Scholarship: Nordson BUILDS Scholarship Program

Application Deadline: May 15, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/nordson-builds-scholarship-program/

I Lie About My Teaching

Here is an interesting article I came across in The Atlantic.

The story of a Teacher and how we portray our lives to others in the field. What are your thoughts?

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I liked Devon. We were all first and second-year teachers in that seminar—peers, in theory—but my colleague Devon struck me as a cut above. I’d gripe about a classroom problem, and without judgment or rebuke, he’d outline a thoughtful, inventive solution, as if my blundering incompetence was perhaps a matter of personal taste, and he didn’t wish to impose his own sensibilities. When it fell upon us each to share a four-minute video of our teaching, I looked forward to Devon’s. I expected a model classroom, his students as pious and well-behaved as churchgoers.

Instead, the first half of Devon’s four-minute clip showed him fiddling with an overhead projector; in the second half, he was trotting blandly through homework corrections. The kids rocked side to side, listless. For all his genuine wisdom, Devon looked a little green, a little lost.

He looked, in short, like me.

Teachers self-promote. In that, we’re no different than everyone else: proudly framing our breakthroughs, hiding our blunders in locked drawers, forever perfecting our oral résumés. This isn’t all bad. My colleagues probably have more to learn from my good habits (like the way I use pair work) than my bad ones (like my sloppy system of homework corrections), so I might as well share what’s useful. In an often-frustrating profession, we’re nourished by tales of triumph. A little positivity is healthy.

But sometimes, the classrooms we describe bear little resemblance to the classrooms where we actually teach, and that gap serves no one.

Any honest discussion between teachers must begin with the understanding that each of us mingles the good with the bad. One student may experience the epiphany of a lifetime, while her neighbor drifts quietly off to sleep. In the classroom, it’s never pure gold or pure tin; we’re all muddled alloys.

I taught once alongside a first-year teacher, Lauren, who didn’t grasp this. As a result, she compared herself unfavorably to everyone else. Every Friday, when we adjourned to the bar down the street, she’d decry her own flaws, meticulously documenting her mistakes for us, castigating herself to no end. The kids liked her. The teachers liked her. From what I’d seen, she taught as well as any first-year could. But she saw her own shortcomings too vividly and couldn’t help reporting them to anyone who’d listen.

She was fired three months into the year. You talk enough dirt about yourself and people will start to believe it.

Omission is the nature of storytelling; describing a complex space—like a classroom—requires a certain amount of simplification. Most of us prefer to leave out the failures, the mishaps, the wrong turns. Some, perhaps as a defensive posture, do the opposite: Instead of overlooking their flaws and miscues, they dwell on them, as Lauren did. The result is that two classes, equally well taught, may come across like wine and vinegar, depending on how their stories are told.

Take the first year I taught psychology. I taught one section; my colleague Erin taught the other.

When I talked to Erin that semester, she’d glow about her class. Kids often approached her in the afternoons to follow up on questions, and to thank her for teaching their favorite course. Her students kept illustrated vocab journals totaling hundreds of words. They drew posters of neurons, crafted behaviorist training regimes, and designed imaginative “sixth senses” for the human body. Erin’s mentor teacher visited monthly and dubbed it an “amazing class” with “incredible teaching.”

Catch me in an honest mood, and I’ll admit that I bombed the semester. I lectured every day from text-filled overhead slides. Several of my strongest students told me that they hated the class and begged for alternative work. I wasted three weeks on a narrow, confining research assignment, demanding heavy work with little payoff. One student openly plagiarized another. I wound up failing several students who, in hindsight, I should have passed. Yet I know that this apparent train wreck of a class was, in truth, no worse than Erin’s.

That’s because I made Erin up. The two classes described above were the same class: mine. Each description is true, and neither, of course, is wholly honest.

I’m as guilty as anyone of distorting my teaching. When talking to other teachers, I often play up the progressive elements: Student-led discussions. Creative projects. Guided discovery activities. I mumble through the minor, inconvenient fact that my pedagogy is, at its core, deeply traditional. I let my walk and my talk drift apart. Not only does this thwart other teachers in their attempts to honestly evaluate my approach, but it blocks my own self-evaluation. I can’t grow properly unless I see my own work with eyes that are sympathetic, but clear and unyielding.

I had a private theme song my first year teaching: “Wear and Tear,” by Pete Yorn. It was my alarm in the mornings, my iPod jam on the commute home. The chorus ended with a simple line that spun through my head in idle moments and captured the essence of a year I spent making mistake after rookie mistake: Can I say what I do?

It’s no easy task for teachers. But I think we owe it, to ourselves if to no one else, to tell the most honest stories that we can. I’ll only advance as a teacher, and offer something of value to those around me, if I’m able to say what I do.

Source: The Atlantic

Share some feedback. What are your thoughts of the article?

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NRT “Share Your Moving Story” Scholarship Program

Share your story today for the chance to win a scholarship to the college of your choice.To support high school students and their families who have experienced a move, NRT Relocation & Referral Services is proud to announce the “Share Your Moving Story” Scholarship Program. The contest is open to high school students expected to graduate in or before the spring semester of 2018. Up to ten scholarships of $2,000 each will be awarded to put towards college education (total $20,000).

Deadline is June 30, 2017

http://usascholarships.com/nrt-share-moving-story-scholarship-program/

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8 years ago

Scholarship: Nordson BUILDS Scholarship Program

Application Deadline: May 15, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/nordson-builds-scholarship-program/

found on Pitzer College campus in Claremont, California

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8 years ago

Scholarship: The No Bull Sports scholarship

Application Deadline: March 1st, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/no-bull-sports-scholarship/

YA book recs

no one personally asked me for this, but i have a couple of friends who might take interest so here you go!!! (i’ll give brief summaries and warnings next to the titles. my favorites are marked with ***)

LGBT+

*** aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe (sequel coming soon!) - coming of age, best friends turned lovers, slight homophobic slurs and violence

the song of achilles - greek mythology, war, gore and violence, greek gods, brief nsfw scenes, angst

*** carry on - magic, wizards and mages, fantasy, enemies to lovers, strong female characters, action and adventure, “chosen one” main character

openly straight (sequel coming soon!) - friends to lovers, sports, slight homophobia, college students, drama and angst

will grayson, will grayson - two sides of the same story, theater production, depression, homophobia, if i remember right there’s slight nsfw content

more happy than not - depression, suicide, sci fy, homophobia, angst, plot twists

simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda (movie in production!) - secret admirer, slight homophobia, fluff, blackmail, kind of a “who dun it?” story line, a little bit of nfsw content

*** all for the game (trilogy) - made up sport, action, angsty romance, slow build, homophobia, self harm, torture, rape, strong female characters, gang members and the yakuza, drug use, violence, nsfw content, basically a lot of warnings and probably cannot be called young adult

perks of being a wallflower (has a movie) - has lgbt+ themes, coming of age, highschool life, slight adult themes, diary format

boy meets boy - fluff, angst, drag queen side character, coming of age, breakups and makeups

*** i’ll give you the sun - two sides of the same story, two perspectives, siblings, art, metaphors, coming of age, straight and lgbt+ relationships, mentions of ghosts

NON LGBT+

*** unwind (series, movie in production!) - sci fy, futuristic, action, adventure, gore, slight romance, some violence, black marketing

*** the outsiders (has a movie!) - greasers, gangs, violence, angst, strong sibling bonds, coming of age

cirque du freak (series, has a movie and a manga) - circus setting, vampires, monsters, adventure, action, best friends turned enemies, very brief romance, apprentices, a bit of everything

go ask alice - heavy drug use, diary format, rehab, long road to recovery, might be mentions of rape

me, earl, and the dying girl (has a movie) - cancer, highschool life, quirky, light and briefly mentioned romance, film production, slight violence, angst

that’s all for now! if i’m wrong on describing any of these books please let me know. if you’ve read some of these and want to talk to me about them i’m more than happy to chat!

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8 years ago

Free Online Course on Disability

The course will starts on 20 February 2017.

http://usascholarships.com/free-online-course-disability/

Why Most Professionals Prefer Free Online College Courses?

From last few years, competition among trainees, learners, students and on job professionals has been becoming tough and complex. Many well known academies and educational institutes have started dozens of specific free online college courses to make the people able for different sensitive jobs and positions. It is quite simple to join such websites to learn required course. But, you must be able to understand basics and logical benefits of the training programs which you want to attempt and start immediately. Free online courses with certificate are more popular and common among technology related professionals who need latest updates and information about systems which they are managing.

Free online college courses include different main subjects that are massively useful and worthy in professional life, especially in business trade and office management. Value of such certificates is greater and acceptable in global business market. While, on the other side you can practically learn many new and beneficial things which can perfectly support you in starting the professional career or any business. If you are interested to join some websites to learn free online courses with certificate, then for this you should first get registered and then login to dashboard. After this you must look at a line in which dozens of specific and latest courses have been mentioned with approved certificates. In next step, every registered learner or student has to look for relevancy of selected courses with his/her previously completely degree. It is necessary for students to choose only relevant free online college courses instead of random selection. If you are doing a job as executive or management member, then surely you go to admit for learning office and business management courses with certificates. First, you should check out detail and worth of selected Free Online Courses With Certificate and then you should move ahead for admission or registration.

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8 years ago

Forest County Potawatomi Foundation Lois Crowe Scholarship

The Forest County Potawatomi Foundation is accepting application for the Lois Crowe Scholarship for 2017-2018 academic year. The program is open to the full-time undergraduate student at an accredited Wisconsin University/College and who have a minimum of a 2.5 high school GPA at the time of submission. The mission of scholarship program is to allow deserving students to attain their educational goals, meet their professional objectives and succeed to their fullest potential. The foundation will provide total $10,000 award amount for the Lois Crowe Scholarship’s winner.

Application Deadline: March 30, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/forest-county-potawatomi-foundation-lois-crowe-scholarship/

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8 years ago

Free Online Course on Entrepreneurship 101

The course will start on February 28, 2017.

http://usascholarships.com/free-online-course-entrepreneurship-101/

10 Free Online Courses to Increase Your Productivity

Medium writes:

Increasing your productivity is a goal that many busy professionals, parents, students, and entrepreneurs share. Finding enough hours in the day to accomplish all of your tasks or goals can be difficult. Sometimes the day has slipped away and you have accomplished little, and you don’t know why. It is also frustrating when you know that part of the reason you cannot get everything done is because you are not organized enough or because you cannot manage your time well.

Invest some time in one or more of these courses to help increase your productivity.

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8 years ago

Scholarship: Freeman Awards for Study in Asia

Application Deadline: March 1, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/freeman-awards-study-asia/

Preparing to ravenously stuff his face, the grad student catches the confused and pitying glances of two of his students.

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8 years ago

Scholarship: Accenture Student Veterans Scholarship

Application Deadline: March 31, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/accenture-student-veterans-scholarship/

Pictured: (Esther) Juanita Jackson Smart and Richard Smart with daughter Deborah Smart. My mother. Korean War Vet and Teacher, Richard, and English Teacher, Juanita, left a segregated South Carolina when my mother was about 6 in search of better opportunities for their two children and for themselves. They moved to Detroit, Michigan where they both worked in the school system, influencing the lives of hundreds of kids over the course of their careers. They both studied every summer at various universities to complete their Master’s degrees. As fervent believers in education, they insisted on sending my mother to the best schools in town. As a result, my mother integrated two elementary schools in Detroit and was the only black child in each school until her younger brother, Richard Smart III, joined her. My mother, a copious reader, inhaled thousands of words a week. She won the school spelling bee. Her prize, a shiny new encyclopedia was stolen out of her locker. The school authorities accused her own brother of taking it because “none of the other children in the school would ever steal.” The encyclopedia was never found. Unphased by school nonsense, mother continued to read books and get A’s. She graduated from Cass Technical High School with a focus on the sciences. The following year she attended The University of Michigan where she then became the only black student in her organic chemistry classes. She studied hard and made up songs to remember anatomy. She took Calculus as an elective because “it was fun.” She studied some more. Riding her bike down South Division street, she stopped at her mailbox during her Senior Year to find a letter from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She was accepted to medical school. My mother continued making up songs and studying all the way through medical school, continuing to be unphased by her position as one of the only students of color. She became Dr. Deborah Y. Smart in 1979. Her younger brother went on to graduate from The University of Michigan and The Wayne State University Law School. Dr. Smart dated and intimidated several men who were not accustomed to a well-read black woman doctor for a girlfriend. She decided she would likely adopt a child and live her life happily as a mother and a full-time physician who loved to read. She met my father at her best friend’s wedding. He was nice. He often brought food to the hospital where she worked when she was on 24-hour call. Eventually she agreed to marry him. Richard and Juanita Smart continue to live in Michigan and are active in several national and city organizations. They are still fervent believers in the power of education and support and encourage their grandchildren to do and be their best. They travel to South Carolina at least once a year, making sure to visit the family cemetery where they say: “If you could only see what we did, Momma and Daddy. If only you were here.” Happy Black History Month.

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