Rare uncontacted tribe photographed in Amazon

Thu May 29, 6:21 PM ET

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Amazon Indians from one of the world's last uncontacted tribes have been photographed from the air, with striking images released on Thursday showing them painted bright red and brandishing bows and arrows.

The photographs of the tribe near the border between Brazil and Peru are rare evidence that such groups exist. A Brazilian official involved in the expedition said many of them are in increasing danger from illegal logging.

"What is happening in this region is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilized' ones, treat the world," Jose Carlos Meirelles was quoted as saying in a statement by the Survival International group.

One of the pictures, which can be seen on Survival International's Web site (http://www.survival-international.org), shows two Indian men covered in bright red pigment poised to fire arrows at the aircraft while another Indian looks on.

Another photo shows about 15 Indians near thatched huts, some of them also preparing to fire arrows at the aircraft.

"The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct," said Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International, which supports tribal people around the world.

Of more than 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, more than half live in either Brazil or Peru, Survival International says. It says all are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed and ravaged by new diseases.

(Reporting by Stuart Grudgings; editing by Sandra Maler)

It is amazing that their are still truly primitive people living in the world. Sure there are tribes that are pretty primitive but they have still been exposed to the outside world. To think that in small isolated pockets are still people that are living as their ancestors have for who knows how many hundreds or thousands of years simply boggles the mind. It is really too bad we just can't leave them alone. I don't think they will ever be able to understand the world we live in.

Will the truth really set you free?

That’s the question of today, will the truth really set you free or turn around and bite you in the butt.

Here’s the problem I am about to start my first assignment for Methods for Teaching Structured English Immersion (SEI) and English as a Second Language (ESL) The assignment reads as follows: Review the time line you made in this lesson. Briefly explain how each of the events has affected bilingual education and ESL instruction. Your response must explain at least five different events. In the body of the lesson where she asks us to make a time line she makes the point that we must include these 5 topics: The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution The Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974 The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 (Title VII) Lau vs. Nichols (1974).

Based on this I naturally assume that she wants me to discuss in the assignment the five items she had listed above as well as any other items I found on my own. I have no problem with items 4 through 5 but I have a big problem with number 1. Specifically the 14^th amendment, which reads in part as, copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution: Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This is what is causing my problem; I just don’t see how this applies to bilingual education at all. Clearly, she has what I perceive as a liberal agenda. So do I write what I believe that applying the 14thamendemnt is a huge stretch and support my belief and risk being on her short list and perhaps having my grade suffer or do I write what I think she wants to see and drink the kool-aid so to speak? Any ideas?

Not a bad start.

Today has been a good day. I got up early walked on the treadmill then ate a hearty breakfast of chocolate slim fast. Tasty! Then I called the hubby to check in and make sure he made it to work in one piece. He did so far life is good. Got on the computer checked my e-mail and found out that kvegas911 did indeed miss me while I was gone and is glad I’m back. Me too.

Then it was time to start my homework. I needed to complete the second lesson in my course work, which meant reviewing a lesson plan and then writing three original lesson plans for language arts. That took me all afternoon except for a brief break when I drove to my son’s school to pick up his summer reading book. He needs to read “Animal Farm” over the summer and I think I will read it with him. It is a good book.

After finishing my three lesson plans I decided to take a break. I hopped on over to The Temerity of High Maintenance to see what was up with the continuing saga,”In Blog We Trust.” And yes there were indeed new chapters up. This story is so much fun. I had to add to it so I spent the nest hour or so writing the next part, proof reading repeatedly and then decided ok let us do it and submitting it. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

So now I can get back to my school work and crank out either lesson one for my methods class, play on the computer or watch a net flicks program on the computer. I can’t decide which, but it sure is nice to have options.

Check it out!

Deathlock has come up with an incredible and extremely fun interactive activity on his blog. He started a story and then passed it on by tagging someone. Each person tagged adds to the story and passes it on again. So far, it’s an interesting story full of character, intrigue, and maybe even a sexy hit woman. We don’t know yet but that’s the fun of this whole thing. We have no idea where it’s going. Check it out its called “In Blog We Trust.” Read it and leave a comment, maybe somebody will tag you too and you can add to this literary masterpiece.

I’m back! Did you miss me?

It’s done. I took my final on Saturday and I just got the results back a few minutes ago. I got an A! I had studied and I felt good about it especially since the mid term was so easy, but right in the middle of the test I suddenly felt flush, light headed and just a little sick to my stomach. I’m thinking great I’ve caught the crude that’s going around and I cant leave the test to get sick because if I do they won’t let me back in . I concentrated on finishing the test with out embarrassing my self. The answers were brief but I felt I had answered them completely so I went home and went to bed. I guess brief is ok as long as you get all the information in.

Now I can concentrate on summer! So far, I am off to a good start. I decided to keep my alarm clock on and continue to get up at 6:30. That way I can get a jump-start on my day. I get up walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes check my e-mail, eat breakfast, and work on the blog for a little bit. Then its clean the kitchen, work on laundry, clean the house some and knock out a homework assignment for the classes I am taking this summer.

I am taking three classes over the summer, another methods class this one is teaching the English language learner. The other class is an overview of the course work that I am to take in the second half of the program, (I think I should have taken that one first but it fit better in my schedule to take it over the summer). Finally, a seminar class, which is just attending three workshops over a 14 week periods and writing up a summery of what I learned there. It may sound like a tough schedule but the only hard class is the methods class the other two I should be able to breeze right through.

The kids and I have also decide to try to learn Spanish from a cd-rom I have. This should be fun. Cody is going to continue practicing his trumpet and if we can find a good Latin book, he is going to work on that over the summer as well so he doesn’t forget everything he has learned this year over the summer. Robyn and I are going to work on her handwriting together with a book I bought called, “hand writing with out tears.” I hope that it will help her with her fine motor problems. We are also going to be making trips to the library and reading this summer.

With all that and trips to the water park we should have a fun filled busy summer and I know it will be over way to soon. Well I better get busy, I have a kitchen to clean.

Alice Cooper - School's Out For Summer

Summer break starts today! We get out early in Arizona. True we do go back in August but hey, schools out for summer!

Weather alert!

Growing up in Colorado I was familiar with weather alerts. In the winter, we had winter storm or blizzard warning. In the summer, there were thunderstorm and tornado warning. After we moved to Arizona I had thought they days of my weather alerts were mostly behind me. I was wrong. We arrived in Arizona in July on 2008 in the middle of monsoon season. There were plenty of thunderstorm warnings and watches, but I was familiar with that. It wasn’t until later after we had moved into our house and I was sitting at my computer one day when I learned what other kind of weather warnings there were. My computer began to chirp and the weather bug in the lower right corner was flashing. I clicked it to see what was up and there it was my first excessive heat warning. Since then we have had lots and lots of those and in fact we are having one right now. It 104 degrees so it is a bit toasty. We have also had several stagnant air warning and I have learned to take these warnings seriously. It means that air is bad and my lungs are likely to get upset with me and begin to wheeze and cough. So while I no longer get the winter storms warning or tornado warning my weather bug does get a work out, warning me of heavy rain and thunderstorms with heavy rain , excessive heat and air that is unsafe to breathe. For that, I am grateful. Now if you will excuse me I am going to turn on the air conditioner and close all the drapes until October, its now summer in Arizona.

Kids say the funniest things.

Yesterday while in my practicum class, I was helping a group of students work on a product map of Texas. The assignment was to look at a map that had different symbols of what is produced in Texas such as oil wells, hogs, cattle, fish, fruits, vegetables, and cotton. They needed to use the information to answer a few questions. The first question was “What product is drilled from the ground in Texas?” The boy I work with said he didn’t understand so I explained that when you drill for something you get it from the ground. He understood and wrote the correct response on his paper. I looked over at the girl’s paper and checked her work and for that question, she had written beef cattle. I explained that you drill for things in the ground and you do not drill for cows. She then says, “Oh I thought it said grill.” I was very proud of my self I did not laugh until latter.

Wednesday's poetry corner, a couple days late.

I really liked this poem, not because I am this women but because I would like to be this women. To be totally comfortable with who I am and not so worried about what others think of me.

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Its official I’m a *itch.

I’m a *itch and not just a *itch but a total *itch. Over the weekend all, the neighbor children were home. My husband and I were out front waiting for our daughter to find her shoes. I watched the boys in the street throwing a skateboard onto the street repeatedly until it finally broke apart. I expressed my displeasure to my son at the blatant destruction and voiced my belief that this is what’s wrong with their generation. I later found out that the skateboard was already cracked. However that is not why I am a *itch. That happened when I saw one of the boys throwing half of the skateboard with wheels attached at another neighbor boy as he peddled by a the green machine. I called out “Hey, don’t throw that towards him, you could hurt him” He said”ok” and slouched back into his garage. My daughter found her shoes and off we went to the dollar store to buy hair ties. Both my daughter and I now have hair long enough for hair thingies so it was time to splurge. Later that night I asked my son what his friend had said after I yelled at him. He told me that his friend had said, “Don’t tell anyone but your mom is a total *itch.” Fortunately, my son spilled the beans quick. So in one after noon I went from being the cool mom to a total *itch. I think my work is done.

Happy Mothers Day!

Mother’s day sort of snuck up on me this year. It wasn’t until my daughter came home Friday and presented me with an orange gift bag with a bright yellow piece of paper stapled to it keeping it closed and announced, “this is for you for mother’s day, but you have to wait till Sunday.” I thought first oh how sweet, then I thought crud, no time to get a card off to my mom with any chance she has get it. My third thought was I’ll call her on Sunday and tell her just how much she means to me only to find out when I tried to call her Saturday that she’s out of town until Monday. New plan, crate a Mothers day post for her and call her Monday night. So here, it is my tribute to the greatest mom in the world, my mom.

More times then you can imagine how

Often I think of you and I want you to know I am

Thankful for all your constant love and helpful advice and

How supportive you been over the years always

Encouraging me when I had my doubts and one thing I want you to know - I am

Really glad you are my mom!

I love you mom!

My Precious meme.

The idea for this meme came about because while I was working on the favorite drinking vessel meme my mom mailed this little red book back to me. This unassuming little red book is my most precious possession. It was a Christmas present from my Grandmother in 1985. I remember unwrapping the present and looking at it and thinking this is interesting a photo album. I was sure it was empty and meant for me to fill with photos.
And then I opened it and saw this page and knew I had something interesting.

I turned the page and this is the first photograph I saw and on the page next to it written in her own hand was the description of the photo telling me that this was in Great Dodington England -1879." The house where my grandma's grandma was born. The people in the picture are my grandmother's great grandparents. That would make them my great great great Grandma parents.
Below is a picture of my great great great grandfather John Brooks and his son also named John Brooks. I believe I was able to find the senior John Brooks civil war recored. I found a John Brooks who served in the 22nd infantry in Iowa's and served as a fifer. Family history places the Brooks family in Iowa just prior to the start of the civil war so that information fits. I was not able to find anything on my great great great uncle as he was only 9 when he went to war with his father so no records were kept as far as I have been able to find.
This is a picture of my great grandfathers farm house in Nebraska.
This is my great grandmother and grandfather on their wedding day.
This is a picture of my grandmother when she was almost four with her little baby sister. My great grandmother died shortly after my grandmother's sister was born. The doctor who came in a horse and buggy to deliver her failed to wash up after his last patient and infected my great grandmother. It was 1909 and there were no antibiotics and there was nothing that could be done for her. My great grandfather was devastated and as my grandmother recalled he was always a sad and lonely man after that. The two girls were not raised my their father but were separated and raised by their maternal; and paternal grandparents.
These two pictures show my mom, her mom, and her brothers when they were just little and again when they were grown.
This handsome man is my grandfather .
These pictures show my grandfather in his football uniform and again with my grandmother and friends. The last picture was taken in Arizona in 1948.

However, as wonderful as these pictures the icing on the cake was when I saw that not only had she given me this wonderful phonographic history of the family but she had also written it down. One the next pages were the story of her life, the history of her side of the family, and how she met my grandfather. I though I must be her favorite grandchild to be given such a special gift. I later found that all of her grandchildren received the same gift but that was what was so magical about Grammy, she made each one of us grandchildren feel like we were her favorite. I have always loved and treasured this book and I have read her words many times but now it is even more important because we lost her 2 years ago at the age of 100 and 1 month. The first time I reread her book after loosing her it was like hearing her voice all over again and now I know that whenever I miss her or need to hear her again all I have to do is open this book and she will be right there back with me.

So here is the challenge choose the item that is "Your Precious" and write about it, how you got it, why it’s important and any other pertinent information. You can include pictures or not it is up to you. It can't be a person or a pet though it has to be a thing.
Let the person who tagged you know you are playing.
Choose five people, tag them on their blog, and reference their blog in your post.
There that’s it.

I tag.
Big bad wolf
fuzzys dad
BOBG
RT
Wyatt

Vocabulary word of the day.

Atingle

a·tin·gle

Pronounced: uh-ting-guhl

Definition: Feeling tingly or stimulated.

I just found a web site that has left me all atingle. You will have to read the next post to find out why.

I am all atingle!

I am so happy. While doing an assignment for school I needed to access a web site to read an article about how Social Studies assessments were under fire and may be revamped. That’s not what made me happy, the fact that at the top of the page was an advertisement for a service that is a lot like Netflix but instead of movies they send you books! That’s right they send you whatever book you want you read and it doesn’t matter how long it takes you to finish. As soon as you are done, you mail it back and they send you another one. Never again will the library Nazis be sending you hate mail and threatening you with collections because you owe five dollars in late fees. Never again will you have to go the over priced book stores and wonder if you will like the book after spending way more money then you should. Now you can try all sorts of authors you may have been reluctant to before and if you don’t like them just ship it back. This is so exciting I can’t wait to sign up and get reading again. If any of you are interested where is the link to Paperspine where you can sign up to get books sent to your house http://www.paperspine.com Just like Net flicks there is a fee involved but it seems much cheaper then buying books and paying late fees and is much more convenient then going to the library.

So much to do, so little time.

I thought I finally was in a positing to spend more time on my blog when I decided to write down just what I needed to do to fish up my class work before the end of the school year.

1. Complete practicum evaluation for they observation portion of my class and submit on line.

2. Complete the practicum evaluation for the tutroing portion of my class and submit it on line.

3. Prepare to teach my lesson plan by gathering the material and making the work sheets.

4. Practice giving the lesson to my children whether they are willing or not.

5. Print out the on line guides for lessons six through nine.

6. Complete study guides for each lesson.

7. Begin studying for final.

8. Complete as much of the practicum verification form as possible.

9. Teach lesson to students.

10. Complete the rest of the verification form and place it in a stamped envelope give it to the practicum teacher with the request that she complete my evaluation and then mail to the school for me making sure it is postmarked no later then May 25, 2008.

11. Schedule a time to take the final.

12. Let my instructor know a date for the finale has been scheduled and the teacher evaluation from has been mailed.

13. Study for the final.

14. Take the final.

15. Take a deep breath and relax.

16. Register for master seminar I, II and Ell Methods.

17. Start all over an again.

18. Find out the when the next AEPA will be given and register to take the exam before student teaching starts next March.

Posting may be a little less frequent but please don’t go I away because I promise I won’t.

Vocabulary word of the day.

Occupied

oc·cu·py

Pronounced: ok-yuh-pahy

Definition: To take up time or engage the mind in activity.

Until the end of May I will occupied with finishing my schoolwork.

Today’s vocabulary word.

Compel

com·pel

Pronounced: kuh m-pel

Definition: To be forced to do something that is usually against your will.

I would have been posting more frequently expect I have been compelled to play my computer game , Build-a-lot until I have finished all 35 levels with a gold medal. I don’t know what that will accomplish but I am determined to find out. I need to do it soon too my family misses me.

Wednesday’s Poetry Corner.

While lying in bed last night searching my brain for a poet for today’s poetry corner the poem “The Bells.” by Edgar Allan Poe popped in to my head.

I think most people are familiar with his poem, “The Raven” and his wonderfully gruesome story, “The Tell tale Heart” or even the story about the man who is bricked up inside a wall while still alive; I can’t remember the title of that one.

However, I don’t think many people are as familiar with his poem “the bells.’ Which I think is a wonderful poem full of incredible imagery and sounds great when you read it aloud. It is a little long but it is well worth it. I hope you enjoy today’s poem.

The Bells

I Hear the sledges with the bells- Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells- From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. II Hear the mellow wedding bells, Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight! From the molten-golden notes, And an in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats On the moon! Oh, from out the sounding cells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it swells! How it dwells On the Future! how it tells Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells, bells, bells, Of the bells, bells, bells,bells, Bells, bells, bells- To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! III Hear the loud alarum bells- Brazen bells! What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor, Now- now to sit or never, By the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! What a tale their terror tells Of Despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air! Yet the ear it fully knows, By the twanging, And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows: Yet the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling, And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells- Of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells,bells, Bells, bells, bells- In the clamor and the clangor of the bells! IV Hear the tolling of the bells- Iron Bells! What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night, How we shiver with affright At the melancholy menace of their tone! For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. And the people- ah, the people- They that dwell up in the steeple, All Alone And who, tolling, tolling, tolling, In that muffled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone- They are neither man nor woman- They are neither brute nor human- They are Ghouls: And their king it is who tolls; And he rolls, rolls, rolls, Rolls A paean from the bells! And his merry bosom swells With the paean of the bells! And he dances, and he yells; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the paean of the bells- Of the bells: Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the throbbing of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells- To the sobbing of the bells; Keeping time, time, time, As he knells, knells, knells, In a happy Runic rhyme, To the rolling of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells: To the tolling of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells- Bells, bells, bells- To the moaning and the groaning of the bells. Edgar Allan Poe

The poem was taken from this website http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bells-the/

I’m done! I think.

In order to complete lesson eight in my Social Studies Methods class I had to complete eight lesson plans using the essential elements form on the Task stream web site. I finished 1 and I have been waiting for my instructor to complete the assessment of it so I can turn in the remaining four. I worked very hard Sunday evening and into the night finishing four lesson plans. I was very pleased with the results and went to bed a tired but happy person.

This morning I thought I would check the assignment requirements on line to make sure I had not missed anything only to discover to my horror I had not completed the lesson plans as specified. All of my lesson plans were geared toward the third grade, which is the class I am doing my practicum. I did cover all five standards under social studies but what I needed to include were lesson plans for grades k to 2, grades 3 to 6, a plan for grades 7 to 9 that uses children’s literature to teach a social studies lesson and finally incorporate some sort of technology into a lesson. I was not too happy, only two of my five lessons met the criteria. I had to modify three of the lessons. One I could change a little and still keep the jest of the plan, the other two had to be scrapped altogether.

They are done and I am happy about the results except each lesson has to have a plan for enrichment and a plan for remediation. I did not have too much of a problem with the enrichment part but the remediation is a lot tougher. I am going to think about it a little more and take another stab at it in the morning. With this out of the way, I should be able to post more regularly.

Sorry!

I am sorry about the lack of posting lately but my muse seems to have left me. I have a couple of ideas I want to write about and I have been working on just how I want to put them on paper. I have an idea for a meme that is just about figured out and I also want to write about our sheriff out here in Maricopa County but I need to do some research first. I really need to do my home work first because class is winding down with just 15 days left before I need to take the final and I still have most of lesson 8 and all of lesson 9 to finish then study for the test.

In addition, work has been stressful lately. Its still fun and we are all still getting along wonderfully in fact three of the lunch ladies and one custodian will be heading off for Las Vegas for a few days once school gets out. What is making it stressful is we have been told that due to falling enrollment one of us will not be returning next August. Moreover, seniority rules so since I was the last one in I am the one who will be asked to leave. I would be all right with that, if I was certain that was the case but the girl who has way more seniority then I do is waffling. First, she is leaving then she is staying then she is wants to sub then she wants to retire then who knows. In fact, my supervisor told me she might not make up her mind until just before school starts next August. So I get to wonder all summer long where I will be next year when school starts. I can’t wait until I start my student teaching.

Vocabulary word for the day.

Ruminate
ru·mi·nate
Pronounced:roo-muh-neyt
Definition: To ponder over.
Sorry for the lack of posting but I have ruminating over what to write about.

Vocabulary word for the day.

Emancipate
e·man·ci·pate
Pronounced: i-man-suh-peyt
Definition: To be set free from restraint or influence.

With just 17 days left in the school the children are eagerly looking forward to their emancipation