text:
The Impact of Collegial Instruction on Peers' Pedagogical Knowledge (PK): An EFL Case Study
Farnaz Latif*
Department of English, Khourasgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khourasgan, Iran.
Shared responsibilities such as mentoring, instruction, learner monitoring and classroom management enable the peers to observe, review, reflect on and learn from the overall practical professional expertise of one another through collegial instruction experience. The present exploratory case study has The present exploratory case study has attempted to study collegial teaching as an innovative instruction model (as an alternative to solo-based instruction models) in a General Business English course in SAPco (An automotive part supplier in Iran). To this end, the researcher has mainly tried to concentrate on two expert business English teachers' perceptions concerning their experience of collegial teaching for business English courses, observing their reflections before and after the course, to focus on the possible impacts of this type of instruction on their pedagogical knowledge as language teacher. As a result, as it is indicated in overall reflections of the participant colleagues, collegial instruction is believed to lead toward a more efficient transferability and development of teachers' pedagogical knowledge than what can take place as a result of individually run traditional practices. Moreover, this type of instruction can be a rather cost-effective and timesaving alternative to traditional OJT (on the job training) courses for teacher development authorities and curriculum developers who are concerned about and willing to promote professional development of their teachers.
Keywords: Professional Development, Collegial Teaching, Pedagogical Knowledge, Collegial Professional Development, Peer-Based Learning.
Professional development entails different components which have been viewed from different perspectives e.g. Day (1999) presented seven common ingredients of efficient professional development, which areinspiration (sharing visions), exposition, discussion, opportunities for cross reference of standards, training in newskills, opportunities to experiment, and coaching. On the other hand, Adey (2004, p.194) reported 14 factors essential for effective professional development as listed below:
1. The Innovation
1a. has an adequate theory base
1b. introduces methods for which there is evidence of effectiveness
1c. is supported with appropriate high quality materials
2. The PD (professional development) program
2a. is of sufficient length and intensity
2b. uses methods which reflect the teaching methods being introduced
2c. includes provision for in-school coaching
3. Senior management in the school (s)
3a. are committed to the innovation
3b. share their vision with the implementing department leaders
3c. institute necessary structural change to ensure maintenance
4. The teachers
4a. work in a group to share experiences
4b.communicate effectively amongst themselves about the innovation
4c. are given an opportunity to develop a sense of ownership of the innovation
4d. are supported in questioning their beliefs about teaching and learning
4e. have plenty of opportunity for practice and reflection
It is proposed that regardless of the varying feature of the aforementioned factors, English language teachers require effective professional development to keep up with the rapidly growing and changing educational developments. To this end, it is initially necessary to refer to Murat Hismanoglu's (2010, 990–95) classification of effective professional development strategies in the proceeding sections.
This strategy is based on reciprocal visits of two colleague teachers whereby they share and swap their feedbacks about their own teaching practices. In this method each teacher acts as a coach and a coachee. This would create sustainability while being cost effective by engaging each participant as an equal partner in the process. Of further advantages of peer-coaching one can refer to the following which has been proposed by Thorn et al. (2007):
Since peer coaching is a professional interaction it provides supportive and developmental context for both peers. Thus, it will be beneficial for language teachers who are required to learn and use new language items and cultural practices.
Study Groups
This strategy comprises a number of teachers and administrators willing to exchange ideas, plan lessons, analyze students' works and even discuss school policy (Murphy, 1992), so these groups form their interactions around scripts or agendas called protocols (Birchak et al., 1998). The discussions can be of great importance in terms of leaning about other teachers' teaching methods and strategies and reflecting the effective ones to their own classrooms. However, such key notions are to be paid some attention as the size of the groups (ideally six people for each group), the frequency and regularity of the meetings, the necessity of group leaders and representatives and so forth (Joyce& Showers, 1995); otherwise, it can turn into a mess rather than a collaborative and coherent educational setting.
Action Research
Action research is a process in which participants examine their own educational practice systematically and carefully, using the techniques of research (Ferrance, 2000). In this way of professional development, teachers and principals work on the problems they have identified for themselves by helping each other collaboratively. Thus, some useful guidelines in the following should be followed by the participants in action research:
Mentoring is a form of personal and professional partnership which generally involves a more experienced practitioner supporting a less experienced one who is usually new to the job, organization or profession (Butcher, 2002). Mentoring calls for mentors to be masters of certain standard practices including such abilities as:
Teaching Portfolios
Teaching portfolio can be helpful for teachers' professional development in terms of course planning and preparation, actual teaching presentation, evaluation and feedback provision process, and currency in the field (Seldin, 1993). Thus, Edgerton et al. (1991) describe portfolios as follows:
In-service Training
In-service training is described as a planned event, series of events or extended program of accredited or non accredited learning in order to differentiate it from less formal in-school development work and extended partnerships and inter school networks (Day, 1999). As Özen affirms, swift changes occur to be "in today's world and, as professionals, teachers should keep up with this rapid progress." Therefore, these programs are good at providing teachers with the opportunity to gain insight into teaching experiences, reflect on classroom practice and cope with change and divergence (Hiep,2001).
Collegial Teaching (Team Teaching)
Collegial Teaching (team teaching) has been defined as a mutual instructional process in which two or more teachers share the responsibility for teaching a class together. Through collegial practice, the colleagues join the instruction and mutually deal with the course materials development, syllabus design, lesson plan, assessment and any follow-up work associated with the class. On the one hand, this type of innovative instruction entails a cycle of collegial (team) planning, teaching, and follow-up processes. It has often been reported by the participant colleagues that this type of shared teaching is more collegial planning than collegial teaching, though. On the other hand, the subsequent processes of shared planning, decision making, teaching, and reviewing can serve as a powerful medium of collaborative learning. However, regardless of demanding implementation, collegial teaching entails ample benefits for the participant instructors among which the following can be presented (Bailey, 1996):
To implement collegial teaching efficiently, it is quintessential to maintain both colleagues' interests and enthusiasm in long run. To this end he following steps can be taken:
1. Goal setting
At this stage the program developers decide on the underlying purpose of the team teaching they are going to assign to a peer and determine whether they are looking forward to assigning teaching tasks to new teachers, assisting novice teachers to develop their teaching skills, give senior teachers mentorship opportunities by establishing a greater sense of collegiality within the institution, or simply giving a break to teachers from their usual teaching routines.
2. Preparation
Considering collegial teaching as an innovative instructional procedure, it will work best incase the teachers have a clear perception of the program goals, the procedures and possible problems to be anticipated while program implementation. Thus, to achieve a better outcome, it is advisory to encourage peers to go through a planning and discussion process and make decisions on different participant roles and the required preparation procedures. This can be carried out in sessions which are set up in a seminar format during which both teachers share their views and experiences on collegial instruction with others and elaborate on how they would run different types of team-instructed lessons. At this stage the colleagues are recommended to hold a few trial sessions before implementing the plan in a wider scale. This could further help planning on the course, developing materials and deciding on the activities to be adopted in the collegial instruction.
3. Addressing peers' concerns
It is recommended to the collegial teaching program supervisors or coordinators to clarify the goals of the program and give the peers the opportunity to know the relationship between these goals and their professional developments. In other words, it is believed that collegial teaching may not be for everyone and normally it would be more effective when teachers participate on a voluntary basis. They should respect teachers' concerns such as, their concerns regarding financial profit to the peers, timing procedure, selecting the peers to work with, the result of diverse teaching styles, possible disagreements between colleagues, putting all the responsibilities on one colleagues' shoulder, students' positive attitude toward one of he colleagues compared to the other, and evaluation.
4. Deciding on the instruction model
The peers are required to consider appropriate teaching method for collegial instruction. Particularly if the colleagues participate on a voluntary basis, the choice of partners will crucial.
5. Monitoring progress
While the collegial instruction is being implemented, both teachers should discuss after every session over the success of the lesson, the students' feedbacks and how to improve the instruction in the coming sessions. In other words, through regular post-course meetings both teachers discuss the problems they are facing and try to look for a solution to resolve these problems.
Table 1.
J. C. Richards & T.S. Farrell (2005, 166-7)
Students can answer the following questions:
Teachers' can answer the following questions:
1. Do you think your English has improved through team teaching? In what ways?
1. What are the advantages of team teaching?
2. Are you interested in learning English when your classes are taught this way?
2. What are the disadvantages of team teaching?
3. How do these classes differ from other classes you have?
3. How do you think it affects the students' language learning?
4. Would you like to continue studying English this was?
4. Do you think your students enjoyed this mode of teaching?
5. What suggestions would you like to make to improve the existing team-teaching program?
6. Would you like to continue with this way of teaching English?
6. Evaluating the output:
To evaluate the outcome of collegial instruction, it is necessary to find out what was learnt and whether it is worth continuing this practice. In this regard, both teachers and students' views should be considered. In the following tables you can find different questions that both teachers and students can answer to evaluate the efficiency of the collegial teaching program.
In summary, the collegial instruction practice enables both peers to observe, review, reflect on and learn from the overall practical professional expertise of one another via shared responsibilities such as mentoring, instruction, learner monitoring and classroom management. Thus, through observing, being involved in and reflecting on their mutual practice in a team- taught course, peer colleagues can further increase their awareness of their knowledge base in general and their pedagogical knowledge in particular. In order to illustrate an instance of this collaborative instruction experience the present exploratory case study has been carried out. In this paper it is attempted to present collegial instruction(as an alternative to solo-based instruction models) as an innovative model of teaching General Business English Courses in SAPCO ( an automotive part supplier company in Iran).
The present exploratory case study has been carried out to explore two General Business English instructors' teachers' perceptions regarding collegial instruction in general and the particular impact of this innovative instruction model on their pedagogical knowledge. Thus, in this study the researcher has attempted to answer the following questions:
To explore the answer of the four mentioned research questions two General Business English instructors with at least 10 years overall of experience in teaching English were selected and participated in a 6-month case study in the language department of SAPCO(an automotive part supplier company). However, both teachers were not only directly engaged in the process of instruction but also in planning, materials development, modification and assessment. After preliminary meetings with the head of the training department and reviewing the needs and demand of the company a workshop -based course was designed called "Professional English". The mentioned course was a General Business English course which was designed and developed as the follow up and complementary course to a series of Business skills classes ( socializing, telephoning, meeting and business correspondences , presentations and negotiations) held in the same training department previously. The developed course was rather like a workshop-based which was managed via application of means of technology (video projector, DVD player, Computers, electronic dictionary, etc.). The course materials were prepared and presented in MS power point slides. The classes were held two hours a week. It should be mentioned that the teachers had both been colleagues in that department for 5 years but they had experienced solo-based classroom instruction and it was their first collegial instruction experience.
Participant colleagues performed collegial instruction in three classes of Professional English. The instructors had an hour post-session meeting everyday (after every session) to reflect on what they have been though and decide on further modifications in the materials or tasks for the coming session.
Data Collection
The data collection of the present study was carried out in two major different phase illustrated below (Figure1):
Figure 1.Data collection procedure
Pre-study interview
To start the data collection process, the researcher attempted to develop a list of interview questions to carryout the "pre-study" interview. Thus, the categories of teacher's pedagogical knowledge were adopted from Gabonton (1999 p.168).Then the researcher asked a consultant to assist her to modify and restate categories to form interview questions. To conduct the pre-study interview, primarily the researcher had an interview with each of the participant colleagues to collect their reflections on the concept of teacher knowledge in general and teacher's pedagogical knowledge in particular. This was to evaluate their pre-study background information on the concept of pedagogy in language teaching. In other words, through this phase of data collection, the researcher could have access to the participant instructors' perceived pedagogical knowledge components to answer the first research question. This interview questions are presented in Appendix A.
Pre-lesson interview
During the next phase the participant colleagues were interviewed with a set of questions (Appendix B) which were developed based on their responses in the pre-study interview stage. During 8 sessions of the collegial instruction, the teachers were both interviewed before they attend the class. Then the responses were carefully collected and coded for data analysis. This phase was particularly carried out to help the researcher come up with the responses to the second research question which looks for the participants' perceptions concerning collegial instruction before they actually start the course in general and every session in particular.
Post lesson interview
This phase occurred after every session of collegial instruction. The interviewer asked the same questions as in the pre-session interview to compare the participant colleague's perceptions before and after practicing collegial instruction. Finally the researcher went through careful content coding and comparative study to explore convergence or divergence between the participant peers' responses before and after the course in general and every session in particular (Appendix C). This phase and the proceeding acted as facilitators to figure out the responses to the 4th and 5th research questions.
Non-participatory observation
At this phase, the classes of the participant colleagues were recorded and observed. In other words, 8 sessions of non-participatory classroom observations (McDonough & McDonough, 1997) were carried out to obtain information about participant instructors' actual teaching practices. Then, specific episodes of events observed during the lessons and the accompanying observer's field notes were used to generate discussion topics during post-lesson interviews. The video recordings of the lesson observations were also transcribed, as were the accompanying observer's field notes. Lesson plans as well as instructional materials and exercises were also collected. The observer filled up in the following checklist after every session of observation. This phase took place every session and after the classes finished. The transcribed data after observations and the responses of the instructors to the post-session interview were studied for accurate coding and segmentation. The underlying purpose of observation was to study and explore the similarity and differences between what the teachers stated and what they actually have been through in actual classroom practice. In addition, to ensure the validity of the collected data in two interview sessions and to conduct a frequency analysis procedure the frequency of the extracted patterns of teacher's pedagogical knowledge practice and their perceptions needs to be estimated (Appendix D).
Data Analysis
The qualitative data analysis conducted by the researcher and a paid consultant involved content analysis of the participant colleagues' thoughts and perceptions in their responses to the 3-series interview (pre-study, pre-session and post-session) at one phase and extracting the salient patterns and themes from observation transcript coding at another phase. On the other hand, the quantitative data analysis noted the frequency of the resulted themes in the aforementioned qualitative analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were used in order to derive a more comprehensive picture of the data than could be obtained from each analysis alone.
According to the findings of the present case study, as an answer to the first research question, both participant colleagues were ,mainly, pedagogically concerned about the pace of the class, discipline in the classroom , freely adopting instructional creativity in the classroom , instructor's confidence, equal and fair participation opportunities for the instructors , successful class management and appropriate lesson plan deployment.
On the other hand, when the researcher delved into the colleague instructors' perceptions concerning collegial instruction, to answer the second research question, before and after the course in general and every session in particular, she illustrated the contradiction between the instructors' pre- and post-session perceptions. For instance, as it is illustrate in Table 2 (Appendix E) there is a contradiction between the first teachers's pre- and post-session stated perceptions. In other words, although the first teacher primarily had stated her concern about the possible inappropriateness of the class pace in the collegially instructed classes and the ineffectiveness of time management, her post-session interview analysis illustrates an opposite statement. In other words, unlike her pre-session, at the post-session interview she claimed that it would be rather time saving and the pace of the class would be adequate if collegial instruction is replaced by solo-based instruction.
In addition, although at the pre-session interview phase both colleagues had considered a rather "personal attribute for teaching ethics" which is rather "resistant and inflexible toward any possible changes", in the post-session phase, after observing the change in their believed ethics, they revised their claims and asserted on the changeable dimension of the teaching ethics. They further emphasized on the impact of collegial instruction ethics on one another as an influential factor which leads to ethical change.
Furthermore, contrary to the pre-session interview statements, at the post-session interview phase both teachers stated that "strictness and discipline are not only transferable but also can be instructed". They claimed that they could successfully experience such a phenomenon in the case of collegial instruction.
Moreover, both teachers believed that "collegial instruction will enhance their confidence as instructors "and "would give them the opportunity to act creatively in the class".
Nevertheless, unlike peers' pre-session concerns about probable inadequate preparedness and inappropriate lesson planning at the post session interviews both of them stated that they could experience "efficient lesson planning and organization during the course". This fact was further emphasized when both teachers agreed that "efficient time management can be guaranteed through collegial instruction particularly via responsibility sharing of the peers and efficient balance between peers' talking time".
Observed collegially- taught Session Evaluation
In order to ensure the validity of the qualitative data analysis and to respond to the third and fourth research questions, eight sessions of the collegially instructed class were observed. After transcribing the observation film recordings and reviewing the field notes the following categories were extracted into categories to calculate their occurrence frequency in 8 sessions. The counted numbers were then transferred into percentage to develop table 3. As it is illustrated in table 3, majority of the observed sessions
Table 2.
Outline of 8 Sample Collegially–Instructed Sessions' Evaluation
Observed Classroom Practices
Occurrence percentage
Appropriate pace
Organized lesson plan
Equal opportunity for both peers to participate.
Successful class management
were held in an appropriate pace and based on an organized lesson plan. Moreover, during most of the sessions both of the peers were given equal opportunities to participate in classroom instruction. In addition, instances of creative and well organized (disciplined) instruction were frequently observed during the course. Finally the class seemed to be controlled efficiently.
To compare both colleagues' statements at the pre- and post-session interviews with their observed classroom practice the following tables are drawn (tables 4&5). As it is listed in the tables(4&5), extracted from the interview coding and content analysis, both teachers seemed to be concerned about issues such as time management, assigned responsibility accomplishment, freedom to employ creativity, confidence and discipline in a collegially instructed classroom. To show the traces of their beliefs in their classroom practices the frequency of the listed concerns was estimated.
Table 3.
1st Teacher's Performance
1st teacher's observed classroom practices as compared to her concerns
Occurrence percentage
To follow up the assigned timing
To stick to the lesson plan procedures assigned to her
To have enough opportunity to take part in class instruction
To work on her creativity
To be confident
To adopt discipline
According to both tables, time management of the first teacher seems to be more effectively controlled than the first teacher. However, both teachers could successfully run the class according to the pre-designed lesson plan. Moreover, the first teacher had rather less opportunity to take part in classroom instruction. In fact she was not very confident and she couldn't employ 100% of the creativity she possessed. Finally she was less organized. The second teacher on the other hand shows a considerably more satisfactory performance compared to the first one. Perhaps this considerable variation could make the collegial instruction successful.
Table 4.
2nd Teacher's Performance
2nd teacher's observed classroom practices as compared to her concerns
To follow up the assigned trimming
To stick to the lesson plan procedures assigned to her
To have enough opportunity to take part in class instruction
To work on her creativity
After analyzing the participant colleagues' responses to the pre-and post session interview questions and their comparative analysis with the observation results primarily demonstrates language teachers' instructional concern " pedagogical concerns" before employing an alternative instruction model instead of their routinely practice type. In other words, when the participants of the present case study were initially asked to attend such a program they stated their concerns about appropriateness of time management and its affect on the pace of the class, the ethical conflicts of both colleagues particularly since ethical issues are subject to inflexibility and resistance, probable imbalance between teach colleague's talking time opportunity and finally probability of using disorganized lesson plans and the likely consequent unpreparedness of the participant colleagues during the collegial instruction. In the proceeding sections, in order to further discuss and clarify the findings of the study, the researcher has tried to explore and elaborate on each teachers' primary concerns, their perceptions after experiencing the collegial instruction and the actual classroom performance of each of the participants during 8 observation sessions.
Instructor's Time management and classroom pace
The first teacher primarily expressed her concern and uncertainty regarding the plausibility of the collegial instruction project. She asserted that the project entails simultaneous acts of syllabus designing, lesson planning, materials development and adaptation along with instruction for both participant colleagues. In other words the project seemed rather idealistic to the first teacher. Nevertheless, as it is reflected in the findings, both teachers expressed their satisfaction as gradually as they proceeded through the program. In addition, they both emphasized on the effectiveness and efficiency of collegially-instructed classrooms as compared to their traditional individually- run classrooms.
According to the collected data, time management was considered as the second concern of the first teacher. In fact she considered collegial instruction as a time consuming process particularly when it is held and managed through similar procedures as traditional individually run classes. However, the first participant teacher claimed that "efficient responsibility delegation between two colleagues could result in much more efficient time management than expected.
Instructor's teaching ethics
At the early stages of the study the first teacher expressed her concern about the occurrence of the possible inference of individual participant colleague's beliefs and their practiced ethics with the other one. However, the findings reflected on the bilateral influence on both peers as reported by them during and at the end of the course.
Instructor's Confidence
One of the issues which seemed rather concerning for the teachers was losing confidence. In other words, initially it was believed that attending the collegially instructed project would threaten the teacher's already built up confidence and thus would spoil their reputation in front of the learners and their colleague. However, according to the end of the project reports, both teachers believed that not only their level of confidence hasn't decreased it has increased to some extent.
Instructor's creativity
Instructor's creativity has always been a considerable factor which adds of to the dynamic spirit of language classes. The participant instructors in the present case study as any other teacher were initially concerned about their inefficiency to act as creatively in collegially instructed classes as they could in individually run classes. Nevertheless, the first teacher particularly delightedly states that she had opportunities to act creatively an develop her sense of creativity while working next to a creative colleague.
Classroom management
According to the participant colleagues' statements among various aspects of classroom management those such as instruction, assessment and monitoring can be efficiently carried out through collegial instruction. Because as the second teacher asserted " collegial instruction entails all the aforementioned merits particularly in large classes which requires task-based assignment completions in groups which demand active monitoring, error correction and feedback to learners". She further exemplifies instances of collegial instruction in which the colleagues head for "role playing a conversation scenario" as a correct model for all the learners. She believes such techniques would be more efficiently managed with two teachers rather than by an individual teacher.
Of other advantages of collegial teaching mentioned by the second teacher was the balanced 'teacher's talking time' as a result of sharing responsibilities. Although there were worries concerning teachers' unpreparedness in collegial teaching courses, it was observed that the teachers were more consciously prepared to follow up the pre-set plans and even were alert enough to make spontaneous decisions for required modifications.
In conclusion it can be mentioned that as it was observed in the present case study and regardless of the participant colleagues' concerns about issues related to preparation, classroom management, time management, responsibility delegation, creativity, confidence and ethics, the project seems to have been managed successfully. Particularly since, as it was observed, the instructors were consciously prepared to follow up the pre-set plans and even were alert enough to make spontaneous decisions for required modifications. Thus the present findings imply that collegial instruction can be introduced as an innovative instruction model to replace traditional solo-instructed classrooms for multiple reasons. Firstly the instructors can find opportunities to cooperate with each other and directly be involved in the process of preparation, development, modification, adaptation and application of techniques, materials, and resources. Secondly, they will save time while attending a continuous on the job training opportunity. In other words, through active peer observation, briefing and modification they can improve their teaching skills and develop as an experienced reflective teacher, researcher, material developer and supervisor. Finally, all the learners in the class will have the chance to participate, to be heard and corrected while having access to two reliable sources in the class.
Suggestions for Further Study
Since the present study focused on two instructors, it is suggested to the other researchers to replicate the same study and carry out research on larger number of instructors. Moreover, in this case study I mainly focused on General Business English course instructors while scholars can explore other courses and classes as well.
The Author
Farnaz Latif is a PhD holder in TEFL. She has totally 12 years experience of teaching TEFL at university and language institutes. At the moment she is anassistant professor and a faculty member in Islamic Azad University, Khourasgan branch, Iran. She has worked on issues concerning teaching and teacher education, syllabus design and materials development CALL, and ESP.
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Appendix A
Pre-study interview
1. Could you elaborate on your teaching experience?
2. Have you passed any teacher training courses?
3. What are your own typical instruction techniques?
4. How do you see learners' interaction in your classes?
5. How do you see your own classroom management?
6. How do you think team teaching is different from solo instruction?
7. What can be the advantages of team teaching in your opinion?
8. What can be the disadvantages of team teaching in your opinion?
9. How do you think it affects the students' language learning?
10. Do you think your students will enjoy this mode of teaching?
Appendix B
1. How do you anticipate time management and pace of the classroom?
2. Will your personally believed ethics change?
3. How organized and disciplined will the session be?
4. Will you have the chance to employ your creativity freely?
5. How efficient will the lesson plan be practiced?
6. How efficient will the class management be?
7. Do you think you will have enough time to talk and share your views?
8. How much responsibility will be on your shoulders? Will it be fair?
Appendix C
Post-study interview
1. How do you evaluate the time management and pace of the classroom?
2. Do you think any of your believed ethics changed?
3. How organized and disciplined was the session?
4. Did you have the chance to employ your creativity freely?
5. How efficiently as the lesson plan be practiced?
6. How efficiently was the class management?
7. Do you think you had enough time to talk and share your views?
8. How much responsibility was on your shoulders? Was it fair?
Appendix D
Class sessions
Equal opportunity for both peers to participate
KEY: S: sessions o = Observed #= Limited occurrence
x= Not observed
Appendix E
First teacher
Second teacher
Teachers' Stated perceptions
Collegial teaching would be time consuming and the pace of the class would be inappropriate.
Ethics of teaching is personal and cannot be changed.
Teaching discipline and strictness is not teachable and transferable.
Teacher's self confidence will be lowered through collegial teaching.
Through collegial teaching, teachers cannot use their creativity freely.
Teachers would have difficulty to get prepared for their lessons. There won't be an organized lesson plan.
Teachers would not be able to manage the classroom efficiently through collegial teaching.
Teachers' talking time would not be balanced. In collegial teaching both teachers won't have equal opportunity to talk.
Burden and classroom responsibility would be on one of the peers.
KEY: O =Agrees X= Does not agree *=Not stated
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Two years after his original arrest in London on charges of murder, torture and other crimes against humanity, former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was re-arrested Friday in Chile, this time on charges of kidnapping and murder during his brutal 17-year rule.
Judge Juan Guzman ordered Pinochet's arrest, accusing him of planning and organizing the deaths and/or disappearances of 77 members of the left and unionists.
The 77 were victims of the "Caravan of Death," a military squad that flew around Chile, particularly the north, in a helicopter in the weeks after Pinochet's Sept. 11,1973, coup.
Two years ago, Pinochet was arrested in London under an international arrest warrant issued by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, who sought to extradite him to Spain for trial. But Britain eventually released him, alleging that he was too ill to be tried.
- Reed Brody, Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch. He just returned from Chile.
- Vali Kuntzman, President of the Association of Former Political Prisoners who along with her mother was a political prisoner in 1975.
- Lelia Perez, former political prisoner during the Pinochet dictatorship. She was a 16 year-old student when she was first arrested, and witnessed the torture and disappearance of six people.


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So, I don't know how many (If any of you) have seen this image, but I just thought it was too good not to share:
Yeah...Is that all sinking in for ya? Where do I start with this? The fact that Thanos actually rides around in a god-damn helicopter? The fact that he actually has his name on the side of it, as if he regularly forgets that it's his? I just can't get over this image. And no, there's no reason for why he has the helicopter.
If you wanna see more pictures from this story, "I Love Ya, But You're Strange" did an overview of this story here:


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Kimberley Maxwell, CEBS
Vice President, Employer Benefits & Savings Strategies
905.837.2600 ext. 38
Kimberley Maxwell joined our team in 2016 as Manager, Corporate Business Development. Her role at Matheis is to actively consult with existing and new clients in the area of group benefits. Responsibilities include guiding growth and operations through analysis, client management and strategic planning.
Kim is a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) with more than 13 years of experience with a national insurer in positions of Account Executive and Director of Service and Implementation. Her breadth of knowledge and experience allows her to provide an insurer's perspective of underwriting methods and practices to our team and our clients.
Kim earned her Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) at Dalhousie University in 2014 which built on her Human Resources education at Nipissing University and later York University.
In her free time Kim enjoys cottage life with her husband and children, as well as running, cooking with her family, gardening, reading and painting.


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Fried Red Snapper with Fish Sauce
Red Snapper is one of the most versatile fish. Its succulent meat has a distinctive, yet mild and sweet taste. This lean fish is great broiled, baked, grilled and served as Sashimi in Japan. It is one of my favorite fish. Whenever I chance upon this delicious seafood, I rarely let the chance to whip something tasty slip by.
Today I made Fried Red Snapper with Fish Sauce, one of the simplest recipes for fried fish but delicious nonetheless. I guarantee you'll love it. I used whole Japanese snapper or "Tai"for this recipe and I highly suggest you to do so. Why is that? Two reasons : better quality, lower price. Buying whole is the best way to determine freshness and get the most from your purchase (The bones and head are not only edible but taste great after deep frying.).Buy a fish with firm flesh that springs back when pressed; eyes should be shiny and clear; and it should smell like the ocean, not fish.
Now go and have your fishmonger to scale, gut and cut the fish for you. If you don't have a friendly fishmonger to cut the whole fish for you, follow my how-to below please!
Below is my Fried Red Snapper with Fish Sauce recipe.
300-350 grams Red Snapper
canola oil for deep frying
canola oil for deep frying
for the sauce
0.5 tablespoon light soy sauce
3.5 teaspoon sugar
1.5 tablespoon fish sauce
0.5 tablespoon oyster sauce
0.5 tablespoon oyster sauce
1.5 tablespoon left over oil from frying the fish
1. Remove scales, gills, guts. Clean and pat dry.
2. Starting at tail end, run a fillet knife along the backbone in a smooth motion. (This may take more than one cut.)
4. Mix the all the sauce ingredient in a small bowl. Stir with a spoon until all the sugar dissolve completely.


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On June 20th, in Ottawa, the IPMC was invited by the National Capital Commission (NCC) to hold the re>Odawa Vision Workshop. Indigenous youth from across the country came together to participate in a design exercise aimed at the celebration of Indigenous presence in the fabric of our capital. After a day tour of assessing multiple sites, three teams worked to develop unique and iconic recommendations for recognizing indigenous presence in the urban fabric and created places of social connection to bring all Canadians together in a space of inspiration and common cause. The following is a brief summary of each team's presentation to the public at NCC's Capital Urbanism Lab, 40 Elgin Street, 2nd Floor, Ottawa.
- Our Commons: Re-positioning the seat of governance through spatial structures and community spaces
- The Land: Resetting Boundaries
- River/Flow: Fire keeper Circuit
- Indigenous Business Incubators and Pop-Up Shops
- Water Reconnection through a walkable re-telling
- Narrative Pathway
- Process of healing
Team One put forth a 3 step intervention process for indigenous place-making in the capital.
Step 1: create a permanent seat of governance for indigenous peoples at the site of the former US Embassy.
Step 2: highlight the river as the life of the capital through an extensive firekeeper circuit.
Step 3: tell indigenous stories through light projections on the riverside edge of Parliament Hill
A walking path connects the three interventions by land while water connects the remainder of the firekeeper circuit. All three interventions use light in their own way, either through fire or light projection, to reveal indigenous presence throughout the capital otherwise invisible during the day. Using light in this way allows for more widespread semi-permanent occupation of places and acts as a wayfinder independent of typical signage.
Team two proposed an alternate walk-able route to Confederation Parkway focused on telling the indigenous narrative of the capital. The three major objectives of this proposal were reconnecting to the water, recalling truths and making the process of healing more accessible to the public. Mino-bimaadiziwin or "the good path" derives itself from the Water Walkers movement of the Great Lakes started by Anishinaabe grandmother Josephine Mandamin. Their sacred walk aims to raise awareness of the water as the Lifeblood of Mother Earth and calls for both its protection and ultimately, our respect. In this same way, Mino-bimaadiziwin aims to raise awareness of indigenous place and presence surrounding Kitchissippi (Ottawa River). The team explored various steps of the healing process and prescribed these to several of the NCC owned sites along the Water. These steps are by no means rigid. More so, they are the beginning of a conversation, a process, the next chapter of our capital's narrative.
Team three focused on developing a process rather than an definitive answer. Their main objective was creating a place within the capital to acknowledge uncomfortable truths and begin a dialogue about them. The proposal to extinguish the centennial flame (a celebration and reflection of only 100 years of Canada's past ) aims to begin a new narrative for Canada - one that includes these uncomfortable truths. Like other Grassroots initiatives, people will come, people will stay, communities will form and conversations will happen - all in plain site just outside the country's seat of governance. The new fires forged in these new communities will stay lit until the needs of all Canada's people are met. Only when everyone has access to clean water, proper shelter, proper healthcare and everything else we consider a basic human right, only then can the central "centennial" flame be relit.
To view our full presentation please visit https://youtu.be/vo5MVhBDkug


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Home > How To > How to Repair AC Parts > How To Inspect your AC Kit Video
How To Inspect your AC Kit Video
Your vehicle's AC system cools the passenger compartment. The components involved in the cooling process include the compressor, condenser, evaporator and accumulator. All these components work together with the refrigerant to complete an AC cycle. Like any component of the vehicle, the AC system parts also tend to fail over time, due to refrigerant leaks or other problems in the components. Replacing the worn parts, at the earliest, is essential to ensure safe driving. The video below explains how to inspect a new AC kit, comparing it with an old one.
Video Transcript:
In the kit, it should have an accumulator, an O-ring and seal kit, refrigerant oil and expansion device, in this case, an orifice tube. And, of course, a new compressor. We want to compare the old parts to the new parts, to make sure that you've got everything correct. Some other things to look for: make sure that your clutch has the same diameter and has the same number of grooves. Also that the manifold ports are in the same position. Next, notice that this orifice tube is red in color, as is the new one. And finally, the accumulator, look to see to make sure that the hose ports and mounting brackets are correct.
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"How To" Home |
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Following on from the last website relaunch of Changemakers, a national charity based in London but with offices in various parts of the UK, decided to use Clickingmad to bring their new styling to life, online.
We first reported on the website work we did back in April 2010. (A Change for Changemakers.org.uk. Monday, April 12th, 2010)
This time round, they have opted for a much simpler styling and are concentrating on their very important message to young people. We applaud their good work and hope the new site will help achieve their very worthwhile goals.
Adam, their CEO had this to say: "…[thanks] for all your hard work in turning the new site round so quickly. We are very pleased with the results."
Let me know what YOU think of the change for Changemakers… www.changemakers.org.uk


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The mid year school holidays will be here in two days' time and it's amazing how the second term of school is ending.
We have been here for more than six months and I just couldn't believe how much I have done in the last few months. I enjoy cooking and experimenting new dishes and baking is my new found passion in the kitchen. Yesterday, I whipped up some mini oreo cheesecakes and they turned out yummy. Clayton likes it and so do I. DH wished that they are bigger cos I had made them 'bite size'!
I have been keeping a dairy of my food photos in Facebook and I like the fact that my iPhone can post those photos so easily. With all the smartphones in the market from htc sense to blackberry, posting and sharing photos is as easy as ABC!
Two weeks ago, I made a Pandan Souffle Roll with Toasted Coconut Cream and it was delicious! After discovering that recipe, I went on to purchase a book by Keiko Ishida from Amazon. Many bloggers had adapted Keiko's recipes from the book Sweet Treats and I just couldn't helped but wanna buy the book and try out all the yummy desserts! The next dessert on my to-bake list will be the Green Tea Swiss Roll :) First, I would need to buy a can of good green tea powder from the Asian store. And oh yes, I was glad to find frozen pandan leaves and pandan taste from Yuen's since my pandan leaves are growing fast enough for my baking!
Ok for now... the night is getting cold and it's just not right to still sit in front of the computer!
22 June, 2011
My Baking and Cooking Diary
Posted by WAHM at 9:21 pm 0 comments
Labels: brisbane
Cooking and Baking in Brisbane
It's been ages since I last wrote and the month has passed so fast that we are already at the last week of June 2011.
This has been a very exciting and busy month for us as our close friend from Singapore came to visit us with her two girls. They are our first visitors in Brisbane and it was nice seeing familiar faces and spending time together. I only wished it was school hols for Clayton as we had to plan trips around his school time table. Nevertheless, they had a good break here and the kids didn't wanna go home!
I've been so busy cooking and baking this month and I was inspired to delve into a Pandan chiffon cake after watching Masterchef one evening. I snipped off my pandan leaves in the garden and went online to search for the 'best' recipe for a Pandan chiffon cake. So many entries came for that search term and I started experimenting with the first which led to the second, the third and so forth. To date, I had made 5 pandan chiffon cakes and I can almost say which one is the most yummy Pandan chiffon cake. For me, a good Pandan chiffon has to be soft, cottony, moist and a smooth texture.
This evening, I made my 5th pandan chiffon cake and it turned out to be the best I had made so far :) It was very soft, fluffy and delicious.... I am delighted! The next time, I will experiment with different kinds of chiffon. Perhaps I should also learn how to make sugar free truffles during the school holidays! Truffles are always a favourite in the family and what more, sugar free ones!
Enough said, my love for cooking and baking is growing everyday and I am simply thankful for these wonderful experiences and indulgences in Brisbane.
Posted by WAHM at 8:51 pm 0 comments
Labels: brisbane
04 June, 2011
Busy with Friend's Visit
I have been busy the last few days as our first guests arrived from Singapore for a visit. My good friend had come to visit with her two girls and we have been doing quite a few things in the last few days.
For me, it's a busy time in the kitchen cooking dinners most nights except tonight and making sure they have enough to eat and visit some of the sights around Brisbane. Clayton has been so excited that he's been very distracted. It's hard to contain the excitement within him so I just have to make sure he's not crossing the boundaries too much!
I'm glad that I can find a little time to sit down and do some online work when everyone is resting and retiring early. It's my moment of space and quietness, something I treasure very much. We did have a lot of wonderful moments together and I wish we can do more while taking things easy. It's hard cos it's not school holidays and we have to plan all the sightseeing around Clayton's school time and schedule.
Now that I can put my feet up high, I'm ordering some Sambucol online for Clayton. Then it's an early snooze and let's hope my kitchen can rest and close tomorrow! I just don't like to cook or clean on the weekends and I hope DH will appreciate that.
Posted by WAHM at 7:43 pm 0 comments
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What's new along the Way?
Find out about the latest news on the John Muir Way. Diversions to the route are also posted here.
Forestry operations at Bannachra MuirOct 02nd
Works at Bannachra Muir until spring 2019 - route will remain open
Bo'ness Revival Hill Climb, Kinneil Estate: 1-2 Sep 2018Aug 15th
A short diversion will be in place at Kinneil Estate on Sat 1 and Sun 2 Sep
New Opportunity Announced for Businesses on John Muir WayJul 12th
New opportunity for businesses interested in working with us - get in touch here.
Hopetoun Horse Trials, Queensferry – 30 June and 1 July 2018Jun 29th
A horse trials event at Hopetoun Estate, the John Muir Way will remain open.
Equine event on the John Muir WayMay 09th
Equine event on the John Muir Way - Sunday 13th May 2018 - Falkirk
Celebrate John Muir Day the John Muir WayApr 11th
Celebrate John Muir Day the John Muir Way - 14 to 22 April
Kilpatrick Hills section reopenedMar 23rd
The Kilpatrick Hills section of the John Muir Way has reopened.
Hopetoun Estate section reopenedMar 16th
The John Muir Way section at Hopetoun Estate has now reopened.
VacancyMar 09th
John Muir Way Marketing & Business Engagement Officer
Dalmeny Estate diversionFeb 27th
* Diversion no longer in place *
A short section of the John Muir Way in Dalmeny Estate will be closed from 5 March 2018 for utility works for Barnbougle Castle. This affects walkers and cyclists and is expected to last until mid-April.
New route through Strathblane for John Muir WayJan 29th
The John Muir Way has a new route through Strathblane.
Kilpatrick Hills temporary diversionJan 26th
Diversion at Kilpatrick Hills extended until 23 March 2018.
Hopetoun Estate diversion – forestry worksJan 15th
From 17 January 2018, a section of the John Muir Way at Hopetoun Estate in West Lothian will be temporarily closed to allow essential forestry thinning works in the Wester Shore Woodland.
Online Certificates Launched to Celebrate Those Who Complete the RouteDec 24th
The achievement of completing all 134 miles of the John Muir Way is to set to be recognised with the on-line launch of John Muir Way certificates.
Tree felling operations in Callendar WoodDec 21st
There will be tree felling operations in Callendar Wood from January to April 2018. This may mean short-term diversions. Please follow diversions and safety signage.
Local communities encouraged to get planting for pollinatorsNov 09th
Communities are helping to transform the John Muir Way into a rich habitat for pollinators.
Helensburgh walkers diversionOct 23rd
Helensburgh walkers diversion - main route is currently open.
Dunbar Rowing Club first to row John Muir WayJul 28th
Dunbar Rowing Club first to row John Muir Way
Celebrate Scotland's Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology on the John Muir WayJul 12th
Celebrate the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology on the John Muir Way
Balgreen diversion no longer in placeJun 22nd
Balgreen diversion no longer in place


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players choice vr of the year 2016
players choice best upcoming game 2016
editors choice vr of the year 2016
top 50 vr games of 2016 announced
houdini joins 2016 awards as prize sponsor
crafting the 2016 award logos
vr of the year 2016 kickoff
2016 vr year in review
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Forest Hill Historic Locations
The following historic locations are located in Forest Hill, Maryland. Please select a historic place in Forest Hill to view detailed information including address information, historical signifiance, and much more.
Maryland Historic Places
|St. Ignatius Church
533 E. Jarrettsville Rd.
Forest Hill, MD
Religious Structure
Maryland Historic Places


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Photo by Mersea Pearl
20 hours ago
In Australia have a daily photo competition for the best weather photo (they're usually sunsets!) Move here and you'll definitely win with this one!ReplyDelete
:-) thanks! but it would HAVE to be a holiday- me and Gerald get separation syndrome if away from Silent Annie ( the boat in strood channel)Sunsets over the Ray and the lure of the sea birds calling on the breeze from the salty marsh.
Oh bollocks to that- i've packed my case - what airport should i meet you at ?????
Want to be in that boat, looking at that sunset. Lovely. xxxReplyDelete
Lovely. Sigh...ReplyDelete


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There's many things running through my head and I would really get them all out and share it with you guys here. However, as you know I'm feeling as exhausted as ever again and therefore gonna keep this entry short.
With the piling up of work responsibilities, I am struggling to keep a healthy balance between work, social life and my own personal time. I decided that I really have to do something about it. Better time management will surely help..at least I think so. And with an organised time management will definitely be of a greater assistance, isn't it so?
The ever resourceful as ever Google Queen that I am has combed through the net and decided that these planners are gonna be great for myself and anybody!
And I'm pleased to share with you guys…


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It is so hot in LA today. My eyes are watering and I feel constantly dehydrated. Every stylist is coming into Decades to find an Emmy gown as they are on the 25th of August. All we are thinking about is how do you look chic and sexy on the red carpet when it's 110 degrees in the shade? Leave it to Valentino to solve the elegant actress dilemma: a statuesque column gown of white crepe with embroidered strap and goddess hip drape. You can sweat in it and no one will know! #Keepthechic on the red carpet and always wear Couture, baby.
Valentino Haute Couture ivory silk crepe draped evening gown with embroidered silk straps, from Spring of 1995. Modern size 2-4.
For additional information, please email firstname.lastname@example.com or call + 1 323 655-1960. You may also visit us in person at Decades 8214 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Please reference the description above, if calling or emailing.


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Renaissance Woman
How To Hunt And Gut Your Own Dinner … And Other Life Lessons From A Hoosier Kitchen Renaissance Woman
Former biology teacher Halle Haste lives on 25 acres in Roachdale, west of Indianapolis, where she grows her own produce, preserves it for the winter, hunts and butchers, keeps bees, and scratch-cooks nearly everything her family of four eats at home. Oh, she also helps run the family business, Haste Woodworking. She's the kind of woman you just want to follow around to learn her Jedi ways. Ready are you?


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The ALFALFA Survey is trying to detect galaxies through emission at the '21cm line'. In fact, you'll see mention of the 21cm line throughout extragalactic radio astronomy as it is one the most common observations. This might lead you to wonder: What is the 21cm line? And why do we want to observe it? For now, I'll address the first of those questions; you'll learn all about why the 21cm line is interesting in a later post.
Alternately, this post could be titled: "A Quick and Dirty Introduction to the Hydrogen Atom". The '21cm line' is a specific transition in the hydrogen atom, so called because the energy of the transition corresponds to a photon with a wavelength of 21 cm. Physicists love hydrogen because it's the simplest atom – one proton and one electron – meaning it can be solved exactly. Astronomers love hydrogen because it fills the universe and observing it in different states offers lots of information about conditions found in astronomical situations.
Most people are familiar with the simple Bohr model of the atom where electrons orbit the nucleus in quantized orbits. Of course, like many physics explanations, the Bohr model isn't accurate but it does provide a convenient picture for much of the physics so we continue to use it. The transitions in atoms that most people are familiar with are electronic transitions. The orbits of electrons in an atom have quantized energy states and there is a specific energy associated with a move from one orbit to another. For hydrogen, these electronic transitions have energies that release photons in the ultraviolet, optical and infrared parts of spectra. The energies associated with the 21 cm line are much, much lower. In order to understand where the 21cm line comes from we have to look further at the structure of hydrogen. The first set of corrections made are termed "fine structure" and account for the fact that the base calculation ignores relativistic effects. These aren't the corrections that cause the 21 cm line, though. For that we need to go to a second set of corrections (which have an even smaller change in energy levels) – the "hyperfine structure" of hydrogen.
The hyperfine structure refers to the weak interaction between the spins of the proton and electron. Spin is an extremely quantum idea and hard to describe with a classical analogy. The best way to think of it is as particles spinning on their own axis – it behaves as an angular momentum term in many ways. However, it does have some odd properties, which we will ignore for now. If you keep the simple picture of a charged particle spinning in mind, you can imagine a slight magnetic field resulting as moving charges cause magnetic fields. Similarly, the proton creates a slight magnetic field. The interaction of these two magnetic fields results in the 21 cm transition.
The electron and proton can both be thought of as magnetic dipoles generating magnetic fields. There is then an energy difference between when the dipole moments of the electron and proton are aligned or anti-aligned. The state where the two spins (or magnetic moments) are anti-aligned is a lower energy state; when the atom transitions from a "spin-up" electron to a "spin-down" electron, a photon with a wavelength of 21 cm (corresponding to the energy difference between the levels) is released.
I'm going to try ending posts with the math so that it's available if you're interested and easy to skip if you're not – hopefully everything I write will be clear without any equations.
The energy of a photon is related to its frequency by where is the frequency and is Planck's constant.
If you would like to know the wavelength of this photon, you can find it from the speed of light: where is the wavelength.
If you would like to calculate the energy of the hyperfine transition a back-of-the-envelope approximation is:
where is the Bohr radius of an atom and are the magnetic moments of the electron and proton, respectively.
Substituting in for the magnetic moments this becomes,
where is the degeneracy of the proton ( ~2.79), are the masses of the electron and proton, respectively, is the fine structure constant (~1/137), and is the charge of the electron.
This approximation is very close to the true calculation using quantum mechanics:


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Ruby Roth
Vegan Is Love
Ruby Roth
Vegan Is Love
Having Heart and Taking Action
Release Date: 4/24/2012
LIST PRICE: $16.95 (you save $4.98)
In Vegan Is Love, author-illustrator Ruby Roth introduces young readers to veganism as a lifestyle of compassion and action. Broadening the scope of her popular first book That's Why We Don't Eat Animals, Roth illustrates how our daily choices ripple out locally and globally, conveying what we can do to protect animals, the environment, and people across the world. Roth explores the many opportunities we have to make ethical decisions: refusing products tested on or made from animals; avoiding sea parks, circuses, animal races, and zoos; choosing to buy organic food; and more. Roth's message is direct but sensitive, bringing into sharp focus what it means to "put our love into action." Featuring empowering back-of-the-book resources on action children can take themselves, this is the next step for adults and kids alike to create a more sustainable and compassionate world.
"Leaping and bounding toward a more peaceable world, this heart-centered book shows just how far our actions can go when we use love to fuel change." —Jason Mraz, singer and songwriter


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Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Kenfig dune slack day
I enjoyed an excellent introduction to dune slack bryophytes today, organised by Hannah Shaw of Freshwater Habitats Trust and led by Sam. Despite not finding any Petalophyllum there were plenty of highlights.
2 comments:
That was impressively quick, George! I don't have any photos to add, but have just checked my Tortella from the tail end of the day: this was T flavovirens of the large-celled 'var glareicola'. This former variety, sunk by David Holyoak because of intergrades in Cornwall, usually looks pretty different to coastal slope plants of var flavovirens and I regularly see it mimicking T inclinata in Welsh dune systems.ReplyDelete
It was a very nice, interesting group of attendees, though I'm sorry we only encountered 20 or so bryophyte species. Dunes can be hard work, though they hold some very special species!
Thanks Sam. I'm glad you checked the Tortella as I took a small sample and I'd no doubt have been bamboozled by it.ReplyDelete
I forgot to mention the second location for Amblyodon, growing near the Moerckia.


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Stoney Compton has had novelettes and short stories published in Universe 1, Tomorrow, and Writers of the Future. He is Senior Graphic Artist for a Bellevue, Washington company, and has worked as a visual information specialist for NOAA, a graphic artist for the Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game, and KTOO-TV, PBS for Juneau, and a staff artist for a weekly newspaper. He was born in Nebraska, lived 31 years in Alaska, and now lives north of Seattle with his wife, Colette, and six cats.
For Stoney, writing is just one of many ways he has of expressing creativity. "I have always been creative. When I could not afford to keep my printmaking studio in Juneau (another bust in Alaska's boom & bust cycle) in 1987, I fidgeted for about a month and then bought a computer on time payments and started writing fiction. Although I had taken a couple of creative writing courses in college, I pretty much learned by reading and having others read my work. That takes awhile but you learn just the same."
Now that he's started writing, Stoney's come to appreciate the benefits. "First and foremost is the license to tell the most fantastic stories you can conceive, and people read them and ask for more. That's just awesome! Second is getting to meet people whose work I have read for years, and be accepted by them as a fellow writer. I must admit that I often feel like an imposter when in the company of people who have won awards or whose 'day job' is actually writing for a living."
Stoney's first exposure to science fiction came early and in school. "I grew up (mostly) in Nebraska. But at age 12 my mother hauled my sister and me out to California to help out her only sister (she also had 5 brothers). I went to the 6th grade in Azusa, and our teacher, Mrs. Steinbeck (to this day I wonder if she was related to John), would read to the whole class from the huge book, A Treasury of Science Fiction. Until that time I had no idea there were written works of sf out there – I thought you only found it in movies. Then my mother moved us back to Nebraska and the first book I found in the school library with the little rocket on the spine was Rocket Ship Galileo. I became an instant Heinlein fanatic and, like many others, wish I could find something new of his on the bookshelf."
Some of his favorites outside the genre include: "Stephen E. Ambrose, Richard K. Nelson, John Steinbeck, John Dos Passos, Michael Shaara, Owen Parry, James Lee Burke, Gore Vidal, A. B. Guthrie, Jr., James Warner Bellah, David McCullough, Shelby Foote, Walter Lord, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Walter Prescott Webb, W.P. Kinsella, Clair Huffaker, Barbara Tuchman, and Tony Hillerman, just to name a few. I have read every book I could find by the authors just listed and avidly seek titles I have missed."
While Stoney is naturally "nocturnal," he has to adjust his writing career around his day job. "In a perfect world I would get up about 9AM, do the chores the day demands, and then about 5pm start writing. After I left Alaska I was unemployed in Colorado for six months (difficult place for someone over 50 to find a job) and often would write from late afternoon to 4 or 5 in the morning. Unfortunately my present circumstance forces me to rise at 0430 and catch my van pool at 0530. If I'm lucky, I get home around 5PM and start writing about 8PM. I'm usually in bed by 10. I live for the weekends."
Stoney confesses he loves all his characters, "even the assholes. But I tend to feel more kindly toward my female characters. That's probably because the two most influential people in my life were my mother, Maxine, and my Great Aunt Maisie. They were both tough, enduring women who got out there and did what had to be done. My mother earned her GED at the age of 58, so you can imagine the scope of opportunity she had while raising my sister and me. There's a little bit of both of them in every female character I create, protagonist and antagonist alike."
The invention or scientific leap in understanding he'd most like to see made in his lifetime is "the safe, accurate use of nanotechnology in the health field. The ability to rebuild body parts rather than cut and paste, from brain damage to eyes and fingers." The characters in Russian Amerika sure could have used that!
Stoney feels it's not quite fair to ask what single event in history he'd like to watch as a spectator. "What a terrible question to ask a history freak! I was on a panel at NorWesCon a couple years ago and the same question was asked of the panelists. The Canadian fellow sitting beside me (sorry, can't conjure his name at the moment) spoke first and completely trumped my wish to hear Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union speech. But I agreed with him: to go back 2,000 years and talk a certain carpenter's son out of his mission by explaining exactly what happened on down the time line. Not only did his zealotry produce the Christian religions, but also the Muslim, and any number of offshoots – all of which are at each other's throats today. If you could extract the concept of mass religion from politics, we might have a pretty sane world. I realize I'm stepping on a multitude of toes here, but you asked." I don't agree with Stoney, but he doesn't think small, does he?
Russian Amerikais an alternate history novel and I wondered why he picked that particular genre of sf. "I have been an American history freak since age 8. That's when I started reading biographies and treatises on various wars. My father, many of my uncles, and most of the adult men I knew as a child were World War II veterans, although none of them would talk about it. My family has worn the uniform all the way back to Ethan Allen, who, according to my Great Aunt Maisie, was a distant cousin. My great-great-grandfather was in the 5th Wisconsin during the Civil War (and got court-martialed for calling his captain a "shit-ass kid"; when I read that I knew we were related!). I love the idea of history being a long, connected line extending from me and mine all the way back through time. I read "If The South Had Won The Civil War" by McKinley Kantor when it was first published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1959. The thought of second guessing history had never occurred to me (keep in mind; I grew up in Nebraska), and the idea of extrapolating from any given instant by just changing a small thing really appealed (and still appeals) to my imagination. I have written a number of novels and one of them is an historical novel about Alaska from 1915 to 1917. Spent 11 years, off and on, writing the thing. Since it came out at about 187,000 words, nobody would read it because I was an unknown. Treadwell will see print one of these days. But I enjoy writing alternate history because I get to play with events that shape millions of lives. I just hope I pull it off in a believable manner.
The key events of Russian Amerika take place in Alaska, an unusual setting for an sf novel. I asked him what about Alaska made him want to write about it. "Everything. I spent the majority (so far!) of my adult life in Alaska. I went up for the summer when I was 21 and left 31 years later, mainly because my mother was dying of cancer in Colorado and I wanted to be near her for whatever time she had left. But beyond that, I was tired of winter. But I think it's fair to say that Alaska defined me. I grew up there; married, had kids, had a divorce, had lovers, tried everything from living in the boonies to living on a houseboat. I worked at whatever came along (everyone in Alaska does for at least a while) until I found what proved to be my most negotiable skill: graphic arts. Living north of Fairbanks my first winter gave me the germ of what became Russian Amerika. When you walk ten miles home after work at night and it's 40 below zero, you have time to indulge your imagination. Then, years later – after getting a bachelor's degree, I was fortunate enough to get hired by the Tanana Chiefs Health Authority. After two years of working with and for the Athabascan people I had an entirely new perspective on life. I'm not saying I embraced their lifestyle or went to live in a village (although I was offered a chance, but that's another story). But I received a different way of looking at life and time. Indian Time is a reality that makes superb sense. Basically it boils down to: "If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow." I have a profound respect and admiration for the Dena' People and it seemed obvious to me to give them the best parts of my novel. My biggest fear is that they won't like it!
As a first novelist, I wondered if the Baen on-line community affected his work. "Yes and no. Eric put Russian Amerika online for his reader's group to critique. They helped me a lot, and I love them for it! But I wasn't aware of how extensive the Bar was until Walt Boyes turned me onto it at WorldCon last year. I appreciate the Barflies, mainly because they will tell you what they think and if you don't like it: tough! We're very simpatico there."


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4. Canadian National Railway Co
True to its slogan "North America's Railroad" Canadian National Railway Co is the largest railway network of Canada.
Unlike India Railway sector is privatized and there are many small players operating rail routes across the country. CNR was formed in 1919 when government took over assets of many small railway lines which went bankrupt and formed a single entity. In 1995 the government privatized CN and interestingly Bill Gates is a major stakeholder in the company through its institutional investments. After privatization CNR acquired many small railway services in USA like Illinois Central Railroad and Wisconsin Central Transportation. CNR currently runs freight operations only and hence higher scope of managing prices. It stopped in passenger operations in 1978 when government decided to seperate both operations and via rails controls the passenger operations of Canada. Since formation CNR has been involved in variety of business including hotels, real estates, telecommunication and even airlines .But slowly government followed a focussed strategy in which each business was either divested or made a different state owned subsidary.The export industry and abundant presence of raw materials contributed to its high revenue . Canada's resources are being supplied to US, Mexico and even in latin america through CNR's network. Currently CNR is regarded as the most profitable railway in northern america and its operating ratios are much better than its comparables. It also owns an allied business of CN radio and its technology is used across Canada and in some areas of the US to manage inter-rail communication regarding schedules to avoid collision. The company is innovating with use of natural gas as a possible fuel replacement of diesel engines and is also expanding its tracks right to the petroleum mine fields in order to decrease the oil wastage and fast transfer of the product.
Figures ($'000)
Revenue : 10,235,000
Profit : 2,680,000
Market Cap : 38,697 million$
More Business Sections
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According to police reports, the 49 old visited the victim at her house on Tuesday, to address their relationship, but turned into a violent scene when the suspect allegedly punched the victim in the face, slammed her head onto the ground multiple times, and pinned her down by the throat, forcing a blanket into her mouth, before cutting off her nipples with scissors.
The woman, whose identity wasn't revealed was said to have managed to escape being killed by his ex, who later called the Police to report the situation.
However, Tony Ledbetter has been charged with 8 counts Domestic Aggravated Assault.


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Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Indian Cauliflower Curry (Gobi) and Raita
I was very proud of this dish because in the past when I've tried to make this, it always ended up not as cauliflower curry, but more like cauliflower mush - curry flavored cauliflower mush, to be exact. But this time was different. I made sure not to cut the cauliflower too small, cooked it for much less time, and tah dah! -- curry not mush. Woot!
What's the white stuff on top you ask? It is a Indian yogurt-based sauce called raita. It is traditionally used as a dip but I say dip shmip; I eat this stuff with just about everything. It has a mild tang that complements the heat of many Indian dishes, and it is served cold as to complement the heat (different "heat" this time) of many Indian dishes. Try it with the Makhani too. It won't disappoint.
Cauliflower Curry
*2 tablespoons olive oil
*1 large onion, chopped
*1 large head of cauliflower, chopped into 3 inch pieces
*3 cloves garlic, chopped
*1 cup water
*1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
*1 teaspoon cumin
*1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon tumeric powder
*1/2 teaspoon coriander
*1/4 teaspoon (or more if you can handle it) crushed red pepper
*1/2 teaspoon sugar
*1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen peas (I used frozen; if using frozen, do not thaw)
*salt, pepper to taste
1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Add water, and stir in ginger, cumin, tumeric, and coriander, and red pepper. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Pour contents of skillet into a separate bowl. Do not discard any remnants in the skillet.
2. Add the cauliflower to the same skillet and cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in the water mixture and stir to coat the cauliflower evenly. Cover and cook for about 7-8 minutes until the cauliflower is softened.
3. Stir in the sugar and peas. Add salt and pepper to taste.
* 1 cup plain yogurt
*1 tablespoon water
*1/2 large cucumber chopped
*1/4 red onion, finely diced
*1/2 teaspoon cumin
*1/2 teaspoon salt (or more if you like)
*couple of grinds of fresh ground pepper
In a medium sized bowl, mix together yogurt and water until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients.
10 comments:
This is another fantastic Indian dish! you are on a roll. Alright. I give in. I need to cook Indian food more since you making me have some serious cravings.ReplyDelete
I'm so jealous of all of your Indian dishes!!! I can't wait to have time to make some of my own!!! I gotta get this paper done pronto so I can cook haha.ReplyDelete
Gotta get a cauliflower tomorrow - this looks so tasty! Can't wait to give it a try...ReplyDelete
This oriental recipe is very good...congratulations...a kiss LucianaReplyDelete
Looks marvelous! The color is lovely and everyone around here likes curried anything...even cauliflower! The dipping sauce is the perfect last touch.ReplyDelete
Indian food is a favorite at our house (though, come to think of it, I don't think we've blogged about it -- strange). Lots of daals and pulses, saag... and curries! Cauliflower curry is one of our favorites. We like things spicy, so a bit of raita is just the thing to cool everything off. YUM.ReplyDelete
very yellow and bright like tucson sunReplyDelete
I have had that cauliflower mush problem too often myself: most recently with a mix of regular and Romanesco cauliflower that I was so excited to cook since it was so gorgeous, and then none of the shapes stuck around. I must try cooking cauliflower again w/ your tips on getting it right!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 10, 2010 at 2:25 PM
Çok sağlıklı bir yemeğe benziyor.ReplyDelete
Thanks for posting the recipes, A. I'll have to try to make them on my own now. I tried posting something before, and I couldn't... -EReplyDelete


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Customer Service Assistant - Richmond
Moto Hospitality are looking for enthusiastic and dedicated Customer Service Assistants for our Greggs unit
Can you deliver exceptional customer service?
Are you a natural when it comes to talking to customers?
- Permanent
- Group Life Assurance Scheme
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- Additional Discount Card (s) issued with length of service to give to your friends and family
- You can also earn cash and voucher awards via our Reward and Recognition scheme
- Development programmes offering employees in all job roles the opportunity to progress their career further
The Role
As a Customer Service Assistant you will be working as part of a team to deliver an exceptional standard of customer Service in a professional and efficient manner.
- Serving customers in a timely and polite manner
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- Merchandising
- Handling cash
Who we're looking for
- A natural ability to talk to customers
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- A team player
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- No experience required as full training given
- Candidates must be able to get to and from motorway services
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In return
Moto prides itself in its training and development of people; ensuring individuals are equipped with all the skills and knowledge to succeed in their role and progress to the next. There are no barriers when it comes to promotion in Moto, just job satisfaction, challenges and recognition for outstanding performance.
What are you waiting for? Apply today
Part time shift work available. Flexibility desired, however hours can be discussed to accommodate individual needs.
Part time shift work available. Flexibility desired, however hours can be discussed to accommodate individual needs.
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Editor: Please tell our readers something of your background and experience.
Gross: I have been at Willkie Farr since 1979 and became a corporate and securities law partner in 1986. I practice in the general corporate area, such as issuances of debt or equity securities by public and private companies, merger and acquisition transactions and the like. In recent years I have focused on real estate companies, like REITs and REOCs, but I have done deals in many other industries as well. I have a law degree from Bar Ilan University in Israel and an MBA in finance from New York University.
Editor: In November of last year the SEC promulgated final rules requiring expanded disclosure of a corporation's director nomination process. Can you give us an overview of this change?
Gross: The operative word here is disclosure. Essentially, that is what the final rules require. They mandate that companies disclose in some detail how their nominating process works and the standards by which nominees are selected. They also require disclosure of the procedures by which shareholders can communicate with boards of directors. These rules are the product of a study produced in mid-2003 by the SEC's Division of Corporate Finance, and it is important to note that the study's recommendations went far beyond the rules that to date have been adopted. There was, and continues to be, concern in the legal community that the SEC has not abandoned these additional items - sort of like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Among other things, these additional items would have required companies, for the first time and under narrow circumstances, to include in their proxy statements to shareholders candidates nominated by shareholder groups in opposition to candidates nominated by the existing board or its nominating committee. Needless to say, this idea has caused considerable consternation in board rooms across the country.
Some background to this. Today, a board-sponsored slate of candidates is presented to the shareholders for election. Shareholders who are unhappy with the slate can withhold their votes - which means that they can decline to vote "yes," but they can't actually vote "no." As a result, if the board's candidate wins only a handful of "yes" votes - he wins! To actually vote "no," the shareholder has to go through the proxy fight process and propose a competing slate of candidates, a very expensive and time-consuming proposition. The SEC study's proposal would have made it possible, for example, for five seats on the board to be contested by six candidates, not all of whom would be nominated by the board. This notion has not yet found itself into the rules, but whether it will, and when, is a matter of very intense speculation in the securities bar.
Editor: What prompted the SEC to address this issue now? Can you tie this into the recent corporate scandals and the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley?
Gross: I think the SEC is simply taking advantage of the current climate - one that calls for increased scrutiny of corporate management and governing boards - to advance an agenda that has been percolating under the surface for some time. The notion of enhanced "shareholder democracy" has a long lineage, and some of the issues addressed by the SEC's study have been under review for years. There is a kind of cycle in this area that calls for the periodic visitation of how corporate directors are nominated and elected, and the climate resulting from the recent scandals is probably a fortuitous one, in the eyes of the SEC, for just such a visitation.
Editor: You mentioned the adoption of final rules with respect to the procedures by which shareholders may communicate with directors. What is the origin of this?
Gross: If I am a shareholder of a company, and I wish to go on record with my displeasure concerning some aspect of the business, I could simply write to the CEO or investor relations person. The new rules do not change anything in this regard. What is new is that companies must now disclose to shareholders whether they can also communicate directly with the directors and, if so, how to do it. I am not certain that this will change a lot of corporate procedures already in place, but it will now put a disclosure spotlight on those procedures. And, obviously, in today's climate, if a director gets a shareholder complaint, he is unlikely to just ignore it; he's more likely to raise it with the appropriate corporate personnel.
There is some concern that company boards will now be flooded with communications from disgruntled company employees or from simple kooks. Most companies have procedures in place to separate the wheat from the chaff. Remember, the rules require disclosure of how one can send a letter to the board; the rules don't require the board to read or respond to each letter.
Editor: In light of the recent corporate scandals it is increasingly difficult to find qualified independent directors willing to serve. What kind of impact are the new rules likely to have on this state of affairs?
Gross: It is becoming harder to find truly qualified independent directors, particularly those with strong financial backgrounds who can serve on or chair an audit committee. There is also pressure on boards to become more inclusive, with increased focus on gender- and race-based diversity. All this adds to the pressure on boards to locate, identify and have elected directors who are both qualified and independent. The new rules neither add to nor detract from that particular issue, in my view. They may, however, have an empowering effect on nominating committees and, through such committees, on boards of directors. For a very long time, it was the CEO who presented candidates to a rather passive nominating committee and board. The new rules may have the effect of encouraging the existing directors to be more critical of such candidates, perhaps even to put forward candidates of their own, and I think - if that does take place - it is a step forward. There is a delicate balance here; we want directors to have input into nominations, but we don't want companies run by committees.
Editor: How important is it to have third-party expertise available in the selection of director candidates?
Gross: I do not think you need an executive search firm to find qualified independent director candidates. To be sure, the pure "old boy network" should be a thing of the past because today's board is required to make an independent decision annually on the independence of each of its members. In addition, smart companies should recognize that a strong board is an extremely valuable resource. Board members with different areas of expertise and from different business and professional backgrounds enable the company to avoid pitfalls it may not be able to see if everyone on the board is cut from the same cloth. Today, company managements should understand that they need to have on their board both industry experience and skill sets from a wide range of industries and activities, including banking and finance, the securities industry, insurance, accounting and the law, and so on. They shouldn't be looking for gadflies, that's for sure, and I understand that being a friend of the CEO never hurts. But boards should look for candidates with experience and a skill set that can add real value.
Editor: Are these substantive changes in the area of corporate governance, or are they ?
Gross: That is a good question. I believe that there is a fundamental problem with the way governing boards carry out their responsibilities, and while I am not certain that I have a solution, I know that these rules we have been discussing do not address the problem. Boards are by definition reactive bodies. Their effectiveness is largely a function of what management chooses to share with them, and their ability to monitor what management does not choose to share is exceedingly limited. In too many cases, management holds back vital information from the board, and the board, in consequence, finds out what has been going on only long after the fact. While I wouldn't call the new rules "window dressing," to the extent that they focus on how a board is constructed, rather than how it functions in relation to the business which it is supposed to control, they are not addressing the heart of the problem.
Editor: After Enron and WorldCom it is difficult not to be in favor of more corporate democracy and transparency. Nevertheless, the pendulum has swung pretty far out in one direction. Is there some risk that American corporations might suffer at the hands of their global competitors?
Gross: I do not think so. If anything, we are still catching up to the rest of the world in terms of corporate democracy. Shortly before the Enron scandal broke, I was visited by a senior official of a foreign stock exchange and we debated the differing philosophies underlying the standards of corporate democracy in our respective jurisdictions. We agreed that the difference was this: the U.S. system puts a great deal of faith in the wisdom of the market, whereas the foreign systems rely upon a more paternalistic arrangement, with the government actively ensuring corporate democracy and transparency. I told her that I tended to trust the wisdom of the market - and, of course, Enron proved how wrong I could be, although to be fair, the recent scandal at the NYSE has shown that perhaps regulators are not above criticism either. But notwithstanding Sarbanes-Oxley and the other post-Enron regulations, we in the U.S. still tend as a matter of core philosophy to place great faith in the markets. So, even if events compel us to toughen our regulations, we have a long way to go before they appear tough by comparison with those of many foreign jurisdictions.
I would like to leave your readers with a final thought on the impact that rules, regulations and statutes have on corporate behavior. Long before the advent of Sarbanes-Oxley there were a number of highly-regarded companies with very independent and multi-talented governing boards. Among those companies were WorldCom and Enron. I do not believe that it is possible to legislate corporate morality. The rules provide, at best, a framework within which governing boards are supposed to function. That very probably does constitute a step in the right direction. It is by no means a complete answer.
Published March 1, 2004.