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Stop Your School from Being CLOSED by Paying Close Attention!

ALI 4/6 class flyer

ALI 4/6 class flyerWhen the district hands down the list of schools to be closed each year, most of the reactions from parents, staff and students come after the fact. As a result, many of the planned school closings occur and the people most impacted feel voiceless. Join us for a session that will teach you how to ask questions, examine data, and make sure the school has all it needs, which will both improve student outcomes and take your school off the “closing block”. Protests and Speaking are not enough to keep schools from being closed. Early preparation will work!   read more

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Twins prove student performance no good for assessing teachers

Mother Crusader tells why she knows that student performance – as demonstrated by standardized testing – can never be accurately used to determine how good a teacher is: her twin children have been with the same teachers since pre-K and their student performance is radically different. Mother Crusader recommends that parents opt their children out of standardized testing, and cautions that in New Jersey it will be used against teachers beginning next year:

And here is a GREAT reason why to opt your kids out. One of the “high stakes” attached to state tests is teacher accountability. These tests are NOT designed to evaluate teacher performance, yet that is EXACTLY what they will be used for. read more

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How old people get help from the police

Garden shed at night

Garden shed at nightGreat story shared by my Uncle Robert Pitts.

George Phillips, an elderly man from Tampa, Florida, was going up to bed when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things. He phoned the police, who asked “Is someone in your house?”

George replied “No, but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me.” read more

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How to Stop Your School from Being CLOSED

ALI 4/6 class flyerSaturday, April 6, 2013
10am-1pm
Rutgers University-Newark
Boyden Hall Room 100
195 University Ave.
Newark, NJ 07102
Cost: Free

When the district hands down the list of schools to be closed each year, most of the reactions from parents, staff and students are after the fact. As a result, many of the planned school closings occur, and the people most impacted feel voiceless. Join us for a session that will teach you how to ask questions, examine data, and make sure the school has all it needs, which will both improve student outcomes and take your school off the “closing block”. Protests and Speaking are not enough to keep schools from being closed. Early preparation will work!   read more

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Resumé help for veterans

Military PersonnelThe US Chamber of Commerce offers a resumé creation tool to help veterans translate military skills to terms that will help them get jobs when they re-enter civil society.

The Personal Branding Resume Engine will help you translate your military service record into a strong resume. The skills and experience you gained as a Servicemember can make you a great employee. However, it’s crucial to help potential employers understand how. With input from Fortune 500 human resources (HR) consultants, the Resume Engine will help you get your job search off to a positive start. read more

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What is ALEC and how is it tied to the GOP?

ALEC for Dummies

ALEC for DummiesTo understand what the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is, you have to look at what this organization does. Since ALEC is becoming bolder by the New York Minute, it’s easier to see exactly what their agenda is.

Common Cause answers the question, “What is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)?”

For almost 40 years now, up to 300 of the largest US corporations—including Koch Industries, Verizon, Bank of America and Exxon—have used ALEC to push model legislation, which is beneficial to their corporate interests, into law in the states. ALEC boasts that a third of all state legislators in the US are members, introducing around 1,000 ALEC bills every year. By using ALEC to pursue their agenda, they are able to hide their fingerprints, avoid lobbying disclosure, and evade the kind of increased scrutiny that comes when citizens know it’s actually corporationsthat draftedsome of their most important laws. Recent ALEC bills have rolled back voting rights, reduced environmental protections and stripped away collective bargaining rights for workers around the country. read more

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Get notifications of Facebook friends & pages you like

Click on get notifications

Facebook doesn’t automatically show you notifications when a post is made by a friend or on a Page you like. You have to take action to see them. It’s a simple procedure, though:

  • Visit the Page you want to receive notifications from
  • Hover over the like button, and click on it. You must like a Page or person to get their notifications. Hover over like button
  • Continue hovering. A drop-down menu will pop up. Click on “Get Notifications”. Screen shot 2013-03-25 at 11.00.16 AM
  • When the checkmark appears next to “Get Notifications”, you’ll receive that person’s – or Page’s – notifications. Checkmark appears
  • This also works when you mouseover the name of a person or Page in a comment

    Screen shot 2013-03-25 at 10.29.33 AM read more

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    Stop telemarketers with 6 words

    National Do Not Call RegistryDo telemarketers bug you? Can’t get them off the phone? They’re not deterred by you hanging up, politely asking them not to call you anymore, and they don’t seem to care when you tell them your baby’s crying or your dinner is burning and you have to go.

    There’s an answer to your woes so simple, you won’t believe it works until you try it out and see for yourself. I did it again just now and the results are always gratifying. This is what you do: next time a telemarketer calls, interrupt them with this phrase, “Take me off your call list.” read more

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    How to configure Add Link to Facebook & Create a Facebook App

    Add Link to Facebook graphic

    Add Link to Facebook graphic

    From within WordPress, do a new plugin search for the Add Link to Facebook plugin. Click to install it, and then click to activate it (from your plugins panel). These instructions are for independently hosted WordPress installations. If your blog is hosted on WordPress.com you may need other configuration instructions.

    1 Configure the plug-in by clicking on the link “needs configuration”
    Configure Add Link to Facebook

    2 Click on the link “Click here to create and navigate to ‘Apps’ and then to ‘Create New App’Click here to create app read more

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    Lead good lives & be funny

    My friend Tina Cruz shared this wisdom and blessing with us this morning. Thanks Tina!

    “If individuals lead good lives, society will also be good.” God bless us all!

    Here’s Google’s portrayal of us ladies on International Women’s Day. I posted on Facebook that it makes us women look funny, to which my friend Yinh Lai sagely responded, “Aren’t We?” It’s a good thing I have smart friends like Yinh to help me be light. Thanks Yinh!
    Google's Women's Day graphic

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    Cycler proves NYC bike lanes not always safe

    NYC cop gives cycler ticket for leaving the bike lane. But there are dangers in the bike lane . .

    The cycler is Casey Neistat and this great footage proves his case brilliantly. I’m convinced that NYC should give him back his $50 fine.

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    A real teacher resigns in protest – on camera


    This 2nd grade teacher chose to give up his $70,000 job – “with benefits” – and tutor Connecticut students for free rather than continue fighting the school system over new practices which he is sure are preventing students from acquiring a love of learning. What were the problems he encountered? Breakfast period, recess and talking during lunch time were eliminated. Teaching was required to focus only on test scores and, “any type of fun activity – is gone:” classroom pets, parties to celebrate special events and birthdays, field trips . . . “all gone, gone, gone.” The school system even prohibited Mr. Steven Round from volunteering his personal time after school to help nine dyslexic pupils learn to read, an initiative which was working tremendously well for the students and had enthusiastic support from parents. read more