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Miss P's first-graders stood on the stage at Bromwell Elementary School, before a packed house. With their teacher standing in the wings, out of view of a parent's camcorder, the children began to recite:
On the far-away Island of Sala-ma-Sond,
Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
Bromwell Elementary School
A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.
The water was warm. There was plenty to eat.
The turtles had everything turtles might need.
And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.
They were...until Yertle, the king of them all,
Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small.
Over the next six minutes, they performed all 24 pages of Dr. Seuss's Yertle the Turtle, about a little turtle named Mack who dared to stand up to the king. Under Miss P's tutelage, this class had memorized longer and longer poems, starting with The Owl and the Pussycat and moving on to Little Orphant Annie and the 52 lines of Casey at the Bat. Three weeks before their end-of-the-year performance, which also included a play and several dance numbers, they took on Yertle.
Watching the tape, Mary Pishney is "tickled pink," to use one of her favorite expressions as Miss P, first-grade teacher. "They love it," she says of the performances her classes put on every spring. "They're the stars. Parents have told me it teaches self-confidence and no fear of public speaking. And they remember those poems for years. To me, those are the things that make education joyful."
They're also the things that Pishney misses the most. Sitting in the living room of her whimsically decorated Denver loft, a three-ring binder with forty-eight tabs on her lap, Pishney sighs as she explains why there won't be a performance this year, her seventh at Bromwell. "I just keep thinking, 'This should be our play,'" she says.
Pishney hasn't been back to Bromwell since she left early for a doctor's appointment on Friday, February 26. The doctor told her she was suffering the effects of extreme work-related stress, which Pishney thinks was triggered by a hard-to-please principal siding with similarly hard-to-please parents, resulting in the first bad evaluation she's received in her decades-long, multi-state career.
Pishney's doctor referred her to another doctor, who wrote a two-page letter to Denver Public Schools detailing her situation and why he was recommending medical leave. "The intimidation, lying and overt threats Ms. Pishney has described are translating into fear and are compounded by visceral responses like hypertension, trembling and gasping for breath," he wrote. "Consequently, I do not see Ms. Pishney returning to work."
At least not for the rest of the school year, which ended two weeks ago. And if Pishney does return to work in the fall, this doctor recommended that she be supervised by someone other than the current principal, Jody Cohn, Bromwell's fifth in ten years.
"It's not personal," Cohn says of the evaluation process. "It's about the practice of teaching, not the personality of the teacher."
Pishney was one of 58 DPS teachers who failed their evaluations this past school year — more than twice as many as last year. According to Shayne Spalten, chief human resources officer at DPS, that number reflects a push for higher teacher standards. "We've really emphasized with principals the importance of addressing performance issues they're having with teachers," she says. "Teachers have a significant impact on how much kids are growing academically in classrooms. We're focusing on that."
Last week, Colorado applied for $175 million in round two of the federal Race to the Top education grant contest, after losing out in round one. The weakest part of Colorado's first application? Its plan to improve teacher quality. Colorado's chances this time could be helped by a controversial measure passed by the legislature last month that largely ties their fate to their students' achievement — but many teachers hate the plan.
Pishney is one of them. She doesn't feel there's anything wrong with the quality of most teachers, herself definitely included. The 63-year-old has always gone above and beyond: hosting after-school enrichment sessions, playing classical music in class, bringing her parakeet to school as a reward for her students. Every year, parents have requested that their children be placed in her class.
"Everything was going wonderfully well," she says.
Mary Pishney's case illustrates the difficulty of measuring a teacher's "effectiveness," which a new wave of education reformers including President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan believe is key to raising student achievement. Good teachers should be rewarded, they say, and bad teachers should be rooted out.
That was the thrust behind Senate Bill 191, introduced in April by freshman state senator Michael Johnston, a Denver Democrat and former alternative high-school principal who served as an education advisor to Obama during his campaign and on his transition team. SB191 called for tenured teachers to be evaluated every year rather than every three, and for half of that evaluation to be tied to student academic growth; if teachers failed two evaluations in a row, they'd be put on probation and risk losing their jobs.
The Colorado Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, vehemently opposed the proposal. Marti Houser, the CEA's general counsel, says the union was concerned that the bill removed a teacher's right to appeal dismissal decisions before a judge; the union was also worried about the cost of the bill and how it would be implemented. Under SB191, a fifteen-member council appointed by the governor would define what it means to be an "effective teacher."
DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg testified in favor of Johnston's proposal. The bill, he says, "moved the ball very far forward on a couple of very important fronts." For one thing, it did away with the binary choice districts now face regarding teacher tenure: either fire a teacher after a probationary period of three years or give the teacher tenure and, in Boasberg's words, "a lifetime of employment." The superintendent also liked how the bill provided a way to retract tenure if a teacher is doing poorly.
After hours and hours of debate that reduced some lawmakers to tears, Johnston's bill, now carrying a multitude of amendments to make it more palatable to the unions, passed on the last day of the legislative session, and Ritter signed it into law three weeks ago. It gives the Governor's Council for Educator Effectiveness, which Ritter created back in January to devise a "high-quality educator evaluation system," until March 2011 to make its recommendations, and calls for a new system to be in place by the fall of 2013.
Although the new law could earn Colorado extra points in Race to the Top, which grades states' applications on a 500-point system that heavily values plans to foster "great teachers," that wasn't the motivation behind his proposal, Johnston says. "I believe the most important way for us to close the achievement gap and make sure all kids graduate high school ready for college and careers is to make sure you have the greatest number of great teachers and leaders as you can," he explains. "That being said, do I think it increases our chances to win Race to the Top?
Mary Pishney often refers to her classroom as her own little microcosm of positivity, her "sandcastle of happiness." The walls are a soft blue and decorated with characters she painted herself: birds with yellow feet taped to the cabinets, an alien wearing running shoes tacked to the bulletin board. Before she left this past winter, Pishney could often be found at the front of the room, sitting in a director's chair the shape of SpongeBob SquarePants.
At the start of every school year, Pishney takes the time to get to know her students — and to make sure they know her, too. "I tell my kids a lot of stories about my childhood: happy, funny stories about burying carrot cakes in the garden and getting caught with a mountain lion in the mountains and panicking, which you shouldn't do," she says. "It makes the kids realize you're a human being, and it develops this kind of family feeling. They have more trust in you. They come up and say, 'You know, Miss P, I really don't understand this,' and you go, 'Hey! Not a problem! We can survive this.'"
So the students know all about Sweet Pea, Pishney's talkative, long-tailed Alexandrine parakeet, who parrots back her compliments for him, including, "You're a good little toot!" They recognize her blue Volkswagen Beetle. And they become interested in the fate of her alma mater's football team, which she refers to as the "blessed Buckeyes."
"I have such an emotional tie with my kids," Pishney says. It's something she always wanted — but didn't always have — with her own teachers when she was a child.
"I remember as a kid thinking a teacher really cared," she recalls. "And then the next year, I was in somebody else's room and it was, 'Oh, you're last year's newspaper.' And that doesn't feel right. There should be that true, sincere interest that transcends the year."
Pishney grew up on twenty acres of farmland outside Columbus, Ohio. Her father had his own electronics business, and her mother stayed home. As a girl, she loved tending her family's ducks, chickens, goats and horses. The second of four children, she also helped care for her younger brother and sister and ran a booming babysitting business on the side. "I think that's where I got my love of working with kids," she says.
In fact, Pishney came to realize that she sometimes preferred children's company to that of adults. "With kids, you see the essence of the innocence," she says. "There's not biases. You can have such wonderful conversations...because they're so pure in heart."
After graduating high school, Pishney headed to Ohio State University, where she majored in elementary education. She was the first member of her family to graduate from college, and soon found a job teaching first grade at a high-performing school in Columbus. "I was about 23 when I got that job," Pishney remembers. "I loved it, loved my kids." The parents called her Mary Poppins because of the kind way she interacted with her students.
And then busing came. The school's population shrank as white families fearful of forced integration fled to the suburbs, and Pishney, still a new teacher, was transferred to an inner-city school. The building was filled with roaches. There was a brothel across the street, and the children often came to school without shoes. One day, two men who'd spent time in jail after the principal caught them selling drugs to students returned to the school and threatened the faculty. Pishney quit soon after. "I would have stuck it out and tried my best," she explains, "but when your physical safety is involved, I say, 'Time to go.'"
Pishney's husband got an engineering job in Denver, and the couple moved here. A talented seamstress with a love of cooking, Pishney began sewing and selling fancy aprons. Four years later, when they moved to Dallas, Pishney got back into teaching, working in both private and public schools.
After she and her husband divorced, Pishney moved back to Denver in 2002. She'd loved living here, and had her sights set on teaching at one school: Bromwell.
In a city school district plagued by city school district problems, Bromwell is a standout: a K-5 school known for having academic rigor, active parents, very bright students — and few of the challenges associated with large populations of at-risk students.
That's largely due to Bromwell's location, on the corner of East Fourth Avenue and Columbine Street in Cherry Creek, where old bungalows and ranch houses have given way to high-priced duplexes. Houses in the nearby Denver Country Club neighborhood and along Seventh Avenue Parkway sell for up to $2 million, and the area is populated by doctors, lawyers, CEOs and politicians like Michael Bennet, who was superintendent of Denver Public Schools until he was tapped by Ritter in January 2009 to take a vacant U.S. Senate seat.
"The people who live in this neighborhood have big homes," says one parent. "They're pretty successful, which means they're pretty smart. Eighty percent of the kids at Bromwell would be way above the average of the typical DPS student. Bromwell is like a mini private school."
Fewer than 10 percent of Bromwell's students were low-income and minority this past school year; the overall district stats are 70 percent poor, 75 percent minorities. Out of 161 schools, Bromwell is one of only nine rated "distinguished" by DPS; in 2008 it was chosen as a prestigious national Blue Ribbon School. Realtors selling houses within the Bromwell boundaries regularly list the school as an attribute on For Sale signs, and hordes of parents who live outside the boundaries request that their children be allowed to attend Bromwell through the district's choice policy.
Those parents whose children get to attend Bromwell are very involved, inside the classrooms and out. The school PTSA raises hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to help pay for a part-time dance teacher and full-time art and music teachers, as well as teachers' aides in every classroom — luxuries that most other Denver schools can't afford. One of Bromwell's biggest fundraisers is the annual auction, which this year included such items as a South African safari, a day of skiing with Olympian Michelle Roark, and Latisse eyelash-growing treatments.
"I ask the PTSA, I say, 'I need this,' and they make it happen," says Cohn.
That's partly what attracted Pishney to Bromwell.
"I wanted to teach at Bromwell because I'd heard it was wonderful," Pishney recalls. "It would afford me the opportunity to do my thing: to have my poetry, to be able to do rough drafts and use a dictionary and thesaurus, and play classical music and put on my plays. Not a lot of schools will let you do that."
Bromwell didn't have any openings, though, so Pishney took a job teaching a combination fourth- and fifth-grade class at Carson Elementary in the nearby Hilltop neighborhood. "I raised test scores," she says. "My kids' CSAP scores were phenomenal." Her students were also adept at writing poetry. On a whim, Pishney submitted nineteen students' poems to a national poetry anthology project; twelve were accepted, she notes.
Bromwell's then-principal, Dennis Thompson, happened to stop by Pishney's classroom on a tour of Carson, and asked her to apply when a first-grade teaching spot opened up. "I said, 'I'm tickled pink, because I love the little ones!'" she remembers.
Pishney's first years at Bromwell went well. Parents began requesting that their children be put in her class, many of them attracted by her emphasis on memorization. Pishney has her students memorize a poem a month, a practice that she thinks greatly increases intelligence. "All they have to do is, I repeat it in the morning and they practice it once at night," she says. "And that's it. And it's shown by many universities that this actually increases IQ."
Chuck Crowley's daughter was in Pishney's second Bromwell class. "The first time I saw her, I thought, 'Who is this little old lady who is going to get her ass kicked by these kids?'" he remembers. "And, boy, was I wrong. She had complete control of that classroom. She got so much out of those kids."
"She's so sweet," says Crowley's daughter, Alexandra, who will start seventh grade in the fall. "I don't know of a kid who said 'I hated her.'"
When Melissa Pace's family moved to Denver, she quickly realized her son "was at the bottom of the Bromwell barrel," she says. He couldn't read or write, unlike most of the other kindergartners. Although he caught up a bit that year, "he didn't love to read, because he was so far behind everybody," she recalls.
But Pishney, her son's first-grade teacher, changed all that. "She got him up to the end-of-second-grade reading level by the end of the year," Pace says. The poetry memorization also boosted his vocabulary. "His vocabulary was superior to any first-grader I had ever been around. He still speaks like an old man. We'll be at a family function and he says something, and it sounds like my Great Aunt Helen just spoke. I think that's great."
So last fall, when her daughter was entering first grade, Pace requested that she be assigned to Pishney's class. Her daughter was already a strong reader and writer; Pace just wanted her to have the same wonderful experience that her son had benefited from a few years earlier.
But this year was different. "It's a very divided class, unfortunately," Pace says. "I don't know what's wicked in the state of Denmark, but we do have parents that run the school behind the scenes."
At the end of the 2008-09 school year, Bromwell lost another principal, Jonathan Wolfer, in the wake of a scandal dubbed "Boundarygate." The flap started, Wolfer says, when "a large portion of families" complained to him that other parents were using work addresses or grandparents' addresses in order to get their children into Bromwell, and classrooms were becoming crowded as a result. The complaining families called it a matter of fairness. Other parents called it a "witch hunt."
Wolfer was replaced by Cohn, who had spent the previous decade as principal of Munroe Elementary in west Denver, a school where 92 percent of the kids are poor, 96 percent are minorities, and test scores are low. Cohn applied for the Bromwell job because she wanted something completely different. "With Bromwell, I was attracted to the parental involvement and the challenge of how to take a high-achieving school and make it even higher," she says.
Eleven of Bromwell's 25 teachers were up for formal evaluations this past year, and Pishney was one of them. (Until the new state law kicks in, tenured teachers will continue to be evaluated every three years, while non-tenured teachers are evaluated every year.) Pishney had never failed an evaluation. "When I was there, I thought Mary was doing well," says Thompson, the now-retired principal who'd hired her, declining to say more because of personnel confidentiality issues. But Pishney has a letter that Thompson gave her in 2005, describing a comment made by a visiting DPS assistant superintendent. "She remarked that your class was the finest first-grade classroom that she had visited in her career," he wrote.
Wolfer won't go into detail, either, but confirms that Pishney passed her evaluations. "Her review allowed her to receive tenure," he says.
Still, Pishney was a little nervous about this next evaluation. "I told my principal at the beginning of the year that I'm on formal this year and I'm kind of an over-achiever and that I would do anything she wanted me to, and if she saw something she wanted done differently — because every principal has a little different take on it — to just let me know," Pishney says. "I never heard."
In October, the first "parent letters of concern" hit Cohn's desk, from parents complaining about Pishney's math lessons. "There isn't enough math being taught," one e-mail said. Another parent worried that her gifted children, including one in Pishney's class, weren't being challenged. Yet another blasted the entire first-grade curriculum and both first-grade teachers: "Any changes in first grade are long overdue and would be welcomed."
"The curriculum isn't advanced enough," says Carolyn Joy-Fortino, whose child was not in Pishney's class. "I think there are many great things about Bromwell and there's progress at all grades. But in first grade, there isn't."
"I have tremendous respect for Mary," says another parent, whose two children have had Pishney. "She's a very sweet, nice woman and she's really good with the kids. She's very grandmotherly. She bakes cookies. She's like your old-fashioned first-grade teacher. But what I saw my first year is that she covers up a lot of what she's not doing in the classroom with her personality. She rides by on her personality. The principals before now didn't mind. She snookered all of them."
Right away, "I could tell she wasn't doing enough math," this parent says.
"The poetry memorization was great. That was Mary's strongest suit," another parent says. "What I was alarmed to discover...was how some of the other pieces were lacking." The math piece was weak, and "there didn't seem to be any clear idea of the levels the kids were at: which ones needed more help, which ones needed more challenge."
Parents also criticized Pishney's "Super Star Student of the Week" awards as a waste of time. They said she made the kids do too much paperwork, showed too many films and spent too much time on her computer during class. When Cohn mentioned these parental complaints to Pishney, she responded both in her weekly newsletters to students' homes and in a three-page memo to the principal, explaining that the awards are "highly motivational" and that she uses her computer to answer parent e-mails and type vocabulary sheets for her students.
As for math, Pishney says she recognized that the beginning of the curriculum, which teaches how to count, is too easy for her gifted students, especially since many of them were taught first-grade math concepts in kindergarten. "The kids at Bromwell are very enriched," she says. "I mean, when they say they've been to Paris, it's not Texas — it's France." But parents need to understand that this curriculum is a district-wide program that teachers are required to follow. "I am tied to the curriculum," Pishney says. "So I would try to do things like extensions that would broaden that out: a little base-ten work ahead of time and maybe charting problems with the use of a ruler so they get greater dexterity. Anything to kind of take it away from being drab."
It wasn't enough. When Pishney met with Cohn to discuss problems with the math curriculum, she says the principal asked her to decorate three floor-to-ceiling hallway bulletin boards with blurbs, photos and examples of student work explaining how she was enriching the curriculum; she told Pishney to write a letter to parents detailing the same thing. By the time she'd revised the letter several times at Cohn's request, Pishney says, she'd spent seventy hours on the project.
The letter went to students' homes on November 30. On December 8, Cohn sat in on one of Pishney's reading lessons for her formal observation. In a meeting later that afternoon, Cohn mentioned a few concerns: The beginning readers weren't reading fluidly enough, and the classroom didn't have a library or writing center. She did have a library, Pishney told the principal, and she would work on installing a writing center, which was optional, over the winter break.
According to Pishney, "I asked her, 'Was it a successful observation?' And she said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Well, that's a relief. I'm kind of a worrywart, and I want to do my best.'" Pishney says she left the meeting feeling good.
Pishney was sick over the break and unable to work on the writing center, which she envisioned as a desk stocked with writing supplies and tips. When she returned to Bromwell for a teacher work day on January 4, she asked Cohn for a copy of her formal evaluation document, a standard template that all DPS principals use. "She was angry, and she said, 'Well, you didn't pass that formal observation,'" Pishney recalls. "And I just almost passed out. I said, 'What?' She said, 'I have serious concerns about your reading program.'"
They set up a meeting for that afternoon, when Pishney says Cohn rattled off a litany of complaints, many of which echoed the parents' complaints from earlier in the year. She also criticized Pishney's reading instruction, saying that the students weren't grouped properly by level.
Pishney tried to defend herself but didn't get far: "Every time I would say, 'I am doing guided reading, my students are advancing,' any time I would defend myself, she would get enraged and yell and say, 'You're bucking me! I'm going to put you on a growth plan!'" To Pishney, that sounded like she would be "on the precipice of bye-bye."
By the end of the meeting, Pishney was sobbing. "All I'd accomplished was being twisted as being negative," she remembers. "It was just the most horrific experience I've had in my life."
Back in her classroom, Pishney began typing notes on what had just happened. The three single-spaced pages she wrote that day became one of many entries in her three-ring binder. "I don't normally do this because it's so time-intensive," she explains. "But when things started going down the tubes, I felt, Mary, you've got to start documenting."
Cohn was doing some documenting of her own. On January 29, she presented Pishney with the official evaluation document: Pishney had failed.
In addition to the issues they'd already discussed, it included two "peer teacher letters of concern" that Cohn had received after January 4. One said Pishney wasn't supervising her students. The second letter, which was unsigned, included complaints that the teacher had reportedly heard from parents: that the first-grade math, reading and writing lessons were subpar, that there was lots of "busy work," and that parents had commented on the "emotional status" of a certain unnamed first-grade teacher who appeared "frazzled" lately.
"None of those teachers ever asked me anything," Pishney says. "This was hearsay from parents."
On February 18, per DPS protocol, Cohn gave Pishney a "remediation plan" to help her improve. It required that Pishney turn in detailed weekly lesson plans that listed the ways in which she planned to differentiate her lessons, and also do weekly analyses of her students' progress in math and reading — even though she'd recently gotten mid-year scores showing that her students were making impressive gains in reading. The plan asked for too much, Pishney says; she felt it was "set up for failure."
So Pishney never started the remediation plan. Instead, on February 25, she filed a grievance against Cohn with the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, the DPS teachers' union, accusing Cohn of creating a hostile working environment and engaging in age discrimination. At 63, Pishney is the oldest teacher at Bromwell.
Pishney was a mess: She'd begun losing weight, her hair was falling out, her voice had developed a tremor and her hands wouldn't stop shaking. The day after she filed the grievance, she left school early to see a doctor. "My blood pressure was so high that I was on the edge of a stroke," she says. "He said, 'Mary, you've got to get away from that situation or it could kill you.'"
Both my husband and I trust the leadership," says Marcia Toll, whose daughter was in Pishney's first-grade class this past year and whose husband serves on the PTSA. "We have a strong principal who wants academic rigor at the school. She has a vision for the school that I support, and she has the best interest of the kids in mind. I trust whatever the principal needed to do."
Cohn says she can't discuss Pishney because of personnel confidentiality issues (neither can union officials or DPS administrators). But Cohn can talk about her goals for Bromwell. "We have so many gifted and talented students that we look at everything through a gifted and talented lens," Cohn explains. About 20 percent of Bromwell's students are considered gifted by district standards, and the school is home to one of DPS's twenty full-time GT teachers, whose job is to adapt lessons for those students. "We want to deepen their knowledge, not just push them to the next grade level," Cohn says.
Doing so with math has been especially tricky, she notes. That's why she pushed a handful of strategies, including pre-testing students and then only teaching concepts that the majority don't know. "Our first-graders may come out of kindergarten testing at a first-grade level," Cohn says. "To take them through the first-grade curriculum when they've already mastered it would not be in their best interest."
Bromwell also offered math projects and computer programs aimed at increasing math skills this year, and focused on teaching strategies to solve more complicated word problems. For some teachers, modifying lessons for students at different levels comes easily, Cohn says; others need a little help, which can be provided through professional development programs. "As long as you can see people moving in the right direction, that's an effective teacher," she says.
The problem comes when teachers refuse to move. "When I talk to teachers about concerns, it deserves attention," Cohn notes. "If my collaboration is not reciprocated but is invalidated and rejected, I'm very direct in calling teachers' attention to that behavior and lack of professionalism."
But a bad evaluation isn't necessarily a career-killer. "You can't just evaluate a teacher and say goodbye," Cohn points out. "There's a series of steps."
More DPS teachers are going through those steps than ever before. In the 2005-2006 school year, seven teachers were put on remediation plans. In 2007-2008, that number jumped to eighteen. This past year, seventy of the DPS's 4,555 teachers were subject to remediation plans, twelve of them holdovers from the previous year.
"They really have been ramping it up this year — some would call it cleaning house," says Houser, the lawyer for the CEA, the umbrella organization for the DPS classroom teachers' union. "Denver seems to operate in more of a business-model mode. It's like a big corporation. Their employees are more like numbers than employees."
But seventy teachers is still a "tiny fraction" of the district's workforce, superintendent Boasberg points out, adding that the increase in negative evaluations is due to a district-wide — as well as statewide and nationwide — recognition that fostering good teachers is essential to boosting student growth. "There is a focus top-to-bottom in the district on doing all that we can do to have the most effective teachers in the classroom," he says.
That focus isn't new. As proof, Boasberg cites the Denver Plan, a blueprint the district first adopted in 2005 and whose most recent iteration emphasizes teacher and principal effectiveness. There's also ProComp, the district's five-year-old merit-pay system, which rewards teachers for taking classes, teaching hard-to-serve students and earning satisfactory evaluations.
Theresa Peña, who has served on the DPS school board since 2003 and was twice elected its president, agrees that teacher effectiveness is key. "The superintendent and the board have been very clear that the status quo of student achievement is unacceptable," she says, especially given that only half of DPS third-graders are reading at grade level and only half of the district's students graduate high school.
Parents aren't the best gauge of good teachers, Peña says: "They love their first-grade teacher, but that doesn't mean they're an effective teacher." If a teacher isn't up to snuff, she says, "we have to help them move on to another profession."
But Jeannie Kaplan, who's served on the board since 2005, is confused by the increase in negative evaluations. "It bothers me that we're going ahead with so many more of these kinds of things when we're really close to having a good system in place," she says.
DPS has been working on revamping its teacher evaluation system since January, when it received a $10 million grant to do so from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest grant in the district's history. Administrators applied for that grant after reading a report by the New Teacher Project, which looked at DPS's system for training teachers, as well as a few others. The report found that between 2005 and 2008, 99 percent of DPS teachers passed their evaluations — but 70 percent of the principals reported that there were teachers at their schools who should be fired for poor performance. When asked why they weren't, principals said firing teachers took too much time and effort. The report also found that only one-third of DPS teachers thought their evaluations were helpful and accurate assessments of their abilities.
"I think the system has been a very troubled and inefficient system that has done poorly by kids," Boasberg says. "There are no positive consequences for being a strong performer, in terms of additional career ladders, leadership roles and compensation. Likewise, you have an extraordinarily cumbersome and time-consuming process in the very few cases where a teacher has an unsatisfactory rating."
Even before winning the Gates grant, DPS was trying to change that. Two years ago, the district restructured its human resources department, which Boasberg says used to be a "paperwork shop," to focus more on helping principals recruit and evaluate teachers. Now every school has a human resources partner who acts as "an expert and very skilled and thoughtful advisor for the principal to help coach and support the principal in dealing with employee performance matters," he says. Each HR partner is responsible for fifteen to twenty schools.
The district plans to have a new teacher-evaluation system in place by 2011. It's working with stakeholders, including the teachers' union, to come up with a more nuanced system that will provide richer feedback for teachers and could include observations from their peers, says Spalten, DPS's chief human resources officer. A major factor in those evaluations will be whether a teacher's students are learning, and if they're not, a principal can put a teacher on remediation. Under the current system, a principal has thirty to ninety days to evaluate whether the teacher follows the remediation plan and improves; if the teacher doesn't improve, the principal can recommend the teacher for dismissal. But the teacher can also challenge that recommendation and request a hearing in front of a judge. The judge then makes another recommendation, which is sent to the school board. The boardmembers have the final say.
Of the seventy teachers on remediation this year, 24 went forward with the plan — but so far, only three of those have satisfactorily completed it. Another fifteen teachers resigned or retired rather than go through the process. Seven are fighting the designation in court; six are in the process of being fired. While they weighed their options, 27 of the teachers went on some sort of voluntary leave.
Miss P was one of those.
While some Bromwell parents complained to Cohn about Pishney, others, including Rhonda Platten, have written loving letters of support.
"My opinion is she was fabulous," says Platten, whose son was in Pishney's most recent class. "My son was at kindergarten level when he came into first grade. Now he is at average first-grade level. It only took her two months to catch him up."
Platten and her family moved to the Bromwell neighborhood because they'd heard good things about the school — though they'd also heard a few warnings. "I had heard before I moved here that there was a strong parent group," Platten says. "I just blew that off, like 'Yeah, whatever.' My point is I wanted to be part of a community."
But when she heard that a handful of parents had complained to the principal about Pishney's boring math program and her poetry memorization, Platten grew frustrated. "It just breaks my heart that this person who has worked so hard for it and who loves education — this is her life — that these people are like, 'Next!'" she says. "It just makes me sick to see a lot of really good teachers go down the tubes."
A dozen parents contacted for this story did not return calls or refused to talk. (Several Bromwell teachers also declined interviews.) Even parents who did agree to speak admit they're afraid their comments may cause the school staff to "single out" their children or other Bromwell parents to ostracize them. "We have a lot more years at this school," says the parent of one first-grader. "We don't want to create problems for our daughter."
Jennifer Lindberg isn't afraid to speak, though. After hearing wonderful things about Pishney, she requested that her son be in her class this past year. "I asked the parents ahead of us a couple grades who they recommended for each grade level," she says. "It was hands down, they all said, 'You want Miss P.'"
Lindberg's son had struggled in kindergarten at Bromwell. "It was really intense. I actually referred to it as a pressure cooker," she says. As a result, her son hated school — but Pishney turned that around.
"From day one, I'd say, 'How's school?' He'd say, 'Oh, it's great!'" Lindberg remembers. "He'd talk about this bird she had, Sweet Pea. He'd say, 'Miss P is going to bring Sweet Pea!' You would have thought it was Santa Claus. She had such a connection with him."
Lindberg witnessed that connection firsthand when she volunteered in Pishney's class. "She was always very friendly," Lindberg says, "but I could just tell she was more interested in the kids than in talking to the adults."
And the adults were beginning to talk about Pishney. In January, Lindberg heard rumors that some parents had complained about the teacher; another parent asked her to write a letter of support. Pishney "looked horrible," she remembers. "The stress was immense. I'd say, 'Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.' She'd say, 'Thank you, but I'm okay.' Then we saw her one afternoon at the grocery store, and she said her doctor told her she needed to take a break. She didn't come back."
After that, working with a permanent substitute the school brought in to teach Pishney's class the rest of the year, her son lost focus. "I was hoping that with her, he would really have a solid foundation to be in the middle of the class next year. That's been blown by the wayside," Lindberg says. "It feels like we're just kind of in a holding pattern."
It feels the same way to Pishney. Officially on sick leave, she's been asked by DPS to get a second opinion from a district-recommended doctor — but so far, the district has not made an appointment. In the meantime, the remediation process is on hold until Pishney returns to school. Her union grievance isn't moving any faster, and in March, Pishney hired an attorney to file a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that she was discriminated against by a "younger principal." Pishney's lawyer, Mark Bove, says that the complaint is likely to take more than a year to resolve. "Regardless of the finding," he notes, "Mary retains her right to sue individually."
Pishney isn't sure what to do next. If she leaves Bromwell and DPS, she worries that at her age, she'll have a hard time getting a teaching job, especially with a black mark on her record. Still, it pains her to think about not being in the classroom.
"I'm just seeing myself going from a situation of an idyllic, joyful, loving atmosphere, and it's all being destroyed," she says. "Because teaching isn't just teaching to me. It's a passion."
"I'm ruler," said Yertle, "of all that I see.
But I don't see enough. That's the trouble with me.
With this stone for a throne, I look down on my pond
But I cannot look down on the places beyond.
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This throne that I sit on is too, too low down.
It ought to be higher!" he said with a frown.
"If I could sit high, how much greater I'd be!
What a king! I'd be ruler of all I could see!"


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Spicy tuna & chickpea patties
Nutrition and extra info
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal327
- fat8g
- saturates1g
- carbs32g
- sugars0g
- fibre6g
- protein33g
- salt1.51g
- 150g tub low fat natural yogurt
Yogurt is made by adding a number of types of harmless bacteria to milk, causing it to ferment.…
- a good handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- 2x 410g cans chickpea, drained and rinsed
- 400g can tuna in brine, drained
A member of the mackerel family, tuna are mainly found in the world's warmer oceans. They…
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…
- 1 plump garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
An aromatic spice native to eastern Mediteranean countries and Upper Egypt. This warm,…
- ½ tsp crushed dried chilli
Part of the capsicum family, chillies come in scores of varieties and colours (from green…
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 4 tsp vegetable oil
- 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
A member of the nightshade family (along with aubergines, peppers and chillies), tomatoes are in…
Mix the yogurt with half the coriander in a small bowl. Cover and chill until needed.
Tip the chickpeas into a food processor. Blitz for a just a few seconds so they keep some of their texture. Transfer to a large bowl. Flake in the tuna and mix in the onion, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, chilli and rest of the coriander. Season, then gently stir to mix all the ingredients. Shape into 12 patties with your hands. Dust with flour.
Heat half the oil in a large frying pan. Cook 6 patties for 5-6 minutes, turning over after 3 minutes. Keep them warm while you cook the rest.
Put the tomatoes in the pan. Cook over a high heat for 30-40 seconds until warmed through and starting to soften. Serve with the patties (3 per person) and the coriander dip.

subset: commoncrawl


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Market Basket's newly reinstated CEO Arthur T. Demoulas told workers at a Chelsea, Massachusetts, supermarket that he is "forever grateful" Monday, days after he returned to helm the grocery chain following months of worker protests and boycotts triggered by his June ouster.
The man better known to supporters as Artie T. gave workers in Chelsea a lift as they restocked the store. He said the priority now, days after his $1.5 billion deal to buy the company, is to restore stores to customers' expectations, after months hampered by walkouts and empty shelves.
Demoulas reiterated his gratitude to the workers whose pressure helped return him to the helm, and said he is able to connect with his staff of 25,000 through hands-on experience and working together.
U.S. & World
"We try to be good to one another and help each other out," Demoulas told workers. "We certainly saw that in the past six or seven weeks.
"I'll be forever grateful," he added.
Demoulas said his first order of business would be to say "thank you, millions of times over."
The turmoil that has roiled Market Basket all summer culminated late last week in Demoulas' deal to buy a majority stake in the company and in his return as CEO, to roars of support from the workers whose intense pressure, protests and walkouts had helped ensure it.
"I love you all," the told them Friday, just after the board controlled by a rival cousin accepted his $1.5 billion bid for a majority stake Thursday night.
Arthur T. had been ousted as CEO back in June by allies of his rival cousin Arthur S. Demoulas, sparking the two-month dispute, in which employee protests and customer boycotts left many stores and shelves empty.
When news broke that he had regained control of the company, hundreds of supporters gathered Friday at company headquarters in Tewksbury, where he spoke to them.
"I've always believed that we are born into this world at a certain time and a certain place to be with certain people for a reason and a purpose," he told the crowd there. "Everyone has a destiny, and because of you, I stand here with a renewed vigor and a sense of purpose."
The restoration of some Market Basket stores could take several weeks, Arthur T. told reporters Friday, but employees have been working around the clock since his reinstatement to restock empty shelves and reestablish ties with vendors.
Customers were found last week ready to shop once again.
"People are bringing in champagne bottles. Customers are bringing in balloons and donuts and food. It's great. It's a great feeling," Tewksbury store manager Mike Riley said.
"It's just a good feeling," said customer Cindy Stamp, whose son works in a Market Basket warehouse. "It's about food, but it's really not. It's about what he does for all our children and people that need jobs. I mean, that to me is the biggest. My son makes a living. Do you believe that? A living off of working in a warehouse. Who can say that?"


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BEDFORD, Texas, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A Texas man who called 911 when an armed homeowner interrupted his burglary was sentenced to seven years of probation and 200 hours of community service.
State District Judge Craig Towson also sentenced Christopher Moore, 41, of Bedford, to pay a $2,000 fine Monday after he pleaded guilty to burglary of a habitation, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported Tuesday.
Moore was accused of breaking into a Springtown home around 12:30 a.m. Dec. 4 and the 38-year-old homeowner said he and his wife awoke to find a man standing in their bedroom.
The homeowner grabbed his gun and chased the man out of his home. The burglar got into his pickup truck, but complied with the man's orders for him to drop his keys.
Moore called 911 from inside his pickup truck, but the homeowner had already called 911.


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AVS Carflector for 2016-2019 Chevrolet Cruze (20593) Smoke Hood DeflectorBe the first to review this product
- AVS Carflector Hood Deflector
- Catalog Number: 20593
- Fits: Chevrolet Cruze (check fitment chart for compatibility)
- Color: Smoke
Get Easy-to-Install Parts. No Hassle.
AVS Carflector for 2016-2019 Chevrolet Cruze (20593) Smoke Hood Deflector
Product Specifications:
- Color Group: Smoke
- Color/ Finish: Smoke
- Drilling Required: No
- Hood Or Fender Protector: Hood And Fender
- Installation Location: In Front Of The Grille
- Installation Type: 3M Tape
- Material: Acrylic
- Mounting Type: Mounts Raised
- Profile Style: Low
- Wrap-Around: Yes
Part Fitment List:
Please use our fitment tool above to determine fitment. Additional notes may be required.2019-2019 Chevrolet Cruze LS Hatchback 1.4L L4
2019-2019 Chevrolet Cruze LT Hatchback 1.6L L4
2019-2019 Chevrolet Cruze LT Hatchback 1.4L L4
2019-2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier Hatchback 1.4L L4
2017-2018 Chevrolet Cruze 1.4L L4
2017-2018 Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback 1.4L L4
2017-2018 Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback 1.6L L4
2016-2016 Chevrolet Cruze
Medium profile hood shield for your Chevrolet Cruze
Are you tired of rocks hitting your hood and insects splattering all of your windshield? AVS 20593 Hood Shield is purposefully designed to shield your car's windshield and the leading edge of your hood from all these elements.
Strong acrylic material
Made with strong acrylic material, this hood shield will protect your hood and windshield against anything for years to come. Even better, the material is wear-and-tear resistant and this increases the durability of the hood shield.
Custom-fit design
The custom-fit design of the hood shield ensures it follows the contours of your vehicle's hood and achieves the best fit. It also makes the installation process easier.
Hardware included
The hood shield comes with all the necessary mounting hardware, saving you the trouble and cost of purchasing the same.
No-drill Chevrolet Cruze installation
You can easily install this AVS 20593 hood shield at home. It only takes 10 minutes or less to mount it on the hood and it requires no drilling. It also comes with a user's guide to take you through the whole process.
Limited lifetime warranty
AVS Hood Shield is covered by a limited lifetime warranty against all defects resulting from the manufacturer's errors.
Made in the USA
AVS 20593 Hood Shield is made in the USA by experts using the best technology. This is to ensure that you get the best user experience in terms of functionality, style, durability, as well as installation to your Chevrolet Cruze.


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Brief Summary
Ranger has been making high end bass boats for both tournament and recreational fishing since the sport became competitive over 40 years ago. Without out a doubt, they have evolved their hull design to a point where ride performance is, in our experience, second to none. Thus take a look at some of the standout features and layout characteristics, as well as the performance and handling that we experienced on test day.


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See in-store for pricing >
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The Powermaster Flush Metal Box - 25mm 2 Gang is a metal box. It is flush mounted and can be used on double sockets or switches such as a 2 gang 2 way switched socket, as it is the medium depth flush mounted box. The pack contains one 2 gang pattress box and has hassle free, easy to open polyurethane packaging. It requires standard installation tools and should only be installed by a competent, qualified person. It conforms to BS standard 5733.
See in-store for pricing


text:
You are here
Lively Galaxy
Featured on September 3, 2010
The spiral galaxy NGC 4666 spins through the cosmos in this recent image from the La Silla Observatory in Chile. NGC 4666 is known as a starburst galaxy because it is giving birth to thousands of new stars. The process is driven by interactions with nearby galaxies, such as NGC 4668, which is at lower left. The vigorous new stars, plus the stellar explosions known as supernovae, generate a "superwind" that blows tens of thousands of light-years into intergalactic space. The galaxy is about 80 million light-years away. [ESO/J. Dietrich]


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Collect Your free 10 water FarmVille 2 now to grow your crops and trees to produce more crops and fruits to get more resources. Use your Kitchen to make recipes, craft shop for goods and Dairy Market to produce yogurt in FarmVille 2. Water is like energy for your farm without water you cannot grow your crops. So we are sharing free water with you to help you in your farm as well as in social network Facebook and Zynga Gaming.
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Comment below and say Thank you to FarmVille 2 Team if you got 10 free water


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Car accidents are a frequent occurrence on today's busy roads. Accidents of this type can both stressful and time consuming to sort out so it's important to appoint the right legal representive. We operate a No Win No Fee service and can arrange everything from replacement vehicle to compensation and rehabilitation.
Our job as your conveyancing solicitor is to oversee the legal process in either the sale or purchase of your property. Our experienced team of property solicitors will take the stress out of the transaction allowing you to concentrate on the more important things in like moving home.
Work Accidents
Do you know where to turn in the event of accident at work? Your employer has a duty of care to provide you with a safe environment to work in. If you have been involved in an accident at work through no fault of your own, then our legal team are here to help. We can assess your work accident and advise you of both your rights as an employee and any compensation that you may be entitled to.
Medical Negligence
Being the victim of a failed medical or beauty procedure can leave you feeling alone. We are here to listen to your complaint and advise you of your rights as a consumer. Our first class medical negligence department will provide you with all the answers you need to determine your prospects of success
Housing Disrepair
Has the property you occupy made you or someone in your household unwell? Damp properties can cause damage to your belongings but most off all can lead to serious health problems. Don't delay contact our housing disrepair department today.
Have you been sold insurance alongside your credit card, accounts or mortgage? We can help you claim back your miss sold payment protect insurance, don't delay contact our payment protection department today.
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If you have been diagnosed with an industrial disease, or suffer with a condition that has been caused by your work, you may be eligible to claim compensation. Contact our Industrial Disease Department today.
Slips, Trips & Falls
Slip trip or fall accidents are one of the most common types of accidents people have. A simple slip can cause very serious injuries such as back injuries, paralysis, broken bones & head injuries. Many happen in the working environment due to poor health & safety regulations.
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Are you looking for help and advice in relation to family law? We understand family law can be a sensitive and difficult area to negotiate. We have a wealth of experience in this area and in most cases will offer a free no obligation phone call.
Restrictive Covenants Claims Stoke
Every business has information that it considers both integral and invaluable to its success. Restricting the use of this information by employees after their term of employment may be vital to the protection of your business or customer contacts. An ex-employee who has knowledge of your technology, strategic information, customers or clients may be an attractive asset to a competitor seeking to encroach upon your market.
An employer may seek to protect the use of this information both during employment and after the employment ends through the inclusion of a restrictive covenant in the contracts of employment of senior or highly skilled staff at the commencement of the employment relationship. Express restraints may deter employees joining competitors and may warn off potential new employers. A restrictive covenant is usually a clause in a contract which prohibits an employee from competing with his ex-employer after the employee has parted company with the business, or prevents the ex-employee from soliciting or dealing with customers of the business by using knowledge of those customers gained during his prior employment. The starting point for any such post-termination restriction is that it is void on the grounds of illegality. It follows that an employer generally is not entitled to protect himself against competition from his ex-employees.
However, if the ex-employer can convince a court that the covenant is designed to protect his legitimate business interests or that it extends no further than is reasonably necessary to protect those interest then it will be upheld and enforced.
A non-compete clause may be enforced to protect a legitimate business interest – for example, client connection, confidential information or a stable workforce – and not simply to stifle or prevent competition.
Types of restrictive covenants
The standard types of restrictions which can be used by employers are:
- non-competition covenants – restrictions on the former employee working in similar employment for a competitor
- non-solicitation covenants – which prevent poaching of clients/customers/suppliers of the former employer
- non-dealing covenants – which prevent a former employee from dealing with former clients/customers/suppliers, regardless of which party approached the other
- non-poaching covenants – which prevent an employee poaching former colleagues.
For a restrictive covenant to be enforced it must not be drafted too widely. It will be for the employer, in the event of a clause being challenged, to show that the clause is justified and sufficiently narrow. To meet these criteria an employer must be mindful of certain factors:
- The breadth of the geographical area of any restriction and length of time of the post termination restriction must be justified. It is unlikely that a wide geographical area will be justified and, as a general rule, a restriction for more than 6-12 months will be difficult to justify.
- Regard will also be had to the type of interest being protected, for instance, information such as trade secrets may be granted wider protection than customer information, given that its potential use across markets is wider.
- An employer may also be required to evidence any connection between the employee and any information that is being protected.
The extent of clauses, therefore, must be relative to the employee's position within the business. As more senior employees will be in contact with more sensitive information, restrictions placed upon them may be justified as being more onerous. Overall, a one-size fits-all policy on restrictive covenant clauses risks the clause becoming unenforceable. Restrictive covenants may also require periodic review in order to maintain their enforceability as the covenant is judged at the time it was entered into.
Garden leave
Garden leave is also commonly used in conjunction with restrictive covenants for maximum effect. The inclusion of a garden leave clause in a contract of employment allows an employer to require the employee to spend all or part of the notice of termination period at home whilst continuing to receive his usual salary and benefits. The benefit of a garden leave clause is that it keeps the employee from taking up other employment with a competitor and enables the employee's successor to establish himself. The employee is also no longer privy to the company's confidential information and what information they do have will become out of date. Garden leave must be created expressly by a clause in a contract and is also subject to a test of reasonableness with regard to its duration.
Remedies for breach of restrictive covenants
If an employer has reason to believe that an employee has breached the post-termination restriction, the most common remedy sought is an injunction (or interdict in Scotland). An application will generally be made for an interlocutory injunction and delivery or destruction of confidential information. This means that the court will be asked to stop the employee in his tracks and hear the full evidence at a later date in another trial. Where an employer claims a financial remedy or damages for breach of a restrictive covenant in an employment contract, the employer will need to show some loss resulting from the breach. This will normally be loss of profits on contracts or opportunities diverted by the employee.
Team moves
Team moves between competing businesses have become a hot issue as businesses try and poach teams of employees from profitable parts of their competitors' businesses. Restrictive covenants will usually feature heavily in team move litigation if they are included in departing employees' employment contracts. Once an employer becomes aware that there may be a raid on its employees, it is important to act quickly to determine the best strategy to protect its position. Recent case law has demonstrated an increased willingness by the courts to uphold post termination restrictions in favour of employers. For employers looking to recruit teams, careful planning and execution will be necessary to avoid the pitfalls. If not properly handled a team recruitment drive will be found to be an unlawful poaching exercise.
Practical tips
Legal action in this area can involve a substantial amount of time and money so it is important for employers to understand their commercial objectives from the outset. Employers should consider what they want to achieve and the commercial implications of taking a particular stance on restrictive covenants in relation to publicity, client relationships, management time and cost. Evidence gathering in the form of emails, telephone recording print logs and the identification of weak links will be key. Credible evidence of wrongdoing will create a position of strength from which to negotiate an advantageous statement
No Win No Fee
No Win No Fee arrangements (or Conditional Fee Arrangements; CFAs) ensure that if you do not win your accident claim, you do not have to pay your solicitor a fee. Insurance will cover you against the other side's costs and expenses. If you win your no win no fee claim, you should receive your compensation free of any deductions, as your solicitor's costs should be paid by the other side.
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Have you been involved in a Road traffic accident that wasn't your fault, find out more about how we can help.
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A Connecticut judge has agreed to extradite a man suspected in rapes along the East Coast from Connecticut to Virginia.
New Haven Superior Court Judge Roland Fasano said Monday he would proceed with the extradition of Aaron Thomas.
Thomas was arrested in March in his hometown of New Haven. Authorities say DNA confirmed that he is responsible for rapes and other attacks on 17 women from Virginia to Connecticut over the span of a decade.
Virginia prosecutors petitioned to have Thomas face trial first in their state, and Connecticut officials agreed to the extradition request.
Thomas pleaded not guilty in March to a charge of raping a woman in New Haven in 2007.
Copyright AP - Associated Press


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What's that manure worth? There's an app for that.
Actually, the smartphone app from the University of Arkansas helps estimate the dollar and nutrient value of manure as a crop input, according to a news release.
The app was developed by Dharmendra Saraswat, an associate professor and Extension engineer, in collaboration with Karl VanDevender, a professor and Extension engineer.
The app, known as Manure Valuator, is based on the premise that the monetary value of manure is linked to the market value for inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers that the animal waste is replacing.
This means the value of manure depends on crop N, P and K recommendations, the manure N, P and K content, and the amount applied.
Users enter the cost of commercial fertilizer either on a dollar per-ton or dollar per-pound basis.
If dollar per-ton values are used, the app converts them to dollars per pound of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Then users enter the crop's N, P and K needs, ideally based on recent soil test recommendations.
They also select one of 18 different choices of dry and liquid manure.
After the desired manure application rate is entered, the app calculates N, P and K fertilizer replacement value. Users also can play "what if" to evaluate the effects of different rates.
Download the free app at the iTunes Store, or Google Play Store.


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Cakespy: Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Filling Recipe
Quirky, cute, sometimes controversial, always delicious recipes from Jessie Oleson.
Jessie Oleson (aka Cakespy) drops by every Monday to share a delicious dessert recipe. —The Mgmt.
Here in Seattle, every March something extremely joyful happens: all of the cupcake shops debut their individual takes on boozy Irish-themed cupcakes.
However, for those of you not in Seattle (or someplace that embraces Irish-inspired cake flavors as readily), fear not, because I've found a recipe to share, for Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Filling. It's an adaptation of the now legendary version first found last year on Smitten Kitchen, with some small liberties taken. Amazingly, while the alcohol is very much present in these cakes, it somehow manages to not be overpowering, instead imparting sophisticated flavor to the frosting and filling and a decadent, fudgy texture to the cake.
What's New On Serious Eats
- Yield:about 20 cupcakes
- Rated:
- For the cupcakes:
- 1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup sour cream (full fat is best)
- For the filling:
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup Bailey's Irish Cream (the original recipe calls for 2/3 heavy cream and no Bailey's in the filling, but I found it increased the awesome quotient just a little bit)
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey
- For the frosting
- Note: If you want lots of frosting on each cake, go ahead and double this recipe
- 3 to 4 cups confections' sugar
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 to 4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream (or more, to taste)
Get ready: pre-heat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.
Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
In a separate large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just until combined.
Add the dry mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way (I found that they don't rise an incredible amount, so it was OK to fill them pretty close to the top). Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly. The original recipe suggested 17 minutes, but I found it took more like 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
Note: If you don't let them cool completely before filling, they will taste good--but they won't look so pretty. Here's an example (I couldn't resist trying one right away)
While your cupcakes cool, go ahead and make the filling. Chop the chocolate into coarse but roughly even pieces, and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until it is simmering (but not boiling) and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for about a minute and then stir until smooth. (Note: Per the original recipe, if this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler or give it 20 seconds in the microwave to help the chocolate get sufficiently melty.) Add the butter, Irish Cream, and whiskey and stir until combined.
Make space for the filling. The original recipe suggests using an apple corer to cut out a section from your cooled cupcakes to fill, but lacking one I found that the cake is sturdy enough that if you gently cut out a circle using a small, sharp knife, it works just fine. You want to cut halfway to 2/3 of the way down--not too far down or your filling might ooze out the bottom. You don't want to lose a single drop.
Fill the cupcakes. You can pipe in the filling, or if it is still pretty smooth and fluid, you can just spoon it in.
Make the frosting. In an electric mixer, mix the butter on medium speed until it is very fluffy. Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar, starting with a few tablespoons at a time of your sugar until the frosting looks thick enough to spread (for me, this was about 2 cups). At this point, add in the Irish Cream and whip it until combined. Beat in as much or as little of the remaining confectioners' sugar until the frosting has reached your desired consistency.
Frost your cupcakes. If you want to get fancy, pipe the frosting on top in swirls or whirls—but if you just want to eat the cupcakes, frost using a spatula, garnish with a little something green, and get eating.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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To discuss article changes, please use:
If you see comments on this page, they remain for archive purposes.
Should this article be longer?
Template:Attention Hi, I was thinking that this article seemed, well, a little to short. Does anyone have any ideas to expand this article. I'm sure their is a bit more history to this character. Thanks:)TheAmazingScooter (talk) 09:02, September 23, 2012 (UTC)TheAmazingScooter
- I don't see how we should expand anything. He's a got a rather big trivia section, a sketch table, filmography and book appearances. What more is there? Shoe size? - Oscarfan (talk) 16:57, September 23, 2012 (UTC)
- That's the thing, though. For such a significant character, the biography is really sparse (in part probably because we later merged the sketch table below, but it still seems really tiny). Much of the "Notes" section (especially elements such as the voice) could and should be merged as well. Even a better discussion of his role as a magician would help (how it was initially as a stage showman, but how his wand created real magic, especially wreaking havoc in street storylines, not just "going wrong," and a discussion of those street episodes, video appearances like A Magical Halloween Adventure where he plays a major plot role, and he even served as a deus ex machina in at least one stage show, Sleeping Birdie. One could also discuss how in recent seasons, Abby Cadabby has assumed that role, as supplier of magic gone awry, and in the books and stories, there's stuff to be noted, from his relationships with his rabbits (outside of the photo puppet pic, itself from Big Bird's Busy Book, the rabbits or at least one rabbit were a staple in the books and stories but in skits, it involved turning himself or others into bunnies and so on) to the fact that he lives in a castle, not far from Count von Count. I'll tackle a rewrite later, when I both have time and can gather some of the materials (and just check the Wiki itself to better incorporate the street appearances). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 02:13, September 24, 2012 (UTC)
Different magic words in "Surprise" trick
I've got a video clip of the "Surprise" trick on my PC: in that clip, Mumford uses "Peanut butter" alone (not "A la peanut butter sandwiches") as his magic words. Should that be noted in the article and/or the sketch synopsis? -- Ingeborg 17:22, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
- By the way, I ran across that same video clip on the Net tonight (YouTube). It definitely sounds like a different man behind the puppet; this is probably Mumford's debut sketch, between the voice and the different magic words. -- Ingeborg 00:56, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
- It's not a different puppeteer (just Jerry Nelson using a Fred Allen voice, rather than the W. C. Fields inflection). Feel free to add the different word to the synopsis, but anything about first appearance is just speculation (however well founded) without sources for debut episode and dates. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 04:07, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
Amazing Ralph
In the program summary for Episode 0305 that's in the CTW archives, the description of the Mumford/Grover sketch calls him "the Amazing Ralph". Does Grover actually call him by name in the disappearing pineapples sketch? If not, then is it possible that the character was originally known as "the Amazing Ralph", and then his name was changed to Mumford? -- Danny (talk) 23:49, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
- Grover never refers to him as such. -- MuppetDude 22:23, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
John Kennedy
Does anyone know what John Kennedy's one line was? --Pantalones 19:23, 20 March 2006 (UTC)


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Friday, December 16, 2011
What Gentle Parenting Looks Like
Yes, I do strive to always be responsive to my son. I try to maintain a positive outlook, to be supportive, to use gentle guidance instead of punishment, to be patient, and to keep my own emotions in check. But I'm human. And I have my own baggage. And I wasn't raised this way. And I'm not naturally patient or calm. And he's a toddler.
So sometimes I falter. Sometimes I feel resentful when my own needs go neglected too long. Sometimes I get sick of playing the same game 20 times, of cleaning up messes, of answering the same question over and over again, of repeating myself, of hearing him repeat himself, of whining, crying, and the whole lot. Sometimes I am just too darn tired to deal. While I don't use punishment, I do sometimes yell or say things I don't really mean. Sometimes I look like any other parent of a toddler.
So how is that "gentle" parenting? I think it's largely a matter of attitude and motivation. I don't condone my own shortcomings, nor do I dwell on feeling guilty about them. I apologize for my behavior to my son when I act in ways I don't want to. Then I make concerted efforts to do things differently, and tell him I am doing so. I reflect on what's driving my own emotions, then take steps to care for myself and heal myself if necessary. Sometimes I repeat my mistakes. So I try again. And again. I just keep trying. Parenting is, after all, a lifelong practice.
I also have an intense desire to be a better parent today than I was yesterday. I make that commitment every day and I make it a conscious choice. It's a decision that takes high priority in my life, but it is a decision I have to make repeatedly. I can't take it for granted that I'm just parenting along fine all the time. Even when things are going well, I still take time to consider how and why they are good so I can nurture those qualities. Over time, I believe those positive aspects of my parenting will become so habitual that my shortfalls will become less frequent and less intense. I'm growing with my son.
However, I think maybe the real trick to gentle parenting is being gentle to the parent. What I've found is that when I am patient with myself, I am patient with my son. When I put my basic needs first, I can easily tend to his. When I allow myself to experience and process my own emotions - however ugly or beautiful - I handle my son's emotions with sensitivity and compassion.
Don't get me wrong, my son's needs do come first. Sometimes his needs are in direct conflict with mine and I have to negotiate how and when to address my own needs. Those are challenging situations that I work on as they arise. Sometimes clarity comes with hindsight, but the point is I'm always looking, always trying to learn, always open.
More importantly, I am learning to love myself through those stressful circumstances so that I can show him the unconditional love that I feel for him, too. Self-love is a wellspring of unconditional love, the place where I find positivity, undying patience, and emotional well being. It's where I find my guide to gentle parenting.
4 comments:
You said it, sister!ReplyDelete
Trust Your Child. Love Yourself.
That's enough, isn't it?
I have less than a minute to comment and could write a novel here but basically, YOU ROCK! Honest post that every mama can relate to. I nodded my head the entire way through. This forgive ourselves thing is tough. The beauty of being less than perfect parents all the time is that our children DO forgive us and LOVE us. We just need to do the same for ourselves. Loved this post!ReplyDelete
This is so honest, and so beautifully expressed! I was particularly struck by this part: "What I've found is that when I am patient with myself, I am patient with my son. When I put my basic needs first, I can easily tend to his." I find the very same to be true in my own life, but it's always a challenge for me to remember to check in with my own needs and to be patient with myself. It's definitely a learning and growing process!ReplyDelete
@Hybrid Rasta Mama, very eloquent for 60 seconds of commenting! You're right, kids do forgive us, but only if we allow them to by forgiving ourselves.ReplyDelete
@Melissa, most definitely a learning process! I'm not always so great at the self-love either, but I keep working at it :)


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The Ohio State University Marching Band is back again with another impressive show bringing pop culture to the field, this time taking on Hollywood with a medley of blockbuster themes.
The 192-member marching band took on the iconic imagery of the silver screen with references to "Superman," "The Lord of the Rings" and even "Harry Potter."
Last week the band paid homage to the king of pop Michael Jackson, reenacting Jackson's classic moonwalk dance on the football field.
U.S. & World
The band also covered several of Jackson's classic songs during the special halftime homecoming show of Ohio State's game against Iowa Saturday.
Watch the band's show above.


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At the 2009 Tribal Celebration, Terry Miller, Sachem Least Painted Ground, was named the 80th Presiding Chieftain of the Tribe of Mic-O-Say.
As a youth, Terry was a Boy Scout in Troop 278 in Independence, MO where he earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
Terry is a charter member of Troop 218 at the Church of the Ascension in Overland Park, KS where he has served in the capacity of Committee Chairman, Eagle Advisor and Charter Organization Representative. His son, Ross, earned the rank of Eagle Scout with Troop 218.
Terry serves the Heart of America Council as a member of the Executive Board and Executive Committee. In 2007 and 2008, he served as the Council President.
Terry received the highest award that can be bestowed by the Heart of America Council, the Silver Beaver Award.
Terry holds an undergraduate and a graduate degree in architecture from the University of Kansas and is currently the CEO of HNTB Architecture, a national architectural and engineering company with offices through the country.


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Sure, Rihanna will take her clothes off. But only if it's classy, and never just for the money.
The Barbados-born songbird told Hot 97's "The Angie Martinez Show" she's been approached by a men's magazine we all know, but so far, it just hasn't felt right.
"I got a few offers to do Playboy actually. They want to pay (me) to be naked on the cover," she said. "If I'm gonna to take my clothes off, it has to be in a classy way and (because of) my will, not a check. I wouldn't take any money to do that."
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Rihanna, 22, just released her fifth album, "Loud."
Selected Reading: Today, New York Daily News, Popeater.


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Plum, hazelnut & chocolate cake
Nutrition and extra info
- Freezable
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal581
- fat39g
- saturates15g
- carbs51g
- sugars33g
- fibre4g
- protein9g
- salt0.83g
- 175g butter, plus extra for greasing
Butter is a dairy product made from separating whole milk or cream into fat and…
- 500g plums
The juiciest fruit in the stone fruit family, plums come in many different varieties, some sweet…
- 175g light muscovado sugar
- 175g self-raising flour
- 175g ground hazelnuts
Grown in Europe and the US, hazelnuts are encased in a smooth, hard brown shell but are most…
- 3 eggs
The ultimate convenience food, eggs are powerhouses of nutrition packed with protein and a…
- 1 tsp baking powder
Baking powderbay-king pow-dah
Baking powder is a raising agent that is commonly used in cake-making. It is made from an alkali…
- 50g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa), chopped
Dark chocolatedahk chok-o-let
Dark chocolate means the shiny, dark-reddish brown treat produced from the cacao bean, theobroma…
- 2 tbsp hazelnuts
Grown in Europe and the US, hazelnuts are encased in a smooth, hard brown shell but are most…
- 2 tbsp redcurrant, damson or plum jelly
The juiciest fruit in the stone fruit family, plums come in many different varieties, some sweet…
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the base of a round 20cm cake tin. Halve and stone 4 plums, set aside for later, then roughly chop the remaining plums.
Put the sugar, butter, flour, ground hazelnuts, eggs and baking powder into a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer for 1-2 mins, until smooth and light. Stir in the chopped plums and chocolate, then tip into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top.
Arrange the halved plums over the top of the mixture, pressing them down lightly, then scatter over hazelnuts. Bake for 40-50 mins until the top is golden and the cake feels firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out, remove the paper and cool on a wire rack. Heat the jelly, then brush over the top of the cake before serving.


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It is not often I run across a post on Facebook, or other social networks, that really captures my attention. Today was a much different story! As I scrolled through my newsfeed, I came across a post that not only captured my attention, but held my attention. The story of self truth realized through a tough experience. Letting his friends and followers into a personal journey that may be embarrassing for some to discuss, Actor, Best Selling Auther and founder of Natoni Cosmetics Anttoni Lopez shares the story of his personal relationship…and its end.
1 year married 2 years Divorced
By Anttoni Lopez
1 year married 2 years Divorced Written by Anttoni Lopez As I held the divorce papers in my hand all I could say was Did I fail? Did I try enough? Was it me? What happen? These are the questions I ask myself still till this day. This pain is a pain I never felt before. A feeling like your locked in a room and there is no way out. We started off dating March of 2011 I remember that day because that was the day you made your self known. You looked so handsome in your outfit and everytime I looked over my shoulder you was there. We didn't exchange numbers that night, but I knew I would see you again.
Two weeks later we met at a mutual friends gathering and we hit it off. We talked for hours and forget everyone was there. We didn't care because at that point we knew it was gonna be us. Before I left you that night you said to me "You know I'm going to marry you?" I laughed and said yea ok. By the 3rd week of March 2011 we officially became a couple. For the next 6 months everything was good and then we were selected to get married on the day the Same-Sex marriage bill was passed here in New York 7-24-11.
That day changed my life forever. All I ever dreamed about was being married, having a great career, and having my very own family. That changed! We would argue about anything and everything. At times it was just to much. Then 1 year later we had a big fall out and he packed his bags and moved out of our apartment. I was stuck and lost. I mean there was no cheating or lies on my part so why leave? For the next 4 months I tried everything and anything to win him back. I went to counseling and even tried to get marriage counseling for the both of us and it didn't work. We went to one session and you told me I can't do this no more.
I cried for so long because my life was falling apart. My career wasn't going anywhere, my money was running low, my marriage was over, I lost friends I mean I didn't have anyone. All I could do was turn to GOD and pray. What made it worst was that he was doing interviews and writing about me and our marriage calling it toxic and poisonous and I never mentioned anything about our marriage until now. I had to read all this from the man I say I do to and that made me feel like shit. It took me until March of 2014 to file for the divorce. I had to make the choice for me and my life.
The email I got from you after you got summoned for court was priceless. The part that hit me was this "THANK YOU for finally taking an initiative to resolve this broken union. I will be handling expeditiously. I am happy to be able to finally move on with my personal life and dedicate time to the person who has been by my side through this meandering transition of severing ties with you. If not for you, I would not have found my new relationship and real anchor in this journey of life." Damn so you are still married and in a committed relationship? Sounds to me like adultery! Doesn't it?
"I am very happy for you and your new found love" was what I said and it will be easier now for you to sign the divorce papers and for us to move on. In the past 2 years I have launched my own cosmetics line called Na~Toni cosmetics, I am working on my second book, and have been cast for some upcoming new films and projects, booking more photo shoots and fashion shows. Life couldn't be better and I thank you for leaving me because I found a new me. All it took was 1 year of marriage and 2 years divorce for me to open my eyes.
What an amazing admission of self truth! I do hope you too will find strength in this personal story shared with us. It goes to prove that time stops for no person, and you determine what will be made of the time we all have left.
To learn more about Anttoni Lopez find him on Instagram @Anttoni_lopez / Twitter @Anttonilopez / Facebook Anttoni Lopez – Www.natonicosmetics.com


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Taylor Swift may have painted herself into a corner.
The squeaky-clean country singer was celebrating songstress Katy Perry's 25th birthday over the weekend at a star-studded Willy Wonka-themed party in Hollywood when she was photographed arm-in-arm with a party guest who appeared to have a red swastika emblazoned on his T-shirt.
Partygoers had been told to wear all white and left the party covered in neon paint.
U.S. & World
A photo showing Swift -- wearing a white dress with "JH" painted on the front -- with her arm wrapped around the unknown partygoer in his swastika shirt was published on a website by someone who claims to be the individual in the photograph and the singer's new boyfriend.
"Taylor Swift and I are officially dating," the poster wrote.
A rep for Swift told gossip site TMZ that "Taylor took pictures with about 100 people that night ... she doesn't know who this guy is and she didn't realize what was on his shirt."
Photos of Taylor dancing with the unnamed individual in the background also surfaced after the Saturday night bash.
Taylor tweeted about the party but made no mention of the racist shirt.
"Katyperry knows how to throw a birthday party!" she posted on her Twitter page just after midnight on Sunday. "I would even go as far as to say it was party-licious. Best EVER. Happy bday, pretty girl!!"
Stars Russell Brand, Julianne Hough were among the party guests.


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If you're trying to make it in show biz, is there a better person to have in your corner than Ryan Seacrest?
When thirteen-year-old YouTube phenom Rebecca Black vaulted to fame (or infamy) with her viral hit "Friday," oh those mere weeks ago, Seacrest took her under his wing and set her up with a manager. And now, Hollywood Reporter has learned, he's handpicked her to cover the orange carpet at Saturday night's Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles.
The award show will be hosted by Jack Black and will honor the year's top books, movies, TV shows, and actors favored by the younger set. The ubiquitous Justin Bieber is among the honorees, of course. Will Rebecca be able to fulfill her dream of singing a duet with him?
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
The award show will air on Friday, April 8 at 5pm on Nickelodeon, and in the meantime, you can check out Rebecca's coverage of the event on Seacrest's website. To those who assumed Rebecca's success would be a flash in the pan, take note: she's not going anywhere just yet. After all, she just won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Selected Reading: WSJ, The Examiner