~how many a man has dated a new era in his life 

from the reading of a book~ 

henry david thoreau

book sculpture artist

Su Blackwell

~A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting~

Henry David Thoreau

Students achieving higher grades, higher levels of concentration, sense of peace and respect as a result of their schools bringing Transcendental Meditation into the classroom. The forward thinking and proactive spirit of the school staff in both cases warms my heart...

see more funny videos

Learn the homonyms and homophones...

ad/add allowed/aloud ant/aunt ate/eight ball/bawl band/banned bear/bare be/bee billed/build blew/blue board/bored boy/buoy brake/break by/bye/buy beach/beech bolder/boulder bread/bred brouse/brows capital/capitol caret/carrot/carat/karat cell/sell cent/scent/sent census/senses cereal/serial chews/choose choral/coral chute/shoot clothes/close colonel/kernel creak/creek crews/cruise cymbal/symbol days/daze dear/deer dew/do/due die/dye disc/disk discreet/discrete discussed/disgust doe/dough

doughs/doze earn/urn ewe/you eye/I fare/fair feat/feet find/fined fir/fur flea/flee flew/flu/flue flower/flour for/four/fore forth/fourth foul/fowl frees/freeze gneiss/nice gnu/knew/new gored/gourd gorilla/guerrilla grays/graze grate/great guessed/guest gym/Jim hale/hail hall/haul hare/hair heal/heel/he'll heard/herd hew/hue hi/high higher/hire him/hymm hair/hare hoarse/horse hole/whole hour/our idle/idol idle/idol/idyl in/inn incite/insight

its/it's jam/jamb jeans/genes knead/need/kneed knight/night knows/nose/no's lead/led leased/least lessen/lesson lie/lye links/lynx load/lode/lowed loan/lone locks/lox loot/lute maid/made mail/male maize/maze meet/meat medal/meddle mince/mints miner/minor missed/mist mooed/mood morning/mourning muscle/mussel mussed/must nays/neighs no/know none/nun nose/knows/no's not/knot/naught one/won or/oar/ore overdo/overdue paced/paste pail/pale pain/pane pair/pare/pear pain/pane

Please learn the homonyms and homophones.

(this list was taken from here, and there are also quizzes to test your knowledge!)

passed/past patience/patients pause/paws peace/piece peak/peek/pique peal/peel pedal/peddle peer/pier pi/pie plain/plane plum/plumb praise/prays/preys presence/presents principal/principle prince/prints quarts/quartz quince/quints rain/reign/rein raise/rays/raze rap/wrap read/reed read/red real/reel reek/wreak rest/wrest review/revue right/rite/write ring/wring road/rode/rowed roe/row role/roll root/route rose/rows rote/wrote roux/rue rye/wry sacks/sax sail/sale sawed/sod scene/seen

sea/see seam/seem seas/sees/seize serf/surf serge/surge sew/so/sow shoe/shoo side/sighed sighs/size sign/sine sight/site/cite slay/sleigh soar/sore soared/sword sole/soul son/sun some/sum spade/spayed staid/stayed stair/stare stake/steak stationary/stationery steal/steel straight/strait suede/swayed summary/summery sundae/Sunday tacks/tax tail/tale taut/taught tea/tee teas/tease/tees tents/tense tern/turn there/their/they're threw/through throne/thrown thyme/time tide/tied tighten/titan

to/too/two toad/toed/towed toe/tow told/tolled tracked/tract trussed/trust use/ewes vein/vane verses/versus vial/vile vice/vise wade/weighed wail/whale waist/waste wait/weight waive/wave Wales/whales war/wore ware/wear/where warn/worn wax/whacks way/weigh/whey we/wee weather/whether we'd/weed weld/welled we'll/wheel wen/when we've/weave weak/week which/witch whirled/world whirred/word whine/wine whoa/woe who's/whose wood/would worst/wurst yoke/yolk you'll/yule your/you're/yore

On Homework Coaching...

 Excerpt from an article of the New York Times:

“I think it really came about as a result of very, very busy parents who needed some additional care given for their children after school and saw the opportunity to meld that with some academic support,” said Robert Lauder, the principal of Friends Seminary, a Manhattan private school. read the full article here...

Report Finds New College Admissions Trends, Including More Early Decision Acceptances

An insightful read on the reasons behind the increase of Early Decision Admits... 


:::Perhaps the most useful piece of information for applicants is the rise of an additional criteria. While the usual factors remain important--grades and overall GPA, strength of high school curriculum and admissions test scores--more schools are now looking at "demonstrated interest in enrolling". In 2003, just seven percent of colleges considered interest in enrolling "considerably important". In recent years, however, approximately 21 percent of colleges have given it more weight in the decision process. Many colleges believe that demonstrated interest, such as campus visits and contact with admissions offices, is an indication that students are more likely to enroll.:::..read the entire article here.

~I dream of making academic excellence 

as important to American schools 

as varsity athletics~ 

Will Fitzhugh, of The Concord Review, a quarterly journal dedicated to showcasing the best history papers written by high school students..  

The Twilight Generation Can't Read

National Association of Scholars article:::

October 18, 2010 By Sandra Stotsky

This press release comes from the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW), an organization in whose founding many NAS members were involved, and in which they continue to participate. It was created in many ways to be an alternative to the Modern Language Association. The ALSCW has completed an interesting report on the state of the American high school English curriculum. One observation it makes is that the top books read by high school students are young adult fantasies. The ALSCW identifies this as a potential source of the decline in reading achievement among young Americans. Below are ALSCW's other findings and recommendations. 

Boston, Mass., October, 2010. A newly released study by the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) strongly suggests that two factors—a fragmented English curriculum and a neglect of close reading—may explain why the reading skills of American high school students have shown little or no improvement in several decades despite...:::read the entire article here:::

*may the force be with you*

Setting Goals for oneself is key to life. Engage you should, as students, in some form of goal setting quarterly. Very important it is, to prepare first: journal, writing tool, solitude, honesty.


Keep a goal journal

• Reflection:::

Revisit goals from your last goal setting session
Which goals did you achieve and why?
Which goals were not achieved/ did not work and why? How will you push through the threshold next time to beat the obstacle that faced you?

• Forward:::

Develop a list of goals that are most immediately reasonable and a list of reach goals
Develop a list of three to five short-term (one week to one academic quarter) goals 
Develop a list of two to four longterm (academic quarter to a year) goals

• Writing your goals down is just the beginning.

• Each goal deserves a few questions that you honestly and thoroughly answer until you thoughtfully create a very clear road map of how to arrive at the goal:

  For example:

1. What is the goal? (To eliminate procrastination on homework)
2. How will I accomplish this goal? (I will do my homework on time)
3. How? (By eliminating distractions and by time management)
4. What are my distractions and how will I eliminate them?...
5. What will have to change? What works for me and what doesn't? 
6. Who can help me accomplish this goal?
7. What are the rewards of the goal?
8. Who can I share (some of) my goals with in order to help me persevere through to the end result?

Midway through the lifeline of your goals, assess their status.

ACT Study Shows Little Progress in Preparing High School Graduates for College and Careers

After so many years of research in education, experience in and out of the classroom with students, and multiple discussions with them of how they feel education should change, this is a read that speaks to my heart. It does address most of the teacher to student gaps, pragmatically. There is acknowledgement that historically, many of the factors that have caused students to be so dreadful of class time, are models that were put in place in the late 1800s in order to carry out social engineering and conforming goals of the elite through schooling. I have often said that education reform may not happen because it is students and society that want reform, not necessarily those in charge of education policies.

This is an excerpt that is posted on EducationNews.org; the link to the entire article is posted below the following excerpt- a worthwhile read!!

...:::Turned Off Younger Teachers 
 The factory model high school is also turning off our younger teachers who must replace the huge cohort of “Baby Boom” teachers who have already begun to retire. Too many become discouraged by the isolation from colleagues they feel in these schools. These younger teachers also perceive that bonding and sustainable healthy relationships among and between students and teachers occurs all too infrequently in such schools. From the Facebook and Twitter generation, they correctly intuit that you can’t achieve academic rigor in schools without these relationships and for that matter relevance of the curriculum to the career and life challenges that await students. Additionally, compared to how work is organized in non-school settings, they see that the factory model school is a huge time waster with time lost transitioning between classrooms, achieving order, taking attendance, reviewing previous day's lesson, and continual interruptions and school announcements. No wonder 1/3 of new teachers quit in 3 years; 1/2 within 5 years.

No Academic Rigor without Relationships and Relevance What should replace the industrial era factory model high school? That is, which curricula and school structures would best help American teenagers re-engage in school and meet the higher and better standards we’ve been developing for the last 20 years? Answering such questions should claim most of our investment dollars for K-12 education. Yet we continue to divert our energies and resources to more and better tests and other strategies that have questionable payoff such as closing failed schools or re-opening them under new management or with a different staff. Another questionable strategy is to provide huge amounts of professional development without fundamentally changing the curriculum. 

Opinions abound on which curricular innovations make sense, and a fairly sophisticated evaluation industry is developing to determine which ones produce the best results. Opinion seems to be coalescing around a few principles that point the direction for future change. First and foremost, is that a high school is unlikely to establish academic rigor without strong interpersonal relationships and relevance of the curricula to employment and life challenges.

Relationships require a nurturing environment where faculty and students are together long enough to be able get to know and bond with one another. To provide such an environment, a growing number of high schools are assigning students to the same homeroom and/or the same counselor for all four years. Other schools use the house system in which teachers go to where the students are and students remain in the same group for all or most of their classes. This is in stark contrast to the factory model high school where students typically change work groups, supervisors (viz. teachers) and classrooms 5-6 times a day. This traditional model is particularly dysfunctional for students in poverty and those from single parent homes, many of whom have an emotional-psychological mindset that will not allow them to learn and establish in their minds a compelling vision of success. 

Relationships and bonding among students and teachers is also enhanced through smaller schools or breaking down larger schools into smaller theme-oriented schools or academies that have a fair amount of operational independence.::: ...read the full piece here.

:::Education must be more than a rat race for university places:::

A study by London University’s Institute of Education published this week found that the relentless pursuit of top grades at GCSE and A-level "compromised" independent schools’ abilities to deliver an all-round education such as sport, drama and trips.

By James Priory

Published: 8:00AM BST 01 Oct 2010

Telegraph.co.uk

Some schools are forced to cut sport and official outings for final year students in favour of exam cramming, the report found. Photo: PA

The only time pupils spend outside the classroom, it seems, is queuing to get into the examination hall.

But the report’s authors also found that “anti-modular sentiment was more widespread than anti-modular action” because of the continued support for more regular assessment among students.

Though the voices in the wilderness might be getting louder, the road to league table success remains a devastatingly straight and narrow one.

Two years ago when A-level was re-launched nationwide, the heads of department at my own school, Portsmouth Grammar, saw an opportunity to make A-levels work for us rather than the other way round.

If we wanted our students to care about the subject and not the qualification we knew we had to create a public-examination-free year between GCSE and A-level.

Students would no longer therefore sit AS modules in Year 12 but would wait until January in Year 13.

We also wanted to encourage more students to complete their fourth subject as an A-level, rather than leaving it dangling at the end of Year 12. The reduction in most subjects from six to four modules made us feel that it here at last was a possibility to develop a broader, and at the same time more mature approach to sixth-form study.

Some students were understandably anxious; they knew they would be competing with students from other schools and colleges who would re-sit AS-level modules more often.

Some worried about applying for competitive university places without AS-level module scores to rely on.

And why should they study four subjects when most universities only showed interest in three?

Parents, however, were supportive and trusted that the school would not wish to jettison a proud track record by turning their children into unsuspecting guinea-pigs.

So how did we get on two years later?  ...read the rest of the article here.

Joy of College Application~

What I enjoy most about the college application process is witnessing the turn of a high school student toward adult life through meaningful content and dialogue. This is an important venture; it empowers them to think critically about their beliefs, value systems, how they belong to a greater community, and how they will fulfill their responsibility to humankind. It gives them dedicated and patient time to reflect on and plan for their lives…. Through these steps, they begin to gain more awareness of and respect for what their adult support group has had to consider while taking care of them. Forced to go inward, they grow~ gain a more insightful identity and higher sense of confidence. It is this process that wakes the student to the morning of adult life.

Folade Speaks-Love

College Application Process Services

We provide 

College Application Process Services

It is time; let us walk you through it...

With our College Application Process Services, 
you will receive:

• Unlimited Sessions and Phone Time
• Time Management Coaching through all deadlines
• Inspiration and brainstorming help for essays & statements
• Final Editing for college essays (common application, regular and supplemental)
• Assistance sorting through college choices and best fits
• Resume Creation (Academic/Extracurricular & Athletic)
• Support from an objective adult to help students work through their excitement, concerns and fears about college

*We also provide help with Scholarship Search and Applications (following the college app process), and/or time management plans for SAT/ACT study

*We work with students on Early Decision, Early Action, Regular and Rolling Admission timelines

This services augments the support of your school, it does not take the place of it. However, it provides your young adult with a coach...another caring adult to help them through what many families feel can be an exciting, yet overwhelming process. 

• Please visit our website for more information http://speakslovetutoring.com/

An except from the review...

With Mike Rose, We Should All Be Asking - Why School?

Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us
by Mike Rose
(The New Press, 2009)


Reviewed by Kenneth Bernstein

:::In “Politics and Knowledge” and “Reflections on Intelligence in Workplace and the School,”, his fifth and sixth (of thirteen) chapters (and there is a conclusion), Rose offers some of his most valuable insights, including his respect for both the capabilities of people of working class background and for the requirements and skill of the work they do. Having come from a working class background, and having studied the thought required to do blue-collar and service work, Rose makes us focus on how we demean and diminish categories of work and the people who fill them, disconnect our schooling from the vocational paths that many of our young people will follow, and perpetuate an unfortunate historical pattern that belittles those not rooted in the academy and the formal professions. As Rose points out, this ignores a crucial part of our past. He reminds us that “Shakespeare was as popular on the frontier as in the city” (p. 68) and “My Uncle Frank, a railroad machinist, would quote Longfellow in his letters’ (p. 69). He writes that

As an ideal, democracy assumes the capacity of the common person to learn, to think independently, to decide thoughtfully (p. 85).

Further, there is a real danger in an attitude that belittles common work as mindless, that the instruction we develop will fail to develop instructional connections among the different kinds of skills and knowledge. And worse:

If we think that whole categories of people - identified by class, by occupation - are not that bright, then we reinforce social separation and cripple our ability to talk across our current cultural divides (p. 86):::  read the full review.

Meeting Students Where They Live

:::Richard Curwin kicks off his advice book for urban teachers with a story about a king looking for a teacher for the young Prince. After testing all of the teachers in the land, the king selects the three finalists. One has the best content knowledge; another has the strongest classroom management and discipline. You have probably already guessed that it is the third teacher who wins the job — not the strongest in either category but an individual who combines great skills with the philosophy that it is a teacher’s role to serve and guide, on behalf of both the pupil and society at large....:::read the full review.

Huffington Post Article:::University of the People

"The extent to which information and knowledge is being offered free online is impressive. It allows people to study at no charge, whenever and whatever they choose.    You 

can watch an MIT lecture in Vietnam or read an article by a Nobel Prize winner from a refugee camp in the Sudan. The free flow of information online and access to quality open access material must be furthered, but we must also remember that open access alone is not sufficient to the democratization of education."read the full article here.

University of the People Website

http://www.uopeople.org/

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education | Video on TED.com

WHAT WILL THEY LEARN.COM

^Visit the website^

 to compare colleges of interest 

to find rankings based on Alumni feedback 

find out what they learned versus what colleges :::say::: they teach.

Seminar Style Classrooms May Win...

An article from Education News.org  that confirms Children learn more quickly if the brightest students are prevented from raising their hands.

Summer Study Abroad

Gap Year and

College-Accredited Programs

Where there be Dragons

Rustic Pathways 15% Discount...

Rustic Pathways is offering our Early Bird Discount to all students who sign up prior to September 15^th. Students who take advantage of this will receive a 15% discount off the program costs for all the programs they join. In addition to this, Rustic Pathways is allowing students to cancel their programs and receive a FULL refund prior to March 1, 2011. This is a pretty fantastic deal, and we are all very excited about being able to offer this to our students. To see a full list of the Early Bird parameters, please visit the following web page:

http://www.rusticpathways.com/application/application.html

Good Luck to all of my students!  Have a super year. Apply what you have learned and walk into the next succession of your life:::Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced::: - James Baldwin.

CORNELL METHOD

Color Matters!

A fun page by Stabilo  

that      explains why          color             is important

for         note taking     and studying.

Are you Writing College Essays? Common Application Supplemental Questions

Class of 2011

Common App 
Supplemental Questions

The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life, Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens

This is a great resource. Very enlightening....

Diane Ravitch: Education has become search and destroy mission and teachers are often the targets

Diane Ravitch article.

Diane Ravitch dot com
many telling articles on Public and Charter schools/education.

Bill Gates, an Online Education

This is certainly worthy of a read-through. Among the myriad of items to consider about an education after high school, like college selection, college major or trade, gap year, study abroad travel, there is also the choice of gaining your degree online. Unless the plan is to become an engineer or doctor, and if you are a self-driven student, an online degree may be a great choice! It's definitely on its way to becoming a trend for the next decade of incoming Freshmen...

Tech Crunch:: Bill Gates offers "In Five Years, The Best Education Will Come From The Web"

The St. John's Program

i'm intrigued...

The Gap Year

Considering a Gap Year? Consider Rustic Pathways as an option. Whether you are accepted to a college and defer for a year, which is recommended, or you wait until after your Gap Year to apply to college, it is necessary to demonstrate to any college, a well planned Gap Year that is full of exploration and self growth. It should be one that forces you out of your comfort zone and continues to mold you on your way to become a compassionate, well rounded leader. 

Gap Year programs help in may ways. Perhaps you feel you want to learn more about a particular continent or country, meet new people, learn about other cultures, deepen your knowledge of a foreign language, or assist in a different country involved with a community service project.  Some students need a break from classes after 12 years of school and find the Gap Year a less conventional way to reach self discovery. Understandable. On their website, you can request a free catalog for Gap Year Programs or Summer Abroad Programs. For seniors who are considering a Gap Year after graduation, or anyone interested in abroad programs, the Rustic Pathways website and catalog will vividly pique your interest! IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY to begin planning...

In addition to Rustic Pathways, The Transitions Abroad Website lists many Pre-College and Gap Year study abroad programs.

Picture These SAT Words!

This is a valuable book, also avail in Flash Cards. 

It is taught in some English classes, along with Root Word memorization. This book works because it fuses vocabulary into memorable humorous cartoon images. Following each section of thematic vocab words, there are a few exercises. I've witnessed students learn vocabulary words quicker with this book than any other SAT vocab resource.

List of Colleges Accepting the Common Application 2010-2011

Welcome and congratulations, Seniors....As you near the next few months, you will absolutely become familiar with many applications. Some colleges take the common app, some do not, and others give you options: their own application or the Common App...they let you choose. Wondering which colleges are accepting the Common App this year?

Click here to view the list.

Washington Post Article

A quick read on writing college essays.

~~painting completed my life~~frida kahlo

Qualities...

The following passage is an excerpt from Colleges that Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges, by Loren Pope. He speaks about the qualities that are present in valuable learning experiences. His passage (included below) really speaks to me because it describes my personal style, especially as I begin to define the inherent qualities that make the Speaks-Love Tutoring style unique:

“Their power lies in how they do it. The focus is on the students, not the faculty; he is heavily involved in his own education. There are no passive ears…Teaching is an act of love. Learning is collaborative rather than competitive, values are central; there is a strong sense of community….where the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. Aspirations are raised, young people empowered.

It is those qualities that develop leaders, people who can land on their feet, who are bold and imaginative, and who can see the big picture. They do it for students who are strong and intellectual and for those needing tender loving care.”

I care. I listen to them, to their parents, teachers and counselors. As mentor, friend, educational companion,  reader to them, their teacher and student, their support, encouragement, their advocate. I do take the concerns and challenges and successes of each student home with me. They absolutely feel like my own children that I am helping to grow. I do agree that it takes a village; I had a village as a child, and every bit of it was necessary, appreciated, and never forgotten. I enjoy what I do so much!

A Must Read

Colleges that Change Lives: Loren Pope

Examines and re-establishes perspectives on Ivy League

website companion... http://www.ctcl.org/

A Good Sign

when my husband lifted my cup today, this was the image water left beneath my cup!
photo credit: J. Speaks-Love

You Need this Book...

I really cannot say enough about this resource. I've spent time with many SAT books and this one, by far, offers more prep and practice than any other. The "Skills" areas shown below in the Table of Contents include pages of multiple worksheets! Edition 2011 is on the shelf.

20 bucks well spent.



Overview

McGraw-Hill's SAT will help you prepare for the big exam with its valuable features and interactive test-taking practice online!

McGraw-Hill's SAT is now equipped with new additions to better meet your needs. The guide teaches critical thinking skills designed to help you solve any SAT problem. And it provides test-taking practice with questions just like those on the real SAT.

• New! Two complete interactive practice tests online (in addition to the 4 tests in the book).
• New: Eight-page Welcome section including “How to Use This Book,” “SAT Study Plan,” “Getting the Most from the Online Tests,” and more.
• 4 full-length practice SATs with fully explained answers.
• Detailed 10-week study plan.
• Pull-out "Smart Cards” for easy subject review.

Table of contents

Chapter 1. Conquer the SAT;
Chapter 2. Diagnostic SAT;
Chapter 3. Building Vocabulary;
Chapter 4. Critical Reading Skills;
Chapter 5. Sentence Completion Skills;
Chapter 6. What SAT Math Really Tests;
Chapter 7. Essential Pre-Algebra Skills;
Chapter 8. Essential Algebra I Skills;
Chapter 9. Special Math Problems;
Chapter 10. Essential Geometry Skills;
Chapter 11. Essential Algebra II Skills;
Chapter 12. Writing a Great Essay;
Chapter 13. Essay Writing Practice;
Chapter 14. SAT Writing Questions;
Chapter 15. Essential Grammar Skills;
Chapter 16. 4 Practice Tests;
Online: 2 Practice Tests

Request the Question-Answer-Service for the SAT!!

One luxury of learning is receiving your test questions, your answers and what you missed after you have taken any test.

Generally, on three test dates of the year, students can request the SAT Question and Answer Service (QAS) for $18.  You may request the service up to five months after you have tested. Only students who request the service by filling out the online app have this privilege. Usually, the dates offered for the service are in October, January and May. Check the College Board website to find out the dates for the upcoming school year:

http://sat.collegeboard.com/search/sitesearch?searchType=satsite&nh=20&qt=qa

Consider this a necessary study tool for your 2nd or 3rd time taking the SAT!

I would recommend planning, at least the first attempt at the SAT, around  one of these test dates.

Top 20 Best Public Schools in the Nation: Newsweek

Two schools from Bellevue School District in Washington make the list!

#13  Interlake

#20 International School

http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2010/americas-best-high-schools/list.html

Teens Sleep Deprivation Linked to Depression: CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/09/sleep.deprivation.depression/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed

%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Please Highlight!

I know that World Literature text book cost you 90 bucks! Following that, you had to buy six novels for English, The Norton Anthology, Chemistry, PreCal, elective materials, and somewhere around three to four additional texts, for a soaring ballpark figure somewhere around $475+.

For High School!

End of the year, you will dash to the school and attempt an urgent sell back for half their value IF you have not written or highlighted...but since I demand you highlight and I require you take notes in the margins...

It is proven that your grades will increase if you study using Post-it Notes, highlighters and flash cards. Trust me.