Welcome

Welcome to my blog http://www.skegley.blogspot.com/ . CAVEAT LECTOR- Let the reader beware. This is a Christian Conservative blog. It is not meant to offend anyone. Please feel free to ignore this blog, but also feel free to browse and comment on my posts! You may also scroll down to respond to any post.

For Christian American readers of this blog:


I wish to incite all Christians to rise up and take back the United States of America with all of God's manifold blessings. We want the free allowance of the Bible and prayers allowed again in schools, halls of justice, and all governing bodies. We don't seek a theocracy until Jesus returns to earth because all men are weak and power corrupts the very best of them.
We want to be a kinder and gentler people without slavery or condescension to any.

The world seems to be in a time of discontent among the populace. Christians should not fear. God is Love, shown best through Jesus Christ. God is still in control. All Glory to our Creator and to our God!


A favorite quote from my good friend, Jack Plymale, which I appreciate:

"Wars are planned by old men,in council rooms apart. They plan for greater armament, they map the battle chart, but: where sightless eyes stare out, beyond life's vanished joys, I've noticed,somehow, all the dead and mamed are hardly more than boys(Grantland Rice per our mutual friend, Sarah Rapp)."

Thanks Jack!

I must admit that I do not check authenticity of my posts. If anyone can tell me of a non-biased arbitrator, I will attempt to do so more regularly. I know of no such arbitrator for the internet.











Saturday, December 26, 2009

Subject: Christmas on the ranch


'Twas the night before Christmas & out on the ranch
The pond was froze over & so was the branch.
The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule.
The kids were all home on vacation from school,
And happier young folks you never did see-
Just all sprawled around a-watchin' TV.
Then suddenly, some time around 8 o'clock,
There came a surprise that gave them a shock!
The power went off, the TV went dead!
When Grandpa came in from out in the shed
With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.
"Just what I expected," they heard him remark.
"Them power line wires must be down from the snow..
Seems sorter like times on the ranch long ago."
"I'll hunt up some candles," said Mom. "With their light,
And the fireplace, I reckon we'll make out all right."
The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.
Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,
Uncased his old fiddle & started to play
That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.
Mom started to sing, & 1st thing they knew
Both Pop & the kids were all singing it, too.
They sang Christmas carols, they sang "Holy Night,"
Their eyes all a-shine in the ruddy firelight.
They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,
And Pop read a passage from God's Book of Truth.
They stayed up till midnight-and, would you believe,
The youngsters agreed 'twas a fine Christmas Eve.
Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;
And when the kids wakened, the power was back on.
"The power company sure got the line repaired quick,"
Said Grandpa - & no one suspected his trick.
Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,
He had pulled the main switch - the old Son-of-a-Gun!

Thanks Sonny Hoskins! A 95 year old American Hero to the current PUSA

Can't find verification or denial. One Google article says "undetermined." Snopes is silent! Makes me think it may be true.

WW II Battleship sailor tells Obama to shape up or ship out !

This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii

for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and

causes

all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his

body, he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now. He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the
president.



Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this
year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.
I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor, allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my
mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I
do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.
I can't figure out what country you are the president of.
You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:

" We're no longer a Christian nation"

" America is arrogant" - (Your wife even announced to the world,"America is mean- spirited. " Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and
hopelessness.)

I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said," America hasn't lived up to her ideals."
Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that
11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the
British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.

I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than
discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people
understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.
Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue. You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black
college professor in Massachusetts, who was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.
You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our
bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.

And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle.



Sincerely,

Harold B. Estes



When a 95 year old hero of the "the Greatest Generation"
stands up and speaks out like this, I think we owe it
to him to send his words to as many Americans as
we can. Please pass it on.

This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

Thanks Dr. Hovermale What is it you don't believe?

Subject: FW: What is it about this that you don't believe?



This isn't about politics and buying votes, it's simply about the fiscal
management of our tax dollars. At this point in time, neither party has
impressed me as being fiscally responsible. I just wonder how many will be
around after the 2010 mid-term elections!












What is it about this that you don't believe?







_____



This should be read and understood by all Americans Democrats, Republicans,
EVERYONE!!




To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature,




It is now official you are ALL corrupt morons:

* The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775. You have had 234
years to get it right and it is broke.
* Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to
get it right and it is broke.
* Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it
right and it is broke.
* War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it
right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to
"the poor" and they are still poor.
* Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44
years to get it right and they are broke.
* Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get
it right and it is broke.
* The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our
dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a
budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You
had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.




You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our
throats while overspending our tax dollars AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE
YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM??




Folks, keep this circulating. It is very well stated. Maybe it will end up
in the e-mails of some of our "duly elected officials" in Washington !!

Thanks Dave Kaelin alias Dawood Kahn silkroadsandsiamesesmiles.com

Curious Incident of the Teacher in the Classroom
Struggles of a First-Year Teacher

Student Intereset Survey + Goal Setting Lesson PlanAugust 5, 2007
So, Monday (tomorrow) marks the first day of the 2007-2008 school year in most counties that I’ve heard of in Georgia. Monday is also the official start of my first year as a teacher. I’ve been told horror stories, but I’ve also been given lots of reassurances. I’m hopeful that if I remain consistent and fair in my discipline plan, I will be able to gain student’s respect. I’m already looking forward to the days when I have students that will spread the word and allow me to have a reputation that precedes their coming into my class.

I’ve been trying to do a lot of preparation, but it has been difficult. So far, I can confidently say that I am as prepared as I can be for the first day of school. I have my syllabi all printed out and I have my Student Information Sheet and Interest Survey ready to go. My number one goal is to establish myself as a strict authority figure, immediately. My number two goal is to get to know my students as well as I can, on an individual level, as early as possible. I created this fairly open-ended interest survey in order to do that.

In addition to going over the syllabus/code of conduct/expectations and all that good stuff, on the first day. I have my digital camera ready to take pictures of each and every student (although, I will be taking them in groups of 3-4). I want to be able to have pictures to fill up the bulletin boards. I figure that it will help me remember their names and make them feel more comfortable in my classroom. I hope to create a really close-knit community in my classroom, so I’ve been brainstorming ways of doing that. I think the best way that I have come up with is trying to make students feel, as much as possible, that this classroom is theirs, just as much as it is mine, and to ask for their opinions as much as possible.

On Day 2 I plan on using a Goal Setting Lesson that will enable students to better understand how I formulate goals for their class and help them set goals for themselves, both short and long term. A lot of the students that I will be teaching are considered at-risk. Meaning, I suppose, that they are at-risk of not graduating from high school and continuing in the cycle of generational poverty, which is a big problem in this city. Many of them have no models for goal setting and many of their parents don’t talk about what what they will do five years from now. So, I am going to try to make this a big part of my classroom and find ways for students to continue to monitor their progress and set new goals.

In Carol Ann Tomlinson’s How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, she offers an activity that is perfect for extending the ideas taught in the Goal Setting Lesson. One of her ideas for differentiating is allowing students a day within a unit to set their own goals and come up with a plan, or set of activities, that they are going to engage in to meet their goals for the day. She calls it Design-A-Day, and many members from my college cohort have had many good things to say about it.

I’m trying not to bring textbooks in until the second or third week of the school year, so what I start students out with is a diagnostic test so that I know where they stand in terms of ability in all the criteria that they will be tested on. On that same day, I plan on guiding them again through Georgia’s college preparation website GeorgiaCollege411 and the CollegeBoard website. We’ll probably have discussions about learning interests, scholarships, tuition, college majors, and post-college opportunities, as well as a short Q&A session about what to expect in and from college life.

On Thursday and Friday I’m going to do a mini-unit based on names. We will read a vignette from House on Mango Street called “My Name,” in which the main character, Esperanza, gives a very lyrical explanation and description of her name. Students will discuss the vignette and names and general. They will end the week by writing their own short vignettes about their name.

Now down to “real” planning . . . .

I don’t know about all of you teachers out there, but I’m ALREADY exhausted . . .


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

Response to Prompt #8
#14- Your Plan
SESSION 4 – Back to the original plan with PhotoStory
Posted in Education, English Education, English Teachers, Lesson Ideas, Lesson Plans, Public Education, Secondary Education | 3 Comments »


3 Responses to “Student Intereset Survey + Goal Setting Lesson Plan”
Tim Fredrick Says:

August 7, 2007 at 10:51 am
I just found your blog and wanted to wish you well on your first year. It will be very tough. One thing in this post got my attention: ‘Many of them have no models for goal setting and many of their parents don’t talk about what what they will do five years from now.’ From working with ‘at-risk’ students for all of my career, I can tell you that you are making a BIG assumption here about their home lives. In another part of the post, you acknowledge the ‘cycle of generational poverty’ but then go on to say that there is a lack of goal setting. Think a bit about this assumption. It’s important that you do, because this assumption about your students and their families is going to come across to the students and is going to put them off.

I was also amazed by the amount of thought that you put into your ‘discipline plan’. It seems to me that you are prepared. But, don’t forget to just be yourself. Teens want their teachers to be ‘real’ (whatever that means). I did the whole plan thing when I first started and had various methods to get their compliance. But, if you just come across as genuine and caring to them, treat them politely and like they are humans, and create lessons and units that are meaningful to their lives right now, you don’t need a ‘discipline plan.’

Good luck. You sound like you really care about teaching and strive to do well. This will be a rocky year, I’m sure, but the one thing that will get your through it is your desire to help your students.

mzpoon Says:

August 17, 2007 at 12:25 am
Thank you for such a great blog. I don’t know how you can find the time to write it when you are so obviously involved in your planning. I, too, wish you well this year. One of your exhausted colleagues….
t. poon

Sam Kegley Says:

December 26, 2009 at 7:17 am
Great find, Dave Kaelin. I am a retired engineer, but I am also an adjunct teacher and more recently a tutor, due to my poor hearing, at Columbus State Community College.

Tim Fredrick has some excellent advice for this young and energetic teacher. I am sure that they6 will be as good as they desire and that desire is quite evident.

God has blessed good teachers all over this world and their very fortunate students.

SamKat

Thanks Ray Springer, Abex Denison associate of mine

Okay Ray Springer,

Now you've done it. Now, you've made me cry.

I have had so many excellent Christmas e-mail greetings, but this is absolutely the best!

I must admit that I believe in a Santa Claus who prays to our God.

Thanks Denison friend!


Sam Kegley



Ray Springer
res228@insight.rr.com
----- Original Message -----
From: koni
To: undisclosed recipients
Sent: Friday, December 25, 2009 12:32 AM
Subject: A Christmas Story, You will be blessed by reading it!








This is a very awsome story, whether you believe in Santa or not : )





Three years ago, a little boy and his grandmother came to see Santa at Mayfair Mall in Wisconsin . The child climbed up on his lap, holding a picture of a little girl.



"Who is this?" asked Santa, smiling, "Your friend? Your sister?"

"Yes, Santa," he replied. "My sister, Sarah, who is very sick," he said sadly.

Santa glanced over at the grandmother who was waiting nearby, and saw her dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

"She wanted to come with me to see you, oh, so very much, Santa!" the child exclaimed. "She misses you," he added softly.

Santa tried to be cheerful and encouraged a smile to the boy's face, asking him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas. When they finished their visit, the Grandmother came over to help the child off his lap, and started to say something to Santa, but halted.

"What is it?" Santa asked warmly.

"Well, I know it's really too much to ask you, Santa, but ." the old

woman began, shooing her grandson over to one of Santa's elves to collect the little gift which Santa gave all his young visitors. "The girl in the photograph... my granddaughter well, you see ... she has leukemia and isn't expected to make it even through the holidays," she said through tear-filled eyes. "Is there any way, Santa . any possible way that you could come see Sarah? That's all she's asked for, for Christmas, is to see Santa."

Santa blinked and swallowed hard and told the woman to leave information with his elves as to where Sarah was, and he would see what he could do.

Santa thought of little else the rest of that afternoon. He knew what he had to do. "What if it were MY child lying in that hospital bed, dying," he thought with a sinking heart, "this is the least I can do."

When Santa finished visiting with all the boys and girls that evening, he retrieved from his helper the name of the hospital where Sarah was staying.

He asked the assistant location manager how to get to Children's Hospital.

"Why?" Rick asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

Santa relayed to him the conversation with Sarah's grandmother earlier that day. "C'mon.... I'll take you there," Rick said softly.

Rick drove them to the hospital and came inside with Santa. They found out which room Sarah was in. A pale Rick said he would wait out in the hall.

Santa quietly peeked into the room through the half-closed door and saw little Sarah on the bed. The room was full of what appeared to be her family; there was the Grandmother and the girl's brother he had met earlier that day. A woman whom he guessed was Sarah's mother stood by the bed, gently pushing Sarah's thin hair off her forehead. And another woman who he discovered later was Sarah's aunt, sat in a chair near the bed with a weary, sad look on her face. They were talking quietly, and Santa could sense the warmth and closeness of the family, and their love and concern for Sarah.

Taking a deep breath, and forcing a smile on his face, Santa entered the room, bellowing a hearty, "Ho, ho, ho!"

"Santa!" shrieked little Sarah weakly, as she tried to escape her bed to run to him, IV tubes intact. Santa rushed to her side and gave her a warm hug.

A child the tender age of his own son -- 4 years old -- gazed up at him with wonder and excitement. Her skin was pale and her short tresses bore telltale bald patches from the effects of chemotherapy. But all he saw when he looked at her was a pair of huge, blue eyes. His heart melted, and he had to force himself to choke back tears. Though his eyes were riveted upon Sarah's face, he could hear the gasps and quiet sobbing of the women in the room.

As he and Sarah began talking, the family crept quietly to the bedside one by one, squeezing Santa's shoulder or his hand gratefully, whispering "thank you" as they gazed sincerely at him with shining eyes. Santa and Sarah talked and talked, and she told him excitedly all the toys she wanted for Christmas, assuring him she'd been a very good girl that year. As their time together dwindled, Santa felt led in his spirit to pray for Sarah, and asked for permission from the girl's mother. She nodded in agreement, and the entire family circled around Sarah's bed, holding hands. Santa looked intensely at Sarah and asked her if she believed in angels.

"Oh, yes, Santa... I do!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I'm going to ask that angels watch over you, "he said. Laying one hand on the child's head, Santa closed his eyes and prayed. He asked that God touch little Sarah, and heal her body from this disease. He asked that angels minister to her, watch and keep her. And when he finished praying, still with eyes closed, he started singing softly, "Silent Night, Holy Night.... all is calm, all is bright." The family joined in, still holding hands, smiling at Sarah, and crying tears of hope, tears of joy for this moment, as Sarah beamed at them all. When the song ended, Santa sat on the side of the bed again and held Sarah's frail, small hands in his own.

"Now, Sarah, "he said authoritatively, "you have a job to do, and that is to concentrate on getting well. I want you to have fun playing with your friends this summer, and I expect to see you at my house at Mayfair Mall this time next year!" He knew it was risky proclaiming that, to this little girl who had terminal cancer, but he "had" to. He had to give her the greatest gift he could -- not dolls or games or toys -- but the gift of HOPE.

"Yes, Santa! "Sarah exclaimed, her eyes bright.

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and left the room. Out in the hall, the minute Santa's eyes met Rick's, a look passed between them and they wept unashamed. Sarah's mother and grandmother slipped out of the room quickly and rushed to Santa's side to thank him.

"My only child is the same age as Sarah," he explained quietly. "This is the least I could do." They nodded with understanding and hugged him.

One year later, Santa was again back on the set in Milwaukee for his six-week, seasonal job which he so loves to do. Several weeks went by and then one day a child came up to sit on his lap. "Hi, Santa! Remember me?!"

"Of course, I do," Santa proclaimed (as he always does), smiling down at her.

After all, the secret to being a "good" Santa is to always make each child feel as if they are the "only" child in the world at that moment.

"You came to see me in the hospital last year!" Santa's jaw gaped.

Tears immediately sprang in his eyes, and he grabbed this little miracle and held her to his chest. "Sarah!" he exclaimed. He scarcely recognized her, for her hair was long and silky and her cheeks were rosy -- much different from the little girl he had visited just a year before. He looked over and saw Sarah's mother and grandmother in the sidelines smiling and waving and wiping their eyes.

That was the best Christmas ever for Santa Claus. He had witnessed --and been blessed to be instrumental in bringing about -- this miracle of hope.

This precious little child was healed. Cancer-free. Alive and well.

He silently looked up to Heaven and humbly whispered, "Thank you, Father. 'Tis a very, Merry Christmas!





If you believe in miracles you will pass this on...I did!

The highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity. Choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over popularity... These are the choices that measure your life. Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for there is never a wrong time to do the right thing..

God Bless You and Have A Blessed Day

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