My Happy Place...A Creation Studio

      Lately, I have been learning about the ways to revamp a school's curriculum.  Call it fate or destiny, but this curriculum development course has me thinking about the various ways I make changes in my own life.  Most of the time, I know that a change needs to happen, but do I really ever break down the reasons why they need to happen?  For example, I have recently made a major change in my diet and have become vegetarian and pescatarian.  My blood type is Type A, and I know that Type A's are vegetarian by divine design, with the added consumption of fish.  I didn't arrive at this conclusion by reason alone or by reading a book about it.  I began to think about the killing of cows, chickens, and pigs.  I began to consider how they must feel when they see their offspring killed or their parents.  Quite frankly, it left a rotten taste in my mouth.  I have read numerous books on the benefits of eating veggies and fish only, ...

    Preface:  The rule of thumb in statistical analysis is to compare fairly equal samples.  This rule still applies whether these samples are population or geographical square miles.  The size of the samples needs to be fairly equal.  Keep this in mind when we discuss the differences in educational systems in Finland and compare them to the United States.         In 2012,  American Educator  author and teacher, Pasi Sahlberg,   wrote an article about the miraculous educational system in Finland.  Sahlberg described in detail Finland's need for social and economic equity and a democratic state, and how these two concepts changed the country's educational system post-WWII.  The article depicted a glowing report of Finland's educational reform from 1972-1978 and helped readers to understand why the old system was no longer working and the reform was needed (Sahlberg, 2012).  Sahlberg (2012) identified tha...

Have you ever thought about what it takes for you to create?  We all love to create something in this life, right?  Whatever your passion is, think about how you get there.  Do you have an inner desire to begin or do you plan it thoroughly?  I am a planner, but I tend to create in utter chaos.  In my bedroom, I have a creation station area.  Everything was moved into this area to free up our guest bedroom, which used to house everything crafty.  However, when I dive into creating something these days, it is often an exploration that usually ends in spilled coffee, lost items under my sewing desk, or a crammed attempt in tight quarters.  No matter how much I organize, it is always chaos, but isn't life like that sometimes? Lately, I have been on a paper kick.  I started making bookmarks out of different papers and designs.  Some have paper clips, while others do not.  The end product is the same...a bookmark.  The journey to get...