Saturday, June 15, 2013

HARKNESS LEARNING METHOD

Critical Thinking 2013 Summer Camp (7/8-8/16)

Critical Thinking programs improve reasoning skills and questioning minds leading to higher performance in Math, English, Social Studies, and Science at all grade levels.








APPLICATION OF CRITICAL THINKING



1) Town Regulates When Leaf Blowers Can be Used

Hours of operation are limited; violations can be reported.
patch

Posted by Heather Doyle. Written by Joe Dowd.

Forget about the racket about to be caused by the 17-year cicadas. Leaf blowers can easily ruin your weekend sleep-in.

That's why the town has an ordinance limiting their use.

The town issued a reminder to residents this week that leaf blowers should only be operated during designated hours.
Under Oyster Bay’s noise ordinance, the operation of leaf blowers is restricted to between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays and between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekends and national holidays.

“Early mornings and late evenings are a time of rest for our residents, so they shouldn’t be disturbed during those hours by the sound a leaf blower generates," said newly appointed Town Clerk James Altadonna.

The regulations apply to both licensed landscapers and homeowners. To report violations, residents should contact their local police precinct or the Town’s Department of Public Safety at677-5350. That department can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Altadonna said the ordinance does not apply to the incorporated villages located within the town's borders. 

Critical Thinking about Leaf-blower Noise Regulation


Critical thinking is not about finding fault with people who make noise by using leaf blowers, but about an in-depth thinking of goals and values we achieve by limiting their use. People earn more quality life and peace of mind by having quiet time in the early morning and the late evening. The value of mental peace is regarded crucial in our life.
Critical thinking gives us a process of thinking to get into the depth of the problem. It begins with an analysis of the situation (structure, background, or setting), in which the information of when, where, and who is identified. The information may help to set up seasonal differences in restricting hours of leaf-blowing operation. Further thinking will lead critical thinkers to note the implication of the new ordinance to the business of licensed landscapers. Also, critical thinkers may suggest the development of a soundproof leaf-blowing machine. Critical thinking helps us to increase and share our common values, rather than tries to find faults with people who make problems.

2) 13 Months Later, Rusty Torres Case Still Lingers in Court

Town says ex-Yankee and town employee accused of sexual abuse has 'retired.'
patch
Rosendo "Rusty" Torres. (File photo.)
Rosendo "Rusty" Torres. (File photo.)
Posted by Heather Doyle. Written by Joe Dowd.
Rosendo "Rusty" Torres appeared for yet another routine court appearance Wednesday, 13 months after the Oyster Bay town employee was accused of molesting an 8-year-old girl in Plainview on two occasions. 
As his shocking case continues through Nassau County Court without any major new developments, town spokesman said the former New York Yankee and town's baseball ambassador quietly "retired" a year ago. He remains free on $50,000 bail.
"Rusty retired from the Town of Oyster Bay in June 2012," said Brian Devine, a town spokesman, in an emailed response to the question of Torres' status with the town. 
"While the town no longer runs that clinic, there is baseball and softball skills instruction available to participants of the Summer Recreation Program," Devine wrote in the statement. 
The town did not immediately respond to a follow-up question whether Torres was receiving benefits as a result of his retirement. Torres was immediately suspended from his coaching role following the May, 2012 allegations of sexual abuse.
Also not clear is whether the town replaced Torres' position with a new coach for its Summer Recreation Program. 
Torres' full-time position paid $83,000 annually. His role involved indoor coaching sessions during the winter months, including in Plainview. His was the only such coaching position in any sport on the town payroll, the town said last year. 
Torres was originally charged in connection with two separate incidents of sex abuse involving the 8-year-old girl that occurred in Plainview, once on April 30 and again on May 7, 2012, police said.
Torres, who played parts of two seasons during the 1970s with the Yankees, told arresting officers he was "sorry" for the incidents and "stopped himself" before further damage was done to his victim, court documents revealed.
Torres' lawyer, Scott Carrigan of Garden City, has denied the charges. Torres remains free on bail at his home in North Massapequa.
A spokesman for the District Attorney's Office said that Torres made his routine appearance Wednesday, known as a "conference," where lawyers from both sides discuss the case and weigh their options. The case was adjourned to another conference set for June 28, the D.A. spokesman said. 
Over a 10-year period while employed by the Town of Oyster Bay, Torres worked as an advisor and youth baseball coach to thousands of children at various training clinics and at summer youth baseball and softball leagues, town officials said. He would travel to indoor clinics held in school gymnasiums and coach kids at youth baseball games in Syosset, Plainview, Farmingdale and Massapequa, among others.

A native of Puerto Rico, Torres grew up in Queens and was drafted by the Yankees in 1966.



Critical Thinking about the Torres Case


Again, critical thinking is not about finding faults with someone, but about an in-depth thinking of goals and values of any actions. The sexual abuse case related to children would cause a fundamental and lasting impact on children's internal and external safety and peace. (internal--emotional, mental, and psychological; external--physical, interpersonal, and environmental). The significant value of children's safety and peace cannot be overstated.

Then, we need to analyze the case in which the information of when, where, and who is clearly identified. We must continuously alert us whether the information we gather is "reliable" & "relevant" to the case.  A person's past reputation as a sportsman and a motivational speaker and personal backgrounds should not be considered. We also need to challenge any assumptions, stereotypes, and prejudices about this case. The long-term implication of children's internal and external safety and peace seems to outweigh any other concerns.

Critical Thinking Skills & GPA--seminar summary

Critical thinking skills (CTS) improve students’ GPA. CTS is directly linked to students’ learning at school. When students know how to conduct an in-depth thinking, the school becomes their laboratory to test and practice CTS in all classes including English, science, math, and social studies.
On the surface, CTS helps to organize facts and information which are very important for most school tests and quizzes.
On the 2nd layer, besides improving the basic analytical skill of classification, CTS turns information into the knowledge level. Students learn to interpret the information so that the information can be led by a topic idea sentence. Those who put the information (examples) and the idea together could build up their knowledge through comparison and contrast with other knowledge they learn from various sources. CTS helps keep knowledge being accumulated, while the surface level information usually slips away from the brain. This layer is the most active stage of analysis and synthesis.
On the 3rd layer, CTS uses the accumulated knowledge to get into the stage of wisdom, which evaluates various values. Students learn how to set up their position on the topic idea. In this process of evaluation, CTS helps to diagnose the implication and assumption of issues and propose a suggestion based on their valued position. CTS process definitely increases students’ GPA scores in school learning.

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