Book Review of The Magic Tree by Michal Y Noah

The story of "The Magic Tree" by Michal Y. Noah, PhD  is written in the form of a poem, providing a gentle manner for children to receive some powerful life lessons. Illustrated with beautiful, gentle, happy artwork helps to make the message of the story come alive.

Through the story, children learn that everyone has their own unique role and contribution to offer the world. Everyone is important, even though we are all different. Through our daily life, days turn into nights, seasons come and go and with the passage of time, the important people and friends in our lives come and go too.

This special little book enables children to learn to appreciate nature, friends and seasons. Children learn that by understanding what we have to contribute they develop a healthy self-esteem and tools to withstand the storms or the difficulties in life.

A powerful message presented in a beautiful format. This book is of benefit for children to read on their own or for parents, teachers and therapists to use as a platform to help children to develop these skills in their own lives too.

Recommended by Shoshanah Shear, 

occupational therapist and co-author of "Tuvia Finds His Freedom"

Who Is A Teacher?

From A School Principal's speech at a graduation..

He said "Doctor wants his child to become a doctor.........
Engineer wants his child to become engineer......
Businessman wants his ward to become CEO.....
BUT a teacher also wants his child to become one of them..!!!!
Nobody wants to become a teacher BY CHOICE" ....Very sad but that's the truth.....!!!

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.
One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued,
"What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

To stress his point he said to another guest;
"You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Teacher Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied,
"You want to know what I make?
(She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't
make them sit for 5 min. without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?
(She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them how to write and then I make them write.
Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math.
They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need
to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they
were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life

( Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN ALL YOUR LIVES,EDUCATING KIDS AND PREPARING THEM TO BECOME CEO's ,AND DOCTORS AND ENGINEERS..........

What do you make Mr. CEO?

His jaw dropped; he went silent.
 

1950's version of an E-Mail

                               Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
                               Before the days of Dylan , or the dawn of Camelot.
                               There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

                               For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
                               Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

                               We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
                               Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

                               We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
                               And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
                               And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

                               And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
                               A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
                               And when they made a movie, they never made it twice..

                               We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
                               Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
                               And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

                               We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
                               And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
                               We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
                               At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

                               For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
                               And Elvis  ;was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
                               And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not

                                              Led.

                               And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
                               Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
                               And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars.

                               And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
                               And dorms were never co-Ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
                               And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

                               And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
                               And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
                               And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

                               And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
                               And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
                               We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea

                                 Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That
                                           Made Me, Me.

                               There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
                               And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill

                               And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
                               And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
                               And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.
                               They send us invitations to join AARP,
                               We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
                               And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.
                               And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
                               Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

                               If you didn't grow up in the fiftys,
                               You missed the greatest time in history,
                               Hope you enjoyed this read as much as I did.
                               If So, Share ....

Places I have and have not been

Guest Post by Unknown Author - 

    We found this on the Internet, Author was not indicated. If you know who the Author is please let us know. It is BRILLIANT!

I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.

I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.

I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.

One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

And, sometimes I think I am in Vincible but life shows me I am not!

I have been in Deepshit many times; the older I get, the easier it is to get there.