The following were answers provided by 6th graders during a history test. Watch the spelling!
1. Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies and they all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. The climate of the Sarah is such that all the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.
2. Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments. He died before he ever reached Canada.
3. Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines.
4. The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn't have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth.
5. Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.
6. In the Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled biscuits, and threw the java.
7. Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out: "Tee hee, Brutus."
8. Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw.
9. Queen Elizabeth was the "Virgin Queen," As a queen she was a success. When she exposed herself before her troops they all shouted "hurrah."
10. It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood. Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking. Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper.
11. The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter. Romeo and Juliet are an example of a heroic couple. Romeo's last wish was to be laid by Juliet.
12. Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote paradise lost. Then his wife died and he wrote Paradise Regained.
13. Delegates from the original 13 states formed the Contented Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backward and declared, "A horse divided against itself cannot stand." Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.
14. Abraham Lincoln became America's greatest Precedent. Lincoln's mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin which he built with his own hands. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by signing the Emasculation Proclamation. On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got shot in his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show. They believe the assinator was John Wilkes Booth, a supposingly insane actor. This ruined Booth's career.

I was thrilled when Jenni asked us to post on her blog this week. I hope I will provide some entertainment for her avid readers!

Some little nuggets about me:
*I am a proud Texan
*I am a loud extravert, but extremely nervous in social situations
*I am the lead singer of a 90’s Cover Band
*I love to decorate and create innovative art projects
*I am obsessed with coloring and changing my hair (should have been a hairdresser)

My husband Jason and I have lived in Nashville for three years now.  No kids yet, but we have a little miniature beagle named Charlie Brown who we often call our son!  I joined the Cross Point staff in June of 2007 as the Creative Arts Coordinator. I love telling people I meet that I help with the marketing elements of our church AND have a hand in the creative departments of music and production. I hope that I will be able to work at Cross Point for many years to come.

I have always been a creative person with a crazy imagination.  As a child I would change into different people, animals and random things.  Using my imagination took me to places that I would never be able to see in real life!

Children have a reoccurring theme of change. I experienced more as a child when my imagination ran wild.  My insecurities or barriers that keep me from taking chances did not hold me back. I love watching children because it takes me back to a time when joy overwhelmed my heart and each day was a day of discovery.  I could be a princess, a mom, a hunter, a cop, or a movie star!  I say that is living life to the fullest!

I have asked myself time and time again, “When do we transition into the stage of life when imagination seems lost?”

I babysat a two year old name Harrison my senior year of high school.  We would sit in his bed that was shaped like a boat and pretend we were fishing.  We could cast out our pretend rods and nets and because I had a hard time picturing all the fish swimming around in the sea (carpet), I would ask Harrison, “I see one, what color is it?”  His favorite response was, “It’s a rainbow fish!”

One day Harrison put the imaginary fish in my hand.  He kept saying, “Do you see it Randa?  Can you pet it?”  I looked down at my hand and nothing was there. I wanted to be a child again. I cherished his innocence and I was envious of his gift.

I believe if we still used our imaginations as much as we did as children then our dreams might be easier to obtain.  I come to this crossroad often, especially now that I am privileged to work in the Creative Arts Department at Cross Point.  Am I willing to take a chance when a vision is born?  Will I let my guard down and run wild with a beautiful idea of what God could do in our community?

I am committed to working on living a life of wonder, beauty and simplicity.

Nichole Nordeman’s music has played a fundamental role in my life.  Her music allows me to experience moments of innocence regained.

I will conclude with the words to one of her songs, Help me Believe:

Take me back to a time when I was maybe eight or nine, and I believed
When Jesus walked on waters blue, and if he helped me I could too, if I believed
Before rational analysis and systematic thinking robbed me of a sweet simplicity
When wonders and when mysteries were far less often silly dreams
and childhood fantasies
Help me believe cause I don’t want to miss any miracles
Maybe I’d see much better by closing my eyes
And I would shed this grow-up skin I’m in and touch an angel’s wing
And I would be free, help me believe

Lord, help me believe.

firstly, this is still a relatively rough-cut production. geeks might call it a beta release. apparently the original filmmaker did this 6 or 7 years ago, and he passed away before completing it. then his digital files were corrupted. someone resurrected the files and now we have a mostly-complete film. given the circumstances, I think the film was rather well done, with good production values (although the projector equipment was having problems at the venue too, so it's hard to tell what was film glitches and what was playback issues)

anyway, there wasnt anything necessarily groundbreaking here, but I think it was a very good portrait of Norman and his work. there were appearances/interviews from George Gruhn, Sam Bush, Michelle Shocked (!), Nancy Blake (of course), John Hartford (who had some very funny stories), a music historian whose name I forget (he gave some good perspective on Norman's chosen career path) as well as some vintage footage from the Johnny Cash show.

there was a jam with Sam Bush, and a few other songs from Norman throughout, mostly on the guitar, although he was on mando in the Johnny Cash clip, as well as one other time.

he discussed his youth, the old days playing with all the legends, song writing stuff, touring stuff (and his decision to stop flying in 1974), spoke about Nancy (they're very quirky in an endearing and cool way), O Brother, etc.

I think the best stuff (besides John Hartford's stories) was him talking about how he hopes his music can serve people in some small way, and the importance of staying humble. this attitude is in stark contrast to that of the vast majority of the music industry, in my opinion, and I find it very inspiring, to say the least.

the guy in charge of the project now (didnt catch his name) said they're planning on adding some to it to bring it up to today, and they've had interest from producers and from PBS. so hopefully that will go well and everyone will get to see a final version sometime in the near future.

Some are of the opinion (and mindset) that considering the day is long and in some places fasting is for 15hours, the more you eat the longer you can function and sustain energy for.

Therefore people insist on having suhoors that consist of buttered bread, eggs, cereal, fruit, doughnuts, cakes and anything else their hands can get to whilst bleary eyed.

Iftaar doesnt get any better. If you are desi you will know it largely compromises of fried food. DEEP fried food - anything and everything is dipped in batter and deep fried.

And then you end up with pasty blotchy skin and wonder how it happened.

I literally can feel the oil from these fatty foods oozing out my pores (yes disgusting picture, but a useful one) and refrain from them if possible.

So my suhoors now (after deciding to not follow the pack and go back to my normal eating habits instead of adopting these new ones) involve toast with herbal tea in the morning and a sandwich at iftaar, with some fruit juice, dates and fruit salad.

What do you feast on for suhoor and iftaar?

I've been experimenting with the commands in Ubiquity, and I managed to create a few that will be pretty helpful at work. The three commands I'm sharing are:

• lms
  Type in lms topic - and Ubiquity will take you to your LMS search results page for that topic.
• cd
  Type in cd name to search for somebody in your company's directory with that name.
• q
  type in q searchTerm to search for information in your company's intranet site.

(All three of these commands assume you can access these systems via the query string. If nothing else, the commands will help you understand how Ubiquity works, which may help you build your own custom commands.)

To get started, make sure you have installed Ubiquity in Firefox.

Next, go to this URL: chrome://ubiquity/content/editor.html (sorry, I couldn't make this a link - Wordpress wouldn't let me).

Paste these code snippets into the editor:

CmdUtils.CreateCommand({
  name: "lms",
  takes: {"your search string": noun_arb_text},
  preview: "Search the LMS for courses.",
  execute: function(searchString) {
    Application.activeWindow.open(Utils.url("http://
www.INSERT_YOUR_LMS_URL_HERE.com?courseName=
"+searchString.text));
  }
})

CmdUtils.CreateCommand({
  name: "cd",
  takes: {"your search string": noun_arb_text},
  preview: "Search our company directory.",
  execute: function(searchString) {
    Application.activeWindow.open(Utils.url("http://
www.INSERT_YOUR_COMPANY_INTERNAL_DIRECTORY_
URL_HERE.com?query="+searchString.text));
  }
})

CmdUtils.CreateCommand({
  name: "q",
  takes: {"your search string": noun_arb_text},
  preview: "Search our company intranet.",
  execute: function(searchString) {
    Application.activeWindow.open(Utils.url("http://
www.INSERT_YOUR_COMPANY_INTRANET_URL_
HERE.com?query="+searchString.text));
  }
})

(Note that you'll probably have to fix the line wrapping for the Application.activeWindow.open line of each command before they'll work in Ubiquity.)

Finally, insert in your custom URLs in the 3 places where it says "http://www.INSERT_..."

Now you'll be able to press Ctrl+Space to open Ubiquity, and then you can use the lms, cd, and q commands.

I used the Ubiquity Author Tutorial site to create these commands. I recommend that you start there if you're interested in creating your own commands. Plus, it shows you how to package and share the commands with the rest of the world (or just your organization).

Happy command-writing!

Her friend is fluent in English and asks the questions that she wanted to ask. Where are you from? How old are you? How long are you staying? The same questions everyone asks every foreigner at some point. There was a pause in the conversation and I saw a nun come in to order coffee. I remarked on how many Christians there are in Korea. That was a mistake I won't soon make again. Never bring up religion in Korea unless you want to get a sermon.

The girl who first approached me told me that they too where Christians and then she started grilling me on my believes. She wanted to know if I went to church every Sunday. I told her no, I don't go every Sunday and I haven't been since I moved to Japan. This is when things started to head in a weird direction. She told me I wasn't a real Christian if I don't go to church every Sunday. I tried to explain to her that where I live there aren't many church services in English. There is a baptist church nearby, but I'm not interested in hearing the fire and brim stone sermon every Sunday. I tried to tell her I'm non-denominational, but I don't think she understood. Her friend tried to translate that bit, but the girl kept coming at me. She wanted me to go to Church in Korea. She tried to get me to go to her church. It was too far for me she said, but then she decided she needed to pray for me. She prayed a pray in Korean and that was the end of that. She stopped talking to me and went on talking with her friend.

I knew they were talking about me at first because I heard a few words of Englisha and a phrase or two and I pieced things together. Then they went back to whatever girls talk about. The whole time I could see the girl's friend wanting to pull her friend off of me. I could see it in her eyes. There she goes again, scaring off guys by getting too religious on them. I could feel for her, I've seen people get religious on people with the only affect being making them hate Christians for being too overbearing.

I can also understand uber-religious girl's zeal, but not her critisism. Some people think you get into heaven by doing chores: Blasting off scriptures in the subway station, judging other people for differences in doctorine, giving out religious tracts at random.  That's not for me.

I don't know how many people have tried to save my soul, only for me to tell them that I am already a believer. All I have left to say is, if you come to Korea, be prepared to be interogated about your beliefs and hear a few sermons in broken English.

This was only my 4th day in Seoul.

Each morning I rotate the blue circle clockwise and the yellow circle counter-clockwise. The kids LOVE it! You really could amend this in so many ways. Brooke says, "It's fun!" Okay, so when did your 8 year old last say chore charts were fun?!

Anyway, tonight I saw a production of it at the Getty Villa in Malibu, CA -- in an outdoor theater resembling ancient ones.

Wow. Powerful stuff.

After a very interesting staff meeting Wednesday night where we rated our own ICT skills and worked as a staff to map out a school based goal for the future, it has become very obvious that the new age of teaching/learning is fast approaching.

This became even more noticeable after reading and reflecting on some of the posts found at Douchys Blog (http://web.mac.com/andrewdouch/Site/Blog/Blog.html) In particular "ban the biros" where douchy talks about preparing students for their future and not the past. Personally i couldnt agree more, is the art of writing becoming outdated and uninspiring? Is their anything wrong with the societal shift towards computer based communications and the abandonment of the correct english language?

Im not against teaching students the basics (its how i was educated) but surely there comes a time when the focus must move, after all didnt we once write with quils and speak using only formal register? Im almost certain there would have been controversary when biro's were introduced and a loosening in vocabulary was noticeable amongst the masses.

So what does this mean for the future? I feel it would be a massive contridiction on our behalf as educators if we dont accept the fact that teaching and learning are begining to undergo the biggest change since we moved from writing messages on cave walls, hahah. The critics will argue that students will lose their grammar and spelling skills but to me this is just an excuse, a way to ignore the changes which are inevitable, its alot easier to put your head in the sand.

Todays students are absorbing more and more forms of technology that have the power to change their place and view of the world. No longer are lessons bound to 4 walls and a chalkboard, there are amazing programs and tools which have the potential to engage ALL STUDENTS. I say that with capitals as I've seen it happen in my own classes, students who struggle with the traditional methods finding new ground using teaching tools such as podcasts and lessons ran completely online using webpages , the possibilities are endless. If your looking to read more about some of the super cool teaching tools that are starting to be used in classrooms have a read here http://web20teach.blogspot.com/

Just a thought to finish on...If our main role as teachers is to communicate our message and our audience is indeed the students, then shouldnt we be changing our teaching practices to suit our audience? This is the way they think and communicate. To some degree I dont blame kids for being bored and disengaged when teachers choose to ignore the way they truly learn and share information. Anyway the end of this post brings me to the point of my regular blog, to inform teachers of some of the different ways I have been utilising Web 2.0 tools within my classes.

Will you sink or swim?

The one thing I am realizing, though, is that I'm something of a pushover. I'm not really sure how to handle the older boys (like fifth graders) when they don't listen. I'm afraid to yell at them and I can't force them to do something. So sometimes I just let them continue with what they're doing. Then I feel like I'm just telling them that I don't mean what I say. So I need to talk to some other people about that and get some advice.

Other than the end of the day craziness I felt like the day went really well. I'm focusing on trying to have fun with the kids. Like help them with their homework but get really excited when they do something right. And making them march down the hall to the bathroom instead of just walk. I want them to be excited about being at the club and excited about learning. One great thing about first graders is that they're still rather excited about learning. Here was a typical conversation today:

Me: So the sentence is, "Do you see the ____utterfly?" What is that word?

Giovante: BUTTERFLY!

Me: What sound does buhhh-tterfly start with?

Giovante: BUH!

Me: Right! What letter makes a buh sound?

Giovante: BEEEEEEEEEE!

Me: YES! Great job!

(High five)

I love to see them just get it. And see their eyes light up when I congratulate them.

In my free time at work I am working on preparing things for my own team. I want to have lots of hands-on activities and fun stuff for them to be able to do so that they are engaged in learning and not just doing worksheets. I don't want their time with me to be boring.

Oh, and another bonus of today is that I got my nickname from Ms. Freida, who is this awesome, crazy leader who works in Cabrini. Oh. Yes. My nickname is "K-Mack." Yes!

"It is a well - known fact that Tamizh language is one of the oldest languages in the world. Not only is it old but also it is very rich in literature.

But what makes Tamizh unique and special is that it has survived the ravages of time and is still spoken by millions of people across the globe.
Dance and music (or for that matter any form of fine arts) has always been part of Tamizh culture.
‘Tholkaappiyam', the authentic work on Tamizh Grammar that was written in 500BC by Tholkaapiyar-considered to be a student of the great sage ‘Agaththiyar' mentions a lot about classical dance.

Starting from Tolkappiyam, many texts like Pancha Marabu, Kooththa Nool, Bharata Senapathiyam have defined the grammar of classical dance.

‘Pancha Marabu'by Arivanaar-which was also written almost the same time as Tholkaapiyam - describes in detail about music and dance. It talks about various hand gestures,abhinaya,kooththu,,naatyam.It also describes the letters to be used for jathis-tha,thi,tho,ki,k.

Then there is ‘Kooththa nool' authored by Saaththanaar. This is the oldest available text on the grammar of classical dance.‘Kooththa Nool' has two sections, 'Suvai' and 'Thogai' with 153 and 162 verses respectively and says that the sound, the letters and the music emanated from the Dance of the Lord.

It also says that ‘Om' is the beginning and the end for everything.

The author seems like a good psychiatrist, philosopher and most importantly an intellectual.

The link between human life and the Nava Rasaas have been described in detail by the author.

 Here is a verse form Koothanool. Tastes emerge from the feelings within and these are expressed as dance. Feeling is the soul, Taste is the Mind, and expression is the body'.

அகம்உயிர் ஆகச் சுவைஉளம் ஆக
இழைஉடல் ஆக இயல்வது கூத்து.

It is a cryptic verse with very deep meanings but what was written nearly 2500 years ago holds good even now. And this is applicable to any art form.

However, ‘Silappathigaaram'-one of the five major epics in Tamizh-is considered to be a complete book on classical dance. ‘Silappathikaaram' gives a perfect description about Classical Dance and Music.

We find that in literature too, small things have played major roles. A small gemstone ankle-bell(silambu)  influenced an entire epic.
‘Silappathikaaaram'(Story of the jeweled anklets) is considered to be one of the greatest epics in the world of Literature.In the words of the Czech Professor Dr.Kamil Zvelebil,

‘‘The epical poem of Silapathikaaram which by its baroque splendour and by the charm and magic of its lyrical parts belongs to the epic masterpieces of the world and should be admired and beloved by all in the same was as Poems of Homer, the Dramas of Shakespeare, the Pictures of Rembrandt, the Cathedrals of France and Sculptures of Greece''.

What is this Silappathikaaram all about?

Kovalan and Kannagi lead a happy married life until Kovalan falls for a great dancer Madhavi and begins to live with her.Unable to bear the adoration and appreciation Madhavi was getting from others, he becomes jealous and deserts her.

He is penniless now and returns to Kannagi who offers to sell her anklet- filled with rubies-to get some money. They go to Madurai where Kovalan while trying to sell one of the anklets is caught by the guards of the Pandya King.The Queen's anklets-which were filled with pearls- had just then been stolen and assuming that Kovalan was the culprit, the King orders his guards to kill Kovalan.

Kannagi throngs the King's court and proves that her anklets were filled with rubies and not pearls. Realising his folly, the King dies instantaneously. Kannagai goes on to burn the city of Madurai.

Though there lot of great things about the way Ilango AdigaL has presented this simple but complex story, what attracts a connoisseur is the way he has structured the grammar of Music and Dance.
Though there are lot verses, I am giving below one sample verse that speaks volumes about the quality of the work.

It says ‘One must start learning classical dance at the age of five without any compromise on Musical, Dance and Aesthetic Elements, practise rigorously for seven years and perform at the age of twelve.'

ஆடலும் பாடலும் அழகும் என்று இக்
கூறிய மூன்றில் ஒன்று குறைவு படாமல்
ஏழு ஆண்டு இயற்றி ஓர் ஈர் ஆண்டில்
சூழ் கழல் மன்னற்குக் காட்டல் வேண்டி.

However, it is the description about Classical Dance in ‘Silappadhigaaram' that calls for special mention and appreciation.

Ilango adigaL must have been a perfectionist. The author elaborates on the qualifications of a Dance Teacher, Percussionists,Vocalist,Flautist, and the person(s) playing the ancient instrument ‘Yaazh'.

He deals with each and every aspect of dance starting from the vocalist, the lyricist, the percussionist, the instrumentalists.

What amazes one is the way he has defined the structure of the stage. Not only has he given the dimensions of a stage but also that he has mentioned about the lighting, and the way the stage has to be decorated.

If the verse

எழுகோல் அகலத்து எண்கோல் நீளத்து
ஒருகோல் உயரத்து உறுப்பினது ஆகி
உத்தரப் பலகையொடு அரங்கின் பலகை
வைத்த இடை நிலம் நாற்கோல் ஆக
ஏற்ற வாயில் இரண்டும் பொலியத்
தோற்றிய அரங்கினில் தொழுதனர்
gives the desired dimensions of a stage,

தூண் நிழல் புறப்பட மாண் விளக்கு எடுத்து ஆங்கு
ஒருமுக எழினியும் பொருமுக எழினியும்
கரந்து வரல் எழினியும் புரிந்துடன் வகுத்து

talks about the lighting.

He then goes on to describe the ‘Pancha Sandhi' Kavuththuvum-an item that is performed in the beginning to ward off evil forces-and then the 11 different dances called as ‘Pathinoru aadal'..

And that is the reason ILango AdigaL paid importance to music as well while talking about dance.

In just one verse, he gives the names of the seven swaras as per Tamizh PaN.

குரலே, துத்தம், கைக்கிளை, உழையே
இளியே, விளரி, தாரம் என்றிவை
எழுவகை இசைக்கும் எய்தும் பெயரே
சவ்வும் ரிவ்வும் கவ்வும் மவ்வும்
பவ்வும் தவ்வும் நிவ்வும் என்றிவை
ஏழும் அவற்றின் எழுத்தே ஆகும்

Sa-Kural; Ri-Thuththam;Ga-KaikkiLai;Ma-Uzhai;Pa-ILi;Dha-ViLari;Ni-Tharam.

In another verse, he says PaNs(Ragams) are obtained by arranging the 12 Kovais(swaras) in a specified structure in the ascending and descending scale.

But more than all these, what leaves one wonder struck is his definition of Gruha Bedam-tonic shift. He calls this as 'Kural Thiribu'.

He says 'if the Thuththam(ri) of Mohanam is the base, it would give Madhyamavathi, if the KaikkiLai(ga)is the base it would give Hindolam, the ILi(pa) would give Sudhha Saveri and the ViLari(dha) Sudhha Dhanyasi'.

Is it not amazing that somebody in the Tamizh land defined all these as early as the 5th century?Bottom of Form

‘MaNimekalai'- considered to be an offshoot of ‘Silappathikaaram' since MaNimekalai was the the daughter of Madhavi and Kovalan- also talks a lot about the dance.

Written by ‘Seeththalai Saaththanaar', the text mentions about Tala Aruthi,the eleven different forms of dance-as already mentioned in detail in ‘Silappathikaaram'-the two forms of ‘Kooththu' and the existence of a grammar book on ‘Bharatam'.

In another major text, ‘Seevaka ChintamaNi', the chief protagonist, Seevakan himself is a dancer.

In Bhakti Literature,texts like Thevaram and Tirumanthiram talk a lot about the dance of Siva.

Some verses in the ‘Naalayira Divya Prabhandam' describe the dance of Krishna.

‘Thiruppugazh' written by AruNaGirinathar has lot of verses that use the dance syllables.In one of the verses, ‘Athala Sethanaar aada', he makes all the gods in the heaven dance.

Apart from these texts that are exclusive books on Grammar, classical dance finds a mention in Sangam Literature, works that preach Wisdom and Values like ThirukkuraL, Naaladiyaar etc.,

These are some of the glimpses from literature.

Golden period for the Arts

If we look at the different periods, during the sangam period, all art forms were their best. After this, there was a lull as the Tamizh land was ruled by strangers called ‘KaLappiRars'.In fact, this period is supposed to be a dark period in the history.

The Pallavas took over and this period was the Golden Period. All major art forms flourished.The dance sculptures at Maamallapuram still exist and tell us the aesthetic sense of the Pallavas.

After this was the Chozha period and the Bruhadeeswara temple at Thanjavore (Thanjavur Big temple ) depicts 81 karanaas (loosely translated as poses but they are not just poses)  out of the 108 Karanaas.The Nataraja temple at Chidambaram and the Saarangapaani temple at KumbakoNam have all the 108 karanaas depicted. Nobody has a clue as to why the balance of 27 is not depicted.
This shows the passion and the dedication of our ancestors and how deeply they were involved in fine arts. It also shows that fine arts was an intrinsic part of their lives. ( See Related Post)

Mr. Rajendra Kumar acknowledges the information provided by Prof.Raghuraman in the book titled 'Tamizhar Natana Varalaaru'.

I  sincerely thank Mr. Rajendra Kumar for sharing the info with us.

Here are a few websites that you may access for further reading

• http://www.thinnai.info/downloads.php - for downloading Tamil Documents
• http://tamil.net/projectmadurai/- Project Madurai is an open and voluntary initiative to collect and publish free electronic editions of ancient tamil literary classics. This means either typing-in or scanning old books and archiving the text in one of the most readily accessible formats ("ETEXTS") for use on all popular computer platforms. All etexts will be distributed in both web/html and PDF formats.- Distributed through the World Wide Web servers , anyone located anywhere may download a copy for personal use or read what we publish on the internet, free of charge.
• http://www.tamilvu.org/library/libindex.htm - online library at Tamil Virtual University
• http://www.tamilvu.org/-  Online Tamil Virtual University

BUSINESS MATTERS - Friday, Sep. 5th, 11am EST

America's Schools--A Crisis

The current education system is not preparing our youth for the real world thanks to programs such as No Child Left Behind. We will discuss the source of the problem and look for both public and private solutions, such as charter schools and homeschooling. With the Peter Reilly, President of NYSCATE, Robert Cane of FOCUS, and Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschooling.

Thomas White - Host of Business Matters

Click on the controls below to listen to the interview.

[audio http://homepage.mac.com/preilly/edtechjourneys1/_Media/business_matters_abridged_2.mp3]

Pete

I also want to take a look at his site a little more. http://webstyleguide.com/interface/index.html

I never seem to find enough time to research the things I really want to do or are interested in. I think I need to change that.

From this video I learned a few things.



One: Fires are the most exciting events and happenings reporters look forward to. Forget about homicides and serial kills or election fraud and politicians doing perverse things. Who cares if a president had sex with an intern? The burger joint is on fire and the entire block is in danger of being without fried beef.



Two: Women can't compete with males in the reporting arena. If the story doesn't involve food, dancing or place settings, it is no story for a female. Right, Hillary? Right, Palin?



Three: I work for a "country" paper.



Four: "If you don't like to write, you won't be happy in journalism." What!?

This is an interesting definition of what citizen journalism is and how some media giants and other public officials and persons should not discredit bloggers, even if the audio and video don't line up quite right when playing.



One of the guys in the video even says politicians should "be afraid of bloggers."



I partially agree. Bloggers should be considered as carrying as big of an impact as a newspaper reporter.

This is just funny.



It's a good way to end the post, and it illustrates the importance of newspapers to guys like me, although I think I would have handled the situation a lot differently.

For years, as I have done personal research into local foods versus major manufactured food, I have grown concerned over this very issue. That one breakdown in one factory can lead to illness, and even death, in people all across the country. That when one company produces so much product shipped all over the nation, we are asking for trouble.

Let me say straight up - I buy lunch meat. I buy packaged cheese and other products. I don't make my own yogurt. In many of these instances, it is simply getting more and more difficult to find any sort of local alternative. But I do think as a nation we need to be having these conversations. Putting more and more control of the food system into large companies' hands without talking about it is, in my opinion, a dangerous road to travel down. 

Until people start asking where their food comes from, who makes and how it is made (and perhaps where it should come from and how it should be made) - the large companies will continue to tighten their control over the food industry without any input from consumers. And our diets, and perhaps our health, will be the poorer for it.

By looking at their papers, I begin to get an idea of what they  originally thought  about paragraph writing and what ideas they added.  This short in class activity (about 4 minutes) provides a good starting point for my understanding of their ideas about paragraph writing. It only takes me a few minutes to go through their papers.

I will keep their sheets to compare their actual paragraph writing against their ideas as soon as they do their first inclass writing.

How do you pre-assess the ability of your students so that you can modify future lessons?

Things got started and they played with the toys and Abby found the stash of Little People. There was another little girl there with her parents, and Abby played with her while Nick and I introduced ourselves to her parents. Turns out that the dad was from England too, but from a little north of my home town- Newcastle. He had no accent anymore but it was still really fun to talk to someone about familiar topics. It's hard to be so far from home and it's really nice to have a friend who understands what it's like to live so far away from home and family. 

All in all, Abby really enjoyed herself and seemed to get on well with the other kids so I guess we'll see how things pan out on Monday when she has her first full day.