Wednesday, February 14, 2024

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.”

Saturday, February 10, 2024

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.

Monday, January 29, 2024

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?)

Monday, January 15, 2024

Famous Faces in History: Who ARE they? And why you SHOULD know them.


Calling all history majors, English majors, journalists, advertising majors, and marketing reps--and a few instructors too: let's see you solve the puzzle of 16 Famous Faces. 
 ==============================
Here are 16 faces: who's who? (Hint: one just became a royal grandfather again.)

In 1995, I was substitute-teaching and saw a Wall Street Journal. (It's not my normal reading, but it was there.) In it, I saw an advertisement for Dewar's Scotch: these were the images used, and the selling point was something about so few leaders available for such good Scotch. My response: I showed initiative and pro-active thinking BY CALLING THE DEWAR'S ADVERTISING OFFICE AND ASKING TO SPEAK TO WHOMEVER DESIGNED THE AD. I WANTED TO KNOW WHO THREE (3) FACES WERE: I thought I knew 13, and I did. But the last three stumped me--and I wasn't giving up. Not me with my encylopedic-photographic memory. And they obliged me--and I was right about at least one. The other two...now I recognize them.


And there was more. Dewar's sent me a color image of the ad, and I had it framed and hung on the wall for years. I've let it since go, but the significance is in their eyes: who ARE these people, what did they do with their lives to be this important, and why were they selected? 


(Another hint: at least 2 had the same position in life and circumstances as the background; two held the same position of service to their country, and two are notorious strategists. Fascinating, isn't it, what you can do when your curiosity does more than just push buttons on a phone?
       By the way, this would make an excellent history or education--or marketing! lesson--because of the strategic placement of some of the candidates. It's almost bitter irony in some instances.

Saturday, December 30, 2023

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.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

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.)

Monday, December 4, 2023

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.

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

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

 


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

Welcome to “Horror Day” High School.

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

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.