Monday, January 31, 2011

This Couldn't Have Come at a Better Time...

I italicized in bold what I believe to be the most significant parts of this article... whether I agree with them or not ;-)


From the Washington Post about a month ago:


International test score data show U.S. firmly mid-pack



By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 7, 2010; 6:00 AM

After a decade of intensive efforts to improve its schools, the United States posted these results in a new global survey of 15-year-old student achievement: average in reading, average in science and slightly below average in math.

Those middling scores lagged significantly behind results from several countries in Europe and Asia in the report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to be made public Tuesday.

South Korea is an emerging academic powerhouse. Finland and Singapore continue to flex their muscles. And the Chinese city of Shanghai, participating for the first time in the Program for International Student Assessment, topped the 2009 rankings of dozens of countries and a handful of sub-national regions.

U.S. officials said the results show that the nation is slipping further behind its competitors despite years spent seeking to raise performance in reading and math through the 2002 No Child Left Behind law and a host of other reforms.

"For me, it's a massive wake-up call," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Monday. "Have we ever been satisfied as Americans being average in anything? Is that our aspiration? Our goal should be absolutely to lead the world in education."

The Obama administration is likely to use the results to press Congress next year to rewrite the federal education law to prod states to do more to help the lowest-performing schools. The District and dozens of states -- including Maryland but not Virginia -- have also approved new national academic standards that are meant to make U.S. schools more competitive.

On Monday in North Carolina, President Obama warned that the United States faces a "Sputnik moment," needing innovations akin to the effort to put a man on the moon after the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into orbit in 1957.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a 34-nation organization, based in Paris, that seeks to promote sustainable growth, world trade and higher living standards. Its testing program tracks the knowledge and problem-solving abilities of 15-year-olds every three years.

The report released Tuesday focused on reading ability and found that more than a dozen countries, from Korea to Poland, performed significantly better than the organization's statistical average in that area. The United States did not.

The U.S. scores of 500 in reading and 502 in science, on a 1,000-point scale, were about the organization's average, according to the report. The U.S. math score of 487 was below the average of 496.

Education experts cautioned that the strong marks for Shanghai, as well as those reported for Hong Kong, were not representative of education trends in China as a whole because the testing program did not canvass the entire country.

Still, Andreas Schleicher, who oversees the the testing program, called the results from Shanghai "stunning." He said it has been especially adept at moving talented educators into the most challenging assignments through career and pay incentives.

Susan Fuhrman, president of Teachers College at Columbia University, said several of the Pacific Rim nations that excelled in the testing have strong academic standards and a culture of high expectations, with particular emphasis on math and science. She added that the teaching profession is often more prestigious in such countries.

"We are not drawing from the top group of college graduates for teaching" in the United States, Fuhrman said, "and some other countries are."

Among the other key findings of the study:

-- Girls outperform boys in reading in every participating country. The gender reading gap, among the organization's members, was equivalent to about 39 points on the testing scale, or a year of schooling.

"In the United States, we're quite used to this" gender gap, said Tom Loveless, an education scholar at the Brookings Institution, "but it turns out that it's a worldwide phenomenon."

-- Countries with similar levels of economic prosperity can yield widely varying academic results. Korea, the strongest performer among the group's member nations, has a lower gross domestic product per capita than the organization's average. So does Shanghai.

-- U.S. math results were up since 2006 but not measurably different than scores in 2003, the earliest year in which comparisons were possible. U.S. science scores were up since 2006, a bright spot in the results.

Testing was conducted in the United States from September to November 2009, including 5,233 students from 165 public and private schools, randomly selected.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Running Updates

I have decided two things in the last few weeks:  I really do enjoy running.  AND  I hate running.

I have upped my speed on the treadmill considerably and comfortably.  This is a good thing.

I have upped my mileage on long runs from 3 miles to 6.5 miles.  Also, good thing.

My shins have rebelled.  Bad, bad, bad thing.

It turns out that when you get shins splints, they are VERY hard to treat.  After reading several articles and online blogs and websites, I have learned a lot about the causes, symptoms, and treatments of shin splints.  Also--I have learned a lot about the prevention of shin splints... something I would have liked to know a few weeks ago.

Supposedly, shin splints usually occur when you are "doing too much too soon".  Your muscles in your legs are not strong enough or prepared enough for those long runs, even though you feel like you can do it.  Your heart rate is good, the large muscles in your legs feel good, your lungs are continuing to breathe for you, and your shins feel like knives are stabbing in your legs.

For a while I was icing my shins after each workout.  Now I have decided to take an indefinite rest from running (thanks to the advice of many professionals) and continue to do other workouts which continue to strengthen my legs, heart, and lungs until I can get back on the treadmill.

The elliptical is my new best friend!  There is barely any shock on the elliptical because it is so smooth.  It's good for your knees, too!  It also works some muscles that I had been neglecting while running. I also go to a class at my gym called "BodyPump".  It's a barbell class that basically strengthens your whole body and works all the major muscles groups in 60 minutes.  Considering I am not a "weight-lifting"-type-of-girl, I am very proud of myself for not only continuing to go to this class, but for actually succeeding and enjoying it!  I have been going for about 3 months, now.  I am also taking a class called "BodyFlow".  It is a combination class of Tai Chi, Yoga, and Pilates and it is AWESOME.  Stretch, strengthen, concentration, and flexibility are the main components of this great class.

I am hoping to get back into my running routine asap :-)  I REALLY want to make it to this Half-Marathon!

Really, Maria? Really?

That's how I feel after what I am about to tell you.

I am in love with Eminem.  Yes, the rapper.

This is weird.

I have always appreciated rap music.  But I can't stand when people say the N-word and speak about women the way that some most rappers do.  This is unfortunate, because there are some excellent musicians out there and I always felt like they were wasting their talent by making a career of hip-hop.

Well, as one of my many new-years resolutions (which I will update you about later), I decided to give rap a try.  Josh is into it and gave me the down-low on the most influential and important rappers of all time.  So I started with Eminem.  I decided to start with his latest album, Recovery:


That's as far as I have gotten, but let me tell you, I have listened to this thing over and over and over and over again.  It's incredible.  You NEED to listen to it.  I don't care what kind of music you like. 

I was wrong.  He isn't wasting his career.  I was being judgmental (another thing I am trying to control as a New year's Resolution).

I had already heard both singles, Not Afraid and Love the Way You Lie.  But every song is amazing.  There are lots of bad words and lots of things that aren't necessarily respectful things to say in everyday life, but it is just incredible.  

Listen to it.  Call me if you need a copy.


Friday, January 28, 2011

Recipe for the Books: Sausage Spinach Soup

Mmmmm... I made a new (and easy!) soup for dinner.  We LOVED it and it was even better reheated the next day.  I would LOVE to share!  Sorry, but I forgot to take a picture :-(

Bring 4 cans of chicken broth to a boil.  Add one packet of Italian dressing mix.  Quarter, then slice 10 small red potatoes and add to the broth mixture.  Lower temp. to LOW and simmer.  While the broth is simmering, brown one pound of ground italian sausage (any kind--I used mild), and add to the broth and potatoes.  Simmer on low for about one hour.  Add 2-3 cups of fresh spinach and simmer for another 8-10 minutes. 

ENJOY!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Update on the Winter Program!

I know it's a little late, but I wanted to post some of the pictures from our first grade winter program!  How cute are they?!














She is obviously not in the first grade, but she did an awesome job!


Sunday, January 23, 2011

It's a Dogfish Head Christmas!

One of my gifts to Josh this year for Christmas was a Dogfish Head Brewery Tour.  You may know of the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery from the show on Discovery called Brew Masters.  The tour is absolutely free, and so are the tastings :-)  But you have to book it way in advance because it sells out very quickly.  We went yesterday!

The tree house that is often featured in the show.

It took about an hour to trek up DE to Milton, but it was a very pretty drive.  We got to go into the factory and see some of the original brewery equipment from when they started the company.  And we got to see the hugeeeee tanks that they create the beer in now:

Yes, freakin' huge.  The beer travels through those pipes along the walls and below the ceilings.

This is called palo santo wood.  The whole tank is made just of this wood... not nails, glue, or anything.  The beer is aged in here for about 3 months.  Pretty impressive.
After the tour, they of course, offered tastings of various beers.  The kinds they offered while we were there were Raison D'Etre (delicious), Midas Touch (tastes like love in a glass), Palo Santo (not my favorite), and the World Wide Stout (amazing).  The beers ranged from 8%-18% ABV.  Which is insane considering a Coors Lite is about a 3%.

If you ever want to go, give us a call.  We would love to go again and you will have a place to stay!

Friday, January 21, 2011

House Hunters!

That's right.  We are house hunting.  Here's our theory:

PROS:
If we are going to be here for a while, why waste all this money in renting a place when we could spend the same amount (or a bit more) per month and actually OWN a home? 

It can't hurt to just look.  Even if we don't find anything we absolutely love, at least we have our foot in the door and are a bit more knowledgeable for later.  We will also have more money saved up for later, which would definitely help with a down payment.

NOW is the time to buy.

There are lots of really nice, really foreclosed homes in this area.

I love growing up and getting older and doing the next "step" in life.  And I feel like this is the one.

CONS:
While the mortgage payments could be pretty similar to our current rent, it's freakin' expensive to buy a house.  If things need fixed, if furniture needs purchased, if we need a lawnmower, not to mention a downpayment.  Stuff we didn't have to worry about before: it will hit us like a wall of bricks.

That's it.  More pros than cons.  I'm in.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Half-Crazy. Half-Marathon.

After talking with Josh's dad over the winter break, I have a peaked interest in all of this half-marathon business. Dad-in-law is considering running a half-marathon in Ocean City.  Well, I really enjoy running and do it pretty regularly, but never 13 miles at once.  My average running length is about a 5k (3.1 miles)... on a good day.  But I like a challenge.

I am really trying hard to actually follow a training schedule.  I found a few good ones online and kind of combined some to match my schedule and interests.  Wish me luck!

I am excited to keep you updated with the progress of my training.  I am not going to say that I will definitely make it to the end of the finish line.  But I am saying that I am definitely going to try my best!

That being said, I am off to the gym to train!  Practice makes perfect!  This is what I will look like on April 30th at the end of the race:


NOT.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Oh... There's a Difference Between Central and Eastern Time?

It's been a long time, bloggers.  One month to be exact.

We had a wonderful Christmas visiting family.  We had a fun New Years in York, PA.  There, I'm done with that.

I haven't been on here lately because we have been busy!  It's a good thing :-)

So, I start grad school TONIGHT.  I ended up getting accepted to the University of Illinois and I am studying Global Studies in Education.  The program is completely online.  I do not have to travel any farther west than 30 miles from the Atlantic Ocean (which also happens to be where I live!).  I am a bit nervous about our first class tonight because I have never used a headset/microphone with an online chat class before, so I'm worried that something technical will go wrong.  Hopefully it will all work out.

I have been going to the gym pretty regularly and always take this class on Wednesday evenings.  It is a mix of Tai Chi, Yoga, and Pilates.  I LOVE it.  Well, the class starts at 6:30 and lasts an hour.  I told a friend of mine there a few weeks ago that I wouldn't be able to come anymore starting today because my online class is from 7-9pm on Wednesdays.  I was pretty bummed about it, too.

Well, guess what, folks?  It turns out that I am a big dummie and didn't even THINK about the time change between Central Standard and Eastern Standard.  My class is from 8-10est.  That means I could have gone to my class at the gym... oh well.  Too late.

I will keep up to date about my grad school experiences.

HAVE A GREAT NIGHT!