People who know me, would be surprised to find that I am now a bit of a news junkie. I spent many years of my life "ignoring" and "avoiding" news. I remember as a child when Mom wanted me to watch news programs and historical documentaries with her - not a fun sport for any teenager, I would guess. I did my best to make excuses "why not". I didn't even like getting out of class to go watch the required "historical" documentaries at school.
I began listening to "talk radio" and have gradually widened my interest to other venues of news and fact-based documentaries. If only I had the same absorption, as a child - I have the thirst, but not able to absorb or grasp it as easily. Admittedly, I am a slow learner. I was one, of many, who fell through the cracks. I have just learned to forge ahead, keep reading, keep watching and listening ... to keep learning. Ironically, my mother and I had something in common here. She had only an eighth-grade education so I guess she did the same as I am now - playing catch up. We both, for different reasons, learned late. Unlike Mom, I did graduate high school - in a class of over 500! It's easy to fall through the cracks with those numbers.
I still don't necessarily "like" news. It can be ugly and depressing, but I now see the value of having knowledge of what's happening locally, nationally, and worldwide, and how it affects all of us, even here at home.
Being in retail now, with educational supplies, it's enlightening to see what a variety of things available to teachers that enable them to make education more interesting, and even fun! I may have even learned to like and enjoy those subjects that I did so poorly in, which now intrigue me the most - like history, government, geography and science - go figure. Unfortunately, I'm like an elementary student, trying to catch up and learn those very things I failed in, miserably. Due to no fault, excpet my own stubborness. I did, however, excel in things related to English, grammar, words, spelling, etc. - in spite of being a poor reader - did well in all those subjects, but not in book reports. Because of that, many people are unaware of my having a learning disability - being a poor reader lends itself to poor retention. Learning continues to be a challenge.
One thng I don't like is seeing the majority of educational supplies are "Made in China". Slowly, I am seeing more "Made in America". Was everyone asleep when that transition slowly happened? It used to be that we prided ourselves to display the label of "Made in America" ... here, and in exports. Has America been asleep for a couple decades? Now, if you took out merchandise (not just educational supplies, the retails store shelves would be all, but bare.
Another thing I've noticed is that cartography - map making - is also done abroad. That's fine, however, I feel cartographers need to know their geography and English a little better, to be able to produce more accurate maps.
I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican. I am, admittedly, politically ignorant, but learning. I just know the things I see, hear, and my life experiences help me know how I feel on different issues.
I began listening to "talk radio" and have gradually widened my interest to other venues of news and fact-based documentaries. If only I had the same absorption, as a child - I have the thirst, but not able to absorb or grasp it as easily. Admittedly, I am a slow learner. I was one, of many, who fell through the cracks. I have just learned to forge ahead, keep reading, keep watching and listening ... to keep learning. Ironically, my mother and I had something in common here. She had only an eighth-grade education so I guess she did the same as I am now - playing catch up. We both, for different reasons, learned late. Unlike Mom, I did graduate high school - in a class of over 500! It's easy to fall through the cracks with those numbers.
I still don't necessarily "like" news. It can be ugly and depressing, but I now see the value of having knowledge of what's happening locally, nationally, and worldwide, and how it affects all of us, even here at home.
Being in retail now, with educational supplies, it's enlightening to see what a variety of things available to teachers that enable them to make education more interesting, and even fun! I may have even learned to like and enjoy those subjects that I did so poorly in, which now intrigue me the most - like history, government, geography and science - go figure. Unfortunately, I'm like an elementary student, trying to catch up and learn those very things I failed in, miserably. Due to no fault, excpet my own stubborness. I did, however, excel in things related to English, grammar, words, spelling, etc. - in spite of being a poor reader - did well in all those subjects, but not in book reports. Because of that, many people are unaware of my having a learning disability - being a poor reader lends itself to poor retention. Learning continues to be a challenge.
One thng I don't like is seeing the majority of educational supplies are "Made in China". Slowly, I am seeing more "Made in America". Was everyone asleep when that transition slowly happened? It used to be that we prided ourselves to display the label of "Made in America" ... here, and in exports. Has America been asleep for a couple decades? Now, if you took out merchandise (not just educational supplies, the retails store shelves would be all, but bare.
Another thing I've noticed is that cartography - map making - is also done abroad. That's fine, however, I feel cartographers need to know their geography and English a little better, to be able to produce more accurate maps.
I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican. I am, admittedly, politically ignorant, but learning. I just know the things I see, hear, and my life experiences help me know how I feel on different issues.
