The Right to Vote

I came across an interesting list this weekend and felt it was worth sharing. Women, as we know from our study of history, have not always had equal footing in society. We're all well aware of the division of labor, unequal pay for similar jobs, and lack of voting rights women have had to endure. Just the same, being what we are (i.e. human) it's very easy to forgot those times and inequalities. What I found particularly eye-opening was how long it's taken some countries to extend this right.




Look over the two lists below and try to match the country with the year for which women were finally given equal voting rights.






New Zealand 1971

Australia 1920

Finland 1913

Norway 1928

United States 1893

Britain 2006

France 1906

Belgium 1902

Switzerland 1946

Kuwait 1945





The answers, like a many life insurance contract, are in the very fine print located at the bottom. And yes, the 2006 date is accurate. I looked it up to verify- shocking and amazing.

























Answers: New Zealand- 1893, Australia- 1902, Finland- 1906, Norway- 1913, United States- 1920, Britain- 1928, France- 1945, Belgium- 1946, Switzerland- 1971, Kuwait- 2006

The Great Pacific Garbage "Patch"

I bet when you think of a garbage dump a picture of a big pile of junk in a spacious field pops to mind. It turns out that garbage is not only piling up on land but in the sea too.

The Pacific Ocean is home to thousands of sea species as well as some of the most ferocious storms and currents on our planet. It is also home to two swirling locations where garbage continues to collect, a lot of garbage. These areas, (roughly located on either side of Hawaii) are referred to as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Each so called "patch" is estimated to be the size of Texas. Yes, as in our US of A Texas!

(Trying to picture a floating pile of garbage as big as Texas is way beyond me. It hurts trying to imagine this.)

These floating garbage piles are officially the world's largest with millions of tons of junk between them- more than two Texas-sized states. Now, you may think "Hey what's the big deal" the ocean is huge and the junk is well out of sight and smell. Sadly, this has been the feeling many governments have held for over a decade. Ignoring the problem hasn't made is go away.

The truth is that these monstrous garbage spots are creating problems for sea life, which may come back to hurt each of us. Plastic bottles and especially plastic bags eventually break into smaller pieces. The combination of churning water, feeding plankton, and the sun mash up the plastic into fairly small plastic balls called nurdles.

Nurdles alone are not a problem (not that we want the ocean bottom covered in small plastic balls). The worry is that these are being eaten by smaller sea life such as plankton. (Thank you Sponge Bob for helping children around the world know the importance of plankton ;) So as more plastic is eaten by plankton it passes on to the sea life that feeds on them. It is very possible that plastic will come back to shore as part of the very fish we pull from the sea to eat! It won't be long before a waiter asks, "Excuse me sir, but would you like more fish with your plastic?"



Keep informed so you can gently guide others. Check out the website Howstuffworks.com for more information on this topic. For even more in depth reading on the subject locate a copy of The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

It is a smart -if expensive- pen

Before anyone jumps to any conclusions here the answer is “no”. No, I am not a salesman for the company Livescribe and its clever writing utensil the Pulse Smartpen. I think this will become clearer as I present the pros and cons to this item.

The Pulse Smartpen is –well- a pen. This pen, however, can record a teacher’s lecture as the individual using it records notes. It’s a lot like having a tape recorder running during a class lecture as you are taking notes. The advantage is that you can later tap the pen on specific words or bullets you’ve written and the recorded lecture will pick up at that exact spot. This is certainly a big step over forwarding and rewinding to locate information on a tape or digital recording. Another nice feature is how the recorded notes and audio from the pen can be downloaded directly to a computer hard drive. This can make for some very comprehensive coalition of data, as simply clicking on a key word can call up every time that audio was recorded. That’s impressive.

There are several drawbacks that came to mind immediately. First, the pen, its accompanying software, and its non-reusable writing pads can run quite a tab. The site shows some packages running around 250 dollars. That’s prohibitive for many. Second, the item is clever, but also in many ways simply a glorified tape machine. Hey, I’ll be the first to admit that as true as this comment may be it’s still a cool gadget I’d like to own. The promise for me with such a tool is that it’s a clear precursor to things to come. Third, the pen is not ideal for all students. It does seem best fitted to the college student where is can be used as a tool and not a gadget as so many younger students might make use of it. Also, younger students are prone to recording everything, which is simply too much information to revisit as an audio later.

I noted that I could see this technology eventually growing cheap enough to become commonly used. This is one of those blessings and curses for me. It’d be nice to see the student that is slower when recording notes having the means to follow up later. It would also be satisfying to know that student’s will be receiving the definitions, examples, and information I, as a teacher, intended to impart. The curse is born of that very same blessing though. I’m not sure I want every word I say recorded. Would you? Bottom line: The site is worth visiting though if only to have a peek at the near future.

http://www.livescribe.com/

Jeff Smith's BONE

How does one succinctly explain BONE? BONE is a comic book epic. It's 53 comics books to be exact, which should give you some idea about the size of the adventure the three main characters endure. 

Phone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone are cousins outcast from their community (for very humorous reasons) to a world completely new to them. The world at large is drawn realistically and inhabited by the good, the bad, and the still deciding. 

The cousins spend a great deal of their unintended quest searching. They search for one another, escape from peril, and the truth to evil in the world. The also have one heck of a time along the way. 

BONE has something endearing for everyone who reads it. Jeff Smith wrote and drew the story in a manner that any age reader can access it by tapping into familar characters of the past. Phone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone look very much like smurfs. Their cute, largely innocent ways, are reflected in their soft rounded looks. The Rat Creatures are terrificially dangerous looking and create just the right balance between being outright frightening and merely intimdating. Grandma is a hoot and has many Popeye-esque qualities to her. Thorn is a beauty! Need I make the comparison here? 

In BONE, it is almost as if Jeff Smith decided to take all of his favorite cartoon characters and set them out on a mythical quest with parallels to Moby Dick, The Lord of the Rings, and the Illiad- minus all the dense reading required of those classic works. 

Make no "bones" about it. This is a classic- a children's classic.  

Who had the Greater Reward?

Have you had the opportunity to share something with others that made their eyes light up? Maybe you gave a gift and they unexpectedly rejoiced. They simply gushed over your choice and exhibited unchecked appreciation for what you brought before them. It’s as rewarding a moment for you as it appears to be for them.

I have been in this position, along with a colleague from the Language Arts department, the last few weeks. My colleague, Mrs. Nelson, had expressed frustration over one reluctant group of student readers. She decided to reach out to as many as she could to find a way through the problem. And, in her desperation, she turned to me. I jest of course. I’m grateful that Mrs. Nelson was candid enough to seek my help.

Over the course of several discussions Mrs. Nelson kept hitting on a common phrase: “I just want them to read and enjoy what they read.” To that end, she pulled together a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books possessing great appeal with the help of other Language Arts colleagues and the school librarian. The result was a rolling cart of books, which while they may not be heralded as American classics, that covered the spectrum of reading and interest levels. Seriously, I wanted to plop down and work my way through quite a few of the titles. Instead I settled for browsing a handful of books, as did Mrs. Nelson. We would present them to this group on a Wednesday and let them chose their top three.

Whether is was our individual presentations, the variety of interesting books, the pleasure of knowing you have a choice in what you read, or a mix of all three, the day was a smashing success. The students tracked our every move during the class, hands shot up frequently, and sometimes mouths fired off too –Can I have that book? Will you put that aside for me?, etc. The students toured the room as they reviewed each selection making a case along the way for why they wanted to read particular items.

Now, as the saying goes, getting something is sometimes not as pleasant as wanting something. Thankfully, the opposite has proven true. This class is reading! They’re choosing to move in lock step in smaller groups so they can all discuss their reading, they’re demanding the next book in a series, and their eyes are lighting up because of books.
So one may well argue that my colleague’s efforts have proven to be the greatest of rewards for her students who have stepped more boldly into the world of the written word, but I’ll happily argue the point. We’ve been acting fairly giddy ourselves as we share our pleasure in knowing we had a direct hand in helping a group of students want to read.