Political Pitter Patter...

About the OCCUPY Movement..

This webcast by English Al-Jazeera is very interesting. I had not considered that the Occupy protesters might be protesting something that could be summed up as systemic violence. This kind of violence hurts many people, but is much more invisible and varied in its forms. Check it out here.

Then there is the story of Ray Kachel that is so moving and relevant in understanding the Occupiers. Take a look at this New Yorker article on Ray.

Then there is talk about transformational schools. Check it out here.

Storiez

I miss my crazy brother Steve. Steve passed away in his sleep over twenty years ago, but our family still thinks of him all the time and about the funny antics he used to get involved in. Here, he is pictured with his roommate
and good friend Pete. In his sagging pocket is a pack of Marlboros, and behind him, his custom van sports a mystical painting with a dragon on it and it seems to me a skull appeared somewhere on it as well. The two of them had just arrived in Austin for a visit when I snapped this shot.

During the visit we took them to the Capitol,

Barton Springs, County Line, and other local hot spots. I wrote a story about Steve entitled "Shoes" that you can read by clicking here.

Millie Tales

Mildred Malone, or Millie for short, is a timeless character known for spending time in San Antonio, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and various places around the globe. Her life is a mixture of adventure, romance, and mystery. You won't want to

miss following her life story by clicking here! Co-authors A and E are collaborating with me to bring you the best, most true to life depiction of this beloved lady, now in her seventies. Based upon interviews, historical depositions, and ship records, an amazing story of courage and perseverance is emerging. This collection of Millie Tales is a work in progress, so if you know Millie or know of additional information that can be verified for inclusion, please contact me or one of the co-authors!

Living the Vida Verde

We are scaling down, at least I think we are. I am thinning down the clothing choices, taking books to Half Price Books, and generally trying to

de-clutter the house. It's hard though, for someone who clings to things sentimentally and categorizes things as useful season by season. A spare environment used to signal sadness in my brain--going without--because I've accumulated things, LOTS of things to keep around me at all times. I now want to keep things simple and easy to organize.

This,however, is not an easy task. One day I bag and label donations; the next day, I am pulling things out and finding a reason or person to keep it for! My goal is to have pared things down as much as possible by the end of December....Will I be able to make this deadline? I'll keep you posted...

gazelle.com is a site I learned about in a magazine where you can recycle old electronics. First, you find the item you want to sell according to a listing on their site. Type in a description of the condition of your old cellphone, broken digital camera, or whatever, and they will send you free packaging and labels for shipping. They are not interested in old printers, however.

Favorite posts: http://susanjtweit.typepad.com/walkingnaturehome/2010/06/lighten-up.html

Readerz Edge

Recently I have been reading and reviewing books like crazy! I love having the time to do this and have joined Story Circle Journal as a guest reviewer. My first review, on Leila Levinson's book entitled Gated Grief, appeared on Story Circle recently. You can read my review here. I have several other short reviews (some rather hastily written) on Good Reads of recent reads. With the exception of one, I feel like I have chosen fantastic books lately. I am only listing books recently read, because if I went back and added everything, I would simply die of exhaustion....

Currently reading: Paula by Isabel Allende.

Just finished: Someone to Talk To: Finding Peace, Purpose, and Joy after Tragedy and Loss by Samantha M. White. Review here. My photo has been posted as a reviewer here!

Butterfly Tears is a collection of personal stories by young women whose lives have been transformed by the amazing power of community impact. Pathways to Improvement, a foundation created by Dave Bishop, operates out of California through the generous donations of professionals and benevolent donors. I found the book to be quite compelling for anyone interested in programs that can impact those affected by drug and/or alcohol abuse. Available on Kindle, I highly recommend it for anyone looking to support/organize a good thing!

The Life and Letters of Kate Gleason is a fascinating biography of a female entrepreneur in a world of men during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Criticized by some, including her brothers with whom she ran Gleason Iron Works, Kate was admired by many more as she took her engineering know-how, industrious nature, and savvy business style to various communities. If you want to learn about a woman who designed, built, and sold products around the world, you simply must read about Kate Gleason.

Holding Our World Together :  Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community by Brenda J. Child is the latest volume of the Penguin Library of American Indian History.  In this historical look at the influence of Ojibwe women who settled the Great Lakes region with their clans, Ms. Child contributes not only an important link for women's studies, but a critical chapter in American Indian history. Having grown up in Michigan, I was fascinated to read about wild rice gathering and the tribal benefit of accepting the European fur traders by the Ojibwes.  For those who love reading about the trials and tribulations of our earliest Americans, this book provides and essential chapter of that history!

Favorite Sites for Educators

I can hardly keep up with all the fabulous sites appearing dedicated to education, educators, and curriculum. Some of my favorites, though, I bookmark because I just know that I will want to surf through their things when I get a chance. Most of what I include here are targeted for secondary educators--those working with students ages 11-18.

1. To start, I love the Livebinders site where binders are available for viewing and sharing. In addition to checking out others', you can create your own and either share or keep it for your use only. This site promises to save a LOT of people a LOT of time. Even with things like documents needed for gifted and talented identification and assessment, or your whole favorite unit's handouts, this site promises great dividends for those who can organize in order to ultimately save time. See the links to various topics on the Livebinder site for subject specific topics. Click on "featured binders" to see some excellent and sometimes HUGE binders with links at every page. Featured binders usually took a great deal of time and effort to create and the author(s) don't mind saving YOU time. Admin may want to examine Dean Mantz's binders on professional development.

2. Another helpful site for teachers as well as students is DROPBOX. This is a web area where a creator/writer can place things that will be retrievable from any computer in another location. Teaching teams can set up annual documents and reference them from home, from a professional development session, or from a remote computer in another building.

3. For curriculum ideas, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Ryan Gobles site entitled Making Curriculum Pop, or MC Pop. Each person will need to create a log in, but the materials and forum that awaits is unbelievable! Several sub-groups exist and dialogue is constantly emerging of interest to teachers. Ryan himself stirs up new articles and topics for members from time to time. If you teach, you simply MUST be a part of MC Pop!

4. The University of Texas maintains some open web sites (OWS). UT students have an easier time accessing these, however, by going to the university's site and scrolling all the way to the bottom, one can enter without a log in. These activities are mostly created by aspiring teachers, but some are very creative and make use of images for questioning as part of the assignment.

5. Prezi is similar to a PowerPoint, but more interactive. There are a number of Prezis already made as learning tools, OR anyone can create another one for a class project. Even book reviews could be created using this tool. Check here to learn more or to try one out.

6. The Association for School Curriculum and Development (ASCD) is full of good stuff to read with a group of people. A current article has to do with keeping staff development as a habit rather than a chore. Read that one here.

7. For sweet, short broadcasts on a variety of topics, check this out the teaching channel.

8. The hottest guy on Youtube is posting videos of math and science concepts! His name is

Salman Khan and you can find out more about him and see a sample of his work here. Great news for parents, homeschoolers, and students who want to really understand how some of these concepts work....

9. Gates Foundation work on the common core literacy standards is zooming ahead so that teachers will be prepared for 2014 student tests. Sign up and poke around at www.mygroupgenius.org .

10. Graduate fellowship applications are available from Phi Delta Kappa with a deadline of June first. Go to www.pdkintl.org/awards/graduate.htm.

11. When it comes to DISCIPLINE and the unbelievable effects of compassion on kids in schools, you need to sit back and read this article from top to bottom:  Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA, tries new approach to school discipline — suspensions drop 8
acestoohigh.com

12. This is a new, attractive, funky site for ELL and ESOL ideas that I found recently. There are almost too many links!  Warning: You could get lost for days...
http://tryingoutweb24ed.blogspot.com.br/2012/04/may-1st-blog-carnival.html

Image from web-site-building-tips.com