Local homeless now have a new weapon in war on poverty. In a pilot program funded by the Salvation Army and local homeless activist Rev. Gary, those suffering a domicile deficit have been armed with debit card readers.
"We have found that there are less people carrying cash so the traditional Homeless Times was not making any money. Plus some people were just lying. Now the habit challenged individual can be like, 'That's okay. I take debit cards."
The cards are linked through satellite to a central computer at Rev. Gary's chapel. Donors can only donate in whole quarter amounts, but advocates believe that the ease of the transaction will persuade those that wanted to donate less to give anyway.
Officials have been careful to screen applicants for the program. "We obviously have some clientele that are not comfortable with the satellite link. Our paranoid schizophrenics fell that the wires placed in their brains by the government was already enough of an intrusion."
If successful, the Salvation Army will be placing card readers on all of their red kettles next Christmas.
Not everyone is a fan of expansion however. Critics cite the potential for fraud as a primary concern. "So I'm supposed to swipe my card and enter my PIN for a total stranger? I don't think so," says professional critic Bob Hayda. "Get a job, or get out."
When questioned about exactly where the homeless should "get out" to, Mr. Hayda had no comment.
All attempts to contact the homeless by phone were unsuccessful.
VERGE 1 a: something that borders, limits, or bounds b: brink, threshold i.e. on the brink of destruction; on the threshold of a great discovery 2: the domain of the trickster
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Monday, December 17, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
What's Your Number
During a recent PD we learned some cooperative learning strategies and some of the teachers were concerned that it only involved lower level thinking. In defense of higher order thinking skills they cited the fact that memorization is becoming less necessary. Specifically they talked about phones numbers.
This, however, is a false comparison. Phone numbers are an end, meaning that these bits of information cannot be reordered, evaluated, or synthesized. Obviously not every piece of data is going be kept at the forefront of your brain for easy retrieval, but in order to successfully navigate higher order thinking skills certain neural patterns should be fresh and easily accessed.
Sometimes as teachers we forget the basics necessary to understanding. We assume that certain brain structures and information are common knowledge, but we are not common so we can't accurately judge what the commoners possess. This "let them eat cake" attitude leads us to ignore memorization which is foundation of higher order learning. Without a basic understanding of vocabulary and concepts it is impossible to get to the tougher stuff.
Good teaching reaches the shallows, deepest fathoms, and all other depths of knowledge. To extend a metaphor, Every deep sea dive starts at the shore.
This, however, is a false comparison. Phone numbers are an end, meaning that these bits of information cannot be reordered, evaluated, or synthesized. Obviously not every piece of data is going be kept at the forefront of your brain for easy retrieval, but in order to successfully navigate higher order thinking skills certain neural patterns should be fresh and easily accessed.
Sometimes as teachers we forget the basics necessary to understanding. We assume that certain brain structures and information are common knowledge, but we are not common so we can't accurately judge what the commoners possess. This "let them eat cake" attitude leads us to ignore memorization which is foundation of higher order learning. Without a basic understanding of vocabulary and concepts it is impossible to get to the tougher stuff.
Good teaching reaches the shallows, deepest fathoms, and all other depths of knowledge. To extend a metaphor, Every deep sea dive starts at the shore.
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