July 30, 2023
A Universe of Numbers
How Math Greatly Affects our Daily Life and Development of Civilization
Math has worked WONDERS for our daily lives. You may not personally enjoy the subject yourself, and that’s okay! However, it’s difficult to disregard just how influential math has become in modern society, and the development of civilization as a whole.
It’s deeply ingrained in everything we’ve built, negotiated, engineered, and modernized. It provides order in our lives and minimizes the chaos. Our statistics, logic, ethics, and deeply encoded practices all have math to thank. And whether we see it or not, math materializes into phenomena all around us.
Math is a globally understood and utilized knowledge, which opens us up to connecting in ways we typically couldn’t. When we encounter an opportunity to have an exchange of knowledge, we can only grow in our comprehension. That’s probably why so many of our biggest advancements came into fruition when a great discovery in math was made.
I mean, take a look at the ancient Egyptians… once they discovered how to apply their mathematical findings, the Great Pyramids came to be and, well, the rest is history.
Even when we aren’t in active math mode or solving something directly in front of us, it’s a skill we implement daily. It forges our cognitive, intellectual, and academic discipline- and yes, we use it in domestic situations as well! What do you think lays the foundation for things like cooking, telling time, even filling our homes with furniture?
What are the benefits of math in daily life? Oh, let us count some (of the infinite) ways…
Daily Benefits of Math
Builds Mental Discipline: It’s no secret that math is an incredibly rigorous topic to learn and master, which we’ve been exposed to from very young ages. The numbers, equations, formulas, proofs, measurements, shapes… they are all intricately designed with their unique set of rules and methods. When we are presented with a problem to solve or decipher, it’s on us and our discipline to consistently show up and remain engaged. In order to get the answers we need to understand the math, that involves discipline and perseverance to get it done.
Can Help Build a Growth Mindset: This is especially useful for young minds & students, since they don’t have as much emotional or mental regulation. Our brains naturally react to a roadblock in two ways: find another solution or give up. When math presses us with a similar kind of obstacle, it gives us the option to learn the technique effectively by trying an improved strategy or settle for the wrong answer. Encouraging younger students or those starting out in math to find a new means of solving the problem helps stretch and grow their brain by LEARNING from prior mistakes. If we don’t learn, how can we be expected to do better?
Logical + Quantitative Reasoning: These are two fundamental elements to developing an argument. Providing the logical explanation or function combined with quantitative approaches can establish necessary evidence to prove the validity! Combining these both will cultivate inductive, deductive, even statistical methods. When applied to math, this can aid in analyzing the deeper meanings that the math insinuates.
A Language of Science + Technology: Although Science and Technology are their own innovative fields, math helps to organize and communicate their information. When math is applied to technology, it can help people such as scientists and engineers create systemic and productive practices to transmit useful knowledge. It also helps specify what is necessary to construct the tools and advancements making our daily lives that much easier.
Foundation for MANY fields: Aside from the obvious, math lays a strong infrastructure for many other fields. For instance, math is utilized in cooking, architecture, politics, economics, accounting, finance, mass production, and so many more fields. Jobs in ALL of these fields most likely require a background in math, being that they all use different disciplines within math to find what they’re looking for.
Paves Way for Invention: Obviously humanity would not be where it is without math to help them modify their inventions. With the use of math (and even a growth mindset), we can find new ways to strengthen or improve an idea or physical creation. If you read early Greek works revolving around the understanding of the Universe, they resorted to math to support their philosophical discoveries.
Helps Us Understand The Universe: Yes, math pervades all forms of universal matter. Even quantifiable amounts of sub particles can alter the impact of a singular atom. Things such as sacred geometry, quantum physics, and mathematical structure that explains all things discoverable (and still not discovered) in our Universe.
Encourages Critical Thinking: When it comes to math, critical thinking implies there is a reasonable decision or judgment needed to be made to execute the problem. In other words, the person doing the math must make thought-out decisions given the information and mathematical criteria at hand.
July 23, 2023
Introducing… Euclid!
How the Contributions of One Alexandrian Mathematician Influenced the Course of Human Thought
What Started As A Thought…
Soon blossomed into an entire movement of thought and education.
We’ve all been taught about ancient Greece as well as their intellectually rich culture. They birthed and molded so many foundational leaders of thought in realms such as math, philosophy, religion, even art and architecture.
One of the most contributors to the evolution of math is Euclid. Euclid was known and referred to as the “father” or “founder” of Geometry. Geometry is a very distinct field within mathematics responsible for explaining the relationships of planes and objects. We all start to integrate geometrical knowledge when we learn the properties of shapes, points, lines, and the connection between them all!
Euclid is the namesake of Euclidean geometry, which is the basis of plane geometry like his published works allude to. But we’ll get into that later!
About Euclid
What we know of Euclid derives from a summary of famous mathematicians contrived by Greek philosopher Proclus (410-485 CE). Very little detail is actually known about Euclid’s life, however, has been hypothesized and framed by key events: his birth, death, and prominent mathematical contributions.
Euclid was born approximately 325 BCE and hails from the great Alexandria, a prominent civilization in Egypt. It is believed he passed there as well about 265 BC.
He taught in Alexandria at the time of Ptolemy I Soter (367/366-283/282 BC), the Macedonian ruler of Egypt.
In the summary procured by Proclus, it describes Euclid stating:
Not much younger than these [pupils of Plato] is Euclid, who put together the “Elements”… for Archimedes, who followed closely upon the first Ptolemy makes mention of Euclid, and further they say that Ptolemy once asked him if there were a shorted way to study geometry than the Elements, to which he replied that there was no royal road to geometry…
Euclid of Alexandria is typically mistook for Euclid of Megara, who lived 100 years before he was even born! And even though much of his existence remains in question, there is absolutely no doubt that he provided one of the most revolutionary pieces of work for math to evolve in the following 2000 years.
Euclid’s Contributions + Euclidean Geometry
What did Euclid ultimately contribute to math?
He wrote a collection of work known as the Elements. Euclid’s Elements is a compilation of postulates, proposals, and rules of geometry. There are five postulates introduced at the beginning of this collection, assuming the existence of points and lines and how they relate to one another.
The five postulates state:
– A straight line segment can be drawn to connect any two points.
– Any straight line segment can extend indefinitely in a straight line.
– Given any straight line segment, a circle can be drawn having the segment as a radius and one endpoint (of the segment) as the circle’s center.
– All right angles are congruent (equal).
– If a straight line falling on two straight lines makes the interior angles on the same side less than two right angles, the two straight lines, if produced indefinitely, meet on that side on which are the angles less than the two right angles.
The fifth postulate defines what’s known as a parallel postulate, and it has not been proven yet despite many attempts.
You’ll probably find many of these postulates as basic rules introduced to you when you learned what geometry was! Elements essentially highlights the fundamentals of Euclidean geometry, which is taught in secondary education.
There are thirteen books in total, highlighting definitions and propositions revolving around the theory of geometry, proportions, circles, number theory, geometric algebra, and solid figures. Euclid dives into great detail for each subject he accentuates with his writing to ensure the comprehension of how they all correlate to one another.
It’s one of the oldest surviving mathematical publications known to humankind, which is why it’s been carried into our prevalent education today.
Why Is It Important?
Subcategories of math such as geometry and number theory help us develop a wide array of applications. For instance, geometry helps us develop and understand spatial awareness as well as relationships. This helps us create modern structures that hold up, and it also helps us find shapes for functional inventions. Without the fundamental knowledge of circles, polygons, and solid shapes, we wouldn’t have half the stuff we use on a daily basis!
July 16, 2023
Calling In Some Tutoring Help
Here’s why YOU Should Consider a Tutor for That Extra Push
School Of Thought
We all need support. There are times where we’ll need it more than usual, but needless to say community is an incredible resource. Support is a way to surrender to our vulnerability and seek a little comfort.
And when it comes to education, support is not just a resource but a NECESSITY.
Everybody is adept in different fields of knowledge, so stepping into areas of unknown can be quite frustrating. It’s especially uncomfortable for young kids, who get frustrated much easier when they don’t receive instant gratification (or understanding).
If they’re in traditional schooling, they’re probably learning multiple subjects at a time- and that can get overwhelming! It’s difficult to expect perfection in EVERY area they embark on, so what’s a kid to do?
That’s why it’s super important to consider any and all resources available to them! Outside of a regular classroom setting, there’s a multitude of ways to incorporate extra care to supplement education. One of the more personalized experiences is hiring or finding a tutor!
Tutors can explore ANY subject, from writing to science to math and even to test preparation. They’re especially useful for math education since so many kids are not naturally affluent in this dense discipline.
But what REALLY makes a tutor so enthralling? Oh, let us list the ways!
Why Tutors Are Worthwhile
Tutors are personable, malleable, and considerate people able to provide a refreshing perspective to a learning experience. They may bring new and even revolutionary approaches to comprehending the fundamentals or machinations of an educational area.
What are the biggest benefits of hiring a tutor? Here are some core benefits just to name a few!
Provides an Intimate Experience: Tutors not only provide a unique learning experience but it’s a direct exchange between an educator and student; that constitutes a nurturing atmosphere! You can find tutors that work one-on-one or in smaller group volumes, which can make the actual environment less distracting or intimidating! There are going to be private educators that will work with your needs or goals, and may even introduce new ideas to broaden your tool kit.
Have An Individual Approach: Every tutor is going to bring something different to the table. What’s so inspiring about tutors is their unique perspective and teaching styles! While traditional teachers & educators do the same- they do have to follow institutionalized rules and regulations. Tutors show up to their containers bringing a lifetime of experience, knowledge, OTHER resources, and more to cultivate a one-of-a-kind experience.
Easily Accessible: With the age of technology comes more and more ways to access what we need- especially amidst a global pandemic! One of the coolest things about seeking a tutor is the various platforms you can discover them on! Aside from the usual in-person options, you can find a virtual tutor as well! This goes to show how flexible and accommodating tutors can be, and it doesn’t limit you to a certain proximity! Tutors can be found anywhere and passionate about helping you achieve your desired outcomes.
Primarily There to HELP You: Although this is a full-time or part-time profession for these people, they’re all there to help YOU. Tutors are passionate about bringing new and refreshing ways to learn into someone’s space, which is what makes each and every encounter with them so amazing! Regardless of the amount of students they teach at a time or the subject at hand, the tutor is there to give that extra push of support and accountability you need to level up your learning!
What To Consider
Aside from ALL the benefits of hiring a tutor, there are a multitude of things for YOU to consider so you know what exactly to look for.
Here are some powerful questions to help you get started:
– What are you looking to learn more about, or master? This is going to help you niche the content demographic for your future educator.
– If you’re looking for someone else (i.e. a child you interact with or student you teach), what seems to be their biggest setback?
– What ACTUALLY needs to be broadened: the understanding of the content, or methods to better execute it? Some people have harder times understanding the functions of what they’re learning rather than the content itself.
– What are some qualities and characteristics you want to experience with your tutor?
– Are there any other learning accommodations you need to consider?
– Do you learn better in-person, virtually, or a mix?
– What kind of learner are you (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, audiovisual)?
July 2, 2023
What Is Meditation?
Meditation is a practice that equips someone with the ability to draw focus to a particular object, thought, or activity in order to train a deeper awareness. It’s believed to be so beneficial because of its impact on one’s achievement of clarity, relaxation, or emotional stability!
You’ve probably heard this word being paired with “Mindfulness”, which is the awareness of the present moment. When you put them together, you get something called “Mindfulness Meditation” which is a practice able to help you draw focus to the present in order to bring stillness, peace, or emotional clarity to what’s currently happening. Mindfulness meditation is incredibly helpful for grounding your being and alleviating symptoms of ruminating thoughts, anxiety, stress, even depression.
However, meditation is a very malleable practice with lots of versions to accommodate any and all needs. You can find meditations for pretty much anything, but also mold it to fit your individual desires!
The Benefits of Meditation
There are many proven benefits to meditation in social, emotional, and mental capacities! Here are just some of the core perks:
Improved Attention: Those who meditate can eventually condition themselves to attune their focus much more easily, effectively, and naturally! Attention is something many of us deal with especially in times of stress or anxiety, so meditation can act as that grounding force.
Boosts Immune System: New studies and clues indicate that meditation CAN boost the immune system! Negative emotions, traumas, and more have the power to manifest inside our body, so meditation can help us begin to release those stresses and connect deeper with our bodily instincts.
Longer Concentration: The strengthened attention can help prolong one’s ability to concentrate on tasks! Performing a task or set of them can be difficult when someone can get overwhelmed or pressured by external stresses, so incorporating meditation into a daily routine will improve the fluidity of someone’s day–to-day responsibilities!
Lower Stress Levels: Reducing stress is a very typical motivating factor in why people take up meditation! Stress is usually produced as a result of ruminating thoughts about the past or future, draining tasks or interactions, and more. By integrating meditation into everyday life, you can create space to decompress from these taxing thoughts and have more time to actually enjoy the present moment.
Why Meditation Should Be Encouraged In the Classroom!
Meditation shouldn’t just stay in yoga classes or within the adult community- you people can benefit from it, too! This can become an especially useful resource for kids in school, being that it can be quite a stressful environment for them.
Here’s why meditation should be encouraged in educational environments:
Increased Focus = Less Distractions: When children are unable to pay attention for prolonged periods of time, their schooling isn’t nearly as effective. They are unable to retain a majority of the knowledge- but that can change! Meditation can encourage students to bring themselves into the present, and by fortifying their focusing skills they won’t be as distracted! Less distractions leave more room for productive growth!
Cope with Stress + Emotions Better: Stress is never going to go away completely; we all experience it in different ways. Emotional regulation can be tough for younger people, so giving them the tools to start early is a great idea! Meditation has the ability to bring down the heightened bodily and emotional sensations, which gives children the space to process what they’re thinking and feeling.
Helps with Nerves during Test Taking: As a result of the stress reduction, stressful tasks are not as daunting! Children face many assessments, exams, projects, and responsibilities that heighten their fear of failure. So, meditation can be a great preparatory exercise so they can attack their assignments with clarity and even more confidence.
Calmer State of Mind: Schools can be very chaotic, even draining environments for some kids. They deserve to feel secure, safe, and comfortable in the places they exist in for long periods of time. Meditation can help- the connection between body and mind will calm the childrens’ nervous systems for a more pleasant attitude.
Strengthened Social Skills: Children are very impressionable people, and one negative experience can harm them. This is applicable when making friends, which is a very stressful thing when it’s not always as organic or easy! Meditation can help a student regulate their own selves so they know how to better approach their peers and create stronger bonds.
Develop Empathy: Those who consistently practice meditation have a greater ability to show deep understanding of others’ perspectives. This can be incredibly beneficial in school environments, where many young individuals are exposed to different viewpoints. Empathy can help a student resolve a conflict, understand a relational situation, or just ground their mind before reacting to something.
Improves Overall Self-Esteem + Confidence: Students can have a VERY hard time attacking their assignments and learning with confidence. Meditation, especially when incorporating affirming statements, will broaden their belief systems. The positive, more mindful thinking will allow them to recognize their worth and capability! The improved self-esteem will better ALL areas of life, but show in the results of their education.
If you are curious to know more about why meditation is so beneficial, there are many articles out there to help you with research! This one is a great yet simple summary of what you can find!
June 24, 2023
Be Mindful
How Mindfulness Exercises Can Be Integrated Into Educational Environments For Beneficial Purposes
What IS Mindfulness?
With the swarm of a global pandemic, quarantine, and an assortment of crises, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the madness of it all. So when looking for resources and methods to alleviate these tensions, mindfulness has gained some major popularity!
What is it exactly? In basic terms, Mindfulness is the human awareness and ability to be in the present moment. It encompasses a variety of thoughts, actions, and beliefs we ALL already possess, but take time and energy accessing. Mindfulness has been practiced since ancient times, but only studied within recent years.
Mindfulness is especially beneficial for those who experience tense emotions and detrimental thought cycles. Within recent years, mindfulness has been encouraged in the classroom for kids to help them retain education better.
DISCLAIMER: Mindfulness exercises are not a cure-all for deep rooted anxiety, depression, and trauma. It is a great outlet to incorporate with other methodologies, so please consult your doctor or a therapist when exploring Mindfulness for your needs.
Why You Should Get Into the RIGHT Headspace
Mindfulness-oriented practices have been proven beneficial for many fields and activities. In its entirety, mindfulness gets us to reflect and attune to our instincts, needs, and wants to uncover deeper rooted mental or emotional blockages.
More recently, there has been a movement to integrate Mindfulness exercises and values into school environments. This ensures kids not only will learn to strengthen their emotional & mental regulation skills, but succeed in their academic endeavors.
Here are a few of the infinite reasons why Mindfulness should be brought into education!
Increased Focus: Non-judgmental attentiveness, especially towards the present moment, increases awareness for what’s currently happening in the classroom. When focus is increased in school, the students will more likely retain the content being taught to them! This helps them build a deeper understanding for the material and its usage.
More Attentive To Details: The overall increase in focus will also heighten a student’s attention to detail. This can be especially beneficial for many school subjects that require critical thinking, like literature and math! Their connection to the present will open them up to make astute observations able to help me construct more effortlessly effective answers or understandings.
Confidence In Participation: If a student feels strong in their abilities, they’ll feel more inclined to voice their perspective in class! It’s quite common for them to get easily intimidated by their fear of failure or rejection for an incorrect answer, so bringing Mindfulness into their space will allow them to observe and focus in such a way that is more positive and doesn’t make them feel judged!
Growth Mindset: Mindfulness is being able to learn AND evolve from your current choices, behaviors, and beliefs. If you incorporate Mindfulness into the class, then the students will be able to attack their assignments with the knowledge that even if they don’t get it right the first time, the failure or setback still provides them with productive learning for future situations.
Problem Solving Skills: This particular trait requires patience, determination, and recollection of skills and knowledge to devise the best solution to a given problem. Mindfulness can alleviate some of that usual academic pressure that clouds our articulation of potential avenues of solution. Critical, divergent, and logical thinking skills can be strengthened when students are taught to identify their stresses and instead deal with them rather than suppress them and succumb to emotional problems.
Decreased Stress: Everybody can get worked up when something isn’t going flawlessly or even their way- which is okay and VERY human! Mindfulness really allows us to focus on our innate awareness and morph it into a purposeful power. When we allow ourselves to focus on what’s actually happening and not ruminate on the past or future hypotheticals, stress levels can decrease which also helps with anxiety!
Social AND Emotional Wellbeing: Mindfulness helps with emotional regulation, which kids don’t know how to do as well as full grown adults. If you start them young, they’ll be able to communicate more openly, build sustainable relationships, and do what’s best for themselves as well as others!
Academic Performance: All in all, the mental and emotional spaces students can reach with the help of Mindfulness will fortify their academic performance! They won’t relinquish their talent, attention, or patience to a projected frustration and be able to do what’s in front of them.
Mindfulness Ideas for Your Educative Space
Meditation: Mindfulness in itself is a form of meditation, but you can find all different kinds of meditative exercises to suit your needs! Full body scans, sensory meditations, and intuitive movement are just some examples of this practice.
Breathing Exercises: We take this involuntary action for granted on a daily basis, and can be quite a grounding resource! It helps us tune into our nervous systems when we use the breadth and timing of our breathing to bring our body back into a stable state.
Journaling: Being in the present is hard for some with ruminating thoughts or anxiety, so putting your thoughts and feelings OUTSIDE of yourself can be helpful! It’ll encourage students to be more expressive about what they’re experiencing which helps with emotional regulation and awareness.
Heartbeat Exercises: Just like breathing, our hearts provide us with an involuntary function that carries us through day-to-day life. When we experience stress or anxiety, our heart rates can accelerate causing us to feel frantic or unstable. If you tune into what’s occurring inside your body, your thoughts will naturally flow and gravitate towards the root of what’s causing these negative emotions.
Quiet Time: Silence can speak volumes! Even just a few minutes a day of pure silence will give students a calm, safe space to reflect and relax which is helpful in long, arduous days of dense schooling!
There are many more exercises designed for kids in the classroom that you can experiment with and see what works and what doesn’t!
February 15, 2022
Best Books To Get Middle Schoolers Into Reading
Lots of middle schoolers say that reading simply isn’t for them. School is partly to blame for this, as reading often gets turned into a chore rather than something for enjoyment (though many teachers do try their best to make it fun–some successfully, others not so much.) But that doesn’t mean reading can’t turn back into something enjoyable. It’s simply a matter of finding the right book. This is just a shortlist of recommendations covering various genres and styles. If one of these sounds interesting, there’s a good chance there are more books by either the same author or similar ones that you’ll love too. Not to mention most of these have a movie or tv show adaption to watch after (or before, I won’t judge!)
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- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
- Ender’s Game is a book that every sci-fi should read and enjoy. It has everything: aliens, video games, adventure, and an extraordinary but complicated protagonist. Written in the 1980s but set in the very distant future, Ender Wiggins is a child genius selected to study in an elite school to train to fight the Buggers, the aliens that Earth is locked in war with. It’s a bit of a longer book at over 300 pages, but it’s packed with intense fight scenes set in zero gravity and interesting plots as Ender tries to figure out his place in the school–and in the war. Ender’s Game also got made into a movie starring Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford in 2013. Orson Scott Card also wrote lots of spin-offs and sequels, so if you fall in love with the world and history, there’s plenty more to read!
- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
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- Holes by Louis Sachar
- This is a classic coming-of-age book (and also one of my favorite movies) that’s about friendship, cruelty, and good ol’ karma. It follows Stanley Yelnats, who is seemingly cursed with bad luck and gets falsely accused of stealing a pair of famous shoes that were donated to a homeless shelter. As punishment, he is sent out to Camp Green Lake (which isn’t green or a lake at all) and is forced to dig holes all day in the heat. There, he meets unlikely friends like Zero, another kid at the camp, and some enemies, such as the cruel Warden who has rattlesnake poison in her nail polish. The book is full of twists and keeps you hooked till the very last word.
- Holes by Louis Sachar
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- Wonder by R. J. Palacio
- Now, I’m going to be honest–this book is a tear-jerker. My 6th-grade teacher Mrs. Bodenmiller read this to us during class sometimes and I never remember a classroom full of tweens being so quiet and attentive before (except for when Bill Nye was on.) Wonder is about a young boy named August Pullman starting his first day at middle school. That’s scary enough for any typical 10 year old, but August isn’t exactly normal; he was born with a facial deformity and needed several surgeries throughout his life, leading him to be homeschooled and to constantly wear an astronaut’s helmet on his head. While it’s clear this story is a sad one, it’s also a funny and profound one about love and humanity. And, like many great books, it got made into a Julia Roberts movie in 2017.
- Wonder by R. J. Palacio
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- The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
- This is a classic book that your parents probably read in middle school. Lots of schools even assign it, but that doesn’t mean it’s just some boring old book. The Outsiders is about a group of greasers living in Oklahoma and if you enjoyed Grease or West Side Story, this is the book for you. The main character is Ponyboy, the youngest in the little gang he is in with his brothers and his friends, and it follows their misadventures and interactions with the kids from the other side of the tracks. At less than 200 pages, it’s a short but action-packed novel that proves why teens still read it 55 years later. The 1983 movie adaptation is also a star-studded masterpiece for fans of classic 80s movies.
- The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
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- Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
- This book is kinda like the Inception of books and it’s every bit as cool as its movie counterpart. This contemporary fantasy adventure novel is about a young girl and her father who is able to have things come out of books simply by reading it out loud. But there is a price to pay for this great power–something must go into the book in return. One day, Maggie’s father Mo is captured by strange people and she must go on an adventure to get him back. This book is critically acclaimed for a reason and got made into a movie starring Brendan Fraiser in 2008. With themes about family and pride, and great references to other famous books, this book is a great fit for anybody (especially if you find someone to read it out loud for you!) Not to mention, it’s also the first of a trilogy.
- Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
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- The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
- This is by far the biggest book, and biggest series, on this list but it’s a great one for fans of fantasy, romance, and action. With six books in the series, a prequel trilogy, a sequel trilogy, a movie, and a tv show, this franchise has enough content to rival Star Wars. But once you get sucked into this world of shadowhunters, Nephilim, demons, warlocks, and angels, it’s hard to get out of it. Clarissa Frey is our main character (of the main series, at least) and it chronicles her journey in discovering her family history and heritage that was kept hidden from her all her life. With lots of action, sarcasm, and romance, it’s a great middle school read (and worth a lot of AR points too!)
- The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
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- Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
- This quartet of books is perfect for those who are naturally curious and feel a bit like outsiders. This spy/mystery/adventure book follows for exceptionally gifted children under the tutelage of the mysterious Nicholas Benedict who need their help to save the world from his evil twin sister. It’s on par with the classic Jame Bond spy movies (and I mean the Sean Connery ones, not the new ones.) Disney even made a tv series based on the books in 2021 with the hilarious Tony Hale.
- Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
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- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
- This is another one of those books that’s important for any teenager to read in America (and not surprisingly, it’s been banned in a lot of schools too.) Set in 1930s Mississippi, 9-year-old Cassie Logan tries to navigate the difficult and racist life of the Jim Crow south. It’s a powerful book about power, not just with people but with land too. The 1978 movie is also definitely worth watching too, with Morgan Freeman playing Uncle Hammer. It’s one of timeless and brutal African-American fiction books. And its descriptions of deep southern living make its 250+ page count feel too short.
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
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- Scythe by Neal Shusterman
- I’m going to level with you here—this is the only book on this list I haven’t read. It was recommended by a friend while I was doing research for this article. But after doing a little digging, I can see why. In a perfect future with no misery, no war, and no disease, this perfect utopia comes at a deadly price; select few called Scythes are chosen to kill others to keep the population and world in order. Crazy, right? Two teens, Citra and Rowan are chosen to be apprentices and learn about this deadly underside to their world. While this is the only one on the list without a silver screen adaption, it is rumored to be in the works. It’s one of the few YA books that’s made my to-read list and I hope it will make yours too.
- Scythe by Neal Shusterman
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- Anything by John Green
- I know this isn’t exactly a conventional entry is a list of books to read, but trust me on this: all John Green books are worth the read. My godfather actually got me all of his books in 7th grade (after asking his AP Literature class for help) and I finished all of them within 2 weeks. Out of all his books, the one I would recommend the most is Paper Towns, as I think it’s a book that every teen will relate to at some point in their lives. And for the rebels out there, Green’s book Looking for Alaska actually got banned in many schools and libraries. I’m not going to give any summaries, unlike the other books, because I think these are best experienced going in blind. Just maybe have a few tissue boxes on hand.
- Anything by John Green
February 1, 2022
This Portland Neighborhood May Be The Suburbia Oasis You’re Looking For
Ever wondered if Portland could be a home for you? Well, with their increasing popularity and diverse personality, there’s a fit for everyone!
America is home to so many cities with an individual energy like no others. Of course you know the infamous NYC and Los Angeles, maybe you’ve been to Chicago or took a trip to Denver. All of them have something refreshing to offer their residents just as much as their visitors. It’s super incredible to be able to absorb the wonderful communities + cultures that fortified the flourishing of these cities.
Of course, there are some that have ascended to be up and coming places to reside. With the constant evolution of humanity and its expanding experience, cities take on the personalities of those who enliven it with their own interests and values. A city to have become extremely popular within the last few years is located in the Pacific Northwest, a green haven for many.
It’s Portland, Oregon!
About Portland
Portland is quite a distinct city known for a variety of compelling characteristics such as their ecofriendliness, progressive demographic, and vast amount of outdoorsy outlets.
It’s home to an assortment of fabulous storefronts, cuisine, live music, and microbreweries that appeal to many of its inhabitants. If you’re looking for things to do outside eating and shopping, there’s an assortment of art museums, luscious parks, and many MANY bicycle routes! Both outdoor and indoor enthusiasts can find something they’ll enjoy in Portland. For such a big city, it embodies a very tight knit, small town atmosphere to it.
Oregon’s largest city is home to quite a few special spots. Did you know that Portland is home to one of the largest urban forests in the United States? That’s right- Forest Park sits at 5200 acres and is THE place to enjoy nature if you’re visiting or residing in the city! And if nature isn’t your thing, no worries; the largest independent bookstore, Powell Books, is found right in the heart of the bustling metropolis!
An appealing living aspect of Portland is its comparably low living expenses; it’s one of the most inexpensive places to live on the West Coast! And because of Oregon’s state mandates, there’s no sales tax either! As for transportation, you do NOT necessarily need a car in Portland to enjoy what it has to offer! It’s one of the most bicycle friendly places in the world, and it also offers public transportation as well!
Regardless if you’re just passing through or making it your newest home, Portland is for sure able to accommodate your every need and satisfy every passion!
One of Portland’s GEM Neighborhoods
Like all major cities, Portland has a copious amount of neighborhoods. The city is split into five major regions dependent upon their cardinal placement, each containing unique neighborhoods. All of them possess specific perks; they vary depending upon your own demographic and what you’re looking for!
If you’re a young professional looking for a great social life and freedom to explore on foot, you may enjoy a more central or downtown area compared to more family-oriented individuals! It’s always advised to do your research when finding your home in Portland!
Of course, there are some happy mediums that converge quiet with lively. One of the best places to live is the neighborhood known as Eastmoreland- not only is it a top ranked place to live in Portland, but also in the state of Oregon as a WHOLE!
Located in what many categorize as the southeast region of the city, Eastmoreland attracts many different people. It’s a mostly liberal demographic, home to young professionals AND families which constitutes a community that is both engaging and reliable.
As for living situations and options, most residents own their homes; HOWEVER, some rent, but it’s an almost entirely residential area. This neighborhood has its fair share of high-end residencies; if you drive down the winding roads of Eastmoreland, especially near its golf course, you’ll lay eyes on beautiful homes and fine greenery!
If you’re someone raising or starting a family, Eastmoreland definitely has some lovely schooling options! With 26 amazing options for public schooling, Some of these institutions include Le Monde French Immersion Public Charter School, Emerson School, and Winterhaven School. If you want a private school, you’ve got well over 100 options! Northwest Academy, St. Mary’s, and Central Catholic High School are just to name a few!
Outside of the more permanent long-term amenities, there’s so much fun to do, too! The Woodstock Farmer’s Market is open from June to November with bountiful yummy food! More year round activities include the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, Oaks Amusement Park, Studio One Theaters, even Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
Luckily, the public transportation can also help you out when exploring these enthralling experiences!
What Are You Waiting For?
If you’re thinking about relocating to somewhere exciting and new, look no further! Do your own research on the city of Portland; you can check out this city guide and informational site to learn more!
January 1, 2022
How To Get Into One of the Best Schools in the Portland Are
What makes Catlin Gabel School so incredible as an academic institution- and what it takes to be admitted as a student!
Introduction
Education has proven essential to many states and their instituted curriculums. All grades of varying levels and parameters all have their important place in the greater cultivation of a comprehensive learned knowledge. More importantly, school curriculums also make for a wonderful opportunity to broaden and exercise crucial life skills.
A very particular, exemplary location that emphasizes education is located in Oregon- Portland, specifically. Within Portland is a school that rises above many others with progressive measures to ensure their student body experiences the same caliber of transformational growth. This school is known as the Catlin Gabel School!
About Catlin Gabel School In Portland, OR
Catlin Gabel school is a private institution; they educate all grades from Preschool (PreK) up through the 12th grade. The grades themselves are separated into three distinct schools: Beginning & Lower School (PreK-5th), Middle School (6th-8th), and finally Upper School (9th-12th). Although the various levels of education are categorized based upon closeness in age & maturity, Catlin Gabel has a strong, tight-knit community fueled by consistent efforts of ethical and academic value.
This school has a very humanistic, enlightened approach to their schooling; they refer to it as “student-centered education”. According to their website, student-centered education was designed so that students “are encouraged to pursue their interests and exercise their natural curiosity”. By placing the student’s passions and skills at the center, they are able to “become active learners… to discover the pleasures and rewards of education and develop into adults for whom learning is a lifelong pursuit”.
What does this entail? Well, it’s an education dedicated to supporting original thinking skills, which overall strengthens self-awareness for real life scenarios. This fortifies the student body’s responsibility to take action in their communities, helps them with problem solving and creates space to “foster a curiosity” about life. Catlin Gabel teaches the WHOLE student, which means they develop learning modalities to best embrace the growth of their entire self.
Educators have a BIG role to play in the deliverance of this powerful mission. Their communication with students is very responsive yet differentiated to reaffirm every individual’s own style of learning. Not only that, but educators inhabit a professional curiosity about the wholeness of the students; for instance, they don’t just focus on their academic skills but their interpersonal, physical, emotional, and ethical sense of selves.
An empowering approach to Catlin Gabel’s education is their prioritization of discourse about power and privilege. This aids in the embodiment of diversity and inclusion within the curriculum and sees all backgrounds of the students as valid!
How To Get Into This Reputable School
Because Catlin Gabel School is an independent and private institution, admission is entirely based on a selection process. However, Catlin Gabel has provided an integrative application process combining forms with events.
First, there’s an official Admission Inquiry Form for the family of the prospective student to complete; this gains them access to an important admissions portal. Then, they are granted the steps to learn more about the parameters of the admissions and school in its entire entity.
Access to the online portal is integral, being that it’s where you can register for events and complete the official Catlin Gabel application. There are admissions events, both in-person and virtual, for the applicants interested in attending the coming school year.
Now, there are a few different kinds of admissions events, depending upon the school you’re applying to. There are general information sessions, which are a GREAT chance to speak to Catlin Gable faculty. By creating an opportunity for educators to speak about the Catlin Gabel experience, families will effectively learn about important school aspects such as curriculum, scheduling, extracurriculars, grading, resources, even financial assistance!
The earlier grades have a slightly more individualized session. There are drop in Q&As for specifically the beginning and Lower School. Being that this school offers education for much younger ages, there’s an opportunity for those who have particular questions to ask the personnel working at the school to answer them transparently.
Once the events are attended, all the families have to do is complete an actual application. This encompasses varying assessments such as confidential teacher evaluations, prompted questions for both students AND their parents, school records, notes about the student’s visit. Catlin has a web page designed to share the detailed answers to common questions about the enrollment process.
Catlin Gabel makes it quite easy to schedule a convenient visit to the school so the families are impassioned by the school’s environment to know they’re making the right choice. The careful consideration of the families also delves deep into processes that occur after the initial enrollment; financial assistance is one of them. More than a quarter of the student body receives need-based tuition as well as merit scholarships as forms of financial assistance (given a qualified application for it).
Conclusion
All in all, Catlin Gabel conducts a personable experience from the moment a family peaks interest in them. They sure live up to the tedious application process with great community engagement and consistent performance as a whole. If you’d like to learn more about this school or make a call to visit, check out their website.
December 26, 2021
The Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering
Portland’s Passion for Specialized Education: The Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering
An especially rigorous and specialized academy located in the greater Portland area, the opportunities they provide, and what it takes to get in
It’s no secret the past couple of years have been WONDROUSLY revolutionary in Portland’s education system. They’ve taken measures in revitalizing their take on education by unlearning ideologies that hinder the future of our society from breaching the societal confines of race & ethnicity to instill unity.
Portland has received quite the amount of attention for taking a progressive stance on converging ethnic studies within schooling. They believe that EVERY and all students of varying backgrounds deserve an unbiased chance at pursuing their passions and achieving great success.
A prominent example of this motif is the wide acceptance and enthusiasm some of Portland’s niche schools inhabit. A great example lies in Hillsboro, OR; in the Beaverton school district is a school known as the Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering (BASE).
What is BASE?
Ranked as both Niche’s TOP public AND magnet high school in the entire state of Oregon, BASE strives to provide diversified community opportunities to succeed in innovative and collaborative work so they’re best prepared for the world beyond secondary education.
The BASE is a magnet program rooted in math, technology, and life science. It’s a learning option for grades 9 through 12, however, they do have a middle school curriculum for grades 6 through 8. Their middle school program was crafted to introduce many of the topics offered in the high school; they formulated a nine-week rotational system for the sixth and seventh-grade students to explore Computer Science, Engineering, Biomedical Studies, and Art. Eighth grade is when they start to partake in semester-long classes so they have a more solidified idea about their passions to fully embark on in high school.
In the high school program, there are three pathway options: Biomedical Studies, Engineering, or Computer Science. All in all, despite the chosen pathway, the institution has an Expeditionary Learning (EL) approach. This means students “experience expeditions (real-world, in-depth studies both inside and outside the classroom), share their learning and achievements with authentic audiences through public exhibitions, and belong to a Crew (EL’s advisory vehicle for fostering relationships and the habits of scholarship that every student needs to be successful)”.
The BASE does have quite intensive educational avenues. Aside from their foundational pathways of learning and core curriculum, coursework such as Advanced Placement and AVID are offered to align with the specialty of their magnet program. They even have intensive summer programs for those who want to move at a quicker pace and prepare for the next course!
The school’s emphasis on academic intensity requires quite an amount of academic integrity to support it. They encompass the importance of understanding plagiarism and how it negatively affects one’s education both in and out of the classroom. Not only that, they do require a certain level of dedication and consistency in attendance; the coursework is so accelerated compared to traditional education, a student’s presence is key to maintaining optimal learning retention.
But not to worry, BASE has loads of resources for students like academic support & counseling to ensure they receive all they can for success. Upperclassmen have the luxury of being offered College & Career based counseling so they feel validated and encouraged to make the decisions best for themselves and their future.
Outside of their academic life, BASE is a very tight-knit community. There’s an assortment of student clubs & organizations to allot time for extracurricular interests! Because this is a magnet school, there are no athletic teams for the students to join. Instead, they are allowed to try out and/or join their neighborhood teams! They must contact or research their neighborhood school’s athletic department for more information on how they can participate in sports.
Contrary to popular belief, this school does have an artistic side. There’s a program known as BASE Productions where students can explore their curiosity in art and film production! Celebrating and applying their creative skills serves as a great outlet to strengthen their communication as well. The film aspect of this program ties into the focus of technology at BASE, too!
If you want to explore everything BASE offers, check out their website..
How to Enroll in BASE
Due to the competitive nature of being a magnet program, BASE encourages all prospective students to go through their application process.
The application process is only open for a certain amount of time and involves different due dates for parts of the application.
A selection committee requires information and exemplification of the well-roundedness and the prospective student has to offer. They aim to make this just as beneficial of a match for the school as they do for the student themselves.
To apply, a student must provide previous transcripts, grades, basic information, and answer a series of questions. There is also a possibility of requiring letters of recommendation from educators who interact with the student candidly and constantly.
It’s beneficial to attend, or in the case of COVID-19, watch the open house BASE offers to fully encompass their mission and who they are as a school. They also have a virtual tour of the school grounds to get a sense of what the future of the prospective student may hold!
If you have particular questions about BASE, you can contact them!