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Change Issues in Curriculum and Instruction/Curriculum and instruction reform: Making America competitive in a "flat" world

By Stephanie Sugioka and Frank Stonier, June 2007

Introduction: A Flat New World
In their collaborative work, Multiliteracies, the New London Group, which was composed of scholars from four different nations, attempts to formulate a pedagogy that will accommodate a rapidly changing world—a world in the process of being radically reshaped by the forces of globalism, multimodalism, and multiculturalism. The first sentence of Chapter 1 reads: "If it were possible to define generally the mission of education, it could be said that its fundamental purpose is to ensure that all students benefit from learning in ways that allow them to participate fully in public, community, and economic life" (New London Group, 2000). As a result of a number of social and economic forces, the old hierarchical systems are gradually crumbling and being replaced by a network of horizontal connections; or, as Friedman has said in his book by this title, "The world is flat" (2005). How, then, can we ensure that our students are competitive in this new flat world? Not surprisingly, just as the old vertical arrangements are collapsing in the economic, and to some extent the political, world, so the outdated hierarchical structures of our educational system are faltering and ultimately failing to prepare our children to participate fully in the social and economic life of our country and the inter-connected global community to which we all belong. The "top-down" reforms of the last twenty years have simply not worked—neither to narrow the achievement gap between higher and lower socioeconomic student populations nor to improve our students' performance in science and math relative to that of students in other nations. Clearly, sweeping reforms are needed to improve student achievement—reforms that will connect our children laterally to a larger world that is freely available to them as a result of new, multimodal technologies. Outdated curricula must give way to content that speaks directly to our students and that they can actively apply to their lives. Ineffective teacher-centered instruction must yield to methods that allow students to take charge of their own learning and generate their own knowledge. These new methods and materials must take into account both the global nature of our economy and the increasing diversity of our student population. As Florin and Hall note, "The world is changing, and so must education" (2007).

Globalism and Its Implications for Education Reform
The culture of our planet has been evolving and changing dramatically in the past few decades. We haven't moved toward a single world government or found a universal religion or language to follow, but globalization is taking place. Wikipedia tells us that “Globalization refers to increasing global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political, and ecological spheres.” Our world is becoming more interconnected on a daily basis. One of the key components of any industrialized nation is its economy. The world economies have had a long history of utilizing (and often exploiting) other nations as their workforce. The shift we are seeing now is a movement away from exploitation toward interdependence. Thomas Friedman (2005) takes the view that the world economies have essentially become a level playing field where any nation may now compete. In his book he describes 10 major events that have served to flatten the global playing field. These so-called “flatteners” have been pivotal global events and major surges in technology innovation and availability. Friedman has also coined the Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention. He explains how wars are being prevented because of the interdependence of a global supply chain. Countries like China and Taiwan or India and Pakistan have been able to forgo the use of military action at least in part because of their strong economic interdependences.

Globalization has been a topic of growing interest throughout American media. In the past few years, outsourcing has become a buzzword that has inspired fear and concern for many Americans. Morgan Spurlock, in his television documentary series, "30 Days," highlighted outsourcing in an episode. The story followed an American who had lost his job due to outsourcing to an Indian company named Tata. He lived with an Indian family where both the husband and wife worked for a call center. The episode showed how life has changed for many Indian citizens and how they have become an integral part of the American economy. Several news organizations have run pieces on globalization and outsourcing. ABC News addressed this issue of outsourcing in a two-part segment in 2006. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwwgXCOEYks&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXulLCkDf8Q&mode=related&search= The segments dealt mainly with modern Indian life and the new revolution that has taken place. They discuss the changes that are allowing a large number of Indian citizens to become trained and become an integral part of the global economy. The segments also highlighted aspects of outsourcing beyond simply call centers. Because of the new flattening, surgeries and even education are now being outsourced. Even shows such as The Simpsons and Conan O’Brien have humorously treated the new global trends. Globalization and the flattening of the world are trends that will have an effect on generations to come. The real question is whether globalization will function primarily as a modified form of exploitation for corporate profit or whether it will result in true economic partnerships that will catapult nations into brighter futures.

Clearly, our current school system is not promoting and fostering the skills future generations will need to become successful in an increasingly competitive job market. Both low- and high-skill jobs are being outsourced to other countries by corporations. Among other things America has been known for its innovations, creativity, and productivity. Our current school reform plan, the No Child Left Behind Act, is essentially stifling our nation's creativity by forcing schools to heavily promote teaching to the test. Tested areas in the educational system are given priority, while areas such as art and drama are often overlooked or even cut from the curriculum. Robert Lynch (2007), in his summary of Arts and Economic Prosperity III, came to the conclusion that in this high-stakes society, funding the arts makes economic sense. Besides being a powerful outlet for creativity and expression, arts and culture are a multi-billion dollar industry. Little is being done in our schools to promote our students' creativity, innovation, or production. How will our children compete with millions of other applicants who have the same or greater skills and can afford to work for far less money? We need to generate a nation of workers with unique and marketable skills. It seems unlikely that meeting the state's minimum requirements will help them to achieve this.

In addition, students need to understand the global implications of environmental issues. Global warming, ozone depletion, disease prevention, and disease containment can not be investigated without taking on a global perspective. Students do not know geography. Many of the places they talk about, or read about, are abstract in their mind. Indeed, there is an increasing divide between children and the natural world. Educators must take the time to refer to geographic locations as they bring up global issues. But they also need to get kids outside. They need to understand the natural world around them in order to appreciate the connection of global warming, ozone depletion, and deforestation to their own lives and immediate surroundings. This must not be limited to geography class. Just as the world is becoming more and more connected and inter-related, so must educational curriculum. By building bridges between disciplines, referring to global issues in all classes, and giving kids opportunities to experience nature, learning connections will be developed as well. How can we expect our students to care about other geographic locations and cultures when they know nothing about them? How can we expect them to be stewards of the environment when they are disconnected from the natural world in their own community?

Multimodalism and Its Potential for Instruction Reform
''Our students have changed radically. Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach ''—Prensky (2001).

Marc Prensky made this bold statement when he made his case for digital natives and digital immigrants. Essentially, he was saying that individuals who have been raised in the digital age (digital natives) have a different view and, often, ability when it comes to using technology. To digital natives, technology is second nature and generally non-threatening. The internet, cell phones, text messaging, and computer games are part of their daily lives. Digital immigrants, as the term implies, are individuals trying to learn this new technology, and it is often a struggle. Prensky maintains that there is not only a divide in how these digital individuals relate to and interact with modern technology but also a great difference in their learning and thinking processes.

The advent of the computer age has been an enormous global flattener. In order for our students to succeed in this ever-changing world, the way teachers disseminate information must also change. Elizabeth Simpson makes this clear when she discusses the utility that video games can have in the classroom. In her 2005 article about the video game generation, she discusses the great digital divide that can exist in the average classroom between teachers and students. The video game has been a training tool for students whether they realize they are learning from it or not. Games generally deal with a problem and a solution, and in turn they foster problem-solving skills in students. Video games often provide varied outcomes and allow for multiple methods of solving problems. The modern classroom should acknowledge the power of video games and find ways to harness that power beyond using it for simple drill and practice.

Multiculturalism and Education Reform
Another sign of a flattening world is the diversification of America's population. In addition to the high numbers of other minorities in our schools, the Hispanic population now accounts for over 15 percent of school-age children, just under that of African American students, and this number is expected to increase considerably by the year 2030 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001; Hernandez, 2006). In addition, by 2030 children of families of European origin will make up less than 50 percent of the population of children under the age of five (National Research Council, 1998). Clearly, if over 30 percent of its children are not well educated, America has little chance of competing in a global economy in the years to come. However, despite numerous efforts at school reform from the federal and state levels, including Goals 2000 and No Child Left Behind, the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged minority students and white middle-class students has widened rather than narrowed over the past twenty years (Kozol, 2005; Florin & Hall, 2007; Waks, 2005). Clearly these top-down reforms are not working for this culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse population. If the needs of these students are to be met, educators, administrators, and government officials must adopt a multicultural approach that functions horizontally rather than vertically, democratically rather than hierarchically, and locally rather than nationally. Moreover, reforms must take place at all levels: instructional, curricular, and institutional.

At the instructional level, teachers must develop what Richards, Browne, and Ford (2007) call "a culturally responsive pedagogy" (p. 64). A teacher population that is proportionately largely white and middle class must develop a "cultural competence" that allows teachers to understand and effectively instruct students whose values may not only differ from but even clash with their own (Ming & Dukes, 2006, p. 42). The student/teacher relationship is perhaps the greatest influence on student success. Yet, students in teacher education programs receive little to no training and have little, if any, experience interacting with racially and culturally diverse students (Fashola, 2005). America's largely white, middle class teaching force is often ill-equipped to take full advantage of students' cultural histories. This is not to suggest that a teacher from the minority culture is better prepared to teach minority students. The quality of the teacher is of greater importance than race; however, the quality of all teachers would be tremendously improved if all teacher education programs included diversity education and methods courses focusing on the infusion of multicultural education into the curriculum. Moreover, teacher education programs must require the completion of practicum experiences at schools with high populations of minority students. Teachers must make an effort to reach out to minority students by developing a deep understanding of the physical conditions and cultural influences that have shaped these students' psyches and lives. In these efforts, teachers should be supported by teacher-training and professional development programs that prepare them to meet their students' widely divergent needs.

Unfortunately, teachers are more often hindered than helped by an outdated curriculum that requires an English teacher, for example, to teach Charles Dickens's Great Expectations to a class of students with more ties to Africa and Latin America than to England. The English curriculum should be reformed to include multicultural and cross-cultural literature that relates directly to the lives of minority students (Ming & Dukes, 2006). Not only would this practice result in more effective instruction for these students, but it would also enrich and broaden the learning experience of students in the mainstream.

On an institutional level, it is crucial that schools develop and maintain ties with the communities from which these minority students come. Moreover, school counselors and administrators should make a concerted effort to establish contact with the various agencies such as Social Services, public health clinics, and police departments that serve these communities (Epstein, 2005). In short, schools must develop horizontal networks of the kind already prevalent in the economic sphere in order to solve the wide array of problems that arise with a highly diverse student population. Another problem that has arisen in schools with high percentages of minority students is that on average the teachers are less qualified and less effective than their counterparts in predominantly Caucasian schools. This situation exacerbates the ongoing problem of the achievement gap. In order for students at these minority schools to rise up to the achievement level of their Caucasian peers, we need to place qualified and effective teachers in these schools (Haycock & Peske, 2006).

System-wide Reforms
Perhaps the most pressing question with respect to education reform is this: How can we expect our children to be academically competitive if their most fundamental physical, emotional, and social needs remain unmet? When considered in this light, the topdown federal and state reforms for promoting academic standards by means of high-stakes testing seem almost laughable. In a 1999 poll, one agency identified three major concerns of the parents of public school students: lack of parental involvement, drug abuse, and lack of discipline; academic achievement never entered the picture (Epstein, 2005). As a result of shifting social, economic, and demographic forces, children no longer receive the kind of support from family and community they once did. By and large, schools have taken over the roles formerly performed by family and community; many schools provide psychological counseling, free meals, driver training, sex education, drug and alcohol awareness programs, and before-school and after-school programs. In short, they function in loco parentis as a result of the vacuum created by divorce, poverty, and crumbling community networks. Because of underfunding and poor policymaking, many schools are not equipped to handle these massive responsibilities, which inevitably devolve upon the shoulders of teachers already overburdened by heavy teaching loads and administrative duties. It is small wonder that the rates of teacher burnout are so high (Esteve, 2000). Moreover, when teachers must act as parents, therapists, and babysitters, the quality of education suffers.

Clearly the current situation calls for sweeping reforms at all levels of school governance. For an overall solution, we can do no better than to turn to economic model of Tom Friedman's flat world (2005). Given the forces of globalism, multimodalism, and multiculturalism, a hierarchical system of school governance can only be outmoded and ineffectual. As has been said earlier, a one-size-fits-all system of tests and standards has no chance of success in the current highly diversified demographic landscape. Given this situation, the federal and state government would do well to dismantle this ineffective system and concentrate their efforts on providing funds so that the schools can handle their problems locally with the help of community service agencies already in place. In their book American schools: The 100 billion dollar challenge (2000), Allen and Cosby propose that the federal government increase its spending by almost 100 percent so that the schools will have the funds they need for school reform; the one hundred billion per year this would require is a small fraction of the more than four hundred billion spent so far just to finance the Iraq War (Iraq War, 2007).

This increase in funding would allow schools to improve infrastructure, raise teacher salaries, expand technology, and serve the many extracurricular needs of their students. In fact, a number of schools have already become "hybrid institutions that are raising many of our children, not just educating them" (Epstein, 2005, p. J6). Some 3,000 to 5,000 schools act as community centers that are open year-round from early morning until 9 P.M. and that provide a full range of academic, health, and crisis-intervention services (p. J6). Several reformers suggest, with considerable justification, that, under the circumstances, our best hope is to make all schools community schools (Allen and Cosby, 2000; Epstein, 2004; Waks, 2005). The problem then becomes "how to manage these hybrid institutions so that both nonacademic and academic programs get a fair shake" (Epstein, 2005, p. J6). Clearly, teachers cannot be expected to take the responsibility for all aspects of their students' (often troubled) lives. These services should come from professionals hired by schools for these particular services and community agencies with appropriate resources already in place. Epstein suggests that because of their power to commandeer local resources, mayors may be the most likely candidates for coordinating these nonacademic services (2005). In any event, the schools need to establish lateral connections within the community to ensure that their students' needs are met. This practice would have the added advantage of breaking through the isolation that often separates and alienates the school from the surrounding community (Horne & Hotchkiss, 2007). As Epstein notes, "The foremost requirement is to ensure that others tend to the many nonacademic responsibilities of the communal child-rearing institutions while school superintendents, principals and teachers concentrate on imparting academic skills. That's the only way we'll have a fighting chance of improving student achievement while also working to improve children's lives" (Epstein, 2005, J6).

Only with such major reforms can we hope to give our students the competitive academic edge they need to compete in a flat world.

Question #1
What can teachers do to promote the curricular and instructional reforms most likely to foster the competencies in students that will empower them to function effectively in a flat world?

First Response to Question #1

Currently, teachers have very little input into school governance policies made at the federal and state levels. This must change. Teachers should have the power to determine policies that will affect them and their students directly. In the 1920s, university professors joined forces to gain power over their working conditions; as a result they now have considerable influence on almost all aspects of their professional lives, including the power to hire and fire and to speak freely without fear of serious repercussions. Elementary and secondary school teachers must follow their lead. To be effective, teachers must work at all levels to acquire more power over their professions and their lives—in their classrooms, institutions, communities, and the political arena.

Most immediately, teachers must fight for the working conditions that will allow them the time and energy they need to be politically and professionally active. When I recently taught English at a local high school, I was assigned six classes on a block schedule. Since I had three classes in a row on alternate days, I had to teach continuously for four-and-a-half hours. My four honors courses required me to assign and grade extra papers, and my two regular courses had many students with special needs that demanded extra time and attention. I barely had time for the administrative tasks that were piled onto the class preparation and grading I already had. With the very best of intentions, I had no extra time to work for the institutional and political reforms about which I felt so strongly. I voted with my feet by leaving after only a semester, but I couldn't help wondering: If all the teachers in this district had asserted themselves by protesting against this inhuman schedule and set of working conditions, might those in authority have possibly listened and even worked to improve them? This is not the time for teachers to be passive and submissive. We must speak loudly and with one voice to assert our needs and demand the changes necessary to ensure they are met.

Once we have the time and energy to do so, we must become more politically active at all levels, local to national. We must carefully research the positions of and vote for the administrators, legislators, school board members, and mayors most likely to support educational reform and the appropriation of the necessary funds to effect it. Teachers belonging to unions must make full use of their services, and those of us who are unable to unionize must simply unite our efforts and voices with those of other teachers to bring about the changes we need. Technology affords us many ways of communicating and cooperating with each other to reach our common goals; wikis, blogs, email, and listservs are just a few of the means we can use to collaborate with each other and make our wishes known to the public. Whenever possible, we must reach out to the members of our local communities—most immediately through the parents of our students—to make sure they are well informed on the issues and to enlist their help, if possible, in promoting needed reforms.

Within our institutions, we must work for curricular reform so that the materials we use directly speak to the students' interests and real-world needs. For example, given a choice between teaching Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to African American inner-city students, the English teacher should not think twice before deciding on the latter. We must work to integrate technology into our teaching and in our students' experience so that they can use it responsibly and effectively to increase their knowledge of academic subjects and of the "real" world. We must promote active, student-centered learning in our classrooms and foster the metacognitive critical thinking skills that will help students to achieve economic and personal success in the rapidly changing world of the twenty-first century. We must reach out to our minority students and engage them in meaningful learning that directly relates to their experience. We must instill a sense of social justice in all our students, helping them to work together to improve their lives and the world around them.

Second Response to Question #1

Assuming no vast US school reform is on the horizon the challenge of preparing students to be able to compete in this ever flattening working falls squarely on the shoulders of the classroom teacher. I believe that creativity, innovation, exploration, expression, and knowledge are key factors in a person's future success. How many of these traits are our schools designed to foster on a regular basis? On a good day two, three? Teachers are responsible for addressing the state standards and seeing that students perform up to par on state exams. However, the underlying challenge for the teacher really isn't teaching to the test, it's teaching to the student's potential. Educators need to educate the public on what the standardized tests really tell us. For some reason the public seems to lose site of the fact that these tests are minimum competence tests. So what if the scores are going up? Is it good enough to be minimally competent? In addition, teachers must maintain the mind set, in spite of all of the test pressure, that the SOLs are meant to be the floor, not the ceiling of what gets taught in the classroom. Too often educators pass up valuable educational moments because "it's not going to be on the test." I have observed first hand teachers choosing which standards to teach and which ones to skip in a calculated gamble to get the most bang for the buck on end of year tests. In one case, teachers collectively chose not to teach third graders multiplication because prior end of year tests only had a couple of such questions on them. This is not the only disturbing part of the story. The same teachers achieved incredible end of year scores, one even got a 100% pass rate. Yes, the students could pass without knowing multiplication. But guess what nightmares the fourth grade teachers inherited when their students had no idea what multiplication was? Does the public see this side of what high stakes tests are doing to the curriculum? There is something inherently wrong with a system that rewards a teacher (high pass rates) for cutting vital content out of instruction time. As an educator, I try to look at each child as my own. What would I want them to get from the experience? Education has to be personal. The teacher has to take the initiative to push the envelope when it comes to what is taught and how it is taught in his/her classroom. In the same way, it is up to the teacher to provide outlets for student's to explore and be creative even if it is within the scope of the state standards. Teachers aren't able to change the state requirements but they still have some freedom in how the material is presented. This means offering open ended questions and scenarios. This often means giving up the reins for a bit to allow for some student driven learning. Present the situations and see what your kids can do. As Ms. Frizzle says: " Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!" In the classroom you are the captain of the ship so guide it where it needs to go. Just make sure the admiral's on board with what your doing.

Question #2
How should classroom teachers successfully interact with students and families that hold cultural values that differ and even conflict with their own?

First Response to Question #2

Well there's no easy answer to this question but it definitely deserves attention. Certainly in some cases the teacher may have already had some previous cultural experience outside their normal comfort zone. However, let's assume we have a student originally from another country and a teacher who has never left the east coast of the US. Let's even have our student speak English so everythings looking pretty good right? Not necessarily... Some households view education as a top priority, some secondary or even less. In some cases a family may view work (as in jobs) as a top priority so schoolwork or even attending school may not happen. Populations can also be transient which can make for additional challenges. So how are teachers supposed to deal with this? Developing one's "cultural competence" may not come naturally. Perhaps cultural awareness should become a regular part of teacher training. If nothing else a serious effort should be made by the teacher to communicate with the household early on. Opening those lines of communication can be helpful but how do you overcome those cultural barriers? Honestly, I just don't have the answer to this question. I have had a few experiences with this situation but beyond making an effort to communicate with the household and trying to make everyone feel welcome in the classroom; I was at a loss as how to make the students and the parents make education a high priority. One time was my first year and I muddled through but just recently when I saw things weren't working as well as I'd like and I was pursuing some advice/help from other sources the family moved. I'm sure I'm not the only teacher concerned with this issue and my limited knowledge on how to successfully combat it. With the ever changing face of education it is more important than ever to promote cultural awareness.

Second Response to Question #2

Clearly, the teacher needs to do his/her best to find some common ground with the student and his/her family. Sometimes, of course, this is virtually impossible. For example, if both student and family see education as a means by which they as minority members are oppressed by the powers that be (represented by the teacher), winning them over could be quite hard. Sometimes in these cases, education is seen as "uncool" and resistance to it as a sign of heroic cultural resistance. Fortunately, most parents do value education and do equate it with professional and economic success for their children. This is, for example, especially true of many Asian immigrants, who come from countries where education and educators are held in high esteem. In such cases, the teacher's best bet is simply to convince the parents that he or she has the child's best interests at heart. Of course, it helps for the teacher to try to honor the cultural identity of the family by showing an interest in it. A social studies teacher covering Latin American history might, for example, want to invite the parents of a Hispanic student to the class to talk about their native diet or customs. Of course, it also really helps for the teacher to know something about different cultures. For example, my background in Chinese literature helped me enormously when I taught ESL composition to college freshmen, many of whom were of Asian extraction. Finally, I think it important for the teacher to model an attitude of acceptance and social justice with regard to minority students. He or she should try to impress on all the students in the class how important it is to treat others fairly and respectfully regardless of gender, race, or socioeconmic status.


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User talk:Msamurai

Hello, welcome to Wikibooks!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Staff lounge, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add this page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! Mattb112885 (talk) 15:42, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

One other thing
Your page Author List seems like it belongs as part of another book, which book would that be? I'd like to move it so that it conforms to the naming conventions for pages part of another book. Regards, Mattb112885 (talk) 15:47, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

It's not a part of another book. It is a page that contains the list of authors Msamurai 14:05, 11 June 2007 (UTC)msamurai

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Msamurai


text:
User talk:Claudiavf

Hello, welcome to Wikibooks!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Staff lounge, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add this page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! Mattb112885 (talk) 15:43, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Claudiavf


text:
User talk:Ravichandar84

Hello, welcome to Wikibooks!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Staff lounge, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add this page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! Mattb112885 (talk) 15:43, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Wikibook on .NET Application development foundation
Hi Ravichandar,

I've been working on Microsoft_Certified_Technology_Specialist/Exam_70-536 recently and I saw that you are interested in .NET while doing some research for other .NET resources on Wikibooks.

If you have a few minutes, could you take a look at the Microsoft_Certified_Technology_Specialist/Exam_70-536 and tell me if there are major errors or if you see ways of improving to book's organization.

Thanks in advance, Regards, -- Jacques (talk) (email) 17:37, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

.NET Framework 3.0
I'm glad you like the template, it's just a basic design so there is lots of room for improvement if you are interested. I'm not certain that this book is ready to be featured, and I'll tell you why: all the pages are very short and there are too few code examples. What's here serves as a brief summary of the topics, but doesn't really get in-depth to any practical level. As it stands now, it's more like an "introduction to the terminology of .NET 3.0", because it explains what some of the words are terms are, but doesn't explain how to implement them.

I think the book is off to a good start, but I feel like it really could be expanded in a number of areas. I would like to see more code examples, more text and explanations, more information in general.

If it's not your intent for this book to be large and comprehensive, maybe the title needs to be changed to reflect the fact that it's basically a short primer and not a "complete textbook" in the ordinary sense. "Introduction to .NET 3.0" or ".NET Framework 3.0 Primer" might be options worth considering. However, even with a change of title, I worry that there still isn't enough content, and people are going to vote against featuring it because of that.

To a certain degree I can help with the expansion when I have some time, but this isn't an area of expertise for me. Let me know what your plans are. --Whiteknight (Page) (Talk) 13:34, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Unfortunately, to move the book, you do need to move all 15 pages to new locations, and then update all the links to point to the correct places. User:Tsca.bot is capable of doing this automatically, although I'm not sure that the bot is still operatio

 * I can move the book for you if you confirm you want it done. – Mike.lifeguard  | talk 18:20, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Copyright problem with Image:Website Admin Security Roles.JPG

 * If you have trouble finding the information needed to fix this problem, please leave me a note on my talk page. We're trying to improve the information included in this template message. Thanks! – Mike.lifeguard  | talk 16:00, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Deletions
Redirects should not be deleted until orphaned. The redirects you marked for deletion are not orphaned; please make all links point to the new location before asking for the redirect to be deleted. Thanks. – Mike.lifeguard  | talk 16:48, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

You "closed" this VfD as delete. In practice VfDs stay open for a minimum of 7 days. As 7 days are now up maybe "reclose" the VfD now (allowiing it to have been open in a sense for 7 days)? Equally you can then re-instate the "impending doom" tag. I think you have to realise that the policy is there for a reason - if you had created something & were not a daily visitor to en wb then you might well be concerned to find that your offering had been deleted without you having a chance to voice an opinion. Thanks -- Herby talk thyme 14:16, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Ancient History
Hello Ravichandar, I've been working on the Ancient History Wikibook, and I'd like to use some of your work in Iranian History in the Ancient History/Iran section. Would you mind if I did this? Νεοπτόλεμος ( talk | email | contribs ) 16:49, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Sure thing, I can do that. Thanks! Νεοπτόλεμος ( talk | email | contribs ) 23:51, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
 * All right, I've copied it into the Ancient History book here. There is a small note at the bottom of that TOC page that tells where it comes from. I can add that note to each subpage if you'd like. Νεοπτόλεμος ( talk | email | contribs ) 20:03, 10 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It is now on each page. Thanks again for letting me use it! Νεοπτόλεμος ( talk | email | contribs ) 00:09, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

regarding Cutting Enzymes
I had tagged the page as the tag has been removed by another editor (not the original creator of the page), the requirements were not met (no clear scope or idea on what way the book should evolve was added, the information present is very general). There must be another book were the minor content present could be added to (I noticed you post on the talk page), if the book stalls in this situation the probable outcome will be a VFD vote... --Panic (talk) 02:36, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I have been patrolling and fixing a lot of related issues, but not from the same editor, posting information or making a fuss about it will probably not resolve the issue if it continues probably sticking a note in higher evidence in the toc will be the only recourse. I haven't examined every possibilities on why it is happening, I fixes some empty links on the toc to bad locations (outside the book scope) but new new pages have continued to appear outside...
 * I have been welcoming each one just in case the read the information and have made a comment on the end of the TOC, hope that suffices. --Panic (talk) 17:53, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * What part? Patrolling ? You can request the flag.
 * The problem seems to have been solved, probably fixing the toc, adding the note and providing the welcome information to the editors helped, no more pages outside of the book namespace...
 * You can reply here, I'm watching the page. --Panic (talk) 17:48, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

WB:VFD
While your close in this case is approximately correct, closing VFDs is generally left to the administrators. While you're not forbidden from doing so, please bear that in mind in the future. Thanks, — Mike.lifeguard | talk 17:27, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

 * To be exact the close was well performed (30 days after the last post without any opposing position). I have done plenty of closings of VfD discussion myself, any help is welcomed if done right. --Panic (talk) 18:07, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

WB:RFP
My only request before you get +patroller would be that you welcome users and explain to them any problems you see with their work & help them along. In a few instances, you've tagged stuff but the user still hadn't been welcomed, and you didn't explain your actions to them either. As long as that sort of communication is consistent, I think you'll do a good job. — Mike.lifeguard | talk 18:30, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

Adding sources
Myself as a author, I avoid making reference to sources and only do if the concept can't be explained in full on the book I'm working into or it isn't covered by the scope, everything else if there is a need to mention demonstrations or piratical applications goes in a special section at the end of the book (adding footnotes doesn't work very well in multipage books anyway). This should be a requests not a demand nor is it an obligation by the contributor (regarding a post of further info I saw by you, if we push new contributors to strongly they will faster quit than address or learn how to cope with requirements). --Panic (talk) 05:25, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

 * Firstly, I strongly feel that there should be references or at least some external links in order to establish that "it is a concept". Well, if there is no reference, it could very well be original research. As for the content, yeah, I agree with you. The author provides his own work after all. But I feel that the author should provide some reference or link on the topic.-Ravichandar My coffee shop 05:41, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

 * Yup, what I was attempting to state here is that we shouldn't demand (even if you feel that it should be added, request it, you can even work out a proposal to make it a requirement if you feel it is indispensable), there is no policy or guideline at the moment that puts that obligation upon the contributor. Especially with new users we must take care on the wording and requirements we use, even in minor vandalism we should attempt to apply something on the lines of Assume good faith, to educate and avoid alienating people, even with the best intentions this is a very difficult task and time consuming.
 * As for the requirement of sources, they can be useful and important on particular situations but if the topic is well known and non controversial the importance is not that great (besides those specific points I gave on the other post), consider the recent NPOV violation I made to South Ossetia War, you can even find sources that contradict themselves and books can cover topics that don't have any sources but aren't original work...  --Panic (talk) 05:57, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've never contributed to Wikipedia (when I think something is missing/bad I use the talk page there) but this is probably one of those things that are diferent. Help:Wikibooks for Wikimedians "As a general rule, Wikibooks modules don't contain as many links as Wikipedia articles. This is because a book is supposed to be a self-contained resource with a contiguous narrative. Links to all sorts of outside places can, furthermore, serve as a distraction. Links to other resources should usually be placed in a separate resources or bibliography section at the end of the book or module.", I share this view but try to add a link to the wikipedia article when first introducing a concept, new keyword, etc... --Panic (talk) 06:03, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, I didn't feel as if I was being too harsh. Indeed, I feel that we need atleast one or two references to check if the subject of the book is not a complete hoax or original research. Else, we might end up having something like Lo Langesi. As for your concerns about sourcing in Wikipedia, yeah, those kind of policies do exist in Wikipedia. And I do follow them in Wikipedia. However, I haven't created any such sort of content in Wikibooks with links (both internal and external) or inline citations. In fact, you will observe from my book on Iranian History that I've created a separate bibliography page with the required references for each chapter and provided links from that particular chapter in the book.-Ravichandar My coffee shop 18:39, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

I had seen some pages of the Iranian History project but only now taken the full picture of the work, great work. Yup the use of a Bibliography is important especially when dealing with historical events but consider a math book if they aren't covering something new or extremely complex (that the description they include doesn't suffice to illustrate it) adding sources is difficult, this goes for some technical books also if not rewriting something that has been said before... As for the wording I was referring also to the time line and tone. If we place ourselves on the skin of the contributor we can imagine something like this: - I just made my first contribution. Heck this is like Wikipedia. - I got a tag on my the page, darn. It states the I probably made it as resulting from an error or on the wrong place, the dude even posted something commenting on my work on the talk page. Fantastic, everyone is a critic. - Ho it was was fallowed by another post asking for sources stating that my writing is confusing, jeez, why do I bother, I'm probably a very bad writer. - Ho finally someone placed the welcome information, I was looking for (this site is very confusing), let's see what I did wrong. - Darn another post asking for sources, I quit... This can be a probable outcome if we consider the timing of our simultaneous interventions and the tone we used. Highlighting the negative aspects without balance with positives can be depressing to one that is contributing time and work freely. If we look Talk:Three Domains of Life (I've got a reply) my comments even if asking for action aren't negative and propose solutions or alternatives, that was all I was attempting to say (this not always works and I've had my dose of problems and been misunderstood often). --Panic (talk) 19:10, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * reset
 * Yeah, I get your point. You are right. -Ravichandar My coffee shop 13:40, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Textbook upload on United STates history
I've described my situation in the reading room,

basically the image came from wikipedia. Right or wrong, I had assumed most work from that sister site was available as images for the history book.

there is also a wikibook commons area, and I don't understand how to search it or use it. (I've had some people help me find some of those images). my thread in the reading room is here; --JoliePA (talk) 12:44, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

 * I was unable to verify clovis_man licensing, so I have used another file from the Wiki Commons.
 * Feel free to delete clovis_man.  Sorry for any inconveniance I may have caused. Thank you,--JoliePA (talk) 16:14, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

How To Build A Pykrete Bong
Hi Ravichandar84, Since your vote on Votes for deletion I've commented on your argument and wanted to bring that to your attention. --Swift (talk) 02:59, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

Consumer Behavior in Travel and Tourism
Hi Ravichandar84, thanks for the feedback, we are pretty new to this, and trying to do this book as a group project in a class. So we have 5 groups each working on a chapter, and they will also peer assess their writing. Can we have this approach rather than a strict wikibook, as this is meant to be wikibook class projects? Thanks. Paulpen

Welcome to the team, patroller!
Thanks for agreeing to help with new page patrol. There are several scripts you may be interested in using to make patrolling faster. Both can be enabled on the Gadgets tab of my preferences:
 * Twinkle Speedy
 * AJAX patrolling

As well, you may wish to join us in IRC at #wikibooks for work and play. If you need help with the tools, feel free to leave a message on my talk page. — Mike.lifeguard | talk 04:29, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Bad Science
What are you up to?

I've only just started to add content to this new book and you're requesting its deletion. Please could you just hold on a minute? Or maybe write your explanations (Challenging NPOV? What on Earth for?) before you put your tags on?

Ewen (talk) 11:22, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

 * I did not tag Bad Science for deletion. If at all you desire to build a book, fine. You could expanded the page, create new ones and remove the query tag which I posted there. I feel that the page is more relevant for Wikipedia than Wikibooks. Well, it appears more like a advocacy of something and one-sided. It needs cleanup for sure. Cheers-Ravichandar My coffee shop 11:28, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

 * It's kind of sneaky to change your comments on my talk page like that, don't you think? Perhaps if you considered what you were saying before posting it...?

 * Anyway, as it happens I have Ben Goldacre's permission to copy this work of his onto a wikibook. He originally asked on his blog if anyone would be willing to do this and he confirmed by e-mail that I could go ahead.

 * Ewen (talk) 11:27, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

 * Please be calm. I did not place those messages which I removed. They were placed there automatically. Oh, very well. :-) In that case, I'll remove them. But please try to improve upon your work. We cannot allow that book to remain here for long in the present condition. Thanks-Ravichandar My coffee shop 11:44, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

seven days
Dear Ravichandar84,

Thank you for making many excellent improvements to Wikibooks.

Allow me to point out a (perhaps new?) Wikibooks policy:

The current Wikibooks policy says that we must wait until a new Wikibook "has existed on the system for more than one week ... give the Wikibook some time to develop before the VfD discussion even takes place" before slapping the on it. See WB:DP.

A bit annoying that I can't slap that on there as soon as I see it, since in a week I'll probably have forgotten all about it.

But you know. It's policy. --DavidCary (talk) 00:18, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Just a reminder to use common sense - there might well be exceptions to that. Also, speedy deletions needn't wait! — Mike.lifeguard | talk 03:26, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Ravichandar84


text:
User talk:Smtomak~enwikibooks

Hello, welcome to Wikibooks!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Staff lounge, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add this page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

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Your account will be renamed
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The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

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title: User talk:Smtomak~enwikibooks


text:
User talk:KSmith

Hello, welcome to Wikibooks!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Staff lounge, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add this page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! Mattb112885 (talk) 15:44, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:KSmith


text:
User talk:82.36.149.196

Thanks for experimenting with Wikibooks. Your test worked, and has now been removed. Please use Sandbox for any other tests you want to do, since testing material in modules will normally be removed quickly. Please see the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing to our project. Thanks. --Jomegat 16:22, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:82.36.149.196


text:
User talk:Michael.g.robertson~enwikibooks

Come introduce yourself at the new users page. If you have any questions, you can ask there or contact me personally. --AdRiley 17:37, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Michael.g.robertson. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Michael.g.robertson~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:27, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 05:15, 19 April 2015 (UTC)


text:
User talk:Cswann

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title: User talk:Cswann


text:
User talk:Nomi22

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title: User talk:Nomi22


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User talk:Yahyamomo

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title: User talk:Yahyamomo


text:
User talk:SarahWilliamson

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title: User talk:SarahWilliamson


text:
User talk:Eckz~enwikibooks

Come introduce yourself at the new users page. If you have any questions, you can ask there or contact me personally. --AdRiley 17:39, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Eckz. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Eckz~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:07, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
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title: User talk:Eckz~enwikibooks


text:
User talk:Lugojan

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title: User talk:Lugojan


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User talk:Dominek~enwikibooks

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Your account will be renamed
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The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Dominek. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Dominek~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

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Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:10, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
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title: User talk:Dominek~enwikibooks


text:
User talk:Kangryhjhe~enwikibooks

Come introduce yourself at the new users page. If you have any questions, you can ask there or contact me personally. --AdRiley 17:41, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
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The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Kangryhjhe. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Kangryhjhe~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:19, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
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title: User talk:Kangryhjhe~enwikibooks


text:
User talk:D L Thomas

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title: User talk:D L Thomas


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User talk:Yongjae Park~enwikibooks

Come introduce yourself at the new users page. If you have any questions, you can ask there or contact me personally. --AdRiley 17:50, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
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The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Yongjae Park. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Yongjae Park~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

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title: User talk:Yongjae Park~enwikibooks


text:
COSTP World History Project

About COSTP World History Project

 * 1) Civilizations of Ancient Times
 * 2) Ancient philosophy and the development of Western political thought
 * 3) Eastern Civilization and Its Impact
 * 4) An Age of Empires - Rome, Han China, and the Silk Road
 * 5) More Changes in the Middle East
 * 6) The Middle Ages and Middle Eastern Golden Age
 * 7) Precolumbian History of the Americas
 * 8) Ancient Kingdoms of Africa
 * 9) Changes in Eurasia - Mongol Conquest and Aftermath
 * 10) The Renaissance in Europe
 * 11) Age of Discovery & Imperialism
 * 12) Three Revolutions, liberty and self-government
 * 13) The Industrial Revolution
 * 14) Reform Politics in the Early Industrial Age
 * 15) Unification & Nationalism
 * 16) Global change in the era of New Imperialism
 * 17) Causes and course of the First World War
 * 18) Effects of the First World War
 * 19) Africa & Asia Between the Wars
 * 20) Totalitarian governments after World War I
 * 21) Causes and course of World War II
 * 22) Effects of WWII
 * 23) Contemporary nation-building and the Cold War
 * 24) The World Economy
 * 25) The Post-Cold War World
 * 26) A New Millenium

The California Open Source Textbook Project (COSTP), founded by Sanford Forte, began as a private/public undertaking promote use of California State K-12 Standards to develop printed and eBook versions of open source textbooks that will be approved for adoption by California's State Board of Education for use in California public schools at far less cost than current commercial textbook offerings - thus helping the State of California save money ($200M+ per year) while providing more robust content for its public schools.

The COSTP World History Project on Wikibooks is a placeholder pilot that helped prove Open-licensed textbooks as a viable concept in K-12 education. The COSTP World History Project proved successful in helping California education officials understand the value of the open source content approach applied to K-12 textbooks.

At this point in time, (October, 2010) the World History Project takes on the role of "historical document", in that as a very early promotional tool - even in an incomplete state - it succeeded in helping educators and policy makers understand how a textbook could be collaboratively built on the web, by collaborators - in a way that would gain acceptance by educators and policy makers.

Please note: Wikibooks hosts another textbook on World History based on Advanced Placement Standards for World History. Although a worthy project in its own right, the AP World History project is not related to the California Open Source Textbook Project (COSTP). COSTP is dedicated to writing content that strictly adheres to the California State Education framework for K-12 content in all disciplines - in this case, World History.

In order for open source books to pass peer review (and thus approval for public school adoption) at the California State Board level (this is also true in most other states), textbook content *must* conform to the written state K-12 education framework standard - this is a sine qua non for adoption, no exceptions are made. California's State Board of Education would thus *not* approve the above AP World History project for general adoption because it does not conform to California's K-12 World History standard. This is an important distinction between the two projects. Private institutions, some state education bureaucracies, and independent learners might want to choose the AP World History course for their own specific purposes, but adoption by California public schools for widespread baseline World History K-12 education would not be permitted or considered for the reasons stated.

Please visit http://www.opensourcetext.org for more information.

title: COSTP World History Project


text:
User talk:EhsanJoud

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title: User talk:EhsanJoud


text:
User talk:Mdiez

Hello, welcome to Wikibooks!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Staff lounge, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add this page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! Mattb112885 (talk) 21:40, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Mdiez


text:
User talk:Ericxu

Hello, welcome to Wikibooks!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Staff lounge, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add this page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! Mattb112885 (talk) 21:40, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Ericxu


text:
Talk:Programmed Math/Subtraction

If a=10 and b=20, a - b = -10, not 10

Fixed, and please, add a signature! --Alegend (discuss • contribs) 13:25, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

title: Talk:Programmed Math/Subtraction


text:
Wikijunior:Human Body/ExcretorySystem

The excretory system is how our bodies get rid of things they don't need. This is called waste. The urinary system is a part of this, but there are also other organs that help our bodies get rid of waste.

What does the excretory system look like? (Appearance)

The largest organs in the excretory system are the kidneys. There are 2 of them. They are shaped like large reddish brown beans. They are about the size of a fist and are located on each side of your back.

Running from the kidneys to the bladder are two long skinny tubes called ureters.

The bladder is a hollow organ that holds urine. It can stretch to hold more liquid. There is another tube called the urethra that carries urine out of the body.

The excretory system also includes skin and lungs to expel waste.

What are the parts of the excretory system? (Parts)
There are several parts of the excretory system. To get rid of liquid waste in our bodies, we have two kidneys, two ureters, a bladder, and a urethra.

Kidneys filter our blood to get rid of things in our blood that are not needed. If we didn’t have kidneys, we would eventually be poisoned by this waste. The kidneys are full of millions of microscopic things called nephrons. They filter the blood and produce urine. Urine is the liquid that leaves your body when you go to the bathroom.

The urine travels down two tubes called ureters to get to the bladder. The bladder is where urine is stored until you go to the bathroom. The last tube the urine goes through to leave the body is called the urethra.

Solid wastes leave the body through the rectum, as described in the section on the digestive system. The lungs are also a part of the excretory system. They get rid of the carbon dioxide that our bodies don’t need. This happens when we breathe out, as is described in the section on the respiratory system.

One other part of the excretory system is our sweat glands. The purpose of sweat glands is to keep our bodies cool and also to get rid of wastes, including salts that our body doesn’t need. Sweat glands are in your skin, and there are over 2 million of them in each person!

What is the function of the excretory system? (Function)
There are some things in our body that can’t be used and may even be dangerous to your body. They need to be gotten rid of. The job of the excretory system is to get rid of that waste.

How does the excretory system interact with other parts of the body? (Interactions With Other Body Parts)
All of our blood runs through our kidneys every day. There is an artery and a vein that runs in and out of each kidney to take the blood there and back.

Solid waste is filtered out by the digestive system.

Without the excretory system, the other parts of the body would eventually be poisoned by waste.

How can you keep your excretory system healthy? (Health)
Make sure to eat healthy foods and drink plenty of water. If you have any pain when you go to the bathroom, make sure to tell someone, so they can see if something is wrong.

If you have diarrhea or sweat too much, your body may lose too much fluids and salts. Make sure to drink lots of water to replenish your body. You may also need to drink a sports drink.

title: Wikijunior:Human Body/ExcretorySystem


text: File:BlenderHotkeysObjectMode.png

title: File:BlenderHotkeysObjectMode.png


text:
Korean/Courses plan

 * See also: Authoring Foreign Language Textbooks

The Korean Wikibook has two major divisions:
 * Reading, writing, and pronunciation
 * Conversation

Reading, writing, and pronunciation
The Reading, writing, and pronunciation series teaches hangeul, the Korean writing system. The student is assumed to have no previous knowledge of Korean.
 * Korean/Alphabet: a brief overview of Hangeul
 * Korean/RWP: Read, Write, Pronounce Korean is a course teaching Hangeul.
 * See: Korean/Writing lessons plan.
 * Includes: jamo stroke order, composition, basic pronunciation; jamo in English cognates; reading, writing.
 * Deliberately excludes vocabulary and grammar.
 * Basic phonology is only exposed incidentally.
 * Korean/Principles of Orthography: writing jamo, composing syllables (initials; horizontal, vertical, wrapping medials; finals)
 * needs to include other principals, e.g. palatization of consonants before 이, 여, 야, etc.
 * Korean/Essential Pronunciation Rules: plain, aspirated, tense; ㄹ; initial, medial, final; ㅇ; final-initial ㄴㄹ, ㄹㄹ; t-stops
 * needs to include palatization and other essential topics
 * Korean/Advanced Pronunciation Rules: phonology of final-initial combinations
 * needs much more

Conversation
The conversation series teaches Korean vocabulary and grammar. The student is expected to know how to read, write, and pronounce Korean before beginning this series.

This series has the following goals:
 * The series should be easy for the target student.
 * The series should teach essential vocabulary and grammar.
 * The series should introduce important aspects of modern Korean culture.

The target student is assumed to have the following characteristics:
 * Upon beginning the Level I (beginner) series of conversation lessons, the student already knows hangeul but presumably nothing else about the Korean language or culture.
 * Upon beginning the subsequent series, the student is assumed to know the content of the previous series but not necessarily anything else about the Korean language.
 * The student may have no access to Korean reference material other than the Wiktionary entries directly linked from the lessons.
 * The student may have no access to a teacher of Korean or to any native Korean speakers.

Structure
The conversation series are structured as follows:
 * Level I: Beginner
 * Basic Korean sentence structure, basic vocabulary, and greetings
 * Particles, present progressive, future tense, requests
 * Level II: High beginner
 * Level III: Low intermediate
 * Level IV: High intermediate
 * Level V: Low advanced
 * Level VI: Advanced

Grammar topics
The following grammar topics are arranged according to intended sequence of introduction:
 * Basic Korean sentence structure
 * Verb stems
 * Honorifics (시, 으시)
 * Present indicative 합쇼체 (ㅂ니다/습니다): Korean/Lesson I1
 * Topic particle (는/은): Korean/Lesson I1
 * Present interrogative 합쇼체 (ㅂ니까/습니까): Korean/Lesson I1
 * Noun honorific suffix: (-님)
 * Special honorific nouns
 * Particles
 * 에 (locative particle): currently in Korean/Lesson I1, but probably should move to a later lesson
 * 에게 (dative particle): currently in Korean/Lesson I1, but probably should move to a later lesson
 * 에서 (from, at, location of action particle): Korean/Lesson I2
 * 로/으로 (toward): Korean/Lesson I2
 * 를/을 (direct object particle): Korean/Lesson I2
 * 이다 and 있다
 * 해요체 and 해체 speech levels
 * 겠다 (future tense): currently in Korean/Lesson I2, but probably should move to a later lesson
 * 고 있다 (present progressive): Currently in Korean/Lesson I2, but it should probably move to a latter lesson.
 * Imperative 합쇼체
 * Hortative (proposative)
 * Past 합쇼체
 * 하다 and -하다 compounds
 * -고
 * -지 (덥지 않아요, 어렵지 않아요)
 * -니
 * other clausal/combining forms
 * Other tenses (remote past, past future, remote past future) and moods (cohortative)
 * Counters?
 * Optional plural marker (들)
 * ㅂ->우 (verb stem change before vowel)
 * E.g.: 귀엽다 (귀여워요), 덥다
 * Exceptions: 뽑다 (뽑아요), 집다 (집어요)

Before this course plan was created, a separate grammar series took a rules-based approach to teaching Korean. The following legacy grammar topics should be incorporated into the main the conversation series:
 * Korean/Verbs (Talk:Korean/Verbs)
 * Speech levels: To ensure that learners who quit early walk away with the most useful polite speech levels, the verbs lesson teaches the speech levels 합쇼체 and 해요체 in that order.
 * Korean/Nouns (Talk:Korean/Nouns)
 * Korean/Particles
 * Korean/Personal pronouns (Talk:Korean/Personal pronouns)
 * casual and polite/humble equivalents
 * avoidance of second person singular pronoun
 * substitutes for second/third person pronouns
 * contractions with particles
 * Korean/Demonstrative pronouns
 * Korean/Adjectives
 * Korean/Determiners
 * Korean/Conjunctions
 * Korean/Comparatives and superlatives
 * Korean/Questions
 * Korean/Commands
 * Korean/Dates and times

Glossary index
To help ensure that lessons build only on material already taught, Korean/Conversation lessons plan/Glossary lists each vocabulary word along with the lesson where it is first introduced.

title: Korean/Courses plan


text:
How To Beat The Draft Board

How To Beat The Draft Board is a tutorial on how to be successful in getting an exemption to the United States draft in the event that it should be reactivated.

Table of Contents

 * 1) Background
 * 2) Meeting Structure
 * 3) General Strategies
 * 4) Claim #1: Conscientious Objector (1-A-O, 1-O)
 * 5) Claim #2: Hardship (3-A)
 * 6) Claim #3: Divinity Student (2-D) or Minister (4-D)
 * 7) Claim #4: Essentiality of Occupation (2-AM)
 * 8) Other Deferments Or "Options"
 * 9) Closing

About
This guide was originally written in the 2000s, based on my official training for becoming a member of a local draft board. As the original author at the time was an active member of a draft board, this was authored anonymously.

title: How To Beat The Draft Board


text:
How To Beat The Draft Board/Background

 * Background

A concern in times of strife shared among many Americans is the reinstatement of the draft. The general Selective Service draft could draft, in normal active operation, men between the ages of 18 and 25, starting at age 20 (up to 25, then down to 18). An additional healthcare draft could draft healthcare workers into military service from ages 20 to 44 normally, possibly up to 55. While both drafts currently only apply to men, if reinstated, the healthcare draft would very likely include women due to the major role women now play in the modern healthcare industry. Congressional action has the potential to also modify the general draft to select women as well.

Many people, due to varying reasons of conviction, would find their participation in a particular military action, or any military action, to be immoral, yet have registered with the Selective Service System. Conscientious objection has long been recognized by the government, but seldom respected. Conscientious objectors have been ostracized, fined, jailed, pressed into service, denied any clothing in response to refusal to wear a uniform, and even used as human guinea pigs for alternative service (WWII). While the system has slowly become more tolerant, the burden of evidence and standards for conscientious objection are still extremely high. Hardship deferments are not treated as harshly, but the standards tend to still be quite strict. Various other types of claims can be made as well, from essentiality of occupation to ministerial deferments.

Yet, the problem often doesn't lie within the standards. The fact is that many of the people on draft boards are old, retired career military individuals who simply don't like the concept of conscientious objection or other deferments. Many feel that military life is something that everyone would appreciate once exposed to it, and that it is disloyal to refuse to serve your country if your country calls you. In my Selective Service board training, one member declared during a role-playing session that the fictional CO (Conscientious Objector), despite his sincerity, should have his claim denied: "basic training would straighten him out" and he'd be "happy to serve after that"; all he needed was a good "indoctrination". Four out of five people on one team denied CO status to the aforementioned character after acknowledging that the registrant met the CO guidelines (sincerity, opposition to all wars, morally/ethically grounded, etc). Why? The registrant was "a good shot, and he would be an important addition to the army". These sorts of arguments are, quite obviously, completely against the guidelines. That doesn't change the fact that these people now serve on local boards.

You may be told a lot of things by people if you receive a draft notice. You may be told, for example, that they won't make you serve in a combat role if you oppose such an assignment. Don't believe it. The only way to ensure that you're in a noncombat role while serving in the military is to be classified as 1-A-O status, which means an appeal to the draft board. A friend of mine lost a close, pacifist friend in the Vietnam War who fell for precisely this lie. He was shot and killed in combat carrying a weapon that he refused to load. Despite his explicit requests not to be buried in a military uniform, he was buried in one. It took a protest on the part of the pallbearers not to have his coffin buried with an American Flag on it. No matter what your reason for wanting to avoid the draft, the time to act is when you receive your notice or sooner. Don't leave your fate to chance.

If you truly object to service, getting past your local draft board is not something that should be taken lightly. This guide is designed to show you, the registrant, how to stand the best possible odds of your claim making it past review.

title: How To Beat The Draft Board/Background


text:
How To Beat The Draft Board/Meeting Structure

 * Meeting Structure

Regardless of the grounds on which you appeal your draft notice, the procedure will be roughly the same. Your order will be to report for a physical, mental, and moral evaluation; after you receive the results, you will have only ten days to file a claim for exemption, postponement, or deferment. When your claim is processed, the local board will be alerted and will work you into their schedule - probably in a matter of days to weeks, depending on their workload.

When you are met, or any of your witnesses are met, there will be something along the lines of this:
 * Starting the meeting

 * Introduction/Welcome/This is an informal hearing.
 * Photographic/sound equipment/verbatim transcripts prohibited; however, registrant may take notes during hearing
 * If hearing is open to the public (as per your request), the chair may limit the number of people in the room and may close the hearing if the people become disruptive.
 * May have up to three witnesses.
 * May not be represented by a lawyer, but may have an advisor. The advisor may have discussions with the registrant, but may NOT take an active part in the hearing, nor interfere with the proceedings.
 * May have interpreter, if necessary may present evidence not contained in the file.
 * False statements subject to imprisonment of up to five years or fine of up to $250,000, or both.

 * Closing the meeting

On closing of the meeting, you will be told something along the lines of this:

 * Thank registrant/witness/interpreter/advisor
 * Decision will be made by board members present
 * Decision will be based on oral testimony and information in file
 * Registrant classified in lowest class for which eligible
 * Registrant will receive notice of classification identifying claim considered, which will notify him whether claim is granted or denied and, if denied, the reason for denial.
 * The notice of classification will inform registrant of appeal rights and procedures.
 * Registrant may file written summary of testimony within five calendar days from date of hearing.
 * CO claims only: If classified 1-0 (not available for combat or non-combat military service) and found qualified for service, will receive order to perform alternative service and required to serve 24 months. If classified 1-A-O (available for non-combat military service only), will receive an induction reporting date for noncombatant service in the armed forces.


text:
How To Beat The Draft Board/General Strategies

 * General Strategies

The meeting is not a trial. If you become combative, you will likely be reminded of this. Whatever the biases of the board members, they only want a smooth meeting with which to assess you. What they would like is more akin to the meeting of a psychiatrist with a patient. Your advisor, if you choose to have one, is not taking the role of a lawyer. They can only talk to you. If they talk to the board, they will be out of order, and may end up kicked out.
 * Not a trial

I would strongly advise against having an advisor, except for possibly a ministerial deferment. Especially in CO cases, the board needs to assess your sincerity. Whispering back and forth with an advisor is a perfect way to make you look insincere. Equally insincere in appearance is reading from a script, or sounding like you're reciting a memorized script. Relax. Know what you plan to say, but try to have a calm, peaceable conversation.
 * Advisor

If you absolutely feel that you must bring an advisor, consider having a lawyer as the advisor (this is allowed). Lawyers are intimidating. The lawyer could just sit there silently and still have an effect. Board members are just laypeople, volunteers. We want lawsuits (even meritless ones) about as much as we want our teeth drilled. This came up as a concern by several board members during training. If you are going for a claim in which sincerity is key, however, I would recommend against any advisor for the aforementioned reasons.

Practice with your witnesses. Your witness may undercut your argument if they say something dumb or otherwise contradict yourself. Have them read this guide. Use written documentation wherever appropriate. It must be signed to be considered. No matter how important a piece of documentation would be for us, if it's not signed, we cannot use it. Try to supply, as documentation, anything you can think of, just in case the board needs it. The local board cannot re-hear your case again later if you forget to provide something; they'll just weigh the evidence without it.
 * Witnesses

Know your board. Who is on it is a matter of public record. If you can't find them elsewhere, contact the Selective Service at www.sss.gov; as of the time of writing, the phone number is 1-703-605-4100. You can do an internet search for the board members' names to see if you can get any clues to how they stand on the issues. A bad sign is a retired ex-military person. A good sign is a young person with involvement in antiwar groups. The best information would be found by talking with a local board member or someone who has gone before them. Talking with a board member does not give that board member a conflict of interest - although, if they're not supportive, you may be hurting your chances if you come across as trying to cheat the system. Conflicts of interest for board members generally only apply to close relatives, coworkers and employers/employees, not friends and neighbors. If evidence suggests that the board is disinclined to approve a certain type of claim, consider filing a different type.
 * Know your board

If you have not been drafted yet, consider moving to an area with a friendly board. As a trainer stated at our meeting, "I have a number of boards who I could rely on to deny almost every CO claim that comes before them. I also have some who consistently approve almost every CO claim." Remember: you only need to have your claim approved once. You can appeal the decision of your local board to the regional or even national board, but the government will never appeal a decision that was made in your favor. A local board's decision in your favor is final.
 * Pick your board

Pick a proper claim. You can pick multiple claims - however, there are a few caveats. You will ultimately only be classified under one status. The board will have to hear each claim separately. This may sound like two claims double your chances, but there are downsides. For one, you're holding up the board from reviewing other registrants, which may or may not predispose members against you, depending on their personalities and schedules. Secondly, filing under multiple claims has the possibility of making you seem insincere about your claims. The board knows that someone may file under multiple claims for precisely the reason that you would be tempted to do it - to double your odds. Whether or not to do this should be left up to you and your particular situation.
 * Know your claims


text:
How To Beat The Draft Board/Claim

Claim #1: Conscientious Objector (1-A-O, 1-O)

There are two conscientious objector categories. 1-A-O means that you refuse to serve in a combat role, but will serve the military in a noncombat role. If you file for this and are approved, expect to be placed in the military. Note that in the modern military, the roles between combat and noncombat roles have been somewhat blurred; even a trucker in Iraq gets shot at, and bases get hit by incoming artillery. 1-O means that you object to all forms of military service. This does not mean that if you are approved that you get to sit around at home all day; rather, you are assigned to twenty-four months of "alternative service". This is designed to be a kind of service that will help the government out as much as possible without violating your moral beliefs. If it does, you can appeal your assignment - hence, as much as they'd like to assign you to a munitions plant, they know it would be a waste of their time because you'd just appeal. The classic example of alternative service from ages past is forestry service.

CO status may well be the hardest status to get. However, there is one advantage: it is permanent.

The key issue for CO status is that you must convince the board of your sincerity. This cannot be overstressed. The board must truly believe that you are sincere in your strong, long-held beliefs. The reason for your belief does not need to be religious, as it used to. Ethical or moral beliefs that are strongly held are also admittable. The registrant must be opposed to all wars. Not just some, not just the current war. All wars. The board officially cannot ask you about hypothetical wars or future situations (that doesn't mean that they won't, though; don't complain if they do). But if they ask you (for example) would you have fought in World War II, the answer must be no (preferably with convincing, sincere elaboration). You can support the right to self-defense, but not at a national level (a person who subscribes to St. Augustine's "just war" doctrine does not qualify for CO status). The cutoff point is the community level. Your behavior must match your stated beliefs.

 * Length of time counts

Another major issue will be the length of time that you have held these beliefs. If you developed these beliefs recently, you will likely cause serious doubt as to how deepheld your CO beliefs are. At least a year should be a standard, and many years is highly recommended. Documentation of past beliefs is very valuable. Witnesses can be especially valuable in a CO case, as they can attest to knowing about your beliefs for a long period of time. It is in your best interests to bring three witnesses who will sincerely vouch for you.

 * Subjectivity

Because this category is so subjective, your odds are highly dependent on who your board is. If your board hates COs, they may deny your claim even if you make a flawless case. A friendly board (while somewhat rarer, they certainly do exist) may approve even a sloppy CO case. But you might as well give yourself the best odds you can. Don't be stupid. Don't say, for example, that you've studied MLK and Gandhi when you haven't. The board may ask you some basic questions about them, and if you can't answer those, you've been caught lying. Which means that you have no sincerity, which means that your odds of being denied are quite high.

 * Summary

Summary: Having a non-hostile board and coming across as sincere are the most important elements.

title: How To Beat The Draft Board/Claim


text:
How To Beat The Draft Board/Claim2

 * Claim #2: Hardship (3-A)

A hardship claim means that there's one or more people out there who will be seriously adversely affected by you being drafted. Who? Almost anyone. Wife, child, parent, grandparent, and sibling are the official categories, but it can be applied to others (a sample case involves a niece and nephew). The support can include financial assistance, personal care, and companionship. Pretty broad, so you have lots of wiggle room there, so long as there are serious adverse effects: "more than the usual and customary grief and problems caused by the absence of a loved one". Furthermore, there cannot be a reasonable solution to the problem - a workaround that remedies the situation should you be drafted. Being the lone care provider for someone who cannot take care of themselves, with no other friends or relatives who could do the job and no money to pay for care, is a good example.

This claim is less subjective than CO, but still highly subjective. Witnesses can be very important here. Boards are somewhat less likely to be inherently hostile to a hardship claim than to a CO, but it won't help with the people who think that their job is to send as many people on to the military as possible. Written documentation can be critical to prove the claims that you're making; your word alone is unlikely to be good enough. Don't lie.

Summary: Having a non-hostile board is important, but sincerity and good documentation are critical.

title: How To Beat The Draft Board/Claim2


text:
How To Beat The Draft Board/Claim3

Claim #3: Divinity Student (2-D) or Minister (4-D)
These claims are almost unfairly easy to land … if you have the qualifications. They tend to be "just the facts"; reviews, so the particular board isn't as important as it is with prior claims.

Divinity Students
For a divinity student, you must prove that you are preparing for the ministry under direction of a recognized church or religious organization, making satisfactory progress, and working towards this full time. The school must be a recognized theological or divinity school. The church must have an organized structure, congregations chapters or groups, scheduled services/meetings, liturgical materials, shared beliefs, and a governing body. About the only personal judgment the board would likely weigh is how long you've been in the school (more than one semester is probably good enough). The length of the exemption is 12 months or less. You can then reapply for another deferment.

Ministers
For a minister, you must be recognized by your church as a minister of religion, the church must be established as a community of faith and belief, doctrines, and practices. Ministering must be your primary focus. The only kind of judging that may come into play here is if you're part of a religion where "everyone" is a minister, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, or if the church you claim to be a minister for is itself iffy. There is no expiration date for this claim.

Judging
I'll again stress that there is very little judging here apart from the facts of the case (so have everything documented and signed!). Witnesses aren't very important compared to prior claims, but are unlikely to hurt. You could come in looking high and have a criminal record, but if your papers are in order, it would be very hard for the board to deny your claim.

title: How To Beat The Draft Board/Claim3


text:
How To Beat The Draft Board/Claim4

Claim #4: Essentiality of Occupation (2-AM)
This applies only to people who work in the healthcare industry. Curiously enough, neither in our training literature nor the lectures was a "length of time in the field" consideration listed, which would make this seem to be a good fields to get into late in the game for a deference, like ministerial school. However, that doesn't mean that a board won't weigh the job change. Also, note that healthcare workers may be in double jeopardy for being drafted, as both the general and healthcare draft lotteries could select them (whichever lottery selects them first gets them). So, it's a double-edged sword. Ministerial school is probably a safer bet.

Critical roles
You not only must be working in the healthcare industry, but you must be filling a critical national or community healthcare need. This can be the practice of medicine, health research, teaching health care professionals, or being engaged in the delivery of other direct health care services. You must be unable to be replaced within the foreseeable future because of a shortage of other persons with the same qualifications and skills. Removal of you for your position would have to cause a lengthy loss of effectiveness in health care activity, especially in the community. For community needs essentiality, you must be currently practicing in the community in question or be contracted to serve there in the future, in a way that the breaking of the contract would lead to the reduction or elimination of the service (only concerning a contract signed at least six months before the date of the induction order and with a start date not later than 90 days after the induction date).

Teachers and researchers
Note that not only can direct health care providers get this exemption, as mentioned, but also teachers and researchers. They must demonstrate that removal of them from their positions would cause a long term shortage or elimination of critical health care teaching or research services. From the board's perspective, they're going to be looking for people who, if removed from their jobs, their community or the nation will be clearly harmed more than it supposedly benefits from having the citizens serving in the military.

Example cases
A good example of an essentiality claim is a doctor who is one of the few health practitioners on a remote island. Technically, however, it could apply to people as diverse as a teacher in a medical school or a person writing software for medical research, so long as they can demonstrate how important their work is to the future of local and/or national healthcare.

title: How To Beat The Draft Board/Claim4