“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” -Maya Angelou

As my frequent readers know, I am a big fan of quotes.  In honor of the passing of Maya Angelou this week, I have collected my favorite quotes from the week. Enjoy and we will miss your wisdom Maya!

Five Favorite Front-Page Features...Teacher Style

I don't know if I have five things...but I have been doing current events moments with my kids at school.  So I thought I would share them with you.

First off...government shutdown:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/us-government-closed-business-essential-employees-20439083?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=20439766--I like this one because of the ping pong analogy

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032619/ns/NBCNightlyNews/#53170284--More really life situations

Second off...Affordable Health Care Goes Live
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/obamacares-day-20439111?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=20439766

We have also been reading articles from the NY Times Upfront---which is a great resource for teachers that have subscriptions---but right now its free :)

Magazine logo :)

The High Price of Cheap Fashion....all about our globalization--the pros and cons

10 Things You Need to Know About Washington Part 1 and Part 2--this is great for government classes...they talk about the nitty gritty of the works of government

Has the Arab Spring Failed? --Great to talk about world geography and world events because they do a nice job bringing the kids up to speed

September 11th

Today has been one of those days where I feel really old.  Teaching the last three years at Cedar Ridge Academy, around this time, I could say, "9-11, where were you?" I would actually get stories.  Today in my sophomore class...I got crickets.  Some of them figured out they were like 3! Well yeah that makes sense...15-12=3 but seriously!! I am not one of those history teachers that says, "Well I was alive and I remember..." because I am NOT old enough!  Sigh...oh well I guess I am.

But I thought that I would share what we did in class today.  I didn't want to do a lot, because it feels like for these students sometimes it is a dead horse--they often want to do their "choice your topic" research paper on this/bin Laden/terrorism etc.  It fascinates them I think.  So I wanted to do something a little bit different. The site 911day.org does a service project to coincide with the day.  This year's pledge is to do a good deed.  So I challenged my students today to do a good deed for someone between now and next week's class when they will report.

To go with this challenge I found this website: http://www.tributewtc.org/programs/toolkit.html which has eight different videos about people that have different perspectives on the event.  I chose the 2nd, 4th, and 6th to show in class with the different perspectives. There is a great video from the 911day.org site here so you can show a video of people remembering where they were when 9-11 happened and what good deeds they are going to do.

Current Events Day

So today I would do a Five Favorite Front-Page Features moment but I feel like I just did that on Sunday...cuz I did! And I feel like what was news on Sunday is still news today...so I am going to do one local story I found out about today.

So living in Roosevelt, we are very close to a Ute Indian Reservation.  They have a governmental body called the Ute Tribe Business Council.  These six members have a lot of power in the tribe.  They make decisions about when the tribe receives their monthly government checks, manage the money they get from the oil fields, and other economic business things. Today the Council decided to boycott all Roosevelt city businesses that are not "companies affiliated with or doing business for or in partnership with the Tribe, such as oil and gas operators or contractors that maintain an office in Roosevelt."  

The picture from the Deseret News article

The reason for this boycott makes very little sense to me. The biggest reason they cite in the original press release I read (see Geoff Liesik_KSL facebook page) is that they are treated unfairly by the police.  The tribe is citing racism as the treatment along with jurisdiction issues.  The article in Deseret News shines more light on the fact that this is not the first time that they have boycotted before, and more about the fact that they are frustrated with city officials too for not negotiating further with them.

I wanted to share a little bit of my opinion on this today, because this is a serious problem in Roosevelt.  We have many races that live in our small town--we are to a certain extent a microcosm of America with everyone from Caucasian to African Americans to Asian Americans to Native Americans.  We all have to respect each other and the rules of the city.  If we just treated each other with respect, the world would be a happier place.

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

With Friday being a Bout of Books challenge day, I did not do current events yet this week.  So, I thought I would do some now.  The trick with this is that shockingly enough I have been out of the news the whole time I have been in St. Louis--so I am actually catching up to write this post :)

Manning Sentenced to 35 Years--This is a bit of a double edged sword to some people I think, on the one hand it is considerably less than the maximum sentence and he can be up for parole in 7 years.  On the other hand this is the longest someone will serve for leaks yet...so it is an interesting historical moment.

Following King's Path, and Trying to Galvanize a New Generation--It is cool that 50 years later we are commemorating the March on Washington with another one....and it is interesting that this march was more of anti-discrimination in general, not just racial.  We can always improve as humans right?

Yosemite Wildfire Increases in Size- Wildfires are the story of the past few weeks....this is the most recent one in the news between the Idaho fires and the Utah fires, we are sure are getting use to this.

This video is all about Obama's status on Syria right now....it is hard for some people to believe that we really haven't done anything here yet.  But do we want to get involved?  It is really hard to say.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This video is all about Nidal Hasan found guilty for Fort Hood murders....not a big surprise, but to me it is nice for the trial to be over for the sake of the families.  Him wanting to be his own lawyer and say he didn't do anything really wrong must have been hard for them.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Well now you and I are officially caught up on the world's stories from this week!

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

lonelyplanet.com

This week for Five Favorite Front-Page Features....more like four this week.  I have been closely watching the Egypt crisis, and I thought that this week I would focus on four articles/clips about Egypt from this week.


Dozens reported killed as clashes break out on the Day of Rage
When I heard about this on the news this morning, I was sadden to hear that things had gotten bad enough that they were just planning on killing one another this morning.

Obama's reaction to Egypt
We can't really take away the foreign aid because that's just giving up all the cards.  But he did cancel military exercises, so that's something

This week, CNN Student News came back and did a recap of the summer.  They started off with the situation in Egypt--which is great to catch up on.  Click this link

Last Saturday the article in New York Times set us up for this week....read Lawless Sinai Shows Risks Rising in Fractured Egypt

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

 Donald Graham, the Post Co. chairman and chief executive

Today I thought that I would pick one headline from each weekday this week from the Washington Post since they were sold this week. Learn more about the sale in Monday's article.  This was an interesting article to read, because like everyone I was surprised by the sale.  But the sale will allow Post to explore and grow as they become a private company again, the Graham niece will stay on as publisher which is great, and Bezo (the new owner) and Donald Graham have been friends for a while. I also liked to hear that they are not currently/planning to downsides and lay people off.

Tuesday's article highlights a big story of the week: Terrorism alert highlights potent threat posed by al-Qaeda's Yemen affiliate The whole world learned the name Nasir al-Wuhayshi and started to think of him as the new Osama bin Laden. 

Wednesday's article: Israel says Iran is accelerating nuclear quest....this had quieted down for awhile--interesting to see it back in the news again.

Thursday's article highlights another big story of the week: Obama cancels meeting with Vladimir Putin No surprise there with the admittance of Edward Snowden last week

Friday's article caught my eye: Phillippines to open negotiations with U.S. on expanding military presence They want the U.S. help to keep China out of their waters.  This could complicate our relationship with China. It is interesting that the Phillippines wants our help considering they don't usually like us there, with the whole "We use to own you" mentality. 

That's the important articles from the week...in my humble opinion :)

Five Favorite Front-Page Features with Cedar Ridge Academy

Today in my U.S. History and Government class at Cedar Ridge Academy Therapeutic Boarding School we were able to go over some current events that have affected the world around us. We focused on three main stories: the Zimmerman juror speaking out, Ariel Castro's trial, and the Manning/Snowden situation. We get to have great discussions, watch videos, and the students write great opinions as to what they think the situation should be/change to.  Click here to see what they wrote today, and go below for the videos that we watched courtesy of ABC News and NBC News.

Zimmerman Case:

Zimmerman Juror Speaks Out
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/george-zimmerman-juror-stands-decision-19777201?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19778064

Travyon's Mother Speaks Out
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/juror-b29-interview-ignites-emotion-travyon-martins-mother-19787910?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19720024

Ariel Castro Case:

Castro Pleads Guilty
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/cleveland-kidnapper-ariel-castro-spend-life-bars-19787899?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19720024

This video discusses Ariel Castro's final day in court

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Snowden/Manning and Espionage:

Bradley Manning's Conviction:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/bradley-manning-guilty-aiding-americas-enemies-charge-19821294?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19821973

More Leaks from Snowden
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/nsa-secrets-revealed-19832057?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19766051

Edward Snowden is out of the airport...

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Current Event Friday

So today is a serious packing day so I am writing quickly and late.  I just wanted to point out one article today that I found interesting....the letter from the attorney general to the Russian government saying that Snowden will not receive the death penalty if sent back to the United States.  What is most interesting to me about this too is that the lawyer for Snowden's father points out that the letter assumes guilt before a trial has been held.  As silly as it sounds, he has a point.  As US citizens we are innocent until proven guilty, and we deserve a fair trial whether we have publicly shared military/intelligence secrets or not.  Thank you Bill of Rights.  Check out the AP article here:  http://www.ksl.com/?sid=26163764&nid=127&title=no-death-penalty-for-snowden-if-convicted-us-says&fm=home_page&s_cid=queue-19

Current Events Day

So it's late and I'm tired...so we're not doing the full favorite five thing today....I am just going to tell you about news stories from KSL that I found interesting this week. KSL is a local Utah news channel, my favorite in fact.

So...have you seen this? It is a gazelle jumping into a car to get a way from a cheetah!  This was freaky.

This story got my attention: Scout leader could face charges for shooting a bear  So apparently the boys left food out and the bear got in it. They tried to get rid of the bear, but that didn't work so the leader shot the bear.  While on the one hand it makes sense, but on the other it seems a little bit extreme.  I guess that's the DNR's problem.

This is a perfect example of how the news likes to make things such a big deal that really aren't.  Here's the headline New Utah NSA center requires 1.7M gallons of water daily to operate. So why is that startling...well we are in Utah which is a desert and the normal person is regularly asked to conserve water.  So why would the government take that much?  It is a huge number...however you read the article and realize that its not that big of a deal.  That's the same amount of water that a bottling company and other similar industrial buildings would use, and it's only 1% of the demand in that area.  Also, the city is going to have to time to get ready for the demand. Finally, a third of the water is going to go back to Bluffdale parks and other green things that need watering.  So seriously, headlines are just there to get you to click on them!

A rendering of what the data center will look like when it's done from
http://nsa.gov1.info/utah-data-center/

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

This week I am going to feature NBCNews.com

Venezuela, Nicaragua offer Snowden asylum Being so long a man without a country, I bet he is grateful--but I bet the NSA is frustrated

Alleged plot to extort Paula Deen exposed; FBI makes arrest As if things couldn't get worse for her, talk about drama!

Zimmerman trial The plot thickens with the prosecutors closing their case and the defense asking to let the judge to throw it out--I really wonder where this will fall

Immigration reform--As mentioned last week, it passed the Senate--but the House still needs to vote.  It becomes really tricky with the ideas of this issue because everyone is opinionated about it...it becomes a "do I vote on my own" or "with my constituents" decision

Is Egypt headed for a civil war? There is a military coup going on and then there is the group that still support the elected president....it will be interesting to see how this one shakes out too

From NBCNews.com

Movie Review: The Terminal

So this is what I watched tonight...should have been grading but oh well! This movie came out in 2004 starring Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stanley Tucci.  Seriously with that list of stars it will be a good movie.  And it was directed by Steven Spielberg! So now we're even more set.....and yes it was a great movie!

So summary....Tom Hanks plays a man from an Eastern European country. When he arrives in NYC, his passport is denied.  While he was in the air his country was overthrown and his country no longer existed.  He was literally a man without a country (reminds me of a certain current event right now).  So he waits until his country is recognized by the U.S. Where does he do this? In the airport.

What Did I Love?

• The story line is awesome!
• The writing was tremendous.  It was very witty--there were so many moments where I was laughing out loud.
• The acting was great too!  Tom Hanks' accent is awesome and Stanley Tucci plays a great "bad guy"

What Did I Hate?

• Umm....I can't think of anything!

Bottom Line: Buy it, find it, if you haven't seen it you need too!

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/diego-luna/images/930597/title/diego-luna-terminal-screencap

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

This has been an interesting news week....

1. Proposition 8 was sent back to the lower court....effectively put gay marriage back in California

2. Defense of Marriage Act...the Supreme Court found denying federal benefits from gay marriage unconstitutional

Whether you agree with gay marriage or not...this was an historic week for the Supreme Court--equality has been redefined in this country.  It is now precedent.

3. George Zimmerman trial began....this has been an interesting trial to say the least...from witnesses being cross-examined in a way that you would see on TV shows...to knock-knock jokes....to really graphic photos...and an all-female jury...it will be very interesting to see how this plays out

4. Supreme Court found the section of the Voting Rights Act that establishes the states/areas that have federal oversight unconstitutional if not updated

5. Immigration Reform passed the Senate....people said there would be a vote...now it's in the House's court

They sure had a lot of power this week
(picture from Wikipedia)

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

So...today isn't going to be exactly five different news stories....just five (maybe more) different things all about the same thing. Today in my US History/Government class, we talked about the Edward Snowden/hacking thing.  Time Magazine did a great article this week about him and past hackers, and it really seems to be becoming an historical and political issue--great for my class.  So I started off with these video clips to give them the background.

These first two are in the same broadcast, back to back,and occurred that first day the media starts talking about the phone monitoring and the Internet monitoring.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/52126041

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/52126065

This next clip is probably the day after the other two because we are learning that this wasn't on purpose and the government is having to acknowledge that there was a leak.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/hunting-nsa-leaker-19351792?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19352311

Then I showed this clip that reveals Snowden and who he is.  

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/edward-snowden-claims-nsa-leaker-19362889

Finally, I showed this clip to give them a bit of an idea of what PRISM is and to transition into the Time Magazine article.

http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2472288673001_2145377,00.html 

This article is on: http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2145506,00.html 

I loved this class because we had a great discussion and didn't even get through the whole article. They are really curious, and offer opinions which is the whole reason why I talk about current events in the first place.  We are going to finish it up next week, and I think it will be great.

The cover of this week's Time

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

This week I will feature stories from ABCNews.com

5. This was an interesting article today....Alleged Nazi SS Commander Found Living in Minnesota.  He is 94 years old and is just now being discovered.  I think about what that does to your life? http://abcnews.go.com/US/alleged-nazi-ss-commander-found-living-minnesota/story?id=19404716

4. This is a cool video...a 10 year old boy in San Antonio sang the national anthem at the beginning of the finals game and then was criticized for doing so because he is Mexican.  The kid stood up for himself, and told the world that he was American born and raised, and that the color of his skin didn't matter if he was American.  The finals then invited him back to sing again.  How cool is that!!
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/instant-index-10-year-sebastian-de-la-cruzs-19407344

US News | Weird News | More ABC News Videos

3. Immigration Law Proposal Clears Hurdle...it would be nice to maybe see this resolved in a way that people are relatively okay with http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/immigration-law-proposal-clears-hurdle-19377735?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19378524

US News | Weird News 

2. NSA Leak...this guy I have spent most of the week trying to figure out who he is....this video is somewhat helpful. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/reported-nsa-leaker-edward-snowden-19369193?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19369746

US News | Weird News | More ABC News Videos

1. This was honestly my FAVORITE story in a long time.  This story is about a husband and wife team of doctors...she says that she can't sleep because he snores.  They get a sleep study together and apart...and she sleeps fine either way.  I love the husband's look...it is totally "I was ACTUALLY right!" http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/solutions-couples-sleep-19369498?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19369746

US News | Weird News

Movie Review: Inside North Korea

http://www.amazon.com/Inside-North-Korea/dp/B004HFKPOK

So I was thinking about something to review today and I wanted to share what we have been doing in class recently.  So not only is this a great movie review but it is also a great lesson plan idea for when you want an easy day.  This movie is done by National Geographic.  This follows Lisa Ling into North Korea as she films a documentary about a Nepal eye surgeon. He is going to heal 1,000 people of cataracts.  While they are there, they can film the culture around them.

So why do I like showing it in class? It is a great visual for the students of what North Korea is like.  They have trouble understanding the US tension with them and concern we have about the nuclear threats until they see this video.  They also have trouble understanding the truce between North and South and the DMZ.  If you don't show anything else from this movie except the clip of them at the DMZ then that would be worth it.  You can really understand what it is like there.

http://torrentbutler.eu/51376-national-geographic-inside-north-korea

Concerns to have as a teacher: So as always, every good teacher should preview the movie/clip they are showing in their class because you know your students best! But the biggest concern that I have had every time I show this video is creating a prejudice against the people of North Korea.  I emphasize with the students that we don't know how much choice the people of North Korea have so they might not really "hate" us.  I also emphasize difference of culture and though we view them as "strange"/"odd", they might find us strange and odd too. So we talk about accepting diversity when we watch this movie.

Another thing to keep in mind too is that this movie is now dated.  It was created before the death of Kim Jong Il, and his son is now the third dictator of the country--Kim Jong Un.  (Not to be confused with Kim Il Sung the original dictator) Getting this straight in your head and student's is also really helpful for when watching.

While Watching: I usually have a set of nine questions that I wrote for my students to answer.  They get a lot out of just watching and asking questions so sometimes I have them just respond to the film at different points too with questions and statements.  It is about an hour long so great for a classroom but usually we end up watching in about an hour and a half because I pause and clarify things, answer questions, and ask questions.

Oh p.s. I first just showed this to my US History classes because of the Korean War in US History class.  However, I recently showed it in all of classes with the World History spin with communism, Government spin of foreign policy, and World Geography spin of the theme place/region.  Overall,  it is a great way to connect current events with history too.

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

This week I have decided to bring back my usual Friday ritual of discussing current events.  This week I have decided to feature New York Times this week and just do the top five from the week in no real order. I even have one for each day.

Friday: Seven Dead in Santa Monica Shooting This is just sad....more shootings.

Thursday: IRS Targeting of Conservatives Wrong, Most Say in Poll The IRS is in a lot of trouble, and it is possible that this isn't going away any time soon.

Wednesday: US is Secretly Collecting Records of Verizon Calls Yeah this was nice to hear, I have Verizon but then later on in the week we found out it doesn't really matter which cell carrier you have.

Tuesday: US-China Meeting's Aim What was surprising to me about this was how much people are worried about the fact that Mrs. Obama will not be there

Monday: Don't Trust the Pentagon to End Rape The interesting thing about this it is an op-ed.  This story fascinates me because of all of the men involved in what is usually a women's issue.

Day 21: My Favorite Blog Posts

So...my blog is actually quite young--less than a year old.  Technically, it is only five months old since I started my 365 project at the beginning of this year...though it was "birthed" before that.  I have really enjoyed writing everyday...though sometimes it is hard to come up with what to write with.  The prompt today is your favorite blog posts...and as I was going through what I've written this year I have a lot of favorites for different reasons.

Sentimental Value
Of course my first blog post to start off the year
This book review got a comment from the author!

A to Z Challenge-- The hardest thing for me with this challenge was I didn't have a plan, I made the posts up as I went along.  These were my favorite posts because I was proud of my cleverness with relating the letter.
J is for Joel, Billy Joel--this one is a great lesson plan idea to "We Didn't Start the Fire"
Q is for Quite a Week--this one was written the week of the Boston Marathon...but that was the only tragedy that happened that week in history

Memorable Views--I know that page views aren't everything....but to me when I get in the 100s it is a huge deal!! And I didn't even know until I was going back into the archives! And I'm actually proud that these are the two that have the most views on my blog.....
Seed Stitch Blanket---my first blanket to be posted on this blog!
Inspired by a Quote with a Teaching Strategy--the funny thing to me with this is that I really just read the quote and thought of sharing this strategy....wow I love the response with all the reading!

P.S. To my newer readers, I do a recap every month of the highest viewed posts..so to see other archives click on the label "top posts of the month" below

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

Last Sunday that this gets to show up as the A to Z Challenge comes to a close.  It has been a fun month to do that and I look forward to doing a wrap-up of it on Wednesday.

5. Bush Presidential Library opened...whether you like/approve of his politics or absolutely hate him....it doesn't matter to me.  He was still president and I thought he was a class act this week by coming back into the media to finish his last real job as president. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dedication-of-the-george-w-bush-presidential-library/2013/04/25/0b9e2e9a-adba-11e2-a986-eec837b1888b_gallery.html

4. White House Correspondence Dinner...the nerd prom :) http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/27/politics/white-house-correspondents-dinner/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

3. Lots of news swirls around about the Boston Marathon bombers...it is almost hard to figure out what is accurate and what isn't it http://abcnews.go.com/US/boston-marathon-bombing-investigators-piece-life-tamerlan-tsarnaev/story?id=19060527#.UX3UmxyG2n8

2. Bangladesh building collapses, a fire breaks out, 377 dead http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/28/us-bangladesh-building-idUSBRE93N06P20130428

1. Possible chemical warfare in Syria...if this ends up being true it will be interesting to see what happens next  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/world/middleeast/us-says-it-suspects-assad-used-chemical-weapons.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130426&_r=0

http://www.cartoonaday.com/democracy-in-syria-cartoon/

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

This is our Sunday feature while I participate in the A to Z Challenge....which is quickly coming to a close.  I don't even know exactly where to go with this with it being such an interesting news week...but as always this is just my opinion of the top stories from the week--and sometimes it is just what I remember first.

5. Immigration Proposal made....though I love how people can't stop talking about 2016 and Marco Rubio....but at least they're not bringing up the State of the Union response again! http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/gang-introduces-immigration-reform-bill/story?id=18992123#.UXSFgRyG2n8 

4. We've moved North Korea back a little bit...the media has really put this off to the side--for obvious reasons.  Until I looked it up, I had no idea what was going on over there to be perfectly honest.  So I looked it up....apparently we are still moving rockets around.  http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-moves-two-more-missile-launchers-report-035049930.html

3. China earthquake...6.6-7.0 magnitude...186 people dead...kind of got buried here in the U.S. with everything going on here http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/21/world/asia/china-sichuan-earthquake/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2 

2. West, Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion...this was a very sad accident...I hope the families get closure. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/19/17825505-investigators-texas-plant-explosion-death-toll-raised-to-14?lite

1. Boston Marathon...quite a week...I hope that everyone currently in the hospital continue to recover and we only lose three civilians and one officer in this tragedy.  As always...CNN has a great collection of coverage to help with the catch up http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/21/us/boston-attack/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews 

We are Boston Strong! **Start singing "Sweet Caroline"**
http://abcnews.go.com/US/quotes-week-boston-strong/story?id=19008065#.UXSGkxyG2n8