Debt. Deficit. Budget. Taxes. Pretty boring, right? Actually, these are all a part of a nail-biter situation that is unfolding (or unraveling) in Washington, DC right now. You may have heard or read about it; it is front-page headlines in newspapers across the country, including the [TargetNewspaper]: the fiscal cliff. When you think of a […]
For many educators, continuing education and professional development is a requirement; not just a self-motivated effort to hone our practice. Many of us will spend time in hotel meeting halls where the air conditioner is set to frosty freeze listening to a bevy of traveling education specialists. Before you sign up for those fairs, seminars, and […]
Put on your armor and steel yourself for battle—‘tis the season for retail shopping. Â Black Friday became Grey Thursday this year as retailers such as Target, ToysRUs, Walmart, and Best Buy opened on Thanksgiving Thursday for Black Friday sales. With up to a quarter of their annual sales occurring between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and increased […]
Everybody knows that when you split a cookie with your brother, you each get 1/2. But what happens when you split it with your brother and your sister? What if the three of you have two cookies to share? Or what if two of you want to share three cookies? For many students, fractions are […]
Most of the United States is now in the full-fledged change of seasons from the warmth of summer to the chill of winter. October saw the first snows in the “continental 48” in the Northern and Central Rockies and even farther east in the high plains and upper Midwest. Certainly there is much more to […]
During this second war for independence, Francis Scott Key penned the Star Spangled Banner, an opposition power invaded and burned the capital of the United States, Washington, DC, and a future president, Andrew Jackson, became a war hero. Almost thirty years after the colonies successfully defeated Great Britain and gained their independence, tensions over impressment, […]
Myths are among the world’s oldest stories. They have endured for eons. Invite students to be the latest generation to fall under their spell. Magical objects, tricky animals, and clever women. Epic battles and heroic challenges. Journeys to heaven and the underworld. This is the stuff of myths. Originally, they explained the world. Today, they […]
Measurement and geometry topics in Middle School math tend to be isolated three or four week sets of lessons, a string of homework assignments, and then a test, and that’s it. On to the next topic and typically it has nothing to do with measurement or geometry. While students get a general overview and a […]
The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn’t it be? — it is the same the angels breathe. ~ Mark Twain, Roughing It, Chapter XXII, 1886. Throughout the years and around the world, men and women have been fascinated by the prospect of flight. Take […]
Hurricane Sandy hit Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas last week before thundering up the eastern seaboard and barreling ashore on October 29 near Atlantic City, NJ. Along the way, she claimed the record for the second costliest Atlantic hurricane (in terms of damage done and business lost. Hurricane Katrina holds the record.) If Sandy was […]