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The Treasures Within You
Jack Gilbert said once to a young writer, when she asked him for advice about her own poems: “Do you have the courage to bring forth this work? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say YES.” – Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
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Peace
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. – Jimi Hendrix
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Song of the Day
My favorite artiste, Lea Salonga! I watched Les Mis two Sundays ago and she was Fantine in the anniversary show. The cast was outstanding, except for Nick Jonas. He was outclassed by the classically trained theater performers. The Jean Valjean singer’s voice quality is indescribable. To sing that song requires a lot of vocal muscle work and deep heart-wrenching emotion. One high quality show on TV.
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Haiku for the day
Words and worlds at war Hope deferred, vexes, galls Yearning prolonged gnaws ywk, June 28, 2011
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Applied Theater Trend in Singapore
Drama is also (cf with US) being explored for use in education, therapy and community-building in S’pore. :) Read more. The Singapore Drama Educators Association (SDEA) kicked off the four-day SDEA Theatre Arts Conference 2011 with a networking dinner on Thursday night (June 2).
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Deaf Meetings
Though my signing has improved, the flying hands at DC@PB by some people were too fast for me. I think being the only hearie, other than the little boy present, they were in THEIR world. No complaints because it helps me to understand what it is like for deaf people to be in a hearing world when we are the majority. I should be present at more meetings to improve my signing. At DAC’s picnic 6/4, there were a few more hearies who could sign very well. Everyone was welcoming…
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Mere Mortals
I heard from a friend that a reputable researcher was gravely ill. We came to the same conclusion, “So what is the point of striving?” :) We can say his research will live on and impact the lives of those who follow in his footsteps. Watching a loved one vanish through Alzheimer’s over time taught me how important it is to keep a work-life balance and to see life as a series of cherished experiences. Whatever I spend a lot of time on must be something that matters. As my…
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Stigmatization & Holding Back High Potential Children
I drafted this in March 2011, and meeting someone today who was struggling to get adequate educational support for her high-potential child made me realize I am not alone in wanting to get better support for high-ability children. This is why I’m a member of the National Association for Gifted Children. I believe gifted children (NAGC definition: “Gifted” individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude or competence in one or more domains.) need special provisions just like those with dis-abilities. I have heard too often these labels being used by…
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Different strokes for different folks
Some advice to heed in this PHD journey: Don’t fall into the trap of comparing your situation with others. No two PhD’s are the same. A little competition can be a motivator, but in general try to mix with people who have a positive or helpful attitude. If this is not possible, then find a PhD blog or try to meet with other PhD students at University events. Read more. For myself, I find it particularly helpful to look outward. Being in AERA Div C has been a blessing. It’s…
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Let the freedom bells ring!
A friend’s posting in FaceBook (thank you to Ardyth!) reminded me of this powerful ballad. I’d used this song before to teach my classes about respect for diversity and cross-cultural differences. May the wind of change sweep through us and overcome the limited and limiting thinking we have!
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HLM 7
HLM 7* – Hierarchical Linear Modeling statistics software is a little clunky but not too complicated. My chair had said before, qualitative researchers understand statistics too, you know? I am doing a qualitative research study for my dissertation, but I work with quantitative data everyday at work — lots of Excel spreadsheets, Access data queries, and presenting the data using mainly descriptive statistics. Dr. Bellini had said that some journal editors think descriptive statistics are “inferior”/second-class and this sort of data presentation is not as publishable. However, every data analytic…
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ID and Educator’s Role in Online Learning Part 2
Instructional designers contribute to helping educators operate successfully; they create blueprints for them. Educators, however, must recognize that they create the environment collectively with their students in real life too, and the blueprint is just a blueprint. Ideally, engaged pedagogy, as bell hooks (1994) wrote, is about changing, reinventing and reconceptualizing to adapt to every new teaching experience. Tough act in a classroom filled with different individuals with different abilities and needs. Freire and hooks both inspire and remind me about education as the practice of freedom. They draw me…