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Last May 2013, I was tutoring a student in 6th grade earth science.  His text book spoke with concrete facts about the problems caused by global warming.  As a science teacher, I had a real problem with those statements.  I brought in a current event for our study from our local newspaper.  It detailed the global cooling.  One of our neighbors, who currently lives in New Zealand, informed us that he was freezing down there because of the huge ice flows in the Antarctic.  After doing more research we have learned that both poles are overflowing with ice this year.  Personally, I was never alarmed by global warming.  As a science enthusiast, I understand that the earth does go through solar cycles, and in the end the temperatures average out.  Even back in Laura Ingalls’ days (1874-1876), while living in Minnesota, she wrote about “grasshopper weather”.  These were unusually warm seasons when there should have been snow.  There wasn’t snow, but clouds of grasshoppers devouring wheat crops.  Check out Apologia science books for more accurate scientific facts. http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/09/dr-tim-ball/there-are-no-holes-in-the-ozone-never-were/

https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2015/05/03/40-years-since-climatologists-blamed-california-drought-on-global-cooling/

We spent 10 days visiting southern England.  Our first 5 days were spent in London, enjoying the Westminster Abbey-seeing Queen Elizabeth’s I tomb, the House of Parliament with the statue of Oliver Cromwell on his great horse, the British Museum with its 4000 year old Egyptian artifacts and part of the Parthenon, the pubs, fish and chips, riding the tube, Big Ben, London Tower with Anne Boleyn’s tomb, and Hampton Court Palace-one of King Henry the VIII’s residences.  We toured the king’s kitchens and saw what a meal looked like for the nobles, Windsor Palace, and the friendly people.  We had a chance to visit Greenwich, the Cutty Sark before it burned, and the Nautical Museum.  The Painted Hall and the Naval Chapel were quite memorable.  Next, we rode the train to Cambridge.  The university architecture was breathtaking!  While visiting King’s College, a choir was practicing for their Christmas program.  The music was heavenly!  On a freezing day we visited the American Air Museum in Duxford.  Wow!  Even though it was like being in a freezer, the old airplanes were very memorable to behold.  That morning, we skipped a traditional English breakfast at our hotel and decided to get a hot breakfast from a cart in town.  This was a wonderful way to experience an English breakfast on the go!  We enjoyed a stroll through the “backs” behind the college campuses.  From Cambridge, we went west to the Cotswolds.   The train ride was fantastic, as we watched rolling hills covered with hundreds of sheep.  It was funny to see a black sheep mixed in with nearly every heard.  In the Cotswolds, we stayed at a bed and breakfast in the town of Paineswick.  This was truly a charming town.  Our visit with the town butcher dressed in traditional red and white striped clothing added to our British experience.  He told us that they had fresh rabbit from Princess Anne’s grounds.  Chickens awoke us each morning and our window overlooked the rolling green hills.  Our final stop, was a 13th century fishing village in the west end.  This was our favorite, and made it difficult to think that our vacation was coming to an end.  Cobblestone streets wound their way to the sea, no cars, and the nicest people.  The food was delicious and the ocean view spectacular!  Upon our arrival, (we were delayed due to a bus mixup), the street was lit up in thousands of twinkling Christmas lights.  People put their Christmas trees out on the front porch.  Someone escorted us personally to our room.  While waiting for our room key, a large, bearded fisherman in yellow slickers with a large crooked pipe came strolling past the pub door.  This was so much fun!  Our room would be above the pub.  It was very cozy.  Dinner was on the seaside during a blustery winter night.  The sea wall had old cannons from the Spanish Armada.  There were fun shops to visit and a great hiking trail along the hillside.  I saw my first pheasant in the wild!  The rich history and the cheery British people made our trip one that we will never forget.

December 23, 1913, the United States’ monetary system changed in a huge way.  Congress gave its Constitutional power to “coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standards of weights and measures” to the Federal Reserve Bank.  Did you ever learn about this financial powerhouse in school?  Don’t you think you should since all of your money is printed at this institution?  Now states cannot keep their Constitutional duty to “make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts”.  The restrictions of the Constitution had been undone!  Why?  To help keep your money safe and to prevent another panic like in 1896 and 1907.  The panic of 1896 occurred because of credit over-extension and 1907 due to some large bankruptcies and possibly the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.  Let’s take a look at the last 100 years.  We had the roaring twenties followed by the Great Depression.  We got Social Security and Income Taxes.  By the way, your income taxes help to pay for the interest we owe the Federal Reserve.  My money today cannot buy what it used to.  Not long ago, I would ride my bike to the local pharmacy with $0.65.  That was like gold to a 10-year-old child.  I could buy a large bag of candy full of candy bars and boxes of treats.  Today, I might be able to buy one chocolate bar with that amount.  Some people say that the dollar is on life support.  Others believe its value has decreased as much as 98 percent.  In 1971, President Nixon took the United States off the gold standard.  This was another indication that the dollar was losing value.  The Coinage Act of 1792 states in section 19 that if anyone debases gold or silver coins gets the penalty of death.  Hasn’t our money been debased in the past 100 years?  Without a gold standard, the Reserve may print as much money as it wants known as Quantitative Easing.  Don’t you think it is time that we return to honest money?

Since I am a regular shopper at T.J.’s, I know most of the employees very well.  One evening, a checker expressed to me her concern for global warming.  She asked me if I am concerned.  My response was, “No.”  She knows I am a teacher, so in a few minutes I began to educate her as to why I am not afraid.  We, of course, talked about the rain forest and the deforestation occurring there.  We agreed that ripping up a forest without replacing trees is destructive and irresponsible.  In a few minutes I informed her about phytoplankton.  Phytoplankton are a single-celled plant like organism that lives in our oceans.  It takes in carbon dioxide with light energy and releases oxygen through the process of photosynthesis.  This amazing tiny creature helps to keep our atmosphere balanced.  In fact, some scientists believe that up to 50 percent of Earth’s oxygen comes from this source!  By the time I had my receipt, she told me that I had made her feel much better and that it didn’t bother her anymore.

Over the past 3 months, I have been tutoring a student on a large Social Studies research project.  The project’s theme is Rights and Responsibilities.  My 7th grade student has been extensively researching Lewis W. Hine’s photography and child labor.  This learner has compiled 15 primary and secondary sources using actual photographs as primary sources, and biographical books, videos, and internet sites as secondary sources.  An elaborate multiple page annotated bibliography has been completed.  A final report will be presented using drama and props.  My student will role play Lewis Hine, a narrator, a child laborer, and a factory owner.  This has been a wonderful project for my creative student.  However, I do have some criticisms about the project.  There has been an incredible amount of preliminary paper work to fill out.  In fact, I asked the student, “Who is going to read all of these papers?”  It reminded me of the days when I was teaching in the public school.  We, as teachers, were required to fill out numerous papers documenting student progress.  In my opinion, it was bureaucratic nonsense and a waste of time.  My student’s Common Core project has a lot of bureaucratic nonsense with the excessive papers she was required to fill out.  There was a lot of monotony and repetition within this project.  My second criticism is the length of time it has taken to complete this assignment.  Instead of a semester, this project could have been completed within a month’s time.  I did enjoy teaching this project, but my final concern is the possible Socialistic leanings regarding the subject “rights and responsibilities”.  My conclusion is that Common Core involves more busy work which subtracts from meaningful learning.

Just out of college, I was at a turning point in my life, making some big career changes.  A wealthy woman, who befriended me, looked me right in the eyes and said, “I believe in you.”  Those words were powerful.  They stuck in my heart.  Today I can still see her looking down at me from her front door and leaving me with that parting comment.  As an educator, I tried to instill that truth into all of my students.  I had a professor at college who taught all of her future teachers that all people have gifts.  Sometimes it may be difficult to see it, but they all do.  I had many students who were not academic geniuses, but they were great at other things like P.E. and helping.  I rewarded and encouraged those students.  It was their gift.  Not everyone is going to college, or should they.  It disheartens me to see that extracurricular programs at schools have disappeared.  The middle school that I taught at had a wonderful electronics program, wood shop, sewing class, great art instruction, and cooking course.  Those students got a diverse education.  My high school’s auto shop program has disappeared into a nature center.  While working out in the general public, I have encountered very successful people who didn’t go to college, but were hard-working and gifted in other areas.  I have seen small businesses prosper like paving companies, deluxe pool builders, and marketing inventions.  Academic genius or not, my hope for all students is that their gifts may be used to become producers to help others.

We purchased a wonderful refrigerator from Maytag seven years ago.  It was the best we had ever owned.  The model was the french door style.  We enjoyed the large double doors on top and the pull out freezer on the bottom.  Within the year, after our purchase, we noticed a loud knocking noise coming from the kitchen.  It was our refrigerator!  We called in a service man.  While we were still within the year of purchase, we were under our warrantee.  The kind service man assured us that the noise was normal and that all refrigerators nowadays make a knocking sound.  We believed him.  A few months went by, and now our warrantee was expired.  I was baking cookies in the kitchen.  My husband came in and told me that something was burning.  I told him that I thought it was our neighbor’s smoking.  He was adamant that it wasn’t.  He opened up the freezer bottom and there was an orange glow coming from the bottom.  We immediately unplugged the refrigerator.  Our kitchen was filled with the foul smell of burning plastic.  We called Maytag immediately and they told us the earliest they could send a service man was in 3 days.  They suggested that we have the motor replaced.  We didn’t have 3 days!  So, we bought a low-end Frigidaire.  It still works and does the job.  Our heads bump the freezer handle every now and then, and the space is limited, but it works.  I wrote the president of Maytag, and explained the situation.  He responded with a letter and kindly told me there was nothing more he could do for us.  We were ripped off-taken by Maytag!

While driving through town, I noticed elaborately decorated Christmas trees, twinkling lights everywhere, a Menorah, a Santa, and an empty corner where a manger scene once lay.  Cars were driving quickly and aggressively.  “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”   Banners stating “Seasons Greetings” sparkle above the road. How sad that Jesus is missing from the scene.  I feel bad for the many people who might be getting a lot of stuff this Christmas, but are really empty inside.  Their hustle and bustle are all in vain.  Their stuff will break, wear out, and memories will fade.  Fun is really for the moment and then it is gone.  This scene reminds me of Ma Ingalls’ vanity cakes.  “They are all puffed up, like vanity, with nothing solid inside.”  Love is solid.  Where does love come from?  It comes from God alone.  Jesus fills the empty space.  He fills the world with His love.  Like Grinch, we are all “king of sinful sots”.  That corner might be dark in town, but His light fills the whole earth-even America.  Do you see it?  “She will bear a Son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  Christmas Angel in Matthew 1:21

“I can buy a gallon of gas with a quarter.”  My students would look at me like I didn’t know what I was talking about.  Then I would begin explaining to them that quarters minted from 1932-1964 were about 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper.  At today’s silver price of $19.50 an ounce, that would make my quarter worth about $3.60.  Yes, I could buy a gallon of gas with the value of that quarter.  This Christmas, consider a stocking stuffer with money that has real value.  It could be a silver dime, quarter, or even an ounce of silver in an American Silver Eagle.

Kindergarten Wood Discovery Lab

Objective:  The student will be able to differentiate between 3 kinds of wood.        Materials:  small tub of water, sandpaper, poster of trees/tree books from library, tree literature:  Johnny Appleseed by Lindbergh; Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Martin/Archambault

Step 1:  Read literature and discuss the similarities/differences between the trees                   Step 2:  Display tree poster (I purchased mine at Lakeshore) of additional tree information

• Estimate how many trees are in North America.  Write answers on white board.  Answer:  About 700 varieties  *You may want to introduce the continent of North America by using a map/globe.
• How many trees are on Earth?  About 10,000

Step 3:  Distribute 3 samples of wood:  redwood, oak, and pine

• Have students smell, touch, and observe the differences/similarities of each
• Observe the Physical Properties:  color, hardness, smell

Step 4:  Sand each piece of wood

Step 5:  Put each piece into a tub of water–does it sink/float?  Why/Why not?

• Answer:  If it floats, there is air inside because the wood has dried out.  If it sinks, the wood is heavy with oils.

Step 6:  Closure-Discuss uses of wood/trees–trees take Carbon Dioxide out of the air, and put Oxygen in the air for us to breathe.  Trees freshen the air.  They may be used to build houses, furniture, kitchens, etc.

Step 7:  Art Extension Activity:  Consider making a wooden storage box:  http://www.orientaltrading.com/diy-wood-hinged-boxes-a2-48_1949.fltr?prodCatId=550179

Have fun!