Amazon Unveils Online Education Service for Teachers

This is great new for teachers. They need to jump on this while the gettin is good. "Monday morning, Amazon said that it would introduce an online marketplace with tens of thousands of free lesson plans, worksheets and other instructional materials for teachers in late August or early September." We all know this is for sure the way of future for teachers. The demand for exciting and inspiring lessons to be taught daily will be helped by technology. Currently there is some good technology out there but not all subjects have a variety of lessons that are adapted to technology. It appears Amazon is bring that to teachers. 

Derek Fitzhenry

Read more on Amazon Education services HERE

The Tutors See Stereotypes and Gender Bias in SAT. Testers See None of the Above

Testers that create standardized test for students to measure their growth have come under more and more scrutinize for their fairness in all areas. Also, critics question whether the test measure all types of learning that are taking place in the classroom environment. There is a push to do away with standardized testing by educators. However, politicians and people from outside education such as, the Gates family and the Walton family, continue to push for standardized test to be the measure of how well a teacher is performing. When you have the type money, power and influence these two families have, whatever they want typically gets down. For this reason, I do not see standardized testing going away very soon. This is in spite of the fact it is proven in the most successful public education programs of other countries, that standardized testing is not the most successful way to teach children. Again and again, when you research other countries with successful education programs, they list keeping politicians out and limiting testing as one of the factors that they believe is leading to their success.

Derek Fitzhnery 

Read more on Stereotypes and Gender Bias in SAT, HERE

The Best Way to Fight With Your Teenager

One of the toughest issues a parent has to deal with is arguments with a teenager. There is a point in a child's life that it seems they disagree with every decision you make pertaining to their well being, and you simple want to prevent them from suffering the consequences later in life. Such as poor grades or maybe not poor grades but not making the grades they are capable of making. As a parent you want them to have the best opportunity for a college so you find yourself trying to convince them to illuminate the things that are keeping them from making the grades they are capable of making, and this begins the argument.

Compelling new research suggests that constructive conflict between parent and teenager hinges on the adolescent’s readiness to see beyond his or her own perspective. In other words, good fights happen when teenagers consider arguments from both sides, and bad fights happen when they don’t. I have raised 3 teenagers and they all had moments where they reasoned through the argument and moments where they refused to see the perspective I was trying to give them. I'm sure many parents go through the same thing. 

This article discusses the different ways a teenager can handle an argument and the problems with some of those.

Derek Fitzhenry

Please read more HERE

Can’t Sleep Through The Night? Maybe A Siesta Is The Answer

[Sleeping twice] provides two periods of increased activity, creativity and alertness across the day, rather than having a long period where sleepiness builds up across the day and productivity wanes.Sleep researchers Melinda Jackson and Siobhan Banks


Sleep is considered the most important health issue of your daily life. Of course what you eat is important but if you aren't getting enough sleep it will catch up with you. The standard is 8 hours but I'm certain some can live a healthy life with less.

It's always been a belief that taking a nap during th day can disrupt your nights sleep. However, here is an article that debats that belief.

Derek Fitzhenry

Please read more HERE.

Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action Program at University of Texas

"The decision, Fisher v. University of Texas, No. 14-981, concerned an unusual program and contained a warning to other universities that not all affirmative action programs will pass constitutional muster. But the ruling’s basic message was that admissions officials may continue to consider race as one factor among many in ensuring a diverse student body".

President Obama was pleased with the decision. “I’m pleased that the Supreme Court upheld the basic notion that diversity is an important value in our society,”  President Obama was asked if this ruling should include All minorities and he directed the question to the intent of Affirmative Action adoption......... "People of Color need a level playing ground but African Americans began this fight due to unfair laws and suffered from years of discrimination that prevented African Americans a fair shot". 

Obama agreed that there may need to be some language changes in the original doctrine of Affirmative Action so that minority is understood to mean African American in certain situations and also "People of Color" as a group have become the majority in many cases and"white people" are the minority. The initial language of Affirmative Action is specific in it's intent of helping African Americans but the word "minority" is used in the body of the document to describe African Americans.

Currently at UT admitted students who finished in the Top 10% of their class. After that they use several other criteria including race. Affirmative Action lowers these requirements for African Americans so that they can be admitted. Fisher challenged this policy because she was not admitted but had higher scores than other African Americans who were admitted.  

"In other countries, such as the UK, affirmative action is rendered illegal because it does not treat all races equally. In such countries, the focus tends to be on ensuring equal opportunity and, for example, targeted advertising campaigns to encourage ethnic minority candidates to join the police force. This is sometimes described as "positive action."  Somc American opponent's point out the devaluing of a person by selecting a person based on their social group and not their qualifications and accomplishments.  

Derek Fitzhenry

Read more on Supreme Court Decision HERE

Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action Program at University of Texas

"The decision, Fisher v. University of Texas, No. 14-981, concerned an unusual program and contained a warning to other universities that not all affirmative action programs will pass constitutional muster. But the ruling’s basic message was that admissions officials may continue to consider race as one factor among many in ensuring a diverse student body".

President Obama was pleased with the decision. “I’m pleased that the Supreme Court upheld the basic notion that diversity is an important value in our society,”  President Obama was asked if this ruling should include All minorities and he directed the question to the intent of Affirmative Action adoption......... "People of Color need a level playing ground but African Americans began this fight due to unfair laws and suffered from years of discrimination that prevented African Americans a fair shot". 

Obama agreed that there may need to be some language changes in the original doctrine of Affirmative Action so that minority is understood to mean African American in certain situations and also "People of Color" as a group have become the majority in many cases and"white people" are the minority. The initial language of Affirmative Action is specific in it's intent of helping African Americans but the word "minority" is used in the body of the document to describe African Americans.

Currently at UT admitted students who finished in the Top 10% of their class. After that they use several other criteria including race. Affirmative Action lowers these requirements for African Americans so that they can be admitted. Fisher challenged this policy because she was not admitted but had higher scores than other African Americans who were admitted.  

"In other countries, such as the UK, affirmative action is rendered illegal because it does not treat all races equally. In such countries, the focus tends to be on ensuring equal opportunity and, for example, targeted advertising campaigns to encourage ethnic minority candidates to join the police force. This is sometimes described as "positive action."  Somc American opponent's point out the devaluing of a person by selecting a person based on their social group and not their qualifications and accomplishments.  

Derek Fitzhenry

Read more on Supreme Court Decision HERE

Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action Program at University of Texas

"The decision, Fisher v. University of Texas, No. 14-981, concerned an unusual program and contained a warning to other universities that not all affirmative action programs will pass constitutional muster. But the ruling’s basic message was that admissions officials may continue to consider race as one factor among many in ensuring a diverse student body".

President Obama was pleased with the decision. “I’m pleased that the Supreme Court upheld the basic notion that diversity is an important value in our society,”  President Obama was asked if this ruling should include All minorities and he directed the question to the intent of Affirmative Action adoption......... "People of Color need a level playing ground but African Americans began this fight due to unfair laws and suffered from years of discrimination that prevented African Americans a fair shot". 

Obama agreed that there may need to be some language changes in the original doctrine of Affirmative Action so that minority is understood to mean African American in certain situations and also "People of Color" as a group have become the majority in many cases and"white people" are the minority. The initial language of Affirmative Action is specific in it's intent of helping African Americans but the word "minority" is used in the body of the document to describe African Americans.

Currently at UT admitted students who finished in the Top 10% of their class. After that they use several other criteria including race. Affirmative Action lowers these requirements for African Americans so that they can be admitted. Fisher challenged this policy because she was not admitted but had higher scores than other African Americans who were admitted.  

"In other countries, such as the UK, affirmative action is rendered illegal because it does not treat all races equally. In such countries, the focus tends to be on ensuring equal opportunity and, for example, targeted advertising campaigns to encourage ethnic minority candidates to join the police force. This is sometimes described as "positive action."  Somc American opponent's point out the devaluing of a person by selecting a person based on their social group and not their qualifications and accomplishments.  

Derek Fitzhenry

Read more on Supreme Court Decision HERE