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Part 4 - Web 2.0 Leadership - In this four part series, I cover tagging, review building a PLN with an iGoogle page, notes on wiki editing, and end up with Leadership notes. This is taken from a blog post for my ninth graders. Really this is leadership and their future - more than Web 2.0 but part of it.

Web 2.0 Leadership
Finally, for my students I have a word for you.

1. Handouts are going Out.
   
   This is a tough, competitive world going through tough times right now.
   
   No one is going to "hand" you anything. The handouts that are already being given out are rapidly going away and will continue to.
   
   
2. You need to be able to collaborate globally.
   
   There are skills that you need to have that most adults, yes, most educators don't understand right now but you are in this project because your teacher (and teachers if you are from another school) see and understand that global collaboration is an essential part of your future.
   
   And global collaboration is about CO-CREATION. This means you have to learn how to create TOGETHER.
   
   
3. Teaching You to Collaborate Globally is Hard.
   
   Most adults aren't teaching this well because they are not doing it well themselves.Many "global collaborations" are just competitions. And while competition is OK in some instances, we have to COOPERATE also.
   
   
4. Learn to Focus.
   
   I want you to be successful leaders in this world. The less supervision you require, the more money you can make. Company CEO's don't have someone looking over their shoulder telling them not to play games on their computer. CEO's are there because they can be trusted to focus on the most important thing!
   
   When you are given a task. Do it - if you need help ask.
   
   We leave the chat up to help you but if it is a distraction and time waster, understand - just because you are in Digiteen's chat window doesn't mean you are "working on" Digiteen any more than if I go in the teacher's lounge and play a card game means that I'm working at teaching! Your physical presence on a website means NOTHING unless you are physically doing something meaningful.
   
   
5. No One Will Do it for You.
   
   Your teacher is your coach. The coach doesn't play on the field for their players but teaches players how to play the game. Don't ask your teacher to do for you what you need to know how to do. Ask them to Coach you.
   
   
6. More than You Are Now.
   
   Admit that you don't know it all. If you have a good teacher, he/she will tell you there is a lot he/she DOESN'T know about technology and digital citizenship. If you think you know it all, you're wrong. Open up and learn.
   
   
7. Use this Opportunity.
   
   YOu have the opportunity to make friends with kids all over the world. Learn about them - what interests them - how they are different and like from you.
   
   
8. Respect Others.
   
   Respect others that are different than you. If you read a "funny" name - that is someone's name. Don't make fun of it, even out loud in class. When you do that you are creating teachable moments for your teachers to share with you how we must respect those from other countries. A person's name is sacred to that person and the most important word to them in the world - treat it with respect.
   
   
9. Every Teacher is Your Teacher
   
   We have many teachers who volunteer there time here on Digiteen even when they don't have a class in the project. We also have many experts, college professors, and others. We jump in and share with you and each other all the time. Realize that the teachers run this project and if someone points something out, although they are not your direct teacher they are your "teacher" and can help you learn something. They also have a responsibility to monitor and keep things safe for you.
   
   
10. You Get what you Give.
    
    Mrs. Julie Lindsay and I have done more than 20 global collaborations and we have found one thing. That when a student really puts something into these projects, they get a lot more out of it than they put in. We've had students become part of major books in education, videos, who have won prizes, and teachers who win global and national awards. When we collaborate together we become better.
    
    Good things happen to those who give. I am a living example of this and believe it with my life and actions.

4 Posts in this Series (Will link them after completed.)
Part 1 - How to Tag Properly
Part 2 - Building your PLN and RSS Feeds.
Part 3 - Editing Wikis and Placing Hyperlinks
Part 4 - Web 2.0 Leadership

• 1st Annual “Art Ed Blog of the Year” Contest « The Art of Education

  Another "contest" but one for art teacher bloggers. The great thing that happens is that this sort of thing helps subject area teachers find each other. If you're an art teacher, you may want to peruse this blog for links.

  tags: education art teaching lessonplans

• Do You Make These 10 Mistakes When You Blog? | Michael Hyatt

  A great post about the common mistakes of bloggers. I will use these with my students.

  tags: education teaching lessons blogging

• Twenty Dyslexia Friendly Writing Tips - Resources - TES

  20 Dyslexia friendly writing tips. (Yes, I've spent the evening browsing the ideas on the Tes website.)

  tags: education teaching lessonplans engchat

• What Periodic element Are you?

  This Facebook-style quiz gives students an element that is like their personality. Might be fun to finish up class one day in science.

  tags: education teaching lessonplan Facebook

• Explore the Seafloor Physics Teacher's Pack - Resources - TES

  This study pack has videos, handouts, and lesson plans that accompany a lesson about mapping the sea floor.

  tags: education science teaching lessonplans

• Holocaust Resources

  In the UK, Holocaust Memorial Day is the 27th of January. This is something that we should all discuss and cover in an age appropriate way. Actually, I have permission and show Hotel Rwanda to my class. I want the students to understand and know what happens in the world and that all it takes for bad things to happen is for good people to do nothing.

  tags: education holocaust teaching socialstudies history_teacher

• Holocaust worksheets - Resources - TES

  Dyslexic friendly resources for teaching about the Holocaust.Notes and handouts.

  tags: education teaching history history_teacher

• KS3 History - McCarthy Trials - Resources - TES

  Talk about the McCarthy trials using archived film from the 1950's. 

  tags: history teaching history_teacher

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

I gave a presentation at school today about tech in the classroom, and I gave a stack of handouts to the teachers who came. In that stack was a list of other websites they might find useful in their classroom, and that list included Rubistar. I confidently told the teachers at the presentation that all links listed on their handouts would appear on my teacher blog. ...Then, when I visited my blog to make a new post a few minutes ago, I happened to notice that I had yet to create a post over one of my most-used resources: Rubistar. 

If you are a rubric-user at all, you really should join the Rubistar bandwagon!

What is a Rubric?
A rubric is, above all, a fair and easy way to grade otherwise subjective projects, activities, and/or assignments. A rubric looks like a large grid of boxes with words in it. Running across the top, you'll have the point values. Running across the left-hand side will be the categories. In the middle, you'll see descriptions of each category, in varying stages of completion. The top half might look like this:


This particular rubric happens to be for a speech (and it's incomplete), but you can make rubrics for virtually anything that has some "gray area" to it.

I say the rubric you see above is incomplete because I still see some ambiguous descriptions in those middle boxes. For instance, what is "appropriate clothing"? And what is that, vs. the "mostly appropriate clothing"? Before I would hand this one out, I would definitely edit these boxes to make sure they're as clear as possible. There can't be any doubt left in my students' minds as to what I expect. If I were to edit this for student-use, I'd put numerical values to the descriptions in the middle boxes. For instance, I might say "appropriate clothing: dressed 'business casually,' with no holes, wrinkles, or dirt. Hair and face are well-groomed, and students appears clean." or something like that. I'd be as specific as possible. For the body posture descriptions, I might use percentages. For instance, "student maintained correct body posture (standing up straight with no slouching, slumping, or curving of the shoulders) 100% of the time" might be in the 10 point description box. (See what I mean about being specific? That's sometimes the hard part: nailing down EXACTLY what it is I want students to do.)

What's in a Rubric?
Keep in mind that this entire thing is completely customizable. No only can you change the title, categories, and middle-box descriptions, but you can also change the point values. I've seen some teachers grade on a "1, 2, 3, 4" scale, and others grade on a "10, 20, 30, 40" scale. It's really up to you. In the end, all my assignments are worth 100%, anyway; it's just a matter of deciding how much of a "point gap" you want between levels.

Why Use Rubrics?

I use rubrics for all my projects because I feel it's the most fair way to grade. Right up front, the students know a) what elements I'm looking for, b) what I consider "worth 5 points" vs what I consider "worth 10 points," and c) EXACTLY what they should do to get an "A."

I give rubrics to my students at the beginning of projects and ask that they not only keep up with these until the end of the project, but they must review them, as well. Early in the year, I taught my students how to skim the rubric's highest point-value column, looking for specifics as to what would get them a perfect grade on the assignment. I also taught them how to read the different levels. For instance, we made a board game over Romeo and Juliet. In this board game, students had to include at least 15 questions and answers about the play, the Elizabethan times, and/or Shakespeare himself. On that rubric, in the "quantity of questions and answers" category, I made sure to stair-step the point values (all 15 Q&A's earns 9 points. 10-14 Q&A's earns 6 points. 5-9 Q&A's earns 3 points. 0-4 Q&A's earns 0 points). So, when I was talking about time-management with my students, and about how to get the best "bang for your buck," I was trying to reason with them... If you're OK with only getting 6 points on your question and answer quantity section, and you have a very limited amount of time (because you've procrastinated), then how about only doing 10 Q&A's, since you'll earn the same amount of points, whether you do 10 of them or 14? It was examples like that that, I think, really nailed the point of the rubric home. Most of my students have actually expressed that they enjoy and appreciate the rubrics because it sets clear boundaries for them.

This also keeps me fair when I grade creative projects. Otherwise, how would I be able to distinguish between a 90% and an 80%? I can't trust my judgment to be fair and consistent every time (particularly if I'm in a bad mood when I'm grading! Yikes!). This allows me to be very stable with my grading. More than once, I've been in the middle of grading and wanted to dock points for something that I felt was sub-par, compared to others, but when I looked at the rubric, I had no choice but to NOT dock points. So I guess you could say that the rubric has helped some of my kids' grades! :)

Another thing I really like about the rubric is something that really just has to do with me. I feel like I'm a better teacher after I've made a rubric. In order to make one, you have to know EXACTLY what criteria you're looking for in the project, and you have to be able to communicate that very well in a short amount of space on paper. I feel that creating rubrics has made me a more clear and concise speaker, and that I am better at communicating objectives when I use rubrics.

Back to Rubistar

OK, now that all THAT is said and done, let's move back to Rubistar. Rubistar is a free, online rubric maker, designed especially for teachers. (By the way, 4teachers.org has tons of other useful teacher-websites, too, if you wanna check it out!) You can either choose one of the [many] free ones that Rubistar has already made for you, OR you can create your own. You can edit one of the [many] templates, or you can start from scratch. It's really up to you. Once you have a Rubistar account, you can save your rubrics until a certain time, or you can save them indefinitely. (I always save mine indefinitely.)

One you're finished, you have the option to print directly from the Rubistar website, but I usually copy and paste it all onto a Word document, just so I can add a few more features. I add a header (usually the name of the project and/or the class) and adjust the spacing of the boxes and words. I sometimes add a "student comments" section, where students can explain themselves in a few sentences before they turn the project in. I always add a "points earned" and "total grade" section at the very end; this way, students know EXACTLY what his or her grade is when they get the paper back. (To grade on a rubric, just make lines in or circle the boxes that describe the student's performance in each category.)

-----

Students may be a little confused about rubrics at first, but I know they'll love 'em once the year is over, and so will you! Grading goes a lot more smoothly and quickly, and everyone is on "the same page" as to what you're actually expecting on an assignment. Check it out!!

Echoing some aspects of earlier posts on entrepreneurial ability and entrepreneurial vs political careers, Ryan Baebler at Next Billion writes about his visit to Sewale:

Almost everyone whom I spoke to in Sewale wanted to know "what are you going to do for us?" We met with the village headman who wanted my four colleagues and me to build a village meeting house. When we met with the chief's cabinet, they told us that they were "ready to be developed." But we had not introduced ourselves as a development organization; we had introduced ourselves as students....this community had been habituated into accepting government and aid handouts. There would not have been anything wrong with the question of "What can you do for us?" if it had been prefaced with "This is what we have to offer." Their feeling overwhelmed coupled with the consistent aid from outside of the community had led many of them to the conclusion that they could not realistically help themselves. This disempowered mindset had proven to be cancerous as even in situations where the community had the capacity to help themselves if they worked together – some would not lift a finger

One of the great things about teaching social studies is helping students to make connections between things that they are learning about and the world around them. In my classes, it isn't just 'economics,' 'us history,' 'world history,' or 'government'- it is how their knowledge of economics, history, or political science can help them better understand the world around them and make better choices with their lives.

For example, another teacher friend of mine just gave this article to her students and had them read it, and I think it is a great example of good teaching. Sadly, I don't teach world history this year, so I can't use it, but what this teacher did is give her students the following article and have them discuss it. The article is called U.S. Decline, Sloth Look a Lot Like End of Rome and makes connections between the end of Rome and the fall of the United States.

Is the United States falling apart like Rome? I happen to think that there are some similarities, but that since the US is exceptional and different it can still be saved, but the point is, it doesn't matter what I think- the goal of the exercise is to get students thinking and have them start realizing that it is important to learn about the fall of Rome because it may provide lessons for our nation, real lessons about what types of politicians to elect into office, what types of policies to lobby in support of, what types of ballot resolutions to vote down, or what types of investments to put their hard-earned money into. The fall of Rome teaches us, and teaches students, and we need to learn from the wisdom of the past, and once students get that, once they understand that, it opens up a whole new world to them.

U.S. Decline, Sloth Look a Lot Like End of Rome is the article that that other teacher used in her classroom- if you are a teacher, you may also want to use it, and then afterwards pose questions to your students that asks them about the history of Rome, the recent policy decisions in the US, how those might be similar or different, and if the results will be similar or different. Enjoy the fun discussion that results and watch the learning occur!

This isn't the whole thing- I recommend you read the whole thing- but here are a couple teasers from it:

Historians cite the late second century as the turning point of the Roman Empire, when the once- proud, feared society began its descent into infamy. As the ruling class was undermined by civil wars and attacks by outsiders, the Romans’ respect for law and social institutions began to erode. In the end, a combination of political and economic mistakes led to the empire’s downfall.

The U.S. today is a mirror image of the Roman Empire as it tipped into chaos. Whether we blame our bloated government, a greedy elite or a lethargic population, the similarities between the two foreshadow a gruesome future.

The Roman economy grew fat from the plunder of conquered territories and the added productivity offered by new lands. The waning of expansionism didn’t bode well for the empire.

While the U.S. ascended quite differently, it also used its position as a superpower to fuel economic expansion. Because the country had the strongest military and economy in the post-World War II era, the U.S. dollar became the de facto global reserve currency, ensuring endless competitive advantages -- which have vanished in the last decade.

Americans have become less productive while relying more on social safety-net programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- and now expanded health-care insurance. Worse, like the ancient Romans, a sense of entitlement has replaced the drive and motivation we once championed. With easy access to abundant government handouts, it’s no wonder so many jobless people have stopped looking for work....

This reminds me a little of Dropbox and eBackpack, but it's a little bit more show-y...I LOVE it!!

Live Binders is a site that allows the user to upload information to their "binder." (And when I say "binder," I mean it literally looks like a virtual 3-ring binder.) It allows users to insert "tab dividers" into their "binders," too, so there is an element of organization to it all. It looks like users can create as many binders as they want, so long as your total storage doesn't equal more than 100 MB.  I realize that's not as much information as the free version of Dropbox allows, but it doesn't appear that a user would really NEED that much storage...

I haven't been using Live Binder very long (I'm going on 15 minutes at the moment...), so I may need to edit this post later. But it appears that a user wouldn't really NEED that much storage, since all you'd really be posting is web links. It doesn't appear that users can upload files (Word docs, Excel, PowerPoints, etc.) to the binders -- just URLs. The tutorial suggests that, once downloaded, you place the "LiveBinder It" button on your search bar. When you find a website you'd like to add to the binder, you just click that button, and it automatically is added for you.

I was hoping this might be an alternative to the English binders I have my students keep in class (which consist of the syllabus, agendas, notes, handouts, and graded papers), but...no such luck. However, this would be great for a teacher to use on his/her classroom website. Instead of cluttering your webpage with lots of links, you could just post the Live Binder, instead. Much less clutter on your website, and the links would display beautifully when the "binder" is opened.

This might be beneficial for students if they were creating a lot of web documents throughout the school year. THEN this Live Binder might be useful as a type of portfolio. For instance, if Bobby does a Glog over the Great Depression, a Prezi over the life and times of William Shakespeare, a Voki character summary over his favorite person from Lord of the Flies, a Fake Wall over Edgar Allan Poe, AND has a full Shelfari bookshelf by the end of the semester, he could create a Live Binder to display all 6 assignments he'd done. He could even include particularly compelling blog posts in his Live Binder portfolio... All Bobby would have to do is retrieve the URLs from those projects and post them in his Live Binder. From there, all he'd have to do is e-mail his teacher the link to the Live Binder, and his semester portfolio is done.

On a simpler note: maybe Live Binder is an alternative to having students e-mail their teacher the link to their online project(s). Maybe each student should have a Live Binder and keep links to all online projects in that binder. Then, when it's time to grade, the teacher just opens the binders and begins to grade....

Hmm. I'm imagining the possibilities riiiiight nowwwww.....

::Edit:: I just made my first Live Binder, and it's full of English links. I typically have an "English links" page on my classroom website, as well as a "Resources" page. The English links are, obviously, all links that are related to English. The "resources" are more "life-related" links: medical disorders or disabilities, hotlines (such as for abuse, bullying, etc.), info on college and scholarships, and some encouraging quotes for those hard times.  If I make Live Binders of each, I can condense everything to one "Links" page, and save myself some time and space on my classroom website! Plus, I can update all the time without messing up the entire layout of the site. Whoo-hoo! Here's the link to my English Links Live Binder. It still needs some tweaking, but I'll get it figured out soon. Also, I found out that you CAN upload documents. I tried it with just a picture, and it worked perfectly. I assume it also works with Microsoft Word docs, too, but I guess I'll have to find out next time I play with it.

Oh, and I just realized that I don't have to give you the actual link to my English binder because...oh, look at that...it can be embedded onto your own personal website! Ahh! Can't this get any better?!


   


   

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Overview The Esl Teacher's Book of Lists

This unique information source and time-saver for ESL teachers includes 80 practical, tested lists you can reproduce for classroom use or refer to in developing instructional materials and planning lessons for elementary and secondary students.

For quick access and easy use, all of these lists are organized into seven sections, numbered consecutively within each section, and printed in a format that can be photocopied as many times as required for individual or group instruction.

Here's just an overview of the ready-to-use information you'll find to reinforce and enhance your ESL classes in each section:
General Vocabulary— Section1 features 21 lists of English words students need everyday situations, ranging from "The 500 Most Frequently Used English Words" to "Feeling Well" and "On a Clear Day". Included are an extensive list of idioms across five languages and three "shortcut" lists of cognates English shares with Spanish, French, and German.

Academic Vocabulary— Section 2 lists will help students get up to speed in the content areas and include one general school list and six basic and intermediate/advanced lists for math, social studies, and science.

Grammar— Section 3 covers the basics of English grammar in 13 quick, reproducible student handouts with examples. Among them are "Building Blocks: Parts of Speech"... "Dots and Dashes: Punctuation"... and "Can You Spell That?: Spelling Rules."

Grammar Patterns & Practice— This section offers nine lists you can draw on for examples or drills, including "Sentence Patterns for To Be," "Subject/Verb Agreement," and "Common Grammatical Errors."

Pronunciation— Section 5 presents 13 lists and charts you can use to help students learn to distinguish and make English sounds, including, "Problem English Sounds for Speakers of Other Languages," "Practice for Phonemes in the Initial Position," and "English Stress and Intonation Patterns in Words."

Assessment— In section 6 you'll find seven comprehensive lists for assessing students' language proficiency, their auditory, aural, reading comprehension, oral language and written skills, and a list of 30 "Commercial Language Tests."

Curriculum & Instruction— Section 7 includes ten lists you'll refer to again and again, among them a list of "Thematic Language Units," lists of activities for improving a variety of language skills, and lists of selected teaching materials and professional associations for ESL teachers.

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All my energy has been towards putting in this new computer lab and going as "paperless as possible." All my time, so much energy. I'm learning a lot. The kinks aren't quite worked out yet, but I want to let you know what we're doing right now.

Email and Google Apps

All students have a school email
We have severed the tie with their personal email and I'm much happier and they are much more on task. No social media is tied to their school accounts, only schoolwork. If they forget their password, I can reset it. No more lost lessons b/c they are clueless about their email account.  We do this through Google apps for domain.

School is their professional life. Facebook is their social life. Two separate things. 

Google Groups
I set up groups for the students so sharing with a class is as easy as typing in the class group email. We can send email in this way as well.


Google folder for each class.  
When I put it in the folder, it shares with everyone in the class.

Dropbox
Using the school email, we all are part of a common dropbox where I put large PDF handouts, etc. and they turn in their files. Dropbox makes copies and backups. So far, this is the smoothest piece of the set up and the one I like the most as I can download files and mark up in noterize. Those who have ipads and computers at home are using this and syncing their accounts automatically.

One Note Notebook is my Textbook
I've enjoyed One Note for a long time and used this to capture the few times I lecture as when I do teach the IWB screen is vital. It is my favorite program for the Interactive Whiteboard to capture what I'm doing. I've got the students signing up for Windows Live ID accounts and have shared a folder with the one note notebook to them so they can see our class notebook.

I've hit a hitch because you can only have 4 users sign up for a live ID at one ip address at a time. What a headache. I have my mifi card and I'm resetting it every 4 users. I could have a live.edu account but that is really microsoft's free version of google apps and it doesn't look like I can have both.

So, textbook, notes, hand ins all online.

Keep it Simple
The thing is this has to be SIMPLE. Easy. Still working through that part. We are all setting up things. I've got the wiki still and we'll be getting into that.  The simplest thing is the turning in the files.

I've also got PowerTeacher running on my ipad now making entering grades a snap.

Ok, gotta run, but just wanted to give you a quick overview of what we're doing and let you know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. ;-)

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Overview The Esl Teacher's Book of Lists

This unique information source and time-saver for ESL teachers includes 80 practical, tested lists you can reproduce for classroom use or refer to in developing instructional materials and planning lessons for elementary and secondary students.

For quick access and easy use, all of these lists are organized into seven sections, numbered consecutively within each section, and printed in a format that can be photocopied as many times as required for individual or group instruction.

Here's just an overview of the ready-to-use information you'll find to reinforce and enhance your ESL classes in each section:
General Vocabulary— Section1 features 21 lists of English words students need everyday situations, ranging from "The 500 Most Frequently Used English Words" to "Feeling Well" and "On a Clear Day". Included are an extensive list of idioms across five languages and three "shortcut" lists of cognates English shares with Spanish, French, and German.

Academic Vocabulary— Section 2 lists will help students get up to speed in the content areas and include one general school list and six basic and intermediate/advanced lists for math, social studies, and science.

Grammar— Section 3 covers the basics of English grammar in 13 quick, reproducible student handouts with examples. Among them are "Building Blocks: Parts of Speech"... "Dots and Dashes: Punctuation"... and "Can You Spell That?: Spelling Rules."

Grammar Patterns & Practice— This section offers nine lists you can draw on for examples or drills, including "Sentence Patterns for To Be," "Subject/Verb Agreement," and "Common Grammatical Errors."

Pronunciation— Section 5 presents 13 lists and charts you can use to help students learn to distinguish and make English sounds, including, "Problem English Sounds for Speakers of Other Languages," "Practice for Phonemes in the Initial Position," and "English Stress and Intonation Patterns in Words."

Assessment— In section 6 you'll find seven comprehensive lists for assessing students' language proficiency, their auditory, aural, reading comprehension, oral language and written skills, and a list of 30 "Commercial Language Tests."

Curriculum & Instruction— Section 7 includes ten lists you'll refer to again and again, among them a list of "Thematic Language Units," lists of activities for improving a variety of language skills, and lists of selected teaching materials and professional associations for ESL teachers.

In short, The ESL Teacher's Book of Lists gives you ready source of good examples, key words, teachable content, and teaching ideas that might otherwise take many years and much effort to compile. And a complete glossary at the end provides an indispensable guide to the specialized language of ESL instruction!

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Nicholas M. Donofrio of IBM states in Businessweek:

The current aid situation creates a bias against supporting African business growth, which in turn is killing the entrepreneurial spirit that is so critical to creating African enterprises that can access new markets and operate on a global level.

A a recent article that Charles Moore wrote, I think he put his finger on exactly what is going on today- the success and advance of the twin threats of fear and doubt. Moore, who is a British journalist and former editor of The Daily Telegraph, in an article about Margaret Thatcher, wrote that after the long boom and success of capitalism and free market economics that "the worm of doubt entered the system":

You borrowed all the money needed for the price of a house. This made you, in your mind, though not in full fact, an owner. Because the value of the house was rising, it also made you, again in your mind, richer. The bank, which actually owned the house, found clever ways of mixing and selling on the loans it had granted so that it, too, felt richer. Governments, happy at rising revenues, thought it was their business to make sure that when the symptoms of high risk began to present themselves, they were suppressed.... (then) the roof fell in... (and now) when people now hear words like globalization or capitalism... they feel slightly sick.

Free market economics and capitalism did not lead our nation to failure- rather, during its wild success at making millions around the world more prosperous over the past centuries, communism and socialism and fascism latched on to it, sucking from its prosperity to feed its sick aims like parasites, and over time, many smart people began to become confused and unable to see the parasites from the concepts that they latched on.

Where free markets and capitalism created wealth and encouraged personal responsibility, governments and elites put in place rules and regulations which weakened the foundations of the system, subsidized risky behavior such as sub-prime mortgages and leveraging investments, and gave out handouts to favored industries and distorted the market by doing so. When banks, businesses, and corporations operated in a free market of capitalism, they could succeed or fail based on their own efforts and innovation; but in the new markets, which were no longer capitalistic or free, government subsidies and spending and lobbying and regulation and rules determined whether or not a business, corporation, or bank was successful or failed. And although this was no longer capitalism or free markets, but rather markets once free now twisted to the aims of elites and socialists and communists and fascists, many smart people became critical of the markets or capitalism because of the failures of the government bureaucrats who were twisting and corrupting the system.

And then the parasites of leftism began to weaken and kill the free market and capitalism, and the people cried out 'capitalism and free markets are failing us'- when it wasn't the free markets and capitalism that failed, but rather the people who failed the system.

They were led to this failure by fear and doubt- they did not believe in the hand of the God and the freedom of individuals and life, liberty, and the protection of private property.

The people (or The People, as leftists call them) feared that although they were becoming prosperous and their lives were rapidly improving, they were somehow falling behind others who were advancing more rapidly. Rather than looking at why they were successful in the free market capitalism- because of their hard work, innovation, and yes, luck- they instead demanded government policies to hold back others and help out themselves, corrupting the very system that had brought them so far. They doubted that if people were free and made free decisions, they would make 'the right decisions'- that is, the decisions that they would make if they controlled the other people and had power over them (their definition of 'right decisions').

Rather than just letting go and trusting that the unseen hand of God, trusting to the thousands and millions of individual decisions, and working to ensure that private property rights are strengthened and respected, they doubted that this giant experiment of capitalism and a free market would work, and feared that they would somehow fall behind others in material wealth if they didn't vote for and support people who promised to corrupt the system and abuse the system and circumvent the system. Many people trusted and believed in the power of men to control other men and redistribute property to other men, and in so doing rejected free markets and capitalism.

Fear and doubt came to the people's mind every time there was a recession, or even during periods when great wealth was created but wasn't immediately distributed evenly. The people reacted to the Great Depression by doubting that the free market would correct (as it had done in the 1920's and dozens of times before in the 1800's) and feared that he return to prosperity wouldn't come fast enough- and so they worked to destroy the system, corrupt the system, and make the market less free- and the results were a slight recession during into a decade long destruction of wealth.

And today, government policies and regulations and taxes and laws which corrupted the free market and corroded private property rights have let the worm of doubt creep once more into the people's minds, and in their fear that maybe they won't get to loot the dying Republic of its wealth they vote for Democrats who promise to manage the downfall and distribute the ever-decreasing wealth in the system to their supporters and voters and friends.

To return to success and advance again as a nation in wealth and happiness, we must reject doubt of the free market system and capitalism and trust the people- we need to trust and believe again that the thousands of decisions of free people will create more wealth and make more people happy, and reject those who suggest that having a smaller number of elites make those decisions for us is better. We need to let go of our fear that if we don't control the market and the system that you'll lose out, and instead work hard, innovate, save your money, and invest wisely.

UPDATE 12/7/11: President Obama delivered a major speech today on the economy, in which he expressed his doubt that the capitalist system could continue to provide wealth and prosperity for many and work to make society more equal, and from this place of fear he instead wants to trust himself and his fellow men to run a better system that will somehow do a better job of creating wealth and distributing it than having free people make free decisions.

Via memeorandum, in his Remarks by the President on the Economy in Osawatomie, Kansas, we read the following fear and doubt from US President Barack Obama, one-term Democrat. These are selections from the speech- (you can read the whole thing yourself here if you want):

My grandparents served during World War II. He was a soldier in Patton’s Army; she was a worker on a bomber assembly line. And together, they shared the optimism of a nation that triumphed over the Great Depression and over fascism. They believed in an America where hard work paid off, and responsibility was rewarded, and anyone could make it if they tried -- no matter who you were, no matter where you came from, no matter how you started out.

And these values gave rise to the largest middle class and the strongest economy that the world has ever known. It was here in America that the most productive workers, the most innovative companies turned out the best products on Earth. And you know what? Every American shared in that pride and in that success -- from those in the executive suites to those in middle management to those on the factory floor.

In this passage, Obama communicates to us that his parents believed in capitalism and free markets and personal responsibility and liberty and protection of property. And furthermore, Obama knows that this system worked. But yet, he has this nagging doubt and fear...

But for most Americans, the basic bargain that made this country great has eroded. Long before the recession hit, hard work stopped paying off for too many people. Fewer and fewer of the folks who contributed to the success of our economy actually benefited from that success. Those at the very top grew wealthier from their incomes and their investments -- wealthier than ever before. But everybody else struggled with costs that were growing and paychecks that weren’t -- and too many families found themselves racking up more and more debt just to keep up.

He doesn't BELIEVE in capitalism. He has no faith in people, freedom, liberty, and rights. It's clear he doesn't have any hope that people will make the 'right decisions' (the decisions he would make) and he wants to therefore control other people. He continues:

But Roosevelt also knew that the free market has never been a free license to take whatever you can from whomever you can. (Applause.) He understood the free market only works when there are rules of the road that ensure competition is fair and open and honest. And so he busted up monopolies, forcing those companies to compete for consumers with better services and better prices. And today, they still must. He fought to make sure businesses couldn’t profit by exploiting children or selling food or medicine that wasn’t safe. And today, they still can’t.

We simply cannot return to this brand of “you’re on your own” economics if we’re serious about rebuilding the middle class in this country.

And it is around here that we get to the heart of the matter- in the last quarter of his speech, after ripping on capitalism and freedom for 3/4's of the speech, that we finally here what he wants to do...

So what does that mean for restoring middle-class security in today’s economy? Well, it starts by making sure that everyone in America gets a fair shot at success. The truth is we’ll never be able to compete with other countries when it comes to who’s best at letting their businesses pay the lowest wages, who’s best at busting unions, who’s best at letting companies pollute as much as they want.

We need to remember that we can only do that together. It starts by making education a national mission -- a national mission. (Applause.) Government and businesses, parents and citizens. We need to remember that we can only do that together. It starts by making education a national mission -- a national mission. (Applause.) Government and businesses, parents and citizens. They should be rebuilding our roads and our bridges, laying down faster railroads and broadband, modernizing our schools. Of course, those productive investments cost money. They’re not free. And so we’ve also paid for these investments by asking everybody to do their fair share. And so we have to set priorities. If we want a strong middle class, then our tax code must reflect our values. We have to make choices.

So, in summary, here is Obama's alternative to free markets and capitalism- give him more power. Give him the power and authority to tell employers what to pay their employees, give him the power and authority to combine big government with big business and big labor (ie, fascism), give him and his cronies the power to give money to favored constituent groups to fund pet projects of vanity (palaces, statues, etc), and the power to demand that all of these decisions are paid for by someone else who does not want to pay for it- to use the power of guns to the head to make people give up cash to Obama and his people to feed their wrong ideas about the power of men to control others for their benefit.

Obama is wrong. He needs to be defeated- not just politically, but his ideas and beliefs need to be rejected by all good people and good citizens and patriots and he and his policies need to be forever rejected in decent society. We must instead look to capitalism and freedom and liberty and property protection to our future, and not look backward to the sort of tyranny that Obama is proposing.

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Overview The Esl Teacher's Book of Lists

This unique information source and time-saver for ESL teachers includes 80 practical, tested lists you can reproduce for classroom use or refer to in developing instructional materials and planning lessons for elementary and secondary students.

For quick access and easy use, all of these lists are organized into seven sections, numbered consecutively within each section, and printed in a format that can be photocopied as many times as required for individual or group instruction.

Here's just an overview of the ready-to-use information you'll find to reinforce and enhance your ESL classes in each section:
General Vocabulary— Section1 features 21 lists of English words students need everyday situations, ranging from "The 500 Most Frequently Used English Words" to "Feeling Well" and "On a Clear Day". Included are an extensive list of idioms across five languages and three "shortcut" lists of cognates English shares with Spanish, French, and German.

Academic Vocabulary— Section 2 lists will help students get up to speed in the content areas and include one general school list and six basic and intermediate/advanced lists for math, social studies, and science.

Grammar— Section 3 covers the basics of English grammar in 13 quick, reproducible student handouts with examples. Among them are "Building Blocks: Parts of Speech"... "Dots and Dashes: Punctuation"... and "Can You Spell That?: Spelling Rules."

Grammar Patterns & Practice— This section offers nine lists you can draw on for examples or drills, including "Sentence Patterns for To Be," "Subject/Verb Agreement," and "Common Grammatical Errors."

Pronunciation— Section 5 presents 13 lists and charts you can use to help students learn to distinguish and make English sounds, including, "Problem English Sounds for Speakers of Other Languages," "Practice for Phonemes in the Initial Position," and "English Stress and Intonation Patterns in Words."

Assessment— In section 6 you'll find seven comprehensive lists for assessing students' language proficiency, their auditory, aural, reading comprehension, oral language and written skills, and a list of 30 "Commercial Language Tests."

Curriculum & Instruction— Section 7 includes ten lists you'll refer to again and again, among them a list of "Thematic Language Units," lists of activities for improving a variety of language skills, and lists of selected teaching materials and professional associations for ESL teachers.

In short, The ESL Teacher's Book of Lists gives you ready source of good examples, key words, teachable content, and teaching ideas that might otherwise take many years and much effort to compile. And a complete glossary at the end provides an indispensable guide to the specialized language of ESL instruction!

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Andrew Rugasira writes in the FT:

Has any nation ever developed by way of handouts? The British industrial revolution for example, was fuelled by home grown technological breakthroughs that defined Britain as a truly modern society.
Pro-aid campaigners argue that providing aid to accountable governments is a means of stimulating their economies. This is nonsense. Giving aid to poor countries and working exclusively through their government agencies makes accountability worse rather than better.
Africa's only viable and sustainable strategy for economic growth is one based on trade and not aid.

via PSD Blog

Warren Consolidated Schools is launching a renewable energy boondoggle that includes the placement of a wind-powered turbine at the Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center, which is the district's math and science magnet school. The turbine will generate almost no power and will become the focus of a new curriculum that teaches that jobs and energy come from government handouts, and that the market does not direct profitable endeavours, but government does.

Bob Freehan, a district spokesman, said "We want to be aggressively involved in the type of manufacturing that's going to be part of our future"- ie, after the government kills all other industry in Michigan with high taxes (to provide money for things like wind-powered turbines), then the government can now dictate that public schools (funded with taxpayer dollars) shove environmental mythology down students minds.

The district plans to develop a curriculum on renewable energy for all grade levels starting next school year. To make room for this curriculum, something has to be cut- in my mind, they'll cut history and literature to make room for more 'renewable energy' curriculum.

This is the future of the United States, my friends- the government raising taxes and sucking the money out of the economy in order to build expensive, non-efficient, non-profitable 'environmental' ventures, that suck more money out of the economy, and the whole enterprise is backed up by an environmental mythology forced on students in public schools.

Here is the story in the AP Press.

At last count Nigeria was listed as having 36 states within its Federal Structure. Unsurprisingly the great bulk of them(33 we now hear) are fiscally unable to sustain themselves.So there we have it, "resource curse" Nigeria incubates unsustainable states (every now and then) that bring new meaning to the phrase Intra-Country clientelism. 'State Governors' have no other role but to sink their snouts in a trough and thieve the handouts, while they apply no effort whatsoever to generating state revenues or creating wealth. If there is a better example of multi-layered governmental,knavery ,welfarism and indolence we are keen to know where?
What is the point of having administrative structures that have no financial viability? The 'Leaders ' of these synthetic constructs are actually administering imaginary territories...The emperors truly have no clothes!
I would bet that the 3 sustainable states include Lagos and Kano. What do you think?

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The Esl Teacher's Book of Lists | Cheap Sale Discount Price By Amazon  Helpful Reviews : ★★★★★  Product By : Amazon  List Price : $29.95 Discount To : Very Low Price! Buy it Now!! Shipping : Usually ships in 1-2 business days   In Stock. & FREE with Super Saver Shipping

Overview The Esl Teacher's Book of Lists

This unique information source and time-saver for ESL teachers includes 80 practical, tested lists you can reproduce for classroom use or refer to in developing instructional materials and planning lessons for elementary and secondary students.

For quick access and easy use, all of these lists are organized into seven sections, numbered consecutively within each section, and printed in a format that can be photocopied as many times as required for individual or group instruction.

Here's just an overview of the ready-to-use information you'll find to reinforce and enhance your ESL classes in each section:
General Vocabulary— Section1 features 21 lists of English words students need everyday situations, ranging from "The 500 Most Frequently Used English Words" to "Feeling Well" and "On a Clear Day". Included are an extensive list of idioms across five languages and three "shortcut" lists of cognates English shares with Spanish, French, and German.

Academic Vocabulary— Section 2 lists will help students get up to speed in the content areas and include one general school list and six basic and intermediate/advanced lists for math, social studies, and science.

Grammar— Section 3 covers the basics of English grammar in 13 quick, reproducible student handouts with examples. Among them are "Building Blocks: Parts of Speech"... "Dots and Dashes: Punctuation"... and "Can You Spell That?: Spelling Rules."

Grammar Patterns & Practice— This section offers nine lists you can draw on for examples or drills, including "Sentence Patterns for To Be," "Subject/Verb Agreement," and "Common Grammatical Errors."

Pronunciation— Section 5 presents 13 lists and charts you can use to help students learn to distinguish and make English sounds, including, "Problem English Sounds for Speakers of Other Languages," "Practice for Phonemes in the Initial Position," and "English Stress and Intonation Patterns in Words."

Assessment— In section 6 you'll find seven comprehensive lists for assessing students' language proficiency, their auditory, aural, reading comprehension, oral language and written skills, and a list of 30 "Commercial Language Tests."

Curriculum & Instruction— Section 7 includes ten lists you'll refer to again and again, among them a list of "Thematic Language Units," lists of activities for improving a variety of language skills, and lists of selected teaching materials and professional associations for ESL teachers.

In short, The ESL Teacher's Book of Lists gives you ready source of good examples, key words, teachable content, and teaching ideas that might otherwise take many years and much effort to compile. And a complete glossary at the end provides an indispensable guide to the specialized language of ESL instruction!

Available : In Stock.

FREE with Super Saver Shipping Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Buy Cheap The Esl Teacher's Book of Lists. Most comprehensive list of The Esl Teacher's Book of Lists, Cowmooflage pricing, specifications, accessories, and reviews.