Social Distancing
I know I am from an older generation, but my peers had a perfect mentor for social distancing during this time of Covid-19. My friends, to illustrate the difference between near and far, I give you: Grover.
Arrow of Light Activities
Building a Better World:
Icivics activities relating to “The Rule of Law”
Background on “Rule of Law” and Madison papers
The United Nation’s page of “Rule of Law” w/ short video
A law professor’s blog on Superman and “Rule of Law”
Two short videos and one cartoon on US flag
USCIS Civics Practice Test: 20 questions direct from your government!
The Washington Times has a simple practice citizenship quiz.
A much harder fill-in-the-blank sporkle to test the truly knowledgeable.
If you’re ipad friendly, here’s a Kahoot! on the U.S. government.
Satire, editorial, reporting, or all three?
As part of my teaching, sophomores read When the Emperor Was Divine, a novelized memoir by Julie Otsuka. I suppose it might roughly fit into the category of historical fiction, and students read it over the summer in preparation for our three-level literature course.
This video is housed at Gale Virtual Library.
Typically, I begin with some instruction around Japanese internment, using the “Four Freedoms flag” that was used to demonstrate Allied unity and almost became the official flag of the United Nations. We also watch a documentary about the Supreme Court cases that emerged as a direct result of President Roosevelt’s executive order.
The following mockumentary, published by the New York Times, is not something I had encountered while teaching the novel, and I didn’t use it in the classroom. However, we did watch the propaganda film it sources here.
I often wonder how history will remember President Trump’s executive order to separate asylum seeking children from their families. Will history forgive him, as some have forgiven Roosevelt for the human-rights violation his needless war-time order caused? And how will history remember President Trump’s supporters, given the obvious human-rights violations caused directly by his attempt to close the southern American border?
Look me in the eye
Click on the image above to watch the interview clip.
What follows is a snippet of an interview with Brian Glazer who appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience. Not all of the content is for teenaged-ears, but this clip was very thoughtful, and about Glazer’s new book. Not earth-shattering by any stretch. Looking your audience in the eye—pan-and-scan, as we called it at Thornridge—is an old forensics gimmick. But he’s spot on about dignity and the impact of technology.
from: JRE #1370 - BRIAN GRAZER 10.24.19
#1370. Brian Grazer is a film and television producer and screenwriter. He co-founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986, with Ron Howard. His new book is Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection.
"a novel look at how stories may change the brain"
Published by eScienceCommons on Tuesday, 12/17/12, Emory University
The researchers chose the novel "Pompeii" for the experiment, due to its strong narrative and page-turning plot. (Photo by Marcia Clark)
By Carol Clark
Many people can recall reading at least one cherished story that they say changed their life. Now researchers at Emory University have detected what may be biological traces related to this feeling: Actual changes in the brain that linger, at least for a few days, after reading a novel.
Their findings, that reading a novel may cause changes in resting-state connectivity of the brain that persist, were published by the journal Brain Connectivity.
“Stories shape our lives and in some cases help define a person,” says neuroscientist Gregory Berns, lead author of the study and the director of Emory’s Center for Neuropolicy. “We want to understand how stories get into your brain, and what they do to it.”
His co-authors included Kristina Blaine and Brandon Pye from the Center for Neuropolicy, and Michael Prietula, professor of information systems and operations management at Emory’s Goizueta Business School.
Neurobiological research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has begun to identify brain networks associated with reading stories. Most previous studies have focused on the cognitive processes involved in short stories, while subjects are actually reading them as they are in the fMRI scanner.
The Emory study focused on the lingering neural effects of reading a narrative. Twenty-one Emory undergraduates participated in the experiment, which was conducted over 19 consecutive days.
All of the study subjects read the same novel, “Pompeii,” a 2003 thriller by Robert Harris that is based on the real-life eruption of Mount Vesuvius in ancient Italy. “The story follows a protagonist, who is outside the city of Pompeii and notices steam and strange things happening around the volcano,” Berns says. “He tries to get back to Pompeii in time to save the woman he loves. Meanwhile, the volcano continues to bubble and nobody in the city recognizes the signs.”
The researchers chose the book due to its page-turning plot. “It depicts true events in a fictional and dramatic way,” Berns says. “It was important to us that the book had a strong narrative line.”
For the first five days, the participants came in each morning for a base-line fMRI scan of their brains in a resting state. Then they were given nine sections of the novel, about 30 pages each, over a nine-day period. They were asked to read the assigned section in the evening, and come in the following morning. After taking a quiz to ensure they had finished the assigned reading, the participants underwent an fMRI scan of their brain in a non-reading, resting state. After completing all nine sections of the novel, the participants returned for five more mornings to undergo additional scans in a resting state.
The results showed heightened connectivity in the left temporal cortex, an area of the brain associated with receptivity for language, on the mornings following the reading assignments. “Even though the participants were not actually reading the novel while they were in the scanner, they retained this heightened connectivity,” Berns says. “We call that a ‘shadow activity,’ almost like a muscle memory.”
Heightened connectivity was also seen in the central sulcus of the brain, the primary sensory motor region of the brain. Neurons of this region have been associated with making representations of sensation for the body, a phenomenon known as grounded cognition. Just thinking about running, for instance, can activate the neurons associated with the physical act of running.
“The neural changes that we found associated with physical sensation and movement systems suggest that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the protagonist,” Berns says. “We already knew that good stories can put you in someone else’s shoes in a figurative sense. Now we’re seeing that something may also be happening biologically.”
The neural changes were not just immediate reactions, Berns says, since they persisted the morning after the readings, and for the five days after the participants completed the novel.
“It remains an open question how long these neural changes might last,” Berns says. “But the fact that we’re detecting them over a few days for a randomly assigned novel suggests that your favorite novels could certainly have a bigger and longer-lasting effect on the biology of your brain.”
Cub Scout Filmaking
A simple overview of storyboarding with post-it notes:
And the basics of how to shoot a film…
Running for Skokie School Board 73.5
Click image above to see my vita, or educational resume.
WHY RUN FOR BOARD MEMBER?
As a parent and educator entering my last decade of teaching, I am at the stage of life where I can give back some of the expertise I’ve gathered over the years. While at Thornton Township District 203, I benefited from educational leaders who taught me that meaningful leadership is compassionate and shared. When I came to New Trier Township District 205, that lesson deepened as I became involved in the New Trier Faculty Association and our advisory program, both of which are bellwethers of student success and community involvement.
My educational approach is very much a “whole child” philosophy. For example, I believe that play is very important in the healthy development of children. Play should not be restricted to the early, elementary years of education. Whether teaching freshmen complex sentence structures, or seniors Jungian archetypes, I believe everyone learns better when we love what we do, we laugh about what we’re learning. Without joy or passion, what purpose is there to education?
Click on the image above to read my campaign flyer…
HOW HAVE I BEEN INVOLVED IN OUR COMMUNITY?
I am a high school English teacher at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Il, and have 24 years of experience in teaching. My immediate family includes my wife Janet Easton, my 4th grade son John who is at Middleton, and my 7th grade daughter Ella who is at McCracken. We moved into our Skokie home in 2003 after getting married in 2002. We love Skokie, and routinely participate in park district programs, activities, and sports.
Since moving to Skokie, I have been involved with District 73.5 in various ways:
Canvassed door-to-door for the 2003 District 75.3 referendum;
Contributed to 2018 Five-year Strategic Plan;
Den leader in Cub Scout Pack 85 at Middleton since 2014;
Built and donated carnival games for the district Fall Fest;
Proud supporter of and advocate for district-wide music and the arts
WHAT DO I HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH ON THE 73.5 BOARD?
John and I on Main Avenue, completing a Library summer reading requirement.
Professionally, I have seen American education lean towards standardized testing, a longer school day, and rote curriculum. While the American public and politicians have become enamored with test-scores, and school report-cards, Chinese educational leaders have busily copied our models of smaller class size, individualized instruction, and creative problem-solving instructional practice. Why? Because American schools produce thoughtful, imaginative leaders who believe in themselves, despite the obstacles so clearly in the way. To my way of thinking, play has an important role in healthy, happy child development and developing the leaders we need.
My hope would be to nurture this type of educational policy, to be a voice in support of children’s exploration and play, administrative transparency, more welcoming facilities for our community, and increased faculty participation in decision making. I see my role as one who listens carefully and guides others toward thoughtful, research-based, and educator-guided instructional practice. I hope to give back to our community some my educational expertise and to support healthy, balanced educational opportunities for all children in our schools.
Action Network: Answer the Call!
"I am a veteran teacher with 24 years of experience, and my salary is effectually capped for the last 15 years of my career. These offsets existed in order to provide professionals like me with a livable pension, a pension I've contributed to--by law--on that first day of teaching, and every day since. Also by law, I don't have access to Social Security. That this was added to the budget last minute is unconscionable. Rescind this measure NOW!"
--Paul Easton, an English teacher in Illinois, home-owner, father, taxpayer, and vote
On Monday, a budget was signed for Illinois that included a lot of great things for education in Illinois, including $350 million in new money for K-12 education, $50 million for early childhood education, a scholarship program to encourage Illinois students to stay in state for college, MAP grant funding and a 2 percent increase in funding for higher education.
However, there were three changes to pensions that the four legislative leaders: Speaker of the House Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) inserted into the 1,200-page budget implementation bill, giving lawmakers only five hours to review, and one of them is a very big concern for our members.
The three changes for participants in the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) and State Universities Retirement System (SURS) are:
A voluntary pension buyout of vested, inactive members of the Tier One pension system who could receive 60 percent of the current value of their plan in a lump sum payment. This is estimated to save about $40 million.
An optional cost of living adjustment (COLA) buyout for Tier One members, which would allow members to trade their 3 percent compounding increases for a 1.5 percent simple annual increase in exchange for an immediate payout of 70 percent of net value of future increases from the higher formula. This is estimated to save nearly $400 million.
The third, most troubling for our members and least cost-saving measure, would place a threshold on end-of-career salary increases at 3 percent instead of the current 6 percent, making school districts or universities financially liable for the cost of the member’s pension payment attributable to all annual salary increases greater than the 3 percent. It saves an estimated $20 million. Because educators can qualify for a pension after five years and can leave at any time, districts and higher ed institutions would argue for a 3 percent limit on all salary increases across the entire contract.
Timeline
The language of these changes was included in the Budget Implementation (BIMP) bill, which is part of the state budget package, and did not stand on its own. It was part of a deal worked out between the legislative leaders and budget planners. This bill was posted late in the day on Wed., May 30. The Senate passed the bill that evening and the House passed the bill the next day.
IEA lobbyists worked hard to try to sway lawmakers, but were told by most that they weren’t aware of the 3 percent change, it sounded like it would save money, was part of a bi-partisan agreement and they were going to vote for the bill to show the governor that there was so much support for it that he couldn’t veto another budget.
IEA also sent out a call to action to members in an effort to get our members to contact their lawmakers to raise their awareness of this measure and to vote against it. It was difficult because there was no bill number at the time to share, etc. The associations representing school boards, school administrators, principals, other educators and the state board of education also were unaware of the proposed changes.
It is important to note that they didn’t want us to know about it because they didn’t want you to act!
A similar measure passed in 2005, reducing the threshold to 6 percent from what had been at the time 20 percent. Over the course of time, we were able to introduce several exemptions to the rule, including taking on extra duties such as coaching that would allow districts to pay above the 6 percent.
That list of exemptions was given to lawmakers to include in this plan. Lawmakers refused to do so.
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the bill on Monday, meaning everything in it – including this 3 percent threshold – became effective June 4.
What does this mean?
The 3 percent threshold applies to lane changes and step increases. It applies to extracurricular duties. It applies to continuing education. Unless the district or institution of higher learning wants to pick up the contribution owed to TRS for anything above the 3 percent salary increase, it is unlikely that any salary increases higher than this will be offered – across the board.
This is extremely detrimental to a profession that is already facing a teacher shortage. It seems very short-sighted for the state legislature to introduce a measure like this at the same time that it is both trying to solve a teacher shortage and it is trying to find a way save higher education in this state.
What now?
Please sign this online petition. Share it with friends and family and ask them to do the same. IEA will present these signatures with a package of legislation designed to fix this short-sighted measure and to present other solutions to solve the teacher shortage.
It’s imperative that lawmakers see how educators feel about this sign of disrespect that’s been shown to those who have dedicated their professional lives to teaching the future of this state.
IEA is developing an FAQ on this subject and we will post it on the IEA websiteas soon as it is complete. The Teachers’ Retirement System also has some information about this on its website.
Implicit Bias Training at Starbucks
Protester Jack Willis, 26, demonstrates outside a Starbucks in Philadelphia. Police arrested two black men who were waiting inside a Center City Starbucks which prompted an apology from the company's CEO. Mark Makela/Getty Images
No man is an island
Guys, We Have A Problem: How American Masculinity Creates Lonely Men
When Paul Kugelman was a kid, he had no shortage of friends. But as he grew older and entered middle age, his social world narrowed.
"It was a very lonely time. I did go to work and I did have interactions at work, and I cherished those," he says. "But you know, at the end of the day it was just me."
Kugelman's story isn't unusual: researchers say it can be difficult for men to hold on to friendships as they age. And the problem may begin in adolescence.
New York University psychology professor Niobe Way, who has spent decades interviewing adolescent boys, points to the cultural messages boys get early on.
"These are human beings with unbelievable emotional and social capacity. And we as a culture just completely try to zip it out of them," she says.
This week on Hidden Brain, we look at what happens when half the population gets the message that needing others is a sign of weakness and that being vulnerable is unmanly.
Resources:
This episode refers to the Harvard Study of Adult Development, Niobe Way's book, Deep Secrets, and research on suicide rates and social interaction.
The Hidden Brain radio show is hosted by Shankar Vedantam and produced by Parth Shah, Jennifer Schmidt, Rhaina Cohen, and Matthew Schwartz. Our supervising producer is Tara Boyle. You can also follow us on Twitter @hiddenbrain
Literary Magazines for Every Interest
The image links to ERW's top 50 literary magazines: "We considered a wide range of criteria for this list. We looked at close to 20 data points. The most important criteria we used this time was date of founding, number of national anthologies publications (and we looked at a lot of them), and the quality of work of and names of past authors published in the magazine." Not a bad list, by any stretch...
I can ≠ I should
In my advisery, I teach the guys the Aristotelian ethic, put simply, "Just because you can, that doesn't mean you should." It's a maxim we could all do well by. I've found it helps many a teenaged boy re-consider the consequences of his forthcoming action (or in-action, as the case may be).
Do something.
Today, I am teaching Coelho's The Alchemist to my senior elective Myth & Mind students. We're reading the camel driver's conversation with the seer, who observes, "'When people consult me, it's not that I'm reading the future; I am guessing the future. The future belongs to God, and it is only he who reveals it, under extraordinary circumstances. How do I guess at the future? Based on the omens of the present. The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity'" (106). While the camel driver envisions a mysterious future to which the seer has access, the seer knows the only mystery is that we cannot be clear sighted enough to understand the world in which we live.
I can't help but think that, seeing into the future, we have more days ahead like those at Sandyhook and Vegas. Why? Because we cannot imagine our present with enough vision to see the omens so clearly there. Why so many shootings, why so many deaths? We are literally holding the answer in our hands, yet cannot imagine why anyone ever gets shot.
*Sigh.*
How to find your purpose
Why prestige is the enemy of passion, or how to master the balance of setting boundaries and making friends.
BY MARIA POPOVA
Click on image above for web page.
“Find something more important than you are,”philosopher Dan Dennett once said in discussing the secret of happiness, “and dedicate your life to it.” But how, exactly, do we find that? Surely, it isn’t by luck. I myself am a firm believer in the power of curiosity and choice as the engine of fulfillment, but precisely how you arrive at your true calling is an intricate and highly individual dance of discovery. Still, there are certain factors — certain choices — that make it easier. Gathered here are insights from seven thinkers who have contemplated the art-science of making your life’s calling a living.
What does America stand for?
Click here to watch video @ New York Times.
Opinion | OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
What Does America Stand For? We Asked Teenagers
Teenagers will shape America's future, so we asked them what they thought about its values.
By ANNA NORTH on Publish DateAugust 23, 2017.
Beginning in early 2017, I began asking teenagers around the country to make videos in which they responded to the following question: “What are your values as a person? What are American values? Do you think the country is living up to those values today? Why or why not?” Their answers have a new urgency in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Va., which has brought lingering questions about America’s past, present and future to the forefront of the national conversation.
The footage in the video above was all submitted before the rally in Charlottesville. I was inspired to collect it by my conversations with young people in the months following the 2016 election. It started with an election-week experiment — I wanted to hear what first-time voters in Pennsylvania had to say about starting their voting lives in what already felt, to me, like a historically bizarre time. In the weeks that followed, I talked to young protesters, youth reporters at a local newspaper and teenage environmental activists.
Adults often dismiss teenagers, assuming that they’re callow, apathetic or uninformed. But the kids I was meeting cared passionately about education, foreign policy, racial justice and more. Even when they weren’t sure how they felt about a certain candidate or issue, they were clearly thinking deeply.
Struck by what I’d heard, I decided to solicit young people’s opinions in a more systematic way, to paint a picture of how their generation sees the country today. That’s how this collection of personal videos came about.
I wrote to dozens of teenagers — young people I’d met at protests, young Republicans I’d talked to around Election Day, teenagers who were already vlogging about their high school experiences on YouTube. I also reached out to Christian youth groups, home-schooling associations, L.G.B.T. rights organizations, groups representing Native American youth and many other organizations, asking them to recommend young people who might want to participate.
My goal was to pull together a group that was diverse in as many ways as possible: geographically, politically and in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation. Not everyone said yes — one teenager wrote to me that “Trump could learn from President Putin how to deal with ‘journalists’ like yourself.” But in the end, I got more than 30 videos in which teenagers talked about their values. Some of them also agreed to submit follow-up videos in which they told me more about the communities where they lived.