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'X-Files': Reason to 'Believe'?
Seven years after David Duchovny left the TV series and 10 since the first ''X-Files'' movie, odd couple Mulder and Scully resume their search for the truth
David Duchovny is sitting on the porch of a farmhouse about an hour north of Vancouver, squinting into the wintry afternoon sun. It's late in the process of shooting The X-Files: I Want to Believe, and he's pondering the choice Agent Mulder had to make in the series finale: perfect happiness or the truth? "I don't think of Mulder as a happy guy," Duchovny says. "He's like a quest hero. That's why I like him so much. He just doesn't give up." Costar Gillian Anderson passes by on her way to the set. "It's all lies!" she yells out with a grin.
Hey, it might be — after all, "deceive, inveigle, obfuscate" was one of the TV show's taglines during its nine-season run on Fox. But six years after the series ended (and a decade since the last film), the new movie promises to be a lot more straightforward than fans of the show might expect. Written by series creator Chris Carter and his right-hand man Frank Spotnitz — and stemming from an idea they'd been kicking around for years — it's a stand-alone story, set in the winter of 2008, that Carter describes as a "suspense thriller" akin to the monster-of-the-week episodes from the show's early days. Gone is the occasionally baffling mythology — Black oil! Ice picks! Bees! — that came to define the series. The new film is designed to satisfy the faithful while courting a new generation of fans raised on Saw and Hostel. "Oh, it's a great relief to not have to reweave all the strands of the narrative," says Spotnitz. "We just wanted to tell a really good story with characters that we love."
Details about said story are tough to come by, but here's what we do know. Billy Connolly plays a priest of what Spotnitz calls "dubious character," and Xzibit and Amanda Peet show up as two new FBI agents. Carter says we can also expect "an appearance or appearances" from X-Files alums (though, tragically, the Stupendous Yappi will not be involved). Other clues? They'll tackle the subject of Mulder and Scully's extraordinary son, William, who was given up for adoption. And Carter — a former skeptic who's got more "faith that it's not all meaningless" these days — cites influences like string theory and the work of religious scholar Huston Smith, saying a phrase from one of Smith's lectures actually "became" the movie. (Fans, start Googling.)
NEXT PAGE: "Mulder and Scully have not been frozen in ice. They've been leading some kind of life, together or apart, in some parallel dimension. They've had experiences that we'll never know about."


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I'd like to put in a request for a short webinar or long video on the Formula Editor. I just watched Julian Parris's short video on the subject:
It's a good start, but doesn't provide enough guidance for folks who are migrating from writing formulas in Excel to doing them in JMP. I've been using JMP since 1994, and until about five years ago, did all of my complex formula creation in Excel. After not getting it quite right in Excel a bunch of times, I forced myself to do all formula creation in JMP.
In deploying JMP across my organization, teaching users how to create complex formulae in JMP instead of Excel has been a bit of a hurdle. Some common continuous process applications: finding the occurrence of a condition involving multiple variables; finding when a machine started running and then summing the runtime until it stopped; finding the length of production campaigns for each product.
Some topics:
Would be happy to provide other examples. Anyone else have any requests?
Mission accomplished during .
Nicely done Mark

subset: commoncrawl


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Back to top
Jenai Laignel
/ 26 February 2015
( 17 November 2015 )
Quite often, being a savvy traveller comes with years of experience; a lot of it is down to trial and error and learning from past mistakes. However, Saga has some essential travel tips to help.
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Here are three of our top travel tips to become the ultimate savvy traveller and have friends turning to you for advice when planning their next holiday...
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Have you ever attempted single bag travel? It's not as hard as you may think, especially if you follow our simple advice; you just need to invest in the right carry-on bag and embrace essentialism!
Related: Six things to do before you go on holiday
Travelling out of peak season (i.e. school holidays) will ensure you receive the best deals. The trick is to find what is known as the 'shoulder season' – the sweet spot between the high-priced peak season and the poor weather of the low season. This is the perfect time to get away; not only will you maximise your travel budget, but you'll avoid the crowds.
Find the best off peak deals on UK short breaks
Finally, any seasoned traveller will tell you that it really does pay to do your homework and shop around before committing to anything.
Saga has some of the best over-50s discounts all in one place on our Saga Partners Discounts page – perfect if you're looking for a good deal.
From travel extras such as hire cars and airport parking to villa and cottage rental holidays, we've got it covered.
The material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal, medical or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.
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Jenai Laignel writes for Saga Travel online.


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Come and celebrate thus traditional Czechoslovakian holiday. This is a special event that focuses on the children, who are especially welcome, as well as all those interested in Czech and Slovak culture, customs and history.
When: Sunday, December 6
Time: 2:00 PM until 4:00 PM
Location: Sylvester Powell, Jr. Community Center, 6200 Martway, Mission, KS 66202
Phone: 913-722-8200
2:00 – 2:30
Gather and musical entertainment
2:30 – 3:15
Potluck Meal – We ask that each family bring a dish as follows:
Last Name A through J- appetizer/dessert
K through R – main dish
S through Z – vegetable/salad
The club will provide soft drinks, plates, and other utensils
3:15 – 4:00
Visit from St. Mikulas, children's gifts, and other activities –
(Please bring a wrapped gift for each of your children with his or her name on it-maximum value of $10)
Kids, can you sing a song, read a poem, tell a story, do a trick? Then share your talents with St. Mikulas on this celebration day.
Please RSVP to Terry Smitka at 816-217-9487 or firstname.lastname@example.com by December 3, 2009. Please provide number of adults & children who will be attending. There is no charge to attend.
We hope you can join us for this fun-filled afternoon. If icy or snowy conditions exist during the morning of December 6, please contact Terry Smitka before departing in case we need to cancel the event. We do not want anyone injured while driving or walking up to the program.


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Clergy and Staff
The leadership at Temple Beth David consists of a team of dedicated professionals including:
Rabbi Karen and Rabbi Micah Citrin, Co-Rabbis and Co-Educators
Rabbi Karen S. Citrin
Originally from Belmont, MA and a graduate of Brandeis University, Rabbi Karen Citrin was ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles in 2003, and also holds a Master's Degree in Jewish Education from the HUC-JIR Rhea Hirsch School of Education. Rabbi Karen served as Associate Rabbi and Rabbi/Educator at Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, CA for ten years. In addition to leading worship, lifecycle, and other pastoral roles, Rabbi Karen directed a variety of education programs including a nationally recognized Shabbat family education experience. Along with Rabbi Micah, Rabbi Karen served as Co-Senior Rabbi at Temple Israel in Tulsa, OK from 2013-2016. Rabbi Karen served on the Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and currently serves as a rabbinic mentor for the joint CCAR/HUC-JIR mentoring program. She enjoys learning and teaching, being outdoors, reading novels, Jewish music, and strong coffee.
Rabbi Micah J. Citrin
Originally from Albuquerque, NM and a graduate of the University of Oregon, Rabbi Micah Citrin was ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles in 2005, and also holds a Master's Degree in Jewish Education from the HUC-JIR Rhea Hirsch School of Education. Rabbi Micah served as Associate Rabbi at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, CA, and Director of Community Life and Learning at Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto, CA. Rabbi Micah worked with the clergy team at Peninsula Temple Beth El for three years in San Mateo, CA as Rabbi/Educator, especially focusing on teen engagement. Along with Rabbi Karen, Rabbi Micah served as Co-Senior Rabbi at Temple Israel in Tulsa, OK from 2013-2016. Rabbi Micah's interests include running, playing guitar, singing, reading, and being outdoors.
Together, the Rabbis Citrin value the warmth of tradition and the spirit of innovation. They value shared leadership, and partnering with lay leaders and staff to shape vibrant Jewish community. They guide people of all ages to connect to Judaism through thought-provoking study, uplifting prayer and music, and acts of loving-kindness in order to repair our world. Rabbi Karen and Rabbi Micah invite you to engage in enriching and meaningful Jewish experiences at Temple Beth David.
Rabbi Karen and Rabbi Micah are the proud parents of seventh grade twins, Itai and Yonah.
Leah Graff, Administrative Assistant
Leah is excited to be a part of the Temple Beth David community as an administrative assistant in the office and a religious school teacher.
Leah was born and raised in Easton, Massachusetts. She attended religious school, became a Bat Mitzvah and was confirmed at Temple Chayai Shalom in Easton. Leah graduated from Bridgewater State University and then headed to Israel. She was a participant in the Masa Israel Teaching Fellows program and worked as an elementary school English teacher. While in the MITF program, Leah also became a Birthright Israel Fellow. During college, Leah worked in various office and administrative settings. In her free time, Leah enjoys hiking at Borderland State Park, yoga classes, leading Birthright groups, and spending time with her family and friends.
Leah is happy to be at Temple Beth David, supporting all aspects of Temple life, working with our youth, and getting to know all the wonderful people in our community.
Linda Wilson, Administrative Assistant
Linda Wilson, a graduate of Suffolk University Law School, is a retired attorney. She has extensive experience in mid-size law firm management and her areas of responsibility included managing the Accounting Department, the Human Resources Department, and training/supervising the firm's management team and department heads. In addition, she was responsible for managing organizational growth and strategic planning. She is pleased to lend her expertise to the Temple Beth David community and enjoys her new role at Temple Beth David.
Roberto Vasconcelos, Custodian
Roberto has worked at Temple Beth David since 2003. You might find him at any hour of the day or night hard at work. He lives in Northborough with his daughter and grandson. When he is not working, he loves to kayak and play tennis.
Rabbi Emeritus Henry A. Zoob
Rabbi Zoob served as the rabbi of Temple Beth David of Westwood for thirty-six years. He became the temple's Rabbi Emeritus in July 2006. Rabbi Zoob was the founding President of the Rashi School, the Boston Area Reform Jewish Day School. In 1989 he was awarded a Keter Torah Award by the Boston Bureau of Jewish Education in recognition of his pioneering work in Jewish Day School Education. He was a founding board member of the Gann Academy (The New Jewish High School). He helped initiate the Beit Din (Rabbinical Court) of the Boston Area Reform Rabbis and served as the first Rosh (Head) of the Beit Din from 1998 to 2001. He received the Nachshon Award from Mayyim Hayyim, Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center in 2006. He is a past President of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, past Chairman of the Boston Area Reform Rabbis, past President of the Westwood Interfaith Council and is on the National Rabbinic Cabinet of the United Jewish Appeal. Rabbi Zoob recently published A Lifetime of Genesis, a book which combines an explanation of the Covenant of Abraham in Genesis and events from his own life that parallel stories from the lives of the Patriarchs. It can be purchased at Amazon. Rabbi Zoob grew up in Philadelphia, and received a BA from Harvard University in 1961. He was ordained at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC – JIR) in 1967, earned a Masters Degree in Bible at Brandeis University, and an honorary Doctorate from HUC – JIR.
Cantor Emerita Louise
Cantor Louise Treitman served for twenty years, first as cantorial soloist and then as Temple Beth David's first Cantor after she completed her cantorial certification in 1998. She became Cantor Emerita in 2008. She is a past president of the New England Board of Cantors, and served on the national board of the American Conference of Cantors (the national association of Reform cantors) from 1999-2005. She helped to found the Jewish Music Institute, now the School of Jewish Music, at Hebrew College now located in Newton, Ma, and for several years, worked as its coordinator. After leaving the pulpit, she returned to Hebrew College where she instructs not only cantorial students, but also those enrolled in the college's rabbinic, education and music-certificate programs. Cantor Treitman graduated from Wellesley College, Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Music and Judaic Studies. Her continued studies led to a teaching certificate from the Kodaly Musical Training Institute and a MM Degree from the New England Conservatory of Music with honors in Performance of Early Music, specializing in the viola da gamba. She received her cantorial certification through Hebrew Union College in New York and the American Conference of Cantors. In addition, Cantor Treitman was the assistant conductor of the Zamir Chorale of Boston from 1998 until 2003 and also served on their board of directors for many years. She traveled with the chorale on several international tours and has done numerous recordings with them. She is co-director of Il Concerto di Salamone Rossi Hebreo and serves on the board of Mayyim Hayyim, a community mikveh and family-education center in Newton, Mass.


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Mediamarkt | Mediamarkt @ Expo 2010 in Shanghai Launch
Mediamarkt opened its doors in Shanghai in late 2010 – and used the Expo 2010 to generate attention for this upcoming event. By constructing a casual and Mediamarkt-branded space containing corporate stories, it triggered a positive corporate image and attracted future employees.
We supported Uniplan Köln in designing, planning and producing the contents of the Mediamarkt space in the Düsseldorf Pavilion (UBPA).
The Brief
Develop a mediatecture story that fits Mediamarkt's young and lively image and into the given 36 m2 Expo space.
The Challenge
The space left almost no space for architecture, taking visitor's shadows and the geometry into consideration. Additionally the budget was tight and placed limits on the hardware to be used.
Merging the different Mediamarkt stories and the provided space into one single visitor experience, always considering the close link to the company.
The Solution
Several employee stories on LCD screens around the room were integrated into an architectural projection, and interactions reached out over the limitations of the screens creating one unique experience together with different graphic scenarios and architectural forms.
A photo booth installation linked via QR codes to the internet, allowing visitors to playfully integrate themselves into the Mediamarkt universe.


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We are proud to use and stock products within the ranges of Environ Skincare, Jane Iredale Mineral Makeup, Pure Fiji, Li lash and Li brow, Tendskin, Kardashian Sun Kissed tanning products, Pure FX Aurora massage balms, Shellac Gel products, and Orly nail care.
Using our famous PhD Waxing System to hygienically remove unwanted hair growth.
For those special occasions such as weddings, having a manicure or pedicure to tidy up those nails and buff them to a healthy shine.
Choose from any one of our facials on our Facial menu. These treatments are tailored to our male clientele to treat their skin conditions using the Environ Range of skincare products. Our facial treatments include a skin diagnosis and homecare treatment plan.
Men no longer have to suffer with unwanted hair. We can treat most hair and skin types with VPL. Come in for a consultation with our highly trained staff and you'll be a step closer to a smooth hair-free body.


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Atlanta Police DepartmentHome Menu
Community Policing Programs
What programs are offered by the Community Oriented Policing Section:The following are primary programs managed and offered by the COPS section:
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender services (LGBT)
Hispanic/Multicultural Community services. Crime Prevention
Police Athletic League
Beltline enforcement (Path Force)
Explorers program
Homeless Outreach Proactive Enforcement (HOPE Team)
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Liaison UnitThe LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) Liaison Unit is a unit of the Atlanta Police Department whose goal is to improve the relationship between the LGBT community and the Atlanta Police Department. For more information contact 404-546-LGBT (5428).
Crime Prevention UnitThe Crime Prevention Unit shares information and tips on how to prevent crime. Several programs are managed by the unit including Crime Prevention Training, Neighborhood Watch Training & Development, Senior Citizen's Activities and Safety & Awareness Workshops. Please call the CPU office nearest you to learn about opportunities and to join Crime Prevention Unit programs.
Sr. Crime Prevention Inspectors of the Crime Prevention Unit can be reached at the following numbers according to the respective areas:
Crime Prevention Inspectors:
CPI Senior
CPI Sr. M. McMurray
All Zones
CPI Sr. S. Thomas
All Zones
CPI Sr. W. Clarke
All Zones
CPI J. Word
Zone 1
CPI A. Jones
Zone 3
CPI K. Hebert
Zone 4
CPI S. Swoope
Zone 5
CPI J. Tillman
Zone 6
Police Athletic LeagueThe Atlanta Police Athletic League (PAL) is a non-profit program that uses sports, education, and recreation to connect police and local youth. PAL offers citywide seasonal activities including summer camp, mentoring, homework assistance and sporting activities. Please call 404-799-2341 to learn more information about PAL or visit http://www.atlantapal.com/
The Path Force UnitThe Atlanta Police Department has a dedicated unit – the Path Force Unit – that is responsible for providing public safety to the Atlanta BeltLine and adjacent parks and neighborhoods. Launched in the summer of 2013 with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Path Force patrols seven days a week. The unit is comprised of 15 officers and three supervisors. Their presence is a mainstay on the Atlanta BeltLine – if you see them, say hi!
The H.O.P.E (Homeless Outreach Proactive Enforcement) TeamThe H.O.P.E. Team works with the homeless and mentally Ill. The primary duties of the unit are to identify and eliminate all homeless encampments in the City of Atlanta by trying to place homeless individuals in short or long term housing. The unit is able to offer these services by partnering with a host of agencies like Gateway, United Way, Salvation Army, and Veterans Administration just to name a few. A second key function of the unit is to work with the mentally ill. The unit is available upon a call to de-escalate situations involving a mentally ill person in Crisis with the use of CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) techniques. The unit works hand in hand with NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness) Georgia through training and partnerships.
Atlanta Police Explorers Program
The Atlanta Police Explorers Program is designed to train young adults from the ages 14-21 to become futures leaders. The Department's Explorer Program goals are to:
- Recruit and prepare young men and women for future careers in law enforcement by offering a positive relationship between police and the youth of our community.
- Provide a forum in which young people can provide non-hazardous community services, thereby relieving police officers for other assignments.
- Provide solid training toward the development of better citizens and better physical fitness for all youth that participate in the program.
Explorer Requirements are:
- Be a United States Citizen.
- Be between the ages of 14-21(Must have completed the 8th grade)
- Passing school classes & maintaining a GPA of 2.5 or higher.
- The ability to pass a Background Investigation.
- Have no criminal arrests or detainment.
- The ability to undergo an oral interview by the adviser, or his/her designee.
The Hispanic Liaison UnitThe Atlanta Police Hispanic Liaison Unit is a team of dedicated officers that focuses on the public safety needs of the Hispanic Community. They conduct outreach campaigns to the Hispanic community in an attempt to solidify police relations. Their primary focus is to gain the trust of the community and seek out information that leads to the closure of violent crime in the community. They work hand in hand with City Hall and different Hispanic consulates and resources. They also orientate and advise the Hispanic community of their rights and responsibilities.
We also work:
- To establish positive relations with the Hispanic community in order that persons will call the police when needed and help reduce crime and victimization. To build relationships with civic and religious groups, businesses, service providers and members of the Hispanic community.
- To encourage Spanish-speaking residents to report criminal activity and to assist them in filing police reports as needed. To assist with answering questions about Police matters and City of Atlanta Services and resources available to residents.
- Recruiting qualified candidates for employment as a police officer with Atlanta Police Department.
- Conducting outreach within the Hispanic community by providing education on Georgia Laws.
- Educating the Hispanic business owners of the best business practices in an effort to avert victimization.
- Assisting the Hispanic media outlets with written and verbal crime prevention information.
- Enhancing the Hispanic community's involvement in police programs such as Neighborhood Watch and Business Watch.
- Providing translation of Spanish for patrol officers and detectives. • Assisting patrol officers and detectives when the citizen is a victim of a violent crime.
You can get in touch with the Atlanta Police Department Hispanic Liaison Unit by contacting:
Off. Miguel A. Lugo
Office: 404-546-6831
Cell: 404-614-9548
How can I learn more about my community?To learn more about the many programs available through the Atlanta Police Department's COPS initiative call, write, or email to:
City of Atlanta Police Department
Community Services Division (CSD)
Community Oriented Policing Section (COPS)
226 Peachtree St SW Suite W-4300 Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Te: 404-546-5650
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
The following are primary programs managed and offered by the COPS section:
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender services (LGBT)
Hispanic/Multicultural Community services
Crime Prevention
Police Athletic League
Beltline enforcement (Path Force)
Explorers program
Homeless Outreach Proactive Enforcement (HOPE Team)


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By David Absolon, Investment Director at Heartwood Investment Management
Reflation has been the opening gambit in financial markets at the start of 2018. While global equity sentiment remains well supported by the stronger fundamental backdrop, the long-end of the US treasury market is turning increasingly bearish. It is telling that even after a disappointing January payrolls report, the thirty-year US treasury yield continued to edge higher, illustrating investors' rising confidence in the US inflation outlook.
The key event to shift the bond market narrative is the Trump administration's tax cuts, which received Congressional approval at the end of December. Reductions to corporate tax rates represent a large fiscal boost to the US economy, albeit temporary, and will significantly add to the US government debt burden. These measures come at a time when the US domestic growth is already benefiting from near full employment and rising capital expenditure.
With or without US tax cuts, we have held the view for some time that cyclical inflation pressures are rising. Higher oil prices are expected to have an inflationary impact on headline measures, as well as the feed through from the likely higher import costs arising from a weaker US dollar. More important, though, will be the culmination of several months of strengthening global momentum feeding into prices across developed economies. In our view, inflation is a lagged response to growth since stronger demand should translate into higher spending and, ultimately, higher prices. Specifically in the US, business surveys and regional bank surveys indicate that upside price risks are developing. Admittedly wage growth has been disappointing so far, but we expect that tighter labour market conditions will eventually feed into higher wage setting. Moreover, the recently approved tax legislation has incentivised companies to use their tax windfall to boost wages and/or distribute bonuses.
Adjusting to a more 'normal' cycle?
All that said, we are not suggesting that the US economy will see significantly higher levels of inflation as seen in prior periods of history. However, the nature of the current extended cycle of low-interest rates and low inflation is changing, and this trend is now being acknowledged by bond investors. As we enter a more 'normal' cycle, we expect central banks in developed economies to stay on a journey of withdrawing emergency levels of monetary stimulus and lifting interest rates. In this regard, the US Federal Reserve is ahead of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. It is worth noting that despite five interest rate rises since the Fed began its tightening cycle in December 2015, financial conditions in the US have actually eased over the last year {Source: Chicago Fed National Financial Conditions Index}, so there is still some way to go, especially if inflation rises as we anticipate.
Looking forward, we should also consider the US treasury market's vulnerability to supply and demand pressures. US Treasury selling in the last few days was further prompted by media reports that the Chinese authorities may reduce its buying of US treasuries. While these reports have since been denied, the US treasury market's reaction is nonetheless indicative of its sensitivity to supply factors. This is particularly noticeable in an environment where we are seeing a regime shift among global central banks from quantitative easing to quantitative tapering. Reduced global market liquidity is likely to receive more market attention as the year progresses. With the Fed already reducing its balance sheet, the European Central Bank will end its asset purchase programme in September. Furthermore, this week the Bank of Japan announced that it will reduce longer-dated Japanese government bond purchases, contributing to both a stronger yen and higher domestic and US Treasury yields at the start of January.
As central banks step back from supporting financial markets, we expect to see more bond market volatility in 2018. Shorter dated US treasury yields had already moved meaningfully in the final quarter of 2017, but longer-dated bonds were still fixated to the low-interest rate and low inflation backdrop. Evidently this view is now shifting, and we believe that our longstanding underweight duration position in developed sovereign markets remains the most prudent stance.


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Financial guarantee business may not be as healthy as it appears.
Not all financial guarantors are created equal," says Kevin Kime, associate director of Standard & Poor's International Structured Finance Group. Since early 2000 S&P has led a warning cry against non-monoline financial guarantee insurers, declaring that the insurance industry's traditional approach to claims paying is incompatible with credit enhancement. In the past two years non-specialist insurers have piled into the business of providing guarantees to improve the credit rating of a bond or other security issue by using their own creditworthiness to prop up the rating of the issue, but many of these players don't understand the rules, S&P alleges.
Guaranteeing public-sector bonds and asset-backed securities is a fairly benign business. Issuers such as utilities and municipalities rarely go away, and face far fewer of the potential fatal blows that loom over corporate enterprise. Asset-backed deals have predictable cash flow and solid security. The monoline financial guarantee companies, led by MBIA Insurance Corp and AMBAC Insurance Corp, and their reinsurers, including Enhance Re and ACE Guarantee Re (formerly Capital Re), tend to stick to the sure bets. But two reasons have emerged for a second look at the guarantee business: SoCal Edison and PG&E.
The two shareholder-owned California electricity utilities, properly known as Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric, have defaulted on capital repayments and interest owed to bondholders. Insurers' exposure is in the order of $1.4bn, but few of the companies carrying the risk will see large losses because of hefty assets backing the loans. However, making good on any shortfall is only part of the guarantors' role. Much more important is the promise of financial guarantors to make principal and interest payments in a timely fashion, despite the circumstances of the insured's default. Years of delay while solicitors argue over coverage and exclusions – a common feature of commercial claims – is not acceptable in financial guarantee business. The capital markets rule is pay now, ask questions later.
Blue chip, monoline insurers were backing the California power companies, and they paid up. The ratings agencies are unanimous in their belief that the default, even against a background of general US economic gloom and worrying increases in defaults on corporate debt, is not likely to lead to major strife for the monoline financial guarantee industry.
"The economic downturn will impact municipalities, but we do not anticipate an appreciable level of default by cities or counties or water distributors," says Richard Smith, a financial guarantee analyst at S&P in New York. "That's not to say there won't be problems popping up, but we are not looking for wholesale levels of defaults. The marginal credits [issuers achieving less than investment-grade ratings] will be impacted first, but they don't find their way into the bond insurers. Only the good credits that have become weak credits in recent years are likely to default," he says. For guarantees of asset-backed issues, some consumer loans may weaken, but that has been considered in the underwriting. "All these deals are sized to counter some level of defaults. No one thinks it will exceed the projected worst case."
Frank Bivona, chief financial officer at AMBAC Assurance Corp, the second-largest bond insurer in the US, explains why. "Our underwriting approach is to assume that there will be significant downturn in economies, and our standards take account of recessions." Thus he is confident that the coming slump, even if severe, will not cripple his company. "We are not at all concerned about our book of business from that perspective. In fact, downturns tend to be a positive, because the value that our product brings increases."
So what is S&P's worry? The impact of the behaviour of Lexington Insurance Co regarding its guarantee of two film finance instruments illustrates. Hollywood Funding No 6 Ltd issued $100.7m of notes secured by revenues from a slate of films. Based on Lexington's guarantee, S&P rated the notes AAA. However, on 2 February the ratings agency announced the paper was to be re-rated CCC-, after it learned that Lexington had told the trustee of the bankrupt SPV Hollywood Six that, due to a breach of policy warranties, it is not liable to meet its commitments. Sister company Hollywood Funding No 5 Ltd saw a similar downgrade for the same reasons: Lexington says it will not yet pay a claim, pending investigation, despite lengthy and seemingly airtight language in the policies serving to ensure the insurer has no exit route for claims avoidance or postponement – war notwithstanding.
Lexington hopes to extricate itself from of the guarantee under a precedent set by the decision in the UK case HIH Casualty & General Ins Co v New Hampshire Ins Co and Others. HIH had agreed to make good on claims under an unrelated film finance guarantee even though it suspected fraud on the part of the insured. However, reinsurers refused to follow the fortunes, and the court held that HIH had not been obliged to pay because of warranties in the policy and on the slip which the court deemed to have been breached. Lexington is, so far, refusing to pay based on its assertion that the same policy conditions apply. Both Lexington and New Hampshire are subsidiaries of American International Group.
Lexington's decision not to pay immediately, and the similar decision by New Hampshire in the HIH case, support S&P's assertion that some insurers may be playing in the financial guarantee business without following the rules. "The attitude to writing the business varies quite a lot," says Corrine Cunningham, a director of S&P Financial Service Ratings. "Some companies are well used to playing by the rules of the capital markets world, and understand what clients and bondholders expect of them. Others may think they are writing conventional insurance business, but in financial guarantee there is no ability to appoint a claims director or to explore whether or not a claim should be paid."
When one of the 'dabblers' is a counterparty in a structured credit deal, S&P will seek a written commitment from the financial or managing director of the company's group parent outlining their understanding of the nature of the guarantee they are making – what Ms Cunningham describes as a moral and legal commitment.
"We are trying to raise awareness among investors, the intermediaries structuring the deals, and the insurers themselves... so down the road we do not see insurers facing losses they hadn't planned for, and to ensure the integrity of structured transactions," she says. "Film finance has been a graveyard. Most of the contracts have incurred losses."
Rival ratings agents are also concerned. Alan Murray, an analyst with Moody's Investors Services, has noticed the increase in general insurers providing credit enhancement through surety bonds. "We have been concerned. Surety is not quite the same as financial guarantee, but it is being applied to these transactions almost as though it is financial guarantee," he says. "If we are in a recession, or near one, the insurers' enhancement of non-investment grade bonds could be a question. The real concern we have there is whether general insurers understand the financial risk they are taking on."
Other guarantee insurance lines, such as for credit derivatives and residual value, have been profitable. Thus interest in the market is growing.
"There is an opportunity for companies to get in because the monoline [financial guarantee] insurers generally only write high-grade credit. The prices are high, and the market is growing very rapidly as banks and other companies try to find new ways to lay off their own risks," Ms Cunningham says. "Banks have been keen to see other participants as a source of capital, and some intermediaries – banks and brokers – have seen [the multiline insurance market] as naïve capacity, and a way to push off unwanted risk." The risk for insurers? "These types of risks will tend to coincide, because they are all credit sensitive and cyclical," the analyst says. "If the US economy starts to suffer, it wouldn't be surprising if credit derivatives and property residual value markets started to suffer, and you might see some of these deals start to unwind."
Admitting he is "worried about the credit business," Erwin Zimmermann, chief executive of Swiss Re New Markets, says: "If a general [economic] deterioration happens, we will be impacted." SRNM classifies roughly one third of its business as 'credit solutions,' of which the bulk is credit or surety insurance, although a large slice – from about 10% to about 20% depending on which of Swiss Re's GAAP bases is used – is structured credit. However, Mr Zimmermann is comfortable with his company's exposure. "We are prudent underwriters. I don't exclude that the results will worsen, but not to a critical level," he says.
However, current conditions have changed his approach. "We have got very restrictive now in our underwriting. Credit spreads have gone thin over the long bull market period, and a lot of insurers have probably gone into the business as naïve capacity. We have a pretty intensive business flow with banks, and they unload a lot of their business at terms and conditions that we cannot follow, but they find takers. That worries us," he says. "Credit risk is a cyclical phenomenon with a significant macroeconomic factor. We have invested very seriously over a long time to get our credit risk management up to the standard of banks, which is not the rule for credit insurers. They consider it a risk class like the other hazard risks."


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We have been decluttering, and throwing away lots of stuff that in theory is marginally useful, but had not been touched in many years. Most of this stuff isn't making it to trash day-people go though it and take useful stuff, or the metal for recycling. I'm fine with that, I would much rather see it go to some use than to have it go to landfill and so far they aren't leaving a mess behind.
I question the economics of some of the pickers though--Do you really make more in scrap than the gas you spend collecting it? Especially when you leave your van running as you dig.
The strangest is that apparently some people are going around cutting the cords off any electrical appliances, and only taking the cord. I don't see how that can possibly be worthwhile.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
3 comments:
- Anonymous3:08 AM
Copper wire? I have never heard of just taking the cord but I can't think of any other reason.ReplyDelete
I assume it is for the copper, and I know copper is expensive--but it can't be THAT expensive.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10:35 PM
"The scrap value of copper today is $3.45 per pound" I read that they burn the insulation to retrieve the wire. I found it interesting that aluminum can recycling pays less than than $1 a pound (up to 33.5 cans) I think It would be a lot more fun to burn wire than to collect cans!ReplyDelete
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Paul D'Emilia Esq.
New York, New York
Paul D'Emilia is a New York City based attorney specializing in the fields of international law, criminal defense, estate matters, business consulting, real estate, private investigations and general counsel work Prior to his recent return to private practice Mr. D'Emilia worked for Governor Andrew Cuomo as the New York State Inspector General responsible for the investigation of fraud and corruption for the NYS Workers' Compensation Board. As Inspector General he oversaw a statewide agency that investigated and referred for prosecution malfeasance that recuperated millions of dollars annually back to the taxpayers. Mr. D'Emilia was legal counsel in a private equity firm that specialized in early-stage investments in the real property development, technology, and consumer sectors. In addition to his management role in vetting opportunities and investors, he oversaw due diligence operations and was instrumental in developing the firm's sub-specialty of sports franchise procurement and marketing at the international level. Prior to 2007, Mr. D'Emilia was the Managing Director and General Counsel of TKG, an international consulting firm that specialized in complex security assessments and planning, emergency preparedness, crisis management and response, procurement assistance as well as corporate investigations and due diligence. Previously, Mr. D'Emilia was the Managing Director and Head of Investigations for the investigative and consulting firm of Nardello Schwartz & Co. from its inception in 2004. He was the direct overseer of monitorship appointments and compliance, as well as the primary author of ethics and anti-fraud programs. Mr. D'Emilia had been an Assistant District Attorney in the Kings County District Attorney's Office (Brooklyn, N.Y.) since 1991. His prior legal experience included a civil litigation firm based in Manhattan and the Organized Crime Strike Force of the United States Attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York. He also worked for the United States Department of Justice as the Resident Legal Advisor to the United States Embassy in Albania. During his tenure with the Justice Department, Mr. D'Emilia cultivated extensive working relationships with numerous foreign government agencies and officials. Of particular note was his work with his European counterparts in the Foreign Ministry, Diplomatic Corps, Intelligence Division and Judiciary. Extensive global contacts from his ongoing business and legal assignments throughout Europe provide clients with the acquired perspective, knowledge and assurance needed to handle the most sensitive of matters. Mr. D'Emilia is a graduate of Fordham University and the Fordham University School of Law. He has been a lecturer in Trial Advocacy courses, a member of the Columbian Lawyers Association, and is fluent in Italian. He is married and lives with his family in Manhattan.


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Minute book of the Medical Relief Committee of Dartmouth
- MS-13-49, SF Box 69, Folder 18
- Item
- 1918, 1944
Item is a minute book kept during meetings of the Medical Relief Committee of Dartmouth. The Committee met regularly in late 1917 and 1918 to discuss the care of Dartmouth patients following the December 1917 Halifax Explosion. The minute book, which was primarily kept by Dr. M.G. Burris, details meetings of the committee and efforts to coordinate relief activities with the Medical Relief Committee of Halifax. Burris added two pages of notes in June 1944 with information on some members of the committee, Dartmouth hospitals managed by the committee, and remunerations paid by the Medical Relief Committee to physicians who treated patients.
Halifax Medical Commission. Medical Relief Committee.


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For the past six months, Democrats and the media have inundated the American people with speculation and innuendo that President Donald Trump was and is involved in insidious wrongdoing.
It began with allegations Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government to steal the presidency from Hillary Clinton. Unable to prove collusion, Trump's detractors have shifted their allegations to a possibility of obstruction of justice.
If history and the current level of elite anti-Trump fervor is a guide, the allegations will likely take another form or two by the time all is said and done. Recall that former President Bill Clinton was investigated by a special counsel for the Whitewater Development Corp. real estate deal. But in the end, the probe devolved into a charge of perjury over his shenanigans with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Congress impeached and ultimately acquitted Clinton.
Rather than have history repeat itself, Trump could spare the American public three or seven more years of nonstop, breathless media pundits and politicians by demanding the Democrats put up or shut up.
If Trump is under investigation for obstruction of justice, what is the end goal? A criminal prosecution? Legal scholars, including Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, argue you cannot indict a sitting U.S. president. The Founding Fathers wrote a process for the executive's removal into the Constitution: Impeachment. Why go outside the prescribed process?
If Democrats (or some Republicans, for that matter) are so convinced Trump's behavior rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, Trump should call on them to pursue impeachment.
The way impeachment works in the federal government is the House of Representatives votes on one or more articles of impeachment. If passed by the House, the process would move on to the Senate for a trial. The trial would be presided over by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and a team of House members would play the role of prosecutor.
Once the trial is complete, the Senate would vote as to whether or not the president would be removed from office. Rather than a simple majority, however, it would require a vote of at least two-thirds of the Senate for removal.
It is important to remember the impeachment process is political and Democrats have been on a notable losing streak at the ballot box. Impeachment is obviously unlikely to happen with the Republicans controlling the House.
Despite Democrats' dismal election performances over the last three years, let's pretend they can win the House in 2018. If that is the case, there is a real possibility the House would impeach Trump. To be sure, some of the old guard will have to perform some rhetorical acrobatics to sync their positions on Clinton's impeachment with Trump's.
Consider the leading advocate for Trump's impeachment, Rep. Maxine Waters, Democrat of California. In 1998, shortly before the House voted to impeach Clinton, Waters called the effort a "coups d'etat," "disregard for the voice of the people" and "one of the most despicable actions ever taken by the Congress of the United States of America."
Just as everything about Trump as a politician — his campaign and his presidency — has been unconventional, he should go against conventional wisdom and call their bluff.
Trump believes he has not done anything wrong. And so far there has not been any tangible evidence to show that he has.
So imagine that in a public appearance Trump dares Congress to impeach him. Would they do it? As mentioned, if the Democrats are running the House, they very well might.
Given what we know now about Trump and wrongdoing, would that be enough for even a Democratically controlled House to come close to convincing the 67 senators needed to remove Trump from office? This is a Senate that can barely pass a funding bill to keep the government from shutting down.
The likely outcome would be Democrats embarrassing themselves, and an ultimate acquittal. That acquittal would clear Trump's name for the time being and likely take a political toll on the Democrats, much as it did when Republicans tried it under Newt Gingrich. And remember, this is hypothetical; the Republicans still hold both chambers.
What does Trump have to lose? Does any congressperson really believe this president has done something serious enough to warrant impeachment and removal from office? Doubtful.
The rhetoric and the congressional investigations are all a ruse. In part, it is being played up to keep the Democratic base energized and maintain fundraising efforts coming out of a disappointing presidential election.
Trump could easily end the effectiveness of this tactic by going on the offense and daring them to try to impeach him.
Not only would it solidify Trump's base, but it would also call into question the entire purpose of the opposition party. Are Democrats in Washington, D.C., working to advance a so-called progressive agenda, or are they just looking for political points to secure their re-election bids?
Without that kind of ultimatum, this is not going away. Being patient and letting the investigation play out is the Democratic Party's code for "allow this dark cloud of uncertainty to hang over you until the 2020 campaign so we have a better chance of winning."
It is worth calling their bluff and letting the country see how it plays out.
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Changing Directions
There have been many things that I have wanted to do in my fourth grade classroom. Some things I have been able to do, but others I have not. There is a piece of me that truly wishes that fourth grade was more developmentally appropriate. I wish my kids did not have to switch classes, and I wish that the Common Core Standards took their development more seriously when composing standards that they (and their teachers) must use as a guide.
A piece of my heart will always been in fourth grade, with 9s and 10s, but the time has come for me to take a break. The spark in the eyes of fourth graders is there. But so often, it is diminished as quickly as it arrives, by a teacher saying "hold that thought!" or "we can come back to that later," "maybe look into it at home!" I do not want to be this teacher anymore. I want to be able to run an inquiry based classroom, a tiny world filled with wonder without worrying about having to stop reading because I have to start word study.
If and when I possibly return to upper grades, I hope this new adventure will help with my own ability to cross the curriculum in more meaningful ways. My teaching life has been departmentalized from the beginning- and for seven years, I have worked in nice neat little boxes. For me to stay on my toes and keep learning in new ways- I need to get out of those tidy little boxes and find something new.
Next year, I am teaching Kindergarten. I could not be more excited about it! And I know this is an opportunity for me to truly take on a position following what I believe to be the best way that 4s, 5s and 6s learn. There are five other Kindergarten teachers in my district. They all are the experts in their classrooms, they all have been doing the same grade level for years. Only one other teacher will be new like me- and luckily for me, her and I see eye-to-eye on so much when it comes to learning and learning spaces. I am willing to learn from others around me, but also, I am willing and ready to take a chance on the learning I see in my mind. The kind I want for my own children.
There are so many great educators that I have followed and learned from for years. So many people that inspired me along the way. So many people that have encouraged me to try to implement Reggio based learning in my upper grades classrooms. I am thankful that these educators share their work, and I am eager to share my own work as I start this new journey. I understand that it will be filled with new obstacles and challenges, but I welcome them.
If you have any Kinder teachers that I must follow, please share their contact information below. I have included a slideshow of some accounts that I love so you can see the type of learning I am talking about here.
I have been finding a lot of inspiration from homeschooling accounts, educators and interior designers and the spaces they create. If you have any other recommendations, I welcome them.
February 24, 2018
I spend most of my day sitting next to kids on the carpet, on the floor.
I spend most of my day being hugged by kids that aren't as tall as me.
I spend most of my day having kids come up to me and touch my hair, my pretty skirt, or my shirt or my necklace because they are about to compliment me.
I spend most of my days being approached suddenly from behind with big hugs or arm casually laid on my shoulder- "Hey Mrs. Riedmiller!"
I spend most of my days letting my kids know that they have a voice and that they matter. Not just when they are older, but they matter now.
I spend most of my days helping children learn about the injustices of the world, helping them build empathy by humanizing groups of people that have continuously been dehumanized.
I have spent some of my days being physically threatened by children.
I have spent some of my days seeing children throw stools across my room. During those days, I see the looks on the faces of the other children in my class. Fear. Furniture can do that.
I have spent some of my days giving worry stones to some of my friends with anxiety- the ones who are a nervous wreck almost all of the time.
I have spent some of my days consoling nine and ten year olds who are hysterically crying because something is out of place. A paper, a pencil, something is not right and it feels like the world is over.
Sometimes my own children get to visit my classroom. My youngest runs through a carpet full of nine year olds to get to me quickly, she jumps in my lap suddenly.
You- do not get to tell me that I should carry or have a gun in my classroom.
Add a gun holstered to my waist or under my arm to any of these situations and perhaps you will see how dangerous that could possibly be. Add in the traumatic experiences that some kids have already had with guns in their short nine or ten years of life and perhaps you will see how dangerous that could possibly be.
You- do not get to tell me that I should carry or have a gun in my classroom.
You- do not get to suggest training me, arming me and then expecting me to shoot and kill a child, possibly a current or former student of mine, in the midst of a high-stress situation.
You- do not get to tell me that we all of a sudden have some money that we can find for guns and teacher training.
Where is this money when kids spend their weekends hungry, when they come to school with no supplies, when our kids sometimes don't have roofs over their heads, or when every teacher I know spends a small fortune of their own money on their work, in some capacity.
Where is this money when teachers need training and time to hone in on their craft? Where is it when we need books for our classroom libraries? Where is it when we need CERTIFIED FULL TIME LIBRARIANS IN EVERY BUILDING- but instead get NONE?
You- do not get to tell me that I should carry or have a gun in my classroom.
Do not try to compromise with me, do not try to open a discussion in which your objective is to change my mind. My post does not serve the purpose of civil discourse on this topic- not today, not ever.
Because I will not refuse to sit on the carpet, on the floor, next to my kids.
Because I will not give up the daily hugs.
Because I will not bring more worry into our space.
Because I will not stop talking to kids about how their voices can and will make change.
Because I will never point a gun at a child and pull the trigger.
In our fourth grade classroom we use TCRWP's Reading Units of Study. The units are broken down by grade level, each grade level has two literature and two informational units. The kits also come with If, Then units that help you add to your curriculum. I say all of this first to let you know what I currently use as my curriculum.
We just began our first informational reading unit and session three has us introducing text structures to students. Last year, my students struggled with this. I knew this session was coming and I was checking out the TCRWP Reading Units of Study Facebook Group and this great comment sparked the idea. A teacher shared how she helped show her students text structure by using a scene from The Sandlot.
Seed planted.
I started thinking about some of my own favorite scenes from The Sandlot. Then, I created a post on my personal page asking friends to help throw out some movie ideas after I knew I wanted to use The Sandlot, Jumanji and Home Alone.
This work was perfect for today because yesterday we went over our pre-assessment (see The Units of Study) and one of the questions is always about how parts of a text fit in relation to the whole text, another asks students about the author's craft and technique. All of the student samples, student checklists, etc. have students using the language of text structure.
Here's how it went when I took it to my classes today.
"Alright readers. Do you remember how questions number two and three were super hard on that pre-assessment? Some of you were looking at me like 'Mrs. Riedmiller, what is technique?!'...
Readers nodded in agreement.
"As nonfiction readers, when we move from "waiting for the dentist" nonfiction reading to "reading to learn" nonfiction reading, we have to get the whole picture before we dig in. Wednesday we talked about previewing texts, and I told you that I needed to see the whole pizza before I decided which piece I was going to take.... well when we know how a text is organized we can take our previewing and ultimately understanding of the text to the next level, we read with the big picture in mind."
"Today I want to teach you that nonfiction readers think about how texts are organized. This helps us move from "waiting for the dentist" nonfiction reading to "reading to learn" nonfiction reading. Here are some of the ways that nonfiction texts can be organized: chronological order, cause & effect, compare & contrast or problem/solution."
I gave the students some keywords to look for in each category. Once I gave them the short handout it was time to watch the clips.
"I am going to show you four short videos and I want you to decide if you can figure out which videos pair up with the four text structures."
I showed the kids four videos, asking them to jot down which structure they thought each matched up with. Then I played each video a second time AFTER telling them the correct structure.
"Now I will tell you the structure that matched each video and this time as you watch the clip, I want you to see if any of the key words pop out. I want you to really pay attention and think about how that structure fits with each clip."
This is just an example of the language I use with my kids. Here are possible clips to use:
Chronological Order:
Ham Shows Smalls How to Make S'mores (The Sandlot)
I Suppose You're Gonna Fly (Space Jam)
Making Friends With a Dragon (How to Train Your Dragon)
Gotta Go (Spider-Man Miles Morales 2018)
Cause & Effect:
Roll the Dice (Jumanji, 2005)
Smart House (Annie, 2014) Thanks, Britt!
Dangerous Book (The Neverending Story)
Tra La La! (Captain Underpants)
Bull in a China Shop (Ferdinand)
First Fight at the New School (Little Monsters)
Compare & Contrast:
Wingardium Leviosa (Harry Potter)
They Named Her Matilda (Matilda)
Grandma VS Mariachi (Coco)
Kevin Sets the Traps (Home Alone)
Quick! Call 911 (The Little Rascals)
Indestructible Gnomes (Goosebumps)
I am still on the search for great clips to share with my learners and it's important to make this note: students should be able to prove how each clip fits with the structure. I am always ready to hear proof and examples from my kids. Choosing between cause & effect and problem/solution is tough work. If a learner can back up their reasoning or thinking I am more than willing to hear them out. Be open, be willing to see if some of these clips fit MORE than one structure because many do.
I hope this lesson turns out as successful for you as it has for us. Happy nonfiction reading!
An Update on Literacy Studio
I'm popping in to let you all know how Literacy Studio is REALLY going. We have been living in the space for a few weeks now and I finally feel comfortable enough to say that we have worked out some of the kinks and now we have some new ones to work on.
Engagement has moved to Empowerment.
Students are motivated beyond what I had ever imagined. They look most forward to their 30 minute independent block. Students are sharing their work with others and even printing out books left and right to add to the classroom library and to give friends and other teachers.
Balance needs work.
The kids are struggling with striking a balance between reading and writing. I figured we needed a place where they could keep track of their weekly work. I wanted this to include a space for reflection. In the complicated work that we have taken on as of late (BEING BETTER HUMANS) we have realized that it is easy to get caught up in the work and lose the sense of original intent and purpose for the task. This will require some explicit teaching on my part, but I know once the kids have tried it a couple of times that they will call it their own and perhaps even give me suggestions for making it better. You can find this form here.
They value what you value.
Since starting my masters program and taking on writing workshop, it is no secret that I have a new found love for teaching writing. If you knew nothing about me, you would know this by walking into my classroom. With my shift, I have felt the learners shift as well. I learn more, do better, they learn more, do better. It's all excellent and fun and engaging, but I need to be very intentional with my own balance. I am working on not overly praising writing and leaving my beloved reading in the shadows. I will say this, my understanding of the marriage between reading and writing strengthens the understanding that my students take away, and I fully understand that is not a bad thing.
This format fully supports social justice and inquiry work.
Daily, I have been trying to contain myself and my excitement for the work my kids are doing. I can't put it all in one post, but my dear friend Jessica Lifshitz has Voxer message after Voxer message about the insane things these kids are taking on. It. Is. Brilliant. I know I am late to the social justice game, but I am beginning the work now and I will not stop. Inquiry work is easy with this set up because the workshop time lays down the groundwork for empowerment and more often than not students are asking me questions like: "Do you think I could do some research on Ramadan during Independent time today?" "I want to write a story because I need a mirror for myself. I need to tell my story, can I do that during Independent time?" Or one of my favorites: "My grandma is filipino and I am going to interview her about her life for the book I'm writing during Independent time."
Hold onto your hats. It has been great so far.
Making the Switch to Literacy Studio
This is the start of a new journey for me and my students. My professional mentor text has been Jessica Lifshitz's Blog: Crawling Out of the Classroom. I use Jess's blog because a professional goal of mine has been to more towards a more equitable, social justice serving classroom space. Her blog constantly provides the layout of this work although she teaches fifth graders while I teach fourth. Using this mentor and the personal help of Jess has helped moved my work from a far-fetched dream to reality. This post is the one where she lays out the work for Literacy Studio, how she learned about it and how she is trying it with her kids. This post also contains the great conferring forms (more about that later) that I have been using. Jess- I cannot thank you enough for helping me through every step of this journey.
I began the week by telling my students that I was thinking about how often we finish a reading mini lesson and set off to work and I am quickly approached by someone asking me if they can finish a "personal story they are working on." Or how often we finish a reading mini lesson about our realistic fiction work and they are burying their noses in an informational text immediately after. Noticing their wants and involuntary questions had made me rethink our time and I had to share an idea with them. An idea that I believed would offer a good solution to this really excellent "problem" to have. They were intrigued. I wanted to change class a little bit? I noticed that they wanted more time to finish their Fox Detective, Lost Unicorn and Sports Comics? I had their attention.
They were beyond enthusiastic about the change! So, we got straight down to business and figured out how much time we have together in class and how that time SHOULD be used to help us do these core things: become stronger writers, become stronger readers and become stronger citizens (social studies). We messed around with the schedule until we achieved what we believed to be the ultimate path to achieve these goals. Each day would look like this:
Reading Workshop (30 minutes)
10 minute mini-lesson
20 minutes independent reading (in the unit genre, teacher picks goals)
Writing Workshop (30 minutes)
10 minute mini-lesson
20 minutes independent writing (in the unit genre, teacher picks goals)
Independent Studio Time (30 minutes)
30 minutes (read OR write, any genre, any format, student chooses goals)
Social Studies (20 minutes)
Once a schedule was in place we decided to try it out. My students are already accustomed to conferring with me during reading and writing workshops each day. I explained that the independent portion would be a third time that I could confer with them during the day. My first class had a lot of students who chose to write during that independent block, and my second class had quite a few that decided to read. No matter what they chose, when I met with readers and writers, I had a conversation with them about how they would decide to balance their independent time. Some students decided on an every other day schedule, some said it would depend on the day of the week and how excited they were about their current book or writing piece (I love this response, by the way) and some students knew that the balance piece would be a struggle for them. We decided we would continue to work on it as we went on.
First off, there wasn't ONE student who wasn't engaged during this independent time. Everyone had a plan for what they wanted to do during that time. Students worked during the whole time because they had full choice over the piece or the book. Again, my kids are used to this with books, but opening it up for writing was a game changer. I always noticed kids wanting to write fantasy stories during realistic fiction and this was finally their opportunity to get to have full choice when it came to class time.
We are about three days in and I have already noticed a big difference in my students. They are even more excited and enthusiastic about class time. They also are setting their own goals with ease because of the form I am using from Jess's post. It breaks down conferring time by asking kids what they are noticing in their books and what they are proud of in their writing, once students do this part the teacher names what they are doing so students are much more likely to try doing the work again. My kids have responded to these forms and this teacher language in a positive way. Instead of basic summaries, conferences are turning into more like this: "wow, I don't know if you know this but what you just did was explain character change. That is deep reading work." Then students decide which noticing or proud moment they want to turn into a personal goal. They decide how they will keep track of the goal and when they want to meet with me again. It was unreal to hear my kids talk about their reading and writing in the ways that they did this past week. I told a colleague that I wish I had actually videoed a couple conferences so I could look back and remember that charge of excitement and EMPOWERMENT in their voices! My Intervention Specialist and I have already decided that we will use these student-created goals to have students rewrite their IEP goals. We then plan on having them track their work in their reading and writing notebooks and use them as their trials and evidence of work towards those goals. How powerful, right?
This outline moves me towards my goal of more student choice and agency in my classroom. It lays down a foundation for some serious social justice work that I want to take on with kids. A possible change would be reconsidering letting students work in partnerships. They are now and some are using them well and some are not. This is an area I know I'll need to be flexible and willing to intervene on. I am leaning towards not turning them down with it comes to partnerships because think of the critical thinking and problem solving they are doing within those spaces! Something else to keep an eye on is my consistency with conferring. I have to be willing to use that great chunk of time to really get in there with kids and help them improve their reading and writing.
Using this format allows me to stay true to the workshop format and some beloved units of study in both reading and writing, dip my toe into inquiry based learning, social justice standards, and Kristi Mraz's Mindset work all while remaining true to my core heart belief that student choice and voice should rule the day.
I am excited about this new layout and I am already impressed with the ownership out of my kids. I can't see how much further they take it!
What Really Matters?
This summer, I had grand plans.
I had read The Curious Classroom, Comprehension & Collaboration, Disrupting Thinking and more. I was ready to take on the world. I was inspired immensely by seeing Jessica Lifshitz speak at one of the Scholastic Reading Summits. I had brushed up on the amazingness that is Kristine Mraz. I had plans to pull it all together, but it kind of never happened.
Enter the new school year, enter new curriculum, mandates, committees and all of the other "stuff" that adds to our never-ending to-do lists. The stuff started piling up and I couldn't see over it all. The "stuff" was blocking the important stuff. The work. The work that I want to do.
This revelation I had this summer might shock you, it shocked me. The revelation I had is that my life's work has shifted from helping children love reading and writing to helping children change the world. This is what I felt in my bones. Not that the work that I have been doing, studying and living wasn't important, but that it was a stepping stone to the real work I wanted to be brave enough to do.
While the weekend workshop I just took had many books, strategies and ideas that I have already explored or read or worked on by myself, it taught me something else. Something I didn't expect to take away. I already live by the if it's a great idea, try it out tomorrow motto, but I have never been willing to completely go off the beaten path. I've never been willing to in the middle of the school year, ditch complete units and start over, but it is what I will do, starting tomorrow.
Reading and writing workshop is great. It's an entry point into workshop work for me and it has served my students well. We will continue the structure and continue with some of the work the fabulous Units of Study have laid out.
But I'm done with letting the "stuff" get in the way of the work I really want to do. The inquiry work. The work that gets messy, the work that has no clear path, the work that starts here and ends up someone totally unexpected. The work that empowers, not just engages.
Here goes nothing!
Reading Conference Google Form
You can find a copy of my Reading Conference Google Form here.
It is easy enough to come across those perfectly pinned posts online. With titles like Things All Great Teachers Do, Top Ten Habits of the Best Teachers & What All the Best Teachers Are Doing, it's easy to start comparing oneself to the sea of many. We often think about experience, tenure, types of districts served, and possibly test scores when thinking about if teachers are doing their jobs.
Lacking, however, are the posts written by children. The students. I am a firm believer in asking the kids. We spend time in the teacher lunchroom or meetings making decisions about children, often not including them in the conversation. So, I have decided to pull another chair up to the table. One to be occupied by our most important critics, our kids.
I gave some of last year's students this prompt: what is it that makes a teacher good? What you find here is their responses. Published to this blog for all to see and savor. The first in this series is from a student I know I will never forget. His sharp wit and curious imagination is exactly what you would want in a student. He is wise beyond his years and in my humble opinion, has a writing career ahead of him if he really wanted it. He is the famed author of The Chicken President series that took our fourth grade classroom by storm last year. If you follow me on Twitter and Instagram, this is not the first you are hearing of this series. Here is Cameron's response to his teacher's summer writing prompt.
What Makes a Good Teacher
By: Cameron
Basically it is caring. A teacher who doesn't care won't develop a good relationship with their students, causing a problem. A teacher who is willing to put in the time, effort, and commitment to his or her job is more likely to bond with students, creating a safe place for students to come in time of need.
As a student, I really felt that my teachers were there to help me. I know they watched out for me because they pushed me to be my best. The good thing about having a teacher like that is that when you are struggling in the classroom, you always have somewhere to go for help.
Though teachers should care, they shouldn't always go "easy" on you. Perhaps the best thing that makes a good teacher is pushing you to be your best. Like my teachers say, "when you think you have finished, go back, because there is always something else you can add.'' I love that they will always push me until my work is 100% perfect.
Also, a teacher who will actually listen to their students will be better off. Lots of teachers are great, but some go above expectation. From personal experience, my teachers have been great, but to the ones that can meet this criteria, i'd give you an A+.
Check back for more student responses, and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section. I know the kids would love to see them.
The never-ending debate trudges on. Should kids have homework? If so, at what ages and how much? In order to examine homework and it's implications, Valencia Clay and I have taken on some required reading on the topic. We have examined our own situations at teachers of fourth and eighth grade students, we have measured socio-economic factors and composed a conversation on the topic. Our collective goal is not necessarily for everyone to up and abandon homework, but rather to pull back and think about how it is used and whether it can ever be a catalyst for "leveling the playing field."
Fellow edu-blogger, Valencia Clay, teaches 8th grade and I teach 4th. The purpose of homework differs between elementary grades and middle grades, so we can came together to have a conversation about the issue.
"Simply put, American parents no longer have the time to give their children the help they need with their homework."
SR: Our children spend on average seven hours a day, thirty-five hours a week in educational settings. Most full-time working adults average approximately forty hours a week. When I step back and think about these numbers and think about what has already been asked of my nine year olds during those thirty-five hours, providing them with an absence from homework seems to be the only humane option. With families working multiple shifts, childcare being vastly different in each home, and guardians working to spend just an hour or two, maybe just minutes with their children a day, it really does seem that time has run out. One might counter with an argument that the parents that do have time, do not spend that time supporting their children with their after hours work. My attitude is this, American parents and guardians (most of them) want what is best for their children. When we leave them no time during the week to make it happen, it is not unbelievable that weeknights with families end up being for talking, enjoying a meal together, shuffling kids to after school activities, or passing like ships in the night. As educators, we must understand that the makeup of our lives outside of school, do not always look the same as those of our families.
VC: In the middle grades and beyond, that notion is unacceptable. However, as educators, we cannot allow the heavy freight of homework to fall on our students' parents alone. An interloping line between parenting and teaching forms when we do not consider who they are as individuals and the amount of work they do to provide for their families. We have to be demiurgic and intentional when setting expectations that revolve around family engagement. Teachers can begin assigning family-based tasks that allow parents to be their authentic selves, let their child see them as intellects, and give them the chance to model critical thinking.
Before any assignment is tasked, a parent-homework survey should be completed so that we, as teachers, will know what to expect from parents. It may include questions about their educational background, work hours, and whether they are in favor of family-based assignments. Make the questions as respectful as possible. Show a peer that is a parent before sending it home to make sure that it portrays your true intent: to build community in their home that engages around completing homework.
"The demands we make of our children often reflect the worst as well as the best in ourselves."
SR: Alfie Kohn once said "In most cases, students should be asked to do only what teachers are willing to create themselves, as opposed to prefabricated worksheets or generic exercises photocopied from textbooks. Also, it rarely makes sense to give the same assignment to all students in a class because it's unlikely to be beneficial for most of them." When I first began my career as an educator, I gave generic homework because all of the teachers around me were doing the same. Guess how many of those teachers were creating their own homework? Almost none. Guess how many of them individualized what they sent home to actually meet each child's needs at that given moment? None. I am in no way suggesting that this fits the mold for all educators, but we would all be kidding ourselves if we acted like the vast majority of teachers did offer homework in this fashion. What if students instead of spending time on traditional homework modeled more of the homework many of us do? The kind of homework with pure curiosity at the core. That kind of work where our engagement level is up because we feel empowered by the possibility of learning something new, something that means something to us. I am talking about the work where we have to know the answer to our question, because it is burning inside of us. How can we support this kind of inquiry with our kids?
VC: This is so true. At my worst: I have gone weeks without a homework assignment. Then, when I tried to assign something for the students to do outside of school, no one got it done. It was a joke. That experience made me become the teacher who gives arbitrary homework every night, just to maintain consistency. I could not even keep up with grading those daily assignments and my students began to catch on, which meant they took the homework as a joke, again. Both of these instances could have driven me to end homework once and for all but I could not do such a thing because I knew my students needed and deserved exactly what Stacey described as, "homework with pure curiosity at the core."
At my best: We do not call homework homework, we call it life-work. When we are in the heat of a lesson, I may come up with an assignment on the fly, something that is directly related to the lesson of the day and was conceived out of a teachable moment. Generally, I may assign an ongoing, independent critical-thinking question on a Monday and allow students multiple days, over the course of their learning that week to complete it. This is where the term life-work comes in because the question is always one that makes them look at things from a new perspective… its life changing! I also make many of their assignments visual now, instead of forcing them to do writing assignments that I cannot keep up with or reading assignments that drain them after a long day. Visual assignments are much more fun and creative. For example, if we are learning about theme, I may have them bring in an item from home that metaphorically displays the theme of the short story we read. This, I find, is actually more challenging than just writing a 5-sentenced paragraph about the theme. For some kids, it becomes so hard that they need a couple of days to see the examples their peers bring in. No, not all teachers are assigning tasks like this but it is not because they cant or do not want to, it is because they have not learned how to do it yet. We should not end homework, we should put our energy into teaching teachers how to be innovative when assigning it.
"Because schools cannot control the home environment, homework raises the profoundly difficult question of how to achieve a leveled playing field."
SR: If we want a leveled playing field in education, homework is not the arena. Homework will never, under any circumstances, ever, be a level playing field for our kids. While some children are listening to audiobooks in the back of their mother's minivan on the way to soccer or music lessons, some are cooking their siblings' dinner. Some of our children are homeless and do not have materials or a space to use to do their work. And while one might be swayed with heartfelt stories of resilience, shaming children or acting as though they are not doing enough in these latter situations would show a complete ignorance of the real lives so many of our kids are already leading. Punishing a child for not having their homework done, a child in a situation where survival is the number one priority, continues to be one of the most shameful practices of the US Educational System.
VC: If homework is the only way to achieve a "leveled playing field", we should all consider ourselves doomed. Homework is by definition, a reinforcement of the learning or a pre-assessment of what will be taught – never should it be considered the lesson. The classroom is where we prepare our students to live in their limitless potential, despite the degree or nature of the home environment.
In places where we know a student does not have parents at home or a home at all, we can use that as a reason to pair them with a mentor in the community. Chances are, they will appreciate the mentor and maintain a love for learning at the same time. Homework does not have to remind us of the differences between our students but when it does, we should never ignore them, we should embrace them.
"How can we raise "whole children" when they have little time to do anything other than school work?"
SR: I find it hard to believe that so many educators expect my nine year olds to hold not one, but two full time jobs. A child attends school weekly, averaging almost the equivalent of a full-time job an adult might hold and then is expected to put in overtime when he arrives at home. The moments that should be spent taking a deep breath, running, playing, talking, exercising, relaxing, just being begin to not exist for children. I often hear teachers complain about children lacking problem-solving skills. It is in these moments that I wonder if these teachers realize they are the ones robbing our children of the very experiences that build problem-solvers. Experiences like play, and knowing that if our children do not have the opportunities to feel safe, loved and carefree at home, then we better be pulling out all the stops so they can have these chances at school. Life lessons are learned at the hands of those in our families. Storytelling is valued and honored in many different cultures and across religions. Are the overtime requirements placed on children providing them opportunities to connect with their families and learn their stories?
VC: Unfortunately, this research has proven to lack the timelessness that I expected when I initially purchased the book. It was developed way before the Internet was a common household tool, before social media, and before the marking of the neo-civil rights movement that we are living in today. In urban areas, like the ones I have taught in, many students do not participate in more than 1 extra-curricular activity. The lack of funding for youth programs leaves our children with more idle time to find who-knows-what online, while intentionally crafted homework assignments prompt freethinking time. Who says a reading teacher cant assign a musically-grounded homework assignment? Who says a math teacher can't do the same? Is it a crime for the science teacher to ask to students to go the museum on the days that it is free to do independent and fun research of their choice? If homework is assigned intentionally, we can use it to shape and mold our children into this "whole" child we want. However, I believe building the whole child has less to do with homework and more to with teaching our students to identify their triggers and adopt tools for social-emotional adversities such as anxiety, doubt, and depression. This, again, is about more than homework – its life work.
"It's simply the fatigue factor that keeps these programs from having the desired outcome."
SR: Alfie Kohn spent much time with the research around homework as he prepared for his book The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing. To quote him again "For starters, there is absolutely no evidence of any academic benefit from assigning homework in elementary or middle school. For younger students, in fact, there isn't even a correlation between whether children do homework (or how much they do) and any meaningful measure of achievement. At the high school level, the correlation is weak and tends to disappear when more sophisticated statistical measures are applied. Meanwhile, no study has ever substantiated the belief that homework builds character or teaches good study habits." Can it be the fatigue factor when the research so blatantly states otherwise? Are we blaming parents and guardians for something we already know to be ineffective?
VC: I have taught in a school that begins at 7:30AM and ends at 4:30PM. These hours make the requirement of homework sound like pure torture. Students do not need adult level responsibilities but it is our responsibility to build on their creative stamina, even after the school day ends. The research may not prove homework to be effective but should we allow social media to take the place of practicing newly acquired skills? Do we really want to engender a generation of followers and consumers instead of leaders and creators? I understand the need to create or finish a product can become daunting and lead to perfectionism and depression but the reality is, the power to create is not easy to harness, assigning at least 1-2 independent, research-based, or artful assignments a week will be a catalyst for the determination and drive that our students will use outside of the educational setting.
"Maybe its time parents finally admit… homework disrupts family life beyond a tolerable limit."
SR: I will admit, as a parent, that homework does disrupt family life. My oldest daughter will be a third grader in approximately two weeks. She is a child who loves to learn, but does not love school. I saw it in her with the "optional" packets sent home in kindergarten. She had no interest in spending her time outside of school working on worksheets. Who could blame her? When first grade rolled around, it got even worse. Homework that year was required and my bright, articulate, rule following child would scream, kick and cry her way through her work. Work, by the way, that required little to no thought on her end. What was the point? It was certainly hard to see it as a parent and educator watching the social experiment unfolding before my very eyes. I was watching a genuine love of learning being pulled from my child. She could have been playing, interacting with her family in positive ways or problem solving as she lived her life. Instead, she spent many nights fighting with me over something I understood had no value. Disruption, unlocked.
VC: This can only be said if a school is not collaborating on the assignments. Homework should be given in collaboration with other teachers, parents, and the voice and choice of the students. Yes, 4 hours of homework a night is unacceptable. This is why each subject should claim their homework night and move forward as a school in fidelity to such agreement. Administrators and teachers of the arts should be assigned the task of working with subject areas or grade-levels to alleviate "homework packets." If the assignment is not meaningful, it should not exist.
"As Americans, we don't like to talk about class, but when we talk about the homework spread across the kitchen table, we have to recognize that some tables are bigger than others. Our class position in this society influences our ability to help children with their homework in subtle and complex ways."
SR: Class affects us all, like the quote says, in subtle and complex ways. It provides us all with opportunities or maybe it doesn't. It baffles me just how many educators lack the skills of picking up on these subtleties. Maybe you send home a homework assignment where children are to write about their favorite thing they did over summer break. If you are not being mindful about families and their experiences, you might be thinking this is an assignment anyone can be successful with. It took a child telling me that his favorite part of summer was when he got to walk to the Carryout with his dad. I had other kids talking about trips to Disney World and this child is talking about a visit to the local gas station. Other things like expecting all parents to have access to smartphones, the Internet and printing capabilities, again, just show our own ignorance and lack of understanding about our families. Not all guardians work 9-5 jobs or have their own means of transportation, yet teachers are rolling their eyes at the empty chairs during parent-teacher conferences. Until we step back and do the work when it comes to getting to know our families, homework becomes yet another startling reminder that we aren't trying hard enough. Do parents have access to support so they can assist their kids? And do our assumptions about what parents "should already know" get in the way of building partnerships? Are you available to help coach or even speak with them at a time that works for their schedule?
VC: Its equality versus equity. Differentiation is key here. If we recognize that there are nuanced representations of class in our students, then we must develop a homework schedule and assignment bank that all students can access. In the case of homework, every student should be tasked with what they need as individual learners. If we are rallying to end homework because we do not want to go the extra mile of differentiating it for our learners and developing a burgeoning rapport with their parents, we should not be teachers.
"Rather than connecting us in a meaningful way with the school, it often alienates us from our children as they are forced to take on their role as student while we don the teacher cap."
SR: We know that a child's first teacher is their parent. The ways our families teach us are organic. They submerge us in language and touch, little nuances that are special to each family unit. This is the kind of genuine teaching that should be expected of parents and families. When we replace storytelling, survival techniques, religion and customs with basic comprehension and direction following, we pull at the strings of the parent-child relationship. We put strain on the unit by forcing children to participate in mundane tasks with their parents at the front of the ship. Mindlessly tasking and dragging them along, kicking and screaming out of sheer boredom. If we want our children to have strong family units, we should find ways to help support their connections with one another, not add unnecessary strain.
VC: My grandmother, who raised me, dropped out of school in the 8th grade. She never read to us, helped or checked our homework unless it was an assignment that required her to do such. I remember reading Shakespeare in 9th grade English. We were told to analyze the quote, "What's in a name…" and to find the meaning and history of our names. Only she knew the history of the Clays and why my mother chose Valencia as my first name. I also remember having to write a list to make a recipe for chocolate cake in my math class, and yet again, only she had that! Together, we were both students when completing these assignments. She was learning about Shakespeare while I was learning about myself. These are just a few examples of authentic homework assignments that can be done in a home of parents who may or may not be educated to the highest standard. It is okay for parents to feel like students at times. This does not mean that we are donning the teacher hat, this means we are promoting learning as a life-long process.
"Homework must be examined in the context of how it affects the organization of the family and the family structure as well as how its impact is felt across socioeconomic lines."
SR: Bottom line, we know the research and it supports not giving students homework. We also, as smart educators, examine a lack of equity when it comes to the playing field of home education. Taking all of these things into account: the strains on the family unit, impact across socioeconomic lines, lack of effectiveness supported by years of research… what's the point? At what juncture do we decide that the quickest move we can make in the work of leveling the playing field of education is to actually pull homework from the table?
VC: I totally agree. Homework must be examined but not ended.
June 2018


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