The Prize

Its been five years since the beginning of the project which involves Zuckerberg's donation of 100 million dollars to reform Newark schools. The results are pouring in and more importantly, the questions - what happened to the money? Now that aint pretty. 20 million dollars to consultants, more than that to underperforming teachers as buyout, 50 percent of it to teacher contracts. Its this divvying that has been marked in the title with not much changes to the schools or students. Author Russakoff does a people centric story with coverage on all the honchos and the teachers too who bring about change in students in a positive way. Teachers who motivate students with an assessment of where they are and where they could be.
Now I am eager to know what happens to Intel's Oakland Initiative.

Assessing the 100 million upheaval of newarks public schools

His Gift to America

I have read Frida Diego: Art,Love and Life by Catherine Reef and enjoyed it. Having read Ida M Tarbell by Emily Arnold mcCully, I have realised that biographies meant for tweens is a good way of quickly learning about some great people. All I knew about Webster before reading this book 'Noah Webster: man of Many Words' was about his dictionary.
But after reading the book, I am wondering how some things are just the same - his insistence on standing up (stand up desks) while working, he wrote letters for funding his magnum opus promising a copy (early kickstarter). Goodreads shows that webster has 127 books. It also seems like his fascination with getting the words right connects to compiling facts. Its this naming that starts off encyclopedic works. Words and Encyclopedia are two of my favourite things for all the new stuff you learn from and through them.
The book has many illustrations. some reviewers have done a good job of recognising how the major dose of American History was needed to show the man as a work of his times.

One Red Paper Clip for Kids

I havent heard of the Japanese story Straw Millionaire until I read about this book. Antonio wants a guitarro but all he gets is a stick from his Papa which is what he got from his Papa before he got his guitarro.
Involving a perro (dog), pajaro (bird), burro (donkey), gato (cat), a groom, a wedding and a mariachi band, can Antonio fulfill his dreams of a guitarro for himself?
With an undercurrent of how is something going to be helpful in getting a guitar, Antonio finds himself helping others get warmth, satisfy hunger, reduce pain, save from drowning and so on. Such a lovely kid like the sweet brother in 'How much for the Doggie in he window' (soaking in the rain at his lemonade stand) has an incredible journey trading up.
The illustrations are soft and the texture, hols you to each section of it, inviting you to explore.

Oneredpaperclip

Realization

I never knew a time I couldnt read ;)

In an interview, the context of a time when luxury goods were rare to understand the coolness of Bond, made me appreciate how good questions raise news to history.

They Jangle

In pockets, lockers,
at the end of lanyards
on necks
in hands, in cars
on doors, in hands


Looking at the guy opening
the magazine stand to refill
it at Tempe Public Library

Pair of Words

In the DISC class, I was interested in pairing of words - Situational Hearing.

In NPR, I hear of  'emotional shorthand'.

“Music is the shorthand of emotion” - Leo Tolstoy

Ongoingness: The End of Diary

Key Performance Indicators for Dummies

Key Performance Indicators for Dummies is a good book to get your rookies knowledgeable on what is KPI and what KPQ (KP questions) will get you to the performance you want. The difference between leading and lagging indicators is a good one to know, even the focus on the word indicator in KPIs is essential. While the author does these kind of highlighting and contextualizing well, the dos and dont when it comes to KPIs, the book starts to feel like many booklets put together, trying to reel in different departments together. Yes finance is where all the numbers are but it is this cross functional jump, that makes the book look like a motley. I was very interested with terms like KPQ, EVA- Economic Value Added but after a while there were too many terms (I remember reading about NPS - Net Promoter Score, but cant recall which book), that made it seem like KPI should have been a small section under an umbrella title that would tie the book all in one. Something to appreciate in this varied terms definition are the examples, which make all the acronyms very easy to understand. Keep this book under the 'Basics of Business' folder.

Thinking Like a Mountain

is a popular interesting title.

Thinking like a mountain

Out of the Blue

The first idiom I remember in English is broke down. In 'Out of the Blue' I learnt some new idioms like ticked pink, shrinking violet, diffrent horse. The illustrations are minimal but the colour is deep spread.

An Idiom is a very powerful thing. in English, it first happened to me in sixth grade in a lesson called 'I met a Bushman'. It was the narrator saying his car 'broke down'.
'Out of the Blue - A Book of Color Idioms and Silly Pictures' is a great creative book for kids. I myself walk out of the book with few new idioms - tickled pink, yellow bellied and so on.
The illustrations are neat and the colour is emphatic.
There is a good mix of culture - brown bag. Red tape and Red letters illustrations are different from what I have in my mind.
(NetGalley)

Its  a great idea to make a page with a color Idiom and ask kids to guess it or give an idiom and ask them to illustrate it.

Inspiration for sketching

Legs and a hand

all pointing in the

same direction

three eighth of

an octopus

Sun Symbols in Phoenix

When your skin
is burning
and stepping out
of the car feels like
you are entering
heaven
should the bridges
on freeway have
sun symbols or
umbrellas?

Contact Entrance

Contact Entrance Wound
as opposed to Exit Wound

From dictionary.com

noun

1.

the act or state of touching; a touching or meeting, as of two things or people.

Its contact when its

things or people

its wound when one 

is a thing and another

a people

Entrance Vs Exit wounds

Networking for Nerds

pool story

Why VCs invest in serial entrepreneurs?
public speaking
apply for award

Poetry mags through your library

Your library national poetry month