Podcasts about ap european history

The Advanced Placement exams represent some of the most challenging subject-specific standardized tests a high schooler might ever take. Amy and Mike believe that every test warrants smart, serious preparation, so we invited educator Dan Corrigan to share valuable strategies, insights, and resources for getting ready for the AP United States Government and Politics exam. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is tested on the AP Government and Politics exam? What are the highest priority topics for this exam? How should students prepare for the AP Government? What are the best prep materials for the AP Government exam? Is there anything distinctive about the AP Government exam? MEET OUR GUEST Dan Corrigan graduated from Princeton University in 1982 with a degree in History. He received his Masters in Teaching from Marygrove College. He has been a teacher at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio for 40 years, where he has taught AP US Government and Politics for 30 years and also AP European History. LINKS AP United States Government and Politics AP U.S. Government and Politics | C-Span AP®︎ US Government & Politics (College-level) | Khan Academy RELATED EPISODES GETTING READY FOR THE AP LANGUAGE EXAM GETTING READY FOR THE AP US HISTORY EXAM GETTING READY FOR THE AP STATISTICS EXAM GETTING READY FOR THE AP PSYCHOLOGY EXAM GETTING READY FOR THE AP CHEMISTRY EXAM ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.  

We talked to students to find out what they like about their elective classes. In this episode, we have Stuco, Weight Training, and AP European History.

This conversation is nearly a year in the making, from the first messages with my guest back in 2022 - which also happened to be the last of my 9 years teaching AP European History. That year there were over 4.7 million AP Exams taken by 2.6 million students from 23,000 secondary schools. At about $100 per exam…well, you don't need to get a 5 on the AP Calc exam to finish that equation. And…here we are again, another high-stakes time of the academic year for yet millions more high schoolers seeking college credit from the College Board. From AP to SAT, the College Board is a billion dollar educational gatekeeper that plays an outsized role in American education in policy and practice, K12 and beyond. In fact, as my guest today outlines in her book, many states have passed laws requiring the College Board play exactly that role: mandating that schools offer a minimum number of AP courses (that require AP trained teachers), offering cash incentives for student test scores, & dictating to universities what scores they will be required to accept for which credits.Even more recent partisan challenges to curriculum, like the rejection of AP African-American History by the Florida Dept of Education, should also cause us to reflect on the homogenizing and controlling influence of what has become a de facto national curriculum, AND the metrics we use to evaluate success, AND the ways we assess & award credit, AND the philosophies & pedagogies we use in classrooms with students. Somewhere in the recent past, figure & ground inverted, and we not only lost track of what was important - the best intentions of what courses like these could represent - but along the way we ceded a lot of power to a single company and a single brand - Advanced Placement - to determine our educational goals, values, & practices from the top down.GuestsAnnie Abrams holds a doctorate in American literature from NYU and is currently on childcare leave from her job as a public high school English teacher. She writes in the introduction to her brand new book Shortchanged: How Advanced Placement Cheats Students..ResourcesShortchanged: How Advanced Placement Cheats Students from Johns Hopkins University PressAnnie Abrams Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Ms. Duncan Knows!  Taking the AP European History exam and want to make sure you are prepared?  Your host, Ms. Duncan, will walk you through an overview of the exam, discuss the details of the separate parts, and share some of her tips along the way.  This podcast takes a answers the questions of What is the best way to study? How do I work on timing? What segments are weighted the most?   Episodes will include a breakdown of each segement of the exam along with content specific episodes of the most frequently tested concepts on the AP Exam. Episodes will include detailed information on the following: MCQ, SAQ, DBQ, LEQ, Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, Absolutism, the English Civil War & Glorious Revolution, the Enlightenment, Congress of Vienna & the 1800s, German Unification & Bismarck, Treaty of Versailles and how it influenced the 20th century, Congress of Vienna, and the Cold War. 

Who says we cannot be “unstoppable”? Today I would like you to meet Heather Stone. Heather, Ph.D. is a Chicago area scholar, clinician, consultant, author, and advocate for people with disabilities. Heather has been a person with low vision her entire life. At first, she was not diagnosed as such even though she could not see the blackboard in school and regularly failed in her classes. Eventually, she was diagnosed with Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy at the age of fifteen. Isn't it interesting that once her eye disease diagnosis was made and that accommodation were made in school for her, she not only succeeded in classes, but she excelled? And thus she became a recognized scholar. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 2016. Of course, that was not the end of her adventure and life's efforts.   These days you can find Dr. Stone doing ABA  therapy at a clinic in Chicago's North suburbs, consulting with large healthcare organizations for The Exeter Group, or at home on the North shore with her two small children.   Heather has written a book entitled “Girls with Autism Becoming Women” which was published in 2018. She is working on another book which we will tell you more about once it is published or when Dr. Stone comes back to tell us about it.   Heather is the epitome of what it means to have an unstoppable mindset. I hope you enjoy our episode and that you take away some great insights from it. I know I did.   About the Guest: Heather Stone, Ph.D. is a Chicago area scholar, clinician, consultant, author, and advocate for people with disabilities.  She received her doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2016.  Coincidentally, she was also diagnosed with a rare, genetic eye disease called Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy at UIC 23 years earlier. Dr. Stone is a legally blind, Jewish woman who works with and studies populations of people with disabilities, primarily children with Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD. Before completing her doctorate, Heather received a BA from Brandeis University with honors in Sociology and a double major in African and African American Studies, for which she was a commencement speaker.  She lived in Hyde Park while working on her Master's degree in Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. Dr. Stone's book, Girls with Autism Becoming Women (2018), was released by London-based Jessica Kingsley Publishers and is available via most retail outlets.   https://books.google.com/books?id=-GBIDwAAQBAJ&hl=en   https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Autism-Becoming-Women-Heather/dp/178592818X   https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/girls-with-autism-becoming-women-heather-wodis/1127839109   These days you can find Dr. Stone doing  ABA  therapy at a clinic in Chicago's North suburbs, consulting with large healthcare organizations for The Exeter Group, or at home on the North shore with her two small children.  Look for the recent interview with Dr. Stone at Inspiration Matters https://www.inspirationmatters.org/HelpfulWorkDetail.aspx?name=Heather%20Stone%20Wodis&id=7&totalrec=7    Connect with Heather on social media Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Blogger/Heatherstone-phd-101434618342388/   LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-heather-stone-wodis-ph-d-baa0b727/   Twitter https://twitter.com/heather42667758?lang=en   About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is an Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:20 Hi, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. And there's a reason I'm saying that because I just discovered that our guest today and my mother, her maiden name anyway, is the same. And she lives in the Chicago area. And my mother lived in the Chicago area for a long time. So Heather Stone, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Heather Stone  01:55 Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to be here.   Michael Hingson  01:59 We could we could probably go back and compare notes further because before they lived in Chicago, my mother and her her family lived in New York, I think in Brooklyn.   Heather Stone  02:12 Oh, my family also was in New York before they came to Chicago.   Michael Hingson  02:18 This is getting scarier. So everyone, there is a mystery to solve.   Heather Stone  02:26 My parent, my grandfather came from Warsaw through Paris, then to New York, and eventually Chicago.   Michael Hingson  02:34 There you go. And the only thing none of us can ever find that we have is a link to Garrett of Garrett's popcorn, so we still have to pay for it. Well, you Heather is an expert on disability and inclusion studies. And we're going to get into that, but why don't you start now that we've given some of our history? Why don't you tell us a little bit about you?   Heather Stone  03:00 Sure. Well, once again, my name is Heather stone. I have a PhD in disability studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. My experience with disability is interesting as it is for most people. I did not know I was visually impaired until I was 15. So I never remember seeing a chalkboard in school at all, I have no memory. But when my parents would take me to the eye doctor, there was nothing that he could detect at the time. So you know, he mentioned to my parents, well, she might just be kind of exaggerating to get attention. So as my life progressed, I was a terrible student. I was getting in lots of trouble. And I couldn't see. So it wasn't until I failed the vision test for my driver's permit, that my parents really became alarmed. And at that time we revisited the family ophthalmologist and he said, Oh, you know, I got this new piece of equipment. And, you know, I don't know if it's going to be effective for you. It's usually just for older people who have, you know, this disease, macular degeneration. This test is called the field of vision. Let's just put her on it, you know, let's just see what happens. And lo and behold, it revealed that I had two central blind spots and both eyes. I was then referred my family was referred to Dr. Gerald Fischman. Who I think at this point is still the the world leading right knowledges although he's retired now. Just so happened to be a UAC And so I was referred to him. And then I was diagnosed with Stargardt's macular dystrophy when I was 15.   Michael Hingson  05:10 That certainly had to be a shock. How did your parents deal with that?   Heather Stone  05:15 I mean, it was a shock to all of us. It answered a lot of questions. It put a lot of things into perspective. You know, me to this day, it's troubling for my parents who are, you know, educated people living in the suburbs of Chicago with lots of resources. And still, with all of those circumstances, My diagnosis was delayed so long, and this is like, major consequences for my life. Um, you know, everyone was telling me, there's nothing wrong with you. But yeah, I couldn't see anything. And there, they said, there was nothing wrong with my vision. So, you know, as a, as a young person, as a teenager, I was like, Well, I guess I'm just stupid, you know, I couldn't come up or crazy. I couldn't come up with why I couldn't see and why nobody believed me. So in getting the diagnosis, it was, you know, a justified a lot of things. And it. I had a big chip on my shoulder, because I realized that the problem wasn't that I was stupid, or crazy, that there was a physical biological problem going on. And I had been right. And I realized, not only was I not stupid, I think I was kind of smart. You know? I am I am I, you know, we contacted the high school. And this was, I think, in 1992. And they let us know, well, you're lucky because this new law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, was just passed two years ago. And this is going to be really great for you because it mandates you know, equal access to, to an education. And at that point, I was like, okay, you know, give me the material in a way I can see it. And let me show you what I can do. And I enrolled in AP and accelerated courses. I got A's, I took the AP exams, I got a five on the AP European History test. Five, and that's the highest score, you get five on the AP English. I passed one other AP tests, which made me an AP Scholar. I did really well on the AC t, because I was able to take it in large print. With a little extended time. I set my sights on going to Brandeis University in Boston. I was accepted early admission. And I had, I mean, college is just the best. And I had such a wonderful time at Brandeis. And, you know, pursued academia. As far as I as I could. I eventually did my master's degree at the University of Chicago, in the Masters of Arts program in the social sciences. And that was a really good opportunity for me to take courses throughout the social sciences. I had been a sociology and African and African American Studies major at Brandeis. And I was really, I was glad to have this opportunity to take sociology, psychology, anthropology courses, and I realized I didn't want to get my PhD in any of those. The only thing I wanted to get my PhD in was at UIC and disability studies. And, you know, there's, there's circles these patterns in our life and the fact that i i keep returning to UIC through all these different circles and if you know the history of the of the of the school, you know, that it was once called the circle campus. So, I enjoy the cyclical nature of my visits to the University of Illinois. And I graduated with my PhD from UIC 2016 And that was very exciting.   Michael Hingson  09:47 So, you you went up spent a significant amount of time from well High School in 1992. So what year did you graduate?   Heather Stone  09:57 From like from what is In 1995,   Michael Hingson  10:02 okay, so from high school it was 21 years to get a PhD. So you certainly, well, maybe you were but you certainly probably weren't a student that entire time in terms of specifically being enrolled, you must have had some jobs or where were you a professional student.   Heather Stone  10:22 You know, I have always tried to maintain a balance between the ivory tower and actual real world practice. So, soon after I was diagnosed with Stargardt's, I got a job when I was about 16, at a summer camp, working, it was a typical summer camp. But my job was to be a one on one assistant or a child with a disability and facilitate his integration into the group. So my first encounter was someone who had autism was this little boy, Daniel, who was five years old going into kindergarten. And, you know, my job was to make sure but he had a fabulous time at camp. And I just, I instantly identified with him connected with him, just became so intrigued by him and his family and this thing called Autism. And, you know, it was really interesting, because I had co counselors, and they were running things for the main route, and they would routinely forget about my camper, Daniel, and I would have to open my big mouth, and you know, make sure that he was getting treated fairly, and that what every other candidate was getting was open to him as well. And I feel like that was critical for me to learn advocacy skills for myself. Because at that time, I, you know, a year and a half into knowing that I had this vision impairment and getting accommodation in school. The problem was that my teachers always forgot that I was visually impaired. And in fact, I like to joke that one of my biggest barriers is that I pass so easily, and people forget all the time. I mean, my, even my, my parents, like my best friends, like, everyone, I think the only people who don't forget are probably my kids, because they've had to deal with it their whole life. You know, so, I pass so easily that people forget to make the accommodation. And, you know, later in my life, it's like, I want the white cane, just so people stop forgetting, you know, like, I don't necessarily need it to get around at this point. But I'm tired of having to remind people all the time that I can't see.   Michael Hingson  13:11 So you are considered legally blind? Oh, yes. So, you know, the only thing I would say is, you never know when you need it or don't. And I agree with you that it's important to carry it and use it because then people know, although it has its pluses and it's minuses, concerning how people treat you. But the other side of it is, it's the one thing that you don't see that your cane would detect, that could make the whole difference. What do you and well, okay, so for example, one of my favorite stories is about a guy who is losing his eyesight in New Jersey. And I think I've told this story a couple of times on the podcast. And he would go every day into Philadelphia, from across the river in New Jersey, didn't go to work. So he got it was discovered that he was losing his eyesight, and I don't recall what the reason was. But he went to the New Jersey Commission for the Blind. And he, among other things, was given a cane and they said, but we really think you need to use your eyes as much as you can. And they didn't really emphasize the cane but they said, you know, you really should start to learn to use it at some point. And so he carried it with him, but he didn't always use it. And one day he was going to board a train to go across the river. And he was walking along the train. It was a sort of a cloudy day. He got to the place where he was supposed to turn in and enter the train and he turned and stepped into the train except he didn't step into the train. He stepped into the space between two train cars, because he wasn't seeing well enough To realize that that wasn't the entrance to the train, whereas his cane would have found it. And the train began to move. But they did stop it. And they got him up. And he went on into the train at the right place and went into Philadelphia. But he has told that story and said emphatically and that's why I always from then on used to cane. And so that's why I say that it's the one time that you don't see something that you normally would if you had full eyesight, but the your cane would find that makes all the difference.   Heather Stone  15:34 Right? You know, and if people are going to be obnoxious and rude, you could just weaponize the cable like Daredevil and you know, take them down?   Michael Hingson  15:44 Or you could you know, and then shove them between the cars.   Heather Stone  15:49 Also, you Oh,   Michael Hingson  15:53 but Oh, but it is. Yeah, but yeah, it is, it is an issue. And the cane is the most basic tool. And it is true that oftentimes, people miss assess what blind people can and can't do. And that's unfortunate. I hate the term disability, but I don't have another one. I don't like differently abled, because we're not we have the same abilities, we we utilize different tools to get there. So I haven't really found a better term. But that's okay. People have worked in diversity, so that it doesn't include disability. So disability can be worked just as well and be a positive thing.   Heather Stone  16:35 Absolutely. I mean, I see it as a point of pride, you know, I'm proud to tell people that I'm, that I'm disabled, and that I'm an advocate for people with disabilities. You know, I've always tried to recognize the people at the margins of our society, and who, who isn't being treated equally or fairly. And I feel like people with disabilities are often you know, left out of the, of the conversation about diversity, equity inclusion. And, you know, I feel like people with disabilities really have the greatest struggle to get equal rights at this point. But, you know, this early connection I had with this child with autism, and advocating for him, gave me some of those early skills to advocate for myself. And gave me a sense of, of this cross disability connection and pride. And, you know, though he was autistic, and I was blind, I could identify with his inability to make eye contact, for example, like there are consequences if you don't, if you can't make eye contact, or if it's difficult, you know, the concept of neurodiversity, which is a huge a huge philosophy movement, coming from the Autistic community. And, you know, there's a lot of celebration of the fact that like, there's diversity within our biology, there's diversity with our neurology, and these are things that make life more interesting, more nuanced, more textured. And, you know, it's not all bad, that there is a lot of constructive, productive, positive things that I've learned from being disabled.   Michael Hingson  18:54 The bad is usually what people make it, as opposed to it being real. This whole idea that it's bad to be a person with a disability, it's bad to be blind. And blindness has been cited by the Gallup polling organization. As in the past, one of the top five fears we face not disabilities, but blindness. It's, it's all perception, as opposed to reality.   Heather Stone  19:26 Yeah, and in this case, that's literally perception   Michael Hingson  19:29 is literally perception. You know, I, I think words matter. And I've actually started rejecting using the term visually impaired because visually, we're not different. You don't change your appearance simply because you go blind and we talk about visual things. We're not visually impaired. I don't like vision impaired a whole lot, but I use vision impaired. And when people use it, I encourage that because I think it's more relevant. In reality, I think I Have lots of vision. And as I say to people, I just don't see so good, but you know, but the reality is vision impairment is a lot more of an accurate term than visually impaired. And words matter, because that tends to, to denigrate us in ways that it doesn't need to happen or be.   Heather Stone  20:18 Absolutely, I mean, blindness is historically and metaphorically linked with lack of knowing lack of knowledge. I mean, we could come up with about a million different colloquial term that are completely contingent on the concept of blindness, you know, blind faith, you know, injustice, that, you know, like, we could sit getting robbed blind, you know, we can sit here and go through a million of it a million different terms. And, you know, I, I agree that that words do matter. And there's a lot of political implication to these words, which is when things get, you know, real kind of sticky and tricky. You know, I was talking to someone recently, and, you know, I was I described myself, as you know, I'm a blind woman. And this person said, Well, you know, you're not a blind woman, you're a woman who has a visual impairment. Have you heard a person first language? I was like, Well, I do have a PhD in disability studies. So yes, I am familiar with that concept. And there are so many disabled people who just reject that like person first, like, really? Do I need to remind you that I'm a person, like, I'm, I'm okay, saying, like, I'm blind in the same way. I'm okay saying, I'm a Jew. I'm not a person who has Judaism. You know, I'm not a person who has blindness. I'm a blind you. And it's okay.   Michael Hingson  22:01 Right? And it isn't, you know, and again, it isn't a visual impairment. It's a vision impairment, because visually, we don't, we don't look different. There are some things that can make some of us different, but that's true with anyone. But we, we claim to stuff and sometimes we don't grow like we really should, which is unfortunate.   Heather Stone  22:27 Yeah, and, you know, I always say that, you know, you any given situation you can look at as a tragedy or as an opportunity. You know, there there is a silver lining, I am a compulsive Silver Linings binder. Almost, it's almost a problem. But, you know, their life is really a matter of perspective. When I was first diagnosed, doctors told me that that was most likely I would never dry. Okay, I won't drive. And, you know, I thought about how that would affect me. And I thought about how my mom had driven me to preschool. And I wanted to know, how am I going to drive my kids to preschool? And am I going to even be able to find someone who's going to want to marry me or have kids with me, like, I don't know anything about this blindness. I'm new to this whole game. And it was always the actual physical, losing my sight was never as difficult as the social ramifications of the shift in identity. Because I was raised as an able bodied person. And then during my adolescent years, it was, guess what, you have this new identity. And it's this very stigmatized identity that people like you said, there, people are fearful about losing their vision. And, you know, I didn't really I couldn't foresee what would happen. But one of the circles came around for me. I was recruited by a study at UIC once again, to use telescopic lenses to get a driver's license. So after about two years of intensive occupational therapy, and assorted other interventions, I got a driver's license. And when I was 20 years old, and I drove until I was 42. So, you know, I was able to drive my kids to preschool except my daughter's final year. And I knew that that annual vision test was coming around, which I had to take to keep my my restricted daylight only A license, and I knew that it wasn't going to pass, and that I had probably been on the cost for a while. And, you know, I was like, let me I'm gonna decide that I'm just, I'm gonna stop driving at the end of this month, and that's going to be it. And, you know, it was scary, I guess, you know, not driving anymore after having had it for so long, I was really scared. And the reality is that I really coped really well with, um, you know, it really, it hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be.   Michael Hingson  25:42 How long ago was it that you gave up driving.   Heather Stone  25:45 So that was about three years ago, see how   Michael Hingson  25:49 easily we adapt. Now you're, now you're somewhat used to it, and you can get people to drive you around again.   Heather Stone  25:57 You know, I've I am working with getting more comfortable with public transportation, doing Lyft reaching out to friends, you know, I have, I have a friend who is bipolar and is on disability, and doesn't work. So I hired him to be my driver. And, you know, and it's one of my, one of my favorite concepts coming from disability studies is the concept of interdependence, which I'm sure you can relate to, um, you know, you do this, and I'll do that and we're gonna work together and we're gonna get it done.   Michael Hingson  26:41 Mahatma Gandhi once said, interdependence is and ought to be just as much the ideal of man, as is self sufficiency. And it's one of my favorite quotes, and a very accurate one that more people really ought to pay attention to.   Heather Stone  26:57 I mean, that is so so true, and so valid. Absolutely.   Michael Hingson  27:04 In reality, if we really looking at things, we're all interdependent on each other, we just like to think we're not but it doesn't work that way. And it's, it's really important that we do more, I think, to recognize the validity and value of interdependence.   Heather Stone  27:24 Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I reject independence. I reject codependence. But interdependence is a beautiful thing. And, you know, I think that was really, you know, the core of Diversity and Equity and Inclusion. We're social animals, we need each other. You know, living through this pandemic is, is improved. We need we need each other.   Michael Hingson  27:59 Yeah, and living through this pandemic? If that doesn't show us that, then we're really missing it.   Heather Stone  28:07 Absolutely. And, you   Michael Hingson  28:09 know, we look at look at the things that we've learned more and more companies are now recognizing that there is value in letting people do at least some of their work at home, better mindset, better lifestyles, and the work still gets done.   Heather Stone  28:28 Absolutely, you know, mental health matters. And, you know, the Protestant work ethic, you know, isn't as valid in 2022, you know, like, we can be a little bit more flexible in our scheduling and the way we approach work, or we should be anyway. Absolutely.   Michael Hingson  28:53 So you have a very positive view of blindness and an outlook on on life and so on who's affected you and who kind of is influenced your, your view of blindness and, and influenced the way you are?   Heather Stone  29:10 Oh, my, I mean, my parents are just so supportive of me, always encouraged me to just go after what, whatever I wanted to pursue. You know, even when other people looked at them, sideways or you no question what they were doing. I'm an incredible downhill skier. In my teenage years, my parents friends are like, are you you know, have you lost it? I still to this day, I'm a great skier. I was a varsity diver. I you know, I decided that I wanted to go to Brandeis. My parents backed me up, they made it happen. You know, so they, they never, I was never fearful you know, and it's often sort of just like, just my natural personality. And I am a very small petite person. And I'm also blind. So if I don't open my mouth and speak up, I might get bulldozed. So I'm just used to just opening my mouth and saying like it is and not being afraid. And, you know, to pursue the things that I want when I was 20, or 22, I decided that I wanted to go backpacking through Thailand. So me and my best friend who eventually became an eye surgeon, ironically enough, we went to Thailand for a month, we went backpacking, we tracked through the jungle, we slept in a hut on still, the next morning, elephants were waiting outside our, our little, you know, Fort Benning, and we rode elephants through the jungle to the next village that we were going to stay at, you know, so whatever it is that you want to do, you can do it. And all the things that I've wanted to accomplish, I've been able to find a way to do it. And, you know, like, I get in where I fit in, and I go where the, where the climate suits my clothes, you know, so if, if it's not working one way, there's about a million other ways you can try to do it. And if you shift your perspective, a lot of opportunity may open up. Um, you know, when I tell people that I don't drive anymore? Well, oh, my goodness, how do you? How do you get to the grocery store? I'm like, um, there's about a million different companies that deliver groceries at this point. I've always hated grocery shopping. So why do it? Like, you know, I haven't been he I wrote a book, I have all the skills like, what do you need to drive like, uphold a heartbeat and some decent vision? You know, like, I don't, it's not necessary. It's all a matter of perspective.   Michael Hingson  32:27 Of course, it'd be nice. If you did have an elephant to ferry around. That'd be fun.   Heather Stone  32:32 I'm not sure that that would go over in my North Shore summer, but um,   Michael Hingson  32:38 and the food and the food bill would would probably be a little tough, but that's okay.   Heather Stone  32:43 I don't, I don't think my HOA would appreciate the elephant on the property.   Michael Hingson  32:49 Help them to think in broader strokes, change, change the mindset. I agree with you, especially during the pandemic. As I love to say Instacart and Grubhub are our friends and we use them a lot. My wife drives and she uses a wheelchair, but she drives. But especially during the pandemic we have chosen not to go out for health reasons and so on, we don't go out unless we need to. We got brave last Friday, actually, for the first time and drove to Las Vegas for a concert. It's the first time my wife has been to Las Vegas since 1995. And we verify that there were probably good reasons not to want to go to Las Vegas on a regular basis. It's way too expensive and too noisy. But the Michael Buble a concert was great. Oh, that's awesome. So we we had a good time. And you know, this is the first time that we have made any major trip in well, almost three years. So it's okay. But we made that choice. And so we don't regret it. And we stay in and do the things that we need to do. And we continue to accomplish and thrive.   Heather Stone  34:11 You know, it's good to live a life where you don't feel like you have regrets. You know, and I tell this to my friend who needs more confidence to approach lady socially, you know, what's the point of sitting there and thinking about it, like, go over and say hello, you're never going to know until you try and if worst worst possible scenario she tells you to go away. And you can pat yourself on the back because you you know, had the audacity to try in the first place you tried. Exactly. Um, you know, you I think it's so important to have goals. And then not be afraid to work really hard. And a lot of people in this day and age don't might not want to, you know, put in a lot of effort. But if you do you know that I think, you know, you can succeed and you can achieve the things that you want. When I was a PhD student, and I was thinking about my dissertation, I started reading autobiographies written by people with autism. And I found them to be really, really interesting. And every time I would read a really good publication about autism, it seemed like they always came from Jessica Kingsley publishers in London. And I used to fantasize as a lowly grad student will maybe one day, I can publish a book with Jessica Kingsley publishers. So after graduating, and presenting my dissertation successfully, I revamped it, pitched it to Jessica Kingsley. And my book, girls with autism becoming women came out in 2018. So that was a dream come true. And a, you know, a goal that took a long time to accomplish. Tell us about the book,   Michael Hingson  36:31 if you would, please. Absolutely. So   Heather Stone  36:33 my book is comprised of seven autobiographies written by women with autism. I started out looking at at all autobiographies, but I had way too many. And so I whittled it down to seven American women who wrote autobiographies about their experience with autism. And, you know, look for the themes that emerged, what were What was difficult, what was helpful. And, you know, some interesting themes emerged, and your girls with autism are diagnosed far less than boys with autism. And I really wanted to bring more attention to that experience. And, you know, it's really interesting, because I always say how I like to go back and forth between academia, and, and practice. So after my book came out, I got divorced, and I had to go go to work full time. And so I got a job doing Applied Behavior Analysis therapy for children with autism. And I was hooked up with this two year old little girl. And the connection that I made with this, with this little girl is profound. And to this day, I still, I'm very involved with her with her with her family. She's a kindergartener now. But when I met her, you know, the book just came out. And I remember trying to get her to take a nap one day, and it's telling her like, I wrote the book for you, little girl. Um, and in the field of ABA, they really frown upon forming this type of relationship with a client, which is one of the many drawbacks of ABA therapy, which is another conversation, but my focus, and my interest was on this child, her family and her success. So after doing working doing ABA for two years, I left the field. And I think my, my next book could be about could be about ABA. There, it isn't all bad. But it needs a lot of attention, a lot of regulation and a lot more oversight than what is currently happening now.   Michael Hingson  39:25 We so often tend to not acknowledge it seems or recognize the validity of establishing relationships and developing trust. I mentioned I think before we started today that I have interviewed a gentleman Dr. Jani freezin. And he talks about Universal Design Learning. And specifically, we talked about how he learned to interact with students and learn And that in reality, for a while, when he first started teaching, he had a real problem, getting students to really interact with him and view him as a positive influence. And one of the reasons was, they had another teacher, they like to apparently didn't come back one year. And literally two days before school started, he began teaching the class while he was hired to teach the class. And it took a while to get students to develop a trust in him. But he validates, and in his finding, still years later, how important is in all the work that he does, that you need to develop that trust in that relationship?   Heather Stone  40:46 I think the relationship is is critical. And nothing is gonna get done without that trust without building that relationship. And, you know, unfortunately, in in the ABA industry, they miss the forest for the trees quite often. And what, you know, what is difficult for people with autism? Well, you know, socializing and communication, those are challenges. And one of the rules of ABA is that you can never eat with your client. If they're having dinner, and you're there, your job is to, you know, do therapy for the client, you may not eat. And I'm thinking, what could be more human, more social than sitting down together in eating food breaking bread? Like, what are you trying to do here? What is the goal? Well,   Michael Hingson  41:51 it shouldn't be establishing a relationship, it should be bettering all of us. And the reality is, I'll bet. If you analyze, and you probably do this, you learn as much or more from persons with autism, is they ever learned from you?   Heather Stone  42:10 Oh, absolutely. I mean, I look forward to the likes, four hours a week that I get to spend with this girl. And I enjoy it probably more than she does. Um, but, you know, I care deeply about this child and her having a successful life. And, you know, I know a little bit about it, so I can help out. And that is so much more important than this company and their guidelines and their restrictions and everything like that.   Michael Hingson  42:53 Yeah, how are things? How are things going with her?   Heather Stone  42:56 She's amazing. I am constantly in awe of this child. And it's so much fun getting her getting to see her grow up. And, you know, I knew when she was two and a half that she had language, she spoke very, very quietly, and under her breath, but I knew it was there. And I just put all priority on getting her to talk. I'm like, all the other behavioral stuff, whatever we'll deal with that later, we have this limited timeframe, where, you know, we're gonna get her talking really fluently. And her, she speaks so perfectly. Her grammar, her pronouns, all of the things that are so challenging for people with autism. Here she is in kindergarten, it's all perfect. She is in a mainstream kindergarten, she has a one on one aid. She has friends, she, she's amazing. And I get to see all these little milestones, she was asking me how to spell something. And she was holding the paper and she was holding the marker. And she asked me, How do you spell note? And I was like, Oh, isn't taking note? Yes. And she looked, she looked me right in the eye. She says, what's the first letter I say? And she looks down and she writes it. What makes eye contact again with me did it each time and I was like, I'm like, we're the experts who are who can enjoy this moment with me like this is so huge. And you know, she has friends, the has interests. She knows she's a great artist, you know, the sky's the limit for this girl. And so much of it has to do with the fact that she's got the supportive family and that she got diagnosed early. And when I first met the family, you Oh, two and a half, she had just gotten this diagnosis. And it's a lot to handle for the entire family and, and the grandmother was taking her and picking her up. And I could just, she was still upset, because grandmother was so upset, just not knowing if she was doing the right thing for her grandbaby, you know, and, and all the other therapists are trying to deal with her. And I was like, listen, I mean, you know, I was like, she just needs to be reassured that what they're doing is the right thing. And I said to her, I was like, listen, I wrote this book, I've done all this research, my research shows that the two biggest factors in having a positive outcome and achieving what you want is family support. And early diagnosis, I was like, so she's two, here you are, you care, Mazel Tov, you are doing it, you know. And if something changed in her life, something changed, because now she has the confidence. And she knew, I'm doing the right thing for this granddaughter. And able to galvanize it and rally the whole family around this girl, the whole community. And because of that, you know, fingers crossed, she can achieve what it is that she wants to achieve.   Michael Hingson  46:31 She becoming much more socially outgoing, then the good little girl,   Heather Stone  46:38 spheres always been, and this is really interesting. girls with autism are more socially motivated than boys. And I've noticed this in the literature, I've noticed that in the clinic, there are some boys with autism who will be socially motivated. You know, it's not like a rule that they're not. But every female client, I had wanted to be around other kids. And she, from the time she was three, want it to be with her friends. And that was the motivating factor. You know, what if you want to be with your friends, you know, you need to put on your shoes, and you can't hit them and you know, this stuff the other, so let's go be with your friends. And, you know, it's getting to be a higher level of friendship for her. So, um, you know, she stepped on her friend's fingers on the playground one day, and the friend said, you know, I'm not going to be friends with you anymore. And she thought that was that it was over, you know, and she was really upset that this friendship should end you know. And, like, we talked about it, and she made a note for the friend and she apologized for the front to the friend. And the friend said, you know, okay, um, so I don't want to draw this beautiful, perfect image because there are challenges and meltdown and serious setbacks. But she, she is socially motivated. Many women with autism are socially motivated. Out of the seven women in my book, all of the women who wanted to get married did except for one. And the one woman was born. She was I think, the oldest author. She was born before any sort of legislation, there was a time where she did not attend school whatsoever, because the principal just didn't want her there. And there was no Ada, there was no IDE a there was nothing so she just didn't go to school. The parents were against her in every way really just set up obstacles, she met someone at some sort of mental health, social event. And they really liked each other, and they got engaged, except their family showed up, they were at the mall on a date, their family showed up and like physically, like, took them apart. And like made every effort so that she could not get married. And you know, it just, again, it it demonstrates that if you don't have the support of your family, you know, you're you're you might be sunk.   Michael Hingson  49:34 All too unfortunate. And I think any person with a disability who has grown up with that disability has experienced some of that lack of support. And I think you're absolutely right, there is an incredible correlation between persons who feel positive about themselves and who, in fact have been successful. and the level of support and confidence that they get from their family and others around them.   Heather Stone  50:09 I mean, it, you know, being a person with a disability, you you are born into a system that was not set up for us. You know, now hopefully it's been retrofitted, and in the future, yeah, we hopefully we can move toward universal design. And, you know, we're constantly receiving messages implicit and explicit about, you know, our, our ability to belong to the system, you know, do we have a place in this system, and it is difficult to be resilient to a lot of the negative messages telling us like, you know, your square trying to fit in the circular peg. And I deal with that often. You know, in moments of anxiety, I have this overwhelming feel of wrongness, that just, you know, this is wrong, and that's wrong. And this is wrong, I come out of those moments. But you know, it with love and support. And, you know, my children and my parents and my friends and my community around me. And I tried to, you know, I try to impart some of this, to the people around me, I've, I've been your, you know, the Jewish principle of tikkun olam to bring light into the into the world. And if I can, if I can bring a little bit of light, then it's worth it.   Michael Hingson  51:51 It's a process. And unfortunately, while we're making some good progress in some ways, we're also seeing some steps backward in our modern technological world. It's amazing now, how much easier it is to make things visual, and not worry about other aspects of it. I've one of my favorite examples is television commercials, how many today may have music or other things, but there's no dialogue? So you and I can't tell what's going on on the commercials. And for me, the irony of that is that what do a lot of people do when a television show breaks for a commercial, they get up, they go get a drink, or a snack or go to the bathroom? And the commercials that aren't providing any audio information are lost on these people. So it isn't just us. Society, though, is excluding us. Intentionally or not? They are and it is something that shows up and people accept it, and there isn't that much of a hue and cry yet to deal with it.   Heather Stone  53:09 Yeah, I agree with that. 100%. And I think part of this, this mindset, and the direction we're going in, is you know, we have these virtual avatar, and you can be anyone you want. In you know, cyberspace, you can you can be whoever you want to be. And that's fun. But guess what, in real life, it doesn't work that way. No, and people talk about, oh, well, you know, I've been born in the wrong body. Well, is there anyone on this planet who feels like they were born into the body? They were meant to have? You know, like, What are you talking about? Like, I'm supposed to be six foot tall. 120 pounds, blond hair, blue eyes, like, that's what I'm supposed to be that. That's ridiculous. And the fact is that, you know, we have these biologies, we have this embodiment. And you know, you need to make peace with it. You need to become at home in the body you find yourself in, and the, the, the process for the mindset where you can just become anyone you want to be, I feel as damaging to people with disabilities, because it tells us well, if you just wanted to bad enough, you can be normal. You could be able bodied, don't you just want it and get some surgery and do this and do that. And it's setting up a really unfair precedent for us.   Michael Hingson  54:48 So here's a question. If you could get your eyesight fully restored today, would you or what are your views on that concept?   Heather Stone  54:56 Oh my gosh, that Oh, you're really cutting to the quick They're like 100% Guaranteed? Like, sure. I mean, you guarantee it, it's gonna happen. Yeah, I would. I'll do anything once.   Michael Hingson  55:16 See, listen to what you just said, though. You're not desperate to do it. People ask me the same question often? And my responses, I'm sure because it would be a new adventure. But do I need to do it? No, I do not. And because I like the person whom I happen to   Heather Stone  55:37 be. Yeah. And if you want to like the person that you are, you need to accept every part of that person. Exactly. I think when people who don't have disabilities, look at us, and are sometimes envious of our positivity, or our happiness. And then that makes them even more miserable. Because they're like, look at this GIMP or look at this, you know, crap. And they're a mess, but they're way happier than me. And I'm perfect.   Heather Stone  56:13 It's like, well, not at all. Like, maybe you are. And maybe you're, maybe you're not. This is me. And this is who I am, you know, take it away.   Michael Hingson  56:24 But do you ever get involved with or? Or do you have much knowledge about any of like, the blindness consumer organizations? Do you ever worked with him?   Heather Stone  56:35 No, I haven't. I'm just curious. One time, a long time ago, I was on a focus group with blind people for like, using a phone. But I think that was my, my greatest   Michael Hingson  56:50 Association. Yeah. Right. Because there, there are many blind people who do have a very positive outlook on on blindness and who truly believe that blindness isn't the problem, it is our misconceptions, and that we, as blind people can do, what we choose to do, and it isn't blindness that defines us. But it is still by any standard and uphill battle to get people to recognize that.   Heather Stone  57:23 Absolutely. And, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of stigma and prejudice and discrimination. And you know, just today I attended a Virtual Job Fair, from the state of Illinois, for people with disabilities, different state agencies that our opening open to hiring people with disabilities. And, you know, a lot of people were asking him, at what time do you disclose your disability during the interview process. And it fascinating because one of the things I do is I'm a qualitative research consultant for a company called the Exeter group. And we lead focus groups consisting of employees with disabilities of a variety of health care, hospitals, companies, organizations. And in every focus group, I do, the concept of when to disclose during the job application process is discussed. And today, they told us, they're like, don't tell anyone until you're hired.   Michael Hingson  58:38 And see, I totally object to that.   Heather Stone  58:43 And this is what they're telling, this is what the state was telling everyone like, unless you need an accommodation, don't tell anyone until until you have the job.   Michael Hingson  58:54 When I first began working well, I worked I actually worked for the National Federation of the Blind 1976 to 1978, as part of a project with Ray Kurzweil, the guy who invented the Kurzweil Reading Machine, and then I went to work for Ray. And after about a month, I was given a choice, because I was doing Human Factors kinds of work in both situations. But I was given a choice of either being laid off or going into sales and as I love to tell people, so I lowered my standards, and I went into sales. But the the, the thing I did know a lot was about how to sell professionally. So I went through a Dale Carnegie sales course. And the most important thing that I learned from that course, by far was a real simple sentence turned perceived liabilities into assets. And I believe that blindness is clearly A perceived perceived liabilities. And it's one of the greatest assets that I have available to me. And I actually use that concept in preparing some letters for resumes. And specifically talking about being blind because as a blind person, I have to sell all the time just to be able to have any chance of being competitive. So do you want to hire me who sells all the time and understands it? Or do you want to just hire somebody who sells for eight or 10 hours a day and then goes home, turn perceived liabilities into assets. So if you want to look at it from a legal standpoint, don't tell anyone until you're hired. That's great. But then what happens when you're hired, all the barriers go up. Whereas if you deal with it upfront, and create a way to deal with it in such a way that the value you bring can't be disputed? It doesn't get any better than that?   Heather Stone  1:00:59 Right. Um, but you know, there are huge challenges. And, you know, I've been able to accomplish just about everything that I set out to do in this life. But the only thing that has kind of eluded me so far is I wanted to teach at the college level. I want to be a college professor, and I feel like all doors have been shut to me. There is one blind disability studies. Academic right now. Adrienne Ashe. I'm sorry, not   Michael Hingson  1:01:41 not Adrienne. Not anymore. Georgina cleavage. Yeah.   Heather Stone  1:01:46 And she's the only one.   Michael Hingson  1:01:49 She she's not. But oh, no. There are a number of of blind people who teach at the college level. People in the past who taught at the college level, Jacobus tenBroek, who founded the National Federation of the Blind, was originally a doctor of Psychology at University of California at Berkeley. And then he was asked to start the speech department, I think he was asked to start it. But he he took it in a completely different direction. He, when it was formed, he announced or when he was hired to run it, after teaching psychology at the college level at Berkeley for some time, he told all the professors on campus, we'd love to have you join our department. But if you're going to join our department, what you'd have to agree to do is to take on a different discipline other than your main original discipline of study. Dr. Tim brick always wanted to be a constitutional law scholar. But Berkeley would not let him do that, because they said a blind person could not achieve that and couldn't possibly study to do law. So when he announced anyone can join the department, but you have to take on a different discipline other than the original one that you have your degree and what do you think he went after? And he became one of the foremost constitutional law scholars of the 40s 50s and up to the mid 60s. But there are a number of blind people teaching at the college level today. And so they're, they're out there.   Heather Stone  1:03:17 I would like to be one of them.   Michael Hingson  1:03:20 Let's let's chat more about that offline. Because we have to stop because it's been an hour. We've been having fun here. But I'd love to chat with you more about that. And what would be glad to Awesome. Well, Heather, it has been fun having you on unstoppable mindset. And we'll have to definitely have you back on when you're hired to be a college professor. But in the meantime, how can people get your book? How can they learn more about you if they want to reach out to you? How do they do that?   Heather Stone  1:03:53 Well, an easy way to start is just google me and my full name is Heather stone. WOTUS. W O D I S. My book girls with autism becoming women is available everywhere in anywhere Amazon, Google Books Barnes and Noble. I'm on all the social media platforms, so you can always reach me that way. Facebook is great. And I'm pretty pumped about responding to questions and and messages. So I look forward to hearing from people.   Michael Hingson  1:04:32 I hope people will reach out and you and I definitely will stay in touch. Great.   Heather Stone  1:04:38 Thank you so much, Michael.   Michael Hingson  1:04:40 Well, I want to thank you, Heather, for being on unstoppable mindset and all of you listening. We really appreciate you being here. Hope you enjoyed this show. And Heather is certainly as great an example as anyone about how to be unstoppable. Everyone can do it. that we all underestimate what we're capable of doing. And we need to recognize that we're probably better than we think. And I don't mean that in a negative or conceited way, but we underestimate our ability. So I hope that people will listen to this podcast and recognize that they can probably do better than they are and maybe do more meaningful things. I'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to email me, you can reach out through my email address with which is Michaelhai@accessibly.com. M I C H A E L H I at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com. Or you're welcome to visit our podcast page, which is www dot Michael hingson h i n g s o n.com/podcast. And definitely wherever you're getting the podcast, please give us a five star rating we'd love. We'd love to hear comments, but always love the great ratings if you're willing to do that. So again, thanks very much. And Heather. Once again, thank you for being with us. Thank you. Our pleasure.   Michael Hingson  1:06:13 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Jenn speaks to Independent Certified OPTAVIA Coach, Shantelle Flake on why failing her AP European History exam in High School led her to quit Varsity Basketball her senior year and taught her the lesson of switching from a set mindset to a growth mindset. A mother of 5, Shantelle shares her struggles with a healthy mindset after giving birth to her first baby. How having a growth mindset has also helped her in her motherhood journey and working with her clients, and her goal of living a healthy life to 100! (Recorded on July 22, 2021)About Shantelle:Shantelle Flake has a bachelor's degree from Southern Virginia University. She worked as a fitness instructor for 4 years before becoming COPE certified through the Macdonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education to help people with their health. As a coach over the last decade, Shantelle has impacted thousands of people by teaching habits that help them succeed with their long-term health. She also is a business coach that trains and mentors other coaches who are working on the same goals. Shantelle enjoys working from home where she and her husband Tyler have 4 boys and a girl.Episode Resources:WebsiteIGFBObstacle is the Way

Episode 91 of the Unscripted Podcast is with Jessica Schmitt. Jessica is the owner and founder of Mindful Ontogeny. Mindful Ontogeny is a business dedicated to the success of its clients. Their mindset and personal development coaching focuses on building a strong mindset and helping clients become the person they need to be to reach their goals. They teach relevant, applicable knowledge that changes clients' lives for the better. With regular sessions and check-ins, they really are there to help every step of the way during arguably the most important journey a person can take: the one in pursuit of their dreams. They offer coaching to individuals, as well as to teams/organizations/companies. They also offer motivational speaking to inspire your organization, team, company, or students through stories of drive, dedication, ambition, failure, persistence, and comebacks. Additionally, They offer academic tutoring for students grades K-12, where they assist with assignments and coursework, as well as teach important life skills, such as time management and organization, that are important both in and outside of the classroom. Jessica is pursuing a career as a professional ballet dancer and is currently a trainee with BalletMet. After years of holding limiting beliefs and self doubts in her dancing, she realized that if she didn't change something, she would hold herself back from achieving her goals. She immersed herself into personal development and mindset studies, learning the content of the likes of Tony Robbins, Bob Proctor, and more. Jessica has always enjoyed helping others understand ideas and concepts, and after learning ideas that completely shifted her mindset and perspective of success, she found herself wanting to help others. Additionally, she believed that her dance journey, one that is full of successes, failures, comebacks, and perseverance, could inspire others on their own success journeys, especially the youth. Mindful Ontogeny allows Jessica to spread the powerful knowledge she has learned and continues to study regularly, and give others the mindset needed to reach success on their own journeys. Not only is she a speaker and mindset/personal development coach, but she is also an academic tutor. A graduate from Monroe High School in Monroe, Wisconsin, Jessica is pursuing a B.A. in English- Technical and Professional Writing at Indiana University East online. She graduated with Distinguished Honors with a 4.2 GPA, achieved a 35 on the ACT, received her district's “Student of the Month” award twice, and was named an AP Scholar by the College Board. Throughout high school, she has taken numerous AP classes: AP U.S. History, AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, AP Spanish, AP Psychology, and AP European History. She has completed both in-person and online courses, and has the skills to help students in both. In addition to her dancing, Jessica has participated in FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), Link Crew, and various other community services. Jessica recognizes the immense value in developing a strong mindset and skills for success, and she wants Mindful Ontogeny to be a place where people go to be supported, mentored, and catapulted to the life they always dreamed. I was blessed with the conversation with Jessica and blown away by her wisdom for her age. I have no doubt that Mindful Ontogeny will be successful and so will she. No matter what she does in life. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/aaronconrad/support

We begin our first chapter, the Art of Advocacy.  In this episode, my high school AP European History teacher, Rev. Kevin Staton; walks us through his experience as being a child of the Great Migration, Howard Business student-turned educator, and the exposure of his faith through the humanity of helping students who needed one simple thing...an advocate.We reflect on the sad realities of when the privileged waste their meals.References/Resources:- Proverbs 31:8-9- "God of the Oppressed" by James Cone- "Strength to Love" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Website: http://messymiddle.buzzsprout.comInstagram: @factofthemataComments/Inquiries: mata.noah@gmail.com

In which Maya introduces herself and History Happy Hour, contemplates why we explore the past, and insults her AP European History teacher. Music by Just Milk.

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Good morning. My name is Andy. Welcome to all of you who are here in person and those of you who are online. I'm just thrilled to be here. I'm one of the pastors here at Mosaic, along with pastor Jan and pastor Shane. I just want to plug it as we always do. If you just arrived and you're new, or you're just chiming in online, you can fill out a connection card. This is the best way for us to get to know you and for you to get more information about us.You can fill that out in person, put it in the white collection box in the back here, or fill it out online, or on our connection card on our app. Today, we are continuing our Advent series. This is a time of the year where we spend extra time meditating on what Christ's first coming means for us: his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, and ascension, and how it gives us hope in him as we await his second coming.We're going to continue in the book of Matthew and I'm going to be reading from Matthew 2:1-12 12 today. Matthew 2:1-12. And I just want to start off by jumping right into the text. And then I'll jump into my message today. Please follow along as I read the word of God. Matthew 2:1-12. "Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, 'Where is he who has been born, King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.""When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet. And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.""Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.' After listening the King, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.""When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." This is the word of God. Please join me in prayer.Heavenly father, we just praise you that we live in a day where we are less prone to turn to follow signs, to seek stars, to seek messages from you that are given to us by nature, by the whims of the world. Lord, we come in a day where we have seen that Jesus Christ has come into this world. He has revealed your true nature. He was the exact imprint of your nature in this life. He was the man, the God man to whom all the scriptures pointed and in whom all of them are fulfilled.Lord, we praise you that we get to be in this day where we get to look back. The victory is secured. We're just waiting till you come and you consummate your kingdom. You establish it in its entirety in our bodies, in our souls, in the world. And Lord, we pray right now, meet us in the way that you came and met us in the form of the baby, Jesus. Lord, meet us right now. Give us wisdom to be able to discern the ways that the world wants to deceive us and give us wisdom to walk forward in a way that's faithful you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.I shouldn't have closed my Bible after I read it. Number one rule to break, according to my seminary preaching professor. I will be preaching from the Bible this whole sermon. So for all those who were forced to be in Christmas pageants with the three wise men as children and loathed it, this one's for you. I've waited for this day my whole life. I was the shyest kid. I hated those things. To all those who loved the pageants, I'm sorry not sorry to give you this message.To all those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's okay. You didn't miss out on much. I'm joking. Those dramatic displays of the birth of Christ can be beneficial, especially for a child. This is a passage that's really well-known. Christians and even non-Christians, people outside of the church will have a lot of familiarity with it. And it has a lot of details that are just really important to cover. I think many of you probably know a lot less about this passage than you think.For example, I want to begin with a question, how many wise are mentioned in the text? It's three, right? No. The text mentions three gifts given by the wise man, but it does not say that there were three of them present. Next, were the wise men kings? What does the text say? It calls them wise men. They're not called kings. Baltazar, Melchor, Gaspar. The song We Three Kings, I love it. One of my favorites to sing in this season. It's crushed. These are wise men.What is meant by wise men? The Greek word could be magi. These men were astrologers. They were magicians, diviners. They're interpreters of the sky, interpreters of dreams, most likely from Persia. And they were doing exactly what God told the Jews not to do that. They were trying to find a way, find guidance through life on just the whims of their thoughts, the whims of their flesh, apart from him.Next question, were are these men believers? Some people insert into this text that these men at the beginning of the story are believers. They know who this King of the Jews is, what he represents. They kind of have an understanding of the theology of the Messiah that they are going to see. The text says they come and they're looking for the king, the one who has been born King of the Jews. There's something right about that. He was born king.The text says that they want to worship him, but that doesn't mean that they're believers coming to worship their savior and Lord with a humble and contrite heart. The word used for worship might better be translated here as pay homage, pay honor to this king in the same way that they would show reverence to a man of honor. You have to think, it was literally the business of the magi to try to get to know the kings, the rulers, get their foot in the door of the courts of the troyal and ruling classes, find a source of income, get that per diem.And one can only imagine just the extra favor you might get when you stumble upon and you find a ruler and are the first to pay homage to a king. We can't really insert into the text that these guys were believers of Jesus as the Christ. So at this point, many people might begin to ask, so why can we trust this account? Why would scriptures mention pegging men from the East coming to pay homage to the King of the Jews?And why does Matthew present them in such a positive light. Old Testament scriptures, New Testament scriptures, they would have blatantly condemned the magi for their practices, for their beliefs, probably for some of their cultic ceremonies that were immoral. So why is this a part of the revelation of God? These are reasonable questions to ask. And I just want to speed through some of the details that tap into the details of the text.There's a lot of reasons to make it plausible that this is actual history that Matthew is chronicling. First, no Christian writer could have made this up. This story would have triggered a negative response to the Jewish or a Christian reader of Matthew's day. And if Matthew is really trying to convince this Jewish audiences, as we touched on primarily in the past couple of weeks. Pastor Jan's first sermon in the series.Matthew is writing to Jews. Why would he put it in the text unless it actually happened? If he were trying to fabricate a story to try to convince Jews to believe, why would he incorporate these guys into the story and put them in a positive light over Jews? Second, just the star stuff. I just want to tap into it. In many places of the ancient world, the intellectuals were astrologers. They believed astrology.Did you know that in history, it's preserved that in 44 BC during the funeral Julius Caesar, there was actually a supernova that appeared in the sky, some form of sudden star-like brightness that appeared. And this was great for the business of astrology. For a long time it lead to a belief that the birth and death of great kings, great leaders were marked by appearances of stars in the sky. Also history has preserved and modern science has confirmed that a conjunction of planets Jupiter and Saturn, they aligned in the sky at three different times to the naked eye, given the appearance of a really bright, single light in the year leading up to Christ's birth.We mark the year of Christ's birth and tie that to King Herod's death. That's preserved throughout history. And the 5 BC, beginning of 4 BC. There are a couple of dates, the specific dates that are thrown around, but May 29th, October 3rd, December 4th, and the year leading up to Christ's birth are the most popular dates. This could explain why the magi had to make the final call for where to go once they entered Israel.They might've had this natural phenomena in the sky that triggered them. There's this unique light in the sky. There's these rumors of a king born that would come out of Judea. And just to elaborate, there was a widespread rumor and first century BC in the Mediterranean region that a great ruler would come out of the region of Judea. Tacitus, Suetonius, Roman historians, Josephus, a Jewish Roman historian, all of the first century AD, they mentioned that these were common rumors. These were common expectations.This rumor was proven influential when Vespasian, a Roman who actually put down a rebellion in Judea in AD 66, part of his platform for his campaign while running for the office of Roman emperor, and he won, was his claim that he was the great leader that was anticipated in this day. And so you have these phenomena in the sky. The non-believing world has these expectations for a leader that would come out of Judea.Perhaps the astrologers of the day, they would have been studying different ancient texts, different ancient scriptures as part of their vocation. Perhaps they had exposure to Numbers 24:7. Remember, Israel was exiled to Babylon, who then came on control of Persia. The prophet Daniel was alive and very influential in Babylon and Persia. During the exile, it's likely that the magi, the astrologers, the intellectual elites of that day would have been talking, had exposure to multiple scriptures.Number 24:7 says, "A star shall come out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel." Just this kind of randomly placed prophecy in the Old Testament, spoken under the spirit of God by a Gentile prophet, Balam. There's a chance that these astrologers of the day were influenced by this text. So you have all the rumors flying around amongst the astrologers. You have actual phenomenon in the sky, maybe some influence from this Numbers text. And there's a lot of reason to believe that this actually happened.That magi guy from the East, a caravan of them showed up saying, 'Where is the King? Where's the King of the Jews? Where is he?" With assurance that he was born or that he was about to be born. There's a lot of reason to believe the credibility of Matthew's texts from the scripture, from outside of it. All of this information is really intriguing. You can just get lost in this text and in the history, the resources that come out.But in order to get something from this text, we have to stay focused. Matthew is not a true historian. He's a pastor. Scripture talks about there's not enough space to talk about the miraculous, the amazing things that Jesus Christ came and did in his life. So why does Matthew, most likely writing with a pastoral perspective to engage his Jewish audience, primarily Jewish audience, why does he include this specific story of the magi traveling, saying, "Where is he? Where is this king born of the Jews?"And today, by focusing on these actions, the story of the magi, I want to suggest that Matthew is making a comment to his audience about the wisdom of that age. Taken further, Matthew is making a comment about the wisdom of any age. So why is that? The wise men were the intellectuals. They're the leading thinkers. The intelligence here. Thank you AP European History for giving me a chance to use that for the first time in 15 years.The wise men were the lead thinkers of their day. They would have been appointed to presidential councils, overseeing the life and worship of their respective countries and kingdoms. These are people who would have been writing the textbooks while having tenured positions at the top universities. These are the people who would give the most stimulating Ted Talks as well. And Matthew, in this episode, during the events leading up to Christ, he puts their knowledge, their wisdom to the test.It's in their pursuit of the poor baby King of the Jews that their wisdom is turned upside down. The apostle Paul once said in 1st Corinthians 20 and 21, "Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world, for since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. It please God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe."This text from Matthew has that same message. Paul's question to the philosophers, the learned, the top thinkers of the day. Remember he goes into the talk of the logos, how the Greeks looked for the principle that guided everything and explained everything in life. Matthews chipping into that for his audience. So I want to make the claim, this passage teaches us about the wisdom of the world. It shows us that Christmas puts to shame the wisdom of any age.From Matthew 2:1-12, we can say that the wisdom of the world is cyclical, superficial, and insufficient. Those are going to be my three main points. The wisdom of the world is cyclical, superficial and insufficient. I'll explain the big vocabulary words. Point one, the wisdom of the world as cyclical. What do I mean by cyclical? It's prone to change due to circumstances, discoveries, innovations, needs, trends. Many times it repeats itself.I get this simply from the text by meditating on the fact that the wise men, the magi, the astrologers, the lead thinkers of large powerful countries for likely a couple of centuries derived their wisdom and knowledge and counsel from phenomena and the stars. That's a laughable to us. That's something that we scoff at in this day. But how many of you know your sign? How many of you when you come across a horoscope you can't help. You're tempted to look into what it says.What's on your agenda? What's coming up for you? It's laughable. It seems superstitious. And as Christians, you should not be doing that. I'm going to say that plainly. We don't have to dig into that. That is just dabbling with idolatry. But it's laughable. This is something that is rooted in beliefs of 2000 years ago. But at some point it came back. It influenced our age. It influenced our society, especially in the 20th century.I still remember seeing horoscopes in the newspaper growing up. I don't really know where people go to get it today. You can just find a million websites, I'm sure. But there's a cyclical aspect. It's the wisdom of the world is dated, it's trait. It repeats itself. Let me give you another example. In the mid 19th century, what were all the academics and elite saying was going to solve man's problems? In the fifties, sixties, seventies, the thought of Sigmund Freud reigned.People would go to cycle analysts multiple times a week, for years, spending hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars to figure out their conscience with little results. This was actually horrible for the church, just FYI. After millennia of Christians going to the scripture for wisdom, instead of talking to their brothers and sisters in Christ who are pastors, who were guided by the Holy spirit, people needed an expert to solve their problems.Freud had his day in secular society. Freud infiltrated the church. But by the 1980s, he was ruled obsolete. What do these examples suggest about other systems of thought by the elites, the academics, the thought experts of our day, supposed thought experts of our day? What does it say about the previous ages and their experts? Think about the fluctuations in what universities have said about gender and sexual identity and desire.They're once genetically not fixed. They were learned. And then a decade or so later they were fixed. Is there ever anything proposed to solve and deal with the problems of man by the world? Are any ideas ever new? Do any of them last? Just wait five, 10, 15, 20 years and our kids and grandkids will be laughing at us for many of the things that we believed in our day. My grandmother... Just a couple of practical examples of how this can happen.My grandmother went to the grave thinking that smoking was not detrimental to her health. She started smoking as a teenager, probably went 40 years or so. I think she had another health problem that caused her to drop smoking. But for the rest of her life, when she went out with her friends, she was sneaking cigarettes. We just laughed at that. She insisted. She went to the grave believing that because that's what they impressed upon her in her day.And football fans think of the option offense. It apparently rose to prominence in the 1970s. It's gone in and out of fashion. Bring in Tim Tebow, bring in Michael Vick, it rises to prominence again. That's how wisdom and philosophy of this world has fluctuated throughout history. C.S. Lewis once said, "All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." All that is not eternal is eternally out date.What does this mean? And he thought principles, ideas that are not rooted in the revelation of God and the inspired scriptures given to man are worn out. Once an idea has its day, it is immediately kicked out the door. Immediately on its way to be kicked out the door. That's how the wisdom of the world works. The reality is that every generation of elite thinkers believe that they know best. C.S. Lewis taps into this in this talk of chronological snobbery.Every generation thinks that man has ascended to greater knowledge, evolved beyond its shortcomings. We know better about the differences between men and women. We know best how to treat racial and ethic differences. We know best how to talk about sexuality and relational dynamics. We understand the self better than there rest. But where is the evidence of ascent to greater understanding? Where's the evidence of emerging consensus of thought?In 2020, do you see that evidence? The world says, "Christians, you have to get with it now." And yes, we should have a heart to learn. We should be able to admit that we just might personally have blind spots. Science is figuring out how some things work. But do we follow the philosophies, the teachings of this world and its imperatives when they contradict scripture? God's special revelation. As a church, do we follow them, as individuals?And just thinking about those answers, let me ask you what has happened in your own life when you've blended the teachings of scripture with the teachings of the world? I did that for about five years, four years of college, one year out before I found Mosaic in August 2011. It's only by the grace of God that brought me out of the darkness in which I was walking and the despair. What has happened when churches that you're a part of blended the instruction of God word and the world?Some of you come from great churches, great hometown churches that are faithful to the word. And I'm jealous of you. A lot of you come from these churches. Their intentions, they mean well, but in order to try to attract people, they've watered down the word of God. And the reality is that they're laughable. It's painful to think about it. Pulling from the world and picking and choosing from the Bible.Life apart from the word of God or life in which one blends the word of God with the wisdom of the world, it correctly leads one to confer with Ecclesiastes that all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1:8-11 says, "All things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. And there's nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See, this is new.' It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after."We do forget, and that's why we repeat a lot of the worldly wisdom. Christmas tells us, where is the wise man? Where is the philosopher? Where is the debater? He's already received a boot in the rear end out the door. He might be let in again for a little while, but then he'll be booted back out again. The wisdom of Christianity is different than that of the world. It is eternal. Isaiah 48 says, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever."Believe this or just the abide in me, the song, the prayer. That was perfect. That's where our life is. That's where wisdom comes from, day-to-day wisdom to March forward in faithfulness. Abide in God's word. It's sufficient for your situation. It's sufficient for the church. The beauty of Christianity is you can read the Bible. You can read the greats from the past 2000 years: Agustin, Luther, Calvin. There's universal appeal because they're pulling from the word of God that appeals to all of us as image bearers of God.Adam and Eve were created not just to walk the garden and tend to it alone, they were supposed to do it with God instructing them and guiding them along the process. Point two, Christmas teaches us that the wisdom of the world is superficial. What do I mean by superficial? It's shallow. It leads one to the same path, saying that prosperity will satisfy. Prosperity, power, closeness to the nobility will heal.Go to the centers of power to find what you're looking forward, to make a difference, get access to the resources that you need. But God set up Christ's life so that he didn't have access to any of those things that worldly wisdom says we need. Verse one and two, "Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wiseman from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews, for we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."Based on the magi's own study, on their own volition, the influence of the wisdom of the world on them, of course Jerusalem is where the King of Jews will be. "Where is he?" They say when they show up with confidence. They're thinking it's superficial, it's shallow. A town like Bethlehem, any other small town, insignificant place, doesn't cross their mind. Furthermore, we get a sense that they're not really going there to truly worship him. They're going there to honor him.Their motives are questionable at this point in the text. The study and volition of the wiseman led them to Jerusalem. They were probably going in their best dress. So maybe those three wise men pictures with them in the very colorful robes and head dresses. There might be some accuracy, just there might be more than three of them. They show up only to be redirected to a birthday party. This is where the wisdom of God begins to supplant the shallowness of the wisdom of the world."Where's the party? In the courts of the king? In an area like the Back Bay, with chef Salt Bae serving the lamb?" No, they don't land in Jerusalem. That's not where the party is. It's in Bethlehem in a barn or probably more of a crowded house at this point. At a party with who? A super poor family, shepherds. These guys where the social outcasts, the unlearned of society and sheep. Do you see the wisdom of God bringing to light and undermining the shallowness of the wisdom of man? It really should cause us to laugh.1st Corinthians 1:25, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men." That's what the Christmas story shows us. Everything about the Christmas story is wrong according to the wise men, according to the prideful Jews, who Matthew is writing to. The people are outcasts. The magi themselves were just ethnically not the right people. They shouldn't have been there. The people from the right bloodlines, social background, economic background, they're not there.Jesus' family, Joseph and Mary, are the poorest of the poor. When they go to the temple, probably after they use the money from the gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh to flee to Egypt, they go to the temple to dedicate Christ. They pay the poorest fee for the sacrificed. They offer a sacrifice allowed for the poorest of the poor. Other parts of the gospels tell us that Christ was raised in Nazareth, a place of ill repute.He went on to work as a carpenter. When he began his ministry, most of his followers were not just the leaders in the region, but an eclectic mix of misfits, rejects. Scripture talks about how there is nothing special about the appearance of Jesus Christ. As you read this, you have to really ask yourself, how would you have planned for Jesus to become what he became in the eyes of the world?I don't want to say campaign manager or hearing and say election trauma. But what if you were the campaign manager of Jesus Christ? Would you have really come up with what is in scripture to put Jesus Christ to the place of prominence, where he is in the history of the world? God's plan is radically different than what any of us could come up with. All the things of the world that the wisdom of the world tells us that we need, Christ didn't have.Power, influence riches, political authority, academic positions, Christ avoided all of them. With his Christmas presentation, the Holy spirit, through Matthew, is teaching us the shallowness, the superficial reality of all things that the wisdom of the world says we need. The king, the son of God, the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of all the scriptures is born in a stable, surrounded by a bunch of misfits with all the smells around. And that is why is worthy of our worship. He is altogether wise, wholly different, sovereign.God's power is glorified in how he can work through such a circumstance. In the context of Matthew, this is the specific point that Matthew is trying to make to his Jewish audience. Don't be like Herod, who was a professed Jew. The priests, the scribes, they missed this when the magi came into town. Those Jews, they were able to quote the scriptures about where Jesus was to be born. They were able to even say that this Jesus, this king would be a shepherd of his people.He would rule with righteousness. He would be just, gentle, kind. They're able to say that while under the reign of Herod the great, a powerful tyrant who sucked the money in life out of the people, yet they missed it. Matthew's audience, they're Jews. They're looking for Christ, for God to reveal himself in a profound worldly way. And Matthew is saying don't miss it. He came. He was born in a manger. And that is why he is more worthy to worship than any other king you can think of.We have to shed our earthly expectations. For us, the command is to be aware of the grip of the world's wisdom on our hearts. Now, we don't realize it when we come to Christianity just how strong it is. It took me to go to seminary to just see the influence of the thinking of the world on my heart. You don't have to do that. You can just abide and every step of life appeal to God's word, fend it off with prayer.When you start thinking about the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of the way of God, the wisdom of God working through these broken hopeless circumstances, just simply believing in a God who works like this. You might think you'll be laughed at or mocked in pursuing faithfulness to him. The reality of this text is that it's not might. You will be laughed at and mocked by the world in following God's wisdom and not the worlds.But we have to heed the wisdom that Matthew used to expound upon these teachings in chapter two. Chapter five, we're going to continue in Matthew. After the admin season, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, a teaching of Christ that blatantly turned the wisdom of the world upside down, says, "Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.""Blessed are those who mourn so they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.""Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets before you." We have to trust the Lord's wisdom, his ways, his commands. And that is the means to blessedness and fullness in this life. Point three, Christmas teaches us the wisdom of the world is not just cyclical, superficial, but it's also insufficient.What are the wise men of the world supposed to do? They tell us how life works in its entirety. They're the ones who are supposed to find things and explain things for us, find that principle, that thing that explains everything. But scripture in this story from Matthew, it tells us that the wisdom of the world can only take us part of the way. How is that shown? The magi can't quite make it to the destination that they seek, the location of the King of the Jews.By their own knowledge and volition, they make it pretty far. They get to Jerusalem, but they don't quite make it. The wisdom of the world is insufficient. We have longings for something that cannot be found in this world, longings for a sovereign, righteous, glorious king on our hearts. But the wisdom of the world can't take us there. Romans one. Romans is called Paul's gospel. He begins his gospel with... It's really an epistle.But he begins, what's perceived as his gospel, with unaided reason, we know that God exists. We can look at the world. We can look within ourselves and know that there is a creator. But without special revelation to us from God through his word, through the preaching of the gospel primarily. The gospel is the power an through righteousness to the Jew first. The power of God and through righteousness to the Jew first and also the agree that we can't gain access to God apart from the preaching of the gospel, apart from special revelation from God.Science captures this. A Harvard School of Public Health professor, Tyler VanderWeele, and a journalist John Siniff, they wrote a USA Today op-ed entitled Religion May Be a Miracle Drug. They outline mental and physical benefits correlated with religious participation for most Americans who go to church. Just some of the benefits. Mortality rates are reduced by 20% to 30% over a 15 year period for those who go to church.Those who regularly attend services are more optimistic. They have lower rates of depression. They're less likely to commit suicide, have greater purpose in life, are less likely to divorce, and more self-controlled. Science and research in our day, they can quantify the value of religion, quantify the value of Christianity, but they can't take us to the Lord Jesus Christ, who brings us those benefits. The peace of heart, the experience of the love of God, the peace with the father that we get through Christ.Man by his wisdom could not find God. That's the point of Christmas. God comes to us. How do the wise men find Jesus in the story? It's not until God gives them the specific paths through the reading of the scripture, by the scribes know. To begin their journey, maybe they had this background where they heard Numbers 24:7-17, this text that a star and Sceptre shall come from Israel. And that would be the special revelation from God given to them.But we can't really discern where they just fall in the suspicions of the magi of their day. We can't discern that. But in this text, it's the quoting of the scriptures that redirects the magi from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. It's what gets them to their destination, where the king, whom they desire to see and to meet wise. This is in Matthew 2:3-6. Furthermore, in verse nine, we get the sense that the final appearance of a star was of a different sort of appearance.It says that the star appeared for a short time. It came and stood over the house. Is this a supernatural star, a special star, or just a special act of providence arranged by God for them in that moment? We don't know. But verse 10 talks about how they felt at that moment. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. There is no elation about them because they know that they're being guided by God himself.They've been looking for wisdom their whole lives, and they know that they have found it. It's coming from the source of all wisdom of true wisdom. They haven't seen Christ in physical form yet, but they know that they're being guided by the right spirit because God has spoken to them. The scripture that this brings to mind is 1st Peter 1:8-9. It says, "Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."This is Peter writing to people walking with assurance that wonder is under the care, the guidance of God who has sealed their salvation even though they can't see him. And the magi have that. Before they see Jesus Christ, you get this through the language, through their response. When they go to Christ, they worship him. They lay down. They bow. They worship him. They offer him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh that would have been gifts fit for a king.And the word offer is used primarily in a sacrificial way. This is what Matthew is trying to tell his audience. You, first century Jew, you might not see him. In your circumstances, you might not see God at work in your day to day life and your toils and your troubles dealing with the vines, the thorns and thistles of life. You might not see him. But in order to get there, read his word. You have it, just like the scribes, the priests.He's speaking to you directly. You have the source of wisdom and you can rejoice. He has spoken to you through his word in the person of Jesus Christ. There's assurance that God is with us, that God is guiding us, that he will always be with us, regardless of our circumstances. There's a knowledge that we have that separates us from non-believers. It's the source of our hope that we will persevere to the end of our journey as the magi I did.This knowledge, it's only given to us God. True faith that God loves one, is guiding one, is what drives us to true and sacrificial worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what gives us the ability to endure the hardship. Do you want to worship God? Do you want this assurance that is the Holy Spirit who is guiding you instead of the whims of the wisdom of the world? Do you see the cyclical nature of the wisdom of the world, the shallowness of it, the insufficiency of it?If this is your position, the apostle Paul instructs you look to the cross of Jesus Christ. For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. It's at the cross that a holy God wisely retains perfect justice by shedding his wrath for man's sin on his own son, while also exhibiting infinite mercy and love to those who are saved by such an act. It's there that you'll find the nuanced, glorious wisdom that will satisfy your heart. It's there where you'll stop clinging to the shallow wisdom of the world.You'll lose the rigidity of mind that comes with it. It's where your sins will be forgiven. It's where you'll truly know God and yourself. Let bow in prayer. Lord, we praise you that we are not people who have just seek desperately for you. It is by your grace that you have called us your children. It's by your grace that you have revealed yourself to us while we are wandering; not just wandering, we're enemies against you. We did not desire a relationship with you, but you called us, you spoke to us, you showed us your holiness.You gave us a taste of your spirit. We know it's different than the wisdom of the world, the spirit of the world. And Lord, I pray, give us faith that we may trust you going forward. That your word is sufficient to guide us. That we don't have to look for the church to rise to earthly prominence. We don't have to rise to earthly prominence ourselves, but we can be made complete and whole in you. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Since I graduated high school, my Advanced Placement US history (APUSH) teacher added sections to class about slave self-emancipation, mass incarceration, and the racism it the modern welfare system. And, this is the same teacher who showed us a video denying that Columbus discovered America because there were already people here the first week of class. She also helped my get my AP European History class approved to do a history tour of Europe senior year. Needless to say, Jessica Wood is an incredible teacher that I needed to bring on the show. We spent time discussing the inspiration behind spending all day every day with high schoolers, problems in history education, her innovative solutions, censorship and the dangers of omission, and integrating history to dismantle oppressive narratives. I wanted to take a step back and examine the flaws in history education that this podcast exists to address. I also just knew Mrs. Wood would be incredibly fun to talk to. Being two historians, the references flew by faster than I could explain them, so here's a short guide to them. Pol Pot (tbh, I had to look this one up https://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/pol-pot.htm (here)): Pol Pot was a radical Communist leader in Cambodia from 1975-1979. After the US military left the area, he gained control of the country and shut it off from the rest of the world. During that time, nearly 2 million people died as he disregarded their lives and enacted purges in pursuit of his goals. Salacious alert? We saw the Statue of David in person during our European history tour. I thought it was very beautiful and snapped this pic. Dawes Act: One of the many ways that the American government robbed Native Americans, it forced Native land to be owned by individuals rather than communally. After allotting land that way, most of the formerly tribal land was sold to fund programs to "civilize" Native Americans. White League, KKK, and Southern politics: We will definitely get into this more in future episodes. After (and even during) Reconstruction, groups like the KKK used violence and intimidation to keep Black people from voting allowing the government to be run by like-minded people. They would even drive out legitimately elected Republican governments at times. Since this helped Southern politicians to keep power, they allowed this to happen. Wyoming and voting for women: Wyoming did actually refuse to become a state without voting rights for women because women were so essential to building the Wild West. Susan B. Anthony, the Lovings, and John Lewis: They each broke unjust laws they believed were unjust to bring attention to the injustice. For Susan B. Anthony it was women not being allowed to vote. For the Lovings, it was interracial marriage being illegal. For John Lewis, it was segregation. And, in disrupting the system, each faced criticism and the legal system. Patrick Henry: He said "Give me liberty or give me death" in the face of colonists who were hesitant to go to war with Britain which inspired many. The 1776 Commission is the White House's 'patriotic' counter to the 1619 Project. Nat Turner: He saw himself as chosen by God to lead his people out of slavery and mounted a huge slave rebellion. It ultimately failed, but it violently busted the myth that slaves didn't mind their plight. Further reading [As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.]: Mrs. Wood suggests: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1620973928/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1620973928&linkCode=as2&tag=wetheblackpeo-20&linkId=4bc8235556b61c76e1679ad2e3762c59 (Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong) 1984 (https://amzn.to/3pzTEs3 (https://amzn.to/3pzTEs3)) is also a very timely read. Music Credits: PeaceLoveSoul by Jeris (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license....

Renewed Religious Struggle 1. How did religious conflict in Europe evolve over the course of the second half of the sixteenth century? The French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) 2. What caused the civil war between the Huguenots and the Catholics in France, and what was the outcome? 3. How did politics shape the religious positions of the French leaders? What led to the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, and what did it achieve? Imperial Spain and Philip II (r. 1556-1598) 4. How was Philip II able to dominate international politics for much of the latter half of the sixteenth century? 5. What were Philip II successes and failures? England and Spain (1553-1603) 6. What role did Catholic and Protestant extremism play in the struggle for supremacy between England and Spain? 7. What led to the establishment of the Anglican Church in England? Why did Mary I fail? What was Elizabeth I’s settlement, and why was it difficult to impose on England? Who were Elizabeth I’s detractors, and what were their criticisms? The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) 8. What toll did the Thirty Years’ War take on Germany? 9. Why was the Thirty Years’ War fought? Was politics or religion more important in determining the outcome of the war? What were the main terms of the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648? 10. Why has the Thirty Years’ War been called the outstanding example in European history of meaningless conflict? Is this true? Were the results worth the cost of the war? General 11. Henry of Navarre (Henry IV of France), Elizabeth I, and William of Orange were all politiques. What does that term mean, and why does it apply to these three rulers? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Major Questions: 3.1 Society and Religion 1. What was the social and religious background of the Reformation? 2. What problems in the church contributed to the Protestant Reformation? Why was the church unable to suppress dissent as it had earlier? 3.2 Martin Luther and German Reformation to 1525 3. Why did Martin Luther challenge the church? 3.3 The Reformation Elsewhere 4. Where did other reform movements develop, and how were they different from Luther’s? 5. What were the basic similarities and differences between the ideas of Luther and Zwingli? Between Luther and Calvin? How did the differences tent to affect the success of the Protestant movement? 3.4 Political Consolidation of the Lutheran Reformation 6. What were the political ramifications of the Reformation? 7. Why did the Reformation begin in Germany? What political factors contributed to its success there as opposed to in France, Spain, or Italy? 3.5 The English Reformation to 1553 8. How did royal dynastic concerns shape the Reformation in England? 9. Why did Henry VIII break with Rome? Was the “new” church he established really Protestant? How did the English church change under his successors? 3.6 Catholic Reform and Counter-Reformation 10. What was the Counter-Reformation, and how successful was it? 11. What reforms did the Council of Trent introduce? Was the Protestant Reformation healthy for the Catholic Church? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Main Questions covered in this episode: •How did humanism affect culture and the arts in fourteenth and fifteenth century Italy? •What did the term Renaissance mean in the context of fifteenth and sixteenth-century Italy? What criticism have been leveled against it? •How would you define Renaissance humanism? In what ways was the Renaissance a break with the Middle Ages, and in what ways did it owe its existence to medieval civilization? •Who were some of the famous literary and artistic figures of the Italian renaissance? What did they have in common that might be described as “the spirit of the Renaissance”? •How did the northern Renaissance affect culture in Germany, England, France, and Spain? •How did the Renaissance in the north differ from the Italian Renaissance? In what ways was Erasmus the embodiment of the northern Renaissance? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This week, Rachel discusses with special guests, Dani, Arnav, and Aidan about the AP World History test, what they've done to prepare, how they feel about the new format, and talk about their favorite AP World memories. The next episode will again be on Thursdays as we travel from early societies and onto our first empire: Persia! *Just an explanation! - Our district does a pre-AP World class in 9th grade which discusses history until the Mongols where we move onto AP World in 10th grade and talk from the Mongols to the present day. Kids in our school have the ability to take the first class and then drop out or not take the first one and put themselves in the second (but it's a lot more work). We don't have an AP European History course but instead, we take APUSH in 11th and Government in 12th. The regular history class in 9th and 10th grade has a totally different curriculum and acts similarly to an AP Euro but easier. Also, a huge thanks to Dani, Arnav, and Aidan for being amazing people and doing this and shoutout to everyone mentioned (you are the ones who have made AP World amazing)!* Leave a review on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts to help spread the word! You can also leave a voice message that can be used to give a shoutout to someone, ask a question, or help by fixing pronunciation or a fact and all will be mentioned next week during the break. What myth do you want to be covered next week? We also now have Pinterest! Just search for History Heard Here. Leave a Voice Message! - https://anchor.fm/HistoryHeardHere/message Google Podcasts - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8xYzM3MWE3NC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw== Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-heard-here/id1507393073 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2IanAM50kGMjDzLCsKvaJf Anchor - https://anchor.fm/HistoryHeardHere Pocket Casts - https://pca.st/39rdqawq Breaker - https://www.breaker.audio/history-heard-here RadioPublic -https://radiopublic.com/history-heard-here-69PvY3 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/historyheardhere/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/historyheardhere/support

It's an AP European History blowout this week on the Audacity of Trivia! Jon and Chris are joined by Chris' son Andrew for a wild review before next week's exam! Special guests plus Andrew quizzes Jon and Chris! How do you spell DBQ? Tune in and find out!

The Main Questions: •How did secular rulers challenge papal authority in the 14th and 15th centuries? •Why did Pope Boniface VIII quarrel with King Philip the Fair? Why was Boniface so impotent in the conflict? How had political conditions changed since the reign of Pope Innocent III in the late twelfth century, and what did that mean for the papacy? •How did the Church change from 1200 to 1450? What was its response to the growing power of monarchs? How great an influence did the church have on secular events? •What was the Avignon papacy and why did it occur? How did it affect the papacy? What relationship did it have to the Great Schism? How did the church become divided, and how was it reunited? Why was the conciliar movement a setback for the papacy? •Why were the kings in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries able to control the church more than the church could control the kings? How did kings attack the church during this period? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Background information on the Nazi policies pertaining to the Holocaust, the victims, and actions of the Nazis in camps. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

NTI Help for AP European History (4th Period) Mr. Malcomson This podcast provides a contextual background for the onset of the Cold War, proxy wars (hot wars), ideological and philosophical differences between the United States (and their NATO allies) and the Soviet Union (and their Warsaw Pact allies). Video clips: Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, Speech in Missouri (Iron Curtain Speech) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMt7zCaVOWU&t=81s Duck and Cover: Bert the Turtle Video: Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60&t=34s

We've all taught good lessons and we've all taught bad lessons. What Makes a Good Social Studies Lesson? In this episode, we look at how to create a compelling and effective social studies lesson and offer some tips and strategies. Follow on Twitter: @larryferlazzo @bamradionetwork @Edufacey @DeborahGatrell1 @WordsmithMark  @mrswhiteside_ Deborah Gatrell is National Board Certified Teacher and Utah Teacher Fellow alumni in Granite School District. She serves as the Social Studies department chair and a Mentor for new teachers in her building. Deborah teaches 9th grade World Geography and 10th grade AP European History. Denise Fawcett Facey was a classroom teacher for more than two decades and now writes on education issues. Among her books, The Social Studies Helper offers activities and projects that make social studies more vibrant and engaging for secondary-level students. Throughout his 35 years as an educator in the Bloomfield Hills School District, Carina Whiteside is an educator that is passionate about teaching social studies for civic engagement and social justice. She is a member of the Hope Street Group Utah Teacher Fellows which works to build connections between classroom teachers and policymakers who will benefit all students. Mark Honeyman devoted himself to encouraging his students to embrace their voices and their power as change agents in the world around them. 450 of his students gained recognition for their writing, winning nearly $60,000 in scholarships and awards.

Brothers John and Hank Green make learning fun for the youths and we discuss whether it’s more successful than that time my AP European History teacher rapped.

In this second episode, Peter Wood is joined by NAS director of research David Randall to discuss the College Board. They examine how the College Board has minimized the history of liberty and the role of religion in the AP European History course and excised Benjamin Franklin and James Madison from the AP US History course. Peter and David offer critiques and broad reforms of the College Board and AP programs, including a proposition by the National Association of Scholars to add a third course devoted to Ancient and Medieval European history.

This podcast is designed for AP European History to help students better understand the role of Martin Luther in the Reformation.