~ firefly-dreaming a virtual home to learn (or teach!) alternative methods of solving problems we find facing us each day. By sharing ideas & knowledge on living with less stress, more joy & embracing tolerance & compassion we are working towards building a sustainable future for all living beings.
The last time you talked to a teacher did you ask that teacher what their biggest complaint is about being a teacher? That is if you can get them to tell you because teachers are very careful about complaining about their jobs.
This is a question I ask teachers all the time and what I get time and time again is having to teach to the test. Teachers are caught on an awful treadmill of the quest for high test scores......... why?
School districts need those test scores high to bring in more students which brings in more money which helps the local economy.
States and the federal government (No child left behind) impose mandatory testing and they also put the pressure on for high test scores.
In Washington State we had mandatory testing and this is our report card after teachers spend a good chunk of the year teaching just for the testing they will be giving.
http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa....
As a parent with a son with a disability who does horrid at testing I, along with teachers, can testify that mandatory testing does not tell the whole story and often harms the learning process with many kids like my son. It ties the teachers hands and takes the creativity out of teaching.
Alma has an eye problem just now. With her blessing (& her list!) I am taking over posting until she can pick it back up.
Feel Better!!! {{{{ Alma}}}}
Firefly Dreaming is a year old and I thought it might be fun to look back at some of our first year posts that exemplify our firefly dreaming spirit and mission.
Original post with comments can be found here: The anti-material girl by puzzled
Tammy Strobel was living what most people would describe as the American dream. She had a husband, a condo, two cars, a good job and a fair amount of consumer debt. But the work/spend grind was getting to her, and after reading about the 100 item challenge, she and her husband began to simplify their lives.
Alma has an eye problem just now. With her blessing (& her list!) I am taking over posting until she can pick it back up.
Feel Better!!! {{{{ Alma}}}}
Firefly Dreaming is a year old and I thought it might be fun to look back at some of our first year posts that exemplify our firefly dreaming spirit and mission.
Original post with comments can be found here: Do You Believe in Miracles by Kathleen
Bluebluelady just left my home she came with another woman janG she met in the tubes at kos who lives in our area. You never know what strange events will draw you together with people but believe me when I tell you now I consider these women my sisters, fellow travelers in this wonderful world we live in. It was the first time we had laid eyes on each other but it was as if we had known each other many life times.
It was to be a brain storming session to combine our efforts to stop the nightmare that started when Bank of Assholes raided bluebluelady's bank account taking all her money causing checks to bounce just another assault of bad upon bad events that had taken place which if she didn't get turned around fast she would lose her home of 20 years.
This was a chain reaction of events that got her to my door today that could only be called a miracle.
For the rest of the story take a West Side Story jump with me below the fold........
I am so grateful to all the time everyone has spent contributing to our home here on the blogs without everyone it would not be, Edger, Alma, Miki, Puzzled, Timbuk3, Mishima, Youff, and Newp are the first to come to mind. Now so many new people have been drawn in and we are not even a year old. Scott, this is a miracle in progress, a blessing to witness and experience.
Yet for you Ria to have the vision of a refuge for all of us refugees my gratitude is beyond words. You are by far the kindest soul, that puts thoughts into action and creates such a powerful force of good it is humbling to witness. For weeks now I have been trying to think of words to describe the beauty of you and all you give, there are no words. Now I know you and you will say but but it is all of you. Ria you have attracted all of these wonderful people with who you are and what you do so please dear friend stand in the moment and let me thank you and honor you, all that you teach, your arms wrap wide and the energy flows around the world.
There is a collection of wealth here that money could never buy what a gift from the heart.
WOW
I love you.
It is our first Christmas fireflies and I am wondering what is under the tree this morning?
Tammy Strobel was living what most people would describe as the American dream. She had a husband, a condo, two cars, a good job and a fair amount of consumer debt. But the work/spend grind was getting to her, and after reading about the 100 item challenge, she and her husband began to simplify their lives.
I stumbled on this site while I was wondering why we are so unhappy. I know there is a long list of good reasons but my guts says there is more to it. I keep remembering my time in the few countries I have been in where people have nothing and are happy. Leaving me wondering what the fuck? So it is a no brainer that having stuff IS NOT what makes us happy. As long as there is food, shelter and love people can be happy.
This world map measure happiness around the world. The red indicates the unhappiest, so this got me looking into this Happy Planet Index.
The Happy Planet index uses 3 measurements of scoring.......
As we struggle in this life to be an inspiration to our kids and the kids around us, it is in their eyes we have hope so, I have been thinking.....
There are many passages in their lives that are a big deal. I think college graduation is one of them. It is a monumental achievement and a step forward into the next phase of their lives. Where a kid goes from this point is totally in their hands, if mom and dad helped them through with financial support or not this is the time to say you are on your own, fly baby bird fly.
I am very close to my friends kids. They have been in and out of our home all their lives. Two of them are graduating from college this spring!!! Both girls, both are going to take this world by a storm! I am so excited for them.
My gift to college grads (a tradition I started years ago) is a couple of children's books. I love children's books and feel our most important lessons in life are taught in them, simply, all wrapped up in beautiful illustrations.
The two I am giving each of these girls this year are........
I am so angry at big banks and big oil/coal I have to write about it, forgive me for raging.
Here in the Northwest we live in dread of an event like what has happened in Alaska and in the Gulf. Our waterways was are full of oil tankers going in and out from refineries which one had an explosion just this year killing 5 people. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36...
Do you hear that giant sucking sound? Well that is us little piggies at the oil tits.. but they don't make it easy to get off and I know that is by design, it is the the plan, we have been fucked! All while they go to the bank!
Even though it is still cold in the Northwest we see the subtle and not so subtle signs everywhere that Spring is here. Weeds usually get the first jump, those buggers are so determined, I am on them with a vengeance because otherwise I may as well just pack my bags as they move in and take over.
Our brightest spot of the first signs of spring are the azaleas blooming everywhere followed soon, determined to not be out done are the rhododendrons.
Let's talk more over the jump about what is waking up in our worlds...........
I live in Washington State and I love mountains. We have beautiful mountains, the Cascades to the east and the Olympics to the west. I live in the foothills of the Cascades, if you hop on I-90 from my house and drive east it takes less than a couple of hours and you are on the other side of the mountains!
The Cascade Range run north and south the full length of the state with it's star Mt. Rainier at 13,000 feet, that floats above all the rest.
Mt St. Helens who blew it's top in 1980 reducing the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 feet to 8,365 feet and replacing it with a 1 mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater. A lesson to all of us who feel like blowing our tops, sometimes it comes with a price, but shit sometimes it is the only way to release that pressure! LOL
The Olympic Mts. to the west are so dense there are no road through the mountains you can only drive around them.
The reason I am writing about mountains is because this is where I go to escape when I can. When I feel like pulling the covers over my head, feeling lost, I would escape to the mountains to reground and renew spirit.
Bluebluelady just left my home she came with another woman janG she met in the tubes at kos who lives in our area. You never know what strange events will draw you together with people but believe me when I tell you now I consider these women my sisters, fellow travelers in this wonderful world we live in. It was the first time we had laid eyes on each other but it was as if we had known each other many life times.
It was to be a brain storming session to combine our efforts to stop the nightmare that started when Bank of Assholes raided bluebluelady's bank account taking all her money causing checks to bounce just another assault of bad upon bad events that had taken place which if she didn't get turned around fast she would lose her home of 20 years.
This was a chain reaction of events that got her to my door today that could only be called a miracle.
For the rest of the story take a West Side Story jump with me below the fold........
Have you ever heard someone say something or read something and had the thought that you already knew this all the while knowing it is new information?
It is the same feeling you get when you visit a place you have never been but it looks familiar and you could swear you have been there before.
The first time this happened to me was reading a series of books and I found myself all through these books, saying YES!! It happened over and over again through out these books. It was a mind blowing experience and opened me up to a new kind of knowing. A knowing that was mine and mine alone. Truths that spoke to my heart, my being. The rediscovering of these truths is an experience that lifts me to another level of being.
What is exciting to me about this is that science is just beginning to understand how it all connects.
This is the first installment in a new series called Wondering...?
it is a firefly thing and a gift for you.
This series is an invitation to join in a conversation, an invitation of friendship.
What is purpose???
At some point in our lives everyone seems to come to the place in the road where they see the sign that ask, what is my purpose?
I think there are many journeys that take us to this place where we ask ourselves this question. Often when we stand in this place we are not happy, or life is no longer fulfilling, often it is midlife when we are asking the question......
What is it all about Alfie?
What is beautiful are the results of reaching this point in our lives. A great example of one of these results is this website.
I believe we all have a common purpose on this earth so if you are with me........
