Hasta La Gadget!

C. M. Rubin’s global education report from India, England, Finland and Europe

In January, I talked with world leaders from India, England, Finland and Europe about their goals to improve education. Each had a distinct project and clear opinions about what was the most important facet of education to focus on: from how to make education accessible to everyone, to how to make students into stronger candidates for jobs in the global marketplace.

At the dynamic Education Fast Forward 12 Debate on January 19, I spoke with Stefan Dercon (Chief Economist, Department for International Development in London) and Andreas Schleicher (Special Advisor on Education Policy, OECD in Paris) about their opinions on the issues raised in the “Turning School Performance to Economic Success” discussion. As the marketplace expands to be more inclusive, global and robust, all eyes are pointed to education systems as a crucial platform to prepare citizens to meet the demands of a changed world. But how key is education to a country’s economic success? In their opinion, it is crucial. And the skills that they emphasized above all others were the abilities to “collaborate, compete, and connect.”

But these skills in isolation are not enough. Stefan Dercon emphasizes, “The arts remain an important means to express ideas and concepts for all cultures, and no management speak or vocational skill that business likes will overcome this.” Dercon’s point is critical, since as thought leaders the world over attempt to use schools to create better job candidates, they must not fall into the trap of attempting to merely create ‘productive workers’. Honing people’s creative and artistic skills is fundamental to all great cultures.

In Finland, world renowned for its successful public school system, I talked to leading school improvement consultant and teacher, Mikko Salonen (of ENIRDELM, the European education network) about his work to help struggling schools turnaround and become more successful. Salonen’s goals are clear – to have everyone in a school come to recognize their importance to the larger ecology of the school. In order to reach this goal, he has a multifaceted approach that involves working closely with the teachers and students in the individual school, but without any arrogance: “Many consultants have the tendency to be all-knowing and all-powerful. The consultation process might become derailed if the consultant takes too powerful a role or focuses the work wrongly.” I will continue this coming year to inquire into how master educators around the world are turning around underperforming schools and classrooms. I think these hands-on case studies from around the world are one of the most revealing and important aspects of education reform.

In India, I talked to Shaheen Mistri, CEO of Teach for India (co-author of the book Redrawing India – The Teach for India Story), which works to make sure that absolutely every child in India gets an education. Mistri told me, “Only when every person on the street realizes the role she can play in this movement, can we begin to change the conversations around education.” This is a difficult task in a country where four percent of children don’t ever start school. Inspired by Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp, Mistri convinced Kopp that children in India had similar problems to children in America. Teach for India depends on the work of the brightest Indian graduates, much like the Teach for America model. What is their prime motivation? According to Mistri, it’s “Seva,” the Hindi word for service and a core value in Indian culture. Perhaps it is Seva or service that should be the enduring value that we think about as we enter 2015. For without such service, how would the schools we love, and the education platforms we invest in, ever grow or expand?

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(Photo is courtesy of Teach for India)

Join me and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Michael Block (U.S.), Dr. Leon Botstein (U.S.), Professor Clay Christensen (U.S.), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (U.S.), Dr. MadhavChavan (India), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (U.S.), Professor Andy Hargreaves (U.S.), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Jean Hendrickson (U.S.), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Honourable Jeff Johnson (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Dr. EijaKauppinen (Finland), State Secretary TapioKosunen (Finland), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Professor Ben Levin (Canada), Lord Ken Macdonald (UK), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Shiv Nadar (India), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Dr. Pak Tee Ng (Singapore), Dr. Denise Pope (US), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Dr. Diane Ravitch (U.S.), Richard Wilson Riley (U.S.), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor PasiSahlberg (Finland), Professor Manabu Sato (Japan), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. Anthony Seldon (UK), Dr. David Shaffer (U.S.), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (U.S.), Yves Theze (LyceeFrancais U.S.), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (U.S.), Sir David Watson (UK), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Dr. Mark Wormald (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today.
The Global Search for Education Community Page

C. M. Rubin is the author of two widely read online series for which she received a 2011 Upton Sinclair award, “The Global Search for Education” and “How Will We Read?” She is also the author of three bestselling books, including The Real Alice in Wonderland, is the publisher of CMRubinWorld, and is a Disruptor Foundation Fellow.

Laura Gaskill, Houzz Contributor

Have you noticed that the state of your kitchen can make a huge difference in how your entire home feels? When things aren’t running as they should, the smallest tasks (making breakfast, putting away groceries) can feel like a hassle.

Messiness can sneak up on you — the corners get a little grungy, the papers pile up on the edge of the counter, and after a while everything adds up. But since the kitchen is a natural gathering place, a ship-shape one is essential in keeping the day-to-day flow of a busy household running smoothly. When your kitchen needs a reboot, turn to this weeklong plan to get things back on track and better than ever.

How to Remodel Your Kitchen

Make a plan of attack. Of course there are certain things you already do each day and week to help keep your kitchen running smoothly, although the specifics differ from person to person. Make a quick mental list of the tasks you’re on top of already and focus instead on the jobs you haven’t done for a while. Plan to spend more time cleaning and decluttering during the first two days (plan these for a weekend or days off) to get a jump-start on the week; smaller tasks can be squeezed in on weekdays.

Set goals that make sense for you. Setting a goal that relates to how you want your kitchen to function better is more helpful than blindly tackling a long list of cleaning and decluttering jobs, so consider what you personally want to get out of this week. Want help getting through hectic mornings? You may want to focus on clearing the kitchen cabinet and pantry clutter. Wish your evenings felt more peaceful? Getting the fridge and surfaces clean and clear so you are ready to cook could help. Dream of hanging out in the kitchen more? Focus on the social areas of your kitchen by sprucing up the island and breakfast table.

Day 1: Deal with appliances.

Decluttering tasks: Take everything out of the fridge and freezer, one shelf at a time, and toss anything that has gone bad or that you know you won’t eat. There is no reason to let that salad dressing you tried and hated sit there for another year.

Cleaning tasks:

• Wipe the shelves of the fridge; wash crisper drawers with warm, soapy water.
• Degrease the stovetop.
• Clean out the microwave.
• Clear the crumb tray under the toaster oven.
• Pull your fridge away from the wall and vacuum the space behind it and the coils.
• Run your oven’s self-cleaning function (be sure to consult the manual for instructions first).
• Run the dishwasher without anything in it.

Day 2: Tackle cupboards and drawers.

Decluttering tasks: This is the day to get the most frequently used spaces in your kitchen decluttered and primed for easy cooking. Get rid of things you never use (be honest!) and move things you rarely use (like once or twice a year) to a nonprime position.

• Take everything out of your cupboards (you can do this in two or more stages if you need to) and look over each item. Remove unnecessary duplicates, broken items and things you do not use or like.
• Repeat the process with drawers and counters.
• When it’s time to put back the keepers, be sure to put things near where they will be used (knives near prep area, spatulas near the stove etc.)

Cleaning tasks:

• Wipe down drawers and shelves.
• Inspect pots and pans, and remove cooked-on spots and stains.
• Have knives sharpened.

Day 3: Take care of the pantry.

Decluttering tasks:

• Working one section at a time, take everything out of your pantry and go through it.
• Toss out expired food. Set aside items that are still good but that you know you will not use.
• Transfer bulk items into airtight containers to keep them fresh and keep pests out.
• Sort what you are keeping into categories based on when you use the items — for instance, all breakfast foods could go together on one shelf, and all baking supplies on another.

Cleaning tasks: Wipe down pantry shelves and containers as you declutter. Replace shelf paper.

Find Inspirational Pantry Ideas on Houzz

Day 4: Handle the sink, garbage and drain.

Cleaning tasks:

• Pour white vinegar down the drain and let it sit for at least 10 minutes; rinse with boiling water.
• Clean the garbage can and recycling containers, inside and out.
• Scrub your sink and around faucets, paying special attention to crevices and joints where grime can build up.

Day 5: Clear the counters and open shelves.

Decluttering tasks: Remove and sort through everything on your open shelving and counters; be ruthless about what you choose to put back and why. Cluttered, overcrowded counters and open shelves will only make being in your kitchen a drag, and now is your chance to make a change. If there are items here you want to keep but not look at daily, move them to a closed cupboard — you should have more room in those by now.

Cleaning tasks: Give your counters and open shelves a thorough cleaning while they are empty, paying special attention to corners. Use tile and grout cleaner or a paste of baking soda or natural scouring powder and scrub tile grout with a stiff, narrow brush.

Day 6: Wash the windows, walls and floors.

Cleaning tasks:

• Starting at the top, vacuum the ceiling, walls and, finally, the floor.
• Use an all-purpose cleaning spray to spritz and wipe the walls and cupboard exteriors.
• Launder window treatments, or vacuum if they cannot be laundered.
• Take area rugs to be professionally cleaned.

Day 7 and beyond: Make your kitchen a place you want to be in.

Decluttering tasks: Today is the day to give your kitchen hangout zone some love. Remove the piles of paper, laptops, random cords, bags of cat food or anything else that has accumulated here. Make a list of anything this area could use to make it more comfortable.

Cleaning tasks: Have cushion covers professionally cleaned. Spot clean upholstered pieces. Note which areas gave you the most trouble this week and schedule time at least once a month to tackle the problem areas. Commit to clearing the decks each evening by putting away all dishes and taking out items that belong elsewhere.

More:

Find the Latest Cleaning Supplies For Your Home

The 20 Most Popular Kitchens on Houzz

Get Inspired by Thousands of Stunning Kitchen Photos

15 Popular Kitchen Storage Ideas

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A baby goat was beheaded and its twin was taken from a park where they had been in a pen, the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Thursday.

The white-and-black hybrid pygmy and dwarf goats were born Nov. 6 and were about the size of housecats. They belonged to a company that rents goats out to people who want them to eat weeds and trim grass, according to Morgana King, to the owner of “Y’Herd Me?” The SPCA is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the death of Calvin and the disappearance of his brother Jack.

King said she had 13 goats penned at Brechtel Park in New Orleans, and found the headless goat when she went there Thursday because they were out of their pen. The fence was knocked down, she said, but she couldn’t tell what happened.

King said she’d hoped a dog or coyote killed the goat, but the wound looked like a cut rather than a bite.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man convicted of killing a 38-year-old woman nearly two decades ago while he was on parole for a triple slaying years earlier was executed Thursday evening.

Robert Ladd, 57, received a lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected arguments he was mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty. The court also rejected an appeal in which Ladd’s attorney challenged whether the pentobarbital Texas uses in executions is potent enough to not cause unconstitutional pain and suffering. Ladd was executed for the 1996 slaying of 38-year-old Vicki Ann Garner, of Tyler, who was strangled and beaten with a hammer. Her arms and legs were bound, bedding was placed between her legs, and she was set on fire in her apartment.

In his final statement, Ladd addressed the sister of his victim by name, telling her he was “really, really sorry.”

“I really, really hope and pray you don’t have hatred in your heart,” he said, adding that he didn’t think she could have closure but hoped she could find peace. “A revenge death won’t get you anything,” he said.

Then Ladd told the warden: “Let’s ride.”

As the drug took effect, he said: “Stings my arm, man!” He began taking deep breaths, then started snoring. His snores became breaths, each one becoming less pronounced, before he stopped all movement.

He was pronounced dead at 7:02 p.m., 27 minutes after the drug was administered.

Ladd came within hours of lethal injection in 2003 before a federal court agreed to hear evidence about juvenile records that suggested he was mentally impaired. That appeal was denied and the Supreme Court last year turned down a review of Ladd’s case. His attorneys renewed similar arguments as his new execution date approached.

“Ladd’s deficits are well documented, debilitating and significant,” Brian Stull, a senior staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project, told the high court.

Kelli Weaver, a Texas attorney general, reminded the justices in a filing that “each court that has reviewed Ladd’s claim has determined that Ladd is not intellectually disabled.”

Ladd’s lawyers cited a psychiatrist’s determination in 1970 that Ladd, then a 13-year-old in custody of the Texas Youth Commission, had an IQ of 67. Courts have embraced scientific studies that consider an IQ of 70 a threshold for impairment. The inmate’s attorneys also contended he long has had difficulties with social skills and functioning on his own.

Ladd also was a plaintiff in a lawsuit questioning the “quality and viability” of Texas’ supply of its execution drug, pentobarbital. The Texas Attorney General’s Office called the challenge “nothing more than rank speculation.”

When he was arrested for Garner’s slaying, Ladd had been on parole for about four years after serving about a third of a 40-year prison term for the slayings of a Dallas woman and her two children. He pleaded guilty to those crimes.

Drone delivery is inherently dangerous—regardless of how excited companies like Amazon are getting about the idea, the thought of airborne robots weaving in between skyscrapers and over cars is downright unnerving. That’s why it took months of preparation for a group of hobbyists to stage Hong Kong’s first drone delivery.

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