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Celebrate Teachers Today and Every Day

11023910301?profile=originalGreat teachers are invaluable, yet too often their tireless work goes unnoticed or worse, unappreciated. While teacher appreciation week is in May, why wait to recognize the incredible work of our educators? These individuals dedicate their lives to developing the next generation. They come in early to prepare special lessons and stay late to help tutor struggling students. They capture the imagination of students by showing them the world of books, the power of math and the lessons of history. Great teachers make schoolwork come alive and they are not satisfied by helping students just achieve good test scores; instead they strive to spark curiosity, foster learning and encourage new discovery among the young scholars they nurture.

Almost everyone can relate to being inspired at some point in their lives by a great teacher … someone who took an interest and gave support, helped with mastery of a skill, taught us how to conquer a problem or made it possible for us to take a dream of who we wanted to be and turn it into reality. More than ever, we need teachers that not only educate our students, but help connect them to their passions and explore the possibilities of what could be. Teachers deserve our thanks every day for all they do. 

A new video, “Salute to Teachers,” (http://youtu.be/ypFRxw9czi4) thanks these important mentors by showing the dynamic influence of educators. They ignite students’ minds and passions by asking simple questions like “what,” “why,” or “how.” Once the curious fire of learning is stoked, great teachers have the ability to build on that excitement and desire for discovery. Engaging teachers bring personal commitment to the classroom every day and that kind of interactive connection between teachers and their students motivates learners of all ages to test boundaries and become a part of the larger world around them.

Surveys have shown students are greatly influenced by their teachers. The mentorship of a teacher can solidify a student’s success in high school and beyond into college. Last fall a Microsoft survey found that a majority of college students studying science, technology, engineering or math decided to enter those fields because of a teacher. Great instruction sparks interest in exploring the world––one teacher can encourage a student to make a lifelong commitment to learning.

In a world that is ever changing, the importance of teachers is a constant. Teachers play a critical role in the future of our planet. The GLOBE Program (http://www.globe.gov) is taking this opportunity to salute teachers everywhere—for all of the things they do. GLOBE encourages you to thank teachers for their work on the frontlines and for pushing the world to be a better place by inspiring students everywhere. Share the “Salute to Teachers” video with all of the educators that have impacted your life. From your elementary or secondary school teachers or college professors, to the teacher who inspires your child, show your appreciation by posting the video on their Facebook page or to your social media profiles, as well as by sharing the link with others so they can also thank the great teachers in their lives. Together we can show teachers how much we appreciate all that they have done – and continue to do – for our communities and us each day they are in the classroom. 

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Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent (Divergent, #1)Divergent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Roth's first dystopian novel is thrilling, packed with suspense as it tells the story of Beatrice (Tris) whose society is comprised of five factions and with arrival of her 16th birthday, she will need to choose where she wants to spend the rest of her life. The five factions are Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless, this is the faction Beatrice has been in), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent. Beatrice has two loving parents and a brother and she has never quite felt right in the selfless way of life. She angers quickly, questions where she belongs, and is curious, none of the Abnegation attributes. It is at the choosing ceremony that she makes the decision to leave her family and join in the initiation to become Dauntless. the process is grueling and now Tris (she renames herself) questions if she made the right decision, who her friends are and who can she trust. I really liked the Beatrice/Tris character; she was vulnerable yet prickly. She underestimates herself, thinking she is selfish and weak, when she has proved to others that she is selfless and brave. When Tris meets Four, one of the instructors of the Dauntless initiates, she waffles between anger at him (he has shifting moods)and interest in him. What will happen to them evolves with purpose and their romance is unexpected but key to what Divergent really means and what kind of threat being divergent holds. The dystopian world that Roth crafts is so interesting with the Abnegation, self denial, controlling the government, food and luxuries. But there is an undercurrent of evil that manifests itself and Tris and Four will have to choose how to stop the forces that want to betray their faction. A must read!

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Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)The Maze Runner by James Dashner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG, I couldn't put this book down---and I am in the middle of an online course with tons of work to do and this book had so much suspense and Thomas was such a fantastic protagonist. Thomas is a teen who wakes up in a HUGE green maze in the middle of nowhere and has no memory of what his life was like before. The way the author tracks how Thomas thinks makes the book even more terrifying because Thomas is happy one minute, then plunged to the depths of despair another....drama, drama. Thomas has arrived at this maze and apparently the boys that are there tell him a new boy arrives each month and the boys have to do jobs to find out what they are best at...and that is what they do each and every day--trying to figure out how to get out of the maze while not getting killed by these horrible creatures. But then a girl comes soon after and boys are going crazy and Thomas just wants to help in any way he can---but he really wants to be a maze runner....Thomas is able to prove to almost everyone he is smart, brave and willing to lay down his life for these boys in the maze. You just have to read this book, and the great thing is there is another, so the Thomas drama in this freaky sci-fi world continues in the The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)!!!


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The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

All I can say is that this book was just as suspenseful and nerve wracking as the Maze Runner. Dashner's descriptions of the heat and horrid conditions was relentless; I thought I was the character Thomas going through all the pain and psychological torture. The one thing I loved was Thomas' loyalty and caring for his friends throughout the whole book, I loved the way they talked to each other. "You guys alll right?" Minho finally asked. Thomas grunted a yes, and Newt said, "Pretty dure we just arrived in bloody hell. Always thought you'd end up here, Minho, but not me." I liked how Minho was a cut-throat leader you admired (because Tomas admired him) and I felt I got to know Frypan and Newt more as fleshed out characters...I was not happy with the Teresa scenario, I will say no more about that...and I hate WICKED and their plots against these kids (for the good of the human race---baloney!), the Flare and the variables!!! I am hanging on for the 3rd book, The Death Cure, but I have a few other books ahead that I must really get to, but these books just really stay with you... Highly recommended.


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