Let’s face it, our current educational system was designed for the industrial age.

All students sitting in a row receiving the same teaching in the same way for hours. Doesn’t that look like a manufacturing production line.

This system is failing the majority of our students. I think that if you were to design a learning environment to fail, it would look like a classroom.

Just imagine 27 different young students, 10 variation of the multiple learning styles, an overwhelmed and “under-resourced” teacher, a few learning-challenged students.

Add to this some parents not wanting to be involved in the education of their children or seeing teachers as the “bad guy” and we wonder why so few students enjoy learning. Yes, I admit that some of our teacher aren’t as good as others at what they do. I think that most of our teachers are doing a great job given the conditions they have to teach in. They are often having to teach curriculum that is not within their stengths or passion. Tenure often precedes qualifications, gifted musicians are teaching science, athletes are teaching music just so they can keep their job. To add to the stress on the system with school funding that keeps being cut, classes are getting bigger. This is a recipe for educational disaster!

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When writing, or even reading, the best way to be clear with our message or to understand the message is to understand the context and the audience. Let me try to explain this with an example from one of my new article web site.

In the blog, The Parables of Jesus, I write about the parables Jesus told to his disciples and the crowds of His time.  It is critical for me as a writer to realize that I need first to understand the context in which the author wrote the story as well as the audience Jesus spoke to, and then understand my own audience so that I can write the articles with relevance to that audience today. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is something I have known “intuitively: for a long time.  That a mid-day  ’siesta’ now has some scientific proof to support it. Watch this video for ScienCentral.com

Every day, after a good meal at lunch, I like to take a nap and I find that it gives me a lot of energy back. My mind is clearer, I am back at my top productivity and effectiveness levels.

If you are finding yourself having to learn new material or preparing for an exam or a critical test, check out my other site AdultLearningToolbox.com.
I just added 13 video lessons to help you learn and get ready to challenge ANY exam.

There is no charge for these video lessons, all I ask is your feedback on the comments on that site or even this web site.

Happy Learning!

Written by Rusty Wright

What does Christmas mean to you? Times with family and friends? Perhaps carols, cards, television specials. Maybe hectic shopping, parties, and eating too much.

All these and more are part of North American Christmas. But what about the first Christmas? Why is the original story—the baby in a manger, shepherds, wise men, angels—important, if at all?

May I invite you to consider eight reasons why the original Christmas story matters, even to you? You may not agree with all of them, but perhaps they will stimulate your thinking and maybe even kindle some feelings that resonate with that famous story.

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