Today only, as part of its Gold Box Deals of the Day, Amazon is offering fitness, yoga, and wellness products from$7.35. Free shipping is available for Prime members or in orders over $25. Our top pick is the 68- x 24-inch Yoga Mat in various colors for$18.74. Thats down from the usual $25 price tag and an Amazon all-time low. This lightweight and thick yoga mat is designed to be durable and last throughout various workouts. It also has a non-slip texture, which if you know anything about yoga, this is a key component to ensure safety and performance. Rated 4.5/5 stars by over 100 Amazon reviewers. Head below for more deals or jump into the entire sale right here.

Another standout is the Gaiam Yoga Block and Strap Combo Set in various colorsfrom $9.94. Youd typically pay $15 with todays deal being within $1 of the all-time low price. This is a perfect pair with our featured deal mentioned above, ensuring that your next yoga class has all the essentials for a great workout. Designed to provide the stability and balance needed in your practice to help with optimal alignment, these blocks are an easy buy if youre serious about taking yoga classes in 2020. Rated 4.7/5 stars.

Youll find even more at-home workout essentials, energy snacks, and more in todays Gold Box starting at$7.35.

These durable, yet lightweight exercise yoga mats provide additional cushioning your joints need during any yoga or fitness routine. Yoga mat features a textured sticky non-slip surface for excellent traction and superior grip and a stylish design to keep you motivated and focused. Yoga mat purchase includes a free bonus downloadable yoga workout to help get you started.

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TURNERS FALLS Hot yoga, in theory, is the same no matter where you do it. The classroom studio is heated to about 105 degrees, and every class session runs through the exact same positions in the exact same order, the same way every time.

Even people who love it admit that it may not be for everyone, said Mishel Ixchel, the owner and instructor of Fire+Embers Hot Yoga at 142 2nd St. But the people who get hooked say it gives them something they cant get any other way; or, at least, something that is very hard to find.

Ixchel got her first taste of hot yoga the way most people do, she said: a studio offered a ridiculously low introductory price, and after she tried it, I was starving for more.

That was almost 15 years ago, when she was living in New York City. She quickly moved on to a nine-week training course, and was soon teaching.

I dont know how much of this has to do with my zodiac sign, but when I commit to something, I focus my energy and I go right in, she said.

Fire+Embers opened Dec. 21. Preparation took a bit longer than expected, Ixchel said. The studio is on the upper floor of a repurposed old house. Along with construction of the studio itself, the building also needed new insulation to make a 105-degree yoga studio workable.

Almost every contractor I brought in thought I was out of my mind, Ixchel said.

What makes hot yoga unique, other than the intense heat, is its twenty-six and two sequence (usually written as 26+2), Ixchel said. Every class follows the same program of 26 postures and two breathing exercises, presented in the same order every time, no matter who the teacher is or where the studio is. On paper, every class is exactly the same.

The repetition is the point, partly, Ixchel said. The more you commit to it, you start integrating the sequence. You know what to expect. You can work with it and get better and better. Youre fine-tuning these postures.

What changes is what the student brings to it each time, Ixchel said: how much sleep they got that night, what stressors they might be dealing with, how they feel about the weather that day.

So youll never have two classes that are the same, even though every single class sequence is the same, she said.

And then theres the magic the brilliance of how these postures were laid out, she said. One thing leads you to another thing leads you to another thing. So youre moving systematically through your body in a healthy, safe way.

The results are apparently hard to put a finger on. Ixchels students, getting ready for a class on Tuesday morning taking off snow boots, hanging up coats, figuring out the yoga mat situation talk about it in superlative terms: its rejuvenating, its a full-body cleanse, theres nothing like it.

Its the one time in my life, when Im in here, that in my mind Im present, said Faith Diemand, one of the owners of Diemand Farm in Wendell. Work isnt running around, the kids, the car broken down, blah blah blah. Tapping her head, she added, Its hard for me to quiet whats up here.

The magic of the 26+2 sequence is what it does for the spine, Ixchel said. Most of us go through our day-to-day lives chronically abusing our backs in little ways leaning over a desk, bending to pick things up, not paying attention to posture. What people love about hot yoga, she said, is that it takes away those little pains that distract us even when we may not realize it.

Once your body starts feeling good, which this practice does, it ripples out to every aspect of life, she said. You can focus on the things you want to focus on because youre not in pain. You have more patience in your relationships because youre not in pain.

She emphasizes that anyone can do hot yoga, regardless of age or physical fitness. You dont need to be especially strong or flexible. And because every class is the same, its easy for beginners to get going.

Classes at Fire+Embers Hot Yoga are 90 minutes long, Monday to Friday at 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m., with more times to be added later. For new students, there is an introductory rate of $40 for two weeks unlimited access, or $111 for 30 days. A full list of prices and membership options can be found at fireandembers.com.

Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 261.

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Going through the motions for better health: Fire+Embers Hot Yoga opens in Turners Falls - The Recorder

theconsumer electronics show is one of the biggest tech events of the year. since 1967, thousands of people have travelled to las vegas, where the show is held annually, to observe the latest in tech trends, all shaping the year ahead.companies from around the world gather to tease future possibilities, like concept cars and smart home gadgets, whilst others announce new products that reveal our more immediate reality within the tech industry.

fiat chrysler recently unveiled its airflow vision concept carfor the consumer electronics show (CES 2020) with an all-digital six-screen interior cabin (read more)

from january 7 january 10, CES 2o20 is set to unveil the next generation of transformative innovation, encompassing 5G connectivity, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, smart cities and resilience, sports, robotics and more.heres what not to miss

image courtesy of holste centre

there looks set to be a host of technology that responds to the wellness tech consumers increasing desire for products that promote wellbeing. among them, research and development center holst centre will present several human-centric wearables including a relax shirt, which reminds its wearer of taking regular breaks, and an infrared headband that reduces stress. by integrating electronics in textiles, holst centre wants to build on the intimacy of clothing whilst offering support of healthcare and wellbeing.

image courtesy of yogifi

also coming to CES 2020 is a smart yoga assistant called yogifi from wellnesys that is powered by artificial intelligence and comes equipped with a companion mobile app. the AI is used to recommend personalized wellness programs by yoga professionals and the embedded yoga mat tracks postures using pressure sensors that respond to touch and gives visual and haptic feedback to correct positions. the mat also correlates vitals and breathing patterns by pairing with devices such as an apple watch.

image courtesy of samsung

the mercedes-benz show stand invites visitors to experience the highlights of the product and technology brand EQ the all-electric EQC 400 4matic, the vision EQS and also a new, futuristic concept vehicle. the 2020 show stand will give visitors the opportunity to dive into an adventure world, underscoring the consistent enhancement of the mercedes-benz trade show concept. the focal point comprises the brand world as well as its products, services and innovations.

image courtesy samsung / 4kfilme

images appear to show a new frameless samsung 8k QLED TV, predicted to launch at CES 2020. the new TV will feature a panel welded to the tv body to create a display thats free of edges. this new series of TVs will only be available in sizes of 65-inch and above. details on the display panel technology and price have not yet been revealed but its likely samsung will pair the new model with its QLED 8k panel with this premium bezel-less tv series.

image courtesy of UBTECH

UBTECH will be showing its newest and most innovative robots, including the latest updates to walker, the intelligent humanoid service robot that wowed audiences at last years CES. it will also show its autonomous indoor monitoring robot aimbot, enterprise service robot cruzr, and award-winning jimu robot kits for kids. this years presentation will demonstrate walkers faster, human-like walking as well as yoga poses with dynamic stability showing its huge improvement in motion control. walker will also demonstrate new abilities such as the ability to push a cart, draw pictures, and write characters, showing improved static balance with full-body compliance control.

image courtesy of picnic

seattle startup picnic is bringing its pizza-assembly robot to the las vegas convention center. the robot can produce up to 300 12-inch personalized pizzas per hour and uses a vision system that allows it to make adjustments if the pie is slightly off-center. perfect to feed a crowd of tech-goers, the machine is linked to the internet and sends data back to picnic so the system can learn from mistakes. specific location details for picnics robot and where to enjoy its pizza will be revealed at hellopicnic.com, prior to the start of CES 2020.

kieron marchese I designboom

jan 03, 2020

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robot pizza makers and AI yoga at CES 2020: here's what you can't miss - Designboom

A recent three-year drop in the number of people enrolled in Arkansas teacher preparation programs appears to have bottomed out, and the number is on the upswing, preliminary data from the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education show.

The number of enrollees in the state's teacher preparation programs for 2018-19 was 4,443.

That is almost 400 more enrollees than the 4,062 enrolled in the 2017-18 year and 854 more than the 3,589 teacher candidates enrolled in 2016-17, according to the state data. The most recent total, however, falls short of the 5,258 program enrollees in 2013-14.

The teacher preparation enrollment data will be included in the state's next annual Educator Preparation Program Report that is released by the state agency in early summer.

Ivy Pfeffer, the state division's deputy commissioner, attributed the higher counts to "really careful focus and attention" in recent years on recruiting individuals to the teaching profession and retaining current teachers.

"Kindergarten through 12th-grade education is the single largest employer in Arkansas with more than 71,000 employees, when you look at certified and classified staff," Pfeffer said.

"As far as the workforce, it is larger than state government and any industry. You think about the impact that the education workforce has in terms of our state, that's why it is really exciting to be able to start seeing the data moving back to the direction of increasing. We hit the bottom in terms of those enrollments. I think there is a renewed interest, a renewed excitement and a renewed importance on teaching as a profession."

[GRADE POINT ARKANSAS: Sign up for the Democrat-Gazette's new education newsletter arkansasonline.com/emails/gpa]

The 2018-19 annual teacher preparation program totals include participants in traditional educator preparation programs -- college and university-degree programs -- and alternative routes to teaching credentials. That includes the Arkansas Professional Pathway to Educator Licensure, or APPEL, that enables a person who has a degree in a field other than education to work as a teacher while meeting requirements to obtain a standard state teaching license.

The enrollment in nontraditional teacher licensure programs is actually showing the steeper and more consistent gains, with 1,860 enrollees in 2018-19, up from 1,425 just the year before.

The traditional programs totaled 2,588 enrollees in 2018-19, down from 2,637 the previous year but up from 2,315 in 2016-17. Overall, traditional program enrollment in 2018-19 remained below the 3,555 count in 2013-14.

Efforts to expand the pool of people preparing to teach include promoting teaching as a profession to middle and high school students through Orientation to Teaching courses or a Teacher Cadet program, Pfeffer said.

As many as 1,800 students in some 100 of the state's 300 high schools are currently in such programs, said Sharlee Crowson, a program adviser in the state agency's teacher recruitment and retention unit.

Crowson and other state education leaders want to see those numbers grow and programs expanded to the point that students graduate from high school with credentials that qualify them to be paraprofessionals or teacher assistants, which could be a source of income and experience as they go through a college degree program to be a teacher.

In addition to building up the pool of people in teacher preparation programs, the state has worked to improve the retention of its teacher force, which already exceeds national averages. For example, Arkansas has a 92% retention rate after one year of work in the classroom, 75% after five years and about 56% after 10 years, Pfeffer said.

Nationally, those percentages are 90% after a year, 60% after five years and less than 90% after 10 years, she said.

Retention efforts include expanding experienced educators' mentoring of new teachers through the state's 15 education service cooperatives. Each of the cooperatives also employs a teacher recruitment and retention specialist who provides guidance on licensure and employment issues, and on high school programming, to cooperatives' member districts.

Another effort is Gov. Asa Hutchinson's and the General Assembly's legislation to increase the minimum starting salaries for bachelor- and master-degreed teachers. The starting salary for a beginning teacher must be at least $36,000 by 2022-23, as a result of the new law.

Also, the state has recently modified its licensure system to include "lead" teacher and "master" teacher certifications for those who have at least three years of teaching experience and want to do more while still teaching.

"We kept hearing, over and over, that teachers wanted to find ways to lead from the classroom without leaving the classroom," said Joan Luneau, program coordinator in the state's educator preparation unit. "This is a way they can provide leadership without giving up the classroom."

Districts are still exploring ways to provide compensation to those lead and master teachers, Pfeffer said. State education leaders are planning in the coming weeks to roll out some options and pilot programs to support efforts by districts to alter the traditional teacher salary schedules that are built around teacher education levels and years of teaching experience.

Also in regard to licensure, the state pays for the test fees for teachers who agree to add to their licenses a certification to teach a subject in which there is a shortage of teachers. Teacher shortage areas, announced every year, have typically been special education, math and science, among others. One of those -- library/media -- has recently been removed from the list as the result of awarding "ancillary" state licenses. Those licenses qualify people to work in schools if they have master's degrees in the fields but do not have education degrees.

Still other efforts by state education leaders to meet goals to recruit teachers and encourage longevity include a recently completed Teach Arkansas lecture series directed at teachers around the state, and a campaign to appeal to people to return to work if they have left teaching or otherwise allowed their licenses to expire.

The state-set goals include:

Increase the number of candidates entering Arkansas educator preparation programs by 20% in five years.

Increase the number of beginning teachers in Arkansas public schools by 10% in five years.

Decrease the Arkansas teacher attrition rate by 15% in five years.

Increase the number of teachers reentering the teaching profession in Arkansas by 5% in five years.

Increase the number of minority-group teachers in public schools by 25% in five years.

Pfeffer said she believes the state can eventually eliminate teacher shortages by operating more strategically.

"To realize our goal of having equitable access -- where every student has an effective teacher every day -- we have to create that talent pipeline," she said. "That takes in recruiting to the profession, getting them through high-quality programs, providing support as they enter the profession and giving them opportunities that make them want to stay."

Metro on 01/05/2020

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More people taking teacher prep courses - Arkansas Online

ALEXANDRIA - Grace Brown's schedule at West Potomac High School in northern Virginia is filled with all the usual academics, and she's packed in Latin, chorus and piano as extras.

What she can't cram into the 8:10 a.m. - 2:55 p.m. school day is gym class.

So she's taking that one minus the gym, and on her own time.

The 14-year-old freshman is getting school credit for virtual physical education, a concept that, as strange as it may sound, is being helped along by the availability of wearable fitness trackers.

For students whose tests and textbooks have migrated to screens, technology as gym equipment may have been only a matter of time.

Grace, who lives in Alexandria, wears a school-issued Fitbit on her wrist while getting in at least three 30-minute workouts a week outside of school hours. She has an app on her computer that screenshots her activity so she can turn it in for credit.

While online physical education classes have been around for well over a decade, often as part of virtual or online schools, the technology has made possible a new level of accountability, its users say.

"We're asking kids to wear this while they do an activity of their choice, and they can change the activity as they desire, as long as it's something that they understand is probably going to get their heart rate up," said Elizabeth Edwards, department head for online physical education at Fairfax County Public Schools, which includes Grace's high school.

Though a physical education instructor isn't shouting from the sidelines, teachers do guide assignments by setting goals such as fat burn, cardio or peak, relying on the technology to be their eyes and ears. Students also are required to sign in for a weekly 60-minute to 90-minute classroom session with the teacher.

Teenagers who play soccer, swim or dance all year may satisfy the workout requirements without doing anything extra. Grace has been adding bike rides and jogs to her days.

For her, online PE freed her up to take three elective courses, instead of two in school. For others, it's a welcome way to take a required class that students otherwise may find socially or physically challenging.

"We definitely exercise more in online PE," Grace said. "There's a lot of standing around in regular PE. Online, I do much harder workouts."

A survey of more than 3,000 fitness professionals by the American College of Sports Medicine named wearable technology the top trend in fitness for 2020.

It's not clear how many schools are embracing the trend. It comes with some cautions.

Technology and the collection of any student data always raises the specter of student privacy concerns. And some worry that students exercising on their own may miss out on important social concepts such as teamwork.

"There is a difference between physical activity and physical education," said Chris Hersl, former vice president for programs and professional development at SHAPE America, which wrote national standards for K-12 physical education.

Joliet Township schools in Illinois uses fitness trackers as part of a blended learning conditioning program that has students who sign up for it work out two to three times a week in the gym with an instructor and the other days on their own.

"It's a flexible schedule where they still have in-person physical education classes and there's still instruction happening, but they're able to use the Fitbit to monitor how students are working outside the classroom," said Karla Guseman, the district's associate superintendent for educational services.

She said it's one of numerous blending learning options that Joliet Township High School offers to give students both more control over the pace and time of their work, and more responsibility to get it done.

"We're trying to give them an opportunity to see what post-secondary might look like," Guseman said, "when you don't meet every day but you're still expected to do work for a course or preparation between class periods."

A virtual school that is part of the Springfield, Missouri, public school district started with a single class -- physical education, said Nichole Lemmon, the creator of the program, called Launch, which uses Garmin fitness trackers.

"Eight years ago, it was the very first online class by our developers to meet a really niche student who could not fit PE courses into their schedule," Lemmon said. "Maybe they wanted to take more honors level courses, or advanced placement, or international baccalaureate classes and PE was hard to fit in, so we allowed them to do it outside of the school day."

A telling illustration of the technology-driven 24/7 school day is the peak log-in time on the school's portal system: 10:03 p.m.

"They may not be working out at 10 p.m., but that's when they're turning in their workout. The notion that education now runs 7:30-4, 8-3, is really antiquated," Lemmon said, "and our students are begging to be able to have more flexibility in the time of day they learn."

During the past summer session, there were 22,600 students enrolled, and the most popular courses were PE, she said.

Teachers help students set up their fitness devices, entering the student's height, weight and age, and coming up with a target heart rate. As an added layer of instruction and accountability, Launch students are required to send video back to the teacher, who checks their technique as they stretch or lift weights, for example.

"They work with their PE instructor to set a fitness goal and then they get their workout however they want to," Lemmon said. t really does promote lifelong fitness because it's about working out the way they want to, not they're required to do a particular activity in gym."

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Gym class without the gym? With technology, it's catching on - Richmond.com

Technology will continue to disrupt education in K12 schools in 2020. Source: Shutterstock

The education landscape is transforming before our very eyes, where teaching approaches are becoming more student-centered and classroom designs are becoming more flexible in schools to allow for more collaborative learning.

With the rapid growth of the educational technology industry, teaching methods today are also relying more and more on technologies like artificial intelligence and even robots.

In this era of disruptive technologies, whats in store for your school in 2020? Heres a look at some key education trends that will shape and influence schools in the coming year.

The role of the teacher in schools is slowly changing. Instead of feeding information to students and lecturing from the front of the room, teachers are playing a facilitating role instead guiding students towards thinking for themselves and carrying out projects and activities for students to work on in groups.

Assisting teachers in this new role is artificial intelligence (AI). According to Online Education for Higher Ed, AI use in US classrooms will grow by 47.5 percent in the next three years.

The technology is predicted to allow teachers more time to focus on more human-specific teaching skills like emotional intelligence and creativity. AI will take over the time-consuming and monotonous tasks like checking papers for plagiarism or tests.

Parents who choose to homeschool their kids have plenty of support nowadays thanks to technology. If they have gaps in their knowledge or are unable to teach a subject effectively, they can use online modules or face-to-face classes in a more traditional schooling environment to supplement their education.

This is known as hybrid homeschooling, and its predicted to become more popular in years to come. It allows for more flexibility, particularly for parents who want to homeschool their children but are unable in one way or another to do so.

Mike McShane, director of national research at US education reform organisation EdChoice wrote inForbes: For many families, the costs and obligations related to homeschooling are simply too burdensome. Some parents dont have the confidence in their own abilities to teach every subject to their children. Others cannot devote themselves to homeschooling full-time. Perhaps most of all, many homeschooling families want their children to socialise with other children to learn how to share, cooperate and get along with others.

Enter hybrid homeschooling, a model where children split their time between homeschool and a more traditional schooling environment. This could be three days at home and two days at school, two days at home and three days at school, part of the day at home and part of the day at schools, or a variety of other options.

AR is becoming popular in schools, allowing more three-dimensional experiences that bring abstract concepts to life for students.

This interactive experience adds digital elements by using a camera on a smartphone to a live view, such as Snapchat filters.

In classrooms, AR animated content could be a tool to motivate children to study. They can understand topics better if extra data such as fun facts, historical information or visual 3D models are added to classroom lessons. Or when they can scan parts of their books, there are texts, audio snippets or videos from teachers that pop up.

Compared to AR, VR is more immersive, where students can be transported to different worlds with the use of VR goggles such as Google Lens.

It is also becoming more widely used in schools, as the industry is seeing major growth with heavy investment around the world, leading to a bigger market and more affordable products in the edtech sector.

With VR, students can experience what they read beyond word descriptions and book illustrations. Tricking the body into thinking its a new place, VR tools like Google Expeditions allow students to visit cultural sites around the world without ever leaving the classroom or even go back in time to a historical setting such as the land of the dinosaurs.

4 European edtech start-ups to look out for in 2020

4 UK-based EdTech start-ups that are transforming the way we learn

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4 major education trends that will influence schools in 2020 - Study International News

If youre looking for a personal loan, your options are increasing. Theres the traditional route visit a loan officer at your bank or the more modern option of an online lender that can get you a loan virtually overnight, if you qualify.

Financial technology companies that offer personal loans online are encroaching on banks in the lending business. Fintechs originated almost half (49.4%) of unsecured loans in March 2019, up from 22.4% in March 2015, according to a recent study by credit bureau Experian.

While some large national banks dont offer personal loans, others are responding to the competition with online offerings of their own. PNC Bank, one of the largest banks in the U.S., launched online personal loans this year to capture customers it couldnt serve at brick-and-mortar locations, says senior vice president for personal lending Chris Dervan.

Like many industries, theres been a big trend toward digital, and that trend will continue, he says. But part of what were seeing is that theres still a substantial customer base who likes that personal touch.

The heightened competition means consumers can handpick where they get a personal loan, be it online or at a bank branch. Here are four questions to ask when choosing between a bank loan and an online loan.

One of the obvious differences between bank and online lenders is the face-to-face exchange you can have at a physical bank.

If you value personal interaction and the security of knowing who is handling your loan, a bank might be for you, says Eric Simonson, a Minneapolis-based certified financial planner and owner of Abundo Wealth.

Some people like to just know that theres a person that makes sure the loan goes through smoothly for them, he says.

Also, you may have the opportunity to negotiate a lower rate or qualify with a lower credit score if youre talking to a person you already have a relationship with at a bank, Simonson says.

But the personal touch might come at a premium, says Oklahoma-based CFP Kyle Jackson. He says brick-and-mortar banks tend to pass on to the consumer operational costs that online lenders dont have, which can result in higher rates or fees.

If you need a loan quickly, online might be the way to go.

Online lenders and traditional banks with an online option can sometimes process an application and make a decision more quickly than banks that dont have an internet presence, Jackson says.

Some of those lenders can fund the loan the same day you apply, or the following business day.

Lenders with an online presence can also expedite your research process if they post their rates, says Todd Nelson, senior vice president with LightStream, the online lending arm of SunTrust Bank.

If youve got good credit, you dont really worry whether youre going to get approved, he says. What youre more concerned with is Am I going to waste my time with applying for a loan and getting back an offer I dont want?

For an online loan application, youll need to electronically share information like your Social Security number, education history and bank account information, which might require granting the lender access.

Especially in those cases, beware of scammers. Wisconsin-based CFP Ben Smith with Cove Financial Planning says that if you dont feel confident that you can tell whether an online lender is legitimate, the safest option would be a physical bank.

Managing a loan online, which typically means your only contact with the lender is via a customer service representative, can prove challenging for folks who arent financially or technologically savvy, Jackson says. If this is you, the online-only experience may not be a good fit.

The chief considerations when shopping for a loan should be its rate, fees and terms, Nelson says, rather than whether its from an online lender or a bank branch.

Some online lenders let you pre-qualify and see your potential rate, which is helpful information to have as you shop around.

Simonson notes that if you have less-than-desirable credit or are seeking a loan for a nontraditional reason, a community bank or credit union might be more willing to take on the risk of lending to you than a big bank or online lender would be.

More From NerdWallet

Annie Millerbernd is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: amillerbernd@nerdwallet.com.

The article Online or In Person: Whats the Better Way to Get a Loan? originally appeared on NerdWallet.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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Online or In Person: Whats the Better Way to Get a Loan? - Nasdaq

WYOMING/PAVILION Genesee Valley Educational Partnership (GVEP) teacher Elizabeth Slocum earned the Ferdinand DiBartolo New York State Distinguished Foreign Language Leadership Award this year.

Slocum is a teacher of French and Spanish at the middle, high school and undergraduate levels. Slocum holds permanent state certification in French and Spanish, as well as certification as a school district administrator and supervisor. She is a GVEP seventh- and eighth-grade Spanish teacher and serves both the Wyoming and Pavilion Central School districts.

Serving on the executive board of New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers has been an incredible experience. It has been an honor to represent New York state teachers and students of world languages at the local, state and national levels, Slocum said. I teach because I believe that languages are at the heart of the human experience. Languages will open doors and make connections for our students at home and abroad.

As a 25-plus year member of New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers (NYSAFLT), Slocum has been an active member of the association through her participation on various committees as well as serving on the NYSAFLT Board of Directors. She holds the distinction of chairing two annual conferences, including the 100th Annual Conference and Gala. She was selected to represent NYSAFLT at American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) inaugural Leadership Initiative for Language Learning (LILL) and remains an active member of LILL Cohort 1. She will participate in a LILL panel at ACTFL 2019 in Washington, DC on the topic of Growing Our Leadership.

In 2017, Slocum was honored by Genesee Community College with the Chancellors Award for Excellence as an Adjunct Instructor of World Languages. She works with the Genesee Region Teachers Center as a member of the Policy Board and coordinator of the regional World Language Teachers Network.

The Ferdinand DiBartolo NYS Distinguished Foreign Language Leadership Award is presented annually to the president of NYSAFLT in recognition of his/her dedication and service to our organization and to the profession.

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Genesee Valley Educational Partnership teacher Receives Distinguished NYS Award - The Daily News Online

When it was first published last week, a controversial New York Times column about the secrets of Jewish genius linked to a 2005 study from a researcher labeled an extremist, revered by white supremacists and discredited by scientists and who, for years, worked as a distinguished professor at the University of Utah.

Citing the late U. anthropologist Henry Harpending, expectedly, touched off criticism. Hours after it appeared online, The Times commentary was updated with an editors note saying it had been a mistake to mention the study, which has been widely questioned and long seen as an argument of racial superiority.

The note suggests that conservative columnist Bret Stephens did not know that Harpending promoted racist ideas. It also says Stephens was not endorsing the study or its authors views but acknowledges that his reference to the research, nevertheless, left an impression with many readers that Mr. Stephens was arguing that Jews are genetically superior. That was not his intent.

The paragraph Stephens wrote about Harpendings research has since been deleted online. And on Friday, the University of Utah deleted a complimentary memorial post from its Department of Anthropology that had said Harpendings scholarly and personal footprint will be long lasting in the field.

The U. also noted in response to the column that none of the three authors of the paper Harpending, Gregory Cochran or then-student Jason Hardy work at the school any longer. Harpending was there from 1997 until he died of a stroke in 2016.

Statements attributed to Henry Harpending that promote ideas in line with white nationalist ideology stand in direct opposition to the University of Utahs values of equity, diversity and inclusion ... " said Annalisa Purser, the universitys spokeswoman.

As such, we will meet these words with ours: Racist views and rhetoric that position one race as superior to another are inaccurate and harmful," she said. "The University of Utah is bolstered by its diversity, which allows individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives to come together to address challenges in new and creative ways.

Neither Cochran nor Hardy could not be reached by The Salt Lake Tribune for comment. Its unclear why none of the researchers faced censure while at the university for publishing the piece, though Purser added, Speech even when it is racist is protected by the U.S. Constitution and is necessary for the free exchange of ideas.

This has been a very painful time already for Jews in the United States, said Amy Spiro, a Jewish journalist whose work has been published in Variety, Jewish Insider and The Jerusalem Post. And then this column came out, she told The Tribune in a phone interview. Its just generated a lot of controversy. It doesnt seem like this is helpful in any way.

In their disputed study, the U. researchers focused on Ashkenazi Jews, or those who settled in central and Eastern Europe (as opposed to Spain or the Middle East). Among supremacists, the group is often seen as pure because many are white.

Harpending, Cochran and Hardy argue that Ashkenazi Jews have higher IQs, on average, than the general public (including other non-Ashkenazi Jews). Their theory is that in medieval times, individuals in the faith group in Europe were pushed into finance jobs because of the Christian prohibition of usury, or lending money for interest. Over time, many became rich and had more surviving children than poorer families who worked on farms. They also married within the community and stayed fairly isolated.

The University of Utah has long been known as an expert in genetic research, but this paper Natural History of Ashkenazi Intelligence is typically seen as a low point in that expertise. The authors created their own algorithm for determining genetic makeup and cited several scientists also viewed as racist.

The researchers have been criticized on and off since the study came out in 2005 and was published in The Journal of Biosocial Science the next year; that publication was previously called The Eugenics Review up until the 1970s. Eugenics is the controversial pseudo-science popular among Nazis for improving the human race by forced sterilization of poor people.

The Times piece on the study was largely uncritical beyond that; it was written by reporter Nicholas Wade, who later wrote his own book on genetics that shares some ideas with Harpending and Cochran. (Cochran had previously written about incorrect claims that being gay was caused by an infectious disease.)

The head of New York Universitys human-genetics program said: Its bad science not because its provocative, but because its bad genetics and bad epidemiology.

In a 2007 press release about later research by Harpending, the school acknowledged his 2005 paper had created a stir and that critics had questioned the quality of the science.

Harpending continued to speak, though, including at white supremacist conferences, about his also inaccurate ideas that black people are genetically prone to be lazy. His profile on the Southern Poverty Law Centers page lists him as a white nationalist and an extremist who believed in eugenics.

In other words, as an anthropologist looking around the world, he said in 2009 at the Preserving Western Civilization conference, what I see is that men work and produce things when theyre forced into it, and when theyre not, they quit. And Im thinking about, you know tribes in central Africa, but you know its true in Baltimore too, right?

His obituary noted he came to Utah from Pennsylvania State University after earning his doctorate at Harvard.

Stephens, who is Jewish, ultimately argues in his column that theres a cultural not genetic explanation for Jewish genius, stemming from Judaisms religious tradition of encouraging believers to not only observe and obey but also discuss and disagree. He also believes group members became more innovative and creative by typically being in the minority wherever theyve lived.

His original mention of the study read: The common answer is that Jews are, or tend to be, smart. When it comes to Ashkenazi Jews, its true. Ashkenazi Jews have the highest average I.Q. of any ethnic group for which there are reliable data, noted one 2005 paper. During the 20th century, they made up about 3 percent of the U.S. population but won 27 percent of the U.S. Nobel science prizes and 25 percent of the ACM Turing awards. They account for more than half of world chess champions.

That data on awards is not technically wrong, though it broadly counts anyone as Jewish who has a grandparent with ancestry in the faith.

Stephens mentioned Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka and Karl Marx as prime examples of Jewish intelligence, before asking: How is it that a people who never amounted to even one-third of 1 percent of the worlds population contributed so seminally to so many of its most pathbreaking ideas and innovations?

His use of the paper is just stunning, Kennedy told The Tribune, saying the study was obviously a main tenet of Stephens argument, and not a minor point, like the editors note suggests. I think it should have been killed before it ever got published.

In the later edits, all references to Ashkenazi Jews (which also appeared in two other places in the column) were removed. Many have questioned why Stephens referred to Ashkenazi Jews at all if he didnt agree with the paper and was generally talking about Jewish culture, and not superiority.

What was even the point of the column? Spiro asked. Its confusing.

Stephens joined The Times in 2017, after winning a Pulitzer Prize for his work at The Wall Street Journal in 2013 and serving as editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post. He has previously come under fire for bullying a professor who called him a bedbug.

Some have called for his resignation, particularly liberal readers who disagree with his more conservative pieces, but Kennedy believes the Jewish genius piece is a new low. The associate professor, who teaches ethics in journalism at Northeastern, said the commentary needed more than an editors note about the concerns raised.

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A New York Times column on 'Jewish genius' draws criticism for linking to a debunked University of Utah study - Salt Lake Tribune

Contact: Camille Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.Nine Mississippi State College of Education graduates are being recognized as outstanding teacher interns for the fall 2019 semester.

Nominated by their classroom mentor teachers, the award honorees are selected based on their resourcefulness, initiative and effectiveness. They also have demonstrated outstanding teaching performance, professionalism and a high level of commitment to the teaching profession, while completing their teaching interns at various public school systems throughout Mississippi and beyond.

All fall graduates, the honorees include (by hometown):

CANTON, GeorgiaRachel Morley, an elementary education/middle school major, completed her teaching internship in the Louisville Municipal School District at Louisville Elementary.

CARTHAGEBrooke OMalley Stuart, a secondary education/English major, completed her teaching internship in the Scott County School District at Sebastopol Attendance Center and Scott Central Attendance Center.

CONEHATTATaylor Fulkerson, an elementary education/middle school major, completed her teaching internship in the Starkville Oktibbeha School District at Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary.

CORINTHHeather Marie Pannell, an elementary education/middle school major, completed her teaching internship in the Corinth School District at Corinth Elementary.

DALLAS, TexasZara Mishler, an elementary education/middle school major, completed her teaching internship in the Frisco Independent School District at Clark Middle School in Frisco, Texas.

FAIRHOPE, AlabamaZoey Gibson, a special education major, completed her teaching internship in the Starkville Oktibbeha School District at Armstrong Middle School and Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary.

HOULKAJ.T. Washington, a kinesiology/physical education and coaching major, completed his teaching internship in the Houston School District at Houston Upper Elementary and Houston Middle School.

HOUSTONSydney Ramirez, a music education/vocal major, completed her teaching internship in the Starkville Oktibbeha School District at Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary and Starkville High School.

KILNJadyn Saucier, a special education major, completed her teaching internship in the West Point Consolidated School District at South Side Elementary and West Point High School.

Established in 1903, MSUs College of Education is home to six academic departments, one research unit and numerous service units. For more about the college, visit http://www.educ.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippis leading university, available online at http://www.msstate.edu.

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MSU College of Education recognizes outstanding teacher interns - Mississippi State Newsroom