Homeless teen finds fame, refuge in marine biology research
Web edition : 1:41 pm
A high school?student spent several years studying how mussels in Long Island Sound?s salt marshes protect themselves from predatory crabs. Her work?recently won the girl a semifinalist spot in a major national science competition. More importantly, it helped this young scientist ? at the time homeless ??take her mind off of out-of-school stress.? ?I decided that if I keep doing what I love I can make a better life for myself," she says. And Samantha Garvey has.? Her mussel research has even helped her obtain the money for college, the first step toward what she hopes will be career in marine ecology.??
Visit the new?Science News for Kids?website?and read the full story:?Finding a home in science
A convicted murderer awaiting trial in the Los Angeles County jail system had?family?cash $30,000 in unemployment checks, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Anthony Garcia?s father?and two girlfriends reportedly cashed those checks, $1,600 a month,?and also deposited money in his jail account and that of other gang members.
His father, Juan Garcia, 47, and?girlfriends, Sandra Jaimez, 45, and Cynthia Limas, 25, were charged with unemployment fraud, the Times reported.
The investigation into the benefits fraud lasted a year and a half, from October 2008 to March 2010. It is illegal to receive unemployment benefits while in jail, according to California's Employment Development Department, but it is unclear whether Garcia could be convicted of a fraud-related crime as the money was deposited into his account.
Garcia was charged with the murder because he had a detailed?murder scene inked on his chest. A detective investigating a 2004 murder case was looking through snapshots of tattooed gang members ? who are photographed with their shirts off?so that police may catalogue?their tattoos ? when he came across Garcia's tattoos. Garcia had been photographed after being picked up for a traffic stop.
Garcia?s tattoo spans his chest and?bears the words, ?RIVERA KILLS? above a liquor store lined with Christmas lights. There, John Juarez, 23, was gunned down. Rivera is a reference to the gang, Rivera-13.
Garcia was booked, and sheriff?s detectives disguised as gang members coaxed a confession out of Garcia in his cell.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]HealthDay - SUNDAY, March 4 (HealthDay News) -- Overweight children may not respond as well to common asthma medicines known as inhaled corticosteroids, new research finds.
The number of homes being sold by real estate auctions is rising extremely quickly. The main reason for this is because real estate auctions benefit both the buyer and the seller. The seller is able to get rid of their property fairly quickly when compared to traditional selling methods and they also have about a 90% chance of selling their homes this way. The buyer is able to save money on the property as real estate auctions are typically excellent deals and the deal itself is very transparent in almost all cases.
Data released from several agencies indicate that in addition to the number of auctions increasing, the money that is spent on homes is also increasing. This also benefits both the buyer and seller. The seller gains the benefit because buyers are spending more and even though the buyer is spending more, they are still getting the property at a price that is below market value. When they sell, they can still make a profit. It is estimated that prices are up about 2-3% over a year ago, on average, depending on where the sale is taking place. In some areas, sales themselves have risen 50% over last year as well.
There are tons of advantages to sellers when it comes to real estate auctions. One of the greatest advantages, of course, is a quick turnaround. Another advantage is that any buyer will come prepared to buy. The property will be sold to buyers that are ready to pay immediately and the seller will know exactly when the property will sell. On top of all of that, there is no negotiation process and there will be an aggressive marketing campaign for the seller which will bring many buyers in.
Though there is a false sense that real estate auctions tend to benefit sellers more than buyers, this isn?t really the case. There are many ways that buyers benefit from these types of auctions in addition to the great prices they are getting. For example, the buyer knows that the seller is committed to sell. This means deals will not fall through due to the changing mind of the seller. Another advantage to the buyer is that they will know from the start when the closing dates are. This type of sale is competitive, fair, informative and there is no negotiation with sellers, which is a huge advantage to many buyers.
It seems like real estate auctions are certainly here to stay, at least for awhile. When this type of economic environment is upon us, for many buyers and sellers, this is the perfect way to sell their homes. As you can see above, both buyers and sellers can greatly benefit from these types of sales and there are also benefits to the general area when these sales take place. Furthermore, it is thought that these types of sales are also boosting the overall economy. If you are interested in learning more about buying or selling your home through auction, contact United Country Beloit auction & Realty, today.
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If you haven?t watched it yet pop over here to see my first post in this series about defining holistic education.
Today I want to look at three types of pedagological styles. ?A pedagogy is a style of teaching so the focus is not on the things being taught (curriculum) or the way of learning (learning philosophy). ?You can right away see the problem with this because looking at pedagogy in a vacuum is pointless. ?Teaching, in even the least holistic manner, is a two person (at least) relationship. ?However, as used by college teacher preparation programs pedagogy allows a focus on methods of teaching. ?Some of the major schools of pedagogy are creative pedagogy and critical pedagogy.
Any teaching experience can fall into one (or more) of the following three categories:
Transfering
This is a unidirectional teaching style that assumes the teacher has a packet of knowledge that she is handing off to the learner in a direct transfer. ?The role of the teacher is expert. The learners only role is to accept the transfer.
For example: ?green is made up of yellow and blue?
Transacting
This is a teaching style where the teacher engages the learner in an exploration of learning. ?Instead of handing the knowledge off an event is specifically designed to allow the learner to see the information. ?This is the gold standard for most traditional education because it actively involves the learner. ?You have probably heard of this in ?hands-on? curricula and experiment-based learning. ?The role of the teacher is facilitator.
For example: ?what happens if we mix these two colors?? while students have paints in front of them to try it out. ?Learners see that yellow and blue make green.
Another example would be transfering knowledge that some native americans make rain sticks and the transaction would be creating your own rain stick out of a paper tube, toothpicks, and beans. ?In this example there is some type of transaction happening that requires a back and forth relationship with the teacher and learners. ?The learners can ask questions, experiment with different methods of making a rain stick, and generally have a deeper appreciation of (and more sticky memory of) the lesson.
Where these methods of instruction fail is in deeper topics that include not just intellect but emotional, creative, and social aspects. ?For example, a lesson about racism: you can transfer facts about instances of minority discrimination and you can create a meaningful experience (transaction) to embed the learning (for example, students practice finding similarities and differences in classmates and create a collage like the one here by the Australian organization Prejudice. No Way!). ?However, neither of these things will create the type of meaning making that someone who has experienced racism will know.
The question is how do we create a learning activity that moves beyond knowing and understanding into meaning.
Tranforming
The goal of transformational learning is that the teacher and learner embark on a journey that facilitates a change in views and beliefs in the learner.
Say what?
In transfer and transact senarios the goal is learning a new fact or skill (or learning skill like the scientific method) while in transformational learning the goal is learning a new perspective, frame of reference, or habit of mind. ?In other words the goal is assimilating information and knowledge into a broader understanding of self, community, or nature.
We are most familiar with transformative learning when it is prompted by a crisis (called a ?disorienting dilemma?). ?For example, a cancer scare that makes you change your profession in order to more fully enjoy life. ?However, educators can create?scenarios?that lead to transformation without the crisis event.
Transformative learning (TL) is largely the work of?Jack Mezirow, Emeritus Professor of Adult and Continuing Education at Teachers College, Columbia University and as such is largely talked about in reference to adult education. ?Certainly the full cadre of TL is for older teens and adults because children have a more legalistic (black and white) view of morality that makes full transformation impossible. ?However, Mezirow states, ?Frames of reference are primarily the result of cultural assimilation and?the idiosyncratic influences of primary caregivers? and I believe that an adaptation of TL in childhood would prime children to become transformational thinking adults. ?He elaborates;
Children commonly acquire a foundation of the specific learning required to?think autonomously. This includes the ability and disposition to (1) recognize?cause-effect relationships, (2) use informal logic in making analogies and generalizations, (3) become aware of and control their own emotions, (4) become?empathic of others, (5) use imagination to construct narratives, and (6) think?abstractly. Adolescents may learn to (7) think hypothetically, and (8) become?critically reflective of what they read, see, and hear.
These 8 foundational skills are a normal part of most elementary curriculums and/or parenting philosophy. ?I have talked before about awareness of emotions and empathy in toddlers. While TL builds on these in adulthood;
In adulthood, the task is to strengthen and build on this foundation in?order to assist the learner to understand new subject content, but, in the?process of doing so, to become (1) more aware and critical in assessing?assumptions?both those of others and those governing one?s own beliefs, values, judgments, and feelings; (2) more aware of and better able to recognize?frames of reference and paradigms (collective frames of reference) and to imagine alternatives; and (3) more responsible and effective at working with others?to collectively assess reasons, pose and solve problems, and arrive at a tentative best judgment regarding contested beliefs.
The role of the teacher is provocateur challenging learners to define their assumptions and frame of reference.
For example, learners design a role play skit where they imagine life as a settler (given information learned through transfer and transaction). ?Emphasis on teamwork to make the skit and post-activity reflection on feelings about the topic, the process, and working with others.
Summary
A deeper look into transformational learning is definitely neccessary but I hope this introduction brings the three different styles into sharper focus. ?Here is a summary table comparing the three styles;
Pedagogy Comparisons
communication style
learner role
educator role
teaching methods
outcomes
Transfer
unidirectional (educator to learner)
passive
expert
lecture, reading, worksheets
memorization, basic information
Transact
bidirectional (educator to learner and vice versa)
active
facilitator
experiment, art, field trip, building, manipulatives
understanding, experience, appreciation
Transform
multidirectional (educator, learner, and group collaborate)
active
provacateur
reflective thinking, metaphor analysis, discourse, role play
metacognition, new beliefs, self-critical thinking, complex interdisciplinary problem solving, collaboration, cooperation
My next post in the series about developing a homeschool philosophy will focus on creating learning goals.?
Another example would be transfering knowledge that some native americans make rain sticks and the transaction would be creating your own rain stick out of a paper tube, toothpicks, and beans. ?In this example there is some type of transaction happening that requires a back and forth relationship with the teacher and learners. ?The learners can ask questions, experiment with different methods of making a rain stick, and generally have a deeper appreciation of (and more sticky memory of) the lesson.