Saturday, June 15, 2019

The Arcata, CA, Kinetic Sculpture Race on land and sea

Hi, kids! Well...in a place far, far away (well, California), there is a strange little town where a lot of artists and craftspeople live...especially those who know how to do welding with a blow-torch. And they have a very strange way of celebrating the end of the long rainy winter: they have a bicycle race! 
But the thing is, the bicycles they use...have to be able to transform with floating supports so that they can travel on the water too. It's the Kinetic Sculpture Race.

Here are some of the..."contestants." I saw some of these...and it was strange!

Alaska final exam (8th grade): Monitored survival in the field for science credits

Note: Yes, I get excited about the 49th state. I spent a year there.
This is about a final exam for 8th grade students in Alaska. They spend 48 hours on an island to finish the class--and have to forage for food--AND cook it. This story is also dedicated to the 12th grade students in Finland, who lead the world in education. They have to design a virus AND a cure for their science final exam. This is also dedicated to all the education publishers and all the people who insist that "standardized tests are the best way to evaluate progress." Yeah, sure. That's why I wrote a book about creative education. Go sell your ideas to someone else who doesn't have the experience or know better to question why. The same for you administrators who talk about measuring results. Tell me about "curriculum and state standards."

I was stationed on the Aleutian Island of Adak--and no trees except for those planted by visitors in a small area--from 1977-1978. I went to Anchorage for a break. I know about the 100+mph winds: the "williwaws." They could pick you up off the ground for a good four feet if you were small enough and opened your coat like a sail. I ate caribou, and halibut: fish the size of a small car that were hauled up in boats that trawled for them. I saw the midnight sun and the midnight day, and the Northern Lights. I saw live volcanoes just miles away and no fast way off the island if they erupted. I saw bald eagles fly off with two swoops of their wings. Alaska is an amazing place--and it's not for those who want an easy life.

I met someone on Adak from my Long Island, NY, high school (Class of '71), who later adopted a girl from Nanchang, the same city in China where I found a job as a teacher. No such thing as coincidences, eh? I also went to Anchorage and drove on the Al-Can Highway going to Canada. Not easy. And I saw the lost town that was swallowed up in the great earthquake of 1964. I remembered reading about that as a kid after it happened.

If you want to REALLY know about this amazing wilderness, read travel writer Peter Jenkins' book, "Looking for Alaska" on Amazon.com. He even took his family there. Or if you like fictional/non-fictional history, read James Michener's "Alaska."

From https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/06/alaskan-science-class-exam-wilderness-survival/590890/

BACK ISLAND, ALASKA —   “Oh my god, I feel like a murderer,” exclaimed 13-year-old Bonnie Bright. “I’ve killed so many things on this trip.”

Sporting pigtails, glasses, and Xtratufs—the brown neoprene boots affectionately called “the Alaskan sneaker”—Bright didn’t look like a serial killer. Yet in her hands was her latest victim: a chubby sea cucumber the color of burnt umber. Bright cleaved the slippery echinoderm down the middle, then removed several white slivers of meat and cooked them over a fire she’d built. It was time for breakfast.

All around her, on the rocky gray beach, 19 of Bright’s classmates were performing similar drills. In total, the Coast Guard had dropped 103 Schoenbar Middle School students—the majority of Ketchikan, Alaska’s eighth graders—on six nearby uninhabited islands to survive for two days and nights last May. I’d accompanied Bright’s group to Back Island, where, like the rest of their classmates, students had each brought nothing more than a 10-by-15-foot sheet of plastic, a sleeping bag, clothing, and whatever additional supplies (rice, knives, foil, twine, matches) they could fit into a 12-ounce metal coffee can.

“The survival trip,” as it’s known in this isolated island community, has occurred annually for 45 years. It serves not only as the students’ final science exam but also, more importantly, as preparation for growing up in the unforgiving wilderness they call home.

Sitting at a square table in Schoenbar’s library last year, Stephen Kinney, the mind behind the trip, told me that he had no idea it would become such a long-standing tradition. The amiable retired educator said his main goal had simply been for students to enjoy school (because growing up, he never had).
“Learning should be fun,” Kinney, 77, explained. (He and everyone else in this story are identified with their age as of last year’s survival trip.) “There needs to be some kind of a hook. [Students] need to be involved in their education.” He recalled the time he found a dead sea lion and brought it to his science class for dissection; decades later, students still mention it when they see him around town. “That’s a really critical piece of education: to catch students’ imagination, to grab them,” he said.

Kinney, who grew up in Maine, moved to Ketchikan in 1965 to teach eighth-grade science at the brand-new Schoenbar Middle School. The lifelong outdoorsman was surprised by how many of his students didn’t know basic survival skills, such as how to build a shelter or start a fire. So in 1973, along with a fellow teacher, Don Knapp, he brought a group of eighth graders to Settlers Cove, a state recreation area 18 miles north of Ketchikan. “Our goal was to have them live off the land,” Kinney said. “To realize that the land provides if you understand it.”

That was the Ketchikan students’ very first survival trip. In the years that followed, more students and teachers joined. When Kinney and Lyle Huntley, another eighth-grade teacher who’d become the trip’s co-organizer, both transferred to the seventh grade, they brought the concept with them. They launched an annual two-night camping trip that taught basic outdoor education in preparation for the big eighth-grade trip the following year.

Today, both grades spend the last six to eight weeks of the school year on a Southeast Alaskan science unit—environmental science in seventh grade, and safety and survival in eighth grade—that culminates with each grade’s much-anticipated overnight adventure. (While students aren’t required to go on the trips, the majority do. The school does not allow students who have significant behavioral issues or who are failing three or more classes to attend.) Other teachers integrate the themes into their curriculum at the end of the school year, too: For their final English project, for example, the eighth graders must choose a book set in Alaska.

“It’s so Ketchikan,” Kinney says. “I mean, Ketchikan is living outdoors, is hiking, is fishing, is boating, is being out there. And so learning to do it safely makes a lot of logical sense, but also was a lot of fun.”

On a crisp sunny day last spring, the U.S. Coast Guard ferried Ketchikan’s eighth graders to their respective islands. Each group consisted of approximately 20 students (separated by gender), one teacher leader, and three or four parent chaperones. (For safety, the adults had access to cellphones and radios—the kids did not.)

On Back Island, the leader was 29-year-old Jamie Karlson, a sprightly music teacher with a pixie cut and a quick laugh. Right away, she directed the students to find shelter. In groups of four, they headed to the woods and employed techniques they’d learned in class: draping plastic sheets over twine strung between evergreens, and wrapping rocks along the edges to weight them down. Shelter secured, they played cards, gossiped, and hid from one another during a round of sardines, exhilarated with the freedom of being outdoors on a school day.
Later in the afternoon, Karlson blew her whistle three times, signaling the students to assemble on the beach. “You have 10 minutes to collect tinder, kindling, and fuel, and then it’s time to gather food,” she said.

Karlson wanted the students to begin searching for food several hours before that evening’s 8:08 p.m. low tide, explaining that “it’s best to forage things as they're getting uncovered.” Since Southeast Alaska has some of the biggest tides in the world, changing as much as 25 feet in six hours, each year’s survival trip is timed around lower-than-average “minus tides,” which provide the best opportunities for foraging.

The girls scattered, gathering wood and old-man’s beard, a pale-green lichen that makes a good fire starter. One of the chaperones, Tony Yeisley, approached his daughter Savannah. In his hands was an unruly clump of dried moss, cedar, and seagrass. “That’s going to light up like a Roman candle,” he told his daughter with a grin. An easygoing plumber who plays the electric guitar, Yeisley had already been on four survival trips: his own, 34 years prior, and three of his four older children’s. This trip, with his youngest, could be his last.

When it came time to forage, the students seemed unsure how to begin. They cautiously fanned toward the tideline, scanning for anything that looked edible. Gabriella Mas decided to look for limpets, tiny marine snails that cling to intertidal rocks. But about 15 seconds into her hunt, she shouted, “There’s none!” Karlson called out, “They’re tricky; look closer to the water.” A few moments later, Mas exclaimed to her partner, “Oh my god, there’s so many here. There’s like a million—use your knife!”
Limpets, easy to spot and pry from their perches, turned out to be the protein of choice for many students’ first meal. Most of the girls boiled them with rice and bouillon cubes from their coffee cans, along with a variety of sea lettuces salvaged from the shore. (One lettuce called “sugar rack” was unanimously declared to sound better than it tasted.)

On the horizon, seals peeked out of the water, and a humpback whale swam by with her calf. Enormous bald eagles skirred overhead. The girls relaxed quietly around the fire, or in their shelters, before tucking into their sleeping bags at 10 p.m., just as the last rays of light faded from the sky.

The first Alaskan city along the famed Inside Passage, Ketchikan is known for several things: commercial fishing (77 million pounds of salmon, halibut, and other seafood passed through its docks in 2017, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service), rich Native American culture (it’s home to the biggest collection of totem poles in the state), and cruise ships (more than 1 million passengers visit each summer).
It’s also famous for its “liquid sunshine.” Located in the 16.8 million acre Tongass National Forest, the largest remaining temperate rain forest in the world, the region’s lush mountains and streams are fed by an average of 152 inches of rain each year. (By comparison, neighboring Seattle averages 37 inches.) Strong winds are common too; in 2018, a winter storm clocked gusts of 112 mph.

While the land area of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough (Alaska’s administrative equivalent of a county) is larger than Connecticut, it has just 13,754 residents. When considering both land and water, a mere 0.1 percent of the borough is inhabited, according to Jonathan Lappin, an associate planner for the borough.

This combination of extreme weather and extreme remoteness is why many view survival education as a vital part of Ketchikan’s curriculum. Sam Pflaum, a 29-year-old electrical worker and commercial fisherman, told me that the eighth-grade trip was “the most useful thing” he did in school, saying: “It probably has saved my life.”

He cited the night of December 27, 2012, as an example. While he was on his way home to Ketchikan, the pull cord snapped off his boat’s engine. It was nearly dark, so Pflaum and his companion decided to spend the night on the beach. In the 15 minutes of daylight that remained, buffeted by wind, rain, and snow, they managed to light a fire and set up a shelter—skills Pflaum had learned a decade prior. Despite experiencing 50-mile-per-hour gusts, a foot of snow, and hypothermia, they made it through the night.

To Pflaum, the survival trip is an indispensable part of growing up in Ketchikan. The skills acquired, he explained, are “not something that just grows dust in the back of your brain”; they’re something many residents use. “[In] a lot of places, the wilderness is somewhat canned—it’s in a park or whatever—but up here this place is still pretty wild,” he said. “It’s the most beautiful place on Earth, but it will kill you.”

The sun rose at 4:30 a.m. on the survival trip’s second day. At 7:30 a.m., Karlson roused the students; low tide was a little more than an hour away, and they needed to scavenge their breakfast. Hungrier and more confident than they’d been the day before, the girls were ready to expand their boundaries beyond limpets. The husky sea cucumbers were tempting, but the young survivalists had no idea how to turn them into food.
The chaperone Brett Summers took charge. Summers, a lifelong Ketchikan resident who was there with his daughter Piper, wore Dickies jeans under his Xtratufs and a baseball cap over his black ponytail. As several students gathered around, he pulled a knife from his belt loop and cut a six-inch cucumber open. A gush of seawater poured out, revealing its spindly guts. The girls peppered Summers with questions and concerns: “Ugh, why is that happening?” “Is that his butthole?” “It looks like spaghetti!” “Does that hurt?” His response: “Eat it—it won’t kill you.”

Hunger, indeed, soon vanquished squeamishness. Pairs of girls ventured off to different parts of the island; within 10 minutes, they pranced back to camp with their prey draped across their arms.

Karlson, who jokingly referred to the cucumbers as her “breakfast bacon,” fluttered between groups, answering questions and observing dynamics. She would, eventually, have to grade each student in 10 categories, including fire building, shelter arrangement, staying dry, cooking food, common sense, and attitude. “It’s fun to see them out here in a totally different environment,” she told me. “They have to work together in ways they probably never would in a classroom.”

All told, the morning’s haul was impressive: In addition to limpets and sea cucumbers, the girls tracked down gumboots, rock scallops, urchins, red rock crab, and tiny shrimp. They had also grown more adventurous with their recipes; one group even created seaweed “wraps” filled with rice and sea cucumber. One student, Makena Johansen, admitted that foraging was easier than she thought it would be, and that the sea cucumbers tasted better than she’d imagined. “Yeah,” added Wileena Baghoomian, another student; “At first they were gross, but now they’re kinda good.”

The rest of the day was spent on a fire-building contest, a hand-built stretcher race, a talent show, and, of course, more foraging. Despite their growling stomachs, the students’ morale remained high. Many conversations centered around food—one student, Julia Spigai, said she’d never again forgo a box of leftovers at a restaurant—but they didn’t complain much.
They seemed to understand that the discomfort was part of the 45-year-old rite of passage their friends, siblings, and parents had all completed. “They’re preparing you for living in Alaska so you know you’re not gonna die,” Savannah Yeisley said matter-of-factly. “A lot of people don’t think they could get stranded, but it happens.”

Around the campfire that night, the chaperones actually lamented the unusual abundance of sun; they worried the good weather was making the trip less challenging for the kids. “It’s not as much of a survival trip in this weather,” said Todd Bright, a stay-at-home dad who had been on two prior trips (his own, in 1987, and his older son’s). “Out here you’re not going to starve—it’s the rain and cold you’ve got to worry about.”

That tough Alaskan attitude permeates the culture of the survival trip, and is shared by students, parents, and even those responsible for orchestrating the event. “You can’t help but think of all the things that could go wrong—but they haven’t,” says Sherilynn Boehlert, the principal of Schoenbar Middle School. “They’re going to be hungry, and they’re going to be fine.”

In this age of helicopter parenting and standardized exams that require teaching to the test, it is hard to believe Ketchikan’s survival trip has, well, survived for so long. Yet despite the massive commitment involved—especially on the part of teachers, who aren’t paid extra for their time—no one seems to question the importance of the trip, or the likelihood that it’ll continue for another four decades.

Talk to people from Ketchikan for long enough, and they will invariably recall their own trip: the rain and wind, the sweet Dungeness crabs, the after-dark incidents that caused the trips to stop being coed (everyone wants to take credit for that). Kinney, who’s probably been on more survival trips than anyone, tells vivid stories of eighth-grade girls skinning an octopus on a tree branch, the chaperone who brought—and slaughtered—a chicken one year, or the time it snowed “three to five” inches during the trip. In this town, the survival trip is education, yes, but it’s also history, community, and tradition.

“Education constantly needs to go back to where the real world is, and tie what you're learning into what really life is all about,” Kinney said. “That's a part of why the survival trip strikes such a rich chord with people. Students learn by doing—by seeing life.”

Sunday, May 26, 2019

The GOAT of the NBA: the all-time best ever

A short video clip for sports fans. I know there's a lot of debate about the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in the NBA and who was better. I certainly think Bill Russell was a champion player, teammate, and legend. But for the record, just watch Wilt Chamberlain MOVE Bill Russell by just using his forearm--and strength. Watch Russell fight for balance and position. I have a lot of other reasons to be a Wilt fan--especially because so many (close to 90) records still are intact--50 years after Chamberlain retired. By the way, the record for rebounds in a game (55) is held by Wilt--against Russell's Celtics. And I grew up in Wilt's era. I saw him on TV. He was unstoppable--against top opponents like Abdul-Jabbar, Willis Reed, and Nate Thurmond.
Rules were changed because of Wilt: goal-tending (he would go so high up for shots that the refs didn't believe it possible), widening the lane (6 to 12 feet), not entering the lane after shooting a free throw (Wilt used to take a running leap from the line and dunk). 
By the way: Wilt NEVER fouled out of a game. EVER. And he averaged 48 minutes.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Elementary School in Japan: quite different!

I liked this video very much for social studies and social comments about teaching, education, foreign cultures, and how they differ from our lifestyles here in the U.S. I spent two-plus years in China and Japan, and although I only visited schools in China, I found it very interesting. I liked the opportunity here to see how young students learn in Japan.

For my students, I asked them to consider the following ideas:
* How are schools different in Japan from the U.S.? Be specific.
* From those differences, why do you think they work?
* Which differences do you think would be useful in our country? Be specific when you say "why" for your answers.
* What are some of the main ideas being taught in Japanese elementary schools? How do the students like these ideas?



Saturday, May 11, 2019

Black holes & the End of the Universe--very cool!

You're going to love the part about the end of the black holes. Special guest comments by Stephen Hawking during that moment.

Sunday, May 5, 2019

The deadly and amazing Japanese Puffer fish

Fugu: The fish more poisonous than cyanide

(This article is presented by me because (1) I lived in Japan and China, and I have eaten some strange things like sea worms--but not ever as dangerous as this, and (2) it's the kind of cool educational idea that can make for a great class report or presentation. But...there's a bonus feature: I admire this creature for ANOTHER reason: its skill at building an underwater art sculpture. See the video below at the bottom: 


The Japanese delicacy fugu, or blowfish, is so poisonous that the smallest mistake in its preparation could be fatal. But Tokyo's city government is planning to ease restrictions that allow only highly trained and licensed chefs to serve the dish.
Kunio Miura always uses his special knives to prepare fugu - wooden-handled with blades tempered by a swordsmith to a keen edge. Before he starts work in his kitchen they are brought to him by an assistant, carefully stored in a special box.
Miura-san, as he is respectfully known, has been cutting up blowfish for 60 years but still approaches the task with caution. A single mistake could mean death for a customer.
Fugu is an expensive delicacy in Japan and the restaurants that serve it are among the finest in the country. In Miura-san's establishment a meal starts at $120 (£76) a head, but people are willing to pay for the assurance of the fugu chef licence mounted on his wall, yellowed now with age. He is one of a select guild authorised by Tokyo's city government to serve the dish.
When he begins work the process is swift, and mercifully out of sight of the surviving fugu swimming in their tank by the restaurant door.
First he lays the despatched fish, rather square of body with stubby fins, on its stomach and cuts open the head to removes its brain and eyes.
They are carefully placed in a metal tray marked "non-edible". Then he removes the skin, greenish and mottled on the top and sides, white underneath, and starts cutting at the guts.
"This is the most poisonous part," he says pulling out the ovaries. But the liver and intestines are potentially lethal too. "People say it is 200 times more deadly than cyanide."


Twenty-three people have died in Japan after eating fugu since 2000, according to government figures. Most of the victims are anglers who rashly try to prepare their catch at home. A spokesman for the Health and Welfare Ministry struggles to think of a single fatality in a restaurant, though last year a woman was hospitalised after eating a trace of fugu liver in one of Tokyo's top restaurants - not Miura-san's.
Tetrodotoxin poisoning has been described as "rapid and violent", first a numbness around the mouth, then paralysis, finally death. The unfortunate diner remains conscious to the end. There is no antidote.
"This would be enough to kill you," Miura-san says, slicing off a tiny sliver of fugu ovary and holding it up. Then he carefully checks the poisonous organs on the tray, making sure he has accounted for every one, and tips them into a metal drum locked with a padlock. They will be taken to Tokyo's main fish-market and burned, along with the offcuts from other fugu restaurants.
Miura-san's skill is therefore highly prized. Fugu chefs consider themselves the elite of Japan's highly competitive culinary world. He started as an apprentice in a kitchen at the age of 15. Training lasts at least two years but he was not allowed to take the practical test to get a licence until he was 20, the age people become a legal adult in Japan. A third of examinees fail.


So proposals by Tokyo's city government to relax the rules have been met with an outcry from qualified chefs. Coming into effect in October, they would allow restaurants to serve portions of fugu that they have bought ready-prepared off-site.
"We worked hard to get the licence and had to pass the most difficult exam in Tokyo," says Miura-san. "Under the new rules people will be able to sell fugu after just going to a class and listening for a day. We spent lots of time and money. To get this skill you have to practise by cutting more than a hundred fish and that costs hundreds of thousands of yen."
The authorities in Tokyo impose stricter regulations than any other Japanese city. In some, restaurants have already been able to sell pre-prepared fugu for a long time. And even in Tokyo these days, it is available over the internet and in some supermarkets - one reason why officials think the rules need updating.
In terms of cost, it is likely fugu would become available in cheaper restaurants and pubs (izakayas). But going to a proper fugu restaurant to eat good wild-caught fish, prepared on-site, is quite a luxury - because of the cost, if nothing else - and also quite an event. For many, playing the equivalent of Russian roulette at the dinner table is the attraction of the dish.
Some report a strange tingling of the lips from traces of the poison, although Miura-san thinks that is unlikely. He also scoffs at the myth that a chef would be honour-bound to commit ritual suicide with his fish knife if he killed a customer. Loss of his licence, a fine, litigation or perhaps prison would be the penalty.

The fugu is arranged to look like flower petals
Image captionThe translucent fugu is carefully arranged in the form of petals

Miura-san serves fugu stew, and grilled fugu with teriyaki sauce, but today it is fugu-sashimi on the menu. He carefully slices the fish so thinly that when it is arranged like the petals of a chrysanthemum flower on a large dish the pattern beneath shows through.
Raw fugu is rather chewy and tastes mostly of the accompanying soy sauce dip. It is briefly poached in a broth set on a table-top burner - a dish known as shabu-shabu in Japan. The old journalistic cliche when eating unusual foods really does hold true - it tastes rather like chicken.
Fugu lovers, though, would say it has a distinctive taste, and, even more importantly, texture. Japanese has many words to describe texture because it is a very important aspect of the cuisine.
Another part of the fish's appeal is that it is a seasonal dish, eaten in winter, and Japanese diners attach a particular value to this. In the same way unagi, eel, is an important summer dish. But whatever you think of eel, it's not quite fugu - it lacks that extra thrill that comes with the knowledge that by eating it you are dicing with death.

Friday, April 26, 2019

Today's Lunchbox Lesson: HUNG or HANGED?





HUNG is the past tense and past participle of the verb "to hang" most of the time. For instance, last week you might have "hung upside down on the monkey bars" or "hung your head in shame over a simple grammar error."
HANGED is the exception to these forms when the verb "hang" means "to put to death by hanging." The past tense and past participle of "hang" in this meaning is "hanged." This is the *only* sense in which hanged is used.
For example, "‘We will not be free from unfair competition till one of these fellows is hanged for an example!" ~ Heart of Darkness
Random House Unabridged Dictionary suggests that "hung" is becoming more common for all uses, but the majority of books still agree that the standard English usages of "hung" and "hanged" are those mentioned above.
New Fowler's Modern English indicates that in Old English, there were two different words for hang (hon and hangen). The use of these two words -- plus an Old Norse word hengjan -- is the reason for the existence of two past-tense forms of the word "hang" in today's English.
TIP: There's an old adage, "curtains are hung and people are hanged" which may help you remember which word to use. But in most cases, it will be HUNG.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Keep Trying and Go for Gold

Believing in your goals can be a challenge--and the sweetest accomplishment when it finally comes true. This is part of a speech I took from the internet which my Chinese Speaking & Listening freshman classes were encouraged to do as an assignment. They were so afraid of not pronouncing words correctly and embarrassing themselves--and I told them they could already speak one of the world's hardest languages. Many found true courage and accomplishment in standing before their peers and sharing these thoughts. I hope you find the same in turn. Again, in a prior post, I admit to anyone: I once had terrible stage fright. And now I thoroughly enjoy public speaking. I kept trying--and found it worked!

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


Three Feet From Gold: Keep Trying!

You have to have passion, talent, take action, associate with others, and keep your faith in your dreams. Chances are you have found something that works for you. I have realized that when people find what is important to them, then that’s where things move. If you are following someone else’s dream, chances are you will fall short. If you follow someone else’s passion, chances are it’s not yours, so you will give up. It’s the people that find their own success equation and do it all out: those are the people that truly live a life of purpose.

Three Feet from Gold
The story idea is about R. U. Darby, the gold miner who gave up three feet away from the largest strike in history. (It may or may not be true—but it’s the idea that counts here.) It reminded me that most people quit when things start getting tough. So I went on this mission to meet amazing people, and the very first person was a guy named Dave Liniger. People don’t know his name, but you might know his business. I asked Dave if he wanted to quit when he was getting started in real estate back in 1970, and he said every day.

He said it was so bad for two years that every phone call that came in was from a bill collector. The third year it got so bad he was sent to jail and called a fraud and a liar. I asked him what he did. He said he took his attitude from trying to prove everyone else wrong and do something more important just to prove he was right. He called the bill collectors back and told them he didn’t have all the money, but he had $50. He sent it to them with a promise that he wasn’t going to quit and asked them to not give up on him. He called every bill collector. In the fourth year someone believed in him and, bought the first business. Now that’s called RE/MAX Real Estate Corporation. It is the largest company in the U.S. now for the sale of homes and land.

 The moral is how many times have we or someone we know given up right before the miracle happens. I went and met with the president of NASCAR (National Association of Race Car Drivers) and also Mrs. Fields Cookies, and I asked them all how they avoided from keeping themselves from talking themselves out of the dream. One of the greatest wisdoms came from a guy name John Schwarz, who invented String Theory in physics. For 10 years, everyone said he was crazy and out of his mind, but he figured it out. When I asked him why he didn’t quit when everyone else thought he was crazy, he said it’s because he knew he was right. He said the secret of success is to never let another person talk you out of your dream.

 He said that if you want to be successful, successful people seek counsel and failures listen to opinions. Opinion is based on ignorance, lack of knowledge, and inexperience. Counsel is based on wisdom, knowledge, and mentorship. John Schwarz said if we would spend our daily lives only seeking counsel and ignoring people’s opinion, that’s the day your life would change.

The whole idea of writing this book was to help everyday people put themselves in this circumstance. When you’re flipping through the pages, you realize you are not alone. Each and every person we talk to, you see yourself in their circumstance, saying, if they did it, you can too.


Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Believe in yourself: you can accomplish anything!


I used motivational videos for my students because they were struggling to learn very complex financial courses in another language (English)--AND also learn Speaking, Listening, and Business English concepts. It was extremely difficult for them because the subjects (accounting, economics, linear algebra, finance) are not what they would have chosen for their careers. Their parents and a very tough high school exam are the deciding factors. So this is dedicated to the sophomores and freshmen at Jiangxi University in Nanchang, China, whom I taught and others who will follow, many of whom have already seen this. Keep going--and believe in yourself. You can succeed in your coursework and your plans.

Monday, April 8, 2019

Successful hints for a scholarship essay


A hint for an idea about "weaknesses into success": what have you learned to do that took effort, time, and concentration? What was it that you learned to do that made you stay with the idea? For example, I used to have terrible stage fright--and I was afraid to speak in front of an audience. I learned to do this through a career in sales and later, in education. And I love to get up front or on a stage now! I even did a stand-up comedy routine at a school where I taught! In costume! (Yes, that picture of me as a 6th-grade student teacher: I did that at a parochial school talent show. My kids were stunned!) I've used this as a "I've learned to make a weakness into a strength and help empower others" speech.

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Maths Chase for Multiplication skills!


About Maths Chase

Welcome to Maths Chase. We aim to make math learning more fun for everyone. We have found that our simple game really helps children learn their times tables. Our games help children learn by repetition and also increase their speed gradually as they become more skilled. Maths Chase allows you to increase the speed you need to answer questions as you become more confident in a fun and engaging way.

Maths Chase web site

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

The Sting - Revisited: A classic movie review on Amazon.com


Now available on Kindle or paperback at Amazon.com: (From the back cover):

It was a way of life: grifting, and the art of the con--to swindle someone out of a sum of money. For Johnny Hooker and his friends, it was all they had--until the game turned deadly. And then it was up to a pro to show Hooker how to play for BIG money--with a mark who was a crime boss who would kill a grifter for pride if he found out he was cheated. However, he was rich--and greedy. Doyle Lonnegan was a banker, a cheating card player, and a malevolent man who ran a tough numbers racket out of Chicago. His life was focused on winning at any cost--on his terms.

When one of his men lost $11,000 in a bait-and-switch scheme, he took immediate revenge. He never expected to encounter the likes of Johnny Hooker--or Hooker's efforts to get his own revenge, even if it might cost him his life. But the temptation was too strong--and the money was too good. And the Sting was on (again) with the help of some clever con men, including the masterful Henry Gondorf and their "Office."

Follow the dialogue and scenes from the 7-Oscar Award-winning-movie in detail, full, rich language that captures their emotions, thoughts, and...creative ways of taking a half-million dollars!

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Some Latin phrases in English

For anyone planning to study law OR medicine: know your Latin. And add to this list: Quid pro quo (loosely translated, "I will do you a favor in exchange for one done for me.")

Friday, February 15, 2019

Graduate and get that job interview & hired!

(I want YOU to succeed with a job interview and hiring after you graduate. That's what this post is about. The interview process never was a favorite of mine; I'm more "Watch me show you WHY I'm the right person" rather than have to answer questions and get through the "mix-and-match" phase. However, the advice offered below can and will make YOU a better candidate--and give you the next level of success that follows. Good luck to you!)


Essential Questions for Every 

Job Interview


By Pamela Eyring

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - First, let's start with what NOT to ask in a job interview. THE biggest error one can make is asking: "What does your company do?" If you've not done your homework and researched the company, you don't deserve a seat at the table.

But let's assume you've done your homework. The best way to approach the interview is to think of it like a first date. While a job interview is in a professional setting and the outcomes are different, the intentions are the same. You've exchanged information because you think there might be a connection, and now you're ready to figure out if you want to pursue things further.

Like a successful first date, there should be a good balance of give and take. Neither person should dominate the conversation and ask all the questions. While the employer will ask about your experience and goals, you should ask questions that help you understand why you should commit to working there.

Plus, questions are a great way to demonstrate you understand the company's goals and challenges, highlight your qualifications and work ethic, and, most importantly, make an impression that moves you to the top of the list of potential candidates.
Here are ten questions that will provide you with insight into the company while making a favorable impression.

1. I've been told that I work well as a team member. What are some of the ways your company encourages teamwork?
2. Long-term job satisfaction is important to me. Is the company committed to growing talent from within, whenever possible?
3. I enjoyed your published mission and values. How are these reflected in day-to-day life? Can you share some examples that would help me understand your corporate culture?
4. If your son, daughter or a friend was looking for a job, would you recommend working for your company? Why?
5. What do you think distinguishes your company from its competitors, both from a public and employee perspective?
6. (if speaking to a potential direct supervisor) How often do you speak with your C-level officers? When you do, what do they normally ask you? Do they ask for your opinion?
7. How does your company demonstrate a sense of pride in its employees? Can you help me understand what it looks for in return?
8. Are there paid, ongoing learning opportunities offered at my level of job responsibility? What obligations do I have if I take advantage of them?
9. What does your company expect in the way of personal and professional growth for a person hired into this position?
10. Does your company have a code of conduct covering work ethic and appropriate attire?

Not every question will be appropriate for every job interview. Choose the ones that best address your career and personal goals and don't be shy about delving deeper into areas of particular interest. For example, if you're thinking of starting a family, you may want to explore the company's commitment to work/life balance.

Preparing a list of thoughtful questions before the interview is a great way to boost your confidence and make a great impression. Plus, you'll gain greater insight into the company and the potential fit. Who knows? That first interview might just be the start of something beautiful.

(Pamela Eyring is the president of The Protocol School of Washington (PSOW), which provides professional business etiquette and international protocol training. Founded in 1988, PSOW is the only school of its kind in the U.S. to become accredited. Any opinions expressed are her own. PSOW's website is: www.psow.edu.)

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Academic Writing styles and requirements: Here!

This is a fantastic resource for instructors of writing and students! Look here for advice!