michaelferguson.com

This beautiful rainbow was fully stretched across the Tamar River, from Stephenson’s Bend right round to South Launceston.  Taken from Trevallyn on February 22, 2010 by Michael Ferguson.

By Amanda Ripley

For years, the secrets to great teaching have seemed more like alchemy than science, a mix of motivational mumbo jumbo and misty-eyed tales of inspiration and dedication. But for more than a decade, one organization has been tracking hundreds of thousands of kids, and looking at why some teachers can move them three grade levels ahead in a year and others can’t. Now, as the Obama administration offers states more than $4 billion to identify and cultivate effective teachers, Teach for America is ready to release its data. …

For Australia Day

Australians are a funny lot, you’ll often hear one curse,
How things have started badly, and they’ll probably get worse,
The weathers dry, the sun’s so hot it’s stolen all the water,
The Government has never done the things we think they oughta’. …

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Amid the chaos and heartache enveloping the capital came a rare, but wondrous, moment of joy on Friday. …

It is Sunday afternoon.  At 192m above Auckland’s hard city pavement there isn’t even a breath of wind.  I can’t even hear any distant sounds of traffic from the streets below or the busy harbour port nearby.  That’s not because I’m behind thick plate glass in the observation deck on Auckland Tower.  I’m outside. …