BIA Officer, Joshua Yazzie: "One of those good people."

I am very sad to write this, but I wanted to, to pay in my small, stumbling way, tribute to a very good, honorable man.

BIA Officer, Joshua Yazzie, someone I didn't know very well, but did cross paths with a few times during the past year, was killed in the line of duty when his car lost control and rolled down a steep embankment while he was responding to a call to assist an ambulance crew with an intoxicated person who had grown violent.

The following is part of an article published in the Vernal Express:

(http://www.vernal.com/detail/326951.html)

'Curtis Cesspooch, chairman of the Ute Tribe's Business Committee, said he knew Yazzie well enough to know he was a good man with a young family.

"Things that happen in life can be so unexpected, at anytime we can lose good people. Josh was one of those good people," said Cesspooch….

...Ute Tribe emergency management director Misty Bruns called Yazzie "one of the nicest people you would ever meet." He was always fair and professional, and he treated others with respect, she said.

"He was always one of the first people to show up when help was needed," Bruns said...

He is survived by his wife, Jessica; two children, Jaxsen and MaCee; parents Robert and Joan Yazzie; five siblings and many other relatives.'

His obituary can be found here: www.hullingermortuary.com/obituaries.html

Officer Yazzie was a good man, and it is sad to see such a person who has done so much good, taken from the earth. There is a shortage of honorable men in this world, and Officer Yazzie was an honorable man. May he rest in peace.

True Love.

Most people are familiar with the scene in The Princess Bride where the priest gives a speech before he *attempts* to marry Buttercup and Prince Humperdink. The topic of his speech is "Wuv. Twu wuv." (translated, "Love. True love.") Which causes me to wonder. What exactly is "True love," anyway, and how does one recognize it? Both in her/himself and in others? I'm still trying to figure that out. But I think I have some better ideas than I have before.


Some (not all) earmarks of true love are below. This applies to all sorts of relationships, not just romantic.

* The person respects him/herself.
*The person does not feel a NEED to be with another in order to feel of worth.
*The person is honorable, in that s/he obeys laws, and is honest, etc.
*Along with that, the person does not pretend to have values/standards that are different than what her/his true values/standards are.
*The person does not feel a need to change the essence of who s/he is.
*If change in behavior or attitude is necessary to become a better person, however, the person is willing to make those changes.
*These changes are not made to conform to what another wants, but because they are the right thing to do.
* The person's interest in the other person is not for his/her own selfish gain.

*The person doesn't want others to fail or look bad, and does not feel pleasure when others fail or look bad.

*The person understands that every human being is a son or daughter of God, and has infinite worth.
*The person does not feel a need to tear others down, or to assume the worst about others in order to feel of worth her/himself.
*The person does not tolerate being treated abusively in any way by anyone, and avoids relationships with abusive people as much as possible.

As I wrote before, these indicators are by no means the only ones that show whether true love is present or not. But I think the bottom line is, in order to truly love others, one must first respect herself or himself.

In my books I have tried hard to portray healthy relationships in which real love would be present if the people existed in real life. I hope I have done that.

Far World: Land Keep by J. Scott Savage

The fantastic story that was started with Water Keep continues with Land Keep, with Kyja and Marcus seeking the help of the Land Elementals. Along the way, they meet some new folks, and have some, shall I say, rather educational experiences that help them grow and progress, and become a tighter team than ever.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I could barely put it down. My students have read it as part of their reading, and they enjoyed it, too. They were sad to see the story come to an end, and keep asking me when the third book will come out.

I look forward to the third and fourth books with great anticipation!

Metacognition

As an educator who is striving to help my students with their learning, I have great interest in helping my students develop what's called Metacognition. Metacognition has been defined as "having knowledge (cognition) and having understanding, control over, and appropriate use of that knowledge" (Tei and Stewart, 1985). In other words, Metacognition is knowing, and knowing that you know. It is one thing to be smart, and another thing altogether to known how to wisely apply that smartness.
Something for us all to strive to be consciously aware of, is not only to gain intelligence, but to use our intelligence wisely. I am striving for that in my own life; to gain learning, and also to wisely use that learning . And I hope that I am helping my students learn the same skill.

As I haven't entered a new blog post since back in April, I thought it would be a good time to update. As I have been teaching full time, and, this past summer, been teaching summer school as well, I have not had as much time to write, my time being taken up by things higher on my priority list, like my students, and my family. And I have not had anything published since 2006. Quite a while back! However, I have been writing when I can, and hopefully will have something ready to send off to my publisher in the near future. Wish me luck!

The 13th Reality by James Dashner

I have recently read the second book in The 13th Reality series by James Dashner entitled, The Hunt for Dark Infinity. I thought it was a great book! It kept me on the edge of my seat with all the twists and turns the characters went on, and all the surprises it threw at me! One of my favorite characters is Sally. I thought Sally was one of the most entertaining folks I'd met in a long time.

The target audience of this book is youth/young adult, but I would heartily recommend this book to anybody.

Far World: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage

I have recently finished a very enjoyable and entertaining book by J. Scott Savage called Far World Water Keep the first book in the Far World series.


It is about a young man, Marcus, who is disabled. He needs a wheelchair to get around, but he doesn't let that slow him down. In spite of his challenges, he and his friends Kyja and Riph Raph meet and overcome many trials that come at them, thanks to a chap by the name of Bonesplinter. No matter how hard they try, or what they do, Bonesplinter (yeah, lovely name) and his colleagues seem ready to stop them at every turn. But on the other hand, no matter how Bonesplinter tries, the kids manage to keep one step ahead, until-

Well, I don't want to give much more away, but I will say that the book was a great read, and I highly recommend it to everyone. My seventh graders particularly liked the parts I read to them, and the ones who have read it, loved it as much as I did.