tutormentor1 @tutormentor1@mastodon.cloud
I lead Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-now) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-now). Based in Chicago. Focused on building systems of support for urban youth.
One of my web sites is hosted by a company in India. Every month when I try to pay my bill the log in does not work. Then I try to open a chat so they can send me a re-set log in. For past couple of months I get a message "I'm number 1 in waiting list. They'll be with me in about 1 minute. It's been over 30.
Frustrating.
Former First Lady of USA, Barbara Bush, died yesterday. I posted a letter that I received from her in 1991 on my blog. http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2018/04/letter-from-barbara-bush-march-1991.html
She wrote "I salute you for reaching out to involve other corporations in establishing programs like Montgomery Ward's, and I have every hope that your experience with Cabrini-Green's children will convince others that education is everybody's business."
I've been trying to do that for 27 years.
I've been seeing heart-rending photos posted on Twitter & FB by Free Syria Media Hub & have wanted to see something done to end the suffering. I don't believe Friday's attack by US, France & Briton was the answer. But w such a complicated mess, not sure what answer is.
At the same time, similar images could be posted for Yemen & many other places, including US poverty areas.
So many places. What can one person do?
In my case. Build library. Retweet. Help bring visibility. #Sunday
neato! Peter Adamson's History of Philosophy is increasingly living up to its ("without any gaps") subtitle:
Africana philosophy is coming soon!
https://www.historyofphilosophy.net/what-to-expect-africana-1
subjects to include:
Introducing Africana Philosophy
Early Philosophy in Ethiopia
Islamic Philosophy in Sub-Saharan Africa
Philosophy in African Oral Traditions
African Philosophy of Time
God in African Philosophy
African Philosophy of the Person
Communalism in African Ethics and Politics
Had team of plumbers in my house yesterday to replace horizontal galvanized pipes leading from basement boiler to laundry room and connecting to first floor sink, bathrooms, etc. They replaced our 25 yr old boiler, too.
Fixed problem that we've lived with for nearly 30 years. Why did we wait so long? We only spent the money because we're selling the house.
At least, we'll get 3-4 months of enjoyment from fixing this.
“What any civilization mostly needs is not world-altering legacy of a few but the numberless people of talent who play a role and play it well, and maybe play it a little better than before -- sustaining their contemporaries in the brief moment we have together.”
-- from Cartoon County (My Father and His Friends in the Golden Age of Make-Believe) by Cullen Murphy, page 235
@tellio A year ago I wrote my "do over" article following the do-over at the Oscars. You were kind enough to write an article on your blog and post a list of suggestions on Hackpad. I pointed to it in this article. The link to hackpad no longer works. I hope you'll write an update. The do-over still needs some "do-ers". http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2017/03/what-tutormentor-connection-do-over.html
I created this cMap to show conversations I've been following on Twitter. I included it in this article that I posted last Saturday. http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2018/02/building-local-global-problem-solving.html
Has anyone created something similar showing various Mastodon sites, and what issues they focus on? You could do a #search for ever and still not find something you're looking for.
For those who can't see image this shows clusters of nodes, grouped by focus, like tech. Each has link to a Twitter chat.
Attended U.S. Global Leadership Coalition lunch today at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago. Senator Tammy Duckworth of IL was the keynote.
Entered ballroom, looking for table to sit, trying to pick one w a few people, where I might have a conversation.
Found one with 3 men. "Can I join you?" "Yes". The man to my left introduced himself. " I'm the Consul-General of Japan." Another man joined us. "I'm The Consul General for South Korea".
Good lunch. Good men to meet.
See Tweets at #usglcil
I've been dipping into Mastodon daily for a few months to see if I could find conversations that relate to my interests. While I find many friends from Twitter and have met a few new people, I've yet to find conversation threads similar to what I still find on Twitter. For instance, since 2/10 I've been following #EngageMOOC on Twitter and digging into course readings and videos. It's a fascinating, very important, topic. I've not found anything like that here...yet. #stillTwitter
I've been trying to us maps for over 20 years to point to all of the high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago where this type of need exists, with the goal of attracting attention and motivating volunteers, donors, public leaders, etc. to support youth tutor/mentor programs and other needed services in EACH of these areas. I still find very few using maps this way. The graphic below shows a map graphic used in one of my blog articles.
https://mastodon.cloud/media/b_FTEsqDiujQSw-DwaQ
The school shooting in Florida reminded me of how much things have changed over past 30 years.
I led a non-school site based tutor/mentor program in Chicago from 1975 to 2011 serving 2nd-6th grade kids from Cabrini Green (till 1992) then 7th to 12th grade (till 2011)
I remember Mayor Byrne moving into Cabrini apartment in 1980. I remember shooting of 7yr old in 1992.
I also remember facing off angry students who had been denied entry to program. Way unprepared for what might have happened.
For past few months I've been trying to figure a way to free up space on my Gallaxy s5 phone. I removed pictures, videos, etc.
Yesterday I took a look at the size of my apps and saw that email was about 2.25 gb of space. I looked in the trash folder and found that it was not automatically emptying and held over two years of deleted email.
I started a "delete all" and after a few hours I'd already opened up about 1gb of space. Still 1gb to go.
Takes a lot of time. #phonespace
Day before yesterday started at 2:30 A.M. My watch for lambs. They wait for gaps in our shepherding. Waiting for me in the field: triplets. Standing and wet. Starry skies mean cold. I waited in the cold as the ewe licked her babies clean. Then into the barn for plenty of food and water and hay. That same day only at 5:30 P.M. Home from teaching. Wife at a meeting. Change clothes and down to the barn. Triplets. Dry in the sunny warm. Six lambs in 12 hours. Testimony to instinct. #smallstories
Happy Monday. It snowed from late Friday through early Sunday in Chicago area and I shoveled (snow blower) about five times. I'm sure East coast friends will be getting this today and tomorrow, if not already.
Too bad we can't export this moisture to some of the arid and desert parts of the world, where water is scarce, if available at all.
I watched part of Olympics and admire the talent and effort required to compete at this level. I used this idea in article at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2018/02/do-they-give-olympic-gold-medals-for.html
I start each morning browsing my Twitter & Facebook feeds, my email & Yahoo news while drinking coffee. On Twitter I go to list of youth serving programs & look at what's been posted in past few hrs. I reTweet Chicago orgs & a few others. By 8:30 I'm at my basement computer & my journey goes through LinkedIn, Slack, Twitter, FB, G+ with a stop at Mastodon. I'm looking for people posting ideas I'm interested in, or doing work others might find useful. I always find something. #myday
A quick pivot in class: a reference to Nelson Mandela in the novel we are reading provided an unplanned discuss about Apartheid, racism, personal sacrifice, and the moral fortitude often needed to confront institutional social injustice and wrong. In a class with 11 year olds, you never know where things will go. Where they went today was insightful and deep, and well worth the detour. Always is. #smallstories
I'm a huge fan of data maps that show areas of inequality, climate change, segregation, etc. I added an interactive map of individual Chicago Public Schools on blog article at https://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com/2018/01/chicago-united-for-equity-cps-equity.html
If you read the article you can see how I urge students, volunteers, activists, etc. to use platforms like this to create map stories that draw attention to the problem, show solutions and data & get others involved. This applies in every part of the world, not just Chicago.
General request: if you post pictures, please please include alt text describing the image so that everyone, regardless of visual ability, can enjoy your toot.
Please consider asking others to do this. Optionally, reconsider boosting toots if they don't have alt text.
We all have an opportunity to help shape the culture of this place and I'd love, love, love if it were "oh, everyone posts alt text with their images because that's just what you do."
