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A good walk can provide social, spiritual, and fitness long-term benefits. Advice for making the experience work better.
As a serious fitness fanatic, I viewed walking as a means of transportation, and the stage that follows crawling in human development. I never saw it as a means of staying in shape or as providing me with personal amusement. I no longer spend hours in the gym, but I have found a means of fitness that is consistent and enjoyable. Walking is an exercise that can be challenging, social, spiritual, and ultimately fulfilling.
My quest for the perfect exercise began long ago. I tried running, biking, swimming. weight training, and aerobics classes. I found that I would attain fitness goals, only to lose the battle in personal motivation. I could not keep the frenzied pace necessary to maintain the physique I desired. Hours at the gym got in the way of having a real life, and I wanted more from my time than mirrors, muscles and machines. I like the smell of sweating bodies, but I knew there was probably greater satisfaction in a professional life, social time, my husband, and oh yes, time with my kids. The working out 10 to 15 hours a week just was not in my life curriculum.
The outcome was the rather potato shaped body worn by the sedentary section of the population. This was not acceptable. With 30 extra pounds and little money, I could not see myself joining a gym. I had conveniently lost all my tight fitting shiny workout gear anyway. I needed another route to fitness. I found myself watching the people wandering up and down the street. They walked with speed, and energy. I noticed their bodies were toned, and they conversed while they strolled. I reconsidered walking and found the consistent fitness routine that I sought for so long.
My sojourning began solo. It was pleasant this way. I walking with my children, but there was too much whining and stopping. Then I came up with the idea to include other moms, and other children. This worked out extremely well. The plan was to invite 3 or 4 moms to a nearby park. The children would be deposited near the play equipment with various supplies (shovels, trucks, dolls, snacks, juice, etc.). The mothers then, would walk around the playground, children in eyesight at all times. This give the mom the option of responding to outbursts or ignoring them depending on parenting style.
This mother-child walk program was a grand success. It incorporated many needs into one activity. Mothers today feel the need to offer their children varied social experiences in the form of play groups. This outing qualified. Many mothers cannot find the time to exercise for lack of available baby-sitters, and lack of baby-sitter funds. This excluded both of these problems. Stay-at-home moms often need therapeutic discussions to help them build self-esteem and justify their existence. These walks provided time for conversation and peer support. It was helpful to view the way other people respond to their child's small crises, hurt knees, relationship struggles, and inability to share toys. This setting provided a relaxed arena for observation. It also helped in the area of fitness motivation. All adults involved felt a desire not to leave a mother walking alone, so each was driven to come whether they wanted to or not.
Walking can be approached in the group format or as an individual activity. I find the solo walk is a retreat from my busy schedule. I never use a personal radio, or disc player with headphones. This would be more input where I seek only the sound of wind or passing cars to create a meditative experience. It is this time when I seek counsel from God, and can concentrate wholly on the answers given. My personal walk in the spiritual realm is enhanced by my personal walk through the neighboring streets of my home.
The humbling realization that walking is an exercise that effectively burns calories, and is not jarring to my bones, made me reconsider my previous disdain. I realized that no matter how chummy the overstuffed chair got with my tosh, I could still convince myself to go for a little walk. I could get moving and increase my cardio-vascular health. Walking gave me social outlet, a spiritual retreat, and a consistent path to fitness. The simplicity of the exercise did not exclude the benefits derived, and I can now happily declare that I am slim again and walking through my 3rd consistent year of physical fitness.


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Part #: 10D017
- Fits 2009-18 Ram 1500 Big Horn, Laramie Trucks
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subset: commoncrawl


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Growing up, we had a big old mutt that was terrified of loud noises. Originally meant to be a hunting companion that ran home at the first gunshot, this great big animal would tremble and hide under tables when thunder rumbled in the distance. His name was Skeeter and he was generally considered an ugly canine. Half collie and half German short-haired pointer, he had a huge head and a tiny bob of a tail. He was fearless when strangers came to the door or when wild critters visited in the night. But summer storms sent him into a panic, poor thing.
Me, I love thunderstorms. I love watching the lightning, seeing what patterns the ripple through those heavy black skies. I'm still waiting for a nice thunderstorm at my house this summer. They've skipped over, downing power lines and flooding washes everywhere else in Tucson but here. One could say the storms have been "dogging it" around my place during these dog days, but that would be a different bone to pick. Woof.
*( Previously posted on my blog, Words That Remain )
Website: http://jude-johnson.com


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Spend your Independence Day Weekend with K1 Speed!
July 01, 2015
Many of you may have this Friday, July 3rd off from work. And with school out for Summer that gives you more of an excuse to RACE with your friends and family at your local K1 Speed!
We will be open from 10am-7pm on Sat. July 4th. That gives you plenty of time to come in, race and enjoy the fireworks show at night. Is there any better way to spend your Independence Day? What's more American than racing and blowing up stuff?! Throw in some Apple Pie too.
Get 4 races for only $44 this SATURDAY July 4th, our best deal of the year!


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Working as the stage doorman of the Longacre Theater on West 48th Street in the theater district, Regan Kimmel sits in a small room inside the alleyway entrance and buzzes in the cast and crew.
"Easiest job I've ever had," said Mr. Kimmel, 58. "The hardest thing is the boredom factor — you get a lot of downtime."
This downtime, combined with the scrap wire lying around after the theater's renovation a few years back, led to Mr. Kimmel's becoming the Longacre's unofficial sculptor in residence.
The extent of Mr. Kimmel's fine art background was "making snowmen and sand castles for my kids," he said, but he began fiddling with the scrap wire in 2009 while the Australian dance show "Burn the Floor" was at the theater.
Mr. Kimmel gave a married couple performing in the show some wire flowers for their anniversary, and began fashioning simple figures and ornaments for other cast members while sitting at his small security desk, where a speaker delivers the audio from the onstage performance and a video monitor shows surveillance camera feeds.
The Longacre's house electrician, Richard Rogers, kept feeding Mr. Kimmel encouragement and more wire. Mr. Kimmel improved rapidly at creating a statue made from a single continuous strip, like an impressive one-stroke pen drawing.
By the time "La Cage Aux Folles" opened there in 2010, Mr. Kimmel's work was displayed all over the theater, and the stage door had become a sculptor's studio. The "Cage" performers were snapping up Mr. Kimmel's work, as gifts or purchases.
Veanne Cox bought a mobile. Kelsey Grammer picked up a rendering of Santa, and Mr. Kimmel gave Mr. Grammer's wife, Kayte, a pair of turtle doves as a wedding present.
"It just sort of exploded," he said. "I basically started doing this to amuse the cast and crew. I was as surprised as anybody that people seemed to like it."
The "Cage" crew also began giving Mr. Kimmel artistic input. For example, Mr. Kimmel said that while he worked on an elaborate model of the cabaret scene in "La Cage," Harvey Fierstein told him in his trademark gravelly voice, "You got to have more gay couples."
Bill Nolte, who performed in "La Cage," became a booster of Mr. Kimmel's work, posting photographs of the sculptures on his Facebook page and getting him commissions from friends. Mr. Nolte connected Mr. Kimmel with the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS charity to whose auctions Mr. Kimmel donated dozens of pieces. The Shubert Organization, which owns the Longacre, has given Mr. Kimmel permission to work on his sculptures during his shift, and display them in the theater, said Mr. Kimmel, who grew up in Tulsa, Okla., and now lives in Nutley, N.J. He is divorced with two grown children. He was the production manager for a New Jersey theater company before going to work at the Longacre about 10 years ago.
For the productions that followed "La Cage," Mr. Kimmel began giving performers pieces on opening and closing nights, and others bought his work. Jennifer Lim, the female lead in "Chinglish," about an American man doing business in China, took home a pair of Chinese dragons and birds. Henry Winkler, who starred in "The Performers," about the pornography industry, purchased a wiry giraffe.
In addition, for each production, Mr. Kimmel began sprucing up the unceremonious stage door entrance with an ornate wire portal — similar to a headboard for a small bed — to hang over the entranceway. He took his cues from the incoming props.
"La Cage Aux Folles" got a French flowery-themed portal. The one for "Chinglish" was done in an Asian bamboo style with the name spelled out in wire-wrought Chinese, for which the cast helped Mr. Kimmel with the characters.
The portal for "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth" included replicas of three championship belts, and "Magic/Bird" had basketballs and players. His sign for "The Performers" included a risqué fishnet-stockings motif that struck the fancy of the show's producer, Robyn Goodman.
Mr. Kimmel told her he wanted to keep all the old portals — a half dozen so far — hanging for posterity on the wall of the secured alley outside the stage door.
On Thursday, he sat at the stage door making a portal for the upcoming production of "First Date," a musical about romance in the age of technology. He now had spools of 12- and 14-gauge wire, and plenty of downtime. He may be selling pieces to celebrities, but Mr. Kimmel is still a country boy in the big city, not a highfalutin sculptor. "I'm just bending wire," he said, deflecting a compliment. "It keeps me off the street."


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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
What Dads Will Never Understand
I have an addiction to buying baby clothes and getting great deals, get the two together and it is the perfect storm. The other day I was at Kohls, pretty much hyperventilating with excitement when I discovered they were having and 80% off sale for baby summer clothes, when Steve called. I instantly confessed to him where I was and that I was in TROUBLE with this amazing sale. He then informed me I could only get ONE item. With that news, I looked at my stroller and counted 14 outfits hanging off of it that I could not live without. Using my quick critical thinking skills for a situation so dire, I came up with a solution. My birthday was two weeks ago (I am now a whopping 23!) and Steve's kind parents gave me $$. Just enough to cover the cost of all those beautiful outfits. I told Steve my plan and he was impressed, and sincerely said, "you are so selfless, using your birthday money to buy things for Avery." What dads just don't get is this: The clothes I buy for my baby are to cover her bare skin, yes, but they are REALLY for ME. I don't think I enjoy anything more than buying baby clothes, especially baby GIRL clothes. Here is a snippet of some of the outfits I got from this amazing sale!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Trying not to make this a photo blog of my baby...
I'm discovering how very difficult it is to fight the urge to show off my baby at every moment, to everyone! I don't want to jam it down your thoats - but my baby is cute, dang it! Just when I think the "newness" may be wearing off, she changes or does something new. So here is my official apology for all the ensueing pictures that revolve solely around Avery. I'm a little camera happy these days, which is kind of a big deal for me, since I usually take a couple pictures per year. Some recent happenings for us - Avery's blessing was last Sunday, so we had family in town, which was fun. Steve did an amazing job on the blessing, I'm so thankful my mother-in-law wrote it down as he was giving it. That will be fun for Avery to look at when she is older; its fun for me too since I have a horrible memory. (My primary kids can attest to that, I forget the words to the songs I am teaching on a weekly basis, its embarrassing.) Some pictures from the big day......
The Little Dress
The Little Hands The Little Feet The Little Baby
And some more pictures because, lets face it, I just can't stop myself from posting them!
I LOVE this one - she was in the middl eof a yawn, but she just looks crazy cute!
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text: Today, agricultural decisions rely more and more on data analysis. At Sencrop, we are a passionate team dedicated to making a real impact in agriculture. Thanks to a web and mobile-based platform connected to in-field sensors we - Sencrop empowers ALL farmers to make the right decisions at the right time to improve their yields, and ultimately their way of life - Sencrop allows agri-partners (resellers, chemical companies, technical centers, etc.) to spread their services with ultra-local information, and get a closer relationship with the farmers.


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Severe Fire Dangers | Hot, Dry & Windy Conditions
Image Credit: Bureau of Meteorology
Meteorologist David Crock said the south east will be hot, dry and windy throughout Monday.
A Fire Weather Warning for 'Severe Fire Dangers' is current for districts in southern and eastern parts of Queensland, including the Capricornia, Central Highlands and Coalfields, Darling Downs and Granite Belt, Wide Bay and Burnett and Southeast Coast forecast districts.
He explained that "It's another repeat of the typical fire weather pattern that we've seen four or five times now over the fire season, starting way back in September and happening almost every month since then".
Mr Crock said "That combination of hot, dry and windy weather is the worst fire weather that we see so the fire agencies and the firefighters are certainly up against it today [Monday]".
He went on to say that "Over the next few days, the winds do die off a bit so the fire dangers aren't quite as bad in that sense, but it is still very hot and very dry".
In North Queensland, "We're seeing quite a stagnant air mass that's really heating up and so we're seeing some really hot temperatures in Far North Queensland and extending down the coast and all the way to Rockhampton so that hot air mass will linger, really over much of Queensland for the next few days".
"Centres along the east tropical coast will see temperatures very much in the high 30's today [Monday] and for the next several days; that includes Cooktown, Cairns, Townsville [and] all the way down to Rockhampton and Mackay as well.
But Mr Crock said these conditions wouldn't be as severe, or as hot, as what we saw late in 2018. At that time, the mercury soared into the 40's, but he said it won't reach that high this time around.
Towards the end of the week, he said we will see the heat push south into south east Queensland, "So by the time we get to Friday, we will see temperatures around 40/41 degrees in Ipswich, the Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim, Beaudesert and through Brisbane City; we'll be expecting 35, 36, 37 degrees on Friday and along the Gold and Sunshine Coasts...maybe 33, 34...maybe 35 degrees".
"So it's a gradual heating trend over the next several days in south east Queensland.
Mr Crock agreed that summer would be hotter than average, based on current forecasts. "The climate outlook for summer suggests temperatures will...very likely to be above average, which is pretty much what we see every month" he said.
He said the current predictions wouldn't be severe enough to trigger 'heatwave' conditions in south east Queensland. He added that temperatures would be hotter than average, before adding that that's pretty much been the case every year for the past ten years.
Mr Crock was unable to say just when we would see any significant rain in Queensland. But he said the climate outlook was forecasting drier than average conditions in December and into January as well, "Beyond that it gets a bit murky".
He said a cold front which has passed through the southern states, is largely to blame for the conditions we are seeing in Queensland this week. He said that cold front was followed by a really dry, windy air mass.
By Michelle Brewer


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LONDON/WASHINGTON: The head of Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Maryland chapter Qaiser Ali has been imprisoned for one year with one month of prison and eleven months of suspended sentence for...
LONDON/WASHINGTON: The head of Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Maryland chapter Qaiser Ali has been imprisoned for one year with one month of prison and eleven months of suspended sentence for threatening to kill Nadeem Nusrat, the former senior leader of the MQM, his wife and Wasay Jalil.
Qaisar Ali pleaded guilty before Virginia's Fairfax County Court into the charge of threatening to slaughter Nadeem Nusrat, his wife and MQM's former central coordination committee member Wasay Jalil in a threatening tweet.
Nadeem Nusrat and Wasay Jalil parted ways with the MQM-London almost a year ago and Nusrat has been running the Voice of Karachi and South Asia Minorities Alliance Foundation from his base in Washington DC.
Qaisar Ali will also remain on the court probation for a year, according to a trusted source in the MQM in America.
Qaisar Ali said he will have to demonstrate the best of his behaviour during the sentence and probation period or face immediate jail custody, The News has learnt from the trusted source.
The court has also issued a two years protection order in favour of Wasay Jalil, Nadeem Nusrat and his family which means Qaisar Ali is barred from being seen in the close vicinity of Nadeem Nusrat, his wife and Wasay Jalil or his family.
The court has also ordered the MQM Baltimore incharge to surrender any fire weapons or their permit he may have and will not be allowed to buy any firearms in future.
This correspondent had reported early last month that the Baltimore MQM official has been charged of threatening to "slaughter" three people in Virginia but Ali's targets were not identified at that time and the Fairfax County police and search warrant didn't name anyone.
It emerged on Wednesday at the court that the threatened persons were Nadeem Nusrat, his wife and Wasay Jalil – all of whom are now alienated with the MQM's leader and founder Altaf Hussain.
Qaiser Ali, 53, of Halethorpe, Md, faced a charge of promising to kill at least three Pakistanis from the USA via a message and video in Urdu posted to Twitter in November. Ali had denied the charge.
The police in America believe that the threat had no relation or link with the MQM's leadership in London and Ali made threat on his own.
Ali issued threat in the following tweet: "We the loyalist faithful workers of Brother Altaf Hussain are, willing God, we will storm through and kill (slaughter) you in/at the house."
This tweet was produced by the police in its case filed in a Fairfax County court after the targets told the police that they feared for their lives.
Ali had denied making a death threat, saying police had mistranslated his tweet. He said one of the alleged victims in the case had posted numerous harassing messages about him on social media and that he responded with a tweet threatening to beat the man up but not kill him.
"There was no indication that the suspect made any plans to carry out the threat that was communicated," Detective Chad Mahoney said at the time of charging of Ali. No weapons were recovered from his home. The detectives eventually tied the threats to Ali via electronic records, according to the search warrant.
In 2016, Ali was charged in Baltimore with second-degree assault and possessing a dangerous weapon with intent to harm, but the charges were eventually dropped.


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Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Moneyball, by Michael Lewis
If you've seen the movie Moneyball, a lot of the broad strokes of Lewis's book will seem familiar. There's Billy Beane getting angry. There's Billy Beane trusting numbers and his Harvard educated assistant over his scouts who say a player has a "bad body". There's the improbable 2002 run with Scott Hatteberg at first base and a 20 game win streak.
The difference in each version is the focus. Moneyball the movie is a dramatization of the real-life story, so it's focused on the who and when. Moneyball the book is focused on the how and the why.
After reading the book, you start to realize that it took someone like Billy Beane to apply Sabermetrics to baseball. Beane was a top prospect for the Mets in the early 1980s (some thought was better than Darryl Strawberry). He had a plus arm, plus power, plus bat, plus everything. And he looked like a ballplayer. He tore through the minors, but ended up being a journeyman for 5 years before calling it quits and getting a front-office job in Oakland. The "can't miss" prospect touted by all the scouts missed big time (career average .219, 66 hits, 29 RBI). If the scouts were wrong about Billy, how could he trust their advice when he was now the guy picking players?
Enter Bill James. A baseball writer and statistician who wrote a popular series of baseball abstracts from 1977-1988, James wrote about stats and trends rather than recount the stories of great games and great plays. He wanted to quantify what separates "good" players from "bad" players. Essentially, he wanted to know why some teams won and some lost. When Beane assembled his team of advisers and assistant GMs, they were guys who grew up reading Bill James and ended up getting degrees in things like economics and statistics.
The book is well written and well researched. There are a lot of colorful stories from the athletes we meet that will keep any baseball fan entertained. Lewis's prose is clear and direct, which you would expect from an experienced reporter like him.
Moneyball, both movie and book, are recommended.
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Statutes of the United States. Revised Statutes of the United States and State Acts affecting the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. By-Laws and Resolutions (Hartford, Conn : Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1892), 8. [Cover title: Laws and regulations - N.H.D.V.S.]
Statutes of the United States. Revised Statutes of the United States and State Acts affecting the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. By-Laws and Resolutions. (Hartford, Conn : Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1892), 16. [Cover title:Laws and regulations - N.H.D.V.S.]
"RESOLVED – That the President of the Board be, and is hereby authorized to ask Congress to change the name of this establishment, by striking out the word "Asylum," and inserting the word "Home," so that the name shall read as follow: NATIONAL HOME FOR DISABLED VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS.
Proceedings of the Board of Managers of the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Volume 1, March 9, 1872, page 146.
Executive Order 5398
General Order No.46 officially changed the Post Office address.
June 29, 1937, General Order, No. 46
On July 1, 1937, the Post Office address of Veterans' Administration, Wisconsin, is changed to "WOOD, WISCONSIN." It is requested that all persons residing at this station cooperate with the Post Office department in the change of address and that you will notify your relatives and others promptly so that there will be no confusion in the delivery of your mail.
It is suggested that men in the domiciliary status advise their correspondents to place the Company number on the envelope.To those members in the hospital it is suggested that the ward number not be used but merely "care of hospital" as frequently men are transferred from one ward to another and mail delayed if the ward number is placed on same.
The new name of the Post Office, Wood, Wisconsin, is honoring General George H. Wood, who, for so many years, served so efficiently and unselfishly as President of the Board of Managers, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. After the World War General Wood was particularly interested and active in seeing that this station was restored to its former size and the buildings rehabilitated.
General Wood served in both the Spanish War and World War with great honor and also served as Adjutant General of the State of Ohio. He is now a resident of Dayton, Ohio, and a member of the Federal Board of Hospitalization.
CHARLES M. PEARSALL, Manager
Public Law 98-528, signed by President Ronald Reagan.


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Noodles tossed in a sweet and slightly spicy sauce combined with fresh veggies and honey roasted peanuts. Dinners don't get much easier than these Easy Thai Noodles.
Hi everyone! It's Jodi from 5 Boys Baker and I today I'm sharing this Easy Thai Noodles recipe that is a simple, delicious meal that can easily be done in about 20 minutes. I don't know about you, but I am a huge fan of quick and delicious meals. Noodles tossed in a sweet and slightly spicy sauce combined with fresh veggies and honey roasted peanuts. Dinners don't get much easier than these Easy Thai Noodles.
I'm not sure how truly authentic this Thai-inspired dish is, but I am sure that is super simple and delicious and gets devoured whenever I make it.
I've mentioned before that I have a couple picky eaters around my house (ahem Parker & Braydon), so when I can get them to eat and like something different I feel like I've conquered the world. Parker devoured these noodles and even asked for seconds.
Adding chicken to this dish is purely optional, but I always put it in. A Rotisserie chicken is my go-to for this, but grilled chicken would be equally delicious.
Want to try this Easy Thai Noodles recipe? PIN IT to your favorite Pinterest board!
Find me on Pinterest for more great recipe ideas!
I love the crunch of the fresh veggies and the honey roasted peanuts. I saw several similar recipes online that called for unsalted peanuts, but trust me on this one and use honey roasted peanuts. You will be so glad you did. Everything about this is so good. I hope you give this a try.
Easy Thai Noodles
Prep time
Total time
Author: Holly
Serves: 3
- 5 ounces linguini noodles
- 1 cup bagged coleslaw mix
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped green onions
- ⅓ to ½ cup chopped honey roasted peanuts
- 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (optional, but highly recommended)
- Sauce:
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you want it more spicy)
- Cook linguini noodles according to package instructions. Drain when done cooking.
- While noodles are cooking whisk together in a small bowl the soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, garlic and red pepper flakes.
- Pour sauce onto drained noodles and toss together. Add shredded cabbage, shredded carrots and shredded cilantro to noodle mixture and mix. Then gently stir in half of chopped cilantro, green onions and peanuts, reserving the other half for garnish. (Add the shredded rotisserie now, if using.)
- Serve warm or cold and garnish with remaining cilantro, green onions and chopped peanuts.
This recipe makes about 3 to 4 servings (not huge portions). You can easily double this if you want more. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator and eat cold or reheat in the microwave and garnish with desired toppings.
Recipe adapted from: Joyous Apron


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You know I love a good festival, live music in the open air, delicious food, extravagant outfits and watching the sunset surrounded with friends. What more do you want? Maybe a holiday? Doesn't sound too bad does it?
I usually tend to go for festivals abroad, in sunny Lisbon right next to the river. Many other festivals in Spain have been on my list for a while as well. You've got Barcelona with Primavera Sound, and of course famous Ibiza that never seems to have a quiet night.
But Spain has many other cultural festivals to offer year round. So if you are struggling to choose a summer holiday over a summer filled with festivals, I can't recommend a trip to beautiful Spain enough.
|*This post was written in collaboration with Holiday Gems. All opinions are my own.
Before moving house, I was considering a Majorca holiday this year. I've always heard great things about the island and was surprised to find out the many festivals planned during late summer. Unfortunately a holiday is no longer in the books for me, but you might just be looking for this gem of an island!
The biggest event seems to be on the 28th of August, where locals celebrate Festa de's Cavall. Thousands of people head to the Plaza de Sant Bartomeu to watch the spectacles of traditional horse games, to enjoy delicious wines and to sing and dance until sun comes up again the next day! The Spanish do street parties like no other, let me tell you that!
seamless >
Let the summer begin!
Lots of love,


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The North, including the regions of French Flanders, Artois, and Picardy, is a land of character and contradictions.
Lush fields of hops give way to slag heaps from the mining industry. A flat landscape and low marshes are suddenly interrupted by the height of the iconic five mountains (hills, really, but they look huge from the surrounding fields). Picturesque windmills and decaying bunkers dot the horizon.
This region, bordering beer-loving Belgium, is known for its "bière de garde" style and owes its long brewing tradition in part to the climate, which is inhospitable for grapes, but also to the fertile land and underground springs that are ideal for the cultivation of barley, wheat, and hops.
The North has a deep appreciation of beer which has been brewed here for centuries. After a stroll around the narrow cobblestone streets of Old Lille or a day on the beach along the "Opal Coast", Northerners retire to traditional restaurants called "estaminets". There they enjoy hearty regional cuisine, like "carbonnade flamande", a beef stew simmered with beer, washed down with a local brew of course and accompanied by the sounds of a traditional band.
The North is proud of its history and respectful of traditions so local beers are an integral part of the culture and can always be found at the many festivals and parades that occur there such as Europe's largest flea market, the Braderie de Lille, or the Carnival in Dunkerque.


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MILWAUKEE – Tonight at the Bloechl Center, the Mount Mary University basketball team defeated Blackburn College by a final score of 74-65. After the Beavers (2-8) outscore the Blue Angels 38-31 in the second half, MMU was still able to finish with the victory moving their record to 6-3 on the year.
The Blue Angels got off to a hot start against Blackburn on both sides of the court. Rae Grubbs (Jr./Covington, Ind.) returned to the game after missing two due to injury, and the forward instantly made her impact known.
Grubbs hit a perfect 3-of-3 from outside the three-point line including one near NBA range: 23.75 feet. The nine first-quarter points for Grubbs led her team to a 23-10 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
Throughout the first half the Blue Angels forced eight Blackburn turnovers which helped MMU push their lead out even further as they went into the locker rooms at halftime. Erica Williams (So./Bloomington, Ill.) led MMU's offense in the second quarter, and her post presence yielded seven points in the quarter along with three rebounds.
With a 47.1 team shooting percentage in the second, and no MMU turnovers, the Blue Angels were able to push the score out to 43-27 at half.
The Beavers turned things around in the third quarter. Although shooting 27.8 percent from the field as a team in the frame, Blackburn forced MMU into seven turnovers in the third quarter and were able to chip away at the MMU lead.
Blackburn continued to pressure throughout the entire fourth quarter. Hitting 9-of-21 from the floor in the fourth and holding MMU to just four field goals, the Beavers were able to cut the MMU lead down to three points with two minutes remaining.
Moments later Grubbs sixth 3-pointer of the night pushed MMU's lead back out to six. The Blue Angels went on to hit 9-of-10 fourth quarter free throws to salt away their sixth win of the season.
"It was tough to be out the last two games," said Rae Grubbs on her missed time. "...But I was very proud of my team for pulling together the wins. But it felt even better to be out there helping to get this win!"
"It was a tale of two halves tonight," said Mount Mary Head Basketball Coach Marc Heidrof. "Our vets did just enough down the stretch to keep us in front."
"I was very proud of our free throw shooting in the 4th," coach Heidiorf added. "That has been a focal point this week."
Williams led the Blue Angels with 22 points on 7-of-17 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line in addition to her nine rebounds. Grubbs went 6-of-9 from outside in her return as she finished the contest with 20 points.
Guard Brooke Uebersetzig (Jr./Greenwood, Ind.) kept her offense going with seven points and a team high eight assists. Lucy Pavelko (Jr./Muskego, Wis.) paced the defense with three steals and seven rebounds.
After a brief break, the Blue Angels will return to the Bloechl Center Tue. Jan. 8 at 6:00 pm to take on Silver Lake College. Live stats and video coverage for the game will be made available at MtMaryAthletics.com.


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Object detection and tracking from surveillance videos
Yuan, Ziying
Date of Issue2014
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Wide use of video surveillance systems calls for powerful tools to extract information from video data. In this dissertation, object detection and tracking algorithms are the focus of study. Three different object detection and two different tracking algorithms, which have gained their popularity in computer vision research community, are investigated in this dissertation. The three object detection algorithms investigated in this dissertation are background subtraction with adaptive Gaussian mixture model, Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) detector and Deformable Part Model (DPM) detector. Background subtraction with Gaussian mixture model can detect moving objects fast and accurately in static environment. HOG detector and DPM detector can discriminate objects over background if trained before. For object tracking, the classical algorithm, Kalman filter, is studied. The Tracking-Learning-Detector (TLD) algorithm is also studied, which is a powerful tool for long-term detection and tracking. In this dissertation, the above algorithms are evaluated on two standard benchmark datasets, i.e. TUD-Stadmitte and PETS-2009 S2/Ll. The performance of these algorithms are reported and discussed.
DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Electronic systems::Signal processing


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The bar staff are very good, Gemma helped chose our drinks, with good recommendations. Our waitress was helpful when seated to our table.
Ordered 3 pastas. Food was bland and tasteless. Also had steak. Had to send it back and order a burger instead as is was so tough that I couldn't chew it


text: Lesley Wright / Tuesday, October 18, 2016 / Categories: Newsletter October 2016 Keith and Lesley two of our trustee's have just returned from their annual visit to the disabled children's centre. This year Norman Allen joined them to see what happens at the centre. It was after Lesley and Keith heard that I had been to Tanzania earlier this year that they asked me if I would like to go back only this time with them so as to help with the work that they have been doing over the past11 yrs at the Centre. February 2016 was when I went on safari; September 2016 was another adventure, only this time a completely different one. The main job during my stay was to assist with the building of a new Chicken House; it was just like old times except that I had not ventured into Chicken House building before. A local bricklayer and his son removed the old house, dug out the footings and commenced laying the bricks "sort" of to my drawing. I should tell you here that as there were a pile of bricks left on the football pitch from a previous project, it was decided that they should be moved to within the reach of the new site. No sooner had Keith and I started overcame the lads, one on crutches and others on their wooden wheeler trikes which they loaded up and took across for us. I was at the loading end whilst Keith was at the stacking end. You have never seen a more willing bunch of lads, maybe the carrot that Keith had dangled in front of them had something to do with it as he told them that once the bricks were moved they would be able to get their football pitch back, and we played that afternoon. You need to witness for yourself just how wonderful these disabled children are. On one occasion I was playing football with the lads, plus with a typical African football, plastic bags all crammed into a bag and tied up with string and tape. On my side I had one lad who only had one arm and leg but boy could he manoeuvre himself plus score goals. All the lads have some kind of disability including one with no legs below the knee, so they remove their false limbs and shuffle around on their backsides and use their fists to hit the ball. I think that the biggest surprise was when I saw one of the opposition come dribbling the ball towards me and he was on a pair of crutches. Each and every one of them had their own problem but none of them let that get in the way and boy were they competitive even to shoulder charging the guy on crutches. After an hour of running around on their African "Wembley" pitch, I have to admit that I was relieved to see the ball go over the boundary fence of the neighbouring hospital; it was my chance to pop off for a welcome cup of tea. I had lost count of the score but nobody seemed to care as they were all having fun. I will not forget my time at the Centre, the gratitude that the staff and children showed towards us was quite amazing and now they tell me that my name is on the Chicken House door, fame at last. A part of their thank you was when they put on a show and a dinner for us before we had to leave, that was very special and will always remain a very happy memory for me. Knowing Lesley and Keith as well as I do I can assure you that ALL of the donations sent to this charity do go to the Disabled Children's Centre and we paid all of our own expenses to do this trip, and it was worth every Tanzanian Shilling. Norman This year the centre looked very different the new fence and gates give a neater and well cared for look to the front. As soon as you come through the gate the building that faces you and used to have the kitchen at one end and mini class at the other is transformed by making the whole building into a hall the windows have been enlarged with new modern grills to let in light and air. The new hall allows all the children to eat together and there is room for visitors to join them. The moving of the kitchen to a purpose built building with stoves that have chimneys and use wood efficiently is a big improvement reducing the smoke that drifted across the centre. The Trust gives thanks to Polio Children for their help by funding these improvements. The chicken's numbers have increased to over 125 and there are also a few ducks. To stop the newly hatched chicks being taken by the magpie type birds and the local cats, the `Norman chicken house' has been built, it will have a run covered with a wire roof so they are safe from predators. The centre intend to increase chicken numbers to 200 then start to sell eggs and chickens as well as using some for the children. Vegetables are being grown using recycled washing water, there is enough for the centre but the shortage of rain water means that although they planted extra it has not matured and cannot be sold to raise badly needed income. Calendars are now available From Lesley or Keith Wright 01494 258648 email@example.com All the £7.00 is sent to the children in Tanzania Post and packing please add £1.20 Previous Article April 2016 Next Article April 2017 Print 480 Rate this article: No rating


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Farmers Insurance agent Bryan R. Hobbs opens new office in Champaign
Farmers Insurance agent Bryan Hobbs is celebrating the opening of his office in Champaign.
The office is located at 902 N. Country Fair Drive.
The Bryan R. Hobbs Agency is open five days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The office is accessible via phone at 217-402-9218 or on the web at www.agents.farmers.com/il/champaign/bryan-hobbs.


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Even the most casual observer of Verge Pipe Media over the past six years would probably remark, "that team is ALL IN on Inbound Marketing." And that would be a very true and informed remark. Since I left the world of outbound marketing at AOL in 2006, I have made a point to build the agency I believed the marketing world, and even the consumer of today wants deserves.
But much like my Superhero man crush, Batman, I've come to learn that Inbound Marketing is the hero the social media - mobile connected world deserves, but not always the one it needs right now.
Why? Because the pressure on marketing to,
- convert website visitors into leads and customers,
- grow overall website traffic and,
- increase revenue from existing customers (upsell) has never been greater.
That pressure (IMO) has led to marketplace confusion on terms like Inbound Marketing, Content Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (what is organic, etc.), and Digital Marketing. All of this has produced a lot of crappy content on social media thinly disguised as, "marketing" by everyone from solopreneurs to legacy ad agencies seeking to reinvent themselves.
Admittedly, here at Verge Pipe Media we've had our own struggles with producing remarkable, original content that attracts, converts, closes and delights customers without assistance from earned media, paid promotions and even guerilla marketing tactics. I recently penned a blog on developing the right mix of outbound and inbound marketing that drew on our experience helping higher ed, technology and even hospitality clients.
So you wouldn't be alone in summizing from my Batman reference and our own more down to earth experience that Inbound Marketing as it was dreamed up at Verge Pipe Media in 2010 is at a crossroads. It was the topic of much discussion at my November visit to INBOUND16 and reported on in HubSpot's annual, "The State of Inbound" report. All of which had me asking throughout the month of December, Did Inbound Marketing Stumble in 2016?
In short, I think yes it did. The long of it can be extrapolated from the full length report from HubSpot. Why and how did Inbound Marketing Stumble in 2016? There are two main reasons: maturity and quality.
If you credit Seth Godin with the start of Inbound, you can trace it back to 1999 when Seth began pitching the art of, "permission marketing" in his book of the same name. Since then, David Meerman Scott has discussed the merits and in 2005, HubSpot co-founder Brian Halligan coined the phrase, "Inbound Marketing." In 2012, when Google added the Panda algorithm, content marketing and inbound really rocketed to the forefront with an estimated 73% of marketers claiming inbound is their primary strategy.
Since 2012 what we've seen is an industry that grew up in a hurry and adopted some not so best practices along the way. Inbound marketers missed the coming wave of visual social media apps such as Snapchat, instead trying to improve response rates to their latest lengthy eBook or White Paper. In this case, maturing didn't bring a lot of the, "constantly evolving" wisdom normally associated with getting older and wiser.
Similarly, marketing automation got very good at simplfying and streamling email lead nurturing to the point of being able to drag and drop sequences and workflows which even two years ago would have taken twice as long to setup. However, who really wants a wave of emails to come crashing through their inbox at regular intervals?
As a result, we have very advanced software and marketing automation based on top and middle of the funnel activity relying on content offers (eBooks, White Papers, Guides, etc.) and email lead nurturing when consumers don't want more stuff to download and more emails to sort through. Does Inbound Marketing still work? Abso-freaking-lutely! Did it get 100 years to figure out consumer behaviors had changed like outbound marketing? Not at all.
What was the next hurdle in the path that caused more stumbling?
In this instance, too many low quality leads as a result of niche content of questionable quantity from too few website visitors. Evidence of this exists throughout The State of Inbound report if you're wiilling to read between the colored bar chart lines.
Point 1. Take a look at the Top Marketing Priorities for 2016 which featured two new entries:
- Grow Traffic to Website and
- Sales Enablement
Similarly, "Increasing the Number of Leads and Prospects" fell off the list after two years of being in the top spot.
In other words, the Sales team (and leadership likely) demanded more traffic to the website to make up for the lackluster leads that were being generated and handed off to the Sales team. This wasn't a total rebuke of increasing leads and prospects, as much as a vote for turning up the volume of folks arrving at the home page and then improving upon the quality of the leads and prospects being generated for Sales.
Proving Return On Investment (ROI) has been a consistent battle between Marketing and Sales, and in 2016 we saw, "Generating traffic and leads" as the new #1 on the list.
Point 2. When asked about more specifics on Inbound Marketing priorities, the top three spots remained unchanged:
- Growing SEO and organic presence
- Blog content creation
- Content distrbution and amplification
Interestingly, for the first time, "Marketing Automation" shows up at #4 on the list. So all the pressure on the marketing team to increase traffic, keep up in the content arms race, but get that improved content in front of more and better prospects has almost forced a "shortcut" in automating the lead nurturing process. The top 3 didn't change from previous years' priorities, but marketing teams prioritized getting help and more efficiency to keep up the pace with getting found, producing content and getting it all in front of more prospects.
So where does all this data lead us in 2017 (and beyond)?
For starters, even though Marketing Automation has improved dramatically and is being prioritized in the Top 5 by most inbound marketers, it's not the cure for the fall. In fact, if automation isn't employed smartly, marketers will find themselves pushing low quality leads through the pipeline and compounding the problem with their Sales team.
Next, inbound marketers have to think beyond eBooks, White Papers, Guides and the other meaty content offers they've been producing en masse since 2006. Those publications still have a place with defined buyer personas, but as the go-to offer their days are numbered.
Finally, through educating and dusting off the SMARTKETING (Sales + Marketing) mantra from Halligan and Shah (founders of HubSpot), marketing teams should be spending time educating sales and leadership teams at home and with clients about the long term benefits of Inbound. Through a careful, yet strategic approach you can begin developing the right mix of outbound and inbound marketing, and achieve more of your overall marketing goals.
If you're interested in seeing how we employed Inbound Marketing with a non-profit event that relied almost exclusively on outbound since it's inception, tap the button below for our FREE case study.


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- Description
Quench your thirst with style with a custom JoJo Siwa Buttons water bottle!
This personalized JoJo Siwa Buttons Water Bottle is designed exclusively for fans of the popular dance icon! This customized water bottle is a perfect way to quench your thirst while gettin' jiggy with it on the dance floor. If your little girl loves JoJo Siwa and her dance talents, this personalized water bottle is a must-have solution for any fan of JoJo Siwa! Make a little girl feel extra special by adding a personalized name on the water bottle that will make her feel truly one-of-a-kind. This water bottle conveniently attaches to belt or backpack with attached carabineer.
- Personalize with a name up to 10 characters
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- Included two lids: screw top and pop-up spout
- Hand wash
- Imported
- Reviews


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This blog post is written by Paul Rosengard, Consultant to the Peaceful Playgrounds Foundation.
Follow Paul at @paulrosengard
Grow 4 It!
Part 5 – the "T" in "Grow 4 It!" stands for, "Tracking Your Plan"
Hello and welcome back to this series on professional growth – for physical educators! If you haven't already read all 4 parts of "Grow4It!" just scroll down and you'll see them sequenced.
Over the past 8 weeks we've "G"athered resources, human and otherwise; we've "4"mulated (formulated) our plan; "I"mplemented it, and now we're in the process of "T"racking it. So, you'll see we're also running out of letters in our Grow4It! acronym; and that can only mean this is the last article in this series! (Whew! Says the author, it must be summer…)
As with previous posts, I've asked people in my PLN to weigh in with their best tips and advice. These folks are all terrific and I strongly suggest you follow them on twitter — as I do.
The question I posed was,
"What tips or advice do you have for physical educators who are tracking/monitoring their professional growth plans?"
I think you'll enjoy their insightful comments. Before you start, please allow me to manage your expectations a wee bit. Not all responses directly answered the question – and that's OK! They all offer excellent pro-growth tips I didn't want you to miss.
Here we go!
MacKenzie Mushel-Ellis (@MacKenzieColo) is a Dance Educator who in 2014 was both the 2014 Dance Teacher of the Year for Shape America and Central District TOY. MacKenzie suggested, "Monitoring progress towards your goals is essential whether they are professional or personal. Making note of what is working and/or challenging at regular intervals keeps me focused and MOTIVATED! I have recently been using Evernote to document progress and organize resources that support my goals. This way I can archive and access my reflections from various devices or locations. Setting periodic "check-in" dates/reminders is also helpful. No matter the method of tracking, making a habit of reflecting on your progress is vital to your success."
Denise Renee Brown (@teachnpe) is a dynamic K-5 physical educator in Arlington VA (and a die-hard Skins fan!). Denise offered these thoughts,"First, attend PD's. Be a lifelong learner. Walk away with ideas you can implement, tweek, or expand upon. 2nd, reflect often or journal personal growth. Observe peers, video lessons, present at workshops. 3rd, maintain a professional portfolio."
Nancy Raso Eklund (@NancyEklund) was a past NASPE National Teacher of the Year, a Disney American Teacher, and hails from the great state of Wyoming. Nancy shared, "Once your professional growth plan is in place you often ask, 'Is the plan working? What do I need to change? What are the resources I need to keep it on track?' Document your work and collect artifacts and evidence through an e-portfolio. Identify the resources you need, find collaborative support, and most of all continue your action plan by being proactive and sharing your short term successes. "
Tanya R. Freeman (@TanyaRFreeman) is a frequent grant recipient and physical education specialist who teaches children in grades 4-5 in Cinton, North Carolina. Tanya weighed in with, "At the beginning of each school year I reflect on what my strengths and weaknesses are. I create a plan with goals I wish to achieve and share them with my principal, co-workers, students and family. I find sharing this information holds me accountable. I go back and revisit my plan every 2-3 months to see if I'm making progress. If I am, good! If not, I re-evaluate what I'm doing and make necessary changes so I show growth."
Jennifer Peterson (@OESPhysed) is a K-5 specialist and a Past-President of Iowa-AHPERD. Jennifer responded this way, "I started a PE shared resource folder over a year ago. I saw everyone sharing ideas, several people would ask for the idea (which was awesome) so I thought, hey why not have a spot for ANYONE to access PE activities. The folder has over 600 people – I had no idea it would be so popular. I can't think of another profession (at least in the teaching field) that has this much passion and connectivity with each other."
Stephanie Sandino (@smsandino) is a K-6 elementary physical education specialist in Lake Elsinore, CA. Stephanie chimed in with,"For the past year I've been using my drives to and from work to (or any long drive for that matter) to engage my mind on PE topics for my own professional growth. I listen to podcasts (e.g., Jorge Rodriguez's, @PhysedNow, Voxcast). I find these expand my thinking, help me reflect, and give me the courage to experiment with my own classes. PD on the go as I like to call it!"
Paul's Pointers:
Allow me to reinforce and embellish our contributors' thoughts with a few of my own…
- Accomplishments: Your pro-growth plan is also a tool that can be used to document your successes and broadcast your accomplishments. As you note what you've done (e.g., courses taken, conferences attended, podcasts listened to, PE chats you participated in, etc.) you are not only collecting experiences that help you become a better teacher, you are accumulating nuggets that make you a valued employee! If you are tracking everything you are doing and when you're doing it, you are gathering evidence. Share what you've learned, how you're applying it, and subsequent success stories (perhaps with pictures, clippings, video) with your Principal/Headmaster. Tenure, raises, status, exposure, all can be very positive for your career and help motivate you to reach greater heights.
- What is Assessed is Done: I know each of us is assessed by someone – our Principal, our Professor, our mother, so maybe we don't feel the need to assess ourselves. In the context of a professional growth plan, it's essential to have periodic check-ins (posted in your calendar) where you monitor your progress (self-assess) towards goals and give yourself a pat on the back – or — a motivating kick a bit lower…
- Track Credential Renewal Activities. I asked my colleagues on twitter if they knew of any tools specific to tracking a physical educator's professional growth (besides the one I'm familiar with) and received no responses. However, most states requires teachers to develop and track their training and courses as part of periodic credential renewal processes. As many have said above, add your informal professional development experiences to your teacher renewal folder creating a professional development portfolio that provides a more complete picture of your learning experience with some of the suggestions above. When working towards this objective I hope you'll reflect on the contents of the blog when developing your personal professional development portfolio to track your professional growth.
Wrapping It Up:
We've come to the end of our professional growth journey together! We've "G"athered resources, "4"mulated a plan, "I"mplemented that plan, and "T"racked our plan's progress. If you missed any of the previous posts, I hope you'll give them a read.
Finally, please make a little time to reflect on the key points from this article and past installments too, and apply them to your own professional growth plan.
Until next time, see you @paulrosengard and/or email me your thoughts about this series, email@example.com
An Acronym to Inspire Physical Educators to Grow Professionally
Part 4 – the "I" in "Grow 4 It!" stands for, "Implement Your Plan"
Greetings! I hope by now you're read all 3 parts of "Grow4It!" If not, just scroll down and catch up. We'll wait for you to come back…Welcome back! So now you know that everything we've done thus far has led us down this personal, professional growth path. We've "G"athered resources, human and otherwise; we've "4"mulated (formulated) our plan; and now we're in the process of "I"mplementing it.
I've asked people in my PLN to weigh in with their best tips and advice. These folks are all terrific and I strongly suggest you follow them on twitter — as I do.The question I posed was,"What tips or advice do you have for physical educators in the process of implementing their professional growth plans?" I didn't want to provide a lot of detail that might funnel their responses into a predictable pattern. I think you'll enjoy their candid and insightful comments.
Here we go!
Martha James-Hassan (@drjameshassan) is an Assistant Professor of Physical Education at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD., and a nationally known presenter. Martha shared the following:
"Employ an "and" strategy. When confronted with a challenge, be it to implement a new curriculum, negotiate for resources, or engage with challenging students, acknowledge the obstacles AND the possibilities. Replace "buts" with ands". E.g., rather than saying things like, "That's a good idea, BUT I can't do that in my school," shift to, "That's a good idea, AND to implement it I'll need _____________ ."
Pam Powers (@psquaredpe) is a former SW District TOY, star innovator and presenter, now with letsmoveschools.org. Pam shared 3 tips:
1. If at first your lesson does not succeed, try again! It could be a poorly constructed lesson, or the wrong lesson for a specific class.
2.If you are constantly revising, editing and changing your overall scope and sequence each year, you are a rockstar!
3. The day you decide to stop learning, attending workshops, reading, networking, this is the day you should decide to stop teaching."
Jeff Couvy is a full-time physical educator in Southern California working as a K-5 specialist at a Lutheran School in Orange. Jeff responded to the question by saying:
"The best advice I can offer is to not be afraid to confront your weaknesses or biggest challenges. It's easy to invest energy in developing those areas where we already feel successful and enjoy teaching, but true growth as an educator is committing to develop those areas which are the biggest personal challenges and most intimidating."
Tim Brusseau (@timbrusseau) is an Asst. Professor and Director of Physical Education Teacher Education at the University of Utah. Tim responded this way:
1. Surround yourself with a great support team, i.e., mentor teachers, peers, others from the profession who can be an ear or help in the good times and tough times when teaching.
2. Be engaged professionally, this helps confirm your ideas and/or stimulates more growth.
3. Be willing to try new idea and concepts. We learn best when we fail so be brave in your efforts."
Matthew Bassett (@PhysEdApps) is a NBCT and physical educator who teaches K-8th grade students at San Jose Charter Academy in Southern CA. Here's how Matt answered the question:
"During the early part of my career (Note: Matt has been teaching 15 years) I felt like an island. Going to conferences was tough because I didn't know a lot of people. Social media has helped me in this department. I've found I can talk with other teachers and push myself to learn and grow. Via social media, I can outreach at any time, ask questions, or provide insight into my class. I don't feel alone anymore. "
Patty Kestell (@pk_lv2teachpe) is a K-5 "PhyEd" specialist at a public school in Wisconsin — and was the National Elementary TOY in 2013. Patty shared these insights:
"Personal reflection should play a huge role when implementing a professional growth plan. In addition to the basic questions such as, 'What are my strengths? What areas of my teaching do I need to improve? What resources do I need, and what kind of PD should I do to make it happen?' Also ask yourself, 'When thinking about assessment and student growth, how will I know my students have learned what they need to know to be physically literate? What can I do to help my students become more self-directed learners?"
Joe McCarthy (@JoeMcCarthy09) is an elementary physical educator and 2012 Minnesota TOY. Joe is a frequent presenter and webinar provider. Joe said:
"When I think of pro growth, I think how can I strive to instill a sense of 'life-long learning' with the 700 students I work with everyday at my K-5 school? It's important that the goals you are working on help to improve the learning needs of students, as that is the main reason we are in this profession. How will your pro growth plan goals support the learning needs of students in your classroom?"
Naomi Hartl (@MissHartl) is a former K-12 physical educator currently serving as SPARK's Development and Technology Specialist living in Oregon. Naomi shared:
"I believe one of the most important tips is to surround yourself with a small group of passionate and dedicated educators. This group should help you reflect on your growth plan, hold you accountable to your goals, and challenge your ideas of teaching and learning to help push your thinking forward."
Brett Fuller (@BrettAFuller) is a former secondary physical educator who is the Milwaukee Public Schools Health and Physical Education Curriculum Specialist. Brett responded this way:
"When I think of a pro-growth plan I think of making a systems change/culture change. Making a true systems change, people need to be patient because it usually takes three years for others to truly buy into that change."
Seth Martin (@smartintahoe) is an elementary physical educator who was the 2010 CA Gov. Council TOY and is currently serving as VP-Elect for CAHPERD. Seth shared this thought:
"I think the biggest piece of advice is go after one aspect you want to improve at a time, and when you go after it, go all the way! Read books, look for PD sessions, and start testing strategies. Fine tune one thing before you go after another part of your pro-growth plan."
Sarah G-H (@GHsaysRockChalk) is an exemplary middle school physical educator in St. Louis, MO who also happens to be a prolific Twitter contributor. Sarah responded this way:
"At the beginning of each school year I write down 3-4 big goals I want to achieve throughout the year. I keep them in a file and refer to them often. It's really fun to look at the goals from previous year, too!
Closing Thoughts:
Allow me to reinforce and supplement my colleagues' excellent suggestions with a few of my own:
- Stay Organized: It's easy to let goals go, or forget to do that quarterly videotape of your teaching, or not register in time for a local conference. So, don't hold things to memory – write them in your calendar, even if it's a year or more in advance. Not just on the date they're due, but give yourself a week's advance notice that a task is coming up soon.
- Don't Wait Until You're Thirsty to go to the Well: If you've followed me for a while, you know I say this A LOT. In this context I'm referring to your PLN and maintaining relationships. Once you've recruited your pack of mentors and challengers, stay in touch. This is another way your calendar can help you. Enter reminders (ticklers) to (e.g.) outreach to that special Professor a couple times a year. And since you're implementing a growth plan, you'll need inspiration from time to time. Who inspires you to want to learn more, do new things, approach challenges with a different perspective? That's a valuable mentor indeed. Stay in touch with her/him.
- Press Pause, not Stop: Whatever we do in this life, we WILL run into obstacles along the way. Pro growth plans are no different. Plans change and we need to recalibrate. Sometimes we fulfill all the tasks and goals we set for ourselves, sometimes we don't. We change schools, jobs, districts. It's a process – one with no outcome or finish line because we're always growing professionally. So while navigating your personal winding road and its inevitable pitfalls, be good to yourself. If you find you're off plan for a while, think of it as pressing pause – not stop. It's a mindset that you're not giving up or falling too far behind, you're just taking a short break, and you WILL pick up right where you left off.
Wrapping It Up:
So far you've "G"athered resources, and "4"mulated a Plan. Next time we'll talk about the "T" in "Grow4It" which stands for "T"racking."
I hope you'll reflect on the key points from this article and apply them to your own professional growth plan.
See you next time for the T in "T"racking and Part 5 in our Grow4It!! series.
This post brought to you by Peaceful Playgrounds Foundation
Follow Peaceful Playgrounds @recessdoctor
A 4-Part blog on Professional Growth for Physical Educator
Part 3 – the "4" in Grow 4 It! stands for "4mulate a Plan"
Initial Thoughts on Topic:
As I prepared to write this section, I learned there is no shortage of material on the topic of how to create a professional growth plan. Of course, I had my own experiences as a physical education teacher (coach, athletic director) to reflect upon too – 12+ years at K-12 and another 11 at the university level; and as an employer, I wrote evaluations and worked with teammates on their professional growth plans. I felt ready to profess and describe a number of steps in the process. But then I realized, hearing directly from others in various stages of their own professional growth plans might be the most effective way to convey useful information – then I can chime in at the end to summarize and supplement. Now that you know the format, let's get started.
First, BIG thanks to all the terrific professionals who weighed in on this topic and contributed to the first section below. I encourage you to follow them on Twitter because they have a lot to share.
- Fielding the Question. "How would you suggest PE folks organize or plan their own professional growth evolution?"
First, let's hear from a 1st year physical educator, Tyler McCune (@mrmccunepe) who teaches at a K-5 school in Illinois:
"I'm really just trying to stay afloat this year, stay on top of my responsibilities. I do have some things I wish I would have known when I started. First is to create a Google drive or drop box and start organizing information by category. I wasn't aware of the vast amount of info out there and if you try and remember it all it won't happen. Get organized!"
I also heard from Ira Kleiman (@irakleiman) who is a Headmaster at K-8 school in Michigan. From his administrator's perspective, Ira said,
"My Deans meet with teachers after observations and mutually decide on goals based on their observation rubric. I ask my Deans, "Where is your teacher on the rubric and what are we doing to help her/him grow professionally?" Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
Now let's hear from Jamie Sparks (@Jamiesparkscsh) who is KY SHAPE Network Director, KYAHPERD President, and serves in a variety of other leadership roles for his state and on the SPARK Innovation Team.
"In the KY system of teacher effectiveness we defined our measurement by identifying enduring skills based on National PE standards. It's critical to move toward the collective goal of 50 Million Strong so we have a unified voice in measuring physical literacy. Many administrators have not experienced quality physical education themselves so educating them on physical literacy along with appropriate assessment strategies/outcomes is an equally important part of the process. "
Time to hear from Paul Zientarski (@paulzientarski) who is a retired physical educator from highly awarded Naperville North High School in Illinois, who continues to remain active as a Consultant. Paul told me,
"It's important to have an open mind. I received valuable information from physiologists, pro athletes, professors, coaches, present and past students and peers (and more). That's because I never thought I had all the answers. I constantly looked to improve my teaching. I was never afraid to make changes and admit I was wrong. I was 100x better as a teacher in my 40th year than I was in my 1st year when I thought I was smart."
What does Stephen Jefferies, Professor Emeritus of Central WA University and SHAPE America President 2015 have to say on this topic?
"The most important advice I can share is to actually take the time to create a growth plan. As with all achievements in life, the most important step is probably the first one – the decision to act. I really like this quote, 'The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself."
Steve added, "It's easy to feel isolated teaching by oneself or surrounded by colleagues who don't share your excitement and motivation for teaching Health and Physical Education. The more you connect with your teaching colleagues at conferences, workshops, and online, the easier it becomes to stay excited about teaching."
Jorge Rodriguez (@physednow) is the Lead and Key Physical Education Teacher for Houston Independent School District in Texas. Jorge is also a member of the SPARK Innovation Team. Jorge advised,
"When considering a professional growth plan, a teacher should first identify and reflect on personal strengths and weaknesses. Then keep an open mind to the most efficient means of improvement. Technology has democratized professional development to a point where individuals can maximize their own professional growth."
Andrew Milne (@carmelhealth) is a Health and Physical Education teacher in Illinois who hails originally from London. Here's what Andrew shared with me on our topic:
"I would argue that openly sharing your goals with those around you, even your students, holds you accountable. It's easy to let yourself down and not work at your goals. This is less likely if you share your goal, as you don't want to disappoint those with whom you shared your goals. Finally, I like the idea of 'one word.' This is where you choose your word for the year. This word remains in the back of your mind and shapes your behavior throughout the year. My word for 2016 is Provocation. 2015 was Advocacy. 2014 was Resilience."
Lynn Hefele (@lynnhefele) is a former elementary TOY (who has taught all levels) who teaches physical education in New York State. Lynn weighed in by saying,
"I think the most important thing to do before creating a personal growth plan is to really identify what makes a 'highly effective' teacher. I would suggest reading the Danielson Framework. The rest is simple: Set a long term goal, create 3-5 short term goals with a timeline to achieve them, then reflect, revise, reflect, revise, reflect revise!"
III. Summarizing:
Here are some of the key points that resonated with me:
- Prepare by studying up (E.g., Danielson Framework, "Measuring Teacher Effectiveness in Physical Education" by Judy Rink, "20 Indicators of Effective Physical Education Instruction" and many more related pages at www.shapeamerica.org). Making the time to actually create a growth plan is a great start. (Thanks Steve.)
- Take an honest deep dive into your own teaching style and skill sets (Thanks Jorge). Try using my "5 Characteristics of a Great (and Effective) Teacher" from Part 1 of this series to guide you.
- Review your district guidelines and what your Principal, or whoever is evaluating your performance, expects to occur on your professional growth path (Thanks Ira.)
- Work with your district evaluator to educate her/him on SHAPE America Standards and current best practices in the profession. (Thanks Jamie.)
- Gather resources (see Parts 1 and 2 in this series) and organize materials electronically (e.g., Google Drive or Dropbox) or in a filing system by category. (Thanks Tyler.)
- Have an open mind and learn from everyone along the way. (Thanks Paul.) When you find a gem, file it away – right away! And update your C.V. or resume as quickly as possible. It's easy to fall behind and forget what you've done months later.
- Set a long-term goal and several short-term goals with a timeline to achieve them. (Thanks Lynn.) Develop assessment strategies so you can provide evidence of attainment. Remember, it's important to ensure your goals align with your district and SHAPE America expectations.
- Take one of your goals and make it your big goal (your one word) for the year. (Thanks Andrew.) Consider sharing that goal with others so they can help to hold you accountable.
Finally, I want to say that I found it interesting that no one mentioned a particular technique along the way; the one thing I personally believe is most impactful to improve our teaching…Watch yourself on videotape.
Self assess, then if/when you're ready, invite a peer or mentor to view a tape with you. Finally, incorporate a tool (e.g., www.SHAPEamerica.org "20 Indicators of Effective Physical Education Instruction").
Try teach, assess, re-teach, applying what you learned after your initial review. This is a process that can and should be repeated frequently. You can also monitor how active your students are (time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity) and set goals to improve various parameters (e.g., decrease time spent managing and organizing students, increase time students engage in MVPA, etc.).
Wrapping It Up:
So far you've "G"athered resources, and "4"mulated a Plan. Next time we'll talk about the "I" in "Grow4It" which stands for "Implement." And, if you haven't already guessed, the "T" stands for "Tracking." So if you're wondering why I've left out a few important topics and points, it's likely I'm saving them for future articles.
I hope you'll reflect on the key points in 4mulating a Plan, and begin working on yours! See you next time for Implement.
I. A Quick Review of Part I
Before we move into the new content in Part 2, let's review a few key points from Part 1:
Last time we introduced the first word in our Grow4It! acronym, and it was the G for Gather. Because in 2016 we have SO many relevant resources available to us as physical educators, I took the liberty of dividing the G for Gather concept into two parts. The first part, and the topic of our last blog post, examined Gathering "Human Resources" and building your PLN (Professional Learning Network). Do you remember my "Top 5 Characteristics of a Great (and effective) Teacher?" They are:
- Preparation and Organization
- Subject Matter Expertise
- Instructional Expertise
- Relationships with Parents and Students
- Social Media (and Technology) Utilization
In Part 1, we discussed all five and suggested strategies on how to recruit mentors from each category. What was our goal? To help you develop and/or enhance your PLN.
If you haven't already begun soliciting new members to your Grow4It! team, now is a great time! If the task seems daunting, try breaking it into smaller steps and set a goal to address (e.g.) one concept per month. Start wherever you like — you don't have to begin at #1 — and set your own pace. Have fun making new professional friends and deepening the relationships you already have.
II On to Part 2 & Recommendations from Physical Educators.
Our second post about the G in Gather will dissect "Non-Human Resources."
I began researching this article by asking physical educators I know from twitter (an integral component of my PLN) what their favorite #physed (#physed is a popular hashtag on twitter) resources are. While almost all spoke highly of the "Human Resources" they've gained from Twitter and Voxer, here are some "Non-Human" resource suggestions from outstanding physical educators:
- Tim Brusseau, an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah and Wanda Taylor, a MS PE teacher in Park City, Utah both said their "go-to" is PECentral.com.
- Judy LoBianco (@jlobianc) a Supervisor of Health, Physical Education, and Nursing for a school district in New Jersey suggested, SHAPE America Teacher Toolbox and SHAPE Exchange at shapeamerica.org.
- Mike McClain (mcclain1950), Health and Physical Education Instructional Systems Specialist for DoDEA on Okinawa, likes sparkfamily.org(must purchase a SPARK program for access) and www. CDC.gov to "find out what the actual data and trends are for Health/Fitness."
- Amy Prior (@priorteach) HS Health and Physical Education teacher and former T.O.Y. from Charlotte, NC recommends, "Ditch That Textbook" by Matt Miller.
- Patty Lanier (@luvtoplay) former elementary physical educator, now at the University of Central Florida, praised the book, "Originals" (How non-conformists move the world) by Adam Grant.
- Kevin Tiller (@physedreview) a very creative elementary physical educator and T.O.Y. in MA loves YOUTUBE. (And Star Wars so if you're a fan, follow him on twitter!)
- Justin Schleider (@schleiderjustin) a K-8 physical educator who teaches in N.J. likes this site, nlpc.us (National Lesson Plan Creator on google docs).
- Brett Fuller (@BrettAFuller) a Supervisor of Physical Education in the Milwaukee Public School District suggested the site of a district physical educator, WI TOY, Mike Beringer (@PEberingmx) http://fairviewpe.blogspot.com
- Terry Jones (@tjwrestler) a Physical Education Content Specialist for CO Dept. of Education likes edutopia.org and @edutopia.
- Amanda Stanec (@MoveLiveLearn) a physical educator who has taught at the University level and now consults and runs MLL, priased the book, "Standards-Based Physical Education Curriculum Development" by Lund & Tannehill.
This list of 10 is by no means complete! I want to thank these terrific physical educators for sharing their favorite resources, and others who wrote me with theirs. Sorry that space doesn't allow me to include everyone's excellent contributions.
III. What Makes a Resource Great?
First, let's qualify our resources. For the sake of time, we'll focus on content (I place content in a broad category, the "What to teach") and what physical educators search for the most — lesson plans and new ideas they can implement with their students.
Many of the websites already cited in Section 2 (and countless others) provide free or low cost lesson plans. And, if you attend a conference (and I hope you make every effort to attend district, state, and national opportunities) you are likely to leave with access to curriculum samples. How can you quickly determine which are worthy of trying with your students? Try this 3-step assessment I developed more than two decades ago for SPARK:
When you receive a new lesson/unit plan or idea, run it through your filter. Ask yourself:
- Is it good to go? (No red flags in content, terminology, district policies, etc.)
- Does it need modification? (There are parts you like, and others you can fix or improve upon.)
- No thanks. (You know your school and students best and this lesson plan just won't work in my program even with modification.)
Once a lesson plan is vetted this way, then I suggest my final "A-E" standards before using:
A. Is there a standard(s) being addressed?
B. Is there an assessment tool to demonstrate student learning of that standard.
C. Are the activities aligned to the standard(s)?
D. Are the activities inclusive/differentiated, do they foster at least 50% MVPA (moderate to vigorous physical activity), and are they enjoyable.
E. Can I make a connection to out of class and "take it home" applications?
Now by all means, there is much more to consider. Are there technologies that might streamline/simplify instruction, reduce management time, increase learning receptivity and/or "stickiness," and more. Think about the criteria I listed and embellish with your own good ideas. YOU are the expert – no one knows your environment, facilities, students, etc. like you do — and understand best what you need for professional growth.
Gathering Quality Instructional Resources:
Many of the websites previously cited in Section 2 offer free or low-cost PD for physical educators. In addition to those, here are a few (sorry, so many to list!) of my favorites:
- Peaceful Playgrounds (www.peacefulplaygrounds.com then see Online Courses): PP has some excellent and unique online courses such as: Bullying Prevention for Teachers, Playground Supervisor Training, Grant Writing 101 Training, to name a few. Also, check out their free and on-demand webinars, and subscribe to their newsletter. The latter will let you know of live webinar dates and topics.
- SPARK e-cademy (www.sparkpe.org): This site not only hosts courses in all SPARK PE programs but also has a library of webinars on timely topics – many applying technology to PE classes. Additionally, e-cademy can track your online PD online and from conferences you attend. SPARK also offers free webinars monthly that feature superstar physical educators as well as current and past TOY's (Teachers of the Year.)
- PHYSEDagogy (@PHYSEDagogy & www.physedagogy.com): This is a group of innovative and technology savvy physical educators who have banded together to bring free professional development (and lesson plan/assessment tools) to the online PE community. They host high quality, excellent sessions featuring some of the top thought leaders of the day. Follow them on Twitter and learn when their next virtual conference is.
- Two outstanding sites you must include while Gathering resources are SHAPEamerica and PE Central (mentioned in Section 2 and websites provided there).
- SPARK program courses may be taken for graduate units of credit and SPARK offers Institutes each summer in San Diego.
- I am a consultant to Peaceful Playgrounds non-profit foundation, and a member of the SPARK Advisory Council.
Closing Thoughts : I think we have gathered a lot of physical education resources and I hope you're already starting to think about building your professional growth library!
Remember, the idea is to "Grow4It!" in BIG and BOLD ways. If you are spending too much time in your comfort zone, consider leaping out to where the magic happens!
Next time, we'll look at the 4 in Grow4It! as in "4mulating a plan for professional growth." Until then, good luck Gathering your resources!
This post brought to you by Peaceful Playgrounds
Follow Peaceful Playgrounds @recessdoctor
Part 1 — The G in Grow stands for Gather
A rolling stone may Gather no moss, but a physical educator must Gather resources to stay relevant. Those who prepare well and embrace professional growth can move beyond relevancy to exemplary.
We're going to examine Gathering resources in two parts. This first of two articles on the G in Gather will focus on "Human Resources." No, not the HR department companies use to recruit and retain employees. The kind we physical educators can use to help us successfully navigate our professional growth paths. They comprise our Professional Learning Network (PNL). Much more about them shortly. But now…
Let's begin our professional growth journey with a question,
Do you want to be a really GREAT (and more effective) teacher for your students, parents, and administration at your school?
If so, what does being a great teacher look and sound like? What does that mean in terms of your program, your content selection, your instructional style?
I believe truly great teachers have the following 5 "Human Resources" arrows in their quivers:
1. Preparation and Organization:
We all know the value of this, yet many of us could benefit from a P and O tune up. Who's the most organized teacher on your staff? How does she (he) prepare her learning environment, her units, her lessons? What protocols does she establish at the beginning of the year and how does she reinforce them as the months go by? Does she utilize technology to streamline and simplify roll taking, assessment, grading? Is it possible to observe her teach a lesson that showcases her organization and planning?
Action: Gather information from this preparation/organization mentor and add her/him to your PLN.
2. Subject Matter Expertise:
Physical educators must be exceptional instructors in myriad individual sports, team sports, track and field, dance, aquatics, martial arts, group fitness, just to name a few. Add to that a deep knowledge of the physical education standards (1), and don't forget to layer on a need to understand teaching progressions that extend skill basics like throwing and catching, to sophisticated games like cricket, football, ultimate, and more.
Could you benefit from learning how to teach Pilates, Functional Fitness, intermediate Hip Hop? Taking classes is an obvious answer, but let's suggest something a little different. Invite someone from your school, family/community to teach a class(es) for your students in a subject area you're not familiar with and/or comfortable teaching. Ask your guest instructor (And/or maybe a Nationally Board Certified Teacher 2) if you could videotape the class for review later – and ask if she will review and critique it with you. Have an excused student point an iPad/video camera (on a table or similar) at the teacher while YOU participate with your students. A good rule of thumb to enable fast learning of a kinesthetic subject is to:
1. Participate as a student would — at least twice.
2. Team-teach — you lead a couple segments you're most competent with and assist the main instructor.
3. Team-teach — you lead most of the class and the expert assists you.
4. Watch yourself on videotape and solicit feedback from the mentor teacher.
Action: Gather information from this subject matter mentor and add her/him to your PLN.
3. Instructional Expertise:
A great lesson plan in the hands of a mediocre teacher is likely a mediocre lesson. A mediocre lesson plan in the hands of a great teacher is very likely a great lesson. We all know that WHAT you teach is important, but HOW you teach it makes all the difference in terms of student learning.
Who is that teacher(s) at your school (or within your PLN) that is consistently creative, empowering students, and incorporating useful technologies? Who might watch a videotape of your instruction and give you useful feedback? Personally, I believe the best thing any of us can do as teachers is to view videotape of ourselves with a mentor and a good assessment tool to guide the process. Note: If you'd like a sample instructional assessment tool, email me at email@example.com. My colleagues and I at SPARK PE wrote a number of these over the years. Just let me know if you teach elementary, middle or high school physical education.
Action: Gather information from this instructional mentor and add her/him to your PLN.
4. Relationships with Students and Parents:
Great teachers develop loving and respectful relationships with their students and their parents. They frequently communicate about what students are learning, doing, and achieving in their classroom. One of my favorite sayings is, "Don't wait until you're thirsty to go to the well." Have a group of parents that know you and your program best and are willing to support you if/when you need it.
Use these relationships to better understand the community you teach in. For example, in a school district about 5 miles away from me there was a much publicized and contentious lawsuit against a supplemental physical education program that was being provided to the elementary schools (free) by an outside non-profit. It was a variation of Yoga, modified to be developmentally appropriate for children. Eventually, after great expense a judge finally ruled the Yoga classes could continue — they were not religious in nature. I sometimes wonder if the divisive and costly issue would have been avoided if the unit was simply called, "Power Stretching"…
As an Athletic Director, Head Coach, and PE Dept. Head, I would interview prospective teachers, coaches, and employees who would come in contact with kids. I was always hoping to hear, "I love kids." Great teachers love their students and care deeply about their development and futures. When love and caring comprise the foundation, students try harder. They want to do well for the teacher who is their champion.
Great teachers adapt to the way individual students learn, they don't try to wedge students into one or two narrow teaching styles or strategies. Teachers that differentiate learning show they care about individuals and their needs. This establishes an atmosphere of respect for each young person and fosters positive relationship building.
Action: Gather "great teaching capital" by building relationships with your students and parents.
5. Social Media Utilization:
As I was preparing to write this article, I asked physical educators, "What is your favorite PE resource?" The most common answer was Twitter and Voxer, because of the people they met there. Once again, the "Human Resource."
If you are a physical educator and have not yet tried either or both of these networks, I strongly encourage you to do so. They'll connect you to colleagues in your community, your state, your country, and your world. You can ask for help, (e.g.) "My gym is closed for repairs next week and I'm in a tiny classroom with 45 3rd graders. I need ideas!" Or you can post a video of a lesson segment you did that was particularly creative and successful; then enjoy the feedback you receive. You can have a conversation with like-minded people you've never even met and discuss topics like standards-based grading, or what's the best way to assess a particular national standard at a grade level. Via Twitter and Voxer you build and diversify your PLN and gather valuable resources such as: lesson plans, professional development (free PD is plentiful), the latest apps, tools for advocacy, and much more. There are many more social media sites of course, but I've found that physical educator's go-to sources are Twitter and Voxer.
Action: Gather subject matter knowledge, instructional expertise, technology tools, and a supportive PE network by engaging in social media and continue to build your PLN.
Wrapping it Up:
My top 5 is by no means complete or comprehensive. What would you add? What do YOU think are the characteristics of a great physical educator?
After making time to reflect, ask yourself, "What kind of teacher do I want to be in 3 years? 5 years?" We'll talk more about that next time, AND, we'll delve into the 2nd part of Gather to include:
1. Non "Human" resources.
2. What makes a resource great?
3. How can we vet potential resources?
4. Which resources are the favorites of leading physical educators?
And a lot more! So join us next time for the 2nd part of Gather and we'll continue to Grow 4 it! in BIG and BOLD ways!
(1) NASPE-National Standards for Physical Education from SHAPE. SHAPE America's National Standards define what a student should know and be able to do as result of a quality physical education program.
(2) National Board Certified Teacher – Created by teachers, for teachers, National Board Certification is the profession's mark of accomplished teaching.
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