a concert in New York in 1971 was phenomenal. Not that I could have afforded a ticket nor a way to go, but the IDEA that a Beatle was playing so close was so tantalizing. And I remember hearing from people who went how they responded when Bob Dylan came out on stage. If the crowd was pumped up at George and his pals, the site of Dylan drove them into a frenzy. So it was the FRIENDS of the Beatles that made us wild too.

The end—or the realization that it was all over—came for me when I heard that John Lennon was murdered. That was like killing Michelangelo, or maybe Da Vinci. You didn’t kill an artist—not someone who had won our hearts because he declared so many times that “All You Need is Love.” That was our hope: that the violence of the ‘60s would end, and along with it, the atrocity of men and women lost in Southeast Asia in the Vietnam War. We had lost one of our Great Heroes; one of our Voices. We lost one of our emotional and social godfathers. We had lost one of our most precious Designers of our future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4ED8AU9XxQ

Emily Warren Roebling - Bridge builder Extraordinaire

  

This story is dedicated to 14 young women who wanted a job in engineering. They were enrolled at a technical school in Montreal, Canada. They never graduated because a man who felt jealous of their potential opportunities thought that he would lose out to one of them. His answer: murder them.

This story is also dedicated to a woman who had the love and determination to learn the field of engineering at a time when women still were considered second-class citizens—and denied the right to vote because it was thought at that time their husbands had more knowledge about worldly matters. This is the story of Emily Warren Roebling—and how she changed my life.

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It really began on December 6th, 1989, when I was listening to National Public radio’s “Early Morning Edition” and heard the news about the murder of 14 young college women engineering students and wounding of eight others (four women, and four men who attempted to stop the attack) at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique. With all the publicity over the last few years, hearing the news about students being killed may seem like another senseless episode in American education—but this took place in Quebec, Canada.  Furthermore, there was a heinous motive for the slayings:  they were committed by Marc Lepine, an engineering student who did not want them to graduate and potentially compete with him for a job in the field.  Later, a letter was found on Lepine's body, revealing a virtual hit list of fifteen high-profile, high-power women. Among them were the first woman firefighter in Quebec, the first woman police captain in Quebec, a sportscaster, a bank manager, and the president of a teachers' union.  Though none of these women were ever targeted after the letter was found, the existence of the list itself brought to further light the rage Lepine bore towards women for daring to be leaders in society.

       The news shocked me, especially at the announcement of the killer’s confession for a motive.  I was not unaware of the concept of femicide; that is, the deliberate slaying of women, but the horrific idea that a man would use lethal force to keep a woman, or several women, from trying to achieve their academic merit unnerved me.  The thought reverberated from within:  he had committed murder for the sake of stopping a woman from receiving her education.  What was worse, it was in a domain that requires extensive critical thinking and planning skills, mathematical prowess, and visionary planning:  the field of engineering, which has been dominated by men.  This atrocity burned in my thoughts for days and kindled a memory of a story that I could not quite remember.  In my mind, I found myself trying to recall something that I had read years before in a 4^th-grade book, about a lady who had to undertake a monumental task.  I didn’t know her, aside from her married surname, but I knew what she had done:  in the face of great tragedy and setback, she had undertaken and finished the most impressive and dynamic feat of engineering the 19th-century world had seen.  The lady had finished a project that took the life of her father-in-law and crippled her famous husband:  she had supervised the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge.

      The Brooklyn Bridge still is a beautiful and brilliant structure of engineering.  When it was completed, it was hailed as the 8th Wonder of the Modern World, and the credit has mainly gone to the man who stepped in to complete a grand idea that was conceived by his father, another genius in the field.  The father, John Roebling, and the son, Col. Washington Roebling, both were masters of designing and undertaking to complete the logistics of large suspension bridges.  Sadly, John Roebling was injured on location by an accident on a pier while doing surveying during the preliminary planning phases of the Brooklyn Bridge and eventually succumbed to infection, and his son also suffered a career-ending, crippling injury while surveying an underwater excavation site.  When Washington Roebling was brought to the surface, disabled and wracked with deadly nitrogen bubbles in his bloodstream, the great plan to link Manhattan and Brooklyn was at its nadir.  But the Roebling family had one more member from whom to call upon, and she met the challenge with the firm determination that earned her the respect of the hard-working, tough Irish crews, as well as the cunning schemes of the New York Tammany political machine.  They would soon come to say with hard-won admiration, the name of Emily Roebling.

    Emily had grown up in a well-to-do good family on the banks of the Hudson River in New York, and she took seriously the idea that a woman was entitled to an education.  A married woman was not considered appropriate for law school, but when she enrolled, she applied herself to her studies with a sense of responsibility that earned her valedictorian honors.  More significantly, when her husband was carried to the home that he would be unable to leave (due to his illness), she was the only logical person who would be able to assume the awesome construction project that would link up the two boroughs.  In spite of having no previous engineering background (other than reading the textbooks of her elder brother), Emily was the only person who could act as a trusted liaison between her husband and the project foremen and crews--she had to clearly supervise, oversee and act totally in his behalf.  Furthermore, she had to learn the complex nature of building a suspension bridge while it was being built before her eyes.  Her training and engineering education had to be immediate, totally encompassing, and worthy of the men with whom she would associate.  In the 1880s, women were not considered anything more than capable of deserving the same rights by law as the criminally insane—and this judgment was handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court.  It was unheard of for a woman to be on a job site for so massive a project as the Brooklyn Bridge—but Emily was the person who Col. Roebling entrusted to do it.

    And she did.  When the bridge was completed, she was received and toasted at ceremonies around the world.  However, due to the social mores of the time, her husband got the lion’s share of the credit—it would have been improper for a woman to be thought of as more efficient and knowledgeable than her spouse.  Besides, he had the education—and from a fine school of engineering, from which his father also graduated, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  Emily took everything in stride, for she knew how much her role had mattered in the process—and so did the men in the field of engineering, especially abroad.  So, it was her life’s story and effort that I had heard years before, and this was the foundation of the connection that I felt for the victims in Montreal.  To have been killed because they were women—and to contemplate how great their achievements might have been—brought the thoughts of Emily Roebling to my mind.

    However…I didn’t know anything about her. This changed two years later when I found myself watching a documentary movie from WLIW, a Long Island, NY-based television station on the Brooklyn Bridge one fall evening in 1991.  I was amazed at the clarity of the film, which was done in 1982, and how smoothly the details fell into place.  I immediately placed a call—would they know if I could purchase a copy of the film?  They affirmed that it was available, and in a few weeks, I found more answers.  The director’s name would later become a household item in future documentaries:  Ken Burns.

    This obstacle only made me delve further into anything and everything I could connect with the Brooklyn Bridge and the Roebling family.  A public library in Matawan held another clue, in the form of a large book from a renowned author, David McCullough.  His works included an impressive biography of President Harry S. Truman, and I found myself leafing through his saga of The Great Bridge.  I took the book out on loan but overlooked much of the information I sought in McCullough's research (due to my own oversight).

    A few months later, I had a window of opportunity open to me, and I decided to go to the county public library of Monmouth to start more research.  On a chilly February day, I saw a short reference to Mrs. Washington Roebling, or as I would fondly think of her:  Emily.  There was nothing more than her name and date of birth.  When I saw them, it made me more determined than ever to someday pay tribute to her, and through her memory, to the unfulfilled dreams of the women from Canada.

Three more years went by, and the thoughts of the lady and the bridge seemed to be shelved in my mind.  They were dusted off with renewed vigor when I saw a high school librarian demonstrate to me the unique nature of a CD-ROM, for this particular disc held a data bank of historical biographies.  Would there be anything on an Emily Roebling? I asked.  The disc spun and turned up several items, but one caught my eye:  a book by a lady named Marilyn E. Weigold, entitled Silent Builder – Emily Warren Roebling and the Brooklyn Bridge.  Success!  Now all I had to do was find the publisher, contact them, and order myself a copy.  However, Time was still against me, because my letter came back as non-deliverable.  The firm had gone out of business, and there was nothing forwarded, nor was there anything currently in the phone directory.  I had hit a dead end.  But I still had a commitment to make to Emily and the memory of the slain women….

And so I turned to my hometown library.  Would they, I asked, have any idea of how I could find a copy of this book?  Yes, they said, three weeks later—it could be on loan from the Princeton Library.  I simply wanted to read more about Emily Roebling.  And so, my heart thumped with joy when my answering machine told me that the library had called, and the book was available for me.

I read it slowly and thoughtfully.  Emily’s life story was very motivating and inspiring, and there were even photos of her.  She possessed a firm, powerful jawline and chin, and in her later years, gave the air of a determined, serious diplomat or judge.  I had no doubt about her qualifications, but it was rewarding to finally be given a chance to learn about her.

As a secondary thought, in November, I tried to locate the author.  Mrs. Weigold had indicated an affiliation with Pace University in New York.  I had no idea where the school might be located, but it was worth a try.  When I reached their switchboard and told them my story, I was assured that my call would be forwarded to the history department—to the office of a Dr. Weigold, who was a member of the staff.  However, I only found her answering machine, to which I poured out my search-and-story.  Would she be able to recommend a store or location for the book?  Her answer came back with a phone call:  Yes, but since the book was now out-of-print, she would provide me a copy.  I couldn’t stop thanking her, for I felt even more than ever, that my search for Emily was drawing to a close.

I received the book the following March and allowed myself the luxury to make notations in it to emphasize key thoughts as I re-read it.  However, I still needed to make one last act.  In June 1996, I took a day off from work with my (ex) wife, Hillary, and went to New York City.  We took a subway train downtown, to lower Manhattan…got off near City Hall, and walked past Pace University, which I now know to be located at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.  On that fine sunny day, I happily walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, stopping for a moment to take a picture of a plaque that is affixed to the east tower of the bridge.  It was placed there on May 24, 1953, the 70th anniversary of its opening. 

It reads,

The Builders of the Bridge

Dedicated to the Memory of

Emily Warren Roebling

1843 - 1903

whose faith and courage helped her stricken husband

Col. Washington A. Roebling, C.E.

1837 – 1926

complete the construction of this bridge

from the plans of his father

John A. Roebling, C.E.

1806 – 1869

who gave his life to the bridge

“BACK OF EVERY GREAT WORK WE CAN FIND THE SELF-SACRIFICING DEVOTION OF A WOMAN.”

 I raised my camera and took photos of this plaque, for it was my way of saying, “thank you for ensuring my dedication.”  I still had more work to do, as I did not yet know the timeframe of the original incident that had led me to learn more about Emily:  the massacre of the women engineers.

     With that in mind, I began calling the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. and left messages.  I wasn’t sure if the murders at the engineering school had taken place in Montreal or Toronto, and I mistakenly tried to find an answer via e-mail at the latter’s website.  However, I tried once again last year, with the help of the Internet, and found a reply via the National Library of Canada, with a subsequent website.  Ten years of research had finally come to a peaceful end.

    And what did I learn from this?  Aside from the unflagging effort and commitment that I had kept alive within myself like a burning candle to honor the slain women, I have been inspired to limitless regions by the courage and strength of someone like Emily Warren Roebling.  There is still much that could be told about her, including the musical produced in 1983 entitled The Brooklyn Bridge, The Association of Business and Professional Women in Construction annual “Emily Warren Roebling award,” established in 1982, or the feature by the National Women’s Hall of Fame.  New York City also heralded her 140th birthday with a visual exhibition in 1983.

    However, a meaningful anniversary for me will take place on February 28th of each year.  My trip to the Monmouth County Public Library, where I renewed my search, took place that day in 1992.  I felt as though she had been insisting that I continue with my work:  the lady who built the Brooklyn Bridge, Emily Warren Roebling, died in the morning hours of February 28, 1903.

ADHD Learning Styles for children

 

How to Create Better Learning Experiences for ADHD Students by Understanding Their Learning Styles

Thanks to https://edgefoundation.org/2017/01/08/how-to-create-better-learning-experiences-for-adhd-students-by-understanding-learning-styles/

As they grow and develop, children depend on all of their senses to learn. However, researchers have long understood that a child learns better with one sense over the others. This is the child’s preferred learning style. The VAK learning model, developed in the 1920’s, identifies 3 primary learning styles – auditory, visual and kinesthetic. Understanding a child’s learning style can help parents and teachers create more effective and engaging learning experiences, especially for students with ADHD.

As Meghan Cooney at Study.com noted: 

Auditory learners learn best through talking and listening, visual learners do best with spatially organized information, kinesthetic or "hands-on learners" thrive when they are in experiential settings. No learning style is ”better” or ”worse” than the others, but learning experiences that take a child’s preferred style into account will optimally support his or her educational process. Not only that, learning experiences tend to be more engaging and hold a student’s attention better when presented with their preferred learning style in mind. This can be instrumental in helping ADHD students focus on their material.

In addition to general accommodations in the classroom for learners with ADHD, there are specific things teachers and parents can do that cater to the preferred learning style of these kids.

Below are some examples for each learning style.

• Auditory Learners

These children learn best by hearing things explained. They are highly attuned to voice tone, speed, volume, and inflection. Ways to make their learning experiences more engaging include:

Studying with a buddy that they can talk to and bounce ideas off of

Recording lectures and notes in the  classroom when possible

Using flashcards and reading the information aloud

Having the right level and type of auditory background when studying or learning

• Visual Learners

Visual learners respond best to things they can see in a form that makes it easy to recall and understand. Ideas to help leverage this preferred learning style include:

Having information presented in charts, maps, diagrams or other visual displays

Taking written notes that include diagrams to organize the information

Using flashcards as a visual cue to help retain information

• Kinesthetic Learners

Kinesthetic learners are attracted to learning activities that involve action, movement, and hands-on experimentation. Tools that help them in the classroom and at home include:

Giving them the opportunity to engage in physical activities after school

Allowing to non-disruptive activities in the classroom to help them retain information, such as using a stress ball, doodling or tapping a hand or foot

Allowing the child to take breaks, stand, change positions and move around while learning

Using role play as part of a learning experience when possible

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Knowing a child’s learning style can make a big difference in their success at school. To help discover those learning styles, therapist and ADHD coach Rory Stern, PsyD., recommends that parents and teachers take time to observe and evaluate what senses a child relies on most when learning. Once parents and teachers understand the way a child learns, teaching methods can be adjusted to make learning experiences more engaging and effective.

Flying Monsters with David Attenborough (2011)

Indigo (and Crystal) Children are Different Learners for the 21st Century

 

(Dedicated to Morgan and Angela, in Boaz, AL, and to Ayla from Boston.)

This is more of a social commentary, but it is deeply relevant to issues in education and teaching. 

It is time to talk more about Indigo Children...and perhaps later, Indigo Adults.  Yes, we are real, we are here, and we (as adults) have been walking on this world for many years.  As Time itself becomes more and more significant regarding socio-economic, political, and geo-physical changes on Earth, it is more important than ever that we are recognized as being DIFFERENT in our values, our sensitivities, and our purpose for knowing what and why we are here to teach and share information.  

I would also say by my own background as an adult Indigo to educators and those in the field of education:  "We do not learn like you, we do not follow your traditional ways and methods, and we do not care to be judged nor evaluated by your out-of-balance standards that have been enforced by fear, intimidation, and a broad lack of awareness on your part.  Do not expect us to teach our own in the ways that you do--and do not think you will prevent us from making our efforts known to those who need to hear them and learn."

From http://www.halexandria.org/dward035.htm
Variously called the Indigo and Violet children, the Children of Oz, or the Sun Eyed Children of the Marvelous Dawn, this generation of young people seems to be a new species of humanity arising on Earth today.  They think differently, their emotional bodies process feelings differently, their energy bodies are capable of holding stronger soul vibrations, and they have a new vision to share.  They do not fit into mainstream society. Many of them appear to have special psychic and healing abilities, and [they] need special support to control and develop these gifts.

 The Indigo children generally seem to range in age from the teens into the thirties, while the Violet children are younger, and carry a different mandate.  Some of you reading this comprise the Indigo generation, and you are birthing a new species of kids. The Violet kids do not need to read any of this to know what’s real.  They are linked mind to mind in a global psychic link-up that reflects a new fifth-dimensional morphogenetic grid on Earth. As with the hundredth monkey phenomenon [1] they are the first to step into what Sri Aurobindo envisioned as “supramental consciousness”, which will eventually become available to the rest of us also, if we choose it.
There is a new “root race” forming on Earth!  Perhaps some of you reading this are being called to provide emotional support, or to provide guidance in “training” them, or to provide safe havens for them to come together, or to support their mission by attuning with them through their global mind-link.

Richard Giles, using the perspective of Astrology has his own take on the Indigo Children.
 “Among other attributes, the children relate easily to the rush of images of modern movies and communications and have no trouble understanding everything -- their information processing abilities sometimes breathtaking.  They are very sensitive children in tune with the pace of technological and future change, have few self-worth issues, absolutely no fear of authority, frustrated by systems that are non-creative and ritual oriented, and they want to do things in new and better ways.  They sometimes seem antisocial, and do not respond to guilt-inducing discipline techniques in school or at home. [emphasis added]  

 “Many of these children are gifted souls. They combine the weird, inventive and futuristic energies of Uranus with the inspirational energies of Neptune. They have all sorts of patterns by which their behaviors are indicated - probably the most obvious is what we call ADHD or ADD.  However, they ought not be diagnosed as hyperactive, dyslexic and suffering from neurological disorders.  The astrologer Donna Cunningham in her excellent article entitled The Ritalin Generation, describes them as children who may be ‘wired’ differently from the rest of us.  She suggests that rather than having ADD and being described as hyperactive, it is more likely the previous generations (the rest of us) are to be considered hypoactive by comparison (Mountain Astrologer, April/May 2001).  

“The children elected as ‘Indigo’ by authors Carroll and Tober, in their book, The Indigo Children [Hay House, 1999] may be the ones who can best adjust to the future as it’s forming now with its vast high tech and mind-expanding possibilities.  Only they have a nervous system wired for the immense unfolding of the next few decades, processing and acting upon astoundingly large amounts of information in very short spaces of time. This is why the new movie and TV advertisements don’t leave them mind-staggered like they do many of us.  The Indigo Children can be described as creative, independent, brilliant and self-governing.  Unfortunately, it also means they do not fit in with today’s education systems which to many of these children, seem as unfulfilling as a discarded old piece of rag and as frustratingly slow as can be with non-responsive, entrenched authoritarianism.

 “Many then are seen as difficult and overactive and are drugged out with Ritalin, etc., and other pharmaceutical prescriptions to keep them limited to the older standards. Give them enlightened teachers who don’t have issues with authority themselves and they will thrive. Lock their minds up and they will rebel or refuse to cooperate and drop out.  

 “Identifying this combination child is the first step (not all born from 1988 have every characteristic).  Cooperating with them is next. They will inherit the environmental predicament made by today’s leaders as their big issue being called upon to resolve it. They need support, understanding, creativeness and patience.”

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (video & music)

Dedicated to ALL the hungry little caterpillar boys and girls who grow into wonderful amazing butterflies.

David Attenborough Presents: Hummingbirds - Jewelled Messengers | Free D...

Parts of Speech and language examples

 

Journey to the Edge of the Universe (video)

Geometry in 4th grade: SING it. DANCE it!!

(By the way: THIS is how you teach kinetic learners. Not that all these kids are in that group, but whatever gets their interest is what works, right?)

Pay attention when I SAY so! It makes a world of difference!!

The Value of Literature, Part II

 

This book is one reason that literature should be used for ANY research paper:  it covers such a wide range of course material and topics.  And that's what literature should do:  it broadens our views of the substance of life experiences.  Being able to apply this to a paper or essay should be fundamental in education as well as presented in a paper: "what did society {or the reader} learn, why did it matter, how was the response handled in modern times (if it WAS resolved; if not, has it occurred again?), where ELSE does this happen, and who was involved?"

The timeliness of this book can not be overlooked.  Have things changed, especially in the food processing business?  That depends on what "change" has taken place--especially in view of the millions of pounds of recalled meats, chemicals and drugs in American foods, and the way our food is managed.  From Amazon.com's review:

Upton Sinclair’s muckraking masterpiece The Jungle centers on Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant working in Chicago’s infamous Packingtown. Instead of finding the American Dream, Rudkus and his family inhabit a brutal, soul-crushing urban jungle dominated by greedy bosses, pitiless con-men, and corrupt politicians.

While Sinclair’s main target was the industry’s appalling labor conditions, the reading public was most outraged by the disgusting filth and contamination in American food that his novel exposed. As a result, President Theodore Roosevelt demanded an official investigation, which quickly led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug laws. For a work of fiction to have such an impact outside its literary context is extremely rare. (At the time of The Jungle’s publication in 1906, the only novel to have led to social change on a similar scale in America was Uncle Tom’s Cabin.)

Today, The Jungle remains a relevant portrait of capitalism at its worst and an impassioned account of the human spirit facing nearly insurmountable challenges.

 Give me a course of study and I'll easily provide you with the literary material that would comprise a thesis or grounds for a research topic/paper:

1.  History: legacy of humanity/civilizations/societies
2.  Psychology: heights and depths of human psyche
3.  Zoology: study of animals (and relationships to humans)
4.  Sociology: social problems and other cultures
5.  Geography: other places and habitats; environmental issues
6.  Math: reason and deduction
7.  Speech: communication
8. Art/music: balance of form, rhythm, and structure
9.  Science: laws of nature and cause-and-effect
9.  Marketing/Business:  Business/economic strategies

Analyzing and interpreting literature helps develop critical thinking skills.  The power to analyze problems and make convincing written and oral presentations is a major quality of leadership and general excellence.

The Value of Literature: Life Lessons that teach values & cause/effect

Why study literature?  Why should I care what someone (dead, most likely) has written?  How--or why--does it concern me--or anyone else?  (And why do I put samples on this site?)

Excellent questions.  Here's your answers--or some of them (for now):

* Dynamics of literature show our best and worst as testimonies of society over the legacy and history of Mankind (as we know it).

* Enables us to recognize achievement of human dreams and struggles from places and times apart from our own.

* Offers valuable testimonies about life experiences that broaden our knowledge.

* Links us with varied base of culture, philosophy, and religious values that comprise our beliefs and ideals.

* Provide resource tools of perspective by using our imagination in ways that a computer or television set can NOT do but our brain is capable:  literature sensitizes us with interest, concern, tension, excitement, hope, fear, regret, humor, and sympathy.

* Literature helps shape our judgments through comparison and perception of good and evil (cause-and effect); options, decisions, outcomes.

* Literature teaches us about human nature:  Perceptions, feelings, lives, patterns of human existence that are timeless and consistent; motivations that have shaped and altered society for better or worse.

Therefore, literature makes us THINK and stretch our ability to do so!  

(That's called "extrapolation" and "juxtaposition" in vocabulary terms; go look them up and see what they mean.)

Things you never knew: the Great Lakes

1. Lake Superior is actually not a lake at all, but an inland sea.2. All of the four other Great Lakes, plus three more the size of Lake Erie, would fit inside Lake Superior.3. Isle Royale is a massive island surrounded by Lake Superior. Within this island are several smaller lakes. Yes, that’s a lake on a lake.4. Despite its massive size, Lake Superior is an extremely young formation by Earth’s standards (only 10,000 years old).5. There is enough water in Lake Superior to submerge all of North and South America in 1 foot of water.6. Lake Superior contains 3 quadrillion gallons of water (3,000,000,000,000,000). All five of the Great Lakes combined contain 6 quadrillion gallons.7. Contained within Lake Superior is a whopping 10% of the world’s fresh surface water.8. It’s estimated there are about 100 million lake trout in Lake Superior. That’s nearly one-fifth of the human population of North America!9. There are small outlets through which water leaves Lake Superior. It takes two centuries for all the water in the lake to replace itself.10. Lake Erie is the fourth-largest Great Lake in surface area, and the smallest in depth. It’s the 11th largest lake on the planet.11. There is alleged to be a 30- to 40-foot-long “monster” in Lake Erie named Bessie. The earliest recorded sighting goes back as early as 1793.12. Water in Lake Erie replaces itself in only 2.6 years, which is notable considering the water in Lake Superior takes two centuries. 13. The original publication of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax contained the line, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.”Fourteen years later, the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Seuss to make the case that conditions had improved. He removed the line.14. Not only is Lake Erie the smallest Great Lake when it comes to volume, but it’s surrounded by the most industry.Seventeen metropolitan areas, each with populations of more than 50,000, border the Lake Erie basin.15. During the War of 1812, the U.S. beat the British in a naval battle called the Battle of Lake Erie, forcing them to abandon Detroit.16. The shoreline of all the Great Lakes combined equals nearly 44% of the  circumference  of the planet. 17. If not for the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron might be considered one lake.Hydrologically speaking, they have the same mean water level and are considered one lake.18. The Keystone State was one of the largest and most luxurious wooden steamships running during the Civil War.In 1861, it disappeared. In 2013, it was found 30 miles northeast of Harrisville under 175 feet of water.19. Goderich Mine is the largest salt mine in the world. Part of it runs underneath Lake Huron, more than 500 meters underground. 20. Below Lake Huron, there are  9,000-year-old animal-herding structures used by prehistoric people from when the water levels were significantly lower.21. There are massive sinkholes in Lake Huron that have high amounts of sulfur and low amounts of oxygen, almost replicating the conditions of Earth’s ancient oceans 3 million years ago. Unique ecosystems are contained within them.22. Lake Huron is the second largest among the Great Lakes, and the fifth largest in the world. 23.  In size, Lake Michigan ranks third among the Great Lakes, and sixth among all freshwater lakes in the world.24. Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake that is entirely within the borders of the United States.25. The largest fresh water sand dunes in the world line the shores of Lake Michigan.26. Because water enters and exits Lake Michigan through the same path, it takes 77 years longer for the water to replace itself than in Huron, despite their similarity in size and depth. (Lake Michigan: 99 years, Lake Huron: 22 years)27. When the temperature of Lake Michigan is below freezing, this happens. 28. Within Lake Michigan there is a “triangle” with a similar reputation to the Bermuda Triangle, where a large amount of “strange disappearances” have occurred. There have also been alleged UFO sightings.29. Singapore, Mich., is a ghost town on the shores of Lake Michigan that was buried under sand in 1871. Because of severe weather conditions and a lack of resources due to the need to rebuild after the great Chicago fire, the town was lost completely.30. In the mid-19th century, Lake Michigan had a pirate problem. Their booty: timber. In fact, the demise of Singapore is due in large part to the rapidly deforested area surrounding the town.31. Jim Dreyer swam across Lake Michigan in 1998 (65 miles), and then in 2003, he swam the length of Lake Michigan (422 miles).32. Lake Michigan was the location of the first recorded “Big Great Lakes disaster,” in which a steamer carrying 600 people collided with a schooner delivering timber to Chicago. Four hundred and fifty people died. 33. Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes in surface area, and second smallest in depth. It’s the  14th largest lake on the planet.34. The province of Ontario was named after the lake, and not vice versa.35. In 1804, a Canadian warship, His Majesty’s Ship Speedy, sank in Lake Ontario. In 1990, wreck hunter Ed Burtt managed to find it. Only, he isn’t allowed to recover any artifacts until a government-approved site to exhibit them is found. He’s still waiting. 36. Babe Ruth hit his first major league home run at Hanlan’s Point Stadium in Toronto. It landed in Lake Ontario and is believed to still be there.37. A lake on Saturn’s moon Titan is named after Lake Ontario.

Welcome to Holiday (Horror Day) High School! (A funny look at Grades 9-12)

On Amazon.com

(PS: After our 50th reunion last year, I stopped by and gave a copy to the current principal.

He had NO idea of these stories. Well...NOW he has homework!!)

 

 

 Welcome to a new school year! On Amazon.com Kindle or paperback.

Welcome to “Horror Day” High School.

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Meet the Class of ‘67: it’s a typical teenage crowd—with a European, 7’0”, 110-lb. albino “vampire” who sucks the juice out of oranges through a straw, a hairy wolf-boy who howls over tests, the Hulk-in-football pads, a pink lollipop-Valentine girl, a Brainiac, a Halloween Goth-witch, a Christmas surfer girl, and a guy with green skin—and hair!

👻👻👻

It’s really “Holiday High School” in Las Vegas. These are the memoirs of “the Dirt Devils,” the weird-and-wild-ones who “did it their way” enroute to graduation before the fame, notoriety, and legacies of success in business as adults—but not before they turned the world of education on its head.

The boys love monster movies at the drive-in shows, putting cars on top of the auditorium roof for fun, and scaring the opposing football teams with weird cheers—and their appearances. The girls like to dress according to their favorite holiday colors—and keeping up with the mischief.

Join them as they craft bizarre school songs, smoke cigars in empty classrooms, engage in spitball-straw cannon fights, and overall, leave the administration hanging from the ceiling in dismay.

Life skills at any age

 

Inside the Secret World of the Manta Ray | Free Documentary Nature

Prehistoric Planet JWE2 - Chapter 1 "Ice Worlds"