Tuesday, February 21, 2012

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Source: http://iblog.at/terryfernandes/2012/02/19/think-bingo/

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Chicago school draws scrutiny over student fines

In this photo taken Feb. 16, 2012, Noble Street College Prep CEO Mike Milke talks with student Gabriela Cervantes during school in Chicago. The school has drawn scrutiny some parents and advocacy groups for its policy of charging students $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that can include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

In this photo taken Feb. 16, 2012, Noble Street College Prep CEO Mike Milke talks with student Gabriela Cervantes during school in Chicago. The school has drawn scrutiny some parents and advocacy groups for its policy of charging students $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that can include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

In this photo taken Feb. 16, 2012, Noble Street College Prep principal William Olsen and students Chadie Morris, left, and Khadijah Hallmon walk through the hall of their school in Chicago. The school has drawn scrutiny some parents and advocacy groups for its policy of charging students $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that can include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

In this photo taken Feb. 16, 2012, Noble Street College Prep students Khadijah Hallmon, left, and Chadie Morris pose in the hall of their school in Chicago. The school has a policy of charging students $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that can include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

(AP) ? A sense of order and decorum prevails at Noble Street College Prep as students move quickly through a hallway adorned with banners from dozens of colleges. Everyone wears a school polo shirt neatly tucked into khaki trousers. There's plenty of chatter but no jostling, no cellphones and no dawdling.

The reason, administrators say, is that students have learned there is a price to pay ? literally ? for breaking even the smallest rules.

Noble Network of Charter Schools charges students at its 10 Chicago high schools $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. Last school year it collected almost $190,000 in discipline "fees" from detentions and behavior classes ? a policy drawing fire from some parents, advocacy groups and education experts.

Officials at the rapidly expanding network, heralded by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as a model for the city, say the fees offset the cost of running the detention program and help keep small problems from becoming big ones. Critics say Noble is nickel-and-diming its mostly low-income students over insignificant, made-up infractions that force out kids administrators don't want.

"We think this just goes over the line ... fining someone for having their shoelaces untied (or) a button unbuttoned goes to harassment, not discipline," said Julie Woestehoff, executive director of the Chicago advocacy group Parents United for Responsible Education, which staged protests last week over the policy after Woestehoff said she was approached by an upset parent

Students at Noble schools receive demerits for various infractions ? four for having a cellphone or one for untied shoelaces. Four demerits within a two-week period earn them a detention and $5 fine. Students who get 12 detentions in a year must attend a summer behavior class that costs $140.

Superintendent Michael Milkie said the policy teaches the kids ? overwhelmingly poor, minority and often hoping to be the first in their families to attend college ? to follow rules and produces in a structured learning environment. He points to the network's average ACT score of 20.3, which is higher than at the city's other non-selective public schools, and says more than 90 percent of Noble graduates enroll in college.

While fights can be an almost daily occurrence in some urban high schools, Milkie says there's only about one a year on each Noble campus.

By "sweating the small stuff ... we don't have issues with the big stuff," he said.

Milkie said the fines also help defray the cost of administering after-school detention and the salary of the network's dean of discipline, which otherwise would divert money intended for education.

But Donna Moore said the district is manufacturing problems that lead to unproductive badgering of students, including her 16-year-old son, who had to repeat ninth grade at Noble's Gary Comer College Prep after racking up 33 detentions and several suspensions.

"It was nothing egregious, but just that the little things added up: a shirt unbuttoned, shoes not tied, not tracking the teacher with his eyes," said Moore, adding that her son has an attention disorder. "It's not normal to treat a young adult as a 2-year-old ... kids internalize that."

Woestehoff and Moore said some families have removed their children from Noble schools because they couldn't keep paying the fees, though Moore said her biggest complaint is the infractions. Milkie said Noble sets up payment plans and on rare occasions waives the fees, and students never would be held back a grade solely because they couldn't pay.

Even so, Matthew Mayer, a professor in the graduate school of education at Rutgers University, said a monetary fine is "highly inappropriate" because it likely has no bearing on students' academic performance and disproportionately hurts poor families.

"It's almost medieval in nature. It's a form a financial torture, for lack of a better term," Mayer said.

Emanuel defended the school, saying it gets "incredible" results and parents don't have to send their children there. Charter schools are exempt from most district policies.

Parent Tammy O'Neal said her two daughters are excelling at Noble's Muchin College Prep, and only one ever got detention, for not wearing a belt.

"If a kid is prone to getting in trouble and not taking school seriously, then (the fines are) a steep slope," she said. "But why don't you tell your kid to straighten up?"

Chadie Morris, 16, a sophomore at Noble Street College Prep, carries a 3.8 grade-point average at Noble Street College Prep, but figures she has paid $45 already this year for such things as talking in class.

"Sometimes it can be about the littlest things and you can still get demerits," she said. "Demerits are horrible; detentions are horrible."

But the aspiring lawyer, who struggled with absences until her adviser and principal persuaded her to come back, looks forward to attending a one-week summer college program.

Other charter school operators in Chicago and elsewhere said they don't fine students but respect Noble's academic success and its right to adopt its own discipline policy.

Tim King, CEO of Urban Prep Academies, which operates three high schools for boys in some of Chicago's toughest and poorest neighborhoods, said he believes "very firmly in a more therapeutic or restorative approach vs. punitive toward student conduct."

Every student in Urban Prep's first two graduating classes was accepted to a college or university.

At Knowledge is Power Program, a network of 109 charter schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia, middle school students are rewarded for good behavior with a weekly incentive "paycheck" ? fake money that can be redeemed at the school store or used to defray the cost of field trip, spokesman Steve Mancini said. The system is phased out by high school because it's no longer needed.

Milkie, though, doesn't plan to change a thing.

"It's a beautiful system," he said. "I don't want to brag, but it is. It's why the kids are so successful."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-02-20-Chicago%20School-Fining%20Students/id-1b173d01adc441ec9bc5bd6caa2d3322

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Favorite Vegan Drink | From Karlyn

Feb 20, 2012 by Karlyn

Karlyn's favorite vegan drinkI?m nearing the 3-year mark in my vegetarian lifestyle. I enjoy it thoroughly and decided, recently, to jump in and go full-fledged vegan. It hasn?t been easy to avoid dairy. Did you know how abundant milk proteins are in so many different foods? I?m becoming more familiar with food labels and what to look out for. .. including honey in breads, cheese in salad dressings, and so on. It IS a challenge, but one that I am enjoying participating in.

One of my favorite drinks that I can rely on always being 100% vegan and good for me, is my spinach smoothie. I usually make it for breakfast and it?s a great way to start my day with plant proteins, omega-3 and antioxidants.

My favorite drink gets mixed in a blender and consists of a generous amount of spinach, blueberries, banana, and almond milk. I stir-in some spirulina and chia seeds for an extra health boost. The result is a cold, smooth, sweet mixture of natural goodness. The more detailed recipe of my favorite vegan drink was posted recently at WiseNaturally.com as well and includes the measurements, etc..? on this Spinach Blueberry Smoothie post.

I?m interested in trying more vegan smoothie combinations. If you have a favorite you?d like to share, post it in the comment section for me. I?ve tried kale in this smoothie, and though I like kale in my stews/soups, it?s not ?smooth? enough in drinks for my liking. Blackberries, raspberries, mango, orange, and pineapple are all good fruit alternatives to add some sweetness to this vegan drink as well. If you are new to spinach smoothie drinking and choose to leave out the banana, I recommend adding a little agave syrup into the blend for a little added sweetness. As you become accustomed to spinach or other veggie smoothies, you get used to their taste and require less sweetness, but is all about personal preference. The important thing is to enjoy and drink to your health!

Source: http://www.fromkarlyn.com/favorite-vegan-drink/

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How to Start a Woodworking Company Swiftly ? tasty Articles

Woodworking is generally the talent of making random objects from wood. It?s an innovative craft that requires persistence, persistence, set expertise and methods. This may possibly be a pastime you?d really like to just take up but be warned that it is not just effortless which now sales opportunities us to the major stage. Let me to give you a rundown on what to assume and what to prepare when you make a decision to just take up the pastime of woodworking. Fundamental instruments this kind of as a circular noticed, jig saw, moveable table saw, assorted hand tools, set of chisels and clamps are just a number of tools to start with. A set of thorough blueprints or wood options are also essential in wood functioning. It would greatly assist if you request help kind experienced wood staff.

This is especially correct for operating with very youthful youngsters. It can be relatively challenging to hold their focus for lengthy durations of time. For that reason make ready the operate space of the ?Carpenter?s Store For Your Kids.? You can make it a good deal simpler on yourself and your young children, if you strategy to minimize the wood components in advance of time for that birdhouse or other modest task. As another example Pre-drill all the holes essential for the nails utilised in your task. This will help save time and make it easier for them, if they are going to take part in this phase of the venture. They will actually enjoy the factors like the painting of the completed item, so make positive to have the varnish or the latex paint on hand, with lots of brushes also.

If you don?t have an indication of what to make with your kids. Ask them straight. You are going to be astonished at what they?ll advise for you to build collectively. The main point is to try not to let your suggestions or suggestions adjust their ideas or recommendations. Even if they believe of some thing crazy, consider creating it with them and see if it works out. They will get a thrill out of the reality that you would do one thing so insane and that it was their concept.

After your pattern is transferred to the wood, you will require to minimize the wood according to the outline. If you are next this technique, then it is very best to use a thin piece of plywood and a really sharp observed. Right after you have cut out the wood in accordance to the design, you can go in advance and start painting or embellishing it. This method can be used for making doorway hanging wood decoration objects or small wooden pieces for embellishing some other products.

Have you ever imagined of employing term of mouth. You require to know that advertising and marketing employing this kind of press is an inexpensive means of letting folks know what you have to offer you. Notify your close friends and neighbors of what you do and they in switch will inform other people. Like use of posters, this will only get people?s consideration within your locality. If you want to tap into the worldwide marketplace, you want to use far more present day implies of advertising and much more particularly you need to have to use the world wide web.

nonetheless, if you are critical about creating a profession out of property building then the web can support you to help polish your trade, and give you tips on tons of woodworking plans and furniture woodworking plans projects that are currently up for grabs

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Source: http://tastyarticles.info/how-to-start-a-woodworking-company-swiftly.html

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Rep. Anderson Commentary on End-of-Course Exams | Doc ...

Howdy Friends!

As many of you may have heard, Texas?s new standardized tests (the STAAR exams) have brought about some hardships to 9th graders beginning this year. As the end-of-course exams are being initiated, they are slated to constitute 15% of the students? final grade; however, there is a lack of clarity in the statute, leaving districts with questions of how the 15% would be applied. I wanted to update you on legislative efforts to relieve students of these unintended consequences.

During the 82nd Legislature last year, I co-authored and supported legislative relief for excessive testing, while maintaining our state?s commitment to increased rigor in course work, and meaningful assessment of progress and postsecondary readiness (House Bill 500). Although it did not pass the Senate, it provided a reference point for recent discussions between legislative leadership and Commissioner Robert Scott of the Texas Education Agency.

The Legislature?s intent on the matter of preparing our future generation for the significant challenges which lay ahead is clear: while rigorous standards matter, assessment instruments need to be based on core curriculum and course work in order to properly determine progress.

This is why there is a transition period for school ratings as the STAAR is implemented. As this policy applies to schools, so should it apply to students. It never would have been the intent of the Legislature to place our current 9th graders in a difficult situation. Educators, and students, deserve this first year of the STAAR to determine how the exam relates to adopted course plans, and be able to make adjustments from there.

Other legislators are coming to this very same conclusion. The Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Florence Shapiro, has contacted Commissioner Scott to request a one-year deferral under law. This request seems feasible, if we can gather legislative intent agreement from both chambers.

I have also been in contact with the Commissioner, both by phone and letter (attached). At the end of the week, the Chair of the House Committee on Public Education, Representative Rob Eissler, will also request this one-year deferral, therefore making it a consensus action of legislative intent. I have co-signed Chairman Eissler?s letter, along with many other legislators. Indications from the Commissioner are that this deferral will be granted, which is a much more common-sense approach to this transition period.

The Legislature, together with education stakeholders, has made significant strides to increase standards. Those previously adopted policies should remain in place. However, I expect this issue to be revisited in the 83rd Legislature next year in order that meaningful and sensible strategy can be implemented.

Source: http://www.docandersonfortexas.com/?p=225

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

US, Britain urge Israel not to attack Iran (AP)

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In this Sept. 27, 2000 file photo, an Iranian oil worker repairs a pipe at an oil refinery in Tehran. Iran has halted oil shipments to Britain and France, the Oil Ministry said Sunday, in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union after the bloc imposed sanctions on Iran's crucial fuel exports. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)AP - The U.S. and Britain on Sunday urged Israel not to attack Iran's nuclear program as the White House's national security adviser arrived in the region, reflecting growing international jitters that the Israelis are poised to strike.


Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120219/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_iran

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