Ymirisms

Widget

2009-08-27T19:34:00.001+10:00

Weather report

2009-08-16T10:03:00.000+10:00

A descendant of Eric The Red, named Rudolf the Red, was arguing with his wife about the weather. His wife thought it was going to be a nice day, and he thought it was going to rain. Finally she asked him, how he was so sure. He smiled at her, and calmly said, "Because Rudolf the Red knows rain, dear."

Future car

2009-08-15T10:11:00.002+10:00

This is the new Mercedes Benz SCL600.

This car is really different!

No steering wheel, you drive it with a joystick. No pedals either. Can you drive with a joystick? Your kids and grand kids probably can. The influence of video games in our lives has really arrived, wouldn't you say?

SCARY THOUGHT THAT NOW A 7 YEAR OLD COULD STEAL YOUR CAR AND PROBABLY DRIVE IT BETTER THAN YOU.

Metric

2009-08-14T09:54:00.001+10:00

Most XA GT’s had 7,000rpm tachometers.

Multiplication

2009-08-13T10:02:00.000+10:00

Teacher: Cindy, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
Cindy: You told me to do it without using tables!

Some homework definitions

2009-08-12T10:10:00.000+10:00

ADULT:
A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
BEAUTY PARLOR:
A place where women curl up and dye.
CANNIBAL:
Someone who is fed up with people.
CHICKENS:
The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.
COMMITTEE:
A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
DUST:
Mud with the juice squeezed out.
EGOTIST:
Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.
HANDKERCHIEF:
Cold Storage.
INFLATION:
Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.
MOSQUITO:
An insect that makes you like flies better.
RAISIN:
Grape with a sunburn.
SECRET:
Something you tell to one person at a time.
SKELETON:
A bunch of bones with the person scraped off..
TOOTHACHE:
The pain that drives you to extraction.
TOMORROW:
One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.
YAWN:
An honest opinion openly expressed.
and MY Personal Favorite!
WRINKLES:
Something other people have, similar to my character lines

Metric

2009-08-11T09:53:00.001+10:00

But, as below, the gauges were completely different in style and markings on the XW-XY.

A drunk and a preacher

2009-08-10T10:01:00.000+10:00

A drunk and a preacher were driving up a mountainside in different vehicles. The drunk was swerving from side to side; the preacher was driving straight and true. All of a sudden, the preacher lost control and drove off the edge of a cliff. The drunk noticed the preacher going off the edge, so he stopped his car and went to see if he was all right. He noticed the preacher was climbing up the hillside.
He yelled down at the preacher, "Are you alright?"
And the preacher replied, "Have no fear my son, I had the Lord riding with me."
The drunk then yelled back, "You had better let him ride with me next time, cuz your gonna get him killed!"

Help or Harm

2009-08-09T10:09:00.000+10:00

by Jim Stovall

Anyone who attains a minimal level of success or even a degree of enlightenment understands that there is no true and lasting achievement without helping others and making a difference in the world around you. While most everyone would agree on the fact that they want to help others, the act of helping another person is not as easy to identify as you might think.

Abraham Lincoln said, "The worst thing you can do for anyone you care about is anything that they can do on their own."
People who are given things, opportunities, and solutions without earning or paying for them often are harmed more than they are helped. Wealth without work, position without effort, and remedy without resource is seldom positive in the long run.

The majority of lottery winners are in worse financial condition five years after their winning number is called than they were before playing the lottery. They suffer a much higher divorce rate and instance of drug abuse and alcoholism.

At some point in life, all mature people learn that actions have consequences -- either good or bad. The sooner we can learn this lesson, the more productive and peaceful life we will have. If you shelter a child from all consequences of their decisions, you may protect them temporarily from a few bumps or scrapes.

Unfortunately, you may relegate them to making a poor decision during a life or death situation. We all need to learn that the stove is hot--one time--the hard way. From then on, we are cautious around stoves and begin to consider the consequences of other decisions.

Any study of successful people in our society will reveal a disproportionate number of underprivileged immigrants achieving great success in a relatively short period of time. There is nothing innate about financial struggles, language barriers, and cultural challenges that make people succeed. It is simply that enduring problems and overcoming barriers is a habit that, once learned, carries over into every area of our lives.

That person that turned you down for help may have done you the greatest favor of all. Self-reliance and independence are critical parts of succeeding in life. All of us have received a hand up at one time or another, and hopefully have offered the same to those coming along behind us; but it is important to be sure that we are helping and not harming those that we care about.

As you go through your day today, look for ways to assist others, and eliminate any harm you're doing by trying to help in ways people can perform on their own.

Metric

2009-08-08T09:51:00.000+10:00

And, in a carry over from the XW and XY’s, some XA GT’s had 8,000rpm tachometers.

I wish

2009-08-07T10:01:00.000+10:00

Mr. and Mrs. Thorne had just reached the airport in the nick of time to catch the plane for their two-week's vacation in Majorca.
"I wish we'd brought the piano with us," said Mr. Thorne.
"What on earth for?" asked his wife.
"I've left the tickets on it."

Happiness

2009-08-06T10:09:00.000+10:00

"Happiness is a warm puppy." - Charles M. Schulz, from his "Peanuts" comic strip

Metric

2009-08-05T09:50:00.001+10:00

All well and good, except, there were some other subtle differences. XA GTs featured a 140mph speedometer.

Good for business

2009-08-04T10:00:00.000+10:00

A young guy walks into a post office and sees a middle–aged, balding man standing at the counter methodically placing “Love” stamps on bright pink envelopes with hearts all over them. He then takes out a perfume bottle and sprays scent all over them.
His curiosity getting the best of him, the guy goes up to the man and asks him what he is doing.
The man says, “I’m sending out a thousand Valentine cards signed, “Guess who?”
“But why?” Asked the young guy.
“I’m a divorce lawyer,” the bald man replied.

Teacher’s Work: Addicted to Busyness

2009-08-03T10:08:00.000+10:00

By Kirsten Olson , Education Week February 26

During a school visit I am conferring with a first-year principal. This individual is a dedicated, deeply thoughtful school leader committed to improving the conditions of teaching and learning in her building, and to intensifying professionalism among her teachers. In this meeting, we have set aside time to talk about her—about her new role as a school leader and the job’s many structural and interpersonal challenges.

Our meeting is cut short by another meeting that runs late, and the principal tells me she must stuff ballot envelopes while we talk, so that students can vote on who is most professionally dressed in an upcoming advisory meeting. She stands up behind her desk, so that she can stuff envelopes faster. She pauses to take a call from the executive director (from a phone she wears at her waist), then says she has to run to the front of the building to speak to a student who is out of dress code. (Could we talk while we walk through the hallway, she asks quickly?)

“Most educators have almost no day-to-day socialization or support for sustained attention to or focus on their own learning.”

The principal wants to discuss test scores, but this will have to be put off until we meet next week. She wants to confer about the professional-development plans she has for later in the day, but we don’t get to that. Her observations about herself in relation to her new leadership role are raised in a variety of ways, but our conversation is jerky, truncated, on the hoof. I need a rope to lasso in all the topics that wander into the sagebrush during our “meeting” time. This principal, it is important to note, is well acquainted with the literature on the quality of attention in the teaching profession—she and I recently discussed how, for teachers, external interruptions in the classroom dramatically reduce what one writer in the field has called “opportunities to engage intellectually with important ideas.”

In another setting, a group of superintendents and school leaders have gathered for an eagerly anticipated workshop on creating professional networks for collaboration in their districts. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. By 9:10, perhaps a third of the audience has already been up and out of their seats, checking their Blackberries or talking on their phones in the hallway. Participants are constantly coming and going, talking among themselves, and passing papers. Later in the day, snow threatens. Superintendents spend hours on their phones conferring about the weather.

At a small professional-development meeting, middle school teachers have come together to discuss the reluctant learners in their buildings. These students, say the district leader, are a critical priority. Building administrators, those with the most positional power, sit in the meeting for only a few minutes. Then they get up and move to the sidelines of the room to talk among themselves. The murmur of their voices, as they stand with arms folded across their chests, is a constant background to the day’s proceedings.

Busyness, multitasking, continuous partial attention. The education sector is addicted, and not just because it is experiencing more accountability pressure than at any time in American history. “Occupations shape people,” wrote Dan C. Lortie in his classic study of the teaching profession, and most educators have almost no day-to-day socialization or support for sustained attention to or focus on their own learning. This fracturing of focus is now coupled with intense performance demands based on standardized tests. It is a blunting brew. “I came into the superintendency wanting to bring reflection to every aspect of my job,” a school leader recently told me. “I feel like I’ve lost that right now.”

I became aware of the hostile, undermining quality of busyness and constant multitasking when I attended a very different kind of workshop recently, one devoted to quiet reflection and deep inner work through the practice of silence and listening. In this workshop, a kind of focused, reverent induction to the meeting was practiced. It was understood to be serious time. There were no cellphones, no laptops, no iPods.

“Busyness is the enemy of change, and multitasking is a roadblock to the satisfaction of focused, sustained attention.”

The agenda was not overpacked. As a participant, you could sit on the floor or on a chair, but you didn’t leave—your presence was part of the gift you gave to everyone else. You were instructed about how to listen, how to quiet your body, and how to ask questions to which you did not have the answer. Uncertainty about the process was considered an “invitation,” not a problem to be solved.

There were school leaders in this room, many searching for new ways to work with their staffs, because they felt they had not been successful in the past—not getting at what really needed to be done, as one of them put it. It was one of the most powerful learning experiences I have ever had, a time of going below the surface with others and pondering big questions—a time of reflection and renewal because, in part, each person was paying attention to nothing else.

So I began to wonder: Is the busyness of the adults in the teaching sector a form of resistance, a way of pushing away meaning and focus? Teachers and administrators have never had more demands placed on them in terms of accountability and performance, and a great many meetings are unfocused, time-wasting, and unrelated to the pressing work at hand. Many have “adapted,” however, by aggressively responding to e-mail, looking at phone messages, getting up and down to go out of the room, announcing that they will have to leave early. Those moves, while perhaps reasonable adaptations to real conditions, are rude and fracturing, not only to other participants but to individuals themselves.

Focused leaders in other sectors are moving toward the so-called “law of the vital few,” the idea that constant choice and activity in professional learning do not produce greater gains. The education sector’s addiction to busyness is both a reasonable adaptation and a terrible dysfunction—a hostile and nonempowered way of dealing with the maddening conditions of the work and the disrespect they feel from the larger world.

We won’t solve these problems by getting busier. The most productive meetings in schools I ever observed were in a school district in New York City in the late 1990s. School leaders had drastically pared down agendas—only one or two topics were allowed per meeting, with unrelenting focus on teaching and learning. No announcements, no facilities talk, no discussions of budgets or schedules. Like my recent personal workshop, these meetings were a revelation to me. Yet I’ve almost never seen them replicated, because they require so much focus and discipline.

“Attention is the most powerful tool of the human spirit.” Teachers and administrators dislike and feel disrespected by continuous partial attention from students, yet this is very frequently the attitude brought to their own learning and thinking about their work. “You need time ... to find solutions to the dilemmas that face you. To make real change requires deep, devoted, unconstrained attention.
Busyness is the enemy of change, and multitasking is a roadblock to the satisfaction of focused, sustained attention. Our addiction to “doing” may make us feel engaged, active, and in control, when really, we are spinning ever more out of control and moving farther from the real conditions that can change our work.

Metric

2009-08-02T09:49:00.001+10:00

As the metric introduction was August, effective from July, 1974, Ford began building their cars with speedometers that only read in kph.

Atomic discussion

2009-08-01T09:59:00.000+10:00

Two atoms were walking down the street.

One atom says to the other one, "I've lost an electron!

The 2nd atom replies, "Are you sure?"

Says the 1st atom, "I'm positive."

Bridging the Character Education Achievement Gap

2009-07-31T10:06:00.000+10:00

By Paul Sutton, Education Week February 26, 2009

Throughout his now-famous "Last Lecture," the late Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science Randy Pausch talked about what he called the "head fake." It is the idea that learning and education work best when they work on the personal and general levels simultaneously. It’s clear what calculus can teach a high school student. But beyond that learning, a character education lesson on the dialogues between Socrates and Crito can teach critical-reading skills and democratic dialogue, while also teaching personal and social justice and integrity. The study of both calculus and Socrates demands intellectual rigor, and yet these subjects are not valued in the same way in our public high schools.

Character education as a discipline is losing the argument that it deserves the same resources as disciplines affirmed by an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate curriculum. And this is because we have been selling and teaching it wrong. We miss one of the most important aspects of character education, the cognitive head fake, when our obsession with advanced coursework becomes myopic and overshadows the strength both areas could have if working to complement each other in high schools.

As the demands of high-stakes testing grow and ever-expanding achievement gaps continue to ask more of public schools, character education is too often left behind. Money for staffing and programs dry up as budgets shrink. When forced to choose, schools will take academic rigor over team-building, future college success over human interrelatedness. Why? Because all they see in the latter is an intellectual void. Most schools value character education in principle, but choose to cut it first in a crisis because they see more-pressing instructional needs elsewhere.

And when extensive research, such as the "Smart & Good High Schools" study, suggests the need for more, and more-comprehensive, character education programs, most schools and districts will reject the recommendation, seeing it as yet another unnecessary strain on their already stretched school communities. Whole-school initiatives may be noble goals, but in reality, most schools don’t have the resources or the will to go for broke on character education—even if problems such as cheating, bullying, or harassment may be rapidly escalating.

The assumption that a broad-based character education initiative could flow easily from whole-school transformation ignores the reality that change in high schools happens slowly, if at all, and usually in small pockets, not as a whole school.
Educators should start small, allowing a successful "pocket" to expand within the school community. Character education could be taught, for example, through a fully articulated "student leadership" class—a class most schools already fund. Although they are largely underutilized and misused, these classes are dedicated to student activities. They also should have academic goals and expectations, and be open to all kids and valued by the school and the district just as AP or IB classes are—through a rigorous curricular review.

To be taken seriously in public secondary schools, character education must go beyond mission statements and explore ways to connect such goal-setting exercises to concrete learning objectives that challenge students with scholarly content and approaches. To survive, it must compete with advanced courses for full-time-equivalent teachers by embracing high expectations for all kids and proving its worth year in and year out.

As James Traub, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, has said: "[T]he issue is not whether we will have character education, but instead, what kind we will have and what relationship it will bear to the ongoing campaign to improve children's academic skills." Indeed, character education's very survival depends on its quantifiably improving students' academic skills.

A new character education model should be developed around principles that encourage college-level critical thinking and service to community. It should include the following elements:

1. We should teach dialogue and deliberation through Socratic seminars and consensus-building, so that students learn how to communicate with each other in a democratic setting and the ability to judge ideas on the strength of evidentiary support, not misinformed opinion.

2. We should teach core values and beliefs, so that students identify universal truths they are willing to speak for and work from that will guide the decisions they make as leaders and citizens of their communities.

3. We should teach historical models of leadership, so that students will understand that all great leaders are merely standing on the shoulders of others, and that the values of integrity and compassion don’t come easily. Figures taught could range from Gandhi and Lincoln, to the Bible’s King David, to the explorer Ernest Shackleton.

4. We should provide thoughtful teaching of inequity and inequality as they relate to race, gender, and class, so that students can learn how to speak to one another about diversity in a way that creates progress and does not reinforce stereotypes or systems of power and privilege. Students should be introduced to the writings of authors such as Peggy McIntosh, Cornel West, and James A. Banks.

5. We should teach democratic citizenship and leadership, so that students can learn how to use democratic systems to empower and give voice to all participants in a society to make communities more equal and just. Students should be introduced to scholars such as Walter Parker and historical documents such as the Federalist Papers and Washington’s Newburgh Address.

6. Since moral reasoning is integral to these pursuits, students should be taught to think their way through ethical and moral dilemmas and how to make choices that benefit all and that foster the strength of character to persevere through failures. Lawrence Kohlberg’s “stages of moral development” is a great place to start.

7. We should teach ethical and collaborative decision making and problem-solving, to empower students to change dysfunctional systems and communities. This should teach them that problem-solving is not the sole responsibility of one leader or group, but of a whole community working together.

8. We should give students opportunities for practical application of these precepts and practices, so they can test their new knowledge within the community and attempt to make positive improvements. These opportunities could be through schoolwide community-service projects, school philanthropy projects, and various other school improvement projects that encourage all students to participate.

Whether this kind of learning comes through a student leadership or character education class, schools should encourage students to register and attend. Several levels should be taught, becoming increasingly sophisticated and challenging. To maintain standards of academic achievement, students within such a program should be assessed on their ability to produce a high level of scholarly written work and to add quantifiably and positively to the school’s climate and culture through active leadership.

If we are bold enough to change our thinking and accept that character education must become a part of the academically rigorous landscape of public high schools, students taking these classes will benefit, along with the schools that offer them.

Metric

2009-07-30T09:47:00.001+10:00

With the introduction of the XB model, a decision was taken to fit dual scale speedometers with the mph reading still dominant, but with an inside reading in smaller yellow letters showing kph.

CIA test

2009-07-29T09:57:00.000+10:00

There's a lot to be said about marital bliss...

A while back there was an opening in the CIA for an assassin. These highly classified positions are extremely difficult to fill, requiring an extensive background check, training, and testing before candidates are even considered for the position. After reviewing several applicants and completing all the checks and training, the field was narrowed to the three most promising candidates. The day came for the final test, which would determine which of equally qualified candidates, would get the job.

The final candidates consisted of two men and one woman. The men administering the test took the first candidate, a man, down a corridor to a closed door and handed him a gun saying, "We must be completely assured that you will complete your assignments and follow instructions regardless of the circumstances. Inside this room you will find your wife, seated in a chair. Take this gun and kill her."

The man, looking completely shocked said, "You can't be serious! I could never kill my wife."

The CIA man said, "Well, then, you're obviously not the man for the job. Take your wife and go home." They brought the next candidate in, the other man, and repeated the instructions. This man took the gun, walked into the room and closed the door.

However, after five minutes of silence, the door opened and the man handed the CIA tester the gun, saying, "I just couldn't do it. I couldn't kill my wife. I tried to pull the trigger but I just couldn't do it."

The CIA man said, "Well, then, you're obviously not the man for the job. Take your wife and go home."

Then they brought the woman down the corridor to the closed door, handed her a gun, and said, "We must be completely assured that you will complete your assignments and follow instructions regardless of the circumstances. Inside this room you will find your husband, seated in a chair. Take this gun and kill him."

The woman took the gun, walked into the room, and before the door closed all the way, the CIA men heard the gun start firing. One shot after another, for thirteen shots, the noise continued. Then all hell broke loose. For the next several minutes, the men heard screaming, cursing, furniture crashing and banging on the walls; then suddenly, silence. The door opened slowly and there stood the woman. She wiped the sweat from her brow and said, "You guys didn't tell me the gun was loaded with blanks! I had to beat him to death with the chair!"

Love

2009-07-28T10:04:00.001+10:00

"There is only one happiness in life -- to love and be loved." George Sand,
French novelist

Metric

2009-07-27T09:46:00.000+10:00

Australia implemented the metric system in August, 1974 which was into the XB model Falcon. All previous model Falcons, including all of the XAs, had speedometers that read only mph as seen below.

What's in a name?

2009-07-26T09:57:00.000+10:00

Tom was invited to his friend’s house for dinner. He found that his buddy called his wife every cute name in the book: honey, darling, sweetheart, pumpkin, and baby.
When she was in the kitchen, he leaned over to his friend and said, “I think it’s nice you still call your wife all those pet names.”
“To tell you the truth,” his friend said, “I forgot her name abut three years ago.”

2009-07-26T06:44:00.000+10:00

Walk and talk

2009-07-26T06:26:00.000+10:00

We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk, and the next Twenty-four years telling them to sit down and shut up!

2009-07-25T06:43:00.001+10:00

Go, Teacher, Go!

2009-07-25T06:33:00.000+10:00

Sung to the rocking strains of Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode.

It's January already and there's no question about it; we're back and running again. It takes no time at all for the slow and lazy pace of summer to be overwhelmed by the quickened pace of school. On your mark…get set…hold onto your books and… Go!
Well I'm up and running in the morning, quarter past 5;
Gotta do a little planning just to stay alive.
Then I gulp a little breakfast and I'm off on a ride;
Get to school to make some copies -- the machines have died!
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooooo, Teacher, be good.
Gotta teach right through the morning and without a break.
Then I have to check my voice mail; that's a big mistake.
I could use a cup of coffee cause my energy's low,
But I gotta gotta meeting and I gotta go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooooo, Teacher, be good.
Well my stomach is a-grumblin'; I could use a snack,
But I gotta grade some papers, there's no time to slack.
I've got playground duty and detention, more than I can take.
And I really really really need a bathroom break.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooooo, Teacher, be good.
Well it's later in the day and I am almost done,
But the students are unruly and I'm not having fun.
I am tired and exhausted and my spirits are low,
But I gotta another meeting and I gotta go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooooo, Teacher, be good.

2009-07-24T06:42:00.001+10:00

302 Cleveland

2009-07-24T06:20:00.000+10:00

Later two barrel 302C’s fitted to XB Falcons adopted the large, ‘second’ style 4V air cleaners with non-belled mouth and non-tapered snorkel.

2009-07-23T06:42:00.001+10:00

Three old ladies

2009-07-23T06:25:00.000+10:00

Three old ladies are sitting in a diner, chatting about various things. One lady says, "You know, I'm getting really forgetful. This morning, I was standing at the top of the stairs, and I couldn't remember whether I had just come up or was about to go down."
The second lady says, "You think that's bad? The other day, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, and I couldn't remember whether I was going to bed or had just waken up!"
The third lady smiles smugly. "Well, my memory's just as good as it's always been, knock on wood."
She raps the table. With a startled look on her face, she asks, "Who's there?!"

2009-07-22T06:41:00.001+10:00

Music helps all students learn.

2009-07-22T06:32:00.000+10:00

Need some music in a hurry for your students?

A teacher and musician, Jenny Billard, from Sydney, Australia, at her her The J.E.M. Site (Jen’s Educational Music Site) provides inexpensive music downloads for educators.

Working with children in remote communities in the Northern Territory prompted Billard to implement “creative" teaching techniques like using songs. She needed to catch the children’s interest and make learning easier and more enjoyable.
“It wasn't until some of the grandmothers and mothers of the children visited me at school that I found out that these children were singing my songs all around the community and at home," reported Billard. “Since we had a lot of trouble keeping children at school and interesting them in learning in such a remote area of Australia, this blew me away. Of their own choice, these children were taking learning home with them, little did they know."

Billard finds that younger children respond most positively to songs that are “cheesy and up-tempo," such as rock ‘n’ roll style, which she says are also the easiest to write. The musical and lyrical clichés found in these songs actually give them greater appeal to little ones. Older children prefer more sophistication in their music and often respond better to versions of rhythm and blues, hip-hop, or dance tunes. The “cheesy" songs that strike a chord with kids have an added benefit -- whether you like them or hate them, they are extremely memorable.

“Music is a great motivator for learning!" Billard shared. “Not only does it make you more physically relaxed when you learn, it is fun, inclusive, and more efficient. Obviously, if remembering a song and its words is easier than remembering a set of grammatical rules, then it is far better to learn those rules through song and leave behind the stress of learning where you can. If the songs appeal to the children, then they are more likely to have the songs running through their heads away from school too. It beats homework!"

The J.E.M. Site (Jen’s Educational Music Site) is very new, but Billard has big plans. A current focus is to build the songs teachers most need, so she encourages educators to send song requests to her via the site's “contact us" page.

2009-07-21T06:40:00.000+10:00

302 Cleveland

2009-07-21T06:18:00.001+10:00

This shows how to identify the heads when they are off the car. From the factory, Ford differentiated the two engines by painting the 302C’s rocker covers red as seen on these XA’s.

2009-07-20T06:39:00.001+10:00

Wash your hands

2009-07-20T06:24:00.000+10:00

A teacher sees a lad entering the classroom – his hands were dirty.
She stopped him and said, “John, please wash your hands. My goodness, what would you say if I came into the room with hands like that?”

Smiling the boy replied, “I think I’d be too polite to mention it.”

2009-07-19T06:38:00.001+10:00

Freedom

2009-07-19T06:31:00.001+10:00

"The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom." Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady of the U.S

Utes

2009-07-18T17:51:00.000+10:00

XH van

2009-07-18T06:38:00.001+10:00

302 Cleveland

2009-07-18T06:11:00.003+10:00

As has been mentioned before, the 302C engine was unique to Australia. Effectively, it was short stroke - 3” as opposed to 3.5” - 351C engine, which used a different crank and shorter rods. Early in its life in the XA and XB Falcon range and ZF and ZG Fairlanes, the 302C was available only as a two barrel carbed engine, but later, when Ford introduced the XC Falcon and ZH Fairlane, they swapped to a four barrel carburetor. This was primarily an emissions driven change and the carb fitted was the Carter Thermoquad which is a spreadbore type of carb with small primaries and larger secondaries. Again, there was some logic to Ford’s move as it redesigned the inlet manifold to take the Thermoquad but could use it on both 351C and 302C.

The most interesting thing about the 302C engine is that fact the Australian heads that were fitted to it are different from the Australian heads fitted to 351C engines. The 302C 2V heads are closed chamber heads - sometimes called quench design - and have a chamber size significantly smaller than that of the Aus 351C 2V head. The chamber size for the 302C is 58cc, in comparison with 74cc for the 351C. The difference between the two is compensated for in the actual difference in the combustion chamber size between the shorter stroke 302C and the longer stroke 351C. Considering the engines as fitted to cars, for example an XB, the actual compression ratio is 9.4 to 1 for the 302C and 9.1 to 1 for the 351C.

Now, the closed chamber quench design of the 302C head is more efficient, so it would theoretically be a good idea to fit the 302C heads to the 351C block and rods ? The problem is that the compression ratio for an engine configured like this hits 11 to 1. Great in the days of high octane petrol, not so good now. It can be done, and done successfully, but it has to be watched carefully for detonation. The other side of the coin, of course, is that if you put 351C heads on your 302C engine, then you get awful compression, and it is a waste of time.

To illustrate. This is a 351C open chamber head.

And this is a 302C closed chamber head.

2009-07-17T06:37:00.001+10:00

Pay for your mistakes

2009-07-17T06:23:00.000+10:00

One day, an employee received an unusually large check. She decided not to say anything about it. The following week, her check was for less that the normal amount, and she confronted her boss. “How come,” the supervisor inquired, “you didn’t say anything when you were overpaid?”
Unperturbed, the employee replied, “Well, I can overlook one mistake – but not two in a row!”

2009-07-16T06:36:00.000+10:00

A Dozen Promising Practices: Great Ideas for Great Schools

2009-07-16T06:29:00.000+10:00

Twelve techniques, alone or in combination, can have a profound impact on student achievement.

Innovative educational leaders are abandoning the "closed box" type of school for a building that encourages collaboration.

Despite numerous efforts to improve what happens in classrooms, many schools continue to follow decades-old models and roles. The traditional classroom is a closed box, sealed off from access to people, ideas, and experiences beyond its walls. All knowledge is contained in the teacher's head and in the textbooks and other materials inside the classroom. Students sit at desks arranged in rows and work individually. Roles are confined to a strict hierarchy -- the teacher's job is to teach by talking; the student's job is to learn by memorizing. As many have noted, the twenty-first century requires very different kinds of classrooms bearing little resemblance to their ancestors. Here we present twelve tips from leading teachers and exemplary schools around the country that can break down the isolation of the classroom, open up its four walls, and breathe new life into teaching and learning. Many of these innovations introduce new roles for students and teachers and address how time is used during the school day. They all lead to closer relationships between students and teachers and among students themselves. Perhaps surprisingly, many of these practices do not require more funds, if any, but only the willingness to "think outside the box."

Cross-age tutoring benefits both older and younger students.

Peer Instruction

Two or three times a week, students in many schools teach other. Besides the fact that the students are learning from peers who are "closer to their level of knowledge," teacher have witnessed a number of benefits with the method, including many documented by Mazur in his own research. Rather than tuning out long lectures, the students become involved. "The kids love it," Beauvais says. "It gets them talking, discussing. They're much more interested than if you just write something up on the board, and they remember it more than if you just tell them."
Beauvais' experience backs up Mazur's research on his own introductory physics classes at Harvard, as well as the experiences of other college instructors. Mazur found that because students are forced to think through the arguments being developed, they make significant gains in conceptual understanding and problem solving. They can also assess their own understanding of a topic while in the classroom rather than try to puzzle out a complicated concept by themselves or, worse, learn that they don't understand a topic until it's too late -- on the test.

Cross-Age Tutoring

Four days a week, sixteen seventh and eighth graders from Abraham Kazen Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, walk to a nearby elementary school to tutor younger children. The middle schoolers, designated by the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program as being at risk of dropping out of school, are paid $5.15 an hour for their labors, but the remuneration amounts to much more than dollars.

Teacher Cathy Meyer, coordinator of the program at Kazen, says she has seen remarkable transformations of youngsters -- from shy to confident, from uninterested in school to eager to do well, from gang members to respected school leaders. The act of teaching others is empowering, since the best way to learn something is to teach it. The younger students also look up to their older tutors and are eager for their leadership. The Intercultural Development Research Association, which created the program, reports that 98 percent of students in the program stay in school.

Students thrive when working on solutions to real problems with adult experts.

Bringing Local Experts into the Classroom

Throughout New York state, some schools rely on experts from the business and academic world to evaluate student work and to bridge the gap between school and the larger community. At Urban Academy, a small alternative high school in New York City, outside experts -- from attorneys and actors to historians and business managers -- play a critical role in classroom learning and assessment. Students present their culminating project work (part of a performance system of assessment) to a panel that includes experts in the relevant subject. "Outside experts ask questions that teachers might not pose," explains Urban Academy co-director and teacher Ann Cook, "and open up the educational activity or enterprise to the world."

In addition to having local experts work with students in classes and on long-term projects, the school invites a member of the New York community to come and speak with students once a month. At these gatherings, called "conversations," the visitors talk about themselves and answer questions from students and staff. Says Cook: "It's a way of helping students to be more exposed to people with [a variety] of life experiences."

Multiage Classroom

It may mean more work to make sure all topics are covered and each student is learning at an appropriate pace, but teacher Deborah Goodman is sold on grouping students from different grades in one class. In her class of eight kindergartners, five first graders, and five second graders at White Oak Elementary School in Edenton, North Carolina, students learn from each other, and help each other. The younger kids tend to catch on more quickly, and the older kids cement their knowledge by teaching others and becoming leaders -- an opportunity less available in a more competitive single-grade class.

Because she has the same children for three years, Goodman can look at the curriculum over a three-year span and advance the kids as quickly as they are able to master the curriculum. Research on multiage classrooms has pointed to such advantages as allowing for differences in learning styles and pace, giving older children leadership experience, and creating an environment with less competition and more cooperation and nurturing among students.

Cooperative Learning

What cooperative learning is not, says English teacher Pam Hankins, is group grades, with the inevitable loss of individual responsibility that group grading entails. With group grades, she says, one or two kids always do most of the work and the slackers reap the benefits.

In Hankins' sophomore English class at Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri, students learn essential twenty-first-century skills of working together and training in equal participation -- in a format that allows each one to receive useful feedback on success and need for improvement. "If we don't prepare our students to work in teams, we are selling them short," Hankins says. A likely assignment on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is for a group of students to create a newspaper based on the play -- news, fashion, sports, weather, op-ed, obituaries ("Everybody in Julius Caesar dies," deadpans Hankins). The students work together on assembling a cohesive newspaper and on design, layout, artwork, and even the paper's name (Roman Times and Toga Tattler are favorites). But Hankins keeps track -- through different colored pens, bylines, and other means -- of the work each individual student contributes.

In the seven years she has used cooperative learning, Hankins has seen that a full class participates rather than the one high-achiever who always gets a hand up first, and that students get more excited about the work "because the most important relationships that help with learning are student-to-student and student-to-teacher." Hankins is so impressed with the results of cooperative learning that if told she could not use it in the classroom, "I would go sign up and be a greeter at Wal-Mart."

Class-Size Reduction

Classes with sixteen rather than twenty-eight students "give us time to get to each student," says Marsha Fritz, a second-grade teacher at Webster Stanley Elementary School in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. "You can be more specific with each child and pick out exactly what they need to achieve." Webster Stanley is a participant in Wisconsin's Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) class-size reduction plan. SAGE provides state funding to help reduce class size to a student-teacher ratio of 15:1 in kindergarten through third grade in schools with large concentrations of children from low-income families.

For three years in a row, University of Wisconsin researchers found that students of all races and socioeconomic levels in SAGE schools outperformed students in comparison schools in all three grades, even when SAGE students started out the school year behind their peers in comparison schools. Another research study found less bullying at SAGE schools.

Fritz says she sees these positive academic results in her classroom. For example, when second graders in non-SAGE schools were given ten minutes to write as many words as they could from memory, they averaged forty-two words. Fritz' students averaged sixty words. Besides giving her students more individual attention, she can give their families attention, too. And when there is frequent communication with parents, they participate more in their children's education and provide information about the youngsters' special needs and interests. "You get to know grandparents. You know whether they have a cat or dog," all of which helps her tailor her instruction to the individual child. Class-size reduction, Fritz declares, "does make a difference."

Team teaching can reduce a teacher's sense of isolation and provide students with two, rather than one, role models and instructors.

Team Teaching

Tina Prary and Beth Henry started team teaching out of necessity, but they kept up the practice because of the benefits to them and their students. Nevada's answer to mandated class-size reduction and absence of extra classrooms was to pair two teachers in a class of thirty-two, thus cutting the student-teacher ratio to 16:1. Prary and Henry were drawn to each other because of similar discipline styles and educational philosophies.

After six years of teaching a second-grade class together, they like the camaraderie and the practicalities of sharing a classroom. Unlike some team teachers, Prary and Henry, who teach at Agnes Risley Elementary School in Sparks, do not specialize in particular subjects. They each teach all subjects with a system so polished that when one teacher is instructing the whole class and the other teacher feels she has something to contribute, she politely breaks in and adds her two cents.

They organize reading and math into two groups, but otherwise all students are taught together. When one teacher is teaching the whole class, the other teacher can provide individual attention to a student or a small group of students -- either for academic or discipline reasons -- or can attend to paperwork or other school matters.
These teachers enjoy having another adult to chuckle over something or commiserate with. In addition, they appreciate each other's feedback on lesson plans, educational theory and research, and individual student weaknesses or strengths. And they believe they provide good examples for their young students of how adults can treat each other respectfully. As Henry says, "It's like a marriage."

Looping

At Sherman Oaks Community Charter School in San Jose, California, the practice of looping -- teachers staying with the same students for two or more years -- helps not only to smooth the bumps of each new year but to build positive relationships between teachers and students throughout the year. After two or three years with the same group of students, the teacher loops back down to start the process again. At her previous school, Principal Peggy Bryan tracked the progress of classes with and without looping and found that student gains were greater in looped classes.
So when Bryan and several teachers from that school came to Sherman Oaks, they brought looping with them. They felt more than vindicated in their decision. Because teachers and students don't lose weeks at the start of school getting to know each other, "students know what your procedures are and you know what their learning styles are, so day one, you're off and running," says teacher Sandra Villarreal-Sweeney. The relationship with the students' families also is strong with looping, adds teacher Osvaldo Rubio.

Grouping students into teams at large schools gives them a better sense of belonging.

Block Scheduling

Test scores are up and discipline referrals are down at Space Coast Middle School in Cocoa, Florida. Assistant Vice Principal Timothy Hurd attributes much of the good news at Space Coast, which gets its name from the nearby Kennedy Space Center, to block scheduling.

Instead of six forty-seven-minuite class periods, the school now offers four ninety-minute periods, which include two core courses (one in math or science, the other in English or social studies) plus two electives. Because of the longer class time, students receive a more comprehensive lesson that often includes hands-on learning, such as going outside and measuring the building for a unit on weights and measurements or putting on a play.

The forty-seven-minute period led to traditional lectures and students passively taking notes, Hurd says, which didn't keep them interested and forced teachers to truncate lessons that could have used more time. Student failure rates decreased from 13 percent to 5 percent after block scheduling was instituted in 1996. The percentage of students on the honor roll increased by 10 percent. Test scores increased by 12 percent on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

An added benefit includes fewer discipline problems because less time is spent in the halls moving from class to class. And because students don't take math and science or English and social studies in the same semester, extra books allow students to have a set in the classroom and at home.

School Teams

To value each individual student, build group cohesion, and ensure that students don't fall through the cracks, Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, divides its student population into two houses, each with its own administrator. Each house has about 300 students, who are further grouped by grade (sixth, seventh, and eighth) into teams of 100. The student teams are housed in the same area of the school and are paired with a faculty team consisting of English, math, science, and social studies teachers, plus a learning specialist and counselor.
The faculty and student teams spend the year together, both in classes and in a variety of school activities. Parent conferences include all of a student's faculty team. "It's a great way of getting a sense of who your kids are," says Principal Tony Bencivenga. Lunch hours are arranged so that faculty team members roam the cafeteria and make themselves available to their student team members on a more informal basis.

Community service gives students a sense of their place in society and of their capabilities.

Community Service

"What we're here for is to help young people develop skills and commitments so they can create a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world," says Hudson Public Schools Superintendent Sheldon Berman. "If we simply look at test scores and don't think about ethics and people's ability to contribute to others, we've lost some of the basic building blocks of helping people understand the common good and what our democracy's about."

The Massachusetts educator backs up his words by having every teacher from kindergarten through high school integrate service learning into the curriculum. Kindergartners take part in an integrated language arts and math project to produce a quilt and books for homeless women and children. Fourth graders target their yearlong environmental science study to protecting local wetlands. Ninth graders develop individual projects to assist the community, such as a workshop for fifth graders about the dangers of stereotypes. "When young people are involved in making a difference to the world at large," Berman points out, "their participation continues far into the future."

Schools Within Schools

Patterson High School Principal Laura D'Anna is a believer in breaking up large high schools into smaller academies. "I've seen the improvements we've been able to make in attendance, achievement, and the dropout rate," says the Baltimore educator.
In 1995, Patterson, with a student population of about 2,000, was reorganized into five academies of 350 to 400 students: the "Success Academy" for freshmen plus academies in arts and humanities, business and finance, health and human services, transportation and technology, and sports. Each academy has its own assistant principal and secretary, as well as teachers for programs such as pharmacy technician or consumer services management. D'Anna also beefed up the college preparatory program, adding Advanced Placement classes and encouraging students to take more language and advanced math.

The academies, she says, meet students' requirements for a relevant curriculum with the potential to land them a job right out of high school or send them to college. Equally important are high expectations and the supportive environment created by being a member of a smaller learning community -- each with different colored uniforms and teachers who stay with the same students for three years. "Kids have to feel like they belong," D'Anna says. "The teachers know these kids. They mentor them. They're there for them in good times and bad."

An overall increase in the percentage of Patterson students passing the Maryland Functional Test, including a jump in math scores from 36 percent in 1993 to 63 percent in 2000, is one confirmation of D'Anna's belief in the schools-within-schools concept. In addition, the dropout rate fell to an all-time low of 1.8 percent.

Utes

2009-07-15T17:49:00.001+10:00

XG XR6 ute

2009-07-15T06:35:00.000+10:00

2009-07-14T18:45:00.000+10:00

Something for dinner

2009-07-14T17:59:00.000+10:00

A cannibal entered the meat market to buy something nice for dinner. The owner greeted him and told him to look around. The cannibal began to inspect the meat case and noticed the market specialized in brain.
Upon further inspection he noticed a marked disparity between the costs of brain meats. A carpenter's brain sells for $1.50 per pound. A plumber's brain sells for $2.25 per pound. He noticed with alarm that a politician's brain sells for $375.00 a pound. With not a little curiosity he asked the owner why the huge difference in price between the similar meats.
The owner responded with a deadpan look on his face, "Do you realize how many politicians it takes to get a pound of brains?"

2009-07-13T18:44:00.000+10:00

Fear

2009-07-13T18:09:00.000+10:00

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us." ~ Marianne Williamson

2009-07-12T18:44:00.001+10:00

Utes

2009-07-12T17:48:00.001+10:00

XF Ute

2009-07-11T18:43:00.000+10:00

Over that tree

2009-07-11T17:58:00.000+10:00

One day, a grandpa and his grandson go golfing. The young one is really good and the old one is just giving him tips. They are on hole 8 and there is a tree in the way and the grandpa says, "When I was your age, I would hit the ball right over that tree." So, the grandson hits the ball and it bumps against the tree and lands not to far from where it started. "Of course," added the grandpa, "when I was your age, the tree was only 3 feet tall."

2009-07-10T18:42:00.000+10:00

Four Ways to Accelerate Your Goal Achievement

2009-07-10T18:09:00.000+10:00

Most everyone has goals. And even if you don`t have them clearly defined and written down (if that`s you, why not?), you likely have some sense of where you want to go. If you have neither, this article isn`t really for you. But if either of the first two things is true for you then this article is absolutely for you; because if you have goals, I`m guessing you`d like to reach them faster. The sole purpose of setting a goal is reaching the goal, and in most instances, getting to the goal faster would be a good thing! It doesn`t matter if you are behind on your goal plan (or the deadline is coming up quickly), if you are overwhelmed by the amount you have to do, or whatever your reason is for wanting to "pick up the pace", the four actions that follow will accelerate your progress and move you towards your goals faster.

1. Remind Yourself Why

You set the goal for a reason. There is some purpose or series of benefits that will come to you when the goal is reached. You know what these reasons are, right? If you don`t, stop here and determine them before you do anything else.

Here are some examples.

Your goal is to lose weight so you will have more energy, feel better about yourself or attract a mate (or wow them at your class reunion). Your goal is to complete the project on time in order to better serve Customers or earn a bonus (in order to take that Mediterranean cruise). Your goal is to complete the reorganization so that Customers will be happier, productivity can be improved and people can get settled into their new jobs quickly (so the lives of those you lead can become more normal again).

There may be many "reasons why" for any goal you set. You must know them, you must remind yourself of them, and you must recognize that all "whys" aren`t created equally.
Notice how powerful and personal the above ones in parentheses are? Those are the why`s that will keep you moving forward towards your goals when you are frustrated, tired or discouraged.

2. Take Daily Action

I really can`t say it any clearer than this. If you want to accelerate your progress towards your goals, you simply must take more of the actions required to reach those goals. Take at least one tangible action towards the ultimate goal every day. Cleaning your desk or organizing your files doesn`t count. If you need to do these types of things, great, but that isn`t progress towards your goal (unless your goal is a consistently clean office). Forget the busy work, and get to work. One task every day. Want to move even faster? Take more action! Do two or three tasks every day. Make them tangible and directly related to the goals. As you take action, and see progress and have success, you create more energy. The greater energy you create allows you to take more action and have more success.
This virtuous cycle is a major key to accelerating your progress towards your goals.
Want to reach your goal faster? Take action today, and every day. Start now.

3. Learn Something

There is a complete and direct linkage between goals and learning. The achievement of every goal requires learning.
If you already knew everything required, chances are a goal wouldn`t be needed. In fact there are two major components to the achievement of your goals - action (which we just talked about) and learning (which we`re talking about now).

When you choose to learn things required for achieving your goals, you create:

* New abilities and skills you need for success.
* New insights or mindsets that create success.
* New information that causes you to be inspired and creates energy.

All of these things create speed in goal achievement.

When you combine steps two and three you have even faster achievement. Note: One of your daily tasks could be to learn something. This is a great daily action. But be forewarned, learning something every day, by itself, isn`t enough.

Learning is a cornerstone to goal achievement, so as you learn more you accelerate your progress.

4. Get Help

There is no such thing as a self made man (or woman). We all need help and support to reach our goals, if even indirectly. Even if you could reach your goals completely alone, why would you want to? Get your ego out of the equation and you will speed up your progress. Other people can provide:

* Support
* A pair of hands to help
* Knowledge
* Experience
* A referral
* Encouragement
* And a thousand other things.

There is no need to go it alone, to do so is silly and non- productive.

To reach your goals faster, get help and build a team.

These four steps will help you reach any goal faster. They also will help you as a leader in helping teams and individuals do the same.

Start today by looking at any current goal you would like to achieve faster, then put these ideas in place. Rest assured your future success will come much faster than if you don`t.

Potential Pointer: If you want to accelerate progress towards your goals, remain clear on why you want to reach the goal, take daily action towards it, continue to learn things that support your goal and enlist the help and support of others. When you take these four steps, you are on your way to greater success sooner!

2009-07-09T18:42:00.000+10:00

Utes

2009-07-09T17:47:00.001+10:00

XD Van

2009-07-08T18:41:00.000+10:00

Dracula's minions

2009-07-08T17:57:00.000+10:00

Once upon a time Dracula decided to carry some sort of a competition to see which is the finest bat to stand on his side. So all the bats were honored to take part. The rules were simple. Whichever bat drinks more blood, will be the winner? So the first bat goes and comes back after 10 minutes. Her mouth was full of blood. Dracula says: "Congratulations, how did you do that?" The bat said: "Do you see that tower? Behind it there is a house. I went in and sucked the blood of all the family". "Very good" said Dracula. The second bat goes and comes back after 5 minutes all her face covered in blood. Dracula astonished says, "How did you do that?" The bat replies " Do you see that tower? Behind it there is a school. I went in and drunk the blood of all the children". "Impressive" said Dracula. Now the third bat goes and comes back after three minutes literally covered in blood from top to toe. Dracula is stunned. "How on earth did you do that????" he asked. And the bat replies. "Do you see this tower?" Dracula replies with a yes. And the bat says "Well, I didn't".

2009-07-07T18:41:00.000+10:00

Philosophy of Life

2009-07-07T18:08:00.000+10:00

1. If you’re too open-minded your brains will fall out.
2. Don’t worry about what people think; they don’t do it very often.
3. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
4. It isn’t the jeans that make your butt look fat.
5. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
6. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
7. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.
8. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.
9. If you look like your passport photo, you probably need the trip.
10. A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel good.
11. Men and from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.
12. A balanced diet is a chocolate in each hand.
13. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
14. Junk is something you’ve kept for years and thrown away 3 weeks before you need it.
15. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.
16. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognise a mistake when you make it again.
17. By the time you make the ends meet, they move the ends.
18. Thou shall not weigh more than they refrigerator.
19. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.
20. If you must choose between two evils, choose the one that you’ve never tried before.

2009-07-06T18:40:00.000+10:00

Utes

2009-07-06T17:46:00.000+10:00

XC Van

2009-07-05T18:39:00.000+10:00

Cemetary tales

2009-07-05T17:57:00.000+10:00

Two boy scouts went on a nature hike in the hills picking hickory nuts.
Along the way, they filled their small pails and then started to fill their pockets and shirts.
When they could hold no more nuts, they started down the country road until they came across a cemetery. The boys decided that would be a good place to stop and rest and divide out the nuts.
The two boys sat in the shade of a large oak tree and unloaded their pockets and buckets by dumping all of the nuts in a large pile.
In the process, two of them rolled away and rested near the road. The boys then proceeded to divide out the nuts. "One for you. One for me. One for you. One for me."
As they were doing this, another boy was passing by and happened to hear them. He looked into the cemetery, but could not see the boys, because they were obscured by the tree. He hesitated a moment and then ran back to town.
"Father! Father!" he yelled as he entered his house. "The cemetery. Come quick!"
"What's the matter?" his father asked.
"No time to explain," the boy frantically panted. "Follow me!"
The boy and his father ran up the country road and stopped when they reached the cemetery. They stopped at the side of the road and all fell silent for a few moments. Then the father asked his son what was wrong.
"Do you hear that?" he whispered. Both people listened intently and heard the Scouts. "One for me. One for you. One for me. One for you..."
The boy then blurted out, "The devil and the Lord are dividing the souls!"
The father was skeptical but silent -- until a few moments later as the Scouts completed dividing out the nuts and one Scout said to the other, "Now, as soon as we get those two nuts down by the road, we'll have them all."

2009-07-04T18:39:00.000+10:00

FOSTERING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD LEARNING

2009-07-04T18:07:00.000+10:00

"…the teacher can never write anything negative about a child…Everything is positive."
"…find something positive to say about a child every morning."
"When our children walk in the door, I say, ‘Welcome to success. Say goodbye to failure because you are not going to fail. I’m not going to let you fail.’"
"We have created an attitude that puts joy back into learning, that creates satisfaction at doing something correctly."
"We always find something positive to say about their papers — ‘Very good, but let’s proofread this.’ No teacher ever uses the words, ‘That’s wrong.’ We always find something positive to say about a child."
"Create an ambience of positiveness in the classroom where children learn that it takes more courage to be wrong than to play it safe without ever responding to questions."
"Children respond to love and positive feedback rather than negative programming."
"Write encouraging notes to children, not just when they are in trouble."
"Never let students say ‘I can’t.’ Say to them, ‘We remove the ‘t’ from the ‘can’t’ and we have ‘can.’"
"When a child gives an incorrect answer, say, ‘Very good try, but not quite.’"
"Praise is essential in developing the right attitude toward learning and toward school. We all know this in theory. In practice we often forget the importance of praise in dealing with children."

2009-07-03T18:38:00.000+10:00

Utes

2009-07-03T17:45:00.000+10:00

XB Surfsider

2009-07-02T18:37:00.000+10:00

Knocked over

2009-07-02T17:56:00.000+10:00

There was this little guy sitting in a bar, drinking his beer, minding his own business when all of a sudden this great big dude comes in and -- WHACK!! -- knocks him off the bar stool and onto the floor. The big dude says, "That was a karate chop from Korea." The little guy thinks "GEEZ," but he gets back up on the stool and starts drinking again when all of a sudden -- WHACK!! -- the big dude knocks him down AGAIN and says, "That was a judo chop from Japan." So the little guy has had enough of this... He gets up, brushes himself off and quietly leaves. The little guy is gone for an hour or so when he returned. Without saying a word, he walks up behind the big dude and -- WHAM!!!" -- knocks the big dude off his stool, knocking him out cold!!! The little guy looks at the bartender and says, "When he gets up, tell him that's a crowbar from Sears.

AVOIDING MEDIOCRITY AS A TEACHER

2009-07-01T18:06:00.000+10:00

"…make the poor student good and the good student superior…"
"The good ones [teachers] are constantly trying to find answers; the poor ones are constantly making excuses."
“Some teachers think that just what is given to them in the classroom is all there is to be used. These are very poor teachers. You have to go beyond."
"To just read what is given to me in a classroom and not explore other means and not explore other connecting topics, still guarantees failure as a teacher. Learning is everywhere. I think that is the one thing that is missing in the minds of many teachers. Everything in life has knowledge attached to it, and students are just waiting to learn things."
"We can all pay teachers to teach, but how much do you really pay a teacher to care?" A dedicated staff will "take personally the failure of just one child."
A school will only work "because of motivated leadership and dedication from the teachers."
"Students may know nothing, they may be complete illiterates, but they know when we know, and they respect when we know. A good teacher must be more than a 2x4 teacher —bounded by the four walls of a classroom and the two covers of a book. I have a passion for being the very best teacher than I can be."
"I hear teachers and educators complaining about how far a child is behind; what a child doesn’t know…That’s what we’re there for. It’s not a problem. You can see it as a problem, or you can see it as a challenge…you innately have all the right stuff that it takes to make a good teacher, if you eradicate yourself of the idea that these children cannot learn."
"…you can only do one day at a time. You can’t teach a whole year in one day. Prepare to be the very best teacher you can be that one day, in that classroom. Then come home Day One and prepare to be the very best teacher you can be on Day Two."
Have a positive attitude toward teaching. "…think of the power that you possess to manage a whole group of children. You can bend them like a piece of putty. You can make them what you want."
"…teach every day. Do whatever profession you’re in, do it every day, every moment, as if the whole world were watching. I teach as if Jesus Christ Himself were in that classroom. And when you do that, you’re bound to see great things happening."
"Each of us can make a difference. Each of us has what it takes to make a difference —and that’s a passion for being excellent in what we do …All of us are what we are, and are where we are, because of the excellence of somebody before us."
The "miracle" of teaching is "…dedication, common-sense, determination, and a love for our students."
"… most human beings are as good as they are because some unknown teacher cared enough to continue polishing until a shiny luster came shining through; because some teacher cared enough to remove the previous fetid tags and labels of failure from their psyches."

2009-06-30T18:36:00.000+10:00

Utes

2009-06-30T17:44:00.001+10:00

XA ute

2009-06-29T18:36:00.001+10:00

A baby every 4 seconds

2009-06-29T17:55:00.000+10:00

A couple is reading the paper, the wife says: This article on overpopulation of the world says that somewhere in the world there is a woman having a baby every four seconds! Her husband not to appear uninterested said; I think they ought to find that woman and stop her!

2009-06-28T18:35:00.000+10:00

Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology

2009-06-28T18:06:00.000+10:00

by Doug Johnson

Here are seven technology practices that just make me marvel and feel proud to be part of the profession:

1. Empower kids with technology. Technology is an amplifier of natural abilities. Brilliant teachers see that good writers become better writers, good debaters become better debaters, good French speakers become better French speakers, good mathematical problem-solvers become better mathematical problem-solvers, and so on, by helping their students harness technology. They do not see technology as a crutch, but as a propellant. Brilliant teachers have experienced the empowering power of technology themselves. Brilliant teachers use good assessment strategies to rigorously determine the quality of technology-enhanced projects.

2. Creatively find and use resources. I can't believe the technology found in some of our teachers' classrooms. And it was neither provided by our department nor stolen (I don't think). Through personal purchase, through parent-teacher groups, through grants, through business partnerships, through parental contacts, through fund raising, and through classroom supply budgets, brilliant teachers amazingly amass digital cameras and clickers and sensors and classroom computer labs. One of our brilliant teachers MacGyver-ed his own document camera out of an old camcorder, plastic pipe, and duct tape. He calls it his Grover (not his Elmo).

3. Make conferencing real-time. Brilliant teachers don't wait until scheduled parent conferences to communicate with homes. Through e-mail, Web sites, online grade books, blogs, wikis, and, yes, even telephone calls, technology gives teachers the ability to make parents partners who help assure students' timely, quality work. They post newsletters, spelling lists, assessment tools, assignments, grades, calendars, discussion lists, and tips. They read and respond to parent e-mails. Most parents want to be involved, but they like knowing how.

4. Put kids in touch with the world. The classrooms of brilliant teachers have no walls. Those teachers "get" the flat world challenge, understanding that tomorrow's citizens and workers will have an advantage if they can work successfully with other cultures.

5. Accept the role of co-leaner. One of the best signs of intelligent people is that they tend to willingly admit when they don't know something. Brilliant teachers not only accept the dismal fact that they will never know all there is to know about technology, they also turn that condition into a classroom advantage by having their brilliant children teach them how to do something techie now and then.

6. Use the kids’ own devices to teach them. Brilliant teachers understand the old Arab proverb, "It's easier to steer the camel in the direction it is already heading." Students are increasingly and unstoppably bringing in personal communication devices -- cell phones, cameras, game devices, iPods/mp3 players, netbooks, laptops, and PDAs. Brilliant teachers know how to use cell phones to poll their classes; create podcasts of lectures for later review; use games to teach difficult concepts; and make "Google-jockeys" of student wireless laptop users.

7. Delight in the discovery, the newness, and the fun technology holds. It's not about technology; it's about finding out and doing "cool" things. We knew that ourselves as kids. Brilliant tech-using teachers have never lost the thrill of doing something new and interesting with these electronic Tinker Toys. They are pleased with their tech-using students and pleased with themselves. Brilliant teachers use technology's engagement (not entertainment) power. Technology is not "just one more thing," it’st a vital experience that brings discovery, excitement, and even fun to the classroom.

Technology won’t make a poor teacher a good one. But it can make a good teacher even better. And it can help make great teachers the ones that students remember for the rest of their lives. I hope you all know teachers who make brilliant uses of technology. What do you see them doing?

2009-06-27T18:35:00.001+10:00

Utes

2009-06-27T17:43:00.001+10:00

The limited production 4x4 XY ute

2009-06-26T18:34:00.000+10:00

How much?

2009-06-26T17:55:00.000+10:00

A little boy asked his father, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?"
The father replied, "I don't know son, I'm still paying for it

2009-06-25T18:34:00.000+10:00

Should I Let Them Fail?

2009-06-25T18:05:00.000+10:00

By Laura Reasoner Jones, Teacher magazine. February 11, 2009

I’ve spent the last week agonizing over my after-school advanced robotics program. How can I prevent what is turning out to be a train wreck in progress? At least two of my five teams of 5th and 6th graders are not going to be able to present anything at our final parent demonstration event, and I need to decide what I am going to do about it. Am I going to let them experience the natural consequences of inaction, or am I going to intervene and fix things? In the heat of the moment, I feel like everything I have ever believed in as a teacher or parent is at stake.

Let me set the stage: I have 11 kids in the advanced robotics program—an after-school club with the goal of exposing kids to Lego Robotics using my grant-funded NXT kits. I did this last year for the first time, and had 18 kids, but only eight of them came back (our school is cursed with extremely high mobility). So I recruited three girls from last year’s Pico Cricket programming class and hoped they would catch up. As a result, my current group consists of eight 6th grade boys from last year and three new 5th grade girls.

I had originally scheduled six after-school sessions of two hours each. But we were all having so much fun that, at the kids’ request, I extended both the length of the sessions and the number. We ended up meeting 10 times, in three-hour chunks, with a final demonstration for parents and anyone else we could scare up. That’s where we are now—coming up on the big demonstration showcase, with two of our five small teams having virtually nothing to show for all this time and effort.
Blame Game

Is this their fault? My fault? I just want them to have something to show, so that they feel good about the experience and leave robotics thinking they might want to explore engineering someday. But I guess I also want to assign responsibility. I feel as if I have met mine. I gave these two teams all the resources they needed—sample programs to use, plenty of time, good food to eat, and two real engineers as mentors (who were very hard to find). So did these kids live up to their responsibilities? No, and that is the problem.

They were supposed to build a robot, any robot, and program it to do something of their choice. Is this so hard? I didn’t think so, based on their performance last year, and the performance of the kids on the other teams around them. But they just could not get it together. They spent weeks playing with the software but would not use any of the canned programs that are great starting places. We (the mentors and I) could not get them to see that you just start with a canned program and then modify it to your heart’s content—there is nothing wrong with that.

When they finally got a robot built and found they could not get the program to work, they were unwilling to either tinker with it or start over, and the time just dribbled away. So, now it is the last week before the demo, and they have nothing. Nothing!!!

A Teacher’s Dilemma

How can I allow them fail? I cannot in good conscience let them stand back and watch all of their friends be applauded and praised by staff and parents. That is not what this after-school program is about. It is about personal success, whatever form that may take. I think about my goals for this project. I want each child to build and program a robot, learning that he/she can do new things and stretch his/her brain into new fields without fear of failure. I want each child to see herself/himself as an engineer, a builder, a creator. And above all, I want each child to feel pride in his/her work.

But personally, as a mother and as a teacher, I also want each child to learn from mistakes, to take risks and experience the consequences of risk-taking. I don’t want to rescue kids. I want them to learn to rescue themselves. In this situation, my two sets of goals have come into direct conflict. I am going to have to rescue them to have them experience success. Not fun. I also think about the goals of the kids who enrol in this program. I think they want to have fun; they are not looking for career experiences. They also want to be able to say that they were “chosen” for robotics—there is a certain cachet to belonging, because they are the “advanced” kids. And, deep down, I think they want to do well—doesn’t every child? So, all of our goals are in conflict with each other. But the only ones I can control are mine, and I have to resolve this conflict today.

Teacher With a Plan

I give this deep thought in the car, at the gym, in the shower, and unfortunately in bed at night, losing sleep over it. But I come up with a plan, one that depends on the goodness of the mentors. Because it is the mentors who are going to do the rescuing, preserving some of my pride, and maintaining the illusion that the kids did it themselves. That way the kids won’t look at me every day in technology lab with the thought that I’m there to rescue them.

Here’s how it plays out:

1. I grab the mentors as they arrive and tell them that their job today is to get these two teams functioning. I remind them that we have one week and if they can help the kids get the robots built, we can get the programming done between now and then. They are in perfect agreement, having watched these teams flounder.

2. I leave them to pump up their teams, and I’m quite impressed at how they handle it. One engineer who has never worked with kids in his life says to them, “Our deadline is here. It is crunch time. Let’s do it!” And the kids just jump up and start to work. Ah, the power of an outsider!

3. While this is happening, I go to each of the other teams and simply ask them if they will help another team when and if they are asked. I am gratified to see faces light up, and to hear assurances that “of course we will.” Even though these kids have set up elaborate forms of competition, with points for how much of each other’s robots they will destroy, they are great kids at heart and want each other to succeed.

It is going to be OK. I can feel it. The two teams build their robots and develop a (rescue) plan. We set times for completing the programming, and they leave bouncing. Life is good again.

Now, if I can just keep them from destroying the robots completely in next week’s competition…

2009-06-24T18:33:00.000+10:00

Utes

2009-06-24T17:42:00.001+10:00

XR van

2009-06-23T18:33:00.000+10:00

Sinning

2009-06-23T17:54:00.000+10:00

At a party the hostess served a guest a cup of punch and told him it was spiked.
Next, she served some to a minister. “I would rather commit adultery than allow liquor to pass my lips!” he shouted.
Hearing this, the first man poured his punch back and said, “I didn’t know we had a choice!”

2009-06-22T18:32:00.000+10:00

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

2009-06-22T18:04:00.000+10:00

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked." The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

2009-06-21T18:32:00.000+10:00

Utes

2009-06-21T17:41:00.001+10:00

XP Ute

2009-06-20T18:31:00.000+10:00

Completion

2009-06-20T17:53:00.000+10:00

A man is incomplete until he is married… then he is finished.

2009-06-19T18:31:00.000+10:00

Quotes from a recently replaced United States President

2009-06-19T18:03:00.000+10:00

'The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country.'
'If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.'
'One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that
one word is 'to be prepared'.'
'I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the
future.'
'The future will be better tomorrow.'
'We're going to have the best educated American people in the world.'
'I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.'
'We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm
commitment to Europe . We are a part of Europe '
'Public speaking is very easy.'
'A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.'
'We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.'
'For NASA, space is still a high priority.'
'Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children.'
'It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in
our air and water that are doing it.'

2009-06-18T18:30:00.000+10:00