This photo shows how industry trains their employees in small groups with powerpoint presentations or pre-set lectures. This technique does not work with the student of 2018 because that student has been playing with handheld electronic games and the world of cartoon fantasy is more real than reality itself. If we allow our students to become programmed to kill Nazis or monsters everyday for satisfaction than we missed the point.
Consider the ultimate goal of school or education, getting a job. The final word is JOB. If we do not train students how to read, summarize and put information to use then we have failed our students. If we cannot get them to add up numbers to determine if a spreadsheet of expenses is correct then we will not be helping the accounting profession or financial managers. If we do not allow a student to research a project they are interested in and come to conclusions about what they learned, then we missed the point about job training and getting jobs. Learning to think creatively is one thing public education does not do. Learning in public and private schools is more about rote memory than creative thinking. Students are taught that their are rules and if you do not follow the rules, you will not be able to come to a reasonable conclusion. The truth is creative thinkers go outside the box to come up with ideas from their life experiences which may or may not come from a classroom and a motivating teacher.
Imagine that you just finished 12 years of elementary and high school training and four years of College training and when you graduate you are suited for nothing in the real job world. How did craftsmen learn in the Middle Ages? They had trainees or assistants that would follow them around and learn on the job how to do plumbing or build a house or treat leather for a coat. Apprentices learned while doing. In this day and age we teach theory or rote facts, not how to think under different situations. Let’s face it if you fail college you can become an apprentice in the building trades union or the plumbing union or electrical union and learn the actual hands on skills, not theory and make more money than a college student.
So where have we gone wrong in teaching? Well it is a combination of the fact that teachers have to be motivators, or coaches to encourage students to want to learn more. Teachers have to get a student to become enthusiastic about a subject so much so that the student will go beyond what he or she learned in the classroom. A good teacher is always one or more steps ahead of his or her students. If that teacher falls behind the times in technology or modern approaches then the teacher becomes the student and the student becomes the teacher.
I cannot begin to count how many times in College and Universities when I was an instructional technologist that I got to observe Professors that could not use a computer beyond e-mail. I saw Medical doctors lecturing with powerpoint slide shows they bought from a textbook company, rather than develop their own slides. When Teachers or Professors lecture from a podium the facts go in one student’s ears and out the other. 60-70% of a Lecture is forgotten 30 minutes after a lecture. Reinforcement of a lecture means reading the material before the class, not after. This was the biggest complaint at NY College of Osteopathic Medicine and other Universities and colleges I worked at. Professors posted assignments on Blackboard in advance and expected the students to read the material before coming to class. Seldom did that happen. Students set priorities in their lives for studying, play, and rest. The bottom of the list is studying. Play is more important. Imagine if you could combine play with studying? It is possible and let me tell you how. Many Professors were afraid of laptop computers in the lecture halls or classrooms. But what if a professor told the students to bring the laptops to class??? Wow, imagine that? Then when the students arrive the Professor starts with the usual Powerpoint slide show until about the 5th slide. Then all of a sudden students are told to buddy up with another student and find the answer on the internet to a theoretical class problem. For instance in a medical school, the medical doctor teaching asks all the first year medical students to find as many nerve diseases as they can, jot them down and briefly the treatment. The professor alway tells the students they have fifteen minutes to complete the task and when they are done. All of the student groups will report on five of their answers. Now that is creative thinking. The students have to know how to research. They have to not waste time and come up with real examples. At the end of the class, the Professor asks all the student groups to send their results and names to him or her via blackboard or e-mail. Wow, another zinger, they have to be accountable for their work.
How about in Law school where a Law Professor gives a Law citation for all the students to look up on Westlaw which they have access to and find out if that decision was every overturned or not by Shepardardizing for appeals? Thinking and solving problems are more important than memorizing law cases throughout the history of the USA.
Once upon a time students in high schools could take printshop, woodshed, metal shop and auto shop as an elective to learn practical skills. Those classes are long gone in secondary schools because of the over-emphasis of going to College where you will learn everything you need to know. Wrong! Students often learn more from each other than in the classroom. Perhaps setting a learning environment is more important than large lecture halls?
Learning on line has come of age. It is cheaper for high schools and colleges to put a course online than to have to pay a full-time or part-time instructor. The modified method is the instructor meets with the students the first class and the last class when they come in for a final exam to pass the course. Somehow we have skipped over the motivation of the student by the teacher. Have you ever tried to motivate someone over e-mail? Not possible to say the least. When you remove the human element you put all the effort on the student to learn and learn well. Not all students can do this. Many Universities require their professors to have open office hours to be available to help students in need. The problem is the line to get to the Professor is weeks long and the student flounders while waiting.
Project learning, hands on learning, real life training are the most meaningful for teaching students today. Technology opens the door to the outside world, so let the real world into the classroom. Having students perform projects gets them used to the corporate world where they have to work in groups to solve big problems. If you want to be a plumber and be rich, then you have to know how to work with pipes and soldering and wielding of pipes, not theory. If you want to be a bio-engineer than you have to have labs and training with microscopes and real samples to come up with real solutions. Teachers only lead or facilitate learning to get students to absorb information they can use.
It seems every morning I awake, President Trump has sent another childish tweet to attack someone like Harley Davidson or the diner that threw out his Communications secretary. It is hard to keep track of all the different law suits surrounding President Trump and his associates. Take Paul Maniford for instance who attempted to bribe a witness and got caught. He tried to avoid taxes on the millions he received from foreign countries and he seemed to have broken ever law in existence except murder.
The saying, “birds of a feather, flock together is certainly true of President Trump’s colleagues. Even his son and son in law are suspects in money laundering and illegal influence peddling. Image charging foreign countries to see President Trump or influence his opinion? That is what his son in law did along with his daughter.
What about the cases by women against Trump? I feel sorry for Melania for seeing the story about the Porn Star that had an affair with Mr. Trump before he was President and how she was paid by Trump’s lawyer Mr. Cohen to be silent during the Presidential primaries. What a horror show?
Now the border problem. Here is a President who married two foreigners turning against foreigners fleeing countries that are killing them and their families. Next the stupid idea to separate children from their parents while awaiting a hearing. Another dumb move by President Trump which caused an uproar across the country to the point the President Trump had to sign an executive order to stop separating children from their parents. Did it work? No. Only 6 were returned to their parents and nearly 2,000 still remain separate from their parents. Who is paying the bill to house these children? Why are they sent to different States? We are paying the bill through out taxes. We have a bible toting Attorney General that misquotes the Bible in trying to justify the disaster he and President Trump created. Meanwhile, the real criminals are sneaking into the country, not stopping at the border check points to ask for asylum. Common sense says we do not have enough Judges or lawyers to handle 4,000 cases of adults and children at the border.
What about the fence? Forget about it as the it as the Italians say. Dig under it or buy a ladder and climb over it. Fences and walls are a waste of money. Any smart criminal will fly into the country in a small plane and land on a road in the wilderness. Sneaking through million dollar tunnels is for drug smugglers not for the cartels. They use submarines and boats or planes, not stupid trucks or cars to come across the border. If you really want to get across the border take a plane to Canada and come across that border in a boat or walk across.
Democrats and Republicans have become a joke in American because they no longer care about morality or fair play in American. Everything is about money and influence. Yes, time limits would get rid of politicians in their seventies and eighties that cannot remember anything. Two terms should be the maximum for the Senate or Congress. Bring in some fresh young blood and women too and see things get stirred up.
So are there any solutions in American? I rather doubt quick solutions are there, but the Trump trade war against China is going to backfire and kill off all our farmers and companies that deal with China. President Trump’s daughter Evanka has 60 copyright patents in China. How will she ship her goods back to America with high tariffs? Please daddy let my stuff come in duty free. Now that President Trump has pissed off the European market, they too will raise their taxes to counter out taxes and tariffs on imported and exported goods. It will cause a depression soon and the stock market will tank out with everyone selling off stocks and running for cover.
Maybe in time President Trump will be removed from office long after all the damage is done to our image and reputation around the world. Why are we sending Millions to South American countries to help them out? Got me. Has Venezula ever done anything for us lately? How about Mexico? No way they are going to pay for any wall which Trump promised. So much for promises by politicians. Never trust them. Money spent on the border walls could go into border patrols, planes, and radar devices that work better. How about using dogs at the border? No one is going to mess with trained attack dogs.
I pray peace will return and President Trump will go back to New York city and stay there and be forgotten after many decades.
In 1308, January, King Edward II buckled to the pressure from the Pope to arrest all the Templars in England and put them on trial for heresy. At the time Stephen de Staplebrigge was a 25 year old Templar Commander at Dinsley Manor in England. When the arrests began he received word from Templar officials to flee to Ireland to assist the Templar Grand Master there. Four years later Stephen returned to England only to be eventually caught in Salisbury. He was taken to the Newgate Prison and tortured on the rack to get a confession from him regarding the Templar treasure and the inner circle of the Templar order. Stephen never told the torturers that the treasure was in Ireland hidden on an island off the coast. He did however, tell them about being inducted into the inner circle by England Grand Master Brian de Jay and how he threatened by six Templars with swords drawn to spit on the cross and deny Christ. Here is one resource I used for my script below. See the citation after the article since I did not write this piece.
After his capture by the king’s officials, Stephen of Stappelbregge was interrogated and confessed to a second, blasphemous reception that took place following his first, licit one. This second reception included spitting on the cross and denying Christ, both of which were demanded of him at sword-point by the receiving brothers, one of whom, he said, was Thomas Totty. Additionally he confessed to being told that “Jesus Christ was not true God and true man…[and that] he should not believe in the sacrament of the altar.”149 He also confessed that sexual relations amongst the brothers were not frowned upon, but that he himself had never participated in such relations. All other allegations, he denied.
Thomas Totty’s confession paints a fascinating picture. Totty, “calling on God as his witness,” categorically denied the charges of having been received blasphemously and of denying Christ or God,150 though he confessed to having met “four brothers of the Temple received in overseas parts by Brother Humbert Blank [Himbert Blanc, Commander of the Auvergne] whom he had received with denial of Christ and spitting over the Cross…”151 He likewise denied having illicit sexual relations, believing that the Grand Master or other lay Templar could absolve sin, and any charges about idolatry. Rather bizarrely, when asked whether or not he believed that the French Templars had stood before the pontiff and confessed to the myriad heinous charges against them, he responded that he did believe it, because he had been there to witness it:
he replied that what is contained in the charges was true, and he knows this well because the witness was present in the Roman court and heart the aforesaid confessions, and
Will teachers be packing guns in the future to protect themselves and their students. I rather doubt it. Without sounding sexist the majority of the teaching faculty are woman and most woman hate guns and have no desire to use them. Stopping guns in the schools is the job of the security guards. The problem is the quality of security jobs isn’t the greatest. They are paid low and usually retirees take the job. In these days and times someone needs to keep in touch with students and hear what they are saying.
Perhaps the best enforcers of security are the students themselves. After all they are on Facebook, twitter and all forms of social media and they learn of threats to their school first. Forming a student Leaders group to keep track of hackers and threats to the school might be the best idea?
Violence breeds violence. Bringing up a generation of kids who play on electronic games all day and night breeds a generation who are shooting guns at nazis or monsters all the time. Guns become a game to todays generation. They have no sense of real fear with electronic guns. Some where along the line they take their father’s gun or buy a gun out of state and then the power of owning a gun goes to their head. They act first and think about the consequences later.
Schools have become very impersonal in the last decade. Teachers too suffer from being impersonal and not helping students or getting involved. There was a time that teachers really cared about their students, but today they have to worry about fake charges that they have a relationship with the student that is improper.
Technology has become a major tool in teaching if used properly. It is not all about Powerpoint slides but getting students involved with hands on research and writing. Reaching out to the real world and solving real problems is the challenge for the teacher of the future.
Teachers who become administrators must remember what it was like to be a teacher and not become an overruling lord. It is amazing how in the cause of rules and justice administrators can bring the education process to a halt. Canned courses are cheap for school and colleges and students learn to teach themselves. Online courses threaten full time professor’s jobs. Once a college has a course filmed and written, they no longer need the Professor.
Money, money is all the matters for boards of education and administrators, yet in the end it is the administrators that get paid the most. Do they earn it? Rarely. Some teachers would be better meeting students at a real business or public service and have them analyze how the business or pubic service operates like a Police department, water department, Mayors office, etc. or a large corporation or factory. Real education starts with a job setting, not in a textbook or powerpoint in school.
In the final analysis it is whether a school can get a student a job or prepare them to find a job. If students cannot get jobs after school, why bother to attend? Teachers need to keep their focus on reality and modern times. Even History professors need to apply the past to the future.
Lastly, the test made by the state will always be unfair to one minority or gender or another. State-wide tests focus on the average performance, not the best performance. They do not teach students to think. They only learn to memorize. Colleges teach concepts and High school memorize facts. Perhaps learning job skills and management should come before useless academic subjects which no longer relate to jobs in the modern world?
I was a secondary school teacher for 31 years until my school closed and I retired in 1998. I then went on to become an Instructional Technologist on the college and University level for 12 more years. That is 43 years total of teaching. So, I think that qualifies me to speak about teaching and teachers.
Teachers teach because they love teaching and the feedback from children. Salaries make a teacher’s life easier and removes the stress of paying bills. I started at $7100. dollars a year in East Ramapo Central school district in Spring Valley, New York in 1967. I had a Masters degree from Springfield College, so they gave me extra money to start on the Masters plus salary level. My family and I struggled on only $7100. Remember in the 1960’s you could buy a house for $9,000 or a VW beetle for $1200. A quart of coke soda was .25. We ate rice in our hamburgers to fill us up. I drank a lot of cool aide in those days. Anyway if you want to fulfill a dream salary is important.
I am shocked at the salaries teachers in California get now that I live in San Diego. They are on strike every year it seems. The boards of education are more interested in saving money than hiring well paid teachers. I see articles almost everyday about Sweetwater school district which just settled a teacher strike. Hey, the administrators were all charged with fraud and conspiracy. They stole money meant for solar panels for the school. They took kick-backs from constructors until one finally blew the whistle. Superintendent after superintendent heads that district. It is like a revolving door. The community seems to have no feed back.
A few years ago I was tutoring a brilliant teenage girl in Chula Vista, south of San Diego county. Her mother had her own document business and her father was an insurance agent. They were both naturalized Mexicans, having come to America when they were children. They sent their daughter to a private prep school because they were afraid that the public school students would adversely affect their daughter. They like most parents wanted the best for their daughter. The mother told me that their was only two Catholic High Schools in the entire San Diego county north and south. In order to get to the schools she or her husband had to drive their daughter everyday to school. That was a big sacrifice. Mini-busses were available but they drove around for two hours or more picking up students from everywhere. The mother told me she was afraid to go to the mall with her daughter because the kids that hung around the mall were bad news. In her prep-school a social studies teacher left and the prep-school never replaced him. They just dropped teaching social studies. What a shame? I coached her to first place in the public speaking contest and tutored her in writing Essays and improving her vocabulary. Sweetwater could have had a smart student like this girl but they don’t seem to care in recruiting brilliant students. Their curriculum is average at best with stressed out teachers. When you are stressed out you cannot teach well.
Every four years when I was teaching in New York we had a contract renewal and strike threats. During a threatened strike the Union forced us to work to RULE as they called it. All volunteer jobs were cancelled. No more after school tutoring. No more coming in early to tutor students. Nothing extra without pay was allowed. The students suffered and the teachers stressed out. The administrators became the bad guys informing the students and teachers of the dumb policies the board created. When I started teaching we had 100% medical coverage. When I retired we had only 40% which the district paid and we had to pay 60%. We did not have dental coverage for ten years.
Did you know that all teachers have to get a Masters degree in three to five years in all States in the USA? Yes, they have to pay for it out of their pockets too. If you do not get your Masters in three or five years, you are fired and not allowed to teach anywhere until you get that degree. That is five years of preparation to be able to teach. When summer rolls around every year teachers go broke. They have to get another job to survive, usually at Day or resident camps which pay very little. I got a free membership for my two children for teaching gymnastics at a day camp called Camp Hill for 14 years. That saved me having to shell out $3,000 total for the two of them.
Let’s talk curriculum in California. A lot of the curriculum is State mandated like in Health Education. I was a Health Ed. teacher for 31 years and I wrote the Health curriculum for my district in 1980. The State of New York wrote an AIDS curriculum which lasted on year until parents sued and it was removed. The next year my district wrote the AIDS curriculum. We knew very little about AIDS in the 1980’s. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that we had figured out that the T-cells got infected in HIV and AIDS. We had no curriculum material to give the students in the 1980’s and Indian students were excused from. Sex education unit because their parents objected. They got to write essays about HIV instead in the library. In the 1990’s I purchased Laser disks to teach my students about AIDS. The huge disks has movies about people that died of AIDS on the front and a step by step curriculum on the back. It lasted a full month of teaching. The movie, “Philadelphia,” with Tom Hanks came out and I used it regularly in my classes to explain AIDS and HIV.
Locally in the North county of San Diego the parents were protesting the Sex Education curriculum The curriculum had pictures of anatomy and AIDS PREVENTION AND THE parents were shocked. Well, if parents taught sex ed at home the school would not have to do it. Letting parents have input in writing a curriculum is vital. The schools in the North county did not do this. Shocking the lack of correct information the parents had. They got all emotional about the curriculum. I am sure none of them every volunteered to help write the curriculum. The solution could have been involve the parents to avoid parent protests. In Loco parents is the latin phrase, in place of the parent. The teacher becomes the parent in the school for 6 1/2 hours a day. The rest of the day they are at home.
The Curse of the Kabuto of Samurai Taira no Masakado. By Dr. Pelham Mead
My newest movie script in novel format before converting it to dialogue.
Jimmy Devesto son of millionaire John Devesto of Rye, New York is 13 years of age. His father purchases the original first century Kabuto and armor of an immortal samurai Taira no Masakado. John Devesto pays five million for the kabuto with elk horns and reddish style armor. John is warned when he purchases the kabuto and armor that there is a curse on the kabuto and armor from the beheaded Taira no Masakado. John Devesto pays the warning no mind. He tells Jimmy about the exploits of the famous samurai Taira no Masakado and how when his father died he had to fight his greedy Uncles for his father’s land and riches. He does not mention how Taira died by having. His head severed from his body and the head was taken to the Emperor who had the head hung on the palace gate for many weeks. The head never rotted and every night it came off the hook and traveled around the land.
Jimmy wanted to come up with a unique costume for Halloween put on the Kabuto (Helmet) of Taira no Masakado and suddenly Jimmy was overcome with visions of Taira’s life and battles. He fell to the ground with the kabuto on his head and began to dream he was back in the first century Japan. He could see his Uncles coming for him to take his father’s land from him. Anger arose in his body and he began to shake. He had his katana sword in his hand and he could see as he cut men who ambushed him right and left.
When he finally took the kabuto off the dreams stopped, but something evil remained in Jimmy’s mind. When Jimmy’s father realized Jimmy put on the kabuto of Taira no Masakado the famous samuri he was angry. It was then he told Jimmy that the kabuto was known to be cursed and that the head of Masakado caused many to die and brought bad luck. A shrine where the head of Masakado is buried is found in …. Japan John told Jimmy. Personally, John did not believe in ghosts and curses, he just admired the beauty of an ancient Samurai kabuto with impressive elk horns and a reddish style set of Japanese Samurai armor. Jimmy on the other hand have night-mares ever since he put the kabuto of Taira.
A month later Jimmy is attacked by a bunch of local bullies and thieves who demanded Jimmy’s watch, wallet and money. Jimmy told them no. Suddenly, six thugs attacked Jimmy at the same time. Out of no where Jimmy suddenly knew how to defend himself. He tool a nearby broom and used to to poke and injure all six bullies. The gang eventually fled from the scene all bleeding and holding their wounds. Jimmy was amazed since he had never taken any karate or martial arts instruction in his life. When he went home Jimmy did not tell his father about the attack at the local park.
A week later Jimmy ordered a pocket knife with a long 12 inch blade to protect himself in the future. After he received the knife in the mail he began to read and study how to fight with a small knife, sometimes known as a dagger.
The bullies that attacked Jimmy before return, but this time Jimmy has a weapon and is ready to use it. When the biggest bully attacks Jimmy, jimmy pulls out his pocket knife with the long 12 inch blade and ripes a slashing cut from the bullies shoulder to his hip. The spinning around it cuts the bully from the other shoulder to his hip exposing his intestines and spilling blood everywhere. The remaining bullies run like hell to get away from the kid with the 12 inch knife. Jimmy goes home but never tells his father about the attack of the bullies. The police have no witnesses except the bullies and they have no credibility because they are members of the Flying Dragons gang. Jimmy afterward feels a sense of superiority with his ability to handle a knife. Knives become an obsession with Jimmy.
Later on in high school, Jimmy joined the Fencing team and learned how to use a sabrer, Epee, and French Foil. After one season he learned all the moves so well that he beat everyone on the team. The Coach Bill Waters made Jimmy number one fencer on the team. “Jimmy is a natural. I have never seen anything like it. He fights like a samurai, whether he is using a sabrer, Epee or Foil. Everything he does seems to instinctive. Jimmy went undefeated the following season with only one season of experience. The team began to call him the fighting Samurai. Jimmy often had flashbacks when fighting of a samurai fighting other samurai. It was strange as if he was actually in the middle of a samurai battle in first century Japan. He could even feel the kabuto rubbing against his head and the string tied under his chin.
One night while walking home from high school, Jimmy comes across a rapist who had a young girl down on the ground and was tearing her clothes off. Jimmy comes to the rescue and pulls out his 12 inch pocket knife and slashes the rapist across his back causing him to drop to the ground. The girl named Peggy is grateful, but in shock. Jimmy takes Peggy to the local hospital for treatment an leaves the rapist to bleed to death in the city park. After Jimmy takes Peggy to the hospital he tells her his name and number if ever she needs help. After recovering from shock and bruises in the hospital, Peggy contacts Jimmy at his home and thanks him for saving her life. Later at a Football game Jimmy sees Peggy in the crowd and he walks over to talk to her. A romance develops when he takes Peggy for ice cream after the football game. The romance continues on after Jimmy graduates from high school. Both him and Peggy begin attending Columbia University in Manhattan as students. Jimmy and Peggy become serious in their romance.
Upon graduating high school, Jimmy chose Columbia University in New York City because they had one of the best Fencing teams in the country. The Fencing coach gave Jimmy a ? scholarship or financial grant as the University called it for Jimmy’s skill ability in Fencing.
All during the season Jimmy was undefeated until one day he fenced a Japanese-American student from Stamford, California named Manny Tasuku. When they began with the saber fencing something seemed to take over Jimmy as if he was a real samurai and when he looked at his opponent Manny Tasuku, all he could see was a samurai dressed in a kabuto and armor. Jimmy won by forcing Tasuku off the fencing strip three times. Tasuku was previously undefeated in the Western USA division of College Fencing. Coach Bill Greenberg was amazed how aggressive Jimmy was during the saber match. He congratulated Jimmy for an outstanding win over Stamford University’s best fencer. That night Jimmy dreamed of a samurai named Minamoto Tasuku attacking him and he was all of a sudden Taira NO Masakado and it was the first century AD in Japan in a place called Momoto near Hitachi provence. Eventually, Jimmy becomes a Lawyer and marries Peggy. They live in Manhattan on the East side 181st street and 2nd avenue. Jimmy becomes a vigilente at night seeking out criminals that become famous. He uses Samuari techniques in killing these criminals. Always a knife and never a gun becomes his motto. Peggy has no clue about Jimmy’s nefarious activities. She is a nurse at New York University medical center. Finally, he meets another person who is the reincarnation of Taira No Masakado’s mortal enemy Minamoto Tasuku tries to ambush Jimmy in a parking garage and a sword fight begins with Jimmy pulling a katana sword out of his car trunk and Minamoto using his katana sword. Both engage in two handed sword battle. Jimmy wins and kills Minamoto Tasuku who tells Jimmy his real name before he dies. Jimmy dumps Minamoto’s body in the river.
Police detective Ralph McGrath comes on the scene when the body of Minamoto washes up on the shore. Minamoto’s body is slashed to pieces. A very sharp knife killing is suspected because the cuts are so precise and deep. Ralph tries to determine why he has no information in the Police records of any Japanese male missing.
College Tutor- Helped student from Miami University, Florida write her Master’s Thesis- “Birthplace Motels in Calif” 2016.
College Tutor- Volunteer instructor with Seniors, El Cajon, Ca.
College Teaching Experience (31 yrs. Secondary ed. Teacher, 12 years College Professor and Director. Author- 18 years.
Adjunct Professor- St. John’s Univ. -Freshman course- “Discovering New York 3 credits. Taught Fall of 2006.
Adjunct Professor- College of Mt. St. Vincent- “Computer Graphics-3 credits; Powerpoint Illustrated-3 credits; Adobe Photoshop course-3 credits (I wrote the Curriculum for Photoshop).
Books written and published
“Jesus and John,”(2013) A historical fiction novel about the early years of Jesus of
Nazareth, and his second cousin, John the Baptist. This story explains why Jesus
verbally attacked the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, but never the Essenes. The oral
and written tradition of the Coptic church of Egypt regarding where the Holy Family
fled in Egypt from Herod’s soldiers is included. Also explained is how Jesus got his
extensive medical, and healing knowledge, and how John came to use Baptism as the
basis for his ministry is researched and explained.
“The 23rd Psalm,”A science fiction novel that takes place in the year 3550. A comet
collides with the Earth causing the poles to melt and flooding the world to the height
of 6,000 feet above sea level. Only a few human groups survive, two of which happen
to be in North America near Lake Tahoe. One group is a fundamental Christian
church group and another group is a liberal Jewish Temple group. They all seek
higher ground to survive. This is a story of a six-year survival trek across the world on
oil drum rafts and how spiritual intervention takes place through a Jewish Cantor who
begins to have visions that all come true.
“Autumn Winds over Okinawa,”(2011) publication by Xlibris.com, 160 pgs. and a
non-fictional story mixed with a fiction account of my father Chief Ken Mead at the
end of WW II, when he got off the USS Antietam aircraft carrier on Okinawa Aug.
30, 1945 to transfer back to the States. He was trapped there with three other sailors
until October due to a naval oversight. He survived two typhoons in Sept. 1945,
Japanese snipers, and jungle diseases that made his teeth fall out, and a skin rash that
lasted all his life.
“The Chinese Crystal Ball,”(2012) publication by Author-house. Fictional mystery
story about the main character John who buys an ancient Chinese crystal ball that
Maria ends up in northern Mexico where she has some cousins living there. She
makes the mistake of telling them about the crystal ball and her Uncle while at a local
bar brags about the magical properties of the crystal ball to the bar tender. The story
eventually gets report to a local hoodlum called El Toro. He tracks Maria’s cousins
house down and burns it to the ground in order to get Maria’s cousins to tell where
the Chinese crystal ball was hidden. A chase occurs and Maria leaves for Mexico City
where John’s detective finds her. The Chinese crystal ball is recovered and returned
to John. Years later John seeks the skills of a gypsy woman to help him with his
crystal ball. On the way home, he accidently drives off the road and is killed and the
crystal ball flies out of the car on impact and is smashed into a million pieces.
“The Junior High,” (2012) Published by Xlibris. The story of teaching in the 1960’s
and 1970’s, in New York State against the backdrop of the social movements of the
day: The Civil Rights Movement, the Anti-War demonstrations, the Free Sex Era, the
Captain Retro Superhero– An autistic young man develops a formula to winning
the Super Powerball Lottery. He wins $370 million and when asked what he will do
with the money, he claims he wants to become a Super-Hero and everyone laughs at
him. In the end he proves everyone wrong and gets his dream.
The Cammerada Commanders– Hawkmen create a city in the sky over radiated Earth, and go on
to develop other winged bird men, The Angels of God, The Eaglemen, The
Falconmen, and the Vulturemen. They rein supreme in the skies over mutants living
on Earth in radiation and death.
The Bodie Bandit– inspired by a true story about a bad man who held up stage
coaches and was caught and sent to jail, only to escape and seek refuge in Bodie,
California.
Saving Lincoln– Movie Script. Based on a true story about the first female Pinkerton agent in 1856 who
helped save President elect Abraham Lincoln from being assassinated in February
1861 along with Alan Pinkerton.
My Five Reincarnations– A humorous story about an Italian Don who is
reincarnated five times.
A Teacher Goes to War-The True story of Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and how he
saved the Battle of Gettysburg from being won by the Confederates by defending
Little Round top and preventing the Confederates from flanking the Union line.
“Don’t Be Square,” (2014) TV Pilot script based on the book, “The Junior High,”
which takes place in the 1960’s and 1970’s in a Junior High school in New York
State. Based on a real story of a teacher who taught for 31 years in the same Junior
High.
“Act II” (2014) the sequel to “Don’t Be Square,” continues the story started in the
TV pilot with the emphasis on three male teachers who struggle to survive against the
administration and the politics of a Junior High School.
“The Night is a Child, (Usiku Ni Mtoto)The Adventures of Sister Angelina, CIA
Nun,” (2015) This is a story about how the CIA and the Vatican Holy See hire an ex-nun
to help them investigate the murder of three Nuns in Burundi, Africa.
“A Templar Squire’s Tale,” (2015) This is a script that tells the inside story about
Jacques de Molay of the Templar Knights in the late 1200’s and early 1307-1314 and
thereafter. It begins in France in 1288 and continues until 1314 when Jacques de
Molay is burned at the stake and the Templar Knights that escaped are in Spain and
Scotland. An epic story 294 pages long.
“The Fairytale Adventures of Tom Wolf,”(2015) This is a script based on several
classic nursery tales that tells the story of a man named Tom Wolf who is arrested for
being drunk in London in 1855 and eventually is thrown into Bedlam Mental Hospital
in London for telling everyone that he was a wolf. The Doctor Von Hess interviews
Tom Wolf many times and each time Tom tells him a story from his past. The first
story is about Tom Wolf and three rich children from the Swine family. The second
story is about a little girl whom Tom fell in love with called little Red Riding Hood.
The third story is about a little boy in Russia whom is warned by his grandfather not
to go into the meadow and leave the gate unlocked. After each story the Doctor sends
Tom back to his cell with more medicine and more torture with cold-water tanks,
chaining to the wall, and hanging upside down in a straight jacket. In the end Tom
Surprised the Doctor.
“Solar Sailing Pirates,” (2015) A Science Fiction movie or TV script about a rich
young man who accidently shoots a fellow cadet and is expelled from the Sky Hawk
Academy as a result. The main character Jake Johnson is the son of a millionaire who
uses his connects to prevent Jake from being arrested for accidently shooting his best
friend at the academy. Jake goes on to become a well-known Solar Sailing Pilot with
his new friend Arrundi Buel. Together they build a new space solar sailing vessel
called the Iron Butterfly and win race after race in space against many challengers.
A competitors ship called “The Black Dragon,” belonging to pilots Desmonde Adar
and Ron Blue is stolen after a solar space race. A five million dollar reward is offered
and Jake and Arrundi decide to seek the reward. They revamp their solar sailing ship
with laser cannons and other weapons that they can use in tracking down the pirates
that stole the “Black Dragon,” Solar sailing ship.
Eventually, Jake and Arrundi catch up to the pirates whom are Count Von Wertz and
Shaolin Sun Cho after the pirates intercepted a Mars Cargo space ship loaded with
gold and uranium. A chase ensues and Jake and Arrundi chase the Black Dragon into
an asteroid belt that is fatal to any solar sailing vessel’s solar collecting wings. Jake
attacks the Black Dragon from behind a large meteor and manages to destroy on of
the ships solar wings rendering it useless. Count Von Wertz is killed, but Shaolin Sun
Cho escapes in an escape pod headed to the moon.
Jake reunites with an old girlfriend on Earth from his academy days and claims the 5
million dollar reward for returning the Black Dragon to its owners. Jake teams up
with his girlfriend Veronica, whom is now a Lieutenant in the Sky Hawk squadron.
They plan together to capture Shaolin Sun Cho. Shaolin Sun Cho survives and lands
on the moon where he connects with old friends and plots revenge against Jake and
Arrundi. The plot thickens and Jake and Shaolin Sun Cho meet on Mars where
Shaolin has been hiding. Veronica helps Jake find Shaolin only to be wounded herself
in a laser gun battle. Jake tricks Shaolin into believing he is dead and shoots him
when he approaches. Jake and Veronica go on to become husband and wife.
Technical Booklets and Manuals Written
NY College of Osteopathic Medicine, Faculty Workshop Handbook July 2009
Class and Faculty Assessment Manual for Students at NYCOM-18 pages
A Learning Outcome Assessment Plan for NYCOM(submitted to COCA Feb.
2009 for accreditation) 180 pages.
Podcasting Manual– 8 pages for St. John’s university faculty.
St. Johns Univ. –Faculty Pedagogy Guide in Technology in the Classroom
Author, “A Simplified Guide to PowerPoint for Faculty,” (2001, updated 2005),
65 pages, published for all College of Mount Saint Vincent Faculty.
Author, “A Simplified Guide to Adobe Photoshop for Faculty,” (2001, 2002, 2003,
2004, and updated 2005) 80 pages, published for all College of Mount Saint
Vincent Faculty.
Author, “A Simplified Guide to Web Publishing,” (2001, 2003, 2005), 77 pages,
published for all College of Mount Saint Vincent Faculty.
Teaching Experience:
Health Education Teacher, Physical Education Teacher, Black and White Darkroom Photography instructor-4 yrs. And Dean of Students-6 yrs.,Kakiat Jr. High School, East Ramapo Central School District, Spring Valley, N.Y.- 31 years with a permanent Teaching license in Hygiene and Physical Education in New York
State, 1967-1998. Retired
Online Instructor at the College of Mount Saint Vincent- Adobe Photoshop all
assignments online using Blackboard with automatic grading and discussion
Online Instructor for “Smoking Cessation Unit, “ Nurse student introductory
course at the College of Mount Saint Vincent- two years. Co-wrote the curriculum
for the online course with Professor –Dr. Kathleen Flaherty 2002-03
Online Instructor at St. Johns University. Certified Online Instructor for
Discover New York and Scientific Inquiry CORE courses. Certified by St. Johns
Univ. after taking two semesters in Online Teaching for WEBct and Blackboard
Certified Blackboard Administrator 12 years experience, recertified at St.
Johns Univ. and in Jan./2009 at NYIT as Blackboard Administrator
Adjunct Professor -Introduction To Computer Information systems (CIS) 2-
yrs.at SUNY Westchester and SUNY Rockland using some online usage of
Blackboard.
Adjunct Professor of Nurse Supervisory Course at the College of Mount Saint
Vincent, teaching instructional technology and medial in the Nursing setting.
Adjunct professor in Adobe Photoshop- 3 yrs.
Adjunct professor in Computer Graphics 4 yrs.
Adjunct Professor in MS Word, Excel, Publish, Access, Frontpage, and
Powerpoint
Adjunct Professor in Frontpage Web Development 10 years, NYU, Pace, SUNY
Adjunct Professor at SUNY Rockland Community College in MAC workshop in
Illustrator, Pagemaker, and Photoshop.
Administrative Work Positions in Colleges and Universities:
Senior Educational Technology Specialist for Title III– Title III Grant Educational
Technology Specialist for St. Johns University, April 2006-Aug. 2008
Wrote and helped redesign SJU CORE courses “Core Discover NY,” and
This photo shows how industry trains their employees in small groups with powerpoint presentations or pre-set lectures. This technique does not work with the student of 2018 because that student has been playing with handheld electronic games and the world of cartoon fantasy is more real than reality itself. If we allow our students to become programmed to kill Nazis or monsters everyday for satisfaction than we missed the point.
