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I love reading books, and if you're like me you know the problem is there are too many books and too little time!
If you can relate to this, then this post is for you.
I overcame this problem by going through several Speed Reading books to develop my reading & comprehension skills.
I'm now able to read a book several times faster, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I can read a 300 page book in 2 hours. Though most Speed Reading Books focused on Reading Drills, what I found was that by adopting a few basic techniques, one can dramatically & instantly improve their Speed Reading Skills. In this post I'll be sharing with you these secrets. (A Note: these techniques work best with Non-Fiction books)
Step 1: Know the purpose of reading the book
This is the first and perhaps the most important step to enhance your speed in reading. It is to know the purpose you're reading the book. Is it pleasure reading, self-improvement or looking for details on a particular subject ? Without knowing why you won't be able to jump into the pool of information to get what you want.
Ask yourself:
First: In an overall scheme of things how worthwhile is the material that I am reading
Second: What do I want or need to remember, as specifically as possible, from this material that I am about to read?
Step 2 & 3: Get an Overview of the Book & Author (15 minutes)
- Go through the Front Cover, back cover & inside page cover
- Table of Contents (make a note of chapters that seem interesting)
- Amazon Reviews
- Preface
- Introduction
While going through the Amazon reviews, preface & introduction gather some more information about the author and form an opinion of the Author and why has he written the book.
Doing the above should not take more than 15 minutes. By the end of this step, you should be able to explain to someone in a few sentences what the book is about. If you can do this you've completed this step successfully.
Step 4: Flip through the entire book (10 minutes)
You'll be surprised by the wealth of information you'll come across by just doing this. Flip through every page of the book, spending 0.5 sec to 3 secs a page. You're not expected to read through the text, but during this exercise, make notice of the following:
- Diagrams
- Sub Headings
- Summary points
- Any exercise
By noticing the above you'll find your mind automatically absorbing bits of information & connecting the dots between them.
Step 5: Getting into the details (1 hour 20 minutes)
Most readers read books by diving right into the details without doing any background work. But by the time you've reached this step, you know:
- Why you're reading the book?
- What the book is about?
- Who the author is?
- How can this book can help you?
Congratulations, you're well in control of the book and to navigate through it with ease.
From step 2 you would have highlighted the chapters that interest you the most. Be brave start going through these chapters. Don't feel guilty by jumping to the end of the chapter, usually the end of the chapter will summarize the whole chapter.
You'll notice more often that not, there are a only few chapters that you need to go through, to know what you need to remember in Step 1. It's using the 80/20 rule. 80% of the information you require is found in 20% of the book. 20% of the book is approx 50 pages which not take an average reader more than an hour and a half to read. Make sure you underline the Major themes and ideas of each chapter you read.
Step 6: Mind Map (15 minutes)
Mind-Mapping is a proven method to effecting summarize lots of information in short use of time and space. You can learn about Mind Mapping from this YouTube Video.
With the information you've underlined in Step 5, create a Mindmap to connect the central ideas of the book and each chapter it contains. The center of the MindMap can be the name of the book, and each Chapter you've read is a branch from the center. From each Chapter connect the lines
How it Works?
Speed reading is not about reading words fast, but it's more about improving one's ability to extract the message of the text that is being read. All the techniques above enhance your ability to understand the message of the text, without the need to read through every letter.
Benefits of Speed Reading:
- Absorb new ideas faster
- You'll be able to make time to read a wider range of material
- Greater career success as your ability to acquire and retain knowledge increases dramatically
- Increased confidence to sifting through thick books to get what you want
Try it out! and share your experiences below.

subset: commoncrawl


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text:
Are you looking for the kind of vacation where you don't lift a finger to do anything? You know, the kind of vacation where there's no need to pull out the vacuum cleaner or use the oven. Even better, picture a private villa where there's someone to wait on you hand and foot: a butler at your beck and call to serve cocktails by your own private pool, which of course comes with staff to do the pool cleaning. Well, you're in luck. Here are three Phuket villas you will absolutely adore!
1- SALA Phuket
SALA Phuket is a private nirvana you'll never want to leave. Once you check into your SALA Pool Villa, you'll realize you are in heaven on earth.
Villas are luxurious and air conditioned, but you'll probably spend most of your time cooling off in the pool.
The beds are ultra luxurious the coffee and tea-making accessories add nice touches.
You'll love the outdoor bathrooms, and even though you won't want to leave your villa, you might enjoy a stroll around the lush resort grounds. SALA was also listed in Thailand Tatlers Best Restaurant Guides
2- The Naka
The NAKA Phuket at Kamala Beach is a lush hidey hole for luxury lovers. Kamala Beach is only about a 15-minute drive from Patong, which has a mind-boggling array of activities when you're in the mood.
The Naka's allure lies in its location and accommodation. It's near enough to the action for partying and shopping yet far enough to be your own oasis away from it all.
There are One-Bedroom, Two-Bedroom, and Three-Bedroom Villas: with superb views of the ocean and only steps away from the beach. You'll think you're royalty as you lie back in your king-size bed staring out at the view. These are pool villas that are sure to impress!
3- Anantara Mai Khao
Anantara Phuket Villas is located on Mai Khao Beach near to Sirinath National Park. Pick a private Pool Villa for a luxury stay. The resort is designed like a Thai village, with waterways, paths and clever use of timber and natural materials.
Check in and chill out around the pool. This is one place you definitely will want to stay forever!
Looking for more villas in Phuket? Check out this post.


text: "I don't think I could get along without the booklet—I refer to it almost every day, and often read entire sections over again and again. It not only is so informational but it is also a great motivator for me. I attribute much of my success to following the information and guidelines found in the booklet. You don't realize what a turnaround it has made in my life."


text:
Jordan Peterson On How To Write Multi
§ to incredible efforts of Pavlov and some other scientists, including his pupils, the role of nervous system in activity of the main digestive glands, in coordination of sekretorny and motor activity of bodies of digestive system and all system in general is revealed and studied. Here the main results of work of Pavlov as the scientist understood them.
In Pavlov's laboratory the so-called hungry reductions of a stomach and small intestines accompanied with periodic strengthening of release of intestinal juice, pancreatic juice and bile were for the first time revealed and studied.


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Unrelenting Expectations: A More Nuanced Understanding of the Broken Windows Theory of Cultural Management in Urban Education
Much has been written about the adaptation from criminology of the "Broken Windows" theory of order maintenance in successful urban educational models. Yet, the manner in which the theory is written and discussed often misses the nuances and feel of the theory as successfully applied. This misunderstanding has lead to its conflation with the "Zero Tolerance" approach to discipline management in schools with its emphasis on draconian punishment for both serious and semi-serious offenders. The more powerful current of Broken Windows, however, emphasizes the manner in which student behavior adapts, often unconsciously, to even the subtlest of cultural expectations, when consistently applied. Thus, in order to avoid the confusion involved in the application of Broken Windows, this paper proposes the use of the phrase "Unrelenting Expectations" as a clearer descriptive term for this approach to cultural management in Urban Education.
The success of urban educational models such as the KIPP Schools, Newark's Northstar Academy, and New Haven's Amistad Academy has been well documented (Thernstrom & Thernstrom, 2003). These schools have been able to achieve skills assessment results that not only far outpace schools serving similar populations, but have often matched or outpaced the performance of many schools from more affluent populations. There are, of course, potentially valid critiques concerning the challenges of extending the model of these relatively small charter models to large public schools systems. These concerns will be addressed later in this article. The success of the particular model of these schools in their specific context, however, is increasingly difficult to deny. Central to their pedagogical philosophy is the belief that character development and academic skills potential are mutually dependent. In their approach to the instruction of character and skills they have adapted the Broken Windows theory of criminology to school culture (Therstrom & Thernstrom, p. 67). In No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning, the Thernstroms describe the order-maintenance philosophy of the co-founder of the KIPP schools:
"We are fighting a battle involving skills and values," David Levin notes.
"We are not afraid to set social norms." In effect he has adopted political
scientist James Q. Wilson's "broken windows" theory and applied it to
schools. To ignore one piece of trash on the floor. . .one shirt improperly
tucked in, one fight between kids, one bit of foul language, would send a
disastrous no-one-cares message. And thus, at KIPP, the staff responds to
every sign of disorder—however slight. The result: Even in the lunchroom,
students talk quietly and need the supervision of only one staff member. (p. 67).
The solution according to these schools to the issue of school discipline, as well as the issue of urban/non-urban skills disparities, is to create a culture of unrelentingly high expectations for student behavior, and to create a culture of order and structure which funnels student behavior and performance in the proper directions. As Ryan Hill, Director if KIPP's TEAM Academy in Newark, has said, "We focus on the smallest of problems, so that the larger problems do not arise."
Malcolm Gladwell, in his book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, has done much to reveal the Broken Windows theory to the popular consciousness (Gladwell, 2000). In one section of The Tipping Point, Gladwell describes how William Bratton and Rudolph Giuliani did much to reverse the crime epidemic in 1980's New York City by applying the Broken Windows theory of order-maintenance crime management. Gladwell relates the manner in which the focus of Bratton and Guiliani on seemingly minor legal infractions such as jumping turnstiles and creating graffiti helped to create a culture of order which communicated to the citizenry, in both an unconscious and conscious manner, that criminal behavior was no longer acceptable. In The Tipping Point, and its progeny Blink, Gladwell cites extensive research in the social sciences to elucidate, among other things, the manner in which subtle, minute and often unconscious influences can manifest a wide-ranging effect on human behavior (Gladwell, 2000; Gladwell, 2005). Because of his social-scientific and psychological approach, Gladwell emphasizes the potency of culture and environment in altering mass-human behavior. "Broken Windows theory and the Power of Context are one and the same. They are both based upon the premise that an epidemic can be reversed, can be tipped, by tinkering with the smallest details of the immediate environment" (Gladwell, 2000, p. 146). In other words, by vigilance in eradicating smaller signs of disorder, and by a positive emphasis on signs of order, such as ubiquitous beat cops, for example, the message is communicated that order-maintenance is a high priority and that the polity and citizenry are concerned with a structured, and thus safe, environment; social norms are created and reinforced that stigmatize what is considered socially detrimental behavior; and a culture is manifest wherein criminal behavior is reduced.
It is thus that the Broken Windows theory receives its name. The theory was first revealed in an article titled "Broken Windows" in The Atlantic Monthly written by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling of The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard (Wilson & Kelling, 1982). Broken windows in a high crime area, the article relates, are a symbolic communicator of disorder which supports the creation of a culture of disordered and anti-social conduct. Gladwell's interpretation of the Broken Windows theory appears to be based on an implicit anthropology which weaves its way throughout the original article in an inconsistent manner. In short, its unstated premise seems to be that human choice never occurs in a vacuum. Without abdicating human responsibility for detrimental decisions, it implies that order and culture are determined through an interactive dialectic between individual autonomy and communal influences. But Gladwell's elucidation of the Broken Windows theory goes further. It actually states that human behavior is determined, and perhaps thus not entirely chosen, by subtle factors which are not even processed on a conscious level. It is not so much that there are good and bad people making positive and negative choices. It is much more that we all are a semi-confused lot lying somewhere in a murky moral continuum. We all thus possess the potential for both positive and negative actions depending upon the multi-faceted influences of the culture in which we inhabit. Moral agency still remains, as positive and negative choices remain. But, on the whole, more of us will make positive choices in an ordered, structured, and otherwise morally positive environment.
It is the anthropology of Gladwell's interpretation of Broken Windows, I would argue, that successful urban educational models have adapted. I will turn to the power of such adaptation from an educational efficacy standpoint later in this paper. But first it must be pointed out that there is another anthropological current flowing amongst the subtle contours of the Broken Windows theory. This alternate current can, and has, flowed in a very different direction. In Wilson and Kelling's original article itself, there is at times an apparent emphasis on segregating "undesirable persons" from "decent folk" (Wilson & Kelling, pp. 4-7). It is this strain within the theory that has allowed it to occasionally merge with the "Zero Tolerance" approach to discipline control in criminology and pedagogy. In this application, social undesirables are to be punished and segregated for the sake of the greater community. "[T]he unchecked panhandler is, in effect, the first broken window" (Wilson & Kelling, p. 5). This implies a much more starkly dichotomous understanding of human nature than does Gladwell's interpretation. Under the Zero Tolerance ideology, the socially maladapted are the broken windows to be fixed—but even more often to be weeded out to create a better society. Zero Tolerance is strictly punitive, and relies upon the motivation of deterrence to insure that people will make positive decisions. In the approach outlined in Gladwell's work, however, we are all potentially "broken," and the goal should be to collectively create a culture in which our actions and behaviors can improve as a whole. While not eschewing punitive measures, the later approach is significantly more nuanced. It understands the preventative influence of both consciously analyzed and unconsciously processed environmental factors that can "tip" human behavior in a positive direction.
And thus, although Gladwell emphasizes the psychological redirection created by Giuliani and Bratton's focus on graffiti and turn-style jumpers, the popular consciousness still remembers more vividly the "weeding" out emphasis of Mayor Giuliani in rounding up squeegee men and the homeless. Indeed, Mayor Bloomberg is utilizing Rudolph Giuliani's Zero Tolerance/Broken Windows approach in New York's public schools with the greatest security problems. Under the Impact Schools Initiative, the City is infusing such schools with a high volume police presence, and segregating student offenders in school "sweep rooms" and "holding cells" (Rhee, 2007).
Zero Tolerance as a method of behavioral management grew out of the nation's frustration with the 1980's drug epidemic and concomitant violent crimes (Skiba, 2000). Its conception and rearing thus occurred simultaneously with that of the Broken Windows theory. Its premise is based upon clearly delineated ethical determinations and moral opprobrium. Anti-social behavior, according to this approach, is not tolerated, and both major and minor infractions are punished severely. In practice as a school disciplinary method, the Zero Tolerance method manifests itself in mandatory suspension and/or expulsion rules for incidences involving weapons, drugs, alcohol, and violence, without investigation into context or intent (Skiba, 2000). Zero Tolerance is also associated with such "get tough" school safety measures as metal detectors, locker searches, school surveillance cameras and, as in the case of New York's Impact Schools Initiative, the infusion of police into school buildings (Skiba, 2000). In spite of its growth in popularity and prevalence, however, Zero Tolerance has not been shown to reduce school disciplinary issues in empirical research (Boylan, 2000; Skiba, 2002).
A more nuanced approach to Broken Windows, however, as applied in successful urban educational models, is markedly different in implementation than Zero Tolerance. It is based upon completely different assumptions concerning the nature of behavioral issues in urban youth. Zero tolerance is punitive in nature. It assumes that certain actions deserve moral condemnation, and that students either choose a positive or negative path. The implication is that negative behavior deserves retribution, and that if the retribution is severe enough in nature it will have a deterrent effect on other students. Gladwell's interpretation of Broken Windows, however, is consistently rehabilitative. It certainly recognizes that actions which are detrimental to the individual and the community warrant negative consequences. These negative consequences, however, are skillful means employed, along with many other tactics and strategies, to help students develop positive habits and character. There is, I believe, an understanding that no student "deserves" punishment. And, as earlier related, there is an insight that student choice always occurs in context. Choice is often decided by habits developed in a culture which is not always well-poised to support positive decisions. The most important insight of this approach is that it separates fault from causation. It places no blame on students who make harmful decisions due to the understanding that such choices are often maladaptive responses to the deep pain they experience. But it also simultaneously recognizes that such habitual patterns of negative choices need to be altered for the sake of the student's potential in life.[1] And, most importantly, it has an undeniable respect for the human potential of every student, and thus is unrelenting in its expectations that students will manifest academic and behavioral growth. It is thus, in order to avoid the confusion of the nuanced understanding of Broken Windows with Zero Tolerance, that this paper proposes to term this method one of "Unrelenting Expectations."[2]
An example of the distinction in application of Zero Tolerance and Unrelenting Expectations may be illustrative. I recently witnessed an incident in an urban school that parallels activities I have observed in many schools. During the last period of the day, teachers were attempting to implement a lesson plan while various students were being called in and out of class--both by loud-speaker and by students randomly opening the door and interrupting class. When students left the classroom for supplementary activities, there seemed to be no clear direction or oversight of their transition to their respective supplemental activities. In the classroom of instruction, there were papers and textbooks strewn on the floor and coats piled in a corner. Students who were not involved in the classroom instruction would enter the classroom to retrieve their coats off of the floor. In the midst of this chaotic atmosphere, a fight broke out in the hallway between students who were supposed to be involved in the supplemental activity. The students involved in the fight received detention with a possibility of suspension.
This incident reveals the short-comings of a Zero Tolerance approach, whether a particular school's policy is self-labeled under the moniker of Zero Tolerance or not. Within a strictly punitive Zero Tolerance understanding, the students involved in the fight made rationally deliberative choices to engage in negative behavior. Such behavior thus must be punished not only for its own sake, but also to inform the decision-making cost/benefit analysis of other students. Unrelenting Expectations, however, does not see the fight as a result of pure choice, but as a myriad of conscious and unconscious influences in the immediate environment that created the proclivity to fight. In short, without eliminating the moral agency of the students, it views the chaos of the school as a significant causative factor in the fight. Unrelenting Expectations management, therefore, would have focused on the need for a clean and orderly classroom, on well-organized student transition processes and communication that does not interrupt classroom instruction, and on the consistent redirection of even the smallest student inattentiveness. As will be discussed further later in this paper, there is a significant amount of research indicating that there are important unconscious influences which have great effect in the learning environment, and on human behavior in general (Davou, 2002; Kowitz, 1957). According to Unrelenting Expectations, the chaotic educational environment unconsciously stimulated an anxiety in students that made them experience fearful emotions because of the lack of control in their environment; which thus created in them extreme defensives; which led to aggressive behavior. In this case, the students had an unconscious mechanism for pre-attentive emotional assessment that had been triggered, or "primed," by the chaotic atmosphere. As Davou states: "If this mechanism detects threat, the individual develops unconscious fear and anxiety that mobilizes adaptive responses to situations to which immediate action is necessary" (Davou, p. 287).
In reality, of course, such incidents in schools may be the result more of mis-management, or even non-management, of culture, rather than a strict adherence to a Zero Tolerance approach to order-maintenance. For example, Menacker, Hurwitz and Weldon determined in a study of school discipline in Chicago that the most pressing reason for disciplinary problems was the inefficiency and inefficacy of the implementation by schools of a district wide discipline code (Menacker et al., 1988). This brings us to the pithy and relevant issue of management, as well as educational policy and accountability—both of which are beyond the scope of this paper. And it may well be that a well-managed Zero Tolerance policy will be more effective than inefficient management of any stripe. Moreover, there are modified versions of Zero Tolerance, often termed "early response" models of school discipline, which contain graduated penalties for various levels of interruption and student mal-behavior (Skiba, p. 16). Thus, in our example above, there could have been a system of demerits or other penalties assessed for the students who did not clean up the floor, interrupted class, and walked in to obtain their outer-garments. This would have been a great improvement upon a system of non-intervention until the greatest offense, and graduated penalties are often one element in Unrelenting Expectations cultural management. But the sole focus of early response and Zero Tolerance remains the punishment of rationally calculating human actors. By placing all the responsibility of detrimental behavior upon students, it removes the responsibility from teachers and administrators to create and manage a culture that is less conducive to behavior that disrupts learning. Unrelenting Expectations dictates the pro-active creation and management of a culture of order, one aspect of which may be based upon incentives. It recognizes a holistic approach to order maintenance that both highlights the importance of student choice, and emphasizes the unconscious and conscious workings of culture that may influence such choice in various directions.
Thus, in application, I believe there are four key elements to the successful building of strong urban academic and behavioral culture under the Unrelenting Expectations approach. They are 1) Explicit character instruction; 2) Rewards and negative consequences for even the minutest of negative and positive behavior; 3) An academic and behavioral culture of excellence which recognizes the power of unconscious learning from the surrounding environment; and 4) The trust of the students which can only develop over time from the consistent show of love and compassion by teachers and administrators.
As these four elements are examined in more detail in the following section, I will give examples from both successful educational models mentioned above, as well as from personal experience in implementing the method in the successful out-of-school time programs of Legal Outreach in New York City, and NJ LEEP in Newark.
Explicit Character Instruction
The first step is to recognize that character is not only inextricably tied to behavior, but is an essential element of academic achievement in urban youth. There is, I believe, in Unrelenting Expectations an intensely practical understanding that the future of the urban student will depend upon the character they are able to manifest. There is a realistic acceptance that the urban context demands much more of its students than does the suburban. The pull toward the negatives of violence, drugs, gangs, academic sub-performance, and the lack of prevalent structures to streamline students away from such influences, demand the strength of character which is not required of the non-urban student. Thus, the method is not only concerned with educating good citizens and creating future leadership. It is at a more immediate level focused upon the need for students to create the moral strength for survival—to create not only the heart, but also the insight of a successful warrior. It is the recognition of the quotidian nature of the success of urban students—that they must make moral choices every day to eschew negative influences and to devote themselves to discipline and study.
Leadership, Character and Life Skills Classes
Much of explicit character instruction is increasingly being carried out in classes and workshops on such things as leadership, character and life skills. This is an essential part of the equation which is most often focused upon two underlying themes (which are not exhaustive).
- It is essential that students are able to reflect upon their long-term goals and values and have them determine their immediate choices. I would venture to say that many who have worked in urban education have consistently worked with teenage students who state very solid goals for their life, but who do not discern the disconnect between their stated ten and fifteen year goals and the choices they make and the habits they manifest on an every day basis. Thus, one focus of character education is to not only teach important values such as honesty, diligence, respect, cooperation, etc., but to encourage constant student introspection upon the manner in which their life and actions reflect their values. Leading students to a point of buying into the importance of such values is the relatively easy part of such a project. Much more difficult is the task of affecting every-day student behavior. This is because of the tremendous unconscious and habitual pull that various environmental influences bring to bear on the teenage mind. Thus, the first step is to help students understand the effect of such ubiquitous negative influences. The second step, to be discussed later, is to create, in partnership with parents and other community resources, a consistent culture of excellence in order to reframe the unconscious and habitual influences.
- It is essential that students buy into the idea that their fate is tied into the fate of their immediate educational community. This model is based upon the idea that urban students must develop a level of trust and buy-in for their community of excellence, even if it is not explicitly admitted by such students. Students must also accept the importance and power of competition among like-minded peers, as a means of raising the level of performance of all within the community. Indeed, at NJ LEEP, we often tell the students that their classmates are not the real competition, although they should be challenged by each other. Their real competition is those from suburban school nationally, and high achieving schools internationally, who are preparing to excel within the rigors of competitive collegiate environments, or are on pace to develop the skills necessary for successful jobs in what has become an international economy.
Constant Explicit Reinforcement
But such character instruction will not be effective if it is segregated into one or two hours of instruction per week. Character instruction must become part of the explicit fabric of the educational community. It must be reinforced at orientations, parent workshops, lunch rooms, and in math and science class, etc. Administrators and teachers should be trained, and held accountable, to incorporate these values into a daily message that character and academic success are wedded together in the community's formula for success.
As an example, this summer in NJ LEEP's five-week Summer Law Institute for urban ninth graders, we had several female students who were having problems with conflict escalation. With even the slightest sign of conflict, there was immediate staff intervention. There were negative consequences, per the next section, for neck rolling and finger wagging, and for "she said so and so" and "I'm not going to put up with it." But these were not only treated as negative behavioral manifestations, but also as teaching opportunities. For each conflict, the participating students were lead through a mediation exercise by staff—students were taught to look at staff and not each other when expressing their feelings; they learned that micro-messaging such as sighing, teeth sucking, the rolling of eyes, etc., communicated disrespect even when it was not their intention to do so; they learned to speak in terms of "we" instead of accusatory "you's;" and, after each mediation session, they realized that there was absolutely no substance to the conflict. Nothing ever happened. It was just a series of escalating communications based upon overly personalized interpretations and a defensiveness born of an intense desire to feel respected. The students were involved in their own post-modern parable revealing the emptiness and relativity of phenomena except for their subjective interpretations determined by their own emotional schemas.
By the end of the five week period, these same female students were notifying staff at the smallest sign of conflict to help mediate. They were also catching themselves in mid-sentence and rephrasing concerns in less accusatory language and with less disrespectful body language and tone. Such lessons learned were more important than any of the academic substance taught during the summer session.
Rewards and Negative Consequences
Like character instruction, rewards and negative consequences for student academic and behavioral performance are becoming more prevalent. In an Unrelenting Expectations approach, there are positive and negative consequences for even the smallest manifestation of positive and negative behavior. Such consequences, however, are thought of as pedagogical rather than punitive. The approach is based upon the graduated theory of moral development espoused by Lawrence Kohlberg which can be found on the walls of Unrelenting Expectations schools such as TEAM Academy in Newark, or in books written by Unrelenting Expectations cult heroes such as Rafe Esquith (Esquith, 14). According to Kohlberg, the first stages of character development depend upon positive habitual responses created by a consistent cost/benefit analysis on the part of the student. Students first begin to manifest positive behavior because of an aversion to punishment or an attachment to reward. It is only in more advanced stages of character development, after positive habitual responses have been established, that students begin to develop character as virtue—the ability to manifest behavior motivated by concern for others or out of an ontological expression of one's own nature (Daeg de Mott, 2001).
Thus, again, Unrelenting Expectations is intensely practical. It accepts that student, and even perhaps human, behavior always possesses at least a tinge of myopic self-interest. It further taps into such self-interest to begin to reframe and redirect behavior in a way that will be more beneficial to students in the long run. It has as a stated goal the development of virtue in its students, but it understands the path to such a goal begins with the consistent application of rewards and negative consequences. Such explicit consequences, however, are not necessarily inconsistent with the idea, mentioned, above, that student choices are often influenced unconsciously by environmental triggers. It is the recognition that one aspect of behavior is human choice, while attempting to make the consequences to choice as immediate and obvious to students as possible. In a sense, Unrelenting Expectations attempts to create a culture of positive influence, while simultaneously instructing students to become stronger moral agents who can make positive decisions independent of culture. It is thus, again, intensely practical and holistic, as it adapts all moral influences toward its stated end goal.
In the application of negative consequences, adherents of Unrelenting Expectations also explicitly instruct the students to understand that such consequences are not to be understood as punishments, but are being chosen by them. The message is that all negative behavior in life contains negative consequences as a natural correlate. Thus negative consequences should not be understood as punishments from beyond, but as something within the student's power to choose or not choose.
Thus, in schools based upon Unrelenting Expectations, there is often some form of "paycheck" or stipend given to students that reflect their behavioral performance. In the Bronx KIPP school, for example, checks are given weekly to students as a reflection of their adherence to rules of attendance, neatness, promptness, respect, etc. The "money" from such checks can be used to "purchase" supplies from the KIPP store, or may be used as a requirement to earn eligibility to attend a school trip (Thernstrom & Thernstrom, p. 72). At Legal Outreach and NJ LEEP, the Summer Law Institute for rising ninth graders is an introductory precursor to a four-year college bound program. Students are eligible to earn $175 in cash at the end of the five weeks. However, they are fined for each violation of a high expectations rule. Total fines are deducted from the $175 stipend for which they were initially eligible. So, for example, for each minute they are late to class, they are fined 1$. For each tardy homework assignment, they are fined $3, etc. There are also escalating fines for more serious infractions.
The most important aspect of such rewards and negative punishments, however, and the aspect with its roots in Broken Windows, is the consistent attention to detail in assigning negative consequences to the smallest of infractions. Thus, negative body language, for example, is considered an overt sign of disrespect toward staff. There is no rush toward fines or severe consequences, however, as there are many forms of re-direction that can be utilized before heavier penalties come into play. But every smallest whiff of negativity is noted and redirected. According to the Broken Windows ancestry of Unrelenting Expectations, to allow students to roll their eyes, arrive to class five minutes late, or speak out when another student or teaching is speaking, is to send a powerful conscious and unconscious message that such behavior is tolerated. It also sends the message that more severe negative behavior will also be allowed. Realistically speaking, it can be a tough and taxing hall to transform culture in such a manner with urban students. But there are certainly communities that have shown that with unrelenting and consistent application of such standards, transformation can take place.
The most challenging issue, however, in effective Unrelenting Expectations implementation is that ultimately it is more a matter of management than pedagogy. This is to say, a verbal commitment to the philosophy will have little positive effect by itself. The process is everything. There must be effective managerial processes and procedures in place and written down, and teachers and administrators must be held accountable to such processes and procedures. Moreover, the most effective accountability will also take place when managers see it as their role to actively create buy-in in the teachers and administrators that they supervise. As previously mentioned, there is an entire important discussion of educational management that is beyond the scope of this paper. In the next session, however, this paper will discuss an essential aspect of management and leadership—the creation of a culture of excellence for administrators, teachers, and students.
Culture of Excellence and Unconscious Learning
As has been previously mentioned, the use of explicit character instruction, as well as the use of rewards and negative consequences, has become an increasingly popular practice in urban education. However, the essential and by far most difficult aspect of successful Unrelenting Expectations implementation, and the aspect which is most likely the least practiced, is the creation of an exacting culture of order, structure and excellence to the minutest details which operates as a consistent unconscious influence on teachers, administrators and students. This is also the real transformative power of the original Broken Windows theory and the popularized social-scientific work of Malcolm Gladwell as applied to educational management.
In Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Gladwell fleshes out the idea, based on extensive social-scientific research from various sources, that a significant amount of human action and judgment is based upon our "powers of rapid cognition" (Gladwell, 2005). Our powers of rapid cognition are derived from the human proclivity to react unconsciously to stimuli without conscious reflection. Much of what we do and decide, in other words, is based upon unconscious environmental influences which, over-time, determine our habitual responses. But the power of such Broken Windows-esque rapid cognition for educational management is that we can collectively decide to alter the influences of our unconscious if our responses are maladapted.
In Blink you'll meet doctors and generals and coaches and furniture designers and musicians and actors and car salesmen and countless others, all of whom owe their success, at least in part, to the steps they have taken to shape and manage and educate their own unconscious reactions. The power of knowing, in that first two seconds, is not a gift given magically to a fortunate few. It is an ability that we can cultivate for ourselves (Gladwell, 2005, p. 16).
Consider, for example, Gladwell's chapter exploring the research conducted by Ekman and Friesen on facial expressions and rapid cognition. In a series of experiments, these two psychologists discovered that facial "'expression alone is sufficient to create marked changes in the autonomic nervous system. . . What we were generating were sadness, anguish. And when I lower my brows. . .and raise the upper eyelid. . .I'm generating anger'" (Gladwell, 2005, pp. 206-07). Other research experiments by Ekman, Friesen and others confirms that voluntary facial constructions can be the cause to produce the subjective emotional experience associated with such construction (Levenson et al., 1990). Research also extends this concept to various cultural influences which can unconsciously produce aggression (Todorov et al., 2002). Finally, pedagogical scholarship has described the strong correlation between school culture and climate, and student behavior and learning (Dupper et al., 2002). One potential implication of such research for cultural management centers on the power of body language and facial expression in creating and reinforcing emotions that may potentially escalate into serious behavioral infractions. For instance, when we teach students, and reinforce such teachings through positive and negative consequences, not to roll their eyes, sigh, suck their teeth, wag their finger, etc., we are not only teaching them not to communicate disrespect. We are, this research suggests, teaching them to actually eliminate feelings of disrespect and frustration, and to cease in the communication of such emotions to teachers and other students. Studies further suggest that our unconscious perception of such emotional signals will actually influence how we perceive and interpret future, even unrelated, stimuli (Ferguson et al., 2005). By extension, it may be that communities can create collective schemas, or lenses, which will interpret signals and environment in a positive manner if there has been a consistent standard of positive expression in the past. Habit, consistently applied, becomes virtue. And when such signs of disrespect are consistently addressed, and when over time such negative micro-messaging decreases, our powers of rapid cognition pick up unconsciously that such negative communication is not a part of the culture. It has a snowball effect.
The power of unconscious learning and rapid cognition are also the basis for the fastidious attention to cleanliness, order and structure which is ubiquitous in Unrelenting Expectations. One piece of trash on the floor, an un-tucked shirt, speaking out of turn, or even an accidental pen mark made by student on a desk, are all markers of the beginnings of an environment of unstructured learning. Such things are also, however, an unconscious signal to everyone that discipline and order are not valued. Thus, it will have minimized effect to teach students the importance of discipline and organization in their academic lives, when there are signs in the classroom, explicit or implicit, that such habits are not actually valued by the community. There is also, I believe, a base-line belief underpinning Unrelenting Expectations that chaos and disorder are painful. Chaos is not based upon the autonomy of the individual, but upon the inability of all those involved in chaotic structures to confront the myriad of painful issues in their collective lives. If however, a community is able to create the alternative—a non-fear based structured existence—all those within the community will benefit.
And the absence of fear (not necessarily the same as the aversion to negative consequences) in the creation of structure and order is essential under Unrelenting Expectations. This is perhaps a key distinction between Zero Tolerance and Unrelenting Expectations. Again, the process is paramount. The important approach of Wilson and Kelling's Broken Windows theory of order-maintenance criminology is not just the increase of a police presence, but an increase of foot-patrol police presence in a manner that the police are trained to interact with the community and gain its trust (Wilson and Kelling, p. 5). And thus, according to Unrelenting Expectations, an order-maintenance culture can be created without intimidation or even judgment. It is much more about the attention to detail, consistent redirection, and relationship development.
As an example, transitions are key symbolic indicators of Unrelenting Expectations order-maintenance. The transition from classroom to classroom, from class to lunch, or from the last class to the outside of the building, can give powerful instruction to students on the importance of building discipline into all elements of their lives. Even in an ordered and structure classroom, there can be a tremendous amount of pent-up energy ready to explode upon the crossing of the classroom threshold. Ordered transitions, however, will communicate that the entire culture of the community is structured and respectful. It will also help students begin to discipline their energies, so that they can be re-funneled for empowering pursuits. At TEAM Academy in Newark, for example, students are required to line up for transitions and are not allowed to proceed (slowly) to the next class until everyone is silent and attentive. But again, in viewing this discipline one gets no sense of being at boot camp. In this setting the order is natural and is communicated with a palpable sense of compassion.
Compassion and Trust
Compassion is also a quintessential ingredient. There is, I believe, underlying Unrelenting Expectations, a deep compassion for urban students and the pain they experience, and a resultant zeal to help them manifest the great potential they hold within them. But this compassion cannot be patronizing and must always remain ensconced in humility. The most important aspect of the collective creation of a culture of Unrelenting Expectations is the understanding that it will help all individuals of the community, be they administrators, teachers, students, or others, become better persons. Adult modeling of high expectations is a key element. The effect of teaching students about promptness, organization, respect, etc., will be minimal if the adults in the community are not consistently manifesting these traits. But with collective buy-in there can be a recognition that the creation of positive culture can take everyone to a higher standard.
Moreover, the consistent application of such compassion and humility will, over time, build trust in the students toward each other and the adults in the community. This is not a maudlin need for emotional expression. There is, I believe, a realistic understanding that it can sometimes take years to gain a student's trust and that trust will not always be explicitly communicated by students. It is more about the micro-messaging communicated when rules are consistently and fairly applied, and when adults work on depersonalizing their actions with students. It is the attempt to remove personal frustration and needs from the equation. It is the willingness to listen and support students in the difficulties in their life, without ever relenting on holding them accountable. It is the belief that most students, even those with the most hardened exteriors, are at some level yearning for compassion that is shown through structure, consistent high standards, and the reliable presence of a caring adult.
There is a saying from Chinese and Japanese spiritual traditions: One inch and heaven and earth are eternally separated. The Broken Windows theory of cultural management has had a very positive influence on an urban educational model that has shown impressive results in both behavioral and academic outcomes. However, understanding the difference of process and underlying assumptions in application can be of great benefit in understanding the extreme differences between the ideology of Zero Tolerance on the one hand, and what this paper has called Unrelenting Expectations, on the other. The point is that Zero Tolerance and Broken Windows are neither the same thing, nor entirely different. Zero Tolerance is one, but only one, natural development of the original Broken Windows theory. Unrelenting Expectations, however, is also a natural development of Broken Windows, and one that has shown great promise for application in urban education.
It appears, however, that the Unrelenting Expectations approach has for the most part been applied successfully thus far in charter schools, and other smaller educational communities. Thus, there has been doubt concerning its application to larger public schools and systems based upon two concerns: 1) The complications and challenges of its application will multiply exponentially when applied to much larger systems. 2) Charter schools, even though they accept students through a lottery system, in effect serve distinct demographics from public schools. There is, the argument goes, a self-selection process in the charter lottery system whereby families who already provide a great deal of the structure that Unrelenting Expectations proposes to offer, are those that have the family structure and ability to take the initiative to apply. The families with the greatest need are not those that are applying to such schools. There is, quite, frankly, a great deal of merit in these critiques. I do believe that the application of the Unrelenting Expectations model to larger public schools will offer a myriad of complications and challenges proportionate to the size of the school and the issues facing the families that the school serves. However, I also believe that the approach has been successfully applied to such an impressive degree in smaller pockets of excellence, by educational communities serving low income students from very challenging urban neighborhoods, that the challenge should be undertaken.
Boylan, E. (2002). Advocating for Reform of Zero Tolerance Student Discipline Policies: Lessons from the Field. Newark: Education Law Center. Retrieved September 5, 2007,
from http://www.edlawcenter.org/ELCPublic/Publications/PDF/AdvocatingReform_ZeroTolerance.pdf.
Daeg de Mott, D. (2001). "Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Reasoning," Encyclopedia of Moral Development. Retrieved September 5, 2007 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi g2602/is 0003/ai 2602000337.
Davou, B. (2002). "Unconscious Processes Influence Learning," Psychodynamic Practice, 8.3: 284.
Dupper, D. and Meyer-Adams, N. (2002). "Low-Level Violence: A Neglected Aspect of School Culture," Urban Education, 37.3: 356.
Esquith, R. (2007). Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56. New York: Viking Penguin.
Ferguson, J., Bargh, J. and Nayak, D. (2005). "After-affects: How Automatic Evaluations Influence the Interpretation of Subsequent, Unrelated Stimuli," Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41: 182-191.
Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Back Bay Books.
Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York: Back Bay Books.
Kowitz, G. (1957). "Conscious and Unconscious Controls of Academic Learning and Classroom Behavior," The Elementary School Journal, 58.3.
Levenson, R., Eckman, P., and Friesen, W. (1990) "Voluntary Facial Action Generates Emotion-Specific Autonomic Nervous System Activity," Psychophysiology, 27.4: 363-84.
Menacker, J., Hurwitz, E. and Weldon, W. (1988). "Legislating School Discipline: The Application of a System Wide Discipline Code to Schools in a Large Urban District," Urban Education, 23:12.
Rhee, Kate Kyung Ji (2007). Real School Security Problems. New York: Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. Retrieved August 24, 2007, from http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/library/article.php?ID=6386.
Skiba, J. (2000). Zero Tolerance, Zero Evidence: An Analysis of School Disciplinary Practice. Indiana University: Indiana Education Policy Center.
Thernstrom, A. and Thernstrom, S. (2003). No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Todorov, A. and Bargh, J. (2002). "Automatic Sources of Aggression," Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7: 53-68.
Wilson, J. and Kelling, G. (1982). Broken Windows. Retrieved September 5, 2007, from http://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/_atlantic_monthtly-broken_windows.pdf.
[1]This is not to say that expulsion and suspension will never be warranted, but that it should only be used as a last option after a series of re-directive actions have already been taken. Thus, utilitarianism is not completely ignored, as there are some students whose consistent behavioral indiscretions may threaten the continuing high expectations focus of the community.
[2]Unrelenting Expectations is also, I believe, a more descriptively accurate term for this approach than "No Excuses," which is sometimes employed by the approach's advocates. "No Excuses" is in fact the title of another key Unrelenting Expectations source book written by Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom. "No Excuses," however, I believe, also has the potential to be misinterpreted, especially by its critics. It is true that Unrelenting Expectations accepts no excuses from teachers, administrators or students. However, it is not a matter of sending the message to students: "I don't want to hear it. Just do your homework. No Excuses!" One of the main points of this paper is that process is essential. It is not just what you say or what you believe, but how it is said and how it is implemented. I believe that Unrelenting Expectations understands that many urban students have extreme challenges in their lives, and these challenges, and the resultant pain, will indeed make it very difficult to succeed academically and behaviorally. But Unrelenting Expectations communicates both explicitly and implicitly that in spite of, or perhaps on a deeper existential level, because of, such obstacles, students can achieve at a high level. Unrelenting Expectations is willing to listen (when appropriate) and sympathize with pain, but is unwilling to allow pain to be a justification for underachievement.


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A.K.A – the week we show some love to the little guy! As much as I love big books, little books are just as amazing. It's actually amazing the amount of action and emotion that authors can fit into a book under 300 pages! In fact, some of my favourite books have been under 300 pages! This list was so hard to narrow down to just 5….. so this is actually a top 6!!! So, let's all take a moment, and give some love to short books 🙂
Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme where I explore different topics. If you are interested in participating I would love to have you! Here is a list of my Upcoming Topics in August – please remember to ping back a specific post of mine so I get a notification and I will add you to the participants list!
THE WAYWARD CHILDREN SERIES by Seanan McGuire
First and foremost, The Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire! All of these actually fall under the 200 page mark (except the 4th that ended up coming to 203 pages lol). What this woman is able to accomplish in less than 200 pages is absolutely incredible!!! This is one of my all time favourite series… these books are beyond amazing.
PAN'S LABYRINTH by Guillermo del Toro – 272 pages
This is my most recently read short book and I was not expecting this! There was so much packed into this tiny book! There was beauty, heartbreak, folklore, whimsy, history…. this book had it all. I haven't done a full review for this yet – it will be coming soon.
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky – 222 pages
I read this book so long ago and I still think about it to this day! I related to this book more than I could have imagined. My friend group were called the freaks of the school….. i'm not joking. We even had a "side" of the school of our own that no one came out to lol. We all had a strange obsession with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and had crazy parties. No – not kidding! So this book was like a walk through my high school past! But, the emotions that this book came with were so unexpected! I REALLY need to reread this!
A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness – 226 pages
This book made me cry harder than ANY book has. I read it shortly after my grandpa passed away. I didn't realize that I'd been holding so much of that loss in until I read it. After finishing this book I cried for about 2 days. And all of that was done in less than 250 pages. This book……. if you've read it then you know!
THE HAUNTED by Danielle Vega – 252 pages
Another recent read, and one that gave me the chills! The way that the hauntings were described had me checking shadows and jumping every time there was the slightest sound at night. Not the perfect book (I HATED the friend group SOOOO much!) but the writing and the hauntings were enough to make sure this book made my list! Especially with an ending like this one has…….
A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS by Paul Tremblay – 286 pages
Speaking of hauntings….. this one is my favourite horror novel of all time! This one scared the ever loving hell out of me, and I am IMPOSSIBLE to scare! I don't know if it's the fact that this had to do with young children or what, but this book freaked me out so much! And honestly it has the best ending of a book i've ever read!
Meeghan Reads ——— The Limit of Books Does Not Exist ——— We Are Just Stories
My Year of Reading Dangerously ——— Book Princess Reviews ——— Bath and Books
Ace Reader ——— First Line Reader ——— A Fictional Bookworm
Books On The Brain ——— Realms of My Mind ——— Kyera's Library
Tay's Infinite Thoughts ——— Michael Mingo's Blog ——— My Bookish Fantasy
Eternity Books ——— Jillian The Bookish Butterfly ——— Books and Blends
Libby Reads ——— Bookishly Rebecca ——— Between the Pgs
Words Words Words ——— Read You Leyre ——— Zezee With Books
Many Things Bookish ——— Hanna Reads ——— Perfectly Tolerable
Stuck In Fiction ——— Shades of Paper ——— CJR The Brit
The Book Prescription ——— Beware of the Reader ——— Flora's Musings
The Smell of Ink (Lukten av trykksverte)
There they are – the top 6 books under 300 pages. Quite a few of these would make it to my all time favourites list which is quite a feat being that they're so short! What books under 300 pages would make your list?
Until next time, happy reading!


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A Wrought Iron Fence is made from tube steel, also known as ornamental iron. It can be one of the most expensive types of fencing but also the most beautiful. We understand you work hard for your money and investing in your home is not only impotant but also a joy. Wrought Iron Fencing can be prefabricatd or can be made especially to your design. When you're ready to install a wrought iron fence let us help you find the right professional in your area who will do their best to find you the perfect fit for your home and design budget.
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The latest gate to open in the United Arab Emirates, Warner Bros. World is part of the country's bold plan to reshape itself as a tourist destination—with a heavy emphasis on theme parks. At 22 acres, it's fairly small when compared to standard-bearers such as Disneyland and Universal Studios Florida. Unlike those places, however, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is tucked inside a sprawling building. That makes it one of the world's largest indoor theme parks.
Read more from USA Today.
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Fight Off Seasonal Allergies
Fall & Spring are typically filled with grass, pollen and mold are the most common triggers of seasonal allergies. Hay fever affects 23.6 million American adults and children, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). Symptoms commonly appear during the spring and fall months.
While the timing and severity of an allergy season vary across the country, the following climate factors also can influence how bad your symptoms might be:
- Tree, grass and ragweed pollens thrive during cool nights and warm days.
- Molds grow quickly in heat and high humidity.
- Pollen levels tend to peak in the morning hours.
- Rain washes pollen away, but pollen counts can soar after rainfall.
- On a day with no wind, airborne allergens are grounded.
- When the day is windy and warm, pollen counts surge.
- Moving to another climate to avoid allergies is usually not successful — allergens are virtually everywhere.
"Ragweed blooms from August until November, and is unfortunately lasting longer every year," says Dr. Michael Foggs, an allergist and ACAAI president. "Research suggests the season lasts up to three weeks longer than it used to."
To help sufferers fight allergy symptoms, ACAAI offers these tips:
Know the culprits. The most common sneeze and wheeze trigger during the fall hay fever season is ragweed pollen. A single ragweed plant may release 1 million pollen grains in just one day, and one grain can travel up to 100 miles.
Find relief. If you wait until the first sneeze to take your medication, you may be too late. Allergists recommend taking your medication two weeks before symptoms begin.
Get tested. Many popular over-the-counter medications can cause sleep disturbances and mental impairment. If you have symptoms, make an appointment for proper testing.
Work with your allergist to devise strategies to avoid your triggers:
- Monitor pollen and mold counts. Weather reports in newspapers and on radio and television often include this information during allergy seasons.
- Keep windows and doors shut at home and in your car during allergy season.
- Stay inside midday and during the afternoon, when pollen counts are highest.
- Take a shower, wash your hair and change your clothes after you've been working or playing outdoors.
- Wear a NIOSH-rated 95 filter mask when mowing the lawn or doing other chores outdoors, and take appropriate medication beforehand.
See more at: Seasonal Allergies
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Comms Express was formed back in 2002. We started with a very simple ethos and that was to provide our customers with a friendly and hassle free service whilst keeping product quality and value for money our top priorities, and we're proud to say that this remains the same today to the point where it's become engrained in to our company DNA.Our Products
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The motivation and enthusiasm of our people here is one of the most important aspect of our business and a key part of our continued growth and respected position we hold in the Networking Industry today. We care for our customers as we do our own business and are committed in providing our customers with a professional and friendly service achieved by having highly skilled and dedicated people.
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The T4UH can be utilised as a soft Access Point - A software access point is used when you want your computer to act as an access point for the local wireless network. It saves you the trouble of getting a separate wireless router. With the desktop equipped with an Ethernet adapter (Adapter A) and a wireless adapter (Adapter B). Adapter B on the Desktop works as a soft AP, and it is NAT to adapter A. A Laptop can then be used to wirelessly connect to the Desktop as a client, and share the Desktop´s Internet connection.
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Ruckus Wireless has made available version 3.5 of its SmartZone operating system (OS), which powers the industry's highest capacity controller portfolio, including the newly announced SmartZone 300 (SZ300) high-scale control and management appliance.
The new OS comes with more than 30 new features and enhancements, making it easier than ever for IT professionals to improve the end-user experience and to better align security and policy posture with a diverse user device constituency.
New capabilities also enable enterprises and managed service providers to easily and securely implement complex network architectures and multi-tier business models.
More than 2,000 enterprise and service provider organisations have deployed SmartZone controllers since 2015, managing in excess of 600,000 access points collectively.
Rohit Mehra, vice president of network infrastructure at IDC (International Data Corporation), said: "Cloud-managed wireless serv...Read More
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Joshua did not have a shadow of doubt on his walk with God. He could confidently say that he would serve God. He walked the talk!
'As for me and my house we will serve the Lord' wall words look great in this living room. Applied as a monogram, it looks at home between the landing wall and staircase. It is an elegant accent and ties in well with the barrister, couch, carpet and even the floor! The wall quotes are the focal point in the room. What an amazing way to make a stand!
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Prince Charles, Do You Know Where Your Son Is?
by admin
Blogger Matt Drudge outed Britain's Prince Harry, who for ten weeks has been secretly serving on the front lines in Afghanistan. The publicity resulted in Britain's defense chief pulling out the twenty-three-year-old prince, deeming it too risky for him as well as his for his comrades.
The ministry asked the media to allow Harry to return home without speculating on his location. My blog, Bicoastalbroads.com, will respect this request and maintain the news blackout.
This event, however, raises questions about blogging ethics. Has Matt Drudge now assumed the role of en loco parentis? If so, can we all rely on him to alert us if our children are not where they said they were going? How about if they've purchased false I.D.? And what are my responsibilities as a fellow blogger? If I should become privy to information about a friend's child or husband, am I obliged or entitled to go public with the story?


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How to Rap
Learn how to write rap music and how to become a rap artist with advice from artist development coach Chris Kazi Rolle in these Howcast videos.
Chris Kazi Rolle
Chris Kazi Rolle is an internationally-recognized hip-hop performer, education innovator and artist development coach. He is the founder of The Hip-Hop Project, an arts education organization which develops young talent by connecting them with industry professionals to teach them the creative and corporate side of the entertainment business. Kazi and his award-winning work are the subject of a feature-length documentary produced by Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah.


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IBHS Program
Individualized Behavioral Health Services (IBHS), also known as Wraparound, are individualized, child-centered, and family-focused services provided within the home, school, and community settings with the goal to build child and family competencies that will enhance functioning in all domains. The goal is to keep children with their families and to decrease the need for out-of-home placement.
BHRS treatment is provided by Behavioral Specialist Consultants, Mobile Therapists and Therapeutic Support Staff. While Blair Family Solutions provides traditional services within the wraparound model, the goal is to provide creative and unique services to children and their families.
Collaboration between Blair Family Solutions staff and community agencies is emphasized greatly. The goal to surround the child and family with professionals who will work closely together with each other and the family, creates a process where the family is given a voice, empowerment and hope. All services are individualized and designed to create competencies. The focus of the treatment is on the child and family's capabilities rather than their deficits.
Contact Information
Julie Waite
(814) 944-9970 Ext. 211


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If you've spent time browsing job listings, you've probably noticed that employers want candidates with excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Where and when do people gain these soft skills, though? It's a critical need within the job market that's often overlooked in high school and college.
The Importance of Soft Skills
What are soft skills? In short, they're what makes it possible for people to work together. PayScale's report, Leveling Up: How to Win in the Skills Economy, includes critical thinking/problem solving, attention to detail, communication, ownership, and leadership among the soft skills employers seek — and frequently find lacking in recent grads.
In today's collaborative work environment, soft skills are essential. Even if you work as an individual more than as part of a team, you'll still need to use interpersonal skills from time to time — to communicate your achievements to a boss, for example, or to negotiate salary and promotions. Soft skills are invaluable for getting what you want while keeping others happy.
Demand in the Market
If you have soft skills, it might be easier to find a new job. In a LinkedIn survey of 291 hiring managers, 59 percent said that it's difficult to find employees with soft skills. Fifty-eight percent went on to say that the lack of candidates with strong soft skills is "limiting their company's productivity."
This means that lots of businesses are actively looking to recruit those with soft skills. Providing examples of exemplary communication, organization, and social skills is essential for many occupations. These should always be included on a resume, especially if the job listing specifically refers to them as requirements.
With that said, it's not advisable to lie on a resume. If young people aren't being equipped with the skills that the job market demands, is it up to the education system to address this issue?
Schools Struggle to Keep Up
According to a 2013 Gallup poll, 80 percent of people strongly agree that today's K-12 schools should teach students critical-thinking skills. Seventy-eight percent also agree that schools should teach communication skills. If this is the case, why does it seem like schools aren't addressing these concerns?
The good news is, they're beginning to. In Australia, the government has committed to a formal curriculum that includes critical and creative thinking, ethical capabilities, and intercultural understanding, from January 2017. Education policy in the U.S. has a way to catch up, unfortunately. With an emphasis on test scores and basic cognitive skills, a shift to including soft skills will require extra funding and training for teachers.
Tell Us What You Think
Should schools teach soft skills, or should individuals be responsible for their career development? We want to hear from you. Let us know your thoughts in the comments or join the discussion on Twitter.


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The Solar Return Report or birthday horoscope is a report for a specific year of a person's life. Each year the sun returns to the exact position it was at when you were born. This happens on or around your birthday. This is where we get the phrase 'Many Happy Returns'.
The free solar return gives a sample report of the year ahead which can be upgraded to the full version of the report.
Although the Sun is at the same position in a Solar Return other things are different from the persons birth chart, specifically the position of all the other planets in the chart and the changed house position of the planets. From this chart constructed at the seed of the year we can determine the major themes of the coming year.
Will relationships be highlighted in this birthday horoscope , or possible a change of career or issues to do with health or travel. All is indicated in the solar return by the new chart that is formed.
The Solar Return report is divided into specific sections each beautifully illustrated with a hand drawn painting.
The Solar return can be calculated a number of years into the future so it is possible to get multiple Solar Returns for the years ahead.
The Solar Return or birthday forecast can be used in conjunction with a yearly forecast. The former is a snapshot of a the planets at the time of one's birthday while the latter is formed by looking at how the planets move over the coming year. The two charts can therefore be used together to get an insight into what the year ahead is likely to bring.
With a solar return the location one is at during the time of the solar return can actually change the chart that is formed. Some people go so far as to change their location at the time of the Solar Return to ensure a more favourable chart for the year is formed.
The Solar Return report can be sent as a gift to someone and is an ideal present for someone for their birthday. They will receive the report immediately by email and a personalized gift message can be sent along with the report.
At the Birth Chart we offer a free sample of our Solar Return Reports. The process is very simple, all you have to do is input some personal data, such as date of birth and our calculator does the rest to generate a report for you. Our astrological charts can be used for a wide variety of things such as testing love compatibility, give you information on whether your current job is a good fit for you and uses astrological indicators that correspond with your health and wellbeing.


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Melody Cherfils
Melody Cherfils never thought she would want to be a doctor. By the eighth grade she had failing grades and wasn't getting the support at school she craved. As a child from a single-parent home, even a complete high school education seemed unattainable.
"For me to graduate was a major accomplishment," said the 2006 graduate of Miami Union Academy. "They (academy teachers) pushed us and they said we could achieve what society said we couldn't achieve."
Life still has had its twists and turns, but Melody remains dedicated to fulfilling her goals.
"I hope to one day become an MD in ophthalmology," she said confidently.
Those aspirations, she says, never would have been possible without her mother discovering the Step Up For Students Scholarship Program.
Melody's mom, Mellie Prophete, noticed that her daughter, as well as her two sons, needed help and started looking for it. But raising a family alone meant money was beyond tight.
"I always said if I could afford it, I would send my kids to private school," she said, adding that she always thought that would be a better option for her kids, who needed a closer relationship with teachers.
Then Mellie heard about Step Up's scholarship and soon the single mom who didn't think she had options, was providing three of her children with a Step Up funded education at private school.
"My kids have excelled since the beginning of the scholarship program," she said proudly. "They've excelled academically and athletically."
Her son, Dayvon Prophete, graduated from Community Christian High School in Melbourne and he now attends a local community college in Brevard County. Her son, Trevaughn Remy, who has been on the Step Up program since the second grade, will graduate from Melbourne Central Catholic High next year. He's on the track, basketball and football teams and dreams of one day playing college football, but he's looking toward a career in either civil engineering or sports medicine. He credits Step Up with giving him the opportunity to go to better schools.
"I had more time to work with the teacher," he said, touting the small classrooms. "It helped me get better grades."
Melody is proud of her brothers, too. And she's grateful to her mom for reaching out and applying for the scholarships.
"With her making that move, I felt like she really wants us to succeed. She wanted us to have a better life," she said.
Melody says the atmosphere and fewer students at Miami Union Academy made all the difference.
Cornelia Sewer, Miami Union's registrar, remembers Melody's first days at school.
"She was a quiet student," she said. "When she came she was a little hesitant, but she got into it."
Melody was involved in extracurricular activities like choir and got to travel to different states for class trips.
"The family atmosphere, she said that really impacted her," Cornelia recalled. "She was so happy to be here."
After graduating from Miami Union Academy, Melody attended Oakwood University in Huntsville, Ala. to study nursing, but in 2008 moved to Houston, Tex. to be near her father.
"I was just homesick," she said. "I really did miss home and I wanted to be in an environment where I was comfortable."
Melody has settled into Houston, has married and has a 1-year-old daughter, Aaliyah. Along the way, she stumbled into the optical business, selling glasses and found a passion for the industry. To her a career in ophthalmology makes sense.
"I found it was very intriguing and fun," she said of the optical field.
Melody plans on finishing her undergraduate work at a local college to move toward that goal of becoming a doctor. She concedes now that she's a mom it will be more difficult, but she doesn't have any doubt she'll make it. Her family is extremely supportive.
"Just that encouragement makes me want to keep on doing what I'm doing," she said.
When Mellie considers Melody's accomplishments and thinks what the scholarships have given to her family, she has a sense of relief knowing that without Step Up the outcome could have been very different.
"They've had some troubles, but they came through," she boasted.
She doesn't forget the schools her children attended either.
"There were parents there, teachers there who actually encouraged me and my kids: You can do it."
About Miami Union Academy
"We prepare young minds for the Future," is the mantra for Miami Union Academy, which was established in 1917 as a Seventh-day Adventists school. The school's mission isn't only a spiritual one; it's one that combines a challenging academic environment with one that's rich in tradition with service, character building and leadership. The Pre-K-12 school is operated by 12 constituent Seven-day Adventists churches in the Southeastern Conference. About 294 students from diverse backgrounds attended the school during the 2011-2012 school year. Of those, 170 were Step Up scholars. The school is accredited by the National Council for Private School, Middle States Accreditation and the Accrediting Association of North American Division. To measure academic success, the school uses the Iowa Basic Test of Basic Skills for grades 3 through 8; and the ACT for high school students. Tuition for the 2012-2013 school year is $5,600 for kindergarten; $6,466 for 1st grade; $6,581 for 2nd through 5th; $6,921 for 6th and 7th; $7,071 for 8th; $8,307 for 9th and 10th; $8,407 for 11th; and $9,098 for 12th.


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Our product picks are editor-tested, expert-approved. We may earn a commission through links on our site.
These Celebrities Are Over 40 and Fit as Hell
Some things do get better with age.
All it takes is a quick glance at Arnold Schwarzenegger's Instagram to know you don't have to be super young to be super fit. He's not alone — on this list, you'll find 30 famous guys who prove that exercise and overall fitness don't have to fade when you hit 40 (or 50, or 60, or 70).
Are you looking to get in the best shape of your life? Check out the Men's Health MA40 DVD set and learn how to completely transform your body — not matter how old you are.
The MA40 DVD set relies on musclenomics (that's muscle + economics) to get you stronger, fitter, and more athletic — in less time. You'll see noticeable changes by working out just three times a week for about 30 minutes a session.


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Financial Controls
Many local churches ask questions about how to protect themselves and their volunteers from issues around the subject of improper handling of offerings or other monetary gifts. The Insurance Board has an excellent series of flow-charts to assist local churches in maintaining sound financial controls (Click here to download). Also, we recommend the following points of wisdom that have been offered on this subject:
- Have two signers on checks.
- Be sure someone other than the Treasurer receives, opens and reviews the bank statement in a timely manner.
- Make certain that payroll withholdings are properly deposited and filed in a timely manner with IRS and other government agencies.
- File IRS Form-1099 for any non-employee receiving $600 or more.
- Always have at least two individuals who count offerings. Use preprinted tally sheets that require signatures.
- Deposit offerings in the bank immediately; do not take them home or leave them in the church office.
- Verify deposit slips with bank statements.
- Provide receipts/contribution statements to all donors.
- Secure financial records, software back-ups and sensitive data to prevent loss due to theft, fire or natural disaster.
- Perform an annual audit.


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We had a fantastic day in our Whanau. We did lots of different things with our main focus being around appreciating the environment around us. We also had a focus on Tuakana Teina. Tuakana Teina is the idea of an older sibling helping and guiding a younger sibling.
It was so cool to see so many people 'adopting' siblings and helping them out.
Our first activity involved print making. We chose our favourite leaves and made prints of them onto fabric. We are going to turn these into mini tents so keep your eyes peeled for them at the Arts Celebration!
Our second activity involved the remnants of Seatoun beach constructed into dreamcatchers. We used wool to make a spider web effect to attach different bits and bobs onto.
The last activity was some rock painting. We brought some rocks to life by painting a base colour, and then adding black, white and red. Everyone did a range of different patterns and they all look really unique.
Overall we had a great day! Looking forward to see everyone at our Arts Celebration to see the awesome work we made.


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There is little I value more in someone than kindness. Few things move me more than witnessing or learning about real acts of kindness.
Kind is defined in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary as "having or showing a gentle nature and a desire to help others : wanting and liking to do good things and to bring happiness to others." The definition is incomplete. Kind is also having or showing a gentle nature and a desire to help yourself by being kind to yourself; wanting and liking to do good things and bring happiness to your life as well as to the lives of others.
I was in the sauna at my local YMCA recently when I heard a conversation going on just outside the door. One person was offering a helpful suggestion to another person who'd been dealing with a painful condition for some time. Hearing the kindness and compassion in the voice of the one offering support coupled with the heartfelt emotional tones of appreciation in the voice of the one receiving the support brought me to tears. There are many things I love about life, moments like these are among my favorites.
Like you, I've witnessed acts of kindness and cruelty. Never too much of the former, always too much of the latter. As a writer I instinctively pay close attention to the world I live in. One component of that world is the interaction between people, their patterns of thought and emotion, the multitude of ways in which they interact with and treat each other, as well as the ways in which they interact with and treat themselves. It is not possible to have a healthy relationship with life absent a healthy relationship with self. It is not possible to have a healthy relationship with self without an allegiance to honesty.
Now, if I told you I've always had a healthy relationship with my life my nose would respond with a vigorous Pinocchio response and make a sizeable hole in the monitor's screen. So, I won't lie to you. I won't lie to you because, one, I am committed to living an honest life, and, two, I'm rather fond of my monitor.
It would be understandable if you're wondering how an essay that starts off talking about kindness has somehow meandered its way to honesty and dishonesty. It's done so because I believe when dishonesty is one of life's underpinnings, acts of kindness are often self-serving, designed to make an impression or illicit a particular response. There are times apparent acts of kindness are rooted in unhealthy antecedents which, by their nature, are destructive. To the person offering the "kindness" and to the person receiving it.
This brings me back to allegiance. Is it healthy or misplaced? That's the question. For years dishonesty was an underpinning of my life because my allegiance was to alcohol and drugs. In short, to addiction. When anyone is caught in the addiction web – a web that can include addiction to food, work, sex, shopping, etc. – life becomes about protecting the addiction rather than protecting the life. A lifestyle like this leaves nothing in its wake but carnage. A carnage that includes the destruction of relationships, friendships, families, children, jobs, careers, education, hopes, dreams, and, life. I could name many – some of whom I loved and love still – who are dead because of addiction. I know some today who will no doubt add to these numbers unless they shift allegiance from addiction to self.
Stepping out from behind the dishonesty mask is a scary. It is also the first step in reclaiming – or for the first time claiming – the right to one's self. For me, the thought of reaching the end of my life still entrenched in the addiction web and hidden behind the dishonesty mask was far scarier – it also made me blisteringly angry. First, I would die without ever fully living life as myself, and, second, those that wounded me would've had control of my choices right up to the moment of my death. They don't deserve that kind of power.
And then there is this: I know no kindness greater than saving a life, including one's own. As I said, there is little I value more in someone than kindness and few things move me more than witnessing or learning about real acts of kindness, including those that are self-inflicted.


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Information provided by retailer. Used with permission. All rights reserved.Price and availability are subject to change without notice; click through to retailer for most current pricing.Last Update: Monday, August 26th, 2019


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Two huge cruise ships recently ran into each other. This is not a joke, although the punchline would be funny. I don't like to name cruise lines, so I'll let you figure it out.
The ships were from the SAME cruise line. One that has mega-dozens of ships sailing. Their Captains are among the best in the industry. In this VIDEO you are going to see their worst nightmare.
On the 20th of December 2019, the ships were off Cozumel, Mexico maneuvering. Cozumel is located on the eastern side of Mexico and is just a short ferry ride from Cancun. Cozumel is really laid back without the glitter of Cancun. I have scuba dived there. The people are friendly and the Mexican food authentic. It has not been bothered by the drug cartel battles as many other cities have.
Eight ships from various cruise lines were scheduled to dock at the Port of Cozumel on Friday.
A pilot was at the control of the ship at the stern of the other – backing out. Pilots "drive" ships in/out of harbors because they know the waters hidden obstacles, shallow reefs and are supposed to do things perfectly. The Captain is not in control. Then SCRAAAPE!!!
Ooops! Six people were injured – minor issues.
Q – was this a filming of a Farmers' Insurance ad? Or one with Allstate's Mr. Mahem? Anyway, it's sad.
Let us help you get a free cruise for two by giving lectures. It's a slam dunk EZ peezy.
Carpe Diem