“CRDUE: The Real Price of Oil”
Gripping and hard-hitting, the documentary tells the powerful story of the environmental destruction of the Amazon, and of the endangered, but fighting Ecuadorean natives.
Emotional, important, a must see.
Watch and Support.
Lost At School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges Are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them by Ross W. Greene, Ph. D.
An alternative look at students’ with behavior issues: “behind every challenging behavior is an unsolved problem or a lagging skill, or both. Traditional school discipline does not teach skills or help kids solve problems.” With this said, Dr. Greene advocates that “kids do well if they can.”
Wonderful for parents, educators, principals, social workers… anyone who works with students.
Read it NOW.
By Taylor Mali www.taylormali.com
He says the problem with teachers is, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”
He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests that it’s also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we’re eating, after all, and this is polite company.
“I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor,” he says.
“Be honest. What do you make?”
And I wish he hadn’t done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won’t I let you get a drink of water?
Because you’re not thirsty, you’re bored, that’s why.
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven’t called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, “Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?”
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?
The surprising truth about what motivates us.
Watch it.
“Empathy is grounded in the acknowledgement of death & the celebration of life… [let’s] extend our identities to think of the human race as our fellow sojourners, and bring out empathic sociability.”
A documentary about really smart kids: Whiz Kids
See it.
A precocious boy’s adventure throughout New York City’s 5 boroughs as he tries to find meaning in a key left behind by his father who died in the September 11 attacks.
Read it.
Birds are an incredible species. The variety aside – and I mean the varied wingspans, songs, and colors– their sense of community is beautiful.
Consider the tropical birds of the rainforest, specifically the Superb Birds of Paradise. The male birds, with incredible dark black coats and striking blue features, spend hours perfecting a mating spot. He’ll spend hours removing limp leaves from trees and plants and brush the ground of small imperfections. They’ll spend several more hours in a transformative state – their version of the suit and tie – in what looks like two beady blue eyes and a giant blue mouth. The mating call, quirky, is a little hop and a click and a clack sound; they’ll wait patiently for a responsive mate.
Or what about the flying-V which greatly boosts the efficiency and range of flying birds (like ducks or geese). The communal experience of migrating is organized (and in the form of one of the least common letters of the alphabet. Dope). So common and proven that sports teams and military departments have adapted the formation into their ranks – (think hockey coach Emilio Estevez in The Mighty Ducks – “Quack! Quack!”)
Even pigeons are fascinating: their curious state, perched on ledges, awnings, and lampposts; eating beard from the wrinkled hands of the elderly; cooing across the train tracks in Chicago and pooing on just about anything and anyone just about everywhere.
**I currently live my life wishing to fly with the birds. I live trying to find ways to teach my students community and empathy the way birds show compassion and partnership with one another. I find ways to move to higher ground to get a better sense of perspective on what to do next.
I’m looking to use this blog to write on my experiences and the experiences to come.
I promise they won’t all be in bird metaphors, but I hope to write on worldly experiences, as the birds would probably do if they had thumbs and fingers and access to technology.
We’re living in a Birdland.
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience.
This particular speech is called “Music and Life” - poignant commentary on how we live our lives.
1 year ago