#sample teaching materials

[medsocionwheels]

Is your accommodation policy sending the right message to disabled students?

It is common knowledge in the disabled community that “accommodations” for disability in higher eduction are often unreasonable, putting immense burden on disabled students to navigate a class environment that does not meet their access needs. When professors fail to provide reasonable accommodations, they are rarely forced to change course–honestly, you’re lucky if your disability student center mentions the access issue to the professor at all. As a disabled student, it always felt highly personal when this happened. Now that I have several years of experience as an instructor, sitting through trainings and teaching discussions with other instructors, I am still furious when students are denied reasonable accommodation, but I have a slightly different understanding of the denial as a personal slight.

This is not to give instructors denying accommodations a pass, but it is to point out that the bigger issue is that ableism is structured into the institutional framework of higher education (all education really, but that’s for another day). Instructors are socialized into a highly ableist system beginning in their undergraduate years, long before many even realize they will pursue a career in higher education. This system effectively limits the number of disabled instructors by centering norms in higher education around, not just the abled students and faculty, but the most superior of these groups–the “mentally fit” (aka “intelligent”). Bonus points if also very physically fit and attractive. This also creates a situation where the success stories become inspiration porn, often because they take on the “supercrip” mentality, but also because the system is literally structured so that disabled people must overcome their disabilities to some extent to survive.

One of the key items used to reproduce this ableist power imbalance? The syllabus. Yes, the accommodation policy, but also the rest of the policies, the course structure, and even the formatting of the syllabus itself down to the font choice and color selection for paper if provided printed copies.

My goal as an instructor has always been to make my courses as flexible as possible, centering the understanding that most students will need some form of adjustment, if not accommodation for disability, instead of assuming that most students will be non-disabled and socialized into an elite learning style (I tought at an R1 flagship university in the United States for 14 semesters ending December 2022). In the beginning I was mocked, laughed at, and bullied by my peers (exception of 3, also graduate students at the time, 2/3 in my own cohort…). The faculty member in charge of our graduate teaching seminar required to become an instructor told me my syllabus “just makes you sound like a nice person, which is great but your students want a smart person, who cares about nice??” Needless to say I’ve gotten in many arguments over the years, but interestingly enough, I’ve had many colleagues start to ask my advice in the COVID-era. Some people have started to realize that the traditional course setting isn’t just something that “doesn’t work” for all students, that it is something set up to purposively exclude certain students while favoring others. If you are one of those people, this post is for you!

There are 2 major barriers to students getting what they need accommodation-wise that have almost nothing to do with the instructor: medicalization of disability, and ignorance of other important circumstances that may warrant accommodation, like having a child, having full-time employment, or caring full-time for a parent. My most recent version of the accommodation section of my syllabus has not changed much in light of COVID-19, but there is one important distinction. While I did not wait until the pandemic to realize students needed (and wanted) to have access to course recordings and virtual attendance, it did take a student’s request for me to consider this as an appropriate course of action, and I will admit, my gut reaction was hesitation. I ignored it, and I can say it’s one of the best decisions I have made in my teaching career. It was also a huge step for my own battle against internalized ableism and supercrip mentality. Here’s the wording to my 2-section accommodation policy encompassing medically documented disability, disability without medical documentation, and non-disability reasons for needing accommodation.

The most important part of the non-disability section? Not putting parameters around who is allowed to ask for accommodations or a certain accommodation, and instead, taking a “no questions asked” approach.

I once had a colleague ask me how I managed to not be worried that students would take advantage of my accommodation policy. My response to that colleague? Some of them probably will take advantage of my policy, and you know what? It is still 100% worth it, every single time. It would be worth it if 44/45 students took advantage, because chances are, the 45th really needed that flexibility. It’s also not for me to judge whether they are taking advantage–if they say they need something, who am I to tell them what they do or do not need?

As a critical sociologist and disabled person, I can also answer my own question–nobody, not me, not you, not any doctor, no disability student center staff member, NOBODY, has a better understanding of their needs than the student expressing the need.

So, here’s the text, pulled from my Research Methods in Sociology syllabus from Fall 2022. I am posting this one on purpose. Not because it is the most recent, but because it is for a major required core class. Methods and theory always seem to come up in the “but what if’s” of the accommodation discussion. It’s possible, the course is over so I can say it went smoothly, and I’ve used it once before with theory, too. Here is your evidence! At min, take the text and share widely. If you’re skeptical? Take the syllabus, too.

And remember, there is nothing weak or pathetic about being kind. All of your colleagues are smart, but the students will remember who was kind to them, and who was horrible. Don’t be the horrible one. Your students have everything to gain, what do you really have to lose?

Find the text of my accommodation policy and an example syllabus at the link below:

[apocalypticdemon]

to my advisor who encouraged me, a master's student, to take only doctoral courses......... why..........

to me, who knows my limits and chose to ignore them bc someone else thought i could handle this....... even bigger why............

[lceducationalcontentdeveloper]

For more information, visit our official website: https://lclegalncontent.wordpress.com/

To check our professional background, browse through our LinkedIn!:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lclegalncontent/

[holdup-andrememberthetime]

When you love your job - like the part you actually get paid for. But the work you have to put in after hours without pay is affecting your mental health because it’s a lot and it’s stressful and takes up all of your free time

[reasonsforhope]

The Surucuá community in the state of Pará is the first to receive an Amazonian Creative Laboratory, a compact mobile biofactory designed to help kick-start the Amazon’s bioeconomy.

Instead of simply harvesting forest-grown crops, traditional communities in the Amazon Rainforest can use the biofactories to process, package and sell bean-to-bar chocolate and similar products at premium prices.

Having a livelihood coming directly from the forest encourages communities to stay there and protect it rather than engaging in harmful economic activities in the Amazon.

The project is in its early stages, but it demonstrates what the Amazon’s bioeconomy could look like: an economic engine that experts estimate could generate at least $8 billion per year.

In a tent in the Surucuá community in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Pará, Jhanne Franco teaches 15 local adults how to make chocolate from scratch using small-scale machines instead of grinding the cacao beans by hand. As a chocolatier from another Amazonian state, Rondônia, Franco isn’t just an expert in cocoa production, but proof that the bean-to-bar concept can work in the Amazon Rainforest.

“[Here] is where we develop students’ ideas,” she says, gesturing to the classroom set up in a clearing in the world’s greatest rainforest. “I’m not here to give them a prescription. I want to teach them why things happen in chocolate making, so they can create their own recipes,” Franco tells Mongabay.

The training program is part of a concept developed by the nonprofit Amazônia 4.0 Institute, designed to protect the Amazon Rainforest. It was conceived in 2017 when two Brazilian scientists, brothers Carlos and Ismael Nobre, started thinking of ways to prevent the Amazon from reaching its impending “tipping point,” when deforestation turns the rainforest into a dry savanna.

Their solution is to build a decentralized bioeconomy rather than seeing the Amazon as a commodity provider for industries elsewhere. Investments would be made in sustainable, forest-grown crops such as cacao, cupuaçu and açaí, rather than cattle and soy, for which vast swaths of the forest have already been cleared. The profits would stay within local communities.

A study by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the New Climate Economy, published in June 2023, analyzed 13 primary products from the Amazon, including cacao and cupuaçu, and concluded that even this small sample of products could grow the bioeconomy’s GDP by at least $8 billion per year.

To add value to these forest-grown raw materials requires some industrialization, leading to the creation of the Amazonian Creative Laboratories (LCA). These are compact, mobile and sustainable biofactories that incorporate industrial automation and artificial intelligence into the chocolate production process, allowing traditional communities to not only harvest crops, but also process, package and sell the finished products at premium prices.

The logic is simple: without an attractive income, people may be forced to sell or use their land for cattle ranching, soy plantations, or mining. On the other hand, if they can make a living from the forest, they have an incentive to stay there and protect it, becoming the Amazon’s guardians.

“The idea is to translate this biological and cultural wealth into economic activity that’s not exploitative or harmful,” Ismael Nobre tells Mongabay."

-via Mongabay News, January 2, 2024

[ddarker-dreams]

mini love report — albedo

relationship health diagnosis — 90%*

symptom one — reserved

albedo favors a reclusive lifestyle. dealing with social nuances and niceties is a draining prospect, he'd rather forgo them altogether. it's for this reason that rumors swirl around the alchemist. he's been described as cold and calculating. which, to be fair, isn't completely wrong. if he'd rather be elsewhere it isn't difficult to tell. still, that unquenchable thirst to peel back more layers of this mysterious world hasn't made him unfeeling.

this public perception never bothered him until he realized it may influence your opinion of him. this explains his uncharacteristic effort to seek you out. it starts off awkward, as you're certain the chief alchemist has more important matters to tend to. his attempts win you over slowly yet surely. it’s endearing, how his stoic visage belies frustration when he struggles to keep the conversation going, having exhausted platitudes.

you being the exception to his preference for isolation is rather flattering.

symptom two — knowledgeable

albedo is a natural educator. there's hardly a moment where his field of study isn't bouncing around in his mind. with sucrose and timaeus, he keeps his teachings succinct and formal. when he's sharing his recent findings with you, however, it's a different story. his monotonous voice takes on a lively cadence. comparatively speaking, at least. no one else is privy to his nerdy side. self-consciousness catches up, when he notes thirty minutes have gone by and he's only on his second of ten samples.

there you sit. bundled up to stave off the dragonspine's unforgiving weather, contentedly sipping hot cocoa he had ready for your arrival (a suggestion from klee). you tilt your head and ask why he's stopped. it's in that instant he realizes miracles aren't limited to physical manifestations. they can come in any form. even one as simple as you trying to resume the conversation, despite getting tongue-tied by the alchemical jargon.

future discoveries that will amuse you hold more weight to him than anything actually groundbreaking...

symptom three — conscientious

if you ever happen upon albedo's dense collection of relationship-related reading material, please keep it to yourself, lest he die of embarrassment. he wants to get this right! interpersonal relationships aren't his forte, he's not so blinded by pride to acknowledge this shortcoming. he knows he can be blunt and accidentally trample over feelings. he refuses to seek the counsel of his peers, which leaves him at the mercy of klee's tutelage.

he hypothesizes that the lack of self-awareness in children makes them conducive to offering unfiltered advice. gift-giving is her field of choice and her standards are high. almost every trinket, flower, or artwork you've received has undergone rigorous quality control. he was amazed that this klee verification system went over so well with you, hence his reoccurring patronage.

he cares a lot. expressing it might not come naturally to him, but he's willing to overthrow his nature for your benefit.

primary area of concern

...

albedo has some baggage regarding his creation. his search for unraveling the mystery behind his creator's parting challenging, while not all-consuming, influences him to some extent.

truthfully, there isn't anything that'd place major strain on your relationship. there are times he discovers a secret of the world that would've been better of remaining unknown. so long as it isn't anything that'd endanger you, he handles overwhelming information quite well.

although he's often holed up in his laboratory, you're welcome to come and observe. he doesn't allow his research to isolate him from you. he involves you whenever he can and gladly engages in your interests as well. he tends to absorb them, returning a few days later with the expertise of a scholar.

you've scored yourself a solid homunculus.

prognosis

his interest in you is a flame that'll never wane. you add warmth and color to his life, he adds stability to yours. the memories you cherish are always the small, seemingly insignificant ones, that steadily build. the sticky notes you leave on his desk reminding him to take breaks. a homemade meal he's left for you to warm up for those busy mornings. enjoying a tea party with klee where albedo gives a 'toast' to his generous host, dodoco, spoken with a straight face.

these scintillating fragments form a greater whole.

*the universe has tried (and failed) to wrench you apart (0-20) your friends are praying that you'll break up (21-40) 'well it could/has be worse' bargaining mindset (41-60) a lil messiness as a treat (61-80) pure and wholesome (81-100)

[starrypockets]

Thinking about how perfectly a PacRim au would work with stancest (heavy PacRim spoilers below the cut)

Stan and Ford find out they're drift compatible due to being twins, and they enlist into the program to get away from Filbrick and because it carries that sweet taste of adventure and glory they always craved as kids. They get to the program, run some simulators and some bo staff fights, lo and behold, they're exceptionally compatible by all known projections (wonder why. couldn't possibly have anything to do with their deeply repressed and undying love for each other combined with their shared memories growing up together. nah.)

Here they also meet and befriend Fiddleford, an engineer working on the Jaeger program. Things go great for a while, until Ford starts expressing desire to study the Kaiju, veering dangerously close to idolizing them for their biologically perfect design. Stan is vehemently against this and only wants to focus on killing them. They have a huge fight and they both get kicked out of the Jaeger program.

Stan fucks off and learns to make a living chasing kaiju landfalls and selling off uncannily convincing fake Kaiju parts and materials at obscene prices to whatever Kaiju groupies roll through town in the wake of destruction to worship their "gods." (They remind too fucking much of Ford.) He pockets enough for himself and donates the rest to the victims of the attacks.

This goes on for a few years, until a Kaiju attack obliterates his hometown and kills his parents, brother, and sister in law. Leaving only their 2 young children, only 7 years old. Twins. Dipper and Mabel Pines. (Yes I'm screwing with the timeline here. It will happen again.) He doesn't have any other way to make a living, and they don't have anyone else to go to. So Stan sells El Diablo, uses the money to buy a junk RV, fixes it up, and takes the twins with him on a cross country adventure of heroic conning. Along the way, they encounter Soos, Wendy, Candy, Grenda, and the rest.

In the meantime, Ford works with Fiddleford to develope a pons that can allow him to drift with a recently dead kaiju. It takes a few years, but they finally create it. (By this time Ford has become the highest knowledge of Kaiju biology in the world, and Fiddleford is leading the entire Jaeger engineering program.)

They drift together.

For Ford, it's ecstasy, euphoria, sublime, righteous. Finally he has been proven right, finally he knows why all the Kaiju tissue samples are genetically identical, finally he knows that there is a higher being behind the Kaiju. And that higher beings name is Bill. (Not really. His name would be impossible for any human mind to comprehend, drift or no. But Bill is a good enough substitute.) And Bill explains [insert Bill's offer here].

Unfortunately, Ford and Fiddleford's minds and memories weren't very compatible to begin with, much less with an dead alien brain from another dimension in the mix, and as the weakest willed of the 3, Fiddleford suffers permanent brain damage and amnesia.

The strength of that drift with Bill allows for them to experience ghost drifting, aka drifting during dreams. Bill teaches Ford how to make an upgraded version of the pons with less risk, and how to preserve a Kaiju specimen indefinitely so as to drift with him over and over again. The repeated drifts build a permanent neutral bridge between Ford and Bill, and Bill becomes able to take control of Ford's body, even outside of the drift. Ford becomes less and less focused on the Kaiju attacks and the people dying, and more lost in all the wonders of the multidimensional planes bill shares memories of with him.

With the lead engineer of the Jaeger program mentally obliterated, and the chief Kaiju biology researcher being possessed by a Kaiju, and the lack of support from the world's governments in favor of building a wall across the coast to block the kaiju, the Jaeger program slowly starts to collapse.

That is, until the day Ford discovers [insert horrifying Bill revelation here].

He panics and calls the one person who might be able to free Ford's mind from bill, the one person with whom he had a statistically impossible level of compatibility. The person he was the most terrified to open his mind to.

Stan.

[tenderlady]

hi love!! out of curiosity, i didn't know about the lindsay ellis video, how bad is it?

hey, friend!

so, the video itself is here:

in the interest of full disclosure, i haven't actually seen it, so i really can't comment on the quality. my beef is not with lindsay ellis or the work that she's doing--as far as youtubers go, i think she's actually one of the better ones. this video might actually be good! but i haven't watched it, so i, frankly, don't know. my beef is much more with the video essay as a form and what it's doing rather than with lindsay ellis, or this video, specifically.

i'm guessing you're asking because of my tags on this post, which articulates a lot of my issues with the video essay industrial complex lmao, which gets at a lot of my discomfort with them. i used to watch video essays (a lot!), and a lot of my friends still do. like a lot of people, when i got out of grad school, i found i wasn't reading as much anymore, but i still wanted to be stimulated intellectually, and video essays were a good way to do that. but eventually i realized that i wasn't actually Learning Anything lol.

as ismatu gwendolyn says in her piece, "short-form video entertains more than it sticks." this was the place i was finding myself getting into when i was watching video essays a lot, and also the place i see my friends getting into. they are video (and arguably this isn't really short-form since it's over an hour long but i digress), but i find that most people i know don't actually Watch Them the way that you would watch a movie or, say, a lecture in a college class. instead they listen to them as you would listen to a podcast or an audiobook, which is to say While Doing Other Things. some of this is definitely because of the way our current economy is structured (a lot of the people listening to video essays are very busy, i.e., in university or working in a professional desk-type job, or have minimal downtime when not doing those things and have to double dip with their free time, so like things they can use to multi-task), and that is something i totally understand. but if we're looking at these as pedagogical objects (teaching tools from people who are trying to impart knowledge in some kind of way) they're actually not very effective. i respect folks like philosophy tube or contrapoints who include reading lists with their videos, but how many people are actually turning to these original sources? another of gwendolyn's points that i absolutely agree with is that you are engaging with a work in a totally different way by reading it. you have to give a written text your full attention, which is why the backbone of education is still Reading. this full attention forces you to have a deeper engagement with a text than you would while listening to it ambiently, or even just watching it. i get that there are people who can't do this for various reasons, but if actually sitting down with the texts a video essayist is talking about is available to you, you will find a totally different experience, even if those texts are just beatlebooks lol. (additionally, primary video texts--like interview footage of the beatles and yoko--are also hugely informative and different from the interpretive work i'm assuming is happening in lindsay's video)

i actually watched a good chunk of contrapoints' most recent video on desire but ended up dipping around the middle because she brought up anne carson and i realized i could just be reading anne carson lmao. i told a friend about this and he looked at me like i had sprouted an extra head and said "i never really thought about doing that. you're probably the only person i know who's ever done that." i get that like, 5 nerds in usamerica are hardly a representative sample, but that is the kind of behavior i see with video essays: people using them to fill a void of silence while they work/study/play video games/fold laundry rather than engaging with the material critically and learning in a concerted way.

the entertainment aspect is also something that bugs me, but i am a joyless hag, so that may just be me. i have a similar issue with john oliver. folks like oliver and the video essayists are definitely making complex issues more accessible to people who may be unfamiliar, but i don't know if they actually do much in the way of using that opened door to get people anywhere. there's also the issue of video essays being monetized. this isn't to say that Theory(TM) Isn't Monetized (they are published in journals and books, which you often have to buy), but that monetization isn't embedded into the work itself the way it is with video essays. nothing kills the vibe for me like talking about the great works of a philosopher and getting jumpscared by an ad for rocketmortgage or nordvpn halfway through.

like i said: i've watched video essays from time to time. i still do! but sometime in the last like.....4 or 5 years i realized that there were other things i could be doing with my One Wild & Precious Life.

to bring it back to the lindsay ellis video: i had a bunch of irl's (including a fucking ex that i don't talk to anymore!!!!!) send it to me, and i'm sure lindsay does a good job, but i kind of doubt she's going to tell me anything i don't already know lmao. one thing i love about the beatles fandom on here is that (for the most part) we aren't afraid to actually do Real Research Ourselves. the girlies are reading primary sources!!!! i just feel like the lindsay ellis beatle video is Not For Me, but feel free to prove me wrong!

[catluniscia]

Okay I keep seeing the sadness of glazing and how you need a strong pc and just lot of you dooming over here. Going "Well I use an Ipad/phone" Okay folks I am gonna teach you all how to do a thing you can do on pc mobile what ever its called

MAKE AN UGLY WATERMARK

Now here is how I do mine when I feel like making water marks and not going through glaze. Now I have mine with my name and my handle, I also have one that is the same and has sample on it (those are for commissions)

Now I made mine as a material and use it on clip studio like this

Now you can also do like insignias, symbols what have you this is just a simple one for my sample!

Now next you make a layer over that and put colors over it use the gradient if you want put the colors in randomly via paint what ever go jackson pollock on it. Now I heard pastels really mess with the thing and also heard using more of a spray pain droplet like brush as well helps. If you want to do that or not up to you

Now here is what I do, so I like to use the distort filters now sometimes I use twirl some times wave what ever your heart desires, I use multiple ones multiple times just to make well this. Again we are hear to make ugly bright annoying watermarks.

If there is a large blob of solid color add anouther later ad some more then merge the colors okay next part, make the layer of pastel vomit as I shall call this into a clipping mask over the letters,

VOILA!

Now you can merge it all down and add like a stroke on it and blur it then you adjust opacity some set it to multiply I dont care do what ever feels right for you looks good and basically do it. And just change it up everytime to add some chaos.

So those of you who don't have glaze due to tech limits, do moblie, etc etc, Here this is a thing you can do, If you got an art program on your phone you can do this, Again doesnt have to be text could be just your signature, doodle of something, just do this, and just make different color layers every time so it screws it up.

Is this 100% protection? Hell no, nothing is lets be honest, but it will cause chaos. If you want some extra ounce of protection here and don't want to deal with Glaze due to what ever.

[selfhelpforstudents]

Acing Exams: The Ultimate Study Hacks Every Student Should Know

Girls in Finance project server // other posts

Studying for exams doesn't have to be a daunting task. Equip yourself with these proven study hacks to boost your preparation and increase your chances of acing those exams:

1. Prioritize Your Material:

Identify key concepts and focus on high-priority topics outlined in your syllabus.

Break down larger subjects into manageable sections to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

2. Create a Strategic Study Schedule:

Develop a realistic study schedule that considers your peak productivity hours.

Use techniques like the Pomodoro Technique to break study sessions into focused intervals with short breaks.

3. Active Learning Techniques:

Engage in active learning methods, such as teaching the material to someone else or creating flashcards.

Utilize mnemonic devices and acronyms to remember complex information.

4. Diversify Your Resources:

Explore various learning materials, including textbooks, online resources, videos, and supplementary materials.

Choose resources that resonate with your learning style for a more effective study experience.

5. Practice with Past Papers:

Familiarize yourself with the exam format by practicing with past papers or sample questions.

Analyze your mistakes and focus on improving in areas where you may be struggling.

6. Utilize Visualization Techniques:

Visualize complex concepts or create mind maps to establish connections between ideas.

Use color-coded diagrams and charts to enhance your understanding of relationships within the material.

7. Join Study Groups:

Collaborate with peers in study groups to gain different perspectives and share insights.

Teaching and discussing topics with others can reinforce your own understanding.

8. Healthy Lifestyle Habits:

Ensure you get adequate sleep to support memory consolidation.

Maintain a balanced diet and exercise regularly to keep your mind and body in optimal condition.

9. Mindfulness and Stress Management:

Practice mindfulness techniques, such as deep breathing or meditation, to manage stress.

Break down your study sessions into smaller, manageable tasks to reduce anxiety.

10. Reward Yourself:

Incorporate rewards into your study routine to stay motivated.

Treat yourself to breaks or small rewards after completing challenging study sessions.

Remember, everyone's study journey is unique, so feel free to tailor these study hacks to fit your personal preferences and learning style. Consistency and dedication to your study routine will play a key role in your success. Good luck!

Join our Girls in Finance project if you want to learn more about studying finance and the financial world <3

[burgeoning-ambition]

Finally a first language laddering post! In the near future I hope to start posting updates to my personal studying, maybe accompanied by study materials for others to use if I have the time! But first, I wanted to post an introduction.

Transcript of the images below the cut!

Language Laddering!

An Overview

I recently made a post asking about interest in me posting my personal Japanese -> Korean language laddering study journey and resources. And a lot of people seemed interested! Let's start off with an introduction to language laddering itself, since people may not have heard of it, or may not recognize this name for it! For my own personal stuff, I hope to post updates to my studies along with some resources as regularly as I can manage!

What is Language Laddering?

Language laddering, as I'm using the term, is a method of language study in which you use one target language (TL1) to learn a second target language (TL2). Basically, you cut your native language out of the equation and study in a target language!

How I Ladder

There are several methods you can use that I'd say count as language laddering, but I'm only going to go super in-depth into the methods I personally use!

If you study this way and have a specific method you love that I didn't mention, please mention it in a comment or reblog! I'd love to hear more methods.

Reading Japanese textbooks for Korean

Getting access to resources in Japanese is definitely harder because of international shipping, but I'm able to find store listings that offer sample pages! I've been using these until I can get the money to actually buy them.

In the meantime as I wait to get fully Japanese texts, I use the speaking pen from Learn Korean With BTS, haha- the speaking pen reads the book in four languages, and Japanese is one of them! So I just listen to it like an audiobook instead of reading the English!

Using apps and websites made by and for Japanese learners

While my Japanese dictionaries and apps are all in English, my Korean dictionaries and apps are all in Japanese!

I use an online Japanese-Korean dictionary on my phone, and when I practice grammar and other concepts in Korean, I use Japanese websites for Korean learners.

Recently, I've been using the site ハングルの森 to review basic grammar. I've been getting a pretty strong hold on Japanese grammar terms, too, which is exciting for more fully laddering!

Laddering languages in the way I choose to can be a very fun way to learn a new language and study one you've already been working on, but it doesn't work for everyone!

People who enjoy learning grammar and reading about how language works may enjoy it because they can learn grammar the way it's taught in their target language rather than how it's taught in their native language! This can be exciting, it's interesting to see how different languages teach concepts and learning grammar terms in a TL can open grammar-related doors! If you're a linguistics nerd like me, grammar-related doors are super exciting.

However, if you struggle a lot with understanding language instruction, and classroom language learning is really difficult for you, then it may only make things harder to try and use your TL's classroom language learning material for a new TL.

And that's okay! Not every learning method is for everyone. Learning through immersion may be easier and less frustrating if you struggle with classroom learning!

And guess what?

You can still ladder languages when doing immersion learning! Watching something in your new TL with subtitles for your stronger TL is one good way you can combine immersion learning with laddering!

I hope to post more about language laddering, although it will probably be pretty catered to my own personal study! People can feel free to send asks about anything specific they'd like to know! (Although I certainly am not an expert, so I can't answer everything)

Also, I know this post was SUPER text heavy, so thank you for making it to the end! I hope it wasn't too droning to read ^-^ Good luck with language laddering if you decide to try it!

[arlechinav-blog]

Starting Materials for Mediterranean Trancework

If you are wondering what you will need to get started on this as a group, I have put together a list of materials. This is basically what I use when I am teaching others how to do this and when I host trance rituals.

I keep a fully stocked trance kit with extras of all the below items so that those who need them can have something to use until they can get their own. If you intend to lead your own group, be prepared to provide at least a few things for the effort.

Frame Drums: 14”-16” frame drums with synthetic heads are best for beginners. Recommending Remo’s Thinline, Renaissance, Fiberskyn, or Tar series’. Synthetic heads help students build up skills and needed hand calluses at the same time. Goat or fish skin drum heads will tear up your skin and go flat without proper care very easily. Each person involved should know how to play a drum and learn the beats your group uses. Avoid buffalo drums and bodhrans, they are too heavy for Mediterranean style drumming. 

Whiteboard and Easel: A wooden repurposed child’s art easel will work perfectly fine. Use it to balance a whiteboard where you can put up weekly notes. Large clips or magnets can be used to hold up a poster-board too, depending on what kind of easel you get. These are great for keeping up your trance chant lyric notes. Only use a whiteboard for notes that you will need once. 

Poster Boards: Record trance chants and rhythms that you use with your group onto large poster boards so that everyone can read them during practice sessions. Use a poster-board for notes that you will need multiple times to spare yourself from writing it again and again every time you need it. 

Trance Rhythms: I start folks out with 10 trance rhythms that can be used for pretty much everything. They work for just about any Mediterranean song you can find. I will have to film some samples for this so that you can hear them.

Trance Chants: To get through a basic trance ritual, you will need roughly 4-5 trance chants. Start your group with their first 5 and work on getting them down together. Some groups will prefer to work with songs in English, some will prefer songs in other languages, and some will prefer a mix of both. Feel out your group before you decide on your chants. 

Online Database of Communication: Start up a group where you can share resources, communicate about upcoming trance dates, and load up videos privately. Keep it secure. 

Incense: Incense is a trance trigger so pick one scent and stick to it every time you do practice or ritual. Keeping the same scent for all things trance will help participants go under. Use a soft floral scent like jasmine. Later, you can work in different scent triggers for different rituals. 

Rug: You can use rubber gym mats that link and/or an actual rug. Rugs will give rug burns so plan accordingly. Whatever you use has to be easily perceived by touch rather than sight--so tape on the floor will not work. This well defined border will be where the entranced are free to move. They will confine themselves to it so make sure it is the right size for the job you want it to do. 

White Flat Sheets: You will need at least 2 to start and +1 for each additional person who will trance. You can have your participants bring their own or you can pick some up from a second-hand store for fairly cheap. Everybody should have their own if possible.  

Colored Scarves: All things are color coded in trance for hypnotic suggestion and we use colored scarves to communicate with each other during trance rituals. People who wear a red scarf are monitors who look after trance dancers, people who wear white scarves are trance dancers who are there to trance, people who wear light blue scarves are musicians, and people who wear dark blue scarves are ready and capable of leading a trance session. You can have people bring their own or supply the group yourself. 

Your “Whites”: Each person will need an all white outfit to wear during trance rituals. For class, they can wear whatever they like. White is a spiritually neutral color used by all Mediterranean trance cults. Participants should supply their own trance clothes but you can keep a small supply of extra items to help supplement. 

Altar Kit: A trance altar needs to have a water jug and rinsing bowl with scented water for participants to wash their hands and face at (Cortas brand rose or orange blossom water are easy to find at Mediterranean groceries). It will need incense for participants to smudge themselves, their clothes, their hair and their instruments with. It will need a plate for monetary donations (it should never be empty). It is lucky to put an odd number on the altar ($1, $3, $5, $7 or $9). It will also need essential oils for use on skin that participants can rub on themselves (floral, fruit, or herbal scents preferred). Scent is very important to trance so the key is to be consistent and use it liberally so the scent can work as a non-visual trigger.

Wake-up Kit: A pitcher or fancy spritz bottle of cool water to spray or sprinkle on the arms and forehead of the entranced when they are done trancing. A blended oil of strong purgative scents that is dabbed on the fingers of the guide or monitor and wiped on the nose of the entranced when they are done trancing. I prefer a blend of rosemary, cedar and clove oil--that’ll wake you up! Make sure that no one in the space has an allergy to a product you use. 

Food: Always keep at least a loaf of fresh bread and some hummus for dipping on hand for post-trance snacks. Eating food helps those who have been trancing to come down and sober up. Water to drink is also helpful afterward. Be aware of dietary restrictions before you bring in foods that members of your group cannot eat.

Symbols: Think very carefully about the symbols you use and when you use them. Protect their meanings by bringing them out only when they are relevant. Continually reinforce their meanings in all that you do. This is a hypnotic suggestion and your symbols will become more and more important the more trancing you do. 

[voidsentprinces]

Summer Time.

Hien in trunks. Aymeric in trunks and a light swimming jacket. Haurchefant unleashed in a speedo. Zenos fighting the kraken in the middle of the ocean. Hythlodaeus getting a tan neath a parasol with sunglasses. Emet-Selch grumpily administrating suntan lotion. Hermes teaching Meteion to swim in the ocean. Raubahn and Thancred grilling up a banquet.

Godbert sculpting a mighty sand sculpture in his image. Opposite of him Ysayle and Menphina work to make ice sculptures. While, Theliak, Kan-E-Senna, Leveva, and Urianger read their books in their chairs. Nophica, Merlwyb, Lyse, Fordola, and Ardbert getting into a watermelon crushing competition. Yotsuyu being fanned by Grynewaht and sipping from a cocktail glass. Hilda, Lyna, Joye, Wuk Lamat and Ameliance race through the sand. Alisaie with Alphinaud in a headlock dragging him towards the waves for the annual swimming practice. Fourchenault, Azeyma and Y'shtola are on lifeguard duty. Asahi drowned in the corner. Fandaniel mocking him by dead man floating next to him. Jannequinard also has drowned but is posing dramatically even while out of commission. Nald and Thal watch over them bemused.

Cid, Nero, Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse getting the water slide going. Alpha, Gigi, Sylphie, Gatty and Omega building their own sandcastle as Zero and Golbez enjoy their own beach size beverage. Estinien posing dramatically on top of Godbert's sand statue. Tataru, Chai-Nuzz and Papalymo going over the logistics of the beach visit's costs. As Krile paints the ocean view while being hyped up by Dulia-Chai. Jandelaine is doing face paintings.

Kai-Shirr Nashu and Brandihild burying Hildibrand up to his neck in sand. Stephanivien inventing a new watergonne for summer time joy. Fray and Sid brood in the corner trying their best not to join in the summer fun. While Rielle, Ryne, and Gaia sample tropical fruits. Lahabrea, Themis, and Erichothonis look on exasperated as Athena builds a giant moth mecha to attack the Beach Bash. And by build I mean she is super vising from a well shaded and high position while Hesperos and Agdistis do it for her. Hegemone serving as her butler. Yugiri and Gosetsu are judges for the watermelon crushing competition. Gaius is tiredly looking on as Rex, Alfonse, Milisandia, Allie, and Ricon play volleyball against Livia, Rhitahtyn, Varro, Lyon, Gabranth, and Misija. Varis and Hydrus wander across the sand judging the volley ball match. Baderon, Mother Miuonne, and Momodi referee the match. Wilred, Emmannellain, Artoriel, Honoriot, and Cyella run commentary.

F'lhaminn, Alianne Gilbrillont, and Buscarron serve up drinks to Thordan, G'raha and Edmont as they swap old man stories. Nymia and Althyk ease drop over their own drinks. While the Heavens Ward wait their turn to play volleyball against Mitron, Nabriales, Venat, Altima, Pashtarot, Deudalaphon, Igeyorhm, Halmarut, and Emmerololth.

Julyan Manderville and Halone are hunting down Hamon Holyfist for acting inappropriate. Wyrnzoen, Curious Gorge, Broken Mountain, Dorgono, Rurukuta, Chuchuto, Widgargelt, O'tchakha and D'zentsa hold a booth for punching a bag as hard as you can. While Byregot administrates Beatin, Brithael, H'naanza, Serendipity, Geva, Redolent Rose, Severian, Adalberta, and Fufucha working together to gather the materials and create more stands and bags since Eorzea is made up of martial gods who keep breaking the punching bag and the stand. Moenbryda has the highest record of breaking it.

Oschon, Cirina, Magnai, Luciane and Sadu aid Sisipu and Lyngsath in catching the food required to run this entire operation with Llymaelyn's express approval. While the Wheiskaet and his Company of Heroes guard the establishment. Ilberd, Laurentius, Yuyuhase, V'kebbe, Perimu and H'raha have a dart throwing competition. Ywain, Myella, Jacke, Karasu, Momozigo, and Drusilla are in the middle of a game of poker.

Jenlyns, Radovan, and Sanson swap tales, the Troupe Falsiam, Guydelot, and Jehantel aid the Songbirds for entertainment. Sophie and Erenville are handing out fashion show fliers. Runar, Y'mhitra, Tesleen, Cymet, Almet, and Uimet administrate parasols, seatings, and food to keep everyone comfortable from the heat of the sun. Seto along with Magnus and his gang work to ferry people to and from the beach. With K'lyhia, Surito, E-Sumi-Yan, and Cocobuki figuring out a schedule to keep everyone on task. X'rhun, Arya, and Martyn run a magic show with plenty of rapiers and surprises. Rhaglr watches over Arenvald and Hoary Boulder arm wrestling with Coultenant, Aenor, and Clemence cheering them on.

Midgardsormr, Nidhogg, Hraesvelgr, Azdaja, Tiamat and Bahamut watch this go on with amusement. As Vrtra is sending out reports and orders to Nidhana and her alchemists along with Ahewann and the Radiant Host aid in the security of the event.

And of course, there is the Warrior of Light. Enjoying their vacation...or they would if the REVELRY HADN'T SUMMONED SUSANOO TO JOIN IN!!!!!! NEVER A DAY OFF I TELL YOU! NOW THEY GOTTA DEAL WITH A PRIMAL PARTYING ALONG!

[mybeingthere]

“I...go on my bicycle or by train

out into the environs of Berlin.

And if...I find an interesting

plant...then I am obliged for the

next three or four months to make

virtually daily expeditions to

that spot in order to search again

and again for that same plant.”

Karl Blossfeldt

Karl Blossfeldt (1865 - 1932) was a German photographer, sculptor, teacher, and artist who worked in Berlin, Germany. He is best known for his close-up photographs of plants and living things, published in 1929 as Urformen der Kunst.

Born in Schiele, Harz, Germany, he worked as an apprentice in an artistic form of iron casting at the iron foundry in Mägdesprung between 1881 and 1883 and studied art at the Institute of Royal Arts and Museum (later named College of Fine Arts, or Hochschule für Bildende Künste) in Berlin between 1884 and 1890. In 1890-1896 he participated in a project in Italy, run by Moritz Meurer, collecting plant material for drawing classes. During this period Blossfeldt started systematically documenting plant samples photographically. Some of his photographs appear in Meurer’s publications at the turn of the century. He started teaching at the Institute of Royal Arts and Crafts Museum in Berlin in 1898, and continued working there as a professor from 1921 until 1930. His first exhibition was held in 1926 at the Nierendorf Gallery in Berlin; and published the book Urformen der Kunst.

[oldshowbiz]

the sample material they teach in every screenwriting school

[hylianengineer]

Have you ever wondered how scientists know what earth's climate was like in the past? Thousands of years ago, long before humans started to measure and record these things?

It's a really fascinating question with a VERY cool answer! Ice cores! Basically, they go to someplace cold, like the Arctic or Antarctic, and drill really deep into the ice to take a vertical section of it.

[ID:A cylinder of ice, about an inch in diameter and perhaps a little over a foot long (that's around 2.5 centimeters in diameter and over 30cm long, for those of you sensibly using the metric system), held in thickly-gloved hands. End ID.]

Here's what they look like. Kind of - they're a lot bigger when they come out of a glacier, but they get broken down into smaller pieces for transportation and study.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a cool article on it here, but I'll go over the basics because tumblr science communication has a uniquely fun dialect, and I much prefer to learn things that way. I'm also putting it under a read-more because it got long.

If you've ever taken a geology class, you probably know that rock gets deposited vertically over time, with the newest at the top and the oldest at the bottom. In places where ice stays frozen for a long time, it's basically the same principle - year after year of snow and ice layered on top of each other. Ice cores can include stuff that's been frozen for perhaps thousands of years - including air bubbles, dust, sea salt, volcanic ash, etc. Both those and the ancient ice itself can tell us things about what earth's climate was like when they were first frozen.

The water in the ice cores contains, just like water from today, varying ratios of oxygen isotopes: oxygen-16 and oxygen-18. Remember, the difference between isotopes is the number of neutrons in each atom - oxygen-16, with 16 neutrons, is the 'normal' one, which makes up over 99% of oxygen atoms. It's also lighter than oxygen-18, which has two extra neutrons, and that means that it's slightly more difficult to get out of the atmosphere via precipitation - and this is easier at colder temperatures. So, as global climate gets cooler, the ratio of oxygen-16 to 18 increases, and as global climate cools, it decreases. We can measure those ratios in ice cores to figure out what Earth's climate was like in the past - as far back as we can find ice. How far is that? Up to 800,000 years. Yeah, that's some fucking old ice.

That's a lot of ice, I can hear you thinking. You're right - the deepest ice core ever collected was 3769m - 3.7 kilometers of ice (for my fellow Americans, that's over 2 and a quarter miles). That is a stupidly long piece of ice. Now you know why they have to break it up to analyze it.

Also, remember those air bubbles I mentioned? We can measure the concentrations of gases in those to learn about the composition of Earth's atmosphere a long fucking time ago, including the concentration of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. (How do you get air bubbles out of ancient ice you ask? NOAA has the answer: crush it under a vacuum hood. That means there's no other gases around to contaminate your sample while you put it in an airtight vial.)

How do we know how old the ice is? Same way we date other ancient stuff - there's two main methods.

Radioactivity and radioisotopes! Mostly naturally occurring, although for recent ice, radioactivity from nuclear testing can also be used. Carbon dioxide can be radiocarbon dated, volcanic material can be argon/argon dated, etc.

Layering! Especially looking for distinctive stuff like volcanic ash from significant geological events. This can be used to synchronize ice cores from different places, or for relative ages (i.e. this section is older than this one).

These are far from the only things ice cores can teach us, but this post is already very long so I'll leave it here. Check out the NOAA article for more details, and a fun anecdote about how no fieldwork project ever goes entirely according to plan - especially when there's polar bears.

Sources: 1, 2