The school might have been able to raise the “ministerial exception” to job-bias laws recently recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court, but the appeals court said the school failed to properly raise the defense.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, in Atlanta, ruled unanimously that teacher Jarretta Hamilton’s case should go before a jury. Hamilton conceived a child in January 2009 with her fiance, one month before they married, court papers say.

The teacher went to her superiors at Southland Christian School in Kissimmee, Fla., in April of that year to reveal her pregnancy and seek maternity leave. During the meeting, Hamilton acknowledged that she had conceived the child before getting married. The school fired her a few days later, with the school’s administrator, John Ennis, telling her, “there are consequences for disobeying the word of God,” her lawsuit alleged.

Hamilton sued based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal anti-discrimination law that was amended in 1978 to cover job bias based on pregnancy. A federal district court dismissed the pregnancy-discrimination claim, ruling that the Hamilton had not established a “prima facie” case of bias because she had not shown that comparatively situated non-pregnant workers were treated differently.

In its May 16 decision in Hamilton v. Southland Christian School, the 11th Circuit court panel reversed the district court and held that the teacher did allege a facial case of discrimination.

The court noted that Title VII does not protect job actions based on premarital sex, but does protect against pregnancy discrimination.

“Hamilton presented evidence that, in making the decision to fire her, Southland was more concerned about her pregnancy and her request to take maternity leave than about her admission that she had premarital sex,” the 11th Circuit court said.

For example, the teacher testified at deposition that, after she told the administrators about her pregnancy but before she told them she had conceived before getting married, John Ennis “put his head back and he said, ‘we feared something like this would happen,’” the opinion recounts.

The school did raise the “ministerial exception” as a defense at the district court level, but the district judge said it didn’t apply in Hamilton’s case.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that there is a broad “ministerial exception” that churches may invoke in defense of job-discrimination claims by the ministers of their faith. The high court that a Lutheran teacher who had been trained in the faith’s ministry and had some religious duties at her school could not sue over alleged disability discrimination.

In the Florida case, which was evidently argued before the 11th Circuit court before Hosanna-Tabor was decided on Jan. 11, the appeals court said Southland Christian School could have raised the ministerial exception as one defense to Hamilton’s suit. But the school mentioned the issue only in passing in its briefs.

“Southland abandoned that exception as a defense by failing to list or otherwise state it as an issue on appeal,” the court said. “A passing reference to an issue in a brief is not enough, and the failure to make arguments and cite authorities in support of an issue waives it.”

The court said that because the school did not properly assert the ministerial exception defense, it was not deciding whether it might apply in this case.

The court said Hamilton has established a “genuine issue of material fact” about the actual reason why she was fired, and that is a question for a jury to decide.

both

and

in addition

additionally

then

too

also

nor

moreover

etc.

If your blanks represent consistent ideas signaled by your key word (such as and), the correct choices will be similar in tone (both positive or both negative) and/or meaning.  However, be aware that while you may have consistent ideas, a negative in one clause such as not means your correct choices should actually be opposites.

For example:

My aunt suffered from _______ migraines, and sometimes the pain was not _________.

Because of the negative clue suffered in the first clause, you can predict that the first blank will be some kind of negative word such as terrible.  The and signals that the second clause will contain a similar idea as the first, but that does not mean that the second blank will also be negative since we have the word not.  Because of not, we actually want a word that means the opposite of terrible, so a positive word such as bearable would be the best choice for the second blank.

As with any text completion question, remember that there could be multiple relationships within the text.  Maybe there are consistent ideas in the first sentence, the second sentence contrast with the first, and the third sentence contains a blank that is defined within the sentence.  The more comfortable you are with spotting these clues, the more you will be able to use them to your advantage to complete the text correctly.

I offer one-on-one customized tutoring that can target your weaknesses and help you reach your full potential!

1. Clone: Verbatim copying without additions/subtractions.
2. CTRL+C: Largely verbatim copying from a single source with minor changes.
3. Find-Replace: Verbatim copying with key words/phrases changed, often automatically.
4. Remix: Paraphrasing content so that it flows seamlessly with other work.
5. Recycle: Plagiarizing from older works of your own .
6. Hybrid: Combining correctly cited material with non-cited material in the same passage.
7. Mashup: A mix of copied and original content from various sources without attribution.
8. 404 Error: Including citations that do not exist or are inaccurate.
9. Aggregator: Properly cited material that contains little original content.
10. Re-Tweet: Includes proper citation but uses too much of the original wording, content that should have been quoted but was paraphrased.

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The interesting points for me are the frequency results, with the clone (direct copy, word for word) and the mashup (mixed copies, multiple sources) coming out as the most frequent offences, whilst the clone and Ctrl-C (which are basically the same?) as the most problematic or cause the most concern but the re-tweet and remix as the least problematic.

The article linked to above (click the image) has a good summary of the categories as well as the full infographic. The survey also concludes with the advice that students should be included and encouraged to review their Institutions plagiarism policy, with the following recommendations;

• Inform: Share the plagiarism spectrum with the students and use it as a guide to inform them of the ways in which plagiarism can take form.
• Intent: The plagiarism spectrum emphasises the range of intent behind the student plagiarism. use the spectrum to guide decisions about appropriate responses to plagiarism.
• Originality Checking: Give students access to their Originality Reports so that they can see how they may have inappropriately used or referenced source material.

This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a .

Over more than 20 years in the field of education—including two with Teach For America—I have helped promote state standards, the Common Core, the hiring of teachers with strong content knowledge, longer class periods for math and reading, and extra support for struggling students, to name a few. I have recently discovered, however, that what I believe as an education policy wonk is not always what I believe as a father.

Joftuss wonk side believes student learning flourishes in classrooms that include students with a wide range of abilities and backgrounds.  However, as a Dad, he admits to getting angry when a troubled kindergartener disrupts his daughters class and forces the talented, but inexperienced teacher to spend more than half of her time trying to keep this boy on task.

I feel for children like him; my company works with schools and districts to improve outcomes for these kids. But I was angry. The other children were clearly uncomfortable. His disruptions reduced learning time for my daughter, and seemed to steal some of her innocence and excitement about school.

Commenters on the Ed Next blog offer both praise and criticism for Joftus.  Teachers have been fighting policy wonks who have been destroying the happy learning environment for decades, writes one.  But you don’t listen, it is only when it becomes personal that you reconsider your opinions and admit the possibility that teachers have been right all along.  Had you guys listened twenty years ago, and respected our wisdom on safe and orderly schools, this educational civil war would not have had to happen, observes veteran teacher and ed blogger John Thompson.

Rocketship schools CEO John Danner admits to similar cognitive dissonance when sending his kids to school.  However, I would challenge you as your kids grow to think more about how those skills jibe with rigor, he writes. Rigor is actually a form of compassion. A teacher who expects a lot of their students prevents them from feeling the frustration your children feel now, but much later in their school career.  The real problem you are seeing is that your child’s teacher has high expectations but doesnt understand how to differentiate.

Loftus tale serves to illustrate how regrettably wide the gulf can be between policy ideals and classroom realities.  The policies Loftus has worked to supportstandards, improved teacher quality, enhanced learning time for strugglers, et al.   are laudable, but risk melting into insignificance in the face of teachers overwhelmed with a critical mass of disruptive children in her room.  I dont have any data on this, but I suspect that far fewer parents than wonks tend to lay the problem of learning time lost to disruption at the feet of teachers.  It is easy to say, as Danner does differentiate.  It is difficult, and always will be, to expect every teacher in every classroom to have the training, expertise and experience to handle every challenge offered up by 25 free agents in their classrooms every day.

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

The Daily Texans five-member editorial board apologized Wednesday night, a day after publishing the cartoon about the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

The unarmed black youth was shot last month by a white neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla. The volunteer, George Zimmerman, claimed self-defense.

The Daily Texan cartoon mentioned the race of both individuals, using a racial slur to describe Martin. The cartoon also criticized the medias coverage of the death, describing it as yellow journalism.  The cartoon portrayed a mother reading to a child about the killing.

The student newspaper published the cartoon on Tuesday, but then removed it from its website.  Then on Wednesday, the paper re-published the cartoon with this statement:

Try this question for GRE verbal practice!

Heres a little video tutorial for those of you who hesitate to take advantage of the workspace flexibility that Photoshop offers.

Click the image to watch.

Click image to watch tutorial.

The 16-2 decision by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans, holds that the student did not have a special custodial relationship with her school, and thus the school had no constitutional duty to protect her from harm inflicted by a private “actor.” The court also rejected two other theories for holding the school liable.

“While we should have every reason to expect that public schools can and will provide for the safety of public school students, no matter their age, our precedents, and the decisions of every other circuit to have considered this issue, dictate that schools are simply not constitutionally required to ensure students’ safety from private actors,” said the majority opinion by Carolyn Dineen King on March 23 in Doe v. Covington County School District..

A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit had ruled 2-1 last August that the school district may be liable in the case. The full appeals court tossed out that ruling in September and said it would look at the case “en banc.”

The two judges who voted for liability in the panel decision were the dissenters from the full court’s contrary opinion.

“We [do not] adequately discharge our duty by interpreting the special relationship doctrine so narrowly that a helpless 9-year-old girl, abruptly removed from her classroom by school personnel and wrongly delivered to an unauthorized grown man, falls through the mesh of the Constitution’s safety net,” said Judge Jacque L. Weiner Jr., in a dissent joined by Judge James L. Dennis..

The lawsuit filed on behalf of a student identified as Jane Doe alleges that on six occasions during the 2007-08 school year, Covington Elementary School released the 9-year-old girl to a man who took her from the school and sexually assaulted her.

The district had a compulsory check-out policy, with parents filling out a form listing adults authorized to check out their children. The man was not authorized to check out Jane Doe but would claim to be her father and even once signed the girl out as her mother, court papers say.

The man was convicted of sexual battery in the assaults and is serving a 10-year prison term, according to press reports at the time of the panel decision.

The suit alleged that the district violated the girl’s 14th Amendment substantive due process rights by being deliberately indifferent to her safety.

While a federal district court dismissed the suit, the 5th Circuit panel ruled last August that the school did have a special relationship with the girl, resulting in a duty to protect her from harm.

The panel cited language from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1989 decision in DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services. In that case, the high court held that there was no special relationship between government social workers and a child who was severely beaten by his father after the social workers had investigated reports of abuse and declined to remove the child from his home.

The high court went on in DeShaney to say that the government agency could have had a duty to protect the child from private violence if it had taken an affirmatively active role in the child’s care.

The full 5th Circuit majoriity, rejecting the panel’s conclusions, said it has been binding precedent in that circuit for decades that a public school does not have a DeShaney special relationship with its students requiring the school to ensure the students’ safety from private actors.

“Without a special relationship, a public school has no constitutional duty to ensure that its students are safe from private violence,” Judge King said in the majority opinion.

The full 5th Circuit court also rejected district liability under so-called state-created danger and municipal liability theories.

For three years, a pilot program tracked the reading ability of approximately 1,000 students at 20 New York City schools, following them from kindergarten through second grade. Half of the schools adopted a curriculum designed by the education theorist E. D. Hirsch Jr.’s Core Knowledge Foundation. The other 10 used a variety of methods, but most fell under the definition of “balanced literacy,” an approach that was spread citywide by former Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, beginning in 2003.

The study found that second graders who were taught to read using the Core Knowledge program scored significantly higher on reading comprehension tests than did those in the comparison schools.

A web page on the Core Knowledge website links to the the NYC Department of Eds data, background on the program, a presentation on the research underpinnings and how the curriculum works with Common Core State Standards.

Thats not what Im writing about here I want to discuss how we use our email when were not at work the out of office assistant. Whether you use it to cover your two week holiday or (like me) when youre attending a Conference or workshop, you need to ask yourself if you use it to its fullest advantage.

Looking at the volume of out of office I receive each week the messages are all the same: Im away until then, contact him/her for urgent response. No one really wants to know youve booked two weeks holiday in somewhere warmer than they are.

• On Monday March 26th, 2012 I am attending/running the XYZ workshop (location, organiser, link) and will respond to your email on my return. If your query is urgent please contact
• I am presenting at the XYZ Conference in [somewhere sunny] (link to research and/or Conference website) on March 26th, 2012 on [subject area] and will have intermittent email access during the day, etc.

Not only does this inform the sender you are unavailable, but why you are not available and where you are (self promotion!). This informs whoever is trying to communicate with you that

• you are considering their needs by setting the out-of-office response,
• you are considered a leader in the [subject area] and are sharing this knowledge/research,
• you are staying current and learning from others from attending or running workshops or training sessions,
• you are investing in your own development,
• etc

How about using these with students? What about

• setting up an out of office response each evening/week/weekend which covers an element of the current assignment, posing a further question or providing a quote or link to extra reading/research they may find interesting?
• using it to provide extra revision questions that the students will not get from class or the VLE (this will also show you who is interested in getting better marks)?

For me its about using the resources available and, just because Im not available for a period of time, doesnt mean the students or colleagues should suffer in the response they get while it may not answer their query directly it does at least show I have an interest in them and have gone to the effort of saying why I am not answering them directly (quickly).

How do you currently use your email out of office assistant?

Preface:

The Global Grade 3s of Calgary, Canada have been blogging for almost two months now. Their blog focuses on connecting globally to share their learning experiences and what it means to be eight  and nine year old Change Makers.

The journey they share revolves around their Global Citizenship initiative: reconstructing a school library and putting books on the shelves in the forgotten rural village of Q’enqo, Peru.

What follows are highlights of this story through their eyes! It is a privilege and honour for all of us to be sharing our global adventure with Angela Maiers and her readers!

Background:

Last year’s 2010-2011 Grade 3s connected via Skype with a fellow teacher and his children who were travelling in Peru. The conversation sparked a call to action in our students.

They became driven to make a difference in the lives of the Q’enqo students. “Kids helping kids! Now that is what personalized learning is all about.” To support our students’ fundraising plans we partnered with Mosqoy, “a Canadian charitable organization working to bridge cross-cultural gaps between North American and Peru”.

Originally our students intended to raise money for sports equipment for the Q’enqo school but they soon discovered school had far greater needs. Our students decided the people of Q’enqo and the organizations that support them should decide where to direct the funds.

In May 2011 our students learned their fundraising efforts would support the creation of a school library in Q’enqo. The project had be abandoned years prior, but the involvement of these passionate Grade 3s meant a building could be renovated, shelves built, materials transported, and books purchased.

The 2011-2012 group of Grade 3s embraced the project from where it left off in June and they have dedicated this year to nurturing and expanding the partnership with Q’enqo.

“We are two of the Grade Three Bloggers, and our class is helping to build a library in Q’enqo, Peru!  So, we decided to make a BLOG about the library project!  Do you know our teachers BEGGED for a blog … and … they GOT it!  Oh, and did you know it is the FIRST … the very FIRST classroom blog in the whole CBE, (Calgary Board of Education)?!?  And, we found out in the middle of January.

When we found out our teachers had to peel us off the CEILING!!!  On a blog, people all over the world can comment and read our writing!  It seems boring, but it isn’t!  (It is LOTS of writing … but what is COOL is that it is a REAL audience and we get to connect with REAL people all OVER the world!  It is SO exciting!)  Someone special commented on our blog … and that someone was ANGELA Maiers!  We learn from the commenters … and another one is Ross Mannell!  He lives in Australia!”  ~Larissa & Sophie G.

“Our class has a blog! It’s special because we are the only class blog in all of the Calgary Board of Education!!!  Some of our posts talk about the future library in Q’enqo, Peru. Q’enqo is a little village in the mountain region of Peru. The Q’enqo library was started years ago, but they ran out of money. The fund-raising in our school started last year, with the Grade 3s that are now in Grade Four.

They did a fund-raiser called “Caps for Q’enqo” and people were allowed to bring a loonie, (one dollar) to wear a hat INSIDE the school, unlike other days where it is against the rules!  This year’s fund-raiser was called True Colours.  But, that’s not the ONLY fund-raiser … there was also Pajama Day!  That was FUN!” ~Ava

“Hi! We are some of the Grade Three Bloggers and we are here to tell you about our AWESOME journey with the Library Project in Q’enqo, Peru! We do lots of Skyping with Ashli and Geneva (they are with Mosqoy and helping us with the library project). Ashli told us that when she was with her crew in Q’enqo, and she was working, the kids were watching as the library was being cleaned, repaired, painted and reconstructed.

They were amazed at what the adults were doing. Some of the kids even helped! Geneva told us, the other day when we Skyped with her, that they painted the inside of the building with a gray ceiling, the inside walls purple, the outside walls light purple and dark blue, and the doors dark blue!

One of the Mosqoy students is an artist and he painted a beautiful hummingbird on the outside of the future library.  For lunch, they ate bread and potato soup that the lovely mothers of Q’enqo cooked for them to show their gratitude. We feel so proud because we helped build the community of Q’enqo a library!” ~Mya & Kaylee

“Can you believe that eight and nine year olds can help build a library across the GLOBE?  If you haven’t heard about this … now you have, because we ARE! We’ve been fund-raising and we have raised a TON of money for the library project. When we had our fund-raiser, the whole SCHOOL came together to help us raise over $1 200!

We even had a little fund-raiser of our own where everyone brought in 25 cents. Some people even snuck in some more.  Like me … I put twenty dollars in because I really, REALLY want them to have books to read!”  ~Martin

“I learned so many Peruvian facts that I’ve never even HEARD of by writing the blog!  It made me want to HELP Q’enqo, Peru build the beautiful library, (which, in case you’re wondering, is not quite finished we will be writing ANOTHER post SOON to share all about the Grand Opening!  Make sure you CHECK back!) One time, in Battalion Park School, we had a Spirit Day where we got to wear our TRUE COLOURS! I felt REALLY excited about this superb, fantastic news about the library in Peru!

We also wanted to add some books to the library when it’s finished, so Mrs. Renton went out and got some that were in SPANISH, (ESPANOL)!  Also, we had a TON of Peruvian guest speakers, (Mary Carmen, Tim Kitchen with Ben and Ella, etc.)”  ~Galen

“The other day the Grade 3s had a fundraiser called “Show Your True Colours for Q’enqo”. We asked the whole school to wear their Hawk colours. We also asked them to donate a toonie ($2.00) or more because we are helping Mosqoy to build a library in Q’enqo, Peru. It makes me feel proud that we are doing this because everyone should have books. Books are important because they help us to read and to be better learners.” ~Rijul

“I learned that if we all work together our blog can teach a lot of people around the world about how to be Change Makers like us! Our teachers had so many tears in their eyes!!!  We raised this money because we know that people in Q’enqo, Peru are SO grateful for what we did for them to help their kids.  They had to put in windows and fix a hole in the floor to help fix the building that would be the library.  How amazing!”  ~Alexia

“You asked us to tell you more interesting details about our journeyso I am going to tell you about our Skypes! The first Skype we ever had (in a class) was with our fellow friend Ashli. In that Skype Ashli told us about what they needed to finish the library project, the different colours they will paint the library and who could forget … her helping business … Mosqoy.

She also told us a lot about the economy. Things are a lot cheaper in Peru compared to Canada. Can you believe a class of 23 students are building a library in a country across the world? You know what? I think being a change maker is fun! Do you think it’s fun as well?” ~Natasha

“We feel we have made a difference in the world. We donated money because Peru does not get a lot of attention. The money we raised is going towards: repairs, paint, new windows, tables, chairs, shelves and books. We can’t wait to see the smiles on childrens faces!” ~Tormod & Zack

“After lunch they painted the library purple with bright blue doors. Soon they will add the furniture and don’t forget, lots of books! Geneva told us that last weekend, they were putting in the furniture and shelving.  She found some books in a market in Cusco, and they will put those on the shelves in the new library as well.  March 5th was the first day of school for the kids in Q’enqo. In the afternoon, they held a Grand Opening to celebrate the new library that Battalion Park Grade 3s have helped to build.  We are excited to Skype with Geneva on Wednesday, March 7th, to hear all about how the library opening went!” ~Jesse  & Eric

“When we first saw the building that was going to be the library in Q’enqo we felt sad because it was muddy, broken and old. The walls were banged up and there were no lights. Now because of our help and their work we are really happy! It looks extremely magnificent. The library has colours, lights, new windows and smooth walls. A student from Mosqoy offered to paint a mural on the outside of the library. He chose a hummingbird, “Qente” in Quechua (the language spoken in Q’enqo). We learned that hummingbirds fly from Victoria, Canada to Peru when they migrate. It shows the connection between Canada and Peru. We were amazed when we saw his beautiful surprise artwork.” ~Julia & Zahra

“Did you know that you don’t have to be a BIG change maker?  You can just be a small change maker. You can even be generous to other people like helping others without being told to.  Also, you can share with other people. For example, if someone forgot their lunch kit, you can always share your food, or you can help your Moms do their chores!”  ~Thalia

“One way to be a change maker is to help people and that is what the Grade 3s in our school are doing.  Another way to be a change maker is by making the world a better place.  I feel VERY proud when I see what the library looks like because I helped build it!”  ~Damian and Brenden

“I am going to teach you how to make yourself into a GREAT change maker! Step One: Add belief and make a promise to yourself that you will NOT give UP! Step Two: Connect to the world and try to set a goal for yourself!”  ~Sophie H.

Thank you, Angela, for giving us this amazing opportunity to share the inspiring journey of our Grade Three students making a difference across the globe!  

The blog has been an amazing way for them to share their learning, but, through the interactions with a global audience, and writing for an authentic audience, the learning has gone far beyond anything we could have ever imagined!  

Thanks so much for helping us to reinforce to our students the reality, the spirit, the importance, and the power of #youmatter!

A belated St Patricks Day to everybody!

While St Patricks Day may be the best-known Irish import into everyday American life, the Gaelic Irish language has actually had more of an impact that youd think. Thanks to Englishs constant desire to steal words from other languages and assimilate them into itself, there are quite a few common words that come from the emerald isle.

For example, whisky (or whiskey) comes from the Irish uisge beatha, meaning the water of life. Galore, meaning an abundance of, comes from gu leor, meaning enough. The word slogan also comes from Irish: sluaghghairm, a combination of sluagh (army) and ghairm (shout).

For 15 more common words derived from the Irish language, check out the full blog post here.

If you have a strong background in subjects like economics and mathematics, you should look in to a career as a certified public accountant. CPAs are needed by corporations, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, banks and tax offices all across America. This is an in demand field that is expected to show excellent job growth over the next 10 years or so, according to recent statistics. Take Online Certified Public Accountant Course to reach your career goals.

Coursework in Online Public Accountant Program

Regardless of your current skill set, degree or profession, you can easily make the transition in to CPA career with online courses. Course curriculum may include some of these topics:

• Accounting
• Economics
• Principles of Accounting
• Mathematics
• Finance

Become an Accountant via eLearning

You must complete the CPA program to begin in this field, which is specifically designed for aspiring CPA professionals who are looking to kick start their careers in accounting. To get the process going, you can enroll in online courses that will lead to this career path. These courses offer the flexibility that you need, because you can study anywhere, anytime.

Preparing For a CPA Career: Employment Outlook

The Online CPA program is designed to help you move forward in your career and stay competitive in the workforce. You will stand out from the crowd once you’ve earned the qualifications that are required in this field. This program provides you with all the right skills that employers want. You will gain leadership skills, as well as problem solving, tax preparation and other important skills that can help you further your career. It is estimated that more than 20,000 CPAs hold high level management positions and work for the some of the world’s top global industries. And the CPA program gives you every chance to succeed in these industries.

Distance Learning CPA Training Designed To Fit Your Lifestyle

• The Online CPA training program offers all the benefits that campus based programs dos. You will get the same experience as campus students because you’ll learn from the same expert CPA instructors, have the same course materials and all the latest industry leading materials available.
• All lectures are taught by qualified CPAs with years of experience in the field they teach. This allows you to learn first-hand from the pros.
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Give yourself a chance to truly succeed in your career with Online Certified Public Accountant Courses.

Image via Wikipedia

There are several situations that can lead to your car being impounded. It may be parked illegally, or the driver is suspected of drinking and driving and is involved in an auto accident. Whatever the reason, there are steps you can take to get your car back.

Find the Impound Lot

The officer on the scene can tell you where the car is towed. If not, or if there isn’t time to get this information on the spot, call the station. Local towing companies contract with impound lots for this type of work, and the cars are usually towed to one of several lots. The police station or sheriff’s department will have this information on hand. If your car was towed because you parked illegally, the towing company’s contact information is often posted nearby.

Gather the Information about Your Car

In order to get your impounded vehicle back, you need the license plate number, make, model and color. If you are unsure what your license plate number is and the records of this information is still in the vehicle at the impound lot, you can call the county that issued the license plate and obtain this information.

Have Your ID Ready

You’ll need to prove you are the rightful owner of the vehicle when you arrive. When you go to the impound lot, carry your photo ID, proof of vehicle insurance and the title registration. If any of this information is in the vehicle, the lot attendant will allow you to enter the vehicle and retrieve the information as long as you have your photo ID.

Be Ready to Pay

Before you retrieve your vehicle, you’ll have to pay the towing fees and storage fees to the lot attendant. There is really no need to argue the point with the attendant, because everyone that comes in does the same thing. Most impound lots accept cash, checks and credit cards as methods of payment. If your license has been suspended or revoked due to DUI or other criminal charges, you’ll need to bring another licensed driver along to drive the vehicle home for you.

In DUI Cases

If the car was impounded due to suspected drinking and driving or a traffic accident involving DUI charges, you’ll also need the help of New York Drunk Driving Attorneys. Contact the lawyer as soon as possible because they may be able to help you fight the charges, and prevent your driver’s license from being suspended or revoked.

One thing she mentioned over the course of our conversation about the challenges of turning non-book reading kids into readers struck me as notable. She said, “So often, teachers have higher expectations for kids than parents do.”

I paused. That’s really, really interesting, I thought.

I mean expectations and hopes for positive achievement frequently have their roots in love, don’t they. (i.e. I have high aspirations/expectations for you because I care so much about you and see such wonderful potential in you – and the more I care, the higher my expectations/hopes. Conversely, the less I care about you as a person, the less I care about what you do with your life… as long as you don’t break the law, tread on me, or whatever. And isn’t there a degree of self-fulfilling prophesy which often plays into all this as well?)

But if my theory of “degree of how much you care equates to the hope/expectations one holds for a child” then Donalyn just blew it up.

Or did she?

Was she saying that teachers often care about kids more than parents? No, I don’t think so. (Yet, to call out a pink elephant in the room, in modern-day America, this is certainly the case in more than a handful of situations.)

Unfortunately, I had to get to the airport and didn’t get to finish the chat. (Note: my limo waits for no one. And the private jet can’t really whisk away until the whiskee is comfortably seated in a leather chair with a scotch in hand. Neat. I’m drifting, aren’t I?)

Anyway, I think what she was saying is that reading specialists know more about what is possible than parents do (because they are laypersons and we are “in the industry”) and as such, we do need to set a higher bar because we know that when it comes to books, the hurdle of dormant literacy can be awakened by a skilled professional.

So yes, converting the non-reader to reader is a culture war in many ways because in so many households it’s Home vs. School. And when parents aren’t readers and aren’t modeling the habits of readers in the home, the work of reading teachers is made even that much more difficult in the school.

Yet, how do we better slant things so that the reading teacher stands a greater chance of being successful?

Expectations, it seems, are the Archimedean point. If teachers don’t believe a non-reader can be converted, won over, awakened (use whatever switch term ya want) then aren’t we defeated before we even begin?

And why is it that talking about reading makes me want to read more?

This is what happens when you sit next to big brain people. YOU THINK MORE. Its also why educational conferences are inimitable.