Sunday, February 25, 2018

Writing Across the Curriculum



“… Reading and writing are two side of the same coin. whereas the writer works to make a text sensible, the reader works to make a text sensible, the reader works to make sense from a text. As a result, the two processes, rooted in language, are intertwined and share common cognitive and sociocultureal characteristics. Both reading and writing, for example, involve purpose, commitment, schema activation, planning, working with ideas, revision and rethinking, and monitoring.”[1]

“The relationships between reading and writing have been a source of inquiry by language researchers since the mid-1970s.”[2]  My parents where strong advocates of reading, specially early reading because they believed that good readers make good writers.  As Richard T. Vacca and Jo Anne L. Vacca, authors of Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum point out, “students who are good readers and writers perceive themselves as such and are more likely to engage in reading and writing on their own.”[3]  There is no mystery to that observation.  The challenge is how do you encourage a student who is a weak reader and a weak writer to become stronger in either area?  Both ends of the spectrum are self-reinforcing scaffolds.  As a student increasing become frustrated with their writing, they are equally frustrated by difficult or challenging reading material.  How does a teacher break the cycle?  On suggestion is short and informal writing tasks: Writing to Learn (WTL).  Using ‘quick-writes’ which focus on capturing an student’s ideas, or concepts very quickly and spontaneously – they spend less time frustrated with composition and more time focus on expression and understanding.  “WLT should not be confused with learning to write”[4]- rather student concentrate on “summarizing and extending their thoughts about a subject.”[5]

Vacca explains another writing technique that is creative, nonthreatening, and fun - POVG (point of view guide) are designed to "trigger thoughtful reading and writing by having students 'get inside the skin' of a character or a subject under study.”[6]  This exercise is simple and short, to have the student think outside of themselves in a creative fashion.  Students involved in a POVG can, ask questions in an interview format; or role-play; or use first-person inquiry to help overcome the fear or frustration of writing.  Once a student is comfortable writing, nearly anything, then as an instructor, we can introduce additional structure to their writing.  “Using a variety of instructional activities, including microthemes, POVGs, unsent letters, biopoems, dialogues, and admit/exit slips”[7] – all do the same, they allow the student to write without fear of failure.

Vacca uses Anne Frank, the world’s most famous child diarist, as an example of the merits of keeping a personal journal.  Does he anticipate our student’s experiences to equal hiding against Nazis and the death camps as the motivation to write?  I think journaling is an excellent activity to encourage a student to write without fear of evaluation or judgment.  Great writing can be developed if the student is allow to “freely express their feelings and thoughts in response to what they are reading and learning.”[8]


[1]      Richard T. Vacca and Jo Anne L. Vacca. Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum Close, Hull, & Langer 2005. p.282.
[2]      Ibid., p.283.
[3]      Ibid., p.283.
[4]      Ibid, p.285
[5]      Ibid., p.285.
[6]      Ibid., p.286.
[7]      Ibid., p.285.
[8]      Ibid., p.294.

NonProfit Board Liabilities - are there legal responsibilities?

I am aware of nonprofit organizations with 501(c) designations that are unable to maintain their obligation and duty to faithfully meet their primary mission: honesty and transparancy.  Attorney Paul D'Alessandro outlines in an excellent article, that every member of a nonprofit board has an obligation to the charitable organization and also the community to operate with a "duty of care".  "Duty of care" translates into actions and measures that any reasonable person would behave and proceed in a way that is not reckless.  Specifically and especially when it relates to an organization's finances and expenses, to operate in a way that is ethical and honest. "If, for example, a charity had an excellent fundraising quarter, they cannot then decide to pay a bonus to the board members, because this would go against the trust society and the nonprofit has placed in its board members."
I would highly recommend reading and reflecting on Paul's article:
http://www.nonprofitpro.com/article/nonprofit-board-liabilities-legal-responsibilities-board/

Thursday, February 08, 2018

Use A Powerful Tool To Immediately Stop Paying Interest On Your Credit Card Balance

Think of someone carrying a credit card balance like a patient who enters an emergency room bleeding badly. The first thing a doctor will do is stop the bleeding. It's no different when attacking a credit card balance; the first thing you do is stop the interest charges.
There is a simple way to do this, and its brilliance is that it actually uses the banks' marketing offers to your advantage: find a card offering a long "0% intro APR balance transfer" promotional offer, and transfer your balance to it. These are cards which offer new customers a long period of time (often as much as 18 months) during which the card charges no interest on all balances transferred to it.

More info can be found at:
http://www.comparecards.com/guide/heres-a-brilliant-way-to-pay-credit-cards?utm_source=msnhp&utm_medium=native&pla=www.msn.com&tar=cms&acqs=prospecting&bdst=cpc&utm_content=fastest&adt=handingdollarfan&utm_campaign=20180208&mpch=ads