Archive for April 16, 2018

Those Overpaid, Under-worked Teachers are At it Again

April 16, 2018 Comments Off on Those Overpaid, Under-worked Teachers are At it Again

Teacher-strikes are prominent in the news right now. As always happens, people hear about them and lash out with “facts” as to why teachers should not be striking, how they’re being selfish and greedy and should be in the classroom babysitting, er, I mean teaching, our kids. Following is a list of 21 myths, meaning perceptions about teachers that are NOT true.  See how many you’ve heard recently, then speak up next time you hear one.  For an explanation of each, go to https://blog.reallygoodstuff.com/21-myths-about-teaching.

Myth #1: Teachers get three months off every summer.

Myth #2:  Teachers work from 8am to 3pm and never work weekends.

Myth #3:  Teachers get paid vacations.

Myth #4:  Teachers sit behind a desk all day.

Myth #5: Teaching is easy.

Myth #6:  Teachers build up a tolerance for every germ and virus and do not get sick after teaching a few years.

Myth #7:  Teachers do nothing except play with the students all day.

Myth #8:  Anyone can be a teacher.

Myth #9:  Teachers do not have to go back to school after they have their teaching degree.

Myth #10:  All Kindergarten teachers do is color and nap.

Myth #11:  Those who can – do.  Those who can’t – teach.

Myth #12:  Teachers are overpaid.

Myth #13:  Teachers can do everything.

Myth #14:  There are always a lot of teaching jobs available.

Myth #15:  Teachers collect unemployment over the summer.

Myth #16:  Teachers have a lot of extra time during the day.

Myth #17:  Students always behave.

Myth #18:  Students always master things the first time you teach them.

Myth #19:  There is no need to plan – especially if you teach Kindergarten.

Myth #20:  Everything teachers need to teach is provided for them.  They have no out-of-pocket expenses.

Myth #21:  All teachers have loads of patience.

 

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Pods, Pods, Pods

April 14, 2018 Comments Off on Pods, Pods, Pods

Time to rethink how these things are made…and used.

 

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Hearing Loss: A Double Imprisonment

April 13, 2018 Comments Off on Hearing Loss: A Double Imprisonment

Imagine having hearing problems.  Now imagine you’re in prison.  And there’s nothing to help you hear anything that’s going on.  Which excludes you from much that keeps you sane and occupied during your incarceration, like activities, religious services, and vocational and rehabilitation programs and classes. AND endangers your relationships with non-incarcerated family and friends because you can’t talk to them on the phone.

That’s what’s been happening in South Carolina–and maybe elsewhere.  The Dept. of Justice just reached an agreement with them in that the South Carolina Dept. of Corrections will now provide sign language interpreters and aids that will ensure that inmates can participate in the programs that will help rehabilitate them and get them ready for life outside.  An important addition is telecommunications services that will let them communicate with the family and friends that they’ll return to.

If these are really departments of correction rather than departments of vengeance, inmates must be given the opportunity to reform–all inmates, including the hearing impaired.

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If God Doesn’t Care, Why Should I?

April 12, 2018 Comments Off on If God Doesn’t Care, Why Should I?

GOD DOESN’T CARE SO WHY SHOULD I?  This is an easy attitude to take in our world of suicide bombers, AIDS, crushing poverty, hunger, homelessness, violent gangs, abuse of all kinds, drugs, discrimination, and cruelty.  The answer lies in today’s Thursday Thought, which is an ancient teaching:

Past the seeker as he prayed, came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten.  And seeing them, the holy one went down into deep prayer and cried, “Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?”  And out of the long silence, God said, “I did do something.  I MADE YOU.”

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Three Dogs and a Bird–Their Day

April 11, 2018 Comments Off on Three Dogs and a Bird–Their Day

Kaya and Sargent, and my African Grey parrot, Max.  Why?  It’s the 12th Annual National Pet Day.  The dogs give me unconditional love, devotion, and protection from solicitors and bad buys who dare even think about coming to my home.  (The bird even barks!) All of them make me laugh  at times when I need it, comfort me in my “down” times, remind me of the  beauty and diversity of Nature, and drive away the loneliness that sometimes creeps into my life. All they ask in return is food, water, and some play-time with their human.

To them–and to all of your pets–I wish a happy National Pet Day.

 

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Fair Game

April 6, 2018 Comments Off on Fair Game

Sunday is EARTH DAY.  It’s a day to celebrate our Earthly home and give some thought to how we can protect it.   This kid shows that it can actually be child’s -play:

What a fun day!  I didn’t want to go to a stupid old Earth Day Fair.  Then Mom told me the game we’d play.  I’d pick something there and bring it home to do.  So could Shari and Mom and Dad.  Shari’s project is dumb.  She keeps turning off the light when I’m on the pot too long.  I thought the black hose Dad and I set up to heat our pool was really stupid, but it works.  Mom put out a birdhouse and feeder but had to move them over ‘cuz of the bird poop. I didn’t know we had that many birds in our neighborhood! My Earth Day thing’s best of all.  I put a bunch of worms in a barrel in our backyard and watch them turn stuff into dirt.  What’s really fun is the family rule that all of us have to help all the others with their project.  That means I get to chase Shari around with a bunch of worms and not get into too much trouble.  You oughta try this game.  It’s fun!

 

 

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The Enemy

April 5, 2018 Comments Off on The Enemy

Today’s Thursday Thought quote calls into question who “the enemy” really is…or  isn’t.

“We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those it calls ‘enemy,’ for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.  I think of them, too, because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution until some attempt is made to know them and hear their broken cries.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.   (From his speech “When Silence Is Betrayal,” given at Riverside Church, New York, April 4, 1967.)

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Really, Who WAS this MLK?

April 4, 2018 Comments Off on Really, Who WAS this MLK?

I just learned three things about Martin Luther King, Jr. that I didn’t know but found interesting. I knew that he wasn’t perfect–had some flaws, did some sinning–and that he was the leader that was needed during that part of the history of American social justice.  Here’s what I didn’t know:

  1. He was a champion for the environment. He did it not as a tree-hugger but as a believer in the interconnectedness of all life.
  2. He was a “democratic socialist” (not the same as a communist) long before Bernie Sanders came along.  He preached that we should form the economy in ways that meet people’s needs, not to make a few people richer.
  3. You could disagree with him, but he’d never throw a punch or get nasty.  Even when Malcolm X, another prominent civil rights leader of the time, derided him viciously and called him names.

You can read details about these three facts at CNN’s Three ways MLK speaks to our time.

 

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Airports’ Germiest Places Not Where You Think

April 3, 2018 Comments Off on Airports’ Germiest Places Not Where You Think

When we fly, we try not to think of all the germs left behind by people who are sick or seldom wash their hands.  News stories have made us aware that we should always use a disinfectant wipe on the tray table before handling or using it.  But there are other surfaces that we tend not to think of–many even before we board the airplane.

The charts at Germs at the Airport are an eye-opener.

 

 

 

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Is that Kid Autistic?

April 2, 2018 Comments Off on Is that Kid Autistic?

One in every 110 U.S. kids  has it, and 3.5 million Americans live with an autism spectrum disorder.  Between 2000 and 2010, autism in our nation’s children increased by 119.4%, and it’s still increasing.  In fact,  autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability in the U.S.

You probably know someone with it but think of the person as “a little off” because you don’t recognize his or her autism.  Today is World Autism Awareness Day, and April is National Autism Awareness Month–a great time to learn about it.

 http://www.whathealth.com/awareness/event/nationalautismmonth.html gives an excellent summary of how autism affects a person, the characteristics you might notice, and how the American Autism Society is trying to spread the word about this condition with no known cause (no, vaccines don’t bring it on).

Another very good site is offered by Easter Seals, “Autism Signs and Symptoms,” including a list of behaviors with which you can evaluate your own child.

These sites are worth looking at, if for no other reason than they may lead people to be more tolerant and understanding rather than writing someone off as “odd,” “cold,” or “stand-offish.”

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