Mom Behind the Curtain

every mom wants to be an all-powerful wizard

What I love about the Netflix series The Crown

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I know WAY to much about the British Royal Family. So I’ve been thrilled to watch the Netflix series The Crown.

Claire Foy and Matt Smith as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip in Netflix The Crown

Photo from Netflix.com

Have you seen the Netflix original series The Crown?

Never seen The Crown before?

You’ve been missing out!

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Movies and Series for fans of Netflix The Crown

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Anyone who has watched Netflix – The Crown will love these movies and other series about the British Royal Family and other Royals!

Claire Foy and Matt Smith as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip on the balcony in Netflix The Crown - Fans of the Crown will love these movies and other series about the British Royal Family and other royalty. They also make great gifts for fans of The Crown!

photo from Netflix.com

I have had so much fun watching the Netflix original series The Crown! I’ve read a lot of history about the British Royal family. Read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies. And I’ve been very impressed with this TV show.

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Best Books for Girls in 5th Grade – My Daughters’ Favorites

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My girls' favorite books in 5th grade - on a background of book covers

This is a list of my daughter’s favorite books in 5th grade. My daughters already loved reading at this point, so their choices could be pretty advanced. If you’re daughter isn’t really into reading yet, be sure to also check out my list of best books for girls in 4th grade.

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An alternative to the SAT and ACT?

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Did you know there may soon be a viable alternative to the SAT and ACT?

A Test Worth Teaching To? How a College Dropout Plans to Replace the SAT and ACT

The benefits of Imbellus’ Test as an alternative to the SAT and ACT

You won’t be able to teach to the test

I think this test, Imbellus, is an interesting alternative, because it tests creativity and problem solving. Unlike the headline suggests, schools might not be able to teaching to it. If they design it well, I think you’ll be able to practice, but I don’t think you will be able to “teach to the test.” It might also mean that it will be harder to coach to the test as well.

Testing creativity will encourage healthy sleep habits, not over-scheduling

Another benefit? Since it requires creativity, it will actually discourage over-scheduling. How? Because as I’ve been reading in Why We Sleep, adequate sleep is necessary for creativity.

Possible limits to Imbellus’ Test

One big possible flaw?
It has been proven that time limits and stress reduce problem solving ability.
Of course, as anyone who had watched Apollo 13 know, sometimes it is important to be able to solve problems creatively while under stress!

So it’s a good idea to practice under stress.

Ideally, Imbellus would be an alternative, not a replacement

As much as I detest teaching to the test, and think AP classes are destroying education, I would like to see this be a complement – another option – to the SAT, ACT, and grades.
There should be many paths, both separate and overlapping, to college.

How to convert portrait video to landscape for free

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video editing tips for beginners - how to convert a portrait video (upright) to a landscape video (sideways), for FREE! And get rid of the ugly black bars!Well, I did it. I took a video with my phone upright instead of across in landscape mode. So the video has the ugly black bars on the sides. And what I want to see is teeny tiny. Now that Google has taken away YouTube video editing, I had to find another way to convert portrait video to landscape video.

Get a look at these cliff jumpers we saw in Maui….

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Success Biography – Connan O’Brian’s school record was no joke

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What does Conan O'Brian's academic success say about the role of educational success?

By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Conan O’Brien) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

As a former top performing student, it has really stood out to me that in my research I’ve noticed most of the anecdotes about people who achieve outstanding success usually don’t get there by the normal academic route. There’s Steve Jobs, of course, who I covered in this series of posts. Then there are several mentions of successful people in Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. The idea that college isn’t needed for success came up again in How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough.

Does this represent a bias or reality? So, I decided to start taking note when I hear of someone who is a success who was a stellar student….

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How important is completing all your homework?

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Even adults should get 8 hrs sleep, teenagers should get more. Not only that, they should sleep later than adults. Late weeknights because of homework?  Even if you have more time to sleep on the weekend, you can't sleep off a sleep deficit.Teachers will tell you that finishing your homework is the most important thing you can do for your future success, but is it? With AP classes, it’s very common for students to have more homework than they can complete and still get a full night’s sleep.

Just how important is sleep?…

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What students can learn from too much homework

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Can anything be learned from too much homework?With our second child in her senior year and our third in high school it’s pretty much official. All of our kids are going to finish high school under staggering homework loads and there is nothing we can do about it. I have talked with administrators. I have talked with teachers. We have insisted our own children take on-level classes in some subjects (with mixed results.) And we have insisted on study halls (fewer classes). But my kids still have too much homework. So what can they learn from all that homework? (Because no, they do not reap enough benefits in college credit.)…

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Conan O’Brian on failure

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Conan O'Brian's academic success and in his university graduation speeches, his changing perceptions on failure after his big career failure.

By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Conan O’Brien) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Conan O’Brian, unlike Steve Jobs and some other hugely successful people that you often hear about, was also successful academically, So I thought it would be interesting to see what he has to say about education….

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How much do AP classes really benefit you in college?

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Do AP classes really benefit you in college?

Ask any student and they’ll tell you that AP classes have more homework than on-level classes. But is the amount of homework worth it?…

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