This is a very interesting white paper on the status of higher education. It highlights some issues that have long been lurking in the background. The core of the idea is that there is some content that is really worth knowing and that letting students determine what they want to learn is not always in their best interest.
I thought this was a good addition to the previous posts on how we decided what content should be in the schools. (In case you are not familiar with this format once you click on the text link and get to the document, the little box in the upper right corner will make the paper large enough to read)
What Will They Learn
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Crayons and the First Day of School
I was standing in line at an office supply store and looked down into a display filled with that faultless symbol of childhood, crayons. There they were all lined up in their neat little rows like little solders just waiting for orders from commanding little fingers. Perfect points and neat wrappers. Bright happy colors just waiting to work outside the lines.
I just had to hold a box to experience that instant memory of school days. Just one sniff and you can remember how important this was to you at the beginning of school. You always wanted a new box and the teacher always sent a long list of supplies that you followed your mother around to collect. There would be Big Chief tablets with the Indian drawing on front, Number 2 pencils, a ruler and maybe some glue or scissors. In the lower grades there would be jars of paste that the teacher would have to stop all the boys from eating. As the years progressed, these would be replaced by glue sticks that would get too hot and melt in your desk. A packet of construction paper that would never have enough blue sheets but way too many orange sheets would go in the cart and notepads with wide lines to practice handwriting.
There were always items in the stores that were not on the list that you secretly wanted your mother to buy but you knew better than to ask since the list was long and the store was too crowded and you were getting a lot of new things anyway. But the best purchase of all was that box of crayons.
I always wanted the box of 64 with the built-in sharpener. I could not imagine any possession more decadent than this. Sixty-four colors!! And the points would always be sharp! I would try to convince my mother of the necessity of this purchase and she would always point to the list and we would buy the 8 or 16 count box that was required. Of course on the first day of school there would always be one kid who would have that box, and the rest of us would watch with envy as he used his impossibly grand selection of colors and covered his desk with crayon shavings. It was the definition of wealth when you were five years old.
In later years, the teachers would collect all our crayons on the first day of school and dump them into a box for all of us to share. I always disliked this because I tried very hard not to break my crayons and this method insured that someone would decide to “share” by breaking one in half. No more neat little rows of possibilities, now you had to hunt for that leaf green and the point would always be broken and the wrapper reduced to dingy grey.
But today I was looking an army of unspoiled soldiers and as I was inhaling their wonderful aroma I could not help but notice the older man behind me in line looking at me as if I had lost my mind.
I looked at him and smiled.
“Pick one up and try it; it is the very essence of your childhood”
And to my surprise he did.
He sighed and then smiled a smile that had just been waiting to be rediscovered.
And then he put the box in his cart next to his printer cartridges.
So once again crayons had help color my world outside the lines. And it was the perfect way to begin another semester.
I just had to hold a box to experience that instant memory of school days. Just one sniff and you can remember how important this was to you at the beginning of school. You always wanted a new box and the teacher always sent a long list of supplies that you followed your mother around to collect. There would be Big Chief tablets with the Indian drawing on front, Number 2 pencils, a ruler and maybe some glue or scissors. In the lower grades there would be jars of paste that the teacher would have to stop all the boys from eating. As the years progressed, these would be replaced by glue sticks that would get too hot and melt in your desk. A packet of construction paper that would never have enough blue sheets but way too many orange sheets would go in the cart and notepads with wide lines to practice handwriting.
There were always items in the stores that were not on the list that you secretly wanted your mother to buy but you knew better than to ask since the list was long and the store was too crowded and you were getting a lot of new things anyway. But the best purchase of all was that box of crayons.
I always wanted the box of 64 with the built-in sharpener. I could not imagine any possession more decadent than this. Sixty-four colors!! And the points would always be sharp! I would try to convince my mother of the necessity of this purchase and she would always point to the list and we would buy the 8 or 16 count box that was required. Of course on the first day of school there would always be one kid who would have that box, and the rest of us would watch with envy as he used his impossibly grand selection of colors and covered his desk with crayon shavings. It was the definition of wealth when you were five years old.
In later years, the teachers would collect all our crayons on the first day of school and dump them into a box for all of us to share. I always disliked this because I tried very hard not to break my crayons and this method insured that someone would decide to “share” by breaking one in half. No more neat little rows of possibilities, now you had to hunt for that leaf green and the point would always be broken and the wrapper reduced to dingy grey.
But today I was looking an army of unspoiled soldiers and as I was inhaling their wonderful aroma I could not help but notice the older man behind me in line looking at me as if I had lost my mind.
I looked at him and smiled.
“Pick one up and try it; it is the very essence of your childhood”
And to my surprise he did.
He sighed and then smiled a smile that had just been waiting to be rediscovered.
And then he put the box in his cart next to his printer cartridges.
So once again crayons had help color my world outside the lines. And it was the perfect way to begin another semester.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Internet Job Seeking
Ran across a nice little article:
The Dirty Dozen Dangerous Online Job Search Assumptions
Good information that would be easy to forget in the depression of a long job hunt. With so many people looking for work, I thought it might be worth posting.
The Dirty Dozen Dangerous Online Job Search Assumptions
Good information that would be easy to forget in the depression of a long job hunt. With so many people looking for work, I thought it might be worth posting.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
St. Germanus and Alleluia
I try to spend a few minutes each day reading in the morning before I start my day and at night before I go to bed. Some of these readings are just for enjoyment and others are part of a daily devotional practice. One of my favorite devotional readings is a work called Butler’s Lives of the Saints. This is a collection of daily readings for each day that offers short biographies of historical and sometimes less than historical figures that were important saints traditionally honored on each day. Although this is a catalog limited to Catholic saints, it is interesting to me because the variety of religious experience is so diverse.
Every now and then I come across a story that it not well known that I wish was not so obscure. August 3 was the day to remember St. Germanus and since this story has stayed on my mind for several days, it seemed to be one that needed sharing at this time.
St. Germanus died about 448 A.D. and was important in supporting Christianity in Britain after Rome lost interest in the island. He was married and after a serving as a governor in Gaul was later selected to be a bishop. (At that time, clergy could still marry.) He spent much of his life working to discredit older religions that were still being practiced in Britain.
On his first trip to Britain, he converted many Britons who were much afraid of the Picts and the Saxons who frequently raided their lands. The Britons were greatly outnumbered and they appealed to St. Germanus for help from these groups of raiders. When the enemy was approaching, he led the army into a valley where sounds echoed and waited for the approaching enemy.
When the enemy army grew near, St. Germanus signed for all the Britons to shout “Alleluia” three times which echoed in the valley with such a deafening noise that the opposing army fled before the battle had began since they thought they were facing a much larger force. So the battle was won without any bloodshed, an amazing display of the power of faith in action.
The passage that inspired this idea is traditionally thought to be Rev. 19:1 & 3
After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting "Alleluia” . . . And again they shouted "Alleluia”
This is the type of verse that most of us read over quickly and don’t really think about. We are too busy to get on to the “meat” of the passage. I like this story because it reminds me that an open mind can see more possibilities than a closed one and there is solution for every problem if we only have the faith to look for it. It helps me to remember to take the time to appreciate the details, they may turn out to be the most important bits. St. Geramanus reminds me that I am not clever enought to know what will be the valuable bit so I should pay better attention.
Every now and then I come across a story that it not well known that I wish was not so obscure. August 3 was the day to remember St. Germanus and since this story has stayed on my mind for several days, it seemed to be one that needed sharing at this time.
St. Germanus died about 448 A.D. and was important in supporting Christianity in Britain after Rome lost interest in the island. He was married and after a serving as a governor in Gaul was later selected to be a bishop. (At that time, clergy could still marry.) He spent much of his life working to discredit older religions that were still being practiced in Britain.
On his first trip to Britain, he converted many Britons who were much afraid of the Picts and the Saxons who frequently raided their lands. The Britons were greatly outnumbered and they appealed to St. Germanus for help from these groups of raiders. When the enemy was approaching, he led the army into a valley where sounds echoed and waited for the approaching enemy.
When the enemy army grew near, St. Germanus signed for all the Britons to shout “Alleluia” three times which echoed in the valley with such a deafening noise that the opposing army fled before the battle had began since they thought they were facing a much larger force. So the battle was won without any bloodshed, an amazing display of the power of faith in action.
The passage that inspired this idea is traditionally thought to be Rev. 19:1 & 3
After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting "Alleluia” . . . And again they shouted "Alleluia”
This is the type of verse that most of us read over quickly and don’t really think about. We are too busy to get on to the “meat” of the passage. I like this story because it reminds me that an open mind can see more possibilities than a closed one and there is solution for every problem if we only have the faith to look for it. It helps me to remember to take the time to appreciate the details, they may turn out to be the most important bits. St. Geramanus reminds me that I am not clever enought to know what will be the valuable bit so I should pay better attention.
Selling your house -Part 3
I had the awkward experience of meeting someone whose house we had seriously considered purchasing but in the end we did not make an offer on that property. Of course they wanted to know why we had not selected their home.
No one is going to answer this question because there is no clear answer. Nothing is more personal that selecting your home. A strength to one buyer may be a weakness in the eyes of different buyer. Remember this process is not personal; they are looking at your house, not judging your taste or possessions. Some of the reasons an individual buyer may not be interested in your home are not in your control. If they want a pool and you don’t have one then that buyer is simply not going to consider your house. Everyone has a “wish list” that they are hoping to fill and it is a rare find that meets all the desired points on the first visit. It is more likely that your home will have some of the desired features and lack others. The buyer is going to decide what they must have, what can be changed and what they cannot live with.
Even though your home is not likely to be a perfect fit for every buyer, there are steps you can take to make sure that you do not remove your home from consideration that are independent of the factors that you cannot control.
In previous posts Selling your Home, Part 1 and Selling your Home, Part 2, I wrote about getting your home ready to sell by updating the paint and careful cleaning. A third point is to make sure that you are really interested in selling your home.
This seems like a ridiculous statement but many sellers do not seem that interested in actually selling their house. What are the symptoms?
That last point is really important. I have a wonderful dog that I love. He is an ancient pug and he has all the qualities of a pug. He is friendly, loves to warble at new people, breathes heavily when he is excited, and sheds like an Angora cat. Not everyone appreciates these fine qualities.
We decided to board our dog while the house was on the market. There were good reasons for this.
I can hear some of you thinking “But Fluffy is part of our family” and “Love me, love my dog”. That is exactly the issue. It is not about you; it is about your house, a structure that your family lives in. The buyer does not have to love you or your dog and will likely only meet you once. They have to love your house. Make the house the focus and make it easy for the buyer to view the features of your house. At this point is it a house not a home.
Boarding my dog meant our house could stay in spotless condition and could be viewed on very short notice. This made our house easy to show and it was shown a lot. One day our house was shown four times. This would not have been possible if I had to return home to tidy up before every showing.
So the point for this week is to make it easy for the buyer to view your house. If you are not ready to do this, think about how serious you are about selling your home. If it is too hard to view your house, buyers will simply move on to another house in the same market.
No one is going to answer this question because there is no clear answer. Nothing is more personal that selecting your home. A strength to one buyer may be a weakness in the eyes of different buyer. Remember this process is not personal; they are looking at your house, not judging your taste or possessions. Some of the reasons an individual buyer may not be interested in your home are not in your control. If they want a pool and you don’t have one then that buyer is simply not going to consider your house. Everyone has a “wish list” that they are hoping to fill and it is a rare find that meets all the desired points on the first visit. It is more likely that your home will have some of the desired features and lack others. The buyer is going to decide what they must have, what can be changed and what they cannot live with.
Even though your home is not likely to be a perfect fit for every buyer, there are steps you can take to make sure that you do not remove your home from consideration that are independent of the factors that you cannot control.
In previous posts Selling your Home, Part 1 and Selling your Home, Part 2, I wrote about getting your home ready to sell by updating the paint and careful cleaning. A third point is to make sure that you are really interested in selling your home.
This seems like a ridiculous statement but many sellers do not seem that interested in actually selling their house. What are the symptoms?
- The house is cannot be shown on short notice. This eliminates many potential out of town buyers who will not be able to reschedule.
- The owner has not keep in touch with their real estate agent so the agent does not know if they are still in the house or not. The agent and/or the buyer do not want to walk in on the owner unannounced so it is easier to bypass the listing.
- The owners stay in house when the house is being viewed by a potential buyer. Most people are not comfortable viewing a home with the owner present and will rush through the house since it feels like an invasion of privacy.
- The owners forgot to give the agent the code for the alarm or to leave the alarm off.
- Pets are not confined.
That last point is really important. I have a wonderful dog that I love. He is an ancient pug and he has all the qualities of a pug. He is friendly, loves to warble at new people, breathes heavily when he is excited, and sheds like an Angora cat. Not everyone appreciates these fine qualities.
We decided to board our dog while the house was on the market. There were good reasons for this.
- It was not possible for me to return home to remove or confine my dog every time the house was to be shown; my work schedule did not allow for this..
- People say that they love pets. This is only partly true; they love their pets. Your pet is likely a potential cause of damage to the home in other people’s eyes. Even buyers who have dogs or cats are likely to wonder what repairs will be needed due to your beloved dog or cat. If your pet is not at home you can remove all the signs of the pet such as clouds of fur collecting under the furniture, feeding dishes and pet odors and know that these items will stay gone for a good period of time.
- Once a stranger enters your home and the dog is aware that they are there, they are likely to bark until the “intruder” leaves. This causes a potential buyer to rush through your home.
I can hear some of you thinking “But Fluffy is part of our family” and “Love me, love my dog”. That is exactly the issue. It is not about you; it is about your house, a structure that your family lives in. The buyer does not have to love you or your dog and will likely only meet you once. They have to love your house. Make the house the focus and make it easy for the buyer to view the features of your house. At this point is it a house not a home.
Boarding my dog meant our house could stay in spotless condition and could be viewed on very short notice. This made our house easy to show and it was shown a lot. One day our house was shown four times. This would not have been possible if I had to return home to tidy up before every showing.
So the point for this week is to make it easy for the buyer to view your house. If you are not ready to do this, think about how serious you are about selling your home. If it is too hard to view your house, buyers will simply move on to another house in the same market.
Excellence in Design - Expanding Tables
Excellence in design is a rare quality. Jon sent me a link to a video about this amazing expanding table design and I had to look up the source. Such a wonderful design deserved to be recognized.
The original idea is quite old but this current incarnation is both functional and beautiful. Check out the videos at
http://www.dbfletcher.com/capstan/
The type of item you want just because it is so surprising.
The original idea is quite old but this current incarnation is both functional and beautiful. Check out the videos at
http://www.dbfletcher.com/capstan/
The type of item you want just because it is so surprising.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
