my mother is the best

Your Mother Is Always With You...

Your mother is always with you...

She's the whisper of the leaves

as you walk down the street.

She's the smell of bleach

in your freshly laundered socks.

She's the cool hand on your brow

when you're not well.

Your mother lives inside your laughter.

She's crystallized in every tear drop.

She's the place you came from,

your first home...

She's the map you follow

with every step that you take.

She's your first love

and your first heart break...

and nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time, Not space...

Not even death...

will ever separate you

from your mother...

You carry her inside of you...

Speaking of speech

WELCOME TO THE NEW
SPEAKING OF SPEECH.COM
IEP GOAL BANK!

This IEP GOAL BANK is the place where you can "deposit" your own IEP goals/objectives and "withdraw" the goals/objectives contributed by others. Few things cause more angst in our profession than writing IEP goals/objectives! One way to simplify the process is to use the template below. If all sections of this template are filled in, then your goal/objective is measurable.

IEP Goal/Objective Template:

From a baseline of  ___, the student will....

• perform a specific skill
• a specified number of times
• under specified conditions
• at a specified level of achievement
• for a specific length of time.

For example: From a baseline of 55% at the single word level,
                     Joey will...

• correctly produce an /s/ in the initial position
  
• of 25 words from his classroom curriculum
• after highlighting those sounds as a visual reminder
• in 8 of 10 trials (80% accuracy)
• for three consecutive therapy sessions.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You will likely NOT be able to use these goals/objectives "as is." Because goals/objectives need to be individualized, it is important to adapt elements of the goals/objectives below to meet the specific needs of your students. The examples below are just that -- examples to give you ideas when writing your IEPs. They appear on this page just as they were contributed, without editing, and may be missing elements that you'll need to complete. It's up to YOU to make needed changes so the goals/objectives are appropriate for your student.

To "make a deposit" into the IEP Goal Bank, please email your goals/objectives to mervinep@mac.com. Please type GOAL BANK in the subject line and type your goal exactly as you want it to appear on this page. Please include the category for posting. Your contribution will be much appreciated!

To make a "withdrawal" from the Goal Bank, simply highlight and copy the text you want to use, then paste into your IEP. Then reformat text and make changes as needed to individualize the goal/objective.

CLICK ON THE TOPICS BELOW TO ACCESS
RELATED GOALS/OBJECTIVES.

Articulation	Auditory Processing	Aug.Com.
Fluency	Functional Life Skills	Language
Miscellaneous	Phonological/Aud. Discrim.	Social/Pragmatics

Articulation Goals:
Long Term Goal: Student will produce the // speech sound with 90% mastery.
     Short Term Objectives:
     1. S. will produce // in isolation with 90% accuracy.
     2. S. will produce // in syllables with 90% accuracy.
     3. S. will produce // in all positions of words with 90% accuracy.
     4. S. will produce // in sentences with 90% accuracy.
     5. S. will produce // in oral reading tasks with 90% accuracy.
     6. S. will produce // in structured conversation with 90%                         accuracy.
     7. S. will produce // in spontaneous speech with 90% accuracy.
     8. S. will improve self-monitoring skills for the target sound // with          90% accuracy.
     9. S. will improve carry-over of the target sound // outside of the          therapy setting with 90% accuracy.


X will produce intelligible utterances in “Subject-Verb-Object” sentence forms.

X will produce intelligible 3- to 4-word utterances containing prepositions such as “in,” “on,’ “over,” and “under”

X will expand spontaneous utterances to 5 or 6 words, given an oral or gestural cue

X will produce short grammatical utterances to make comments and requests using carrier phrases (e.g, “I want the/to __,” “Where is the __,” “Are you __”)


Long Term Goal for Articulation/ intelligibility: Given a structured or unstructured classroom setting, Firstname will increase meaningful communication interactions by (insert objectives here) within his educational setting to __ % over _ consecutive trials as measured by clinician/teacher observation, other informal assessments and data collection. PA Standard: 1.6.3/5/8/11.C

     Short term objectives / benchmarks
     1. Firstname will work towards increased intelligibility by decreasing his rate of speech during all tasks and increasing his loudness level given less than 2 verbal cues per interaction.
   
     2. Firstname will use appropriate phrasing (pitch, volume, rate, stress) during sentence production or conversation in 3 out of 4 trials

     3. Firstname will use correct sequencing of syllables during multisyllabic word production in 3 out of 4 trials.

     4. Firstname will apply targeted speech intelligibility skills across educational and social settings.


Long Term Goal for Articulation/ oral-motor skills: Given a structured or unstructured classroom setting, Firstname will increase speech intelligibility by use of improved oral motor characteristics and oral movements for speech sound production including (insert objectives from below) to blank % over blank consecutive trials as measured by clinician observation and data collection. PA Standard: 1.6.3/5/8/11.C

Short term objectives / benchmarks

• Improve strength of oral musculature with lingual-labial exercises. Improve correct sound production of (*fill in target sounds) during structured speech exercises.
• Improve ability to utilize and self monitor exaggerated articulatory posture.
• Improve ability to maintain slow speech rate with intermittent pausing.
• To increase diadochokinetic rate to normal limits.
• Generalize improved articulation skills across educational and social settings.

Long Term Goal for Articulation/ traditional: Given a structured or unstructured classroom setting, Firstname will correctly produce /insert target sounds / sounds in a hierarchy, beginning with sounds in isolation and carrying over to conversational speech, to __ % over _ consecutive trials as measured by clinician/teacher observation, other informal assessments and data collection. PA Standard: 1.6.3/5/8/11.C

Short term objectives / benchmarks

• Imitate and produce target sound in isolation Produce target sound in words (initial, medial, final)
• Produce target sound in sentences
• Structured sentences
• Spontaneous sentences
• Produce target sound during oral reading
• Apply targeted speech sound production across educational and social settings

** Demonstrate production of / / with 80% accuracy over 3 out of 4 trials with __ cues or less.

Identify presence of target sound in speech with 80% accuracy over 3 out of 4 trials with 2 cues or less.

Discriminate between correct and incorrect production of the target sound with 80% accuracy over 3 out of 4 trials with 2 cues or less.

Produce target sound in a variety of consonant – vowel combinations with 80% accuracy over 3 out of 4 trials with __ cues or less.

Produce target sound in ____ position of words with 80% accuracy over 3 out of 4 trials with __ cues or less.

Produce target sound in blends and consonant clusters with 80% accuracy over 3 out of 4 trials with __ cues or less.

Produce target sound in structured sentences with 80% accuracy over 3 out of 4 trials with __ cues or less.

Produce target sound in structured conversation with 80% accuracy over 3 out of 4 trials with __ cues or less.

Use effective strategies to improve speech intelligibility with % accuracy over _ out of _ trials with _ cues or less by:
            Self-correcting misarticulated sounds
            Facing speaking partner or group
            Control rate of speech
            Increasing volume of speaking voice
            Repeat or reword utterance to clarify the message when asked




Fluency Goals:

I. “Student” will address non-fluent speech in therapy with Van Riper symptomatic techniques.

II. “Student” will demonstrate increased control of fluency throughout the academic day

III. “Student” will demonstrate increased awareness and control of rate of speech and intelligibility throughout the day.

Benchmarks

• F1. “Student” will maintain eye contact
• F2. “Student” will identify and eliminate secondary symptoms
• F3. “Student” will stutter/stop
• F4. “Student” will stutter/stop/repeat
• F5. “Student” will stutter/stop/repeat/analyze
• F6. “Student” will stutter/stop/change toward correction
• F7. “Student” will independently identify rates of speech (too fast, just right) with 90% accuracy.
• F8. Given an oral cue, “Student” will identify proper intonation and breath patterns by chunking phrases with 80% accuracy.
• F9. “Student” will independently identify episodes of nonfluency with 80% accuracy.

Long Term Goal for Fluency Awareness/ Relaxation: Given a structured or unstructured classroom setting, Firstname will relax body and speech musculature with specific emphasis on (*insert objective from below*) for blank minutes over blank consecutive trials, as measured by clinician/teacher observation, other informal assessments and data collection. PA Standard: 1.6.3/5/8/11.C

Short term objectives / benchmarks

• Firstname will demonstrate the ability to identify and relax points of tension in the speech musculature.
• Apply targeted fluency awareness techniques across educational and social settings.

Long Term Goal for Fluency Awareness/ Self-monitoring: Given a structured or unstructured classroom setting, Firstname will increase awareness of own speech production by describing characteristics of fluent and dysfluent speech by (insert specific objectives here) with __ % accuracy over _ consecutive trials or during a _ minute language sample. PA Standard: 1.6.3/5/8/11.C

     Short term objectives / benchmarks
     1. Evaluate speech of self and others

     2. Develop a hierarchy of speech situations, relative to people, activities, and settings from least to most stressful.

     3. Describe what he/she does to produce fluent and dysfluent speech in terms of :
          • Respiration
          • Phonation
          • Articulation
          • Rate
          • Continuity

     4. Apply targeted fluency awareness techniques across educational and social settings.


Long Term Goal for Fluency Awareness / decreasing dysfluencies: Given a structured or unstructured classroom setting, Student will increase awareness of speech production by describing what he can do to produce fluent speech (including but not limited to the following activities: insert objectives here) during a _ minute speech sample. PA Standard: 1.6.3/5/8/11.C

Short term objectives / benchmarks
    1. Using fluent speech during:
          • Automatic responses
          • Phrases
          • Sentences
          • Initiation of questions
          • Responses to questions
          • Reading
          • Conversation

     2. Use of fluent speech during low stress situations.

     3. Use of fluent speech during high stress situations.

    4. Use of fluent speech when conversing with a friend or teacher.

    5. Use of fluent speech during phone conversations:
          • Initiating phone call
          • Answering phone calls
          • Conversing during phone calls

     6. Apply targeted fluency awareness techniques across educational and social settings.



Functional Life Skills Goals:

S. will match 10 identical symbols given a choice of 4 in a functional context such as cooking, in 8 of 10 opportunities.

S. will match 10 symbols to objects given a choice of 4 in a functional context such as cooking, in 8 of 10 opportunities.

S. will point to or get named symbols and objects from a choice of 6 when used in language games, cooking activities, and other classroom routines, in 8 of 10 opportunities.

S. will point to a "same" or "different" symbol to indicate if pairs of thematic symbols or items are same or different, in 8 of 10 opportunities.

S. will sort 10 items into 2 dissimilar categories, in 8 of 10 opportunities.

S. will make 10 choices of preferred items from an array of 3 during snack by picking up a symbol or photo to an adult, in 8 of 10 opportunities.

S. will initiate his turn during snack and Circle by pressing a voice-output switch, reaching toward the adult, and/or vocalizing, in 4 of 5 opportunities.

S. will follow verbal directions to "sit, stand, give, go" during daily routines and transitions, with no more than 1 prompt, in 4 of 5 opportunities.

S. will identify a named symbol, photo, or object by touching or selecting it from a choice of 3 during Circle (story, song, weather), attendance, schedule, language games, etc., in 4 of 5 opportunities.

S. will demonstrate understanding of symbols by performing an action or going to the appropriate place when shown a symbol related to daily routines, in 8 of 10 opportunities.

Reading skill acquition

Main article: Reading skills acquisition

Literacy is the ability to use the symbols of a writing system. To be able to interpret the information symbols represent, and to be able to re-create those same symbols so that others can derive the same meaning. Illiteracy is not having the ability to derive meaning from the symbols used in a writing system.
Dyslexia refers to a cognitive difficulty with reading and writing. The term dyslexia can refer to two disorders: developmental dyslexia which is a learning disability; alexia or acquired dyslexia refers to reading difficulties that occur following brain damage.
Major predictors of an individual's ability to read both alphabetic and nonalphabetic scripts are phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming and verbal IQ.^[4]

[edit] Skill development

Both the Lexical and the Sub-lexical cognitive processes contribute to how we learn to read.

Sub-lexical reading

Sub-lexical reading,^[5][6][7][8] involves teaching reading by associating characters or groups of characters with sounds or by using Phonics learning and teaching methodology. Sometimes argued to be in competition with whole language methods.

Lexical reading

Lexical reading^[5][6][7][8] involves acquiring words or phrases without attention to the characters or groups of characters that compose them or by using Whole language learning and teaching methodology. Sometimes argued to be in competition with phonics methods, and that the whole language approach tends to impair learning how to spell.
Other methods of teaching and learning to read have developed, and become somewhat controversial.^[9]
Learning to read in a second language, especially in adulthood, may be a different process than learning to read a native language in childhood.
There are cases of very young children learning to read without having been taught.^[10] Such was the case with Truman Capote who reportedly taught himself to read and write at the age of five. There are also accounts of people who taught themselves to read by comparing street signs or Biblical passages to speech. The novelist Nicholas Delbanco taught himself to read at age six during a transatlantic crossing by studying a book about boats.^{[citation needed]}

How to write a book series

How to Write a Book Series - How NOT to Write a Novel

200 classic mistakes and how to avoid them - A misstep-by-misstep guide

A couple of years ago we ran a novel writing contest. We only received 23 entries, but that was plenty.
A few were decent. Three had potential. The rest were, and I'll be nice, not quite up to snuff. Honestly, half of the entries were horrible. We couldn't imagine how these folks could have thought their books were complete.
Typos... misspellings... poorly constructed sentences. Lack of editing was just one small part of the problem. The books were dull. The characters were predictable or flat. The story line in some cases seemed to be missing in action. Oh, it was a grueling process for us...
So when I was asked to review the new book by Howard Mittlemark and Sandra Newman, How NOT To Write a Novel, I jumped on the chance.
Learning from the mistakes of others is always valuable. Reading well-written novels should be a top priority for any aspiring author, but sometimes it's nice to know if you're making any of the classic mistakes. That's why I like this book.
First, I'll assume that you read voraciously if you're a writer. If you're not, I recommend that you read a half dozen good novels before reading this book.
Now, assuming you read consistently in the genre in which you intend to write, you'll have some sense of what works. This book shows you what doesn't work - and why. The book is divided into seven parts.

1. Plot
   
2. Character
   
3. Style - the basics
   
4. Style - perspective and voice
   
5. The world of the bad novel
   
6. Special effects and novelty acts - Do not try this at home
   
7. How not to sell a novel

How to Write a Book by BAD Example

What I like about their book is how Mittlemark and Newman provide specific examples of bad writing to illustrate their points. Some are quite humorous. Others are downright painful to read.
For example, in section 1 on Plot, they provide an example where the plot is too slight:

"Fools," Thomas Abrams thought, shaking his head as he completed his inspection of the drainage assembly under the worried eyes of Len Stewart. "Foolish, foolish, fools," he muttered. Squirming out from under the catchment basin, he stood up and brushed off the grit that clunk to his gray overalls. Then he picked up his clipboard and made a few notes on the form, while Len waited anxiously for the verdict. Thomas didn't mind making him wait.
   "Well," he said, as he finished and put the pen away. "Well, well, well."
   "What is it?" Len asked, unable to keep a tremor out of his voice.
   "When will you people learn that you can't use a B-142 joint-enclosure with a 1811-D-nipple cinch?"
   "B-but--" Len stammered.
   "Or maybe, let me take a wild guess here, just maybe you confused an 1811-D with an 1811-E?" He paused to let it sink in before delivering the death blow. "... Again."
   He left Len speechless and walked away without a look back, chuckling ruefully as he managed the look on Len's face when he fully realized the implications of his mistake.

"Death blow?" Oh, my... that's really bad. Sucks you right in, doesn't it?
The authors go on to provide examples on plot lines that are delayed too long, the character's childhood is recounted to no purpose, and in which the leader is intentionally misled. And that's just a quarter of what's in the first section.

Economics of education

Economics

Main article: Economics of education

It has been argued that high rates of education are essential for countries to be able to achieve high levels of economic growth. Empirical analyses tend to support the theoretical prediction that poor countries should grow faster than rich countries because they can adopt cutting edge technologies already tried and tested by rich countries. However, technology transfer requires knowledgeable managers and engineers who are able to operate new machines or production practices borrowed from the leader in order to close the gap through imitation. Therefore, a country's ability to learn from the leader is a function of its stock of "human capital". Recent study of the determinants of aggregate economic growth have stressed the importance of fundamental economic institutions and the role of cogniive skills.At the individual level, there is a large literature, generally related back to the work of Jacob Mincer,on how earnings are related to the schooling and other human capital of the individual. This work has motivated a large number of studies, but is also controversial. The chief controversies revolve around how to interpret the impact of schooling.
Economists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis famously argued in 1976 that there was a fundamental conflict in American schooling between the egalitarian goal of democratic participation and the inequalities implied by the continued profitability of capitalist production on the other.

data structures

Data structures

A data structure is a group of data elements grouped together under one name. These data elements, known as members, can have different types and different lengths. Data structures are declared in C++ using the following syntax:

struct structure_name {
member_type1 member_name1;
member_type2 member_name2;
member_type3 member_name3;
.
.
} object_names;

where structure_name is a name for the structure type, object_name can be a set of valid identifiers for objects that have the type of this structure. Within braces { } there is a list with the data members, each one is specified with a type and a valid identifier as its name.

The first thing we have to know is that a data structure creates a new type: Once a data structure is declared, a new type with the identifier specified as structure_name is created and can be used in the rest of the program as if it was any other type. For example:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

struct product { int weight; float price; } ; product apple; product banana, melon;

We have first declared a structure type called product with two members: weight and price, each of a different fundamental type. We have then used this name of the structure type (product) to declare three objects of that type: apple, banana and melon as we would have done with any fundamental data type.

Once declared, product has become a new valid type name like the fundamental ones int, char or short and from that point on we are able to declare objects (variables) of this compound new type, like we have done with apple, banana and melon.

Right at the end of the struct declaration, and before the ending semicolon, we can use the optional field object_name to directly declare objects of the structure type. For example, we can also declare the structure objects apple, banana and melon at the moment we define the data structure type this way:

1 2 3 4

struct product { int weight; float price; } apple, banana, melon;

It is important to clearly differentiate between what is the structure type name, and what is an object (variable) that has this structure type. We can instantiate many objects (i.e. variables, like apple, banana and melon) from a single structure type (product).

Once we have declared our three objects of a determined structure type (apple, banana and melon) we can operate directly with their members. To do that we use a dot (.) inserted between the object name and the member name. For example, we could operate with any of these elements as if they were standard variables of their respective types:

1 2 3 4 5 6

apple.weight apple.price banana.weight banana.price melon.weight melon.price

Each one of these has the data type corresponding to the member they refer to: apple.weight, banana.weight and melon.weight are of type int, while apple.price, banana.price and melon.price are of type float.

MOTHER'S ARE THE SWEETEST.

Our mother is the sweetest and
Most delicate of all.
She knows more of paradise
Than angels can recall.

She's not only beautiful
But passionately young,
Playful as a kid, yet wise
As one who has lived long.

Her love is like the rush of life,
A bubbling, laughing spring
That runs through all like liquid light
And makes the mountains sing.

And makes the meadows turn to flower
And trees to choicest fruit.
She is at once the field and bower
In which our hearts take root.

She is at once the sea and shore,
Our freedom and our past.
With her we launch our daring ships
Yet keep the things that last.

~Nick Gordon~