paulhillsdon.com

Barbara Walters has put together a fantastic special report on transgendered children. If you, like myself, have ever wondered just what exactly it is, and how it comes about, you owe it to yourself to watch this 45 minute special on the subject. I learned a lot and I recommend you check it out.

YouTube, Google, and others were giving me hassles over the time limits, size, and copyrights of the video. So, I present to you, Jumpcut:

18 award-winning teaches have created a report on how to fix U.S. schools. The first step is a whole new pay structure for teachers. Currently, teachers are paid according to their seniority, or how long they’ve been in the school system. Seniority also generally determines which teacher will be awarded a job when positions open up. Pay scales up depending on seniority, and usually stops somewhere between 10-15 years of work.

The report suggests recreating a more natural career ladder based on three tiers: novice, professional and expert. They also propose that a teacher who takes on extra responsibilities should be paid for their time. For example, a novice could start at $30,000, moving up to $70,000 for an expert, and as much as $130,000 for an expert with additional roles in the school.

Meanwhile, just how to one should judge what tier a teacher would be placed under is up for debate. The report advised pay based on classroom results, however it acknowledges the flaws in such a system.

While I generally agree with the idea of a career ladder, I do not think performance should be based on classroom performance. All that will create is even more standardised testing, and teaching to the test. What I would suggest is a mixture between classroom performance, seniority, and a teacher rating system completed by all students.  Also, I do not know where they will get the money to literally double the pay of all the numerous teachers who help the school beyond what the job calls for. But an interesting report nontheless.

Xtra has been quietly putting together a list of 60 reasons to fire Harper in the next election. They started on April 1st, and have so far gotten about halfway through. Here’s some highlights:

• Harper tears up Kelowna Accord
• Harper pays lip to environment
• CBC kaput after Harper majority
• North American Union planned. But quietly
• Transparency Talk is just talk

Why were we so afraid of a Harper government? Legislation dictated by religious ideology? War on the homos? Slashes to social programming? A US-style prison system? Just 15 months into his mandate, and in a delicate minority Parliament, he’s doing all those things — and more.

The BBC reports the secondary schools in the UK are testing pilot projects where teachers introduce emotional intelligence to teenagers.

“It teaches skills such as resolving conflicts, managing anger, respecting others and playing fairly.”

Apparently, while conflicts still arise, students were able to put out the fire before anything escalated, thanks to the teens seeing the situation from each others perspective.

What I’ve always found weird is that in elementary school, we got so much of this “extra” curriculum that I found highly useful: bullying, smoking, sex ed, food and health, etc. Why is this all eliminated from high schools, when this type of instruction is of most value? I’m glad to see the UK is taking some initiative and pushing emotional intelligence into secondary schools.

“My daughter Severn is 27 years old, and she’s been an environmental activist ever since she was seven years old. A few months ago she said to me, ‘Dad, I think this is the most exciting time to be alive in all of human history.’ She said this is the moment, in the following months and a few years, we are going to have to make some big decisions. Because if we make the right decisions, or if we fail to make the decisions, it’s going to determine the fate, not only of all human kind, but of countless species of plants and animals. This is the defining moment, she said, when we will decide whether or not we’re going to be a spectacular Flash in the Pan failure, or whether we can step up to the plate and show that we are capable of finding humility, compassion, patience and wisdom to truly find a sustainable path. As I reflected on her comment, I’ve come to the conclusion she’s absolutely right.”

[via TreeHugger]

Just a few days ago, the Pattullo Bridge, connecting Surrey and New Westminster, took it’s 20 life since 1990. The bridge has been a constant nuicance for Translink in recent years with an accident seemingly happening every month. Meanwhile, the regional transporation authority, currently in the process of being revamped, refuses to do anything major to ease safety concerns. The bridge, built in 1937, isn’t anywhere near conforming to today’s safety standards:

Read the rest of this entry »

If you didn’t know, it is apparently better for your body to be eating multiple small meals throughout the day rather than 3 large meals. The 300 Calorie diet is based on this research, having people eat 5 meals per day, each consisting of 300 Calories.  Anyways,  I’m not one for counting Calorie intake, thanks to my superb metabolism, but what’s interesting is that I seem to usually have small meals like the article shows, and generally follow this 300 Calorie diet. Maybe there’s a correlation there?

The meal above is 345 Calories. It is comprised of:

• 6 oz of chicken
• 1 cup of green beans
• 2 pats of low-fat butter
• 1 small tossed salad
• 2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
• 12 oz water

How cool is this? It’s nice to know some people are willing to let their voices be heard, loud and clear. This was out of Ocean Beach, San Francisco on the 28th of April.

[via BeachImpeach.org]

[via PostSecret]