Rita in Writing

Living with a father for most of your years and never knowing he was a part of the mob would shake up anyone when they learned that fact. Anna Matteo lived this life and while she suspected some of father’s friends that she met were not normal people, she still had not connected him to the Mafia. While researching for the writing of a new book, Anna ran across some information that made her cringe and deep think about things that occurred in the past between her family and her father. The more she researched, the more she had to dig and find out exactly how and who killed her father and why.

Anna found much information from trial manuscripts, newspaper story microfilm’s of the news from the trials of the man that was found innocent of her fathers murder, and through current and older friends that had knowledge of her father and his acquaintances during past years. The deeper she got the more wonderment she collected in her mind as to how her father could have done the things mentioned during those trials. As hard as this information was for her to digest, she figured it had to be true since so many people had the knowledge of the many activities of her father and his friends and acquaintances.

Anna also went to many of her family members to feel them out. She also had a personal life that was different knowing she actually liked the same sex and despite her feelings for years she wasn’t always sure until she met “the” certain one. During the course of the story Jacqueline was that one. She had met her while researching in the library going through many microfilms and was thrilled to have the head librarian help her and love her socially. Many of the transcripts convinced Anna that her father had deep connections with the mob, many of whom she had met and had been given money here and there just because she was Paulie’s daughter and they liked her so much. Several times she connected the dots and was startled now to realize what had been going on.

The story goes back and forth from Anna’s days of youth and her life with her parents and other family members to current days as she researched the many files and met with all the connected people she could find. Painting The Invisible Man is an intriguing story that delves deep in the life of mobsters and what they are capable of doing. I enjoyed it quite well.

I wanted to write an article about reading with your kids and what a great source the library is for summer reading and using that to connect with your child. I have heard my husband talk of his experiences growing up and what a great place the local library was for him. So, I asked him to write an article for me. Here it is in his words:

I grew up in a family of ten kids. My father had a working wage job and mom stayed at home trying to coral ten kids and to manage the home. Needless to say we did not have a lot of discretionary income to spend on entertainment, eating out or anything beyond the very basics of life.

I do remember one luxury we really enjoyed that didn’t cost us anything. It was not too far from our home and we could go almost anytime we needed. It was mom taking those of us that were able to read to the local library to pick out a book to read. We were only allowed one book each because there was a limit of five per library card and we weren’t able to have a card until we were older. Fortunately for my mom our age spread was sufficient that we didn’t run into a problem with no one being able to pick out a book. The older kids were able to check books out on their own card.

Going to the library at such a young age was a great learning experience for me as I grew. When I had to do a report for school, I was already familiar and comfortable with how the library system worked. I was able to focus my time on doing the research rather than wasting time trying to figure out where to look for it. I learned it was OK to ask the librarian for help if I couldn’t find what I was hunting. I also learned the library wasn’t a place for making loud noises and a lot of playing around.

Because we didn’t have a lot of other forms of entertainment beyond our black and white TV with two channels and a few board games I learned to enjoy and appreciate reading at an early age. I can still remember sitting outside on the porch reading “Last of the Mohicans”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “Moby Dick” and many other great stories for the first time. All of these books came from our local library at no cost. We just had to have them back within two weeks or pay the nickel per day late fee. (Mom was never too happy paying that so we also learned the responsibility of how to take care of other’s property.)

Later on, my first “official” job was working as a Page in the Children’s department of the main library branch in our city. The money wasn’t all that great ($1.17 per hour), but it was a lot of fun watching the children come in and get excited about picking out a book and flopping into a bean bag chair to become engrossed (at least for a few minutes) in their new found treasure.

It was there that I discovered not only were there books at the library, but you could also check out record albums, magazines, news papers, and a myriad of other periodicals. On Saturdays we did plays that acted out the featured story as it was being read.

Today many libraries offer a far more robust source of information, access, and entertainment than when I was growing up. Our local library has DVD’s, audio books, CD’s, computers with internet access, summer reading programs for different age groups, free activities for all age groups, concerts, workshops, and of course books.

If you have kids that are bored this summer (and what kid doesn’t get bored during the summer) and you don’t have a lot of money to spend entertaining them. Or you simply want to expand their horizons beyond the latest video game or TV program I suggest you check out the local library. If you haven’t been in a while, I think you will be quite surprised at what you’ll find there.

When the child is really young most every parent knows it is a good thing to read to them. As they grow older and become more independent in their reading choices and habits it becomes more difficult to share in their reading.

Something I did with our son was to pick out age appropriate books for him to read over the summer. Most of the books I chose were ones I had read at that same age. This allowed me to relate to what he was reading and to participate as an interested observer. Of course he picked out his own books too. Even if I hadn’t read the book I still asked him questions about it and tried to be involved in his understanding of it.

If you are on a limited budget or you really don’t want to buy the books, a really great place to go is your local library. Pick out books you can read together or maybe one you have already enjoyed when you were their age. As they read it they can tell you what’s going on and you will be able to follow along as their rendition brings it back to your memory. Use this time to bridge to important learning lessons in life and in sharing your thoughts with each other.

Some of the best conversations I have had with my son were started with the discussion of what he was reading.

You are excited, as you have been offered a job interview. This is the final hurdle to overcome to get that new job. Don’t mess it up. Make sure you put in the effort to prepare. Those job interview questions are going to come at you, thick and fast!

When you go to your interview, your job interview skills will be tested because you just don’t know what questions you are going to be asked.

All the books and resources you can purchase will give you some idea of the most common questions…there are some you can assume will be asked, like…

“What are your strengths?”

“What are your weaknesses?”

“Tell me about yourself”

You know, the general ones.

But as well as the specific common questions, there are types of questions you need to be prepared for.

Here’s a quick rundown.

Hypothetical Questions.

These ask, ‘If x happened, what would you do?’

For example, “A customer rings the office complaining about the service from the company. The customer is actually real angry and shouting. How would you handle such a situation?”

The thing to recognise is that there isn’t necessarily a right answer. The interviewer may be more interested in how you go about addressing the problem than in your final outcome.

It’s fine to pause and think for a moment before you answer.

Technical Questions.

If you are being interviewed for a technical post or a role, which requires specific skills, be ready for questions which ask you to take the interviewer through a problem or process. This may be a hypothetical situation again but it will involve a technical answer. They may ask you to give an example from your own experiences and take them through it in detail.

So be ready for this kind of question, with examples prepared. In fact, have several examples prepared.

Real Example Questions.

These type of questions are when the interviewer wants to see what real experience you have. Your answer is not based on what you would do (as per the hypothetical question) but it is based upon what you have actually experienced and done.

So for example, “Please give us an example where you have successfully implemented a change”.

So the interviewer is looking for a real example. Something that you have actually experienced. Make sure you have enough examples to choose from. Personally, I would take in a few notes into the interview…just as a reminder. The interviewer won’t mind, as the interview is not a memory test.

Stress Questions.

Some interviewers will deliberately try to rile you or put you under pressure as a test. They want to see how you respond to this treatment. Many people feel this kind of interviewing technique is ethically dubious, and even questions whether they want to work for someone who uses this tactic.

But if you still want the job – and you may well feel that for the post you’re applying for this interview method is justified – you’d better make sure you remain calm and pleasant no matter what the pressure.

So as I said at the beginning, don’t mess this final “job Interview” hurdle up. There will be others who are being interviewed; you will not be the only one.

So prepare, check out the type of job interview questions you may be asked and have your answers ready.

Have lots of real examples of where you have made a difference and achieved something worthwhile.

I’ve served in the public schools for over 25 years as a counselor and providing family counseling. So, I do have a vantage point to talk about education. The advent of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has had a negative impact on learning, education and motivation of our students. After reading this article, please take action to help repeal this misguided piece of legislation.

Here are the reasons it has hurt our students ~

1. There is a bell curve of scores that naturally occurs among all people. This means that most students will fall in the middle of testing, a few will score very high and a few very low. Testing annually doesn’t help students change this.
2. Testing is enormously expensive. Testing companies are getting rich, but does it help our children and teens? Ten years ago, before NCLB we used to test students in grades 3, 5 and 7. These test cost $20 per student to purchase. I don’t have current test costs, but we are now testing in every grade level. If you take that same money and use it for smaller classes, more individualized instruction, return of music and art, a greater diversity of classes, daily PE, and vocational/technical classes you would engage students to a much greater degree. The students I talk to are bored to tears in high school when a teacher stands up and lectures for an hour and fourty five minutes. The students want to learned, but feel totally ignored by the current system.
3. Most teachers spend the first part of the year teaching and the second teaching to the test. They do this because of all the threats to them of having “underpeforming” schools. This takes the creativity out of teaching. It also is pointless to students. This type of learning only gets the information into short term memory for the test. Then they forget the information, so no real learning has taken place.
4. Standardized testing originally was meant to give students, parents and teachers feedback about student learning. Originally the standardized tests would let a student know if they were learning what the average student in that grade was learning. When students scored around the 50th percentile they knew they were in the middle of the pack and learning well. Teachers weren’t teaching to the test. The test was giving teachers feedback too on if they were covering the material well. If there was an area of weakness for a student, then the teacher, parent and student could take action to help bridge that gap.
5. Testing consumes enormous content time. In addition to time spent teaching to the test, all learning stops for 2-4 weeks when all students have to take standardized tests. This doesn’t even count the time making up testing for students who are absent.
6. Personnel costs of testing are enormous. In order to be in compliance with test security, more testing personnel is hired at the district level. The average school has to allocate a testing coordinator and 1-3 other people who drop their professional duties for 4-6 weeks to count tests, make sure the serial numbers are accurate, give testing instructions, assemble all the tests after testing etc. So, these professionals are not able to do the work they are actually hired for during that 4-6 week window.

Let’s get smart about educating our children and teens. Stop this pointless practice of NCLB. Using standardized testing 3 times from grades K-8 is sufficient if it’s used for the purpose it was intended. Let’s reinvest that money into more interesting, engaging and relevant education!

You want to learn Spanish and there are so many ways to do it. Some of the most popular ways that people use to learn Spanish is to take classes, listen to audio CD’s, and to sign up for classes online. Unless you take classes, you are really on your own when learning Spanish. There are some important activities you have to do so that you will learn and retain your knowledge of your new language.

First thing that needs to be understood is that you are going to practice what you are learning constantly. If you do not practice your new language every day, you will forget what you have learned. There are two steps vital to learning Spanish.

No matter what method of studying you choose, whether audio CD’s or online courses, you will have to study. Studying can be a bit difficult if you do not know exactly what to study. The one big thing you have to apply to studying is listening. It doesn’t seem like a big thing to do; to listen. However, most people have a hard time listening. Listening means to pay attention to the Spanish sounds. Don’t just listen to the sound, hear it and study it. Study the way it sounds. Listen to the pronunciations of the letters and the syllables. Please hear the sounds and try to remember them as this will make you a better reader as well.

The next thing is to listen when you speak. As you are learning to speak Spanish listen to the way you sound. Compare your pronunciation with the CD’s or the audio from the online lesson. You have to listen to how you sound and how the proper sound should be made.

When studying Spanish it very important to listen; because if you are not familiar with the language, it will sound as if the words are coming to you at a high speed. The words will sound like a bunch of noises only. However, listening and studying will facilitate your understanding of the sounds. You also need to take time and study your progress. You need to determine your strong areas as well as your weak areas and concentrate on what you need to improve.

Study Spanish by listening to the sounds you hear. Listen to the sounds you speak and study the areas that need improvement and apply yourself to your studies. You will learn Spanish and learn to speak it very well.