Nightingale

About the only thing "sacrifice" is doing is getting my friends shot at. Most of us here at home don't feel any safer than we did on 9/10/01.

I believe that they're a viable alternative, provided the quality of the education is similar to that provided by public schools. In many cases, it isn't. Catholic/Private/Parochial school teachers are not required to be credentialed NOR have any background in their subject matter. Most private schools do not have the means to provide for special needs children. Because they are not required to accept all children, like the public schools are, their test scores are naturally higher, as they do not have to deal with so-called "difficult" children. Private schools are not required to give state-mandated tests. When they do test, they typically do so at the END of the year, rather than the beginning. The result of this is that you see in the newspaper "third graders in private schools score higher than third graders at public schools." Of course they do! Those private school pupils have had an additional eight months of schooling, as their testing is done in the late spring, as opposed to the public schools, who are required to test in the fall. A child who's three weeks out of second grade is very different from one who's about ready to start fourth. Public school pupils generally have a better grounding in mathematics, while private/parochial students tend to have a better grounding in language and reading. Private/parochial schools are not required to adhere to state standards. Most children in public schools learn long division in third or fourth grade. In many parochial/private schools, this concept isn't taught until fifth or sixth (I learned it in sixth grade myself at parochial school, while the public school kids learned it in fourth). A bit of my own personal background/experience: I went to parochial school from kindergarten to sixth grade. At sixth grade, I transferred to a public school. I went from being a straight A student to getting Ds and Fs in math. It wasn't that I was math-stupid or something, it was that my prior educational mathematics background had been extremely lacking. I continued to get As in language/english classes, however, and also had a better grasp of history than my peers. I taught at a parochial school four years ago. My college degree is in "Film and Television". The school had me teaching Music, Computers, and Composition, and coaching girls athletics. NONE of which had anything to do with my educational background. I was there simply because they needed a body in the classroom. There were no standards for the classes I taught. I was simply tossed into a classroom with no textbooks, no guidelines, and no experience. My assigned "mentor teacher" was someone who, himself, didn't have a credential and only had two years of experience. When I asked the administration what I should focus my lessons on, I was told "just teach." um..ok...teach WHAT? "Music, Computers, and Composition" are all pretty broad subjects. Should I concentrate on music appreciation, or on music theory, or on vocal technique? My computers were Apple IIes, so there wasn't a whole lot I could do there, but I did my best. Composition was also a very broad topic... should I focus on creative writing, on research, on form and structure? what? What were these students going to face in high school? What could I do to best prepare them? In private/parochial schools, there is an extraordinary lack of communication between the schools themselves and the high schools. The teachers don't talk. The eighth grade teachers don't know what the freshman teachers will be teaching, so they have no clue how to properly prepare them. During my time working on my master's degree in education, I learned that what I experienced was far from rare. In fact, I'd call it typical. Private/Parochial schools can be great alternatives. The trick is to find a good one. Ask the following questions: Do you adhere to state standards and guidelines? (if yes, ask to see a copy..they should have more than a few lying about if they really stick to the standards) Are all your teachers credentialled, including special subject and physical education teachers? (if no, find another school) Do all your faculty have a college education? (more than a few private/parochial school teachers don't. If this answer is no, find another school) How many of your staff and faculty possess higher degrees? What do you do to encourage your faculty to keep the curriculum up to date? When were your history, reading, science and math textbooks last replaced and updated? (should be within the last five years or so) How does your school score on standardized tests when compared with other private/parochial schools (remember, you can't accurately compare public schools here because they test at a different time and test special needs kids too)? What provisions does your school have for special needs children? What is the college graduation rate of your school's pupils (high schools will track this better than elementary, but most will have some idea)?

I'm in downtown LA (civic center) on the 17th floor, and I didn't feel it at all.

make sure you go to the Animal Kingdom. Rent a PalMickey for the day. He's well worth it. He'll tell you all the show times and point out really cool stuff that you'd otherwise walk right past.

um... SFW?

how does the theory of creation account for the fossil record? The way I was taught evolution was "this is the idea that we have right now that explains and accounts for all the evidence we have found to date." It wasn't presented as absolute fact, it was presented as a best current idea that may or may not be refuted by additional evidence at a later time. Right now, as far as I know, there is no concrete evidence AGAINST evolution. The same cannot be said for creation.

at the top of the screen you will see a display of what's in the selected box. click on that area to edit what's in the box. see attached.

you're better off taking a job you don't like to get some income coming in. then, you've got time to continue searching for the job you want, while enjoying a bit of cash from the current job.

the interesting thing is that, while the pledge is optional for the students, it is not optional for the teachers. the teachers HAVE to lead students in the pledge. it would be interesting to see a legal challenge from a teacher. Course, no teacher could afford it. LOL!

the court didn't rule whether the pledge was constitutional or not. They left it open by not ruling on it at all, paving the way for another, more legitimate lawsuit by a custodial parent. I'm sure one will step forward soon, and we will have a final answer.

the court stated that a person does not have the right to bring a lawsuit on the behalf of a child who is not in their custody. their ruling had absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter of the case. It had to do with the plaintiff's standing in regards to his legal relationship with his daughter. Had the mother brought the suit, the ruling would have been different. What it would have been, I have no idea.

The silhouette is a 9 cell. I fly a silhouette, and I've found it has a shallower glide ratio than the spectres I demoed. I pack it the same way I pack the spectre. I love the openings on my sil. its a nice canopy.

http://www.nightingalesnest.net/limitsframepage.html all my aff stories are here

Catnip doesn't work on kittens.. only adult cats. dunno why, but its true. weird.

one of those big foam pads that they use for high jump? maybe he could land on one of those? http://www.advantageathletics.com/essx.html or a crash pad like people use for bouldering? http://www.backcountry.com/store/BLD0647.html?AFC=CJDataFeed&AID=10281785&PID=1261764&%3BATT=AD-060104 I don't know shit about paraplegics or base jumping, but this was the first thing that came to mind.

Ms Curtis, according to snopes, will neither confirm nor deny this rumor.

you can use regular toenail clippers. just turn them so that the blades run vertical instead of horizontal. my procedure for kitty nail clipping: 1. find a very thick, very large towel. the average "bath sheet" does fine. 2. creep up behind kitty when he's distracted. 3. toss towel over cat. 4. pick up cat and towel. 5. secure edges of towel, leaving a very small opening. 6. reach into opening, fish out a paw. 7. exerting gentle pressure on the toes, extend the claw and clip. make sure not to clip anywhere on the claw that looks pink, that is too close. 8. release paw. paw will disappear back into towel 9. reach back into towel. fish out a paw. preferably, not the same paw. if the same paw is fished out, release, and try again. 10. repeat procedure until both front paws have been clipped.

LOL! then, when she gets the cast off, she'll have one leg that's bone white from the knee down!

all the taxpayers pay for it... just like they'll pay for the funeral expenses of every US president, and many of our soldiers. It's just a way of saying "thanks." Even though he was a republican, he was still a US president, and deserves to be buried with the honors appropriate for any world leader.

what's the equivalent of smacking them upside the head? perhaps getting them grounded. Every single time they do something unsafe. Consistently. If they don't jump safely, they don't jump. notifying other DZs in the area of an unsafe jumper might help too. If they can't be safe in the air, do what it takes to keep them out of the air. I know someone was commenting that smacking someone of a green belt rank, or grounding a mid level jumper might make them not come back. I'd rather they not come back. If they're fighting with ego, or jumping recklessly, they're just going to get themselves or someone else hurt. Better they not be there at all. And YES, I have suspended people or tossed them out of the karate school permanently. The head instructor stood by my decisions every single time. I've heard situations of DZOs reversing the decisions of an S&TA to ground someone who is unsafe. HOW does that help our sport? Letting someone who is unsafe be in the sky, or in the ring, is just asking for trouble.

hehe. I know the abilities of every one of my students, and my instructor knows my ability. If one of my green belts, who I trained up through the ranks, could best me, I don't deserve my rank. These are students I worked with on a daily basis, from the time they were white belts (three or four years, usually). I know exactly who forgets to check which blind spot, who telegraphs which kick and how, who drops their guard and when. If one of them gets the drop on me, I fucked up. In my eight years of teaching, I can honestly say it never happened.

Probably the same reason that when I teach karate I have to smack around: 1. white belts that come in with an attitude 2. certain green belts with a little skill that acquire an attitude There are two kinds: the newbie who walks in thinking he knows more than the teacher. After getting smacked down a couple of times, he'll either leave with a bruised ego, or come back in without the ego, ready to learn. some of these guys have become my best students, because, they realize that if I can toss them around, I probably can really teach them something useful. The other kind is the mid-rank. This person has acquired a few skills, and they know they're better than the people just starting. Because they're able to outspar (or outswoop or whatever) the newbies, they start to get false confidence. Apply same solution as you would with a newbie. Beat on them enough to let them know that while they may have mastered some things, you have mastered more and have more experience. Proceed with smackdown. They will either come back ready to listen, or they won't come back. Regardless, they will have learned that no matter how much they know, there's always someone out there who knows more. It's important to note that not everyone has an attitude... there's no reason to smack around most students in a karate school, and there's no reason to verbally smack down all newbie skydivers. I consider Smackdown as a last-resort type tactic to be used when reason and civil conversation fail.

hehe... a complicated answer to a simple question, isn't it?

it sounded like what she was describing was a one-time issue. as long as she doesn't have a habit of paying late, she shouldn't have a problem getting the fee waived, but she has to ASK them to do it. they won't volunteer to do it, but if you ask, they grumble something about a one-time courtesy, and waive it.

it depends on the individual policy agreement with your card provider. for example: my visa card payment must be postmarked by the payment due date. my discover card payment must be received by the payment due date. it varies by card. call up and pitch a fit to the supervisor. they'll waive the late fee. it's standard procedure, because they'll make way more money from keeping you as a customer and charging you interest than they will off the $25 late fee or whatever it is.