#homeschool alumna

[condensed-theorem-shop]

Here, let me take a break from ranting about cults to talk about something nice and uncontroversial (ha): homeschooling.

And by “talk about homeschooling,” I mean “copy/paste a comment from Ozy’s blog, because it got sufficiently long to be maybe worth sharing on my own.”

I was homeschooled much like this! And so have Many Thoughts. Apologies for the absurdly long comment.

(Well, my parents would never describe themselves as “unschoolers” in a million years — they’d say “classical/eclectic” if asked — but “classic homeschoolers who pay serious attention to the child’s interests” and “unschoolers who pay serious attention to the three R’s” probably converge at some point.)

I had a very very positive experience with homeschooling overall (and am happy to expound on it at length; my parents are very Into educational theory, and included me in the discussions as I got older).

(Braggy data on success thereof, which I blush to include, but: I ended up graduating at 16, attending a college in the top 20 in my field, and recently getting accepted to a good grad school with tuition waiver, TA position, and fellowship. On the non-math side, I double-majored in honors liberal arts, and was nationally competitive in fencing in high school. My 13-year-old sister is auditing her first college class (discrete math), regularly runs local 5- and 10Ks and places top in her age group, and wants to be a surgeon. The 10-year-old is on Suzuki book 3 for cello, and one of the top students in the local string project. All of us were reading at two, reading chapter books at three, and won various impressive things in lots of math competitions as well as the private-school-equivalent-of-UIL.)

So from that experience, some thoughts:

(1) The sleep thing is so so so true. Easily the #1 thing my non-homeschooled friends were jealous of. (#2 was not having to take the state’s standardized tests.) Possibly this is outdated science, but my understanding is that teenagers are actually just biologically wired to go to bed later and sleep in later than adults.

(2) Exercise, yes! Homeschooling and exercise and free-range kids all fit very nicely together. I did lots of biking and swimming and hiking and roller-blading and just running about wildly; it definitely contributed that by the time I was in double digits I was allowed to ride my bike anywhere within about a ten-block radius (the boundaries were defined by the nearest streets busy enough to be dangerous), so I got lots of exercise just getting around.

(3) Something of a follow-up on that last: if your kids are going to be running around unsupervised outdoors during school hours, you should probably make sure you’re clear on the local homeschooling laws, and then coach them on how to talk to a policeman. My parents did that for me, which was good, because it did in fact happen a few times that a policeman stopped me and asked some very pointed questions about whether I was playing hooky.

My instructions were: be polite; say “yes, officer, no, officer”; explain that I was homeschooled, and it was my recess [we didn’t have anything that formal, but easier to say that than explain your entire homeschooling philosophy]; if they insisted on taking me to the station, comply and then ask for my parents until they were provided.

The last stage of that never in fact came into play; the policemen always went “oh, okay. My sister homeschools! Do you like it?” and let me go (once with instructions to go get a better lock for my bike).

(4) I absolutely approve of homeschooling as “hey, let’s test out our kooky educational theories!” That’s exactly what my parents did. (My dad’s pet theory is that algebra should be introduced alongside arithmetic, and slopes alongside fractions. All three of us turned out super-math-y. Just saying…)

(5) One of the best things about homeschooling is a 1:1 (or close to it, if you have multiple kids) student:teacher ratio. Take full advantage of this.

(6) Yes, the math thing! A depressing number of homeschooled kids end up with poor math skills. It doesn’t help that it’s usually the mom homeschooling, and women seem to have even more of a tendency to go “oh, I can’t do math, it’s scary” than men. (Not claiming that women are inherently worse at math or anything; this seems to be pretty clearly a response to cultural pressure.)

Hiring grad students is a good idea; they’re interested in the subject, have some teaching experience, are usually lonely for their own families/younger siblings, and will work for dirt cheap. My family did a lot of that for me.

Beware of Khan Academy and various other “teach your kid math for you” services; these tend to prey on this phenomenon. Parents will pay ridiculous amounts of money for canned math curricula, because they’re so nervous about their own abilities; and while I know a lot of public-schooled people who used Khan Academy on their own after school and liked it, it really doesn’t substitute for an actual math teacher, especially for kids who aren’t inherently super-math-gifted. If you want a math curriculum, consider looking into Art of Problem Solving.

(7) A common unschooling failure method is: the kid spends twelve hours a day playing minecraft, the parent decides this is Probably Educational He’s Learning About Architecture Or Something, at eighteen he still can’t read or multiply. (My parents tend to refer to this as “nonschooling.”)

Making the three R’s less optional will probably help with that. Also, it seems like there’s something to be said for helping kids do things that they first-level don’t want to do but second-level do want to do. Plenty of adults use things like leechblock, or accountability to a friend, to serve the same function; a kid can’t reasonably be expected to have mastered using those tools, so a parent reminding them to turn off the computer and go work on their exhaustively detailed pyramid replica they love seems like a good thing.

C. S. Lewis actually brings something like this up in the Screwtape Letters (as part of an analogy for spiritual growth, but whatever). He points out that reading children’s versions of Greek myths is fun, and learning the first handful of Greek words is fun; and that being able to read Hesiod in the original is also fun; but in between, there’s a lot of drudgery with memorizing paradigms and struggling through translations. Even a kid who’s really passionate about Greek may need to be nagged a bit on a day-to-day basis to go review their verb tenses; it seems hard on a twelve-year-old to require them to have the intrinsic motivation to do that without any authority figure nudging them.

In my family, what this looked like on the day-to-day level was: my parents would tell me things like “no, go do your translations before you play” or “don’t forget you need to spend 30 minutes working on chemistry at some point this evening.” (Not very unschool-y, I admit.) But they’d be flexible about it, if I’d gotten really into researching the mathematics of swarming behavior or something.

And if some subject was consistently a cause of misery for me — not just “ugh, organic compounds, whyyy” but genuine “I hate this, it’s boring, I don’t want to do it,” every time over a period of days or weeks — they’d discuss with me whether I genuinely wanted to quit the subject. (It was really really clear that this was actually an option, and I wouldn’t be in trouble for choosing it or anything, which was crucial.)

I nearly always, given some space to think about it, decided that I wanted to keep working on the subject. Sometimes we’d decide to put it on the back burner for a while and come back to it next semester, or to skip to a different part of the subject and come back to that one another time, or try a different textbook, or find a tutor. Occasionally I did decide I was done with the subject, and they respected that.

I think this worked out really well. The only two subjects I can think of that I decided to totally quit were piano and Latin, and in retrospect both were absolutely the right call. Piano I quit after a year, and I recall absolutely none of it; I’m profoundly unmusical and was a disaster at it and hated it, and don’t wish in the least that I’d kept trying. Latin I quit after eight years and an audited university class; my parents and I had a serious discussion, and agreed that while I was glad to have studied Latin I wasn’t interested in pursuing it at a higher level, and that “took a class on the Aeneid in Latin” would be a good milestone for having mastered it to a casual-reading-of-Latin-texts level, and so I did that and then quit. I’m a little rusty, now, but given a dictionary and grammar can still read Latin texts fairly comfortably.

(8) I think you’re overestimating the difficulty of learning a foreign language. I had a friend growing up who was German/English bilingual, as was his mother; my mom tutored him in literature in exchange for his mother spending an hour or so a week talking with me in German. Afterwards my friend and I would hang out, and were encouraged to talk in German.

In addition, I did Rosetta Stone (pricey but effective, immersion-based) and later the Foreign Service Insitute’s course (free online if you can find it, or cheap to buy; immersion-based; meant for diplomats who are told ‘okay, you’re going to Germany in a month, be ready.’) (I also did another online course at one point, but it wasn’t very good.)

By the time I graduated high school, I was able to (with reference to a dictionary) read genuine literature in German; Goethe and Rilke were my favorites. My accent was apparently very good; I was asked more than once if my parents were native speakers (e.g. by the instructor in the not-so-good online course). I got a 4 on the German language AP test, which exempted me from all foreign language requirements in college (which I’m very grateful for; college language classes are super-intensive).

And — in some sense, the most important — when I spent a semester abroad, I was comfortably able to get around Vienna for a week or so speaking to people in German. (It helped in Hungary, too; Hungarian is hard and I learned very little, but nearly everyone spoke either English or German.)

I think key elements in that were: I started early (I was seven when I met my friend); I spent a good amount of time with a native speaker; and everything I did was immersion-based. The not-so-good course I took wasn’t mostly immersion-based, and I actually found that very frustrating, because I had to keep switching languages in my head; eventually I convinced the teacher to just talk to me in German all the time, which everyone else found very impressive but made it much easier for me.

(9) What you’ve said about the social issues all sounds right. I think the value of just escaping the social pressures of middle school isn’t to be underestimated; I know a surprising number of people whose parents homeschooled them /just for middle school/.

I got to spend my early teens dressing however I felt like (frequently ridiculously), wearing no makeup, hanging out with boys as friends, and not being at all self-conscious about any of it. My friends in public school were constantly worried about their appearance and their weight — and I don’t mean this as “I was a better person than them” or anything like that, I mean that other girls made nasty remarks to them constantly, and I escaped that. I’m very glad to see my sisters getting the same benefit.

(10) Also: bullying. Or, rather, not. The vast majority of my friends who were in public school were bullied, at least at some point; many of them still deal with ongoing trauma from that.

I encountered bullies — twice, total. The first time was in elementary school, in a homeschool group, and my mom promptly picked up on it and got the bully kicked out — she was able to both notice and do something about it, neither of which parents of kids in school can usually do. The second time was in middle school, in my fencing club; I took it to the instructor promptly, because I had spent my whole life with authority figures who listened to me and trusted me and acted productively on that. She had a very stern talk with the much older teenager in question, and he left me alone from then on.

Honestly, I’m pretty sure the bullying issue alone justifies homeschooling.

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 9: Little Graduation (originally posted on March 15, 2021)

AN: It's good to be back in business! Steven Universe: Alternate Future has returned at last, and with it, the plot begins to thicken. If I were to compare all four parts to RWBY, the previous one is Volume 1 (goofy fun times with some fighting), this one will be Volume 2 (a fine mix of both), Part 3 is Volume 3 (everything goes to hell), and finally Part 4 is a mix of Volumes 4 & 5 (dealing with the aftermath of Part 3, but things will get much better at the end.) Anyways, can Steven keep a lid on his negative emotions? How long before he learns what Black Rutile has planned for him? And will he be both physical and mentally strong enough to fight one last evil Gem? Tune in and find out!

Synopsis: As Steven prepares a party for Little Homeschool's first graduating class, his fears of growing apart from his friends slowly become reality.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Matthew Moy as Lars

Kate Micucci as Sadie

Indya Moore as Shep

Brian Posehn as Sour Cream

Lamar Abrams as Buck

Reagan Gomez Preston as Jenny

Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire

Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite

Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite

Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins

Deedee Magno Hall as Morganite's Pearl

Charlyne Yi as Morganite's Ruby

Laura Bailey as Titanite

Michaela Dietz as Blue Lace Agate

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

--

"Teens by day, hey! We're all right." Steven began singing along to Sade Killer and the Suspects' hit song as he drove away from home one relaxing day in Beach City. "Teens by day, but every night we're Sadie Killer and the Suspects! Whoa, Sadie Killer and the Suspects!"

Steven continued singing as he drove through Beach City until he made a stop at Lars's interstellar pastry shop Spacetries. Today was a special day, and Lars was going to be an essential part of it.

"Hey, Blue Lace." Steven greeted the Agate as he entered the shop.

"Hey, Steven." Blue Lace replied with a wave. "If you're looking for Lars, he's right over there." She added before getting back to rolling some dough.

"Hey Steven, here to pick up the cake?" Lars asked while looking over the order Steven placed.

"Yeah," Steven answered. "but I also wanted to check up on you. How are things?"

"Oh, y'know, same old same old." The pink man replied just as the door opened behind the pair. "Wait, is that-"

"Hey Steven, hi Lars!" Sadie Miller cheerfully greeted the duo. When Steven and Lars turned around, they saw that Sadie had changed a lot since they last saw her. Sadie's hair was now fully blonde again and in a ponytail. She wore a pink headband, had a white shirt with a blue one tied around her waist, and black pants. "Long time no see, you two."

"Sadie!" Steven cheered at the sight of his old friend. "Oh my gosh, I can't remember the last time we were together in a pastry establishment!"

"Yo Sadie, I got your moon cakes." Lars said, presenting a box with a moon symbol on the sides to his former co-worker and handing it to her.

"Thanks, Lars." Sadie responded gratefully as she took the box of moon cakes.

"So, how are things going with you and Shep?" Lars followed up.

"What?" Steven asked, completely confused about who the pair were talking about. "Who's Shep?"

"Shep's my new partner." Sadie said to Steven. "They're real cool & chill, and I can't believe we've been dating for two months now!"

"That's cool, I guess." Lars said awkwardly. "Tell them I said hi for me."

"Will do, Lars." Sadie replied as she left the store. "See you again someday."

"Shep, someday?" Steven continued asking, still unaware of what was going on. "Is there something I'm missing?"

"As Sadie said, Shep's her new partner." Lars reiterated for his ex-girlfriend. "They met while the Suspects were touring, and love was just in the air for them from there. I met them myself, and I find it nice Sadie fell for someone who isn't a real piece of work like I was back in the day."

"Yeah, you were kind of a jerk back then." Steven chuckled nostalgically. "Which reminds me, why did Sadie say "see you again someday"?"

"Oh, that." Lars said, nervously rubbing his neck. "Really wish I told you earlier, but I'm gonna be going back to space once the Off-Colors graduate tonight."

"Wait, you're leaving Earth so soon?!" Steven gasped at the shocking news. "But what about the shop?!"

"Don't worry, Steven, I'll cover for him!" Blue Lace called from her counter.

"Thanks, Blue Lace! I always could count on you." Lars said to his employee before returning to Steven. "I'm just ready to move on, cause that's just life. You get what I'm saying, right? I mean, now that Little Homeschool is all finished, what do you wanna do now?"

"I, uh…" Steven began stumbling over his words at the thought of thinking about what to do next now that he's saved the universe from the Diamonds' tyranny and resolving most of his issues with his family.

"Hey, graduation cake's ready!" Lars declared, derailing Steven's train of thought. "See you tonight, Steven, okay?"

"Okay." Steven replied.

--

"When me and my partners first discovered fusion, it was the most wonderful experience any of us had shared, and couldn't bear to be torn apart from then on." One of Fluorite's components, a large green Gem named Titanite, said to an audience of fellow Gems and humans later that night at the big graduation ceremony. Behind her stood her lovers, Lavender Jade, Iolite, Rubellite, Indicolite & Verdelite, along with the Ruby & Pearl that make up Rhodonite, the Rutile twins, and Padparadscha Sapphire. "Even when we declared pariahs for our love, we refused to let it get us down. Now, centuries later, we're finally free to express ourselves without fear of persecution, and we couldn't be happier. Thank you, Steven, for everything."

The audience began cheering as Titanite bowed and returned to her partners to give them all a big hug, which resulted in them all forming Fluorite once again. "Oh my." She said slowly. "It really has been so long since we've been apart."

As Fluorite took her place alongside the other Off-Colors, Ruby and Pearl were next. "As Titanite said, fusion was the most wonderful time we spent together." The Pearl stated. "In fact, Fluorite was the first cross-Gem fusion just like us that we encountered, and our little Off-Color family grew from there."

"The Morganite we formerly served refused to let us fuse because she feared it would endanger her status until she finally had us replaced." The Ruby added. "When we got the news, we fled as soon as it was broken to us while Shattering Robonoids chased us down. But thankfully, we were able to survive, and now, here we are."

The audience cheered again as the pair of Gems kissed on stage, once again merging into Rhodonite before she took her place alongside the Off-Colors. Next to make a speech were the Rutile twins.

"My sister here and I popped out as one Gem due to some incident with the Injectors that created us." The left Rutile explained. "We weren't even supposed to live, but we did anyways because all the other Rutiles ran from us."

"We were nearly shattered right then and there, but Fluorite found a way to help us escape, and there we stayed." The right Rutile added. "At least, until Steven and Lars came into our lives, on the run as well. We helped them out, and they helped us in return. And we couldn't be more grateful."

As the Rutiles left the mic, Padparadscha Sapphire became the last Off-Color to give a speech. However, hers was a lot shorter. "I'm going to give a grand speech at the graduation ceremony tonight!" she declared brightly. "Oh, what fun!"

The crowd began laughing before Steven took the mic for himself and led Padparadscha away. "Thank you, Paddy, that was very moving." He joked, prompting more laughter. "We're all so proud to see our graduates grow and stay together as everyone goes their separate ways while moving onto bigger and better things. Well, besides me, of course. I'll be staying right here in Beach City, teaching the next generation of Little Homeschool graduates. Okay, now move those tassels!"

The Off-Colors each moved the tassels on their caps.

"Now, let's give a hearty con-grad-ulations to our first alumnae of Little Homeschool!" Steven exclaimed, prompting everyone to cheer.

--

Soon after, the Off-Colors left the stage while a party celebrating the ceremony commenced. Steven wandered around the beach, looking around at Gems and humans interacting before seeing Sadie interacting with someone he never saw before. They were dark-skinned and wearing a backwards cap, a crop top, nose ring, purple joggers, blue and white high-tops, four colorful bracelets, and a dark green backpack.

"Oh, hey Steven, I never got the chance to introduce you to my new partner." Sadie called for Steven. "I'd like you to meet Shep."

"It's nice to meet you, Steven." Shep greeted Steven.

"So, is it true that you and Sadie have been dating for almost two months?" Steven asked Shep.

"Yeah, that's true." Shep replied. "We met during one of Sadie's concerts a while back, and after exchanging numbers, things just fell into place."

"You know, some people say you don't really get to know them until you get stranded on an island with them." Steven chuckled, though Shep didn't get his joke.

"Uh, do people really say that?" Shep wondered. "Whatever. Sadie and I are going to get cake; then we'll perform at 7."

"That's right." Sadie laughed before the two of them left for some graduation cake. "See you then Steven."

"Wait a sec; I thought you were performing with the Suspects?" Steven halted Sadie for a bit.

"Actually, Shep and I are planning to do a song together." The ex-donut girl said, gesturing to her non-binary partner.

"Uh, cool. Can't wait to get it." Steven replied nervously.

"Cool." Shep smiled as they left with Sadie. "Catch you later."

Steven noticed Lars was also going to get some cake and tried to block his path. "I wouldn't go over there if I were you."

"Is something the matter Steven?" Lars asked his younger friend. "I mean, the cake was just what you ordered."

"No, it's about Sadie and Shep." Steven revealed while gazing at the couple.

"Oh, nice." Lars grinned. "I'll stop by and say hey."

"But, aren't you okay?!" Steven tried to call for the pink man.

"Aren't you?" Lars repeated Steven's question, causing the half-Gem boy to put on a fake grin.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Steven replied before he spotted Jenny Pizza sitting on the stage, having herself a drink. "'sup, Jenny?"

"Hey Steven!" the Pizza girl greeted Steven. "Looks like everyone's enjoying the graduation so far."

"Yep, everyone but me." Steven said sorrowfully. "I guess it looks like everyone's got something new going on."

"Yeah, it's not a bad thing, though," Jenny replied before she began pointing at both of her fellow Cool Kids. "Sour Cream has regular gigs as a DJ in Empire City." She explained while Sour Cream laid on Fluorite's massive head, and Buck conversed with Rhodonite at the refreshments. "And Buck's got into medical school, so he's gonna be saving lives in like, 20 years. Meanwhile, I've been going all out on my new phone jackets."

"What's that?" Steven asked before Jenny pulled out her phone, which was wearing a miniature coat to demonstrate.

"It's my new online business," Jenny explained. "We, and I'm using the royal we here, make the finest jackets suited for your mobile device."

"Aw, it's got little pockets!" Steven cooed in amazement at the jacket's features before he made another discovery. "And it's got its own little phone too! How are you going to find time to make and sell these?"

"Well, I'm gonna have a lot of time now that the Suspects are breaking up." Jenny casually revealed to Steven's alarm.

"Seriously, what?!" Steven yelled in shock.

"I suppose Sadie didn't tell you." Jenny guessed, just as Sadie and Shep returned from eating cake.

"Hey Steven, you ready for us?" Sadie asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Steven suddenly remembered and walked over to the microphone. "So, is everyone having a good time tonight?" he asked the audience, and they cheered in response. "Who here's a Sadie Killer and the Suspects fan?! Cause tonight's performance only has one member."

"Oh boy." Lars muttered.

"So, please welcome to the stage," Steven continued, but then stopped to ask the two musicians. "Uh, what's your band called again?"

"We haven't thought of a name yet." Sadie admitted.

"Uh-huh, well, could've asked me." Steven giggled nervously before he began to walk offstage. "I'm really good at naming bands."

As Steven left, Sadie turned the microphone to her. "This is a little something Shep and I have been working on lately." She announced. "We hope you all like it."

"We will accept any criticism afterward." Shep stated when Sadie pointed the microphone to them before playing their recorder, cuing Sadie to sing.

"When I was younger and I hated fun," Sadie sang. "I was always looking back on what I should've done. I used to live my life in fear, of all the bad performances that led me here. But, I'm looking forward, I'm looking forward. I'm looking forward now."

While the song continued, Lars turned away from his ex on stage and proceeded to walk away.

"Lars?" Steven said to the donut boy turned space hero.

"Oh, hey Steven." Lars calmly greeted his friend, who began to run after him.

"Lars, wait up!" Steven called. "Hey Lars, where are you going?"

"I'm just gonna bounce, only wanted to spend time with the old gang before the Off-Colors and I go off-world," Lars answered. "Big parties really ain't my thing."

"But, you're leaving Earth tomorrow!" Steven cried as his body began taking on a faded pink hue. "When can I ever see you again?"

"You can see me whenever." Lars tried to assure Steven. "I've got the same powers as that lion of yours, so you can just pop out of my hair whenever you want."

"W-w-w-wait, please don't go!" Steven begged the space captain.

"It's been real Steven." Lars said farewell, or so he thought.

"Lars," Steven muttered before he fully turned pink. "STOP!"

Suddenly, Lars found himself bumping into a pink wall that slowly grew into a massive dome that trapped everyone at the ceremony.

"Steven, what's happening?!" Lars yelled as he pounded on the wall of the dome.

"I have no idea either!" Steven exclaimed in response.

"Really, you got no idea where this dome came from?!" Sour Cream yelled.

"Let's hope it doesn't end up like in that book!" Buck replied.

"I think this dome was created by someone having some powerful emotions, and I think we all know who it is." Steven declared before pointing to who he thought it was. "Lars!"

"Wait, what?!" everyone else gasped in shock.

"I don't think that's right!" Lars said defensively.

"No, I'm sure I'm right!" Steven lied to get out of opening up about his own feelings. "We won't get out of here until you work things out with Sadie! I'm pretty sure you guys haven't even talked since you got back, Lars!"

"We actually did, a few times." Sadie revealed solemnly. "Look, Steven, we did try to reconnect, but things just didn't work out between us. Plus, there's also the fact that despite how much we changed, we just weren't right for each other."

"Sadie knows I miss her, and I'm just too happy that she found someone to love herself." Lars added, prompting a touched reaction from Shep.

"And I know Lars is happier being with the Off-Colors in space." Sadie said.

"But when did this happen?!" Steven cried in disbelief. "I wasn't there for any of that!"

"That's because it was private!" Sadie answered.

"Yeah, I mean, you can't just stick yourself into other people's lives like the universe revolves around you and things only happen with you around." Lars pointed out. "Trust me; I know what that's like. Mostly the universe revolving around you part."

The crowd inside the dome was silent for a tiny bit, except for Jenny letting out a cough.

"But, I thought you were leaving because you were jealous of Shep." Steven broke the silence.

"I'm leaving because traveling through space is tons of fun." Lars declared. "Adventure is out there, as they say, and there's still tons of adventures for me and the Off-Colors to go on. Heck, we can even teach other planets what you taught us!"

"Okay, so there's nothing to work out then." Steven realized, but then he noticed something. "Hey, is it getting claustrophobic in here, or is it just me?"

The dome began to shrink more and more, despite everyone's best efforts to push it back.

"Steven, you want to get rid of this dome already?!" Rhodonite panicked while helping the Cool Kids try to keep the dome from shrinking.

"I'm trying, okay?!" Steven yelled anxiously. "Just gotta concentrate real hard!"

"Hey, Steven?" Shep stepped forward to comfort Steven.

"Not now, Shep, still concentrating!" Steven tried to ignore Shep.

"Please, listen to me." Shep urged the boy.

"Look, if I don't get rid of this dome quick, all my friends will die!" Steven screamed, now on the verge of tears.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Lars quipped in the possible face of death.

"Okay, but your magic's connected to your feelings, correct?" Shep theorized as they looked around them. "This is just a hunch, but it seems you made this dome because you're sad your friends are leaving, and want them to stay with you."

"I don't see what you're talking about." Steven replied.

"No, listen, you'd be surprised at how observant I can be." Shep assured Steven. "I think maybe you're figuring yourself out, and you want some friends to help you."

"Okay, you're right!" Steven confessed. "I've always been trying to help my friends, but now it seems like they don't need me anymore! I don't know who I am without them!"

"Aw, Steven, you're great. But you still need to let us go and live our own lives." Sadie convinced him while the dome began to squeeze them all together.

"I know, but I don't want to hold any of you back." Steven let out his current feelings as he felt himself get crushed between the dome and Fluorite's body. "I just can't help it if my big ol' heart still loves you all."

"Awww, Steven!" Jenny squealed in delight.

"We'll all still be friends." Sadie assured her little friend.

"Even if some of us are lightyears away." Lars added hopefully.

"You guys." Steven giggled before he returned to his normal color, and the dome finally disappeared.

"Hm, that wasn't the worst party we've been to." Jenny stated before she began to leave.

"Yeah, see ya Steven." Sour Cream added, beginning to walk away as well.

"At least there was no toxic air involved." Buck concurred.

"It was nice seeing you again." Sadie said, hugging Steven.

"Yeah, it was nice seeing all of you again too," Steven replied, now happier than he was earlier. "You two make a good couple."

"Hey, thanks." Shep replied gratefully. "You want a CD of our song?"

"How about a tape?" Steven suggested to them.

"Got your back." Shep said, handing Steven a tape of the song they just played. "Okay, take it easy."

As the couple left, Steven was now left alone with Lars. "Uh, Lars?"

"Gotta make this quick, Steven." Lars answered. "Me and the Off-Colors gotta," He stuck his tongue out and made a raspberry sound.

"First off, I'm sorry for what happened," Steven said meekly. "And second, do you think I can be a bit too controlling?"

"This coming from the guy who took over my body because you wanted me to be a nicer person." Lars chuckled. "But it's still cute you didn't want me to leave."

"I don't want you to leave!" Steven exclaimed.

"Hey, buck up Steven." Lars comforted the half-Gem. "As I said earlier, you can visit me anytime."

"It's just, for a second, we were all together on Earth again." Steven sighed heavily. "Maybe I just don't like graduations. Maybe I should leave Little Homeschool."

"Hey, come here." Lars then brought Steven in for a hug while the Off-Colors stood by watching. "Are you going to let go anytime soon?"

"Just a couple more minutes." Steven replied.

--

The next day, the Crystal Gems had begun welcoming new students to Little Homeschool. But Steven, having now quit teaching at the school, was still a little gloomy from last night.

While Sadie and Shep's song played in Steven's car, he drove out into the woods and then laid down on the roof, gazing up at the night sky. Just what was next for him?

--

"Lars of the Stars is back in business, baby!" Lars cheered as he once again made himself comfortable in the captain's seat of the Sun Incinerator. "So, what should we do now gang? Something good? Something bad? A bit of both?"

"You lead the way, captain." Rhodonite turned back to her human captain with a smile.

"Y'know what, let's just fly around and see what happens!" Lars declared after giving it some thought and ordered the Incinerator to blast off into the starry yonder.

Close by, another spaceship loomed behind the Sun Incinerator, and its captain had the Off-Colors by the tail.

"Finally." Emerald declared to herself as she spied on her prized ship flying around. "After so much waiting, I have you in my sights."

Emerald then pulled up a holographic screen that presented her with Black Rutile, and she eagerly awaited further commands from her cape-wearing master.

--

So opens the curtain on Part 2. Will we see Lars and the Off-Colors again, and will Emerald finally get her precious Sun Incinerator back? But enough about them for now, wait until later this part while we start dealing with more Earth-based matters, like plants for example! See you then!

[ztafraternity]

Nine tips to school your online classes

By Ensley Caldwell, Editor (Omicron Chapter alumna)

Just as there are introverts and extroverts, there are people who love online learning and those who would rather be in the classroom. Luckily for the introverts and proponents of e-learning, just about everyone is in a situation where they are learning exclusively through online platforms and virtual media. But there are some benefits to online learning, so keep in mind these helpful tips as you adjust to the homeschool life.

1. Stick to your normal class schedule.

Whether or not you have real-time lectures or lessons for your classes, try to structure your week the same way you would if you were on campus. If you have a M/W class at 11:30 a.m. that normally lasts an hour and a half, spend an hour and a half at 11:30 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays working on that class at home. The same principle applies to Tuesday/Thursday classes and even the dreaded Friday classes.

This might also mean setting boundaries with your roommates/family/anyone else living in your space.

2. Create a study space.

Speaking of setting boundaries, creating a physical study space will help you mentally differentiate between “school time” and free time (if there is such a thing). If you can manage it, don’t work in your bed. A desk is best, but even using a lapboard while you’re sitting on the couch or arranging pillows to sit on by the coffee table helps increase your focus.

3. Give yourself a break.

…and no, not of “that KitKat bar” (at least not every hour).

Separating your time and taking regular breaks actually increases productivity. If you’ve never heard of the pomodoro method, now is a great time to try it out. Here’s the gist:

1. Set a timer for 25 minutes and work on one task.

2. Take a five-minute break.

3. Reset your timer and start on a new task.

4. Take a longer break after every fourth timer reset (10-15 minutes… not a “I’ll just watch one episode” break that turns into watching 10 episodes).

Treat these breaks as the time you would spend walking to your next class or grabbing a coffee from the student union building.

4. Don’t multitask (because you can’t).

In the age of the internet, we’d all like to think we can do multiple tasks at one time. Unfortunately, it’s impossible. The speed at which you can switch between tasks might seem so fast that it feels like multitasking (for example, watching something on Netflix and scrolling through your favorite app), but you are still only switching from one task to the other. When it comes to studying, you definitely can’t engage in learning and watch your favorite show on your tablet.

5. Stay in touch with your professors.

It’s especially important to fully understand assignments and expectations when you don’t have the benefit of hearing or asking questions in person. If anything is unclear to you, reach out to your professor via email or, with their permission, call them during their office hours. Remember, they’re having to adapt their routine also; give them some grace when it comes to recreating half a semester’s worth of educational content.

Bonus tip: Staying in touch with instructors includes making sure you understand all requirements of participation, group projects and/or discussions, and assignments. Don’t let “not knowing” be the reason you lose a letter grade on an assignment. Chances are online discussion posts will factor more heavily on your final grade, and there may be additional virtual discussion spaces to address questions others are asking!

6. Keep an agenda/planner.

Online classes or not, a planner is a great idea to make sure you’re staying on top of all your assignments, personal responsibilities and requirements for graduation (looking at you, seniors). With so many events being canceled or rescheduled, including commencement in some cases, physically writing tasks down will keep you organized and on-track to maintain your GPA.

7. See your classmates every week (virtually).

Just for the sake of thoroughness, do NOT meet up with your peers in person. Now is not the time.

Now that that piece of business is out of the way, video chat with a sister or a classmate to hold each other accountable for assignments and make sure you haven’t missed anything. Technology makes it possible to study together, talk about questions you might have for your instructor (see tip #5), check in on each other and provide a little bit of socialization.

8. Get plenty of sleep and exercise.

We know the internet loves sloths, but e-learning does not give you a reason to move like one! Exercise plays an important role in maintaining focus throughout the day and helping you get more restful sleep at night.

And while you probably want to sleep like a sloth, 15-18 hours a day might be a little overkill. Aiming to get at least seven hours of sleep each night is a good goal.

9. Breathe.

We know school can be overwhelming even in the best-case scenario, and we know this is a stressful situation for those who were looking forward to their final months on campus before entering the “real world.” When it feels like nothing is going to plan (because it isn’t), take a few minutes for yourself and consciously breathe slowly and deeply. It doesn’t change the situation, but it will give you time to refocus and get back on track.

P.S., Don’t forget to review Crowning Achievements workshops online for tips on time management, studying and note-taking.

To recap, here are ZTA’s nine tips for online learning:

Stick to your normal class schedule.

Make your own learning space.

Take breaks.

Avoid multitasking.

Communicate with your instructors.

Use a planner.

Video chat with sisters and classmates.

Maintain healthy exercise and sleep habits.

Breathe calm and carry on.

And if all else fails, remember that one day, this will be our generation’s “I walked to school uphill both ways through the snow” story.

[youngsoutheastasianleaders]

#YSEALIHeroes: Kanika Montha - Cambodia

During the #COVID19 crisis, YSEALI Alumna Kanika Montha and her colleagues have contributed to the community of Cambodia 🇰🇭 through two initiatives – a donation project called “Cyclo Charity” and a technology project called #HacKHthecrisis. Through “Cyclo Charity” project, Kanika and her team donated food supplies and face masks to 100 cyclo drivers, as they're the ones mostly affected around Wah Koh Pagoda in Phnom Penh.

While @hackhthecrisis is a 48-hours hackathon project organized by @impacthubpp where students came together to solve social problems with a mobile application solutions. Kanika served as a mentor alongside with other mentors to help 206 students who were determined to solve virtual learning challenges parents face at home while homeschooling.

[cutsliceddiced]

New top story from Time: Welcome to the Golden Age of Live-Streaming

On Saturday night, hip-hop eminence Derrick “D-Nice” Jones threw a dance party for 100,000 with attendees including Michelle Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Drake, J. Lo, Rihanna and both finalists for the Democratic Presidential nomination. The crowd was even bigger on Sunday. In an interview with CBS This Morning’s Gayle King on Monday, D-Nice confirmed his plans to keep the party going daily for as long as possible. But before you cancel the DJ, rapper and producer for creating the world’s most distinguished COVID-19 cluster, I should mention that the gatherings—dubbed Homeschool at Club Quarantine—have taken place exclusively on Instagram Live. The host, ensconced in his kitchen alone, is practicing social distancing.

This is live entertainment in the coronavirus era, when theaters, concert halls, museums, sports stadiums and nightclubs are closed; music, comedy and book tours are canceled; and non-news TV production has ground to a halt. Within the space of two weeks, Americans have seen so many of the institutions that kept us amused, informed and intellectually stimulated during national crises past shut down. It may be negligible in comparison with the plight of those who are feeling the effects of COVID-19 firsthand, or even the sadness the healthy among us feel at being separated from loved ones, but the loss of both the physical public square and platforms like daily talk shows are also tragic. Which is why it’s been so encouraging to see artists and entertainers from across the culture use DIY methods of communication to fill that void. After years of puzzling over Generation Z’s love of YouTube stars and live streamers, the over-30 set isn’t just starting to understand the appeal of these platforms—we’re relying on them to stay sane.

In the week or so since late-night hosts sent their staffers home to self-isolate, Stephen Colbert has brought us such welcome distractions as the abbreviated, solo “Lather Show” (from his bathtub) and “The Flame Show With Stephen Col-burn” (at the fire pit on his patio) featuring a video-chat performance from Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste. In mini-episodes filmed at home with his wife behind the camera, Jimmy Fallon has been leading split-screen conversations with stars like Jennifer Garner and Lin-Manuel Miranda; Fallon’s two young, joyfully disruptive daughters have become America’s sweethearts. Trevor Noah has The Daily Social Distancing Show, while Samantha Bee has enlisted her husband and kids to shoot Full Frontal from their rural backyard, with plans to air a new episode on Wednesday. A Little Late host and YouTube native Lilly Singh is off the air but back to her 15 million subscribers with pandemic-related comedy skits. And so on.

Daytime talk-show hosts have followed suit: Ellen DeGeneres has been posting phone calls with friends such as Jennifer Aniston and Tiffany Haddish on her Twitter account. The View often looks like The Brady Bunch intro now, a grid of faces with Whoopi and Joy logging on live from their respective homes. One of that show’s alumnae, Rosie O’Donnell, raised $600,000 for The Actors’ Fund with Sunday’s one-night-only revival of The Rosie O’Donnell Show—a special that had her video-chatting with Billy Porter, Patti LuPone and other Broadway-adjacent celebs “from the comfort of my garage-slash-art-studio.” (Parents who’ve been entertaining young kids at home for the past few weeks must have felt a pang of recognition upon spotting the signs of family craft projects in the background.) The crisis has even brought Oprah back on a daily basis, from her home, in a free Apple TV series called Oprah Talks COVID-19; the first episode consisted of a FaceTime chat with Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina Dhowre, who both tested positive for coronavirus, her laptop propped up on a stack of books. Never mind that her sectional is approximately the size of my apartment; when was the last time a billionaire media mogul looked so relatable?

Which is why I FaceTimed @idriselba & his wife Sabrina who are safely quarantined together after he tested positive for COVID-19. Idris fills me in on his journey and Sabrina reveals the result of her test after they decided to quarantine together. pic.twitter.com/HETVZeqCPE

— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) March 22, 2020

It’s been especially heartening to see artists who, like D-Nice, have scrambled to create something entirely new. As book clubs spring up with the help of video conferencing technology, publishing site Literary Hub has launched the Virtual Book Channel, whose Vimeo-based shows offer the kind of readings and author interviews bookstores across the country have had to cancel. Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard has been live-streaming daily performances on YouTube to benefit various medical charities. NPR has made a schedule of “live virtual concerts”—most of them on social media or video platforms—that have been announced, ranging from the Vienna State Opera to events organized by indie labels Don Giovanni and Third Man.

From Bernie Sanders hosting a YouTube live stream on the coronavirus response with AOC, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to Padma Lakshmi leading pantry-cooking tutorials on Instagram, there’s a DIY COVID-19 video for every political alignment and cultural niche. A homespun microgenre of coronavirus-themed parody song has emerged, with the reliably profane Liam Gallagher transforming his old Oasis hits into “Wonderwash” and “Champagne Soapernova”; if there’s a boomer in your life who can’t wrap their mind around social distancing, send them this Twitter video of Neil Diamond tweaking “Sweet Caroline” so that the chorus begins, “Hands, washing hands/Don’t touch me/I won’t touch you.” We’re seeing artists’ and celebrities’ living rooms, meeting their spouses and kids, cooing over their pets. Though these videos can’t replace communication with friends and family—or, obviously, satisfy our moral obligation to help coronavirus patients, healthcare workers and those in our communities who’ve lost their jobs—there’s a sense that if we’re all self-quarantining at home, then we’re all in this together.

View this post on Instagram

We made black-eyed peas over polenta! Recipe in bio.

A post shared by Padma Lakshmi (@padmalakshmi) on Mar 21, 2020 at 1:42pm PDT

Whether we’ve realized it or not, I think a lot of us are finding the same sustenance in these rough dispatches that teens get from YouTube vloggers, TikTok dancers (whose acolytes now include LeBron James and his adorable family) and social media influencers of all stripes. Why, we’ve spent years asking ourselves and each other, would you watch a spoiled 15-year-old with no discernible talent try on every item of clothing she’s ever ordered on the internet when you could be bingeing The Sopranos, or at least Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Why listen to some weirdo warble over canned beats when practically the entire history of recorded music is available to stream? What we forget is that young people are often looking for something the professional, adult-dominated entertainment industry can’t offer—something past generations found in the crude mediums of punk music or zines or early internet message boards: a sense of intimacy. Even for kids with vibrant social lives and supportive families, adolescence can be horribly lonely. Maybe it’s not the content of haul videos or live gaming streams that has them hooked; maybe it’s the sense of community and personal connection these lo-fi videos create.

After 13 days away from almost everyone I care about, I’ve begun to remember what profound isolation—whether physical or psychological—can feel like. That certainly explains why, though I used to hate using video chat apps, I recently spent 90 minutes on Zoom with friends self-quarantining in Australia and “met” an old pal’s newborn baby on FaceTime. But it’s also why, on Sunday, I tuned in to an impromptu Instagram Live performance by rock icon Patti Smith and her musician daughter Jesse Paris Smith. Amid songs, poetry and pep talks, they revealed that they were broadcasting from a smartphone propped up on containers of instant oatmeal and aloe vera juice. As cool as it was to see one of my favorite artists play a live show at a time when in-person concerts are impossible, what really brought me comfort was the sight of a woman I so deeply respect hunkering down with family and taking time to check in with fans. In sharp contrast to Gal Gadot’s smug video of celebrities singing “Imagine,” Smith’s gesture seemed to come out of humility, generosity and respect for her fellow citizens.

Millions of us are suddenly becoming immersed in this social-video ecosystem to an extent that we’ve never been before. We’re not just occasionally posting a viral clip on our platform of choice; we’re getting emotionally invested in this stuff, because it’s the closest thing we have to live or even daily entertainment. And we need those things—those culture-wide conversations, songs and jokes, that shared mourning for those we’ve lost—so that we never forget we’re living in a society, especially at a time when it’s crucial that we all do our part to keep each other safe.

There’s no guarantee that mainstream pop culture’s new DIY spirit will endure after Elba recovers, Bee is out of the woods and coronavirus has gone the way of H1N1. But, either way, it won’t be long before a critical mass of Gen Z reaches an age when their sensibilities start shaping the entertainment industry proper. For them, YouTube, Twitch and TikTok will always be part of a standard creative toolbox. The inevitability of this generational shift used to terrify me (a luxurious fear compared to what’s weighing on our minds these days, I know). Now that I finally get it, I’m curious to like, subscribe and see what happens.

via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

[murfreesboronews]

With brain power and a $3.50 domain fee, one team created its own website: Travelcast.me. In 36 hours’ time, a second team provided help to solve Nashville-based Second Harvest Food Bank’s warehouse woes both now and in the future.

That’s normal for the approximately 20 teams — and a record 200-plus students — competing in the 2019 MTSU Computer Science-led Hack MT. The three-day event concluded Sunday (Jan. 27) in the Science Building.

Knowing Nashville’s and the Midstate’s growing technology needs, the fourth annual event brings together college and university teams — plus a high school student or two — to collaborate among themselves and with mentors, alumni and others to create music, video games, sound tracks, dance games and more.

“These are really brilliant kids,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said of the Second Harvest team and the others.

Later, while addressing the students and volunteers McPhee acknowledged their “innovation, creativity and endurance.” He visited virtually all of the teams and even accepted alumnus Steven Sheffey’s dance challenge for the “Breakdown” game.

The drive of Charlie Apigian, interim director of MTSU’s Data Science Institute, initiated the collaboration with Second Harvest and instilled passion and determination for the 25 team members that included computer science, information systems and mathematics students from five universities.

“Teamwork was huge,” said Rosh Chalkery, 19, an MTSU junior information analytics major from Nashville, discussing the Second Harvest team and adding that “we’re going to continue to help Second Harvest continue to serve the homeless in Middle Tennessee.”

“What I love about Hack MT is that it’s the perfect opportunity for students getting started in technology, coming in and seeing what they are capable of,” said Apigian, whose team earned the Hackers Choice Award.

Frank Ellmo, Second Harvest senior director of operations, called the students’ efforts “amazing. … We were here Friday night for the pitch, we came back for two hours Saturday to answer questions and this (project) is a really cool display. I can take that to drive how I model the physical plant. I can’t wait until next year. This was a lot of fun.”

Allie Binkley, 30, a wife, mother and MTSU information systems graduate student, said being on the 10-member Travelcast.me app team was “fun, awesome and I’m super proud of our team,” she said. Callie Deas, 22, a Belmont University senior and computer science major from Columbus, Ohio, called it “a great learning experience and the more we worked together the more we got to know each other.”

Jacob Rakidzich, a mobile application developer with Brentwood, Tennessee-based Ramsey Solutions, said it was “awesome to see young people willing to collaborate and work together and learn to deliver a product.”

One team he monitored, in devising a self-driving car program, had their computer hardware malfunction. “They didn’t just quit. They changed and adapted with hours to spare. They ended up not competing (for awards), but they made an impression.”

MTSU alumna Cassie Martin (Class of 2012 in business management in the Jones College of Business) said her company, L3 ForceX, joined Asurion as a co-primary sponsor in its first Hack MT venture and they were there “recruiting for internships and full-time positions. We’re here looking at this talent.”

Martin and her L3 colleagues had “better opportunities to get to know them” and learn, through teamwork, that “all departments in all areas of the business work together. That’s how a business runs.”

Senior homeschooler Nathan Malone, 18, of Murfreesboro, joined Luke’s team — Luke Stanley, Andrew Dillinger, Muhammed Abed, Jordan Flowers, Jonathan Shields — that created a last-minute TowerFall-type retro screen game when their original idea fell through regarding a proposed solution for Nashville traffic during bad weather.

Team CDUB — MTSU students Candace Boyce and Jacob Crawford joined by University of Tennessee-Knoxville students Garrett Ladd and Matt Klimfas — earned first place in the Professional Choice Awards. They created an “augmented reality sandbox” that would change colors, based on terrain, when things were moved.

Computer science is one of 11 departments in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.

MTSU Hack MT reveals ‘brilliant’ tech projects, student talent With brain power and a $3.50 domain fee, one team created its own website: Travelcast.me. In 36 hours’ time, a second team provided help to solve Nashville-based Second Harvest Food Bank’s warehouse woes both now and in the future.

[themusingsofmum]

Motherhood Isn't Graded, So Stop Looking to Do More

Motherhood Isn’t Graded, So Stop Looking to Do More

I transitioned to college as a homeschool alumna, and I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of difficulty. So, even though I had aced every assignment so far in my English 101 class, I jumped at the extra credit opportunity. I wanted a high A-average for the class. The professor stared at me when I turned it in. “Lauren,” he said, “Why did you do this? We don’t have an A+ at this college. You…

[arouth17ahs-blog]

Interest Groups and PACS

1. Identify one national interest group that represents your issue. Include:

a. Interest group name

The Center for Education Reform

b. A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group.

The Center for Education Reform is the leading voice for changes that can improve educational opportunities for decades to come. Their purpose is to improve the accuracy and quality of discourse and decisions about education reform, leading to fundamental policy changes that make a difference long after news and election cycles have ended.

c. Visit the interest group’s website.  Spend a few minutes exploring and reading about what this group believes, what it wants to happen in Washington, and how it seeks to influence politicians. List five important pieces of information which gives a picture of what this interest group believes.

“The citizens of the United States deserve freedom, and access, and input. Only by achieving that will we restore excellence to education, maximizing everyone’s potential success, regardless of the circumstances into which they’re born.”

They want to apply A New Opportunity Agenda to U.S. education, so that every education policy effort moving forward is focused Innovation + Opportunity = Results.

A core component of CER is protecting and stimulating media coverage of education reform and issue advocacy.

CER is a trusted advisor to policymakers across the states, and has worked hard with legislators to write laws that allow the growth of choice for the nation’s students and their families.

CER lead the way in terms of advocating for changes to improve our nation’s education opportunities “by primarily working to (1) generate and share leading ideas and information, (2) support and enable grassroots activism, and (3) protect and stimulate media coverage and issue accuracy.”

d. From your research, describe one (preferably current) piece of legislation, specific policy action, or candidate this group desires or endorses.

They endorse in having public charter schools and have it be promoted so that students would be receiving the best possible education.

e. Where is this interest group located? Are there any local meetings you could attend? When?

1901 L Street, NW Suite 705, Washington, DC 20036

While no local meetings have been listed, they do provide programs for everyone to do at their local school to improve education and advocate for students.

f. Are there volunteer opportunities? If so, what are they? 

You can be an advocate for the interest group by doing taking 1 minute, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or 1 hour actions that  they provide on their website (https://www.edreform.com/take-action/advocacy/)

You can also start “edreform” in your community

g. Identify additional developments you find interesting from the website/group.

Besides putting forth the idea of having public charter schools be more promoted. The CER are also concerned with teachers and and their teachings. They have done well in the past to make structural changes so that teachers give lessons to their students in a suitable way.

2. Identify one state interest group that represents your issue. Include:

a. Interest group name

California State University

b. A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group.

“The California State University (CSU) is the nation’s largest system of public higher education. The CSU relies heavily on state support to fulfill its mission of providing access to a high quality education to students. The State Legislature proposes and passes bills that directly affect the university’s funding and its students, faculty, staff and facilities.”

c. Visit the interest group’s website.  Spend a few minutes exploring and reading about what this group believes, what it wants to happen in Washington, and how it seeks to influence politicians. List five important pieces of information which gives a picture of what this interest group believes.

They promote diversity within education and it shows with their statistics (https://www2.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/diversity)

They help ensure one thing for more than 474,000 students :the timely completion of a rigorous, quality degree in preparation for a lifetime of achievement.

The California State University drives California's economy—locally, regionally and across the state.

“The California State University prepares more of California’s P-12 teachers than all other institutions combined — and nearly 8 percent of the nation’s teachers. In preparing educators, CSU is a leader in the state and nation in the quality of its programs, the focus on diversity, and the emphasis on K-12 partnerships.”

They want to advance and extend knowledge, learning, and culture, especially throughout California. To provide opportunities for individuals to develop intellectually, personally, and professionally. To prepare significant numbers of ​educated, responsible people to contribute to California's schools, economy, culture, and future. To encourage and provide access to an excellent education to all who are prepared for and wish to participate in collegiate study. To offer undergraduate and graduate instruction leading to bachelor's and higher degrees in the liberal arts and sciences, the applied fields, and the professions, including the doctoral degree when authorized. To prepare students for international, multi-cultural society. To provide public services that enrich the university and its communities.

d. From your research, describe one (preferably current) piece of legislation, specific policy action, or candidate this group desires or endorses.

They desire the affordability and diversity of education.

e. Where is this interest group located? Are there any local meetings you could attend? When?

401 Golden Shore, Long Beach, CA 90802-4210

No local meetings are listed

f. Are there volunteer opportunities? If so, what are they? 

While volunteer opportunities are not listed clearly on the website, you can support by donating to CSU.

Possibly, if you are an alumna or alumnus, you can reconnect with your campus to see if there are opportunities for you so that you can help CSU.

g. Identify additional developments you find interesting from the website/group.

Since 2003, the CSU has invested over $119 million in energy-efficient funding. Many campuses are concerned with climate change, they even show this by reducing its “carbon emissions to 1990 levels.”

3. Next, research an interest group that has an opposing (different) perspective on your issue.

a. Interest group name

It is a bit difficult to find an interest group that goes against education reform. Possibly an interest group associated with teachers union that wants to keep things the way they are or one that supports home schooling than public education: Home School Legal Defense Association

b. A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group.

"Home School Legal Defense Association is a nonprofit advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms."

c. Visit the interest group’s website.  Spend a few minutes exploring and reading about what this group believes, what it wants to happen in Washington, and how it seeks to influence politicians. List five important pieces of information which gives a picture of what this interest group believes.

They exist to provide the membership of HSLDA, including HSLDA's Generation Joshua division, the opportunity to make their collective views known at the federal level.

They are dedicated to providing support and services to pro-family, pro-homeschooling candidates running for federal office.

Their goal is to increase the number of pro-family, pro-homeschooling men and women in federal office.

They are associated with the HSLDA PAC which has the same goals as the committee

The focus of HSLDA PAC is to advance liberty through the election of pro-family, pro-homeschooling legislators at the federal level.

d. From your research, describe one (preferably current) piece of legislation, specific policy action, or candidate this group desires or endorses.

A unique aspect of HSLDA PAC, which is what the Home School Legal Defense Association is associated with, is its focus on funding grassroots electioneering.

e. Where is this interest group located? Are there any local meetings you could attend? When?

Post Office Box 3000, Purcellville, VA 20134-9000

No local meetings

f. Are there volunteer opportunities? If so, what are they? 

No volunteer opportunities listed

g. Identify additional developments you find interesting from the website/group.

There is not much outreach from this group compared to the others

4. Finally, compare the three interest groups.  Which one seems more organized? More successful?  Who is their target audience? Supporters?  Additional thoughts, concerns, observations welcome. Be sure to follow them on twitter.

I believe the Center for Education Reform is the most organized, successful, and best suited for this civic issue. They target those who are concerned with the reliability of the education system providing the best possible education for our students and these are the ones capable of making a difference on a local level with the influence from this interest group.

5. Choose one PAC or Super PAC that pertains to your civic action issue.  Include: a. PAC name

Career Education Colleges & Universities

b. A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the PAC.

“In a first-of-its-kind effort, Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) is pursuing thoughtful policy solutions to directly connect the Higher Education Act to jobs. We need to modernize our laws for the 21st century to help meet the nation's growing workforce demands.”

c. How much money have they raised/total receipt? How much have they spent? How much cash do they have on hand?

The total receipts they have are $130,082 and they have spent a total of $110,263. They begin cash on hand with $30,104 and ended it with $49,923 recently. They have zero debt.

d. How much of their budget is spent on: Republicans? Democrats?

Recently, they have spent it more on Republicans

2016: Democrats-$33.9K  Republicans-$68.7K

House                                                    Senate Total to Democrats: $23,400                 Total to Democrats: $10,500 Total to Republicans: $38,600               Total to Republicans: $30,100

e. Click Donor. Who are some of their donors? How does this reflect the PAC?

Many of the donors are from individuals that are associated with education, specifically education which shows that this PAC is heavily supported by those who are involved with education after high school, which is the target supporters.

[chandlermovestomichigan]

Spring 2017- The Semester So Far

I started writing this post back in February. And then I lost it because I couldn't remember what app I wrote it in. So yea, this is a pretty late time in the semester for a "mid-semester review," and may end up being more of a final overview. I'm okay with that.

In some ways, it feels like I'm still getting into the swing of things, so it can be hard to believe that I've been here for a month already (at least, I had in February). In other ways, it's like I never left.

Classes Overview: Renaissance - Dr. Gaetano It's a good thing that Dr. Gaetano warned us about all the reading we would have for this class, because yea, it's a lot of reading. But it's all good stuff. We started the course talking mostly about understandings of the Middle Ages, and now we've been focusing on writings on education. I guess the question of what makes up a good education has been on my mind a lot lately, so it's good for me to think about it in the scholastic/humanistic contexts. And, of course, I love history, and I like studying how people thought.

Intro to Journalism II - Mrs. Servold This is just like Intro to Journalism I but better. The focus is on feature and opinion writing. I like both of these better than news reporting, because even though interviews and research can be fun, I'm getting tired of the strict formulaic writing that comes with it. Features and op-eds are much more fun, and we've read some pretty great examples so far. This was the only midterm I've ever gotten higher than 100% on, which is just another reason I like this class.

Intro to Psychology - Dr. McArthur I signed up for this class last semester and dropped it after about a week because it was so much reading. Which it is. Most of it is pretty easy to understand, though. We recently (in February) finished the Biology section, which I'm glad about because I have a really hard time remembering that stuff. Much of my time on this class has been dedicated to a group project. We were supposed to present last week, but hadn't actually done our experiment yet. That's mostly due to my professor's inability to respond to emails in a timely manner, so luckily she doesn't mind us presenting late. The plan now is to do the experiments this week and present on Thursday, so I'll have to let you know how that goes. It's frustrating that it's taking so long, so it will be good to have it over. UPDATE: we finally did the experiment and it was super fun. We went to the preschool to test children's understanding of conservation. So for instance, I had two identical glasses with equal amounts of water, but once I poured one into a beaker, the kids thought the beaker suddenly had more water. Silly children. They don't understand that just because something changes shape doesn't mean it changes mass. Adorable.

US & the World Since WWII - Dr. Moreno It's hard to say exactly what I think of this class. We're covering a lot of material without going very in-depth, which you pretty much have to do to cover so many events in one semester. So I think I'm learning, but I feel like I could be learning better. Part of that is from putting off reading in order to focus on an upcoming paper (and other homework), so I'll be able to get on that next week. UPDATE: I've now had two papers in this class and I felt good about both of them. The first was on Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care, and the second was LBJ's Howard Commencement Address. We don't choose our own topics, which is unusual, but it's worked out.

January highlights:

My dorm, Mauck, was redecorated over the summer/fall! And it's lovely. My room is big and blue and adorable. It's nice to have such a fancy dorm with air conditioning and all kinds of important things.

The improv group "Broadway's Next Hit Musical" came to Hillsdale and performed songs based on audience suggestions, one of which turned into a full musical. It was hilarious. They really did their research, too, and made some very Hillsdale-specific jokes (i.e. "Hillsdating), which added to the charm.

I started taking voice lessons (in addition to guitar still) for the first time since second semester freshman year. I'm really enjoying it! I have the same teacher, Kristi Matson, who I had before, and I like her a lot. I had this "irrational" fear beforehand that she'd try to convince me I'm actually a soprano instead of an alto like I've always sung, which turned out to be a perfectly rational fear. But I'm liking those high notes much more than I thought I would.

A friend approached me over Christmas break about helping him edit/upload online-only pieces for the Collegian website, so I started doing that. The section is called Study Break, and we cover a range of topics, from op-eds to fun listicles or other features. I really like editing! And it's good to know the ropes of the website.

February highlights:

I started a radio show! Well, my friend Sarah Schutte asked me if I was interested in co-hosting a show with her about the history of Hillsdale College, and obviously heck yes I was. Now, we record two three-and-a-half minute clips a week with fun facts and anecdotes. You can hear episodes of "Wait, What Happened?" on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM (also SoundCloud).

I met a Hillsdale alumna named Joy Pullmann, who is both an editor at The Federalist and a homeschool mom, so basically who I plan to grow up to be. Which I told her, and then she asked if I wanted to write for her. Which obviously heck yes I did. Here is a piece I sent her!

Somehow, I wrote in my planner that I had a midterm on February 9. Felt very unprepared. Realized 30 min before that it was on March 9. Relief.

Every year, the ladies of SAI call people and perform "Singing Valentines" around Feb. 14. It's always a good time. Sometimes people request really weird songs, which adds to the bizarreness of the whole situation. I called my mom and we sang "My Heart Will Go On," which apparently my dad wasn't thrilled with because she kept singing it all day.

I got an email from George Angell of the theatre department asking if I was planning to audition for the upcoming play he was directing. I wasn't, but he said he had me in mind for the female lead. All year, I’ve had this idea that if someone specifically asked me to audition for a play, and wanted me for a challenging role, then I'd do it. So that's what happened! Now I'm playing Doctor Mathilde von Zahnd in Durrenmatt's The Physicists. It's quite a show. I'll have to write a whole post about it later, for fear of spoilers. We open on Wednesday!

I went to Jilly Beans- this cute little coffee shop in town- with friends to celebrate my 22nd birthday! It was a lovely time.

My friend Sarah and I decided to pick up a little (as in, little sister) together in SAI. Unfortunately, the girl we chose ended up deciding not to join after all, which was a bummer. But, there's still next semester.

March highlights:

Mom and dad came for Parent's Weekend! Normally, they come in the fall, but my mom wasn't able to take work off. They got to see the new Mauck, meet our professors, and hang out with us. Mom ended up sticking around a few extra days and visiting classical schools, then she and I flew home together for spring break.

We all saw the musical "Kiss Me, Kate" that the theatre department performed. It was very cute and super well done.

We also saw paintings by Winston Churchill on display in Sage.

Hillsdale went on lockdown after a former student called in a threat. It was a little scary, but no one ended up being in danger. The student was caught that same afternoon. Certainly a strange experience.

We had SAI formal in the Mauck Solarium. I took my friend Noah. It was really fun! We mostly played card games and Bananagrams. And experienced a modern day photobooth- a selfie stick and props.

April highlights:

I attended Opera Workshop. The show consisted of different songs from various operas all centering around madness and death. It was really good, though pretty long.

I wrote an op-ed on why Hillsdale students should read up on the history of the college.

The SAI concert! It was fantastic! At least, I think so. Here’s a full video. and here is where I am: Blue Skies Fairest Lord Jesus Depreston (solo) thank you Dani and Giannina! Touch the Sky Another day of Sun (solo)

I went to Chicago with some students and professors from the History department. I'd never been before, and it was really cool! I mostly stayed with my friends Mary and Patience from SAI, and we wandered the Field Museum, the Navy Pier, and other cool historic spots.

The theatre honorary (APO) had an initiation, which was theatrical as always. I now have an APO little- my friend Jonathan Henreckson. His girlfriend is my APO big, Elena Creed, and together they consider themselves Regan's parents. So we have a bizarre little family situation going on.

I stayed on campus this Easter, which I somehow didn't realize was an option until this year. It ended up being a great call. I got some work done, got to relax, and went to my home church here (Countryside) with Regan and Matthew.

I'm sitting in a brand-new coffee shop called Rough Draft. It's charming and the coffee is very good. I plan to spend lots more time here.

Looking forward:

It's hard to believe the semester is almost over. Finals week will be here before I know it.

Right in the middle of finals week is the performance of Shakespeare in the Arb's Taming of the Shrew. I joined the crew last semester as the graphic designer, and somehow found myself with two small roles as well. I think it will be a good show. We've certainly put a lot of work into it.

In my penultimate semester, I will be taking:

Constitutional Convention – Rahe

Ancient Rome – Calvert

Biology (Human) – Johnson

Philosophy of Education – Beier

Voice – Matson

And of course, more writing for the Collegian.

I don't actually believe that I only have two more semesters. Maybe it will hit me soon.

[thirty6five]

Linnaea Funk is a 2014 Houston TFA alumna. She teaches 1st grade dual language in Houston, and is a M.Ed. candidate in Bilingual and Dual Language. She supports students and families by providing customized academic service and parent development. She loves reading, drinking tea, and helping students bloom 🍎🍏🍎 #thetailoredteacher #customizedtutoring #homeschooled #homeschool #childhoodeducation #ece #educator #teachforamerica #tfaalum #teacherlife #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofig #iteach #teacherlife🍎 #educationalconsulting

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one of my favorite things my family does is poetry circles

one afternoon a week, after lessons are over, we all go sit on the floor in the bookroom

everyone pulls their favorite poetry books off the shelves or goes and fetches them from their bedrooms

we each take a few minutes to pick a poem

and then all but one of us put aside the books (there has to be a rule about that or else people keep browsing through their books the whole time) and we take turns reading our poem of choice out loud

afterwards everyone grabs their books again, and we repeat for three or four rounds

everyone has their favorites, of course

the thirteen-year-old always reads at least one poem from old possum’s book of practical cats

the ten-year-old likes robert louis stevenson, and also her various little volumes of poetry for children

i keep inflicting excerpts from the weirdest bits of eliot on everyone

once my mom read “the galloping cat” every time for four weeks in a row

there’s just something about getting to share poetry like that

the little one stumbling through a famous poem for the first time, and the whole world knows those lines so well they’ve almost lost meaning, but it’s new to her

listening to my mom read something really obscure by someone i’ve never heard of before and realizing i love it and telling her so and she hands me the collected works to read later

someone pulls out a family favorite and everyone’s practically mouthing along

or it’s something i haven’t heard since i was a kid and i liked it then but i get it now

the teenager cracking everyone up by the way she reads blake

finishing an excerpt from something i really love and one of the little ones begs for more and i get to hand over my spare copy and watch them light up

not everyone who was homeschooled had a good experience with it but i would not trade this for anything

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as someone who was homeschooled right up till college, the whole idea of after-school suspension is so horrifying

like? that’s just kidnapping? a school can’t just -- keep your child!! what, you’re gonna show up and be like “I want my kid back” and they go “nope, we’re not even teaching him, we’re just keeping him”??!!?

what the fuck. what the actual fuck.

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re: accent. This may or may not apply to you, but some people (myself included) on the autism spectrum or similar have unusual accents. My sister also sounds very similar to me, I don't know if this is genetic or if she was influenced by me (also homeschool alumnae, so she had more chances to get exposed to my accent, though she didn't start homeschooling until age 8).

You know, it’s interesting to me that you say that, because I actually get this a lot. Never with regard to speech before (and that’s interesting to know!), but just recently I got a reblog on one of my childhood anecdotes from someone saying “I don’t know the OP but I’d give very good odds that they’re autistic,” and the confluence was striking.

So here I go hijacking this ask to do some tangentially related navel-gazing.

I’m pretty sure I’m not anywhere on the autism spectrum. I’ve had a number of therapists (bog-standard depression), and it seems like the sort of thing one of them would have brought up at some point.

More compellingly, I really don’t seem to have any of the central traits that (to my understanding) define autism. I didn’t have any speech delays as a kid. I find neurotypical social signalling and body language very legible. I’m very much a native speaker of Hint/Guess Culture (definition), and while I can function OK in Tell/Ask Culture it’s definitely not my natural state. I’ve never had any discomfort around eye contact. I actively enjoy small talk. And so forth.

So while it’s not like I’d be upset if a choir of angels descended and announced to me that I was autistic, I’d be confused. Any definition of autism that includes me seems like probably not a very useful definition of autism.

The odd thing, then, is that I do seem to have an unusual number of, like ... the less central cluster of traits which are often associated with autism?

I’m not sure to what degree to attribute this to observation bias (although, as demonstrated, I get unexpected “have you considered you might be autistic?” comments), or to “everyone has some of those traits,” or to “I’m a math person and spend a lot of time around people on the spectrum and maybe I picked up some of their habits or something,” or what.

I do worry a little about talking about this, because it is probably obnoxiously navel-gaze-y (though if I can’t navel-gaze on my own tumblr, where can I? :P), and also because I don’t want to be one of Those People who decides they’re depressed because they feel sad sometimes or whatever. So, like, to be clear: I’m not trying to self-diagnose here or anything! I’m just intrigued by my own personality, because I’m vain like that.

Some of the vaguely-autism-associated traits I seem to have, then:

auditory processing: bad at parsing songs (can’t at all on first hearing, high error rate after a few times through), needing people to start repeating something for it to turn into words, unusually bad at understanding/imitating accents

routines: very attached, even good changes are unpleasant, get lots of comments from strangers on how predictable I am, cried for days as a kid over a new dining table, change is upsetting and stressful okay, I need to know how my day is going to go, transitions suck, etc

food: super picky eater (bland only, lots of textural stuff), food in separate non-touching piles, ate the same thing for lunch in the same order every day for years, always order the same thing at any given restaurant

stimming: very very very fidgety (leg-bouncing finger-tapping toe-curling rocking hair-pulling earlobe-tugging...), especially when focusing

sensory: can’t tolerate seams/tags (parents claim I couldn’t even as a baby), or loud noises (vacuums, lawn-mowers, movies/music are always way too loud), or certain fabrics, or lots of other things; also positive sensory stuff (chewy things, heavy things, having something heavy on me/being wrapped up tightly, water, lots of other things)

motor: parents report (and I remember) fine motor delays; eventually they gave up on legible handwriting and taught me to touch-type; gross motor skills still deteriorate under stress (I start walking into things, burning myself cooking, etc)

sleep problems: basically all of them

speech: weird accent, apparently; very bad at volume control

academic: all the stereotypical things: skills gap, early reader (at two; chapter books at three), math math math, very good rote memory, fascinations with particular topics, perfectionism

...and there are probably other things that aren’t springing to mind right now.

I am not really sure what to make of all this! I’m mostly inclined to chalk it up to Forer effect, except for the thing where non-me people keep commenting on how particular behaviors of mine make them wonder if I might be autistic. That I just have no idea about.

[thirty6five]

Lindsayann Anderson is a 2013 Houston Teach for America alumna, has an MEd (Masters in Early Childhood Education), and taught in the Houston area for six years prior to founding The Tailored Teacher, LLC. The Tailored Teacher, LLC supports students and families by providing customized academic service and parent development. She loves seeing students succeed, reading, and spending time with family 📚 #thetailoredteacher #customizedtutoring #homeschooled #homeschool #childhoodeducation #learningbydoing #ece #educator #educationalconsulting #iteach #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofig #teachforamerica #tfaalum #teacherlife🍎 #howtohouston