The Ask Kathana Anything Thread!

[Vorkia]

Ohh your a Econ teacher? Ok I have a couple questions for you then. First of all, have you read Yunis' book Micro lending for the poor? I'm half way through it and love the simplicity of his Project. What about Freakeconomice (the next book i'm getting)?

 

Now for the million dollar question, What is the Socioeconomic impact of wealfare reform in today's society?

[JenniferL]

I've not read Yunis book, but I'm familar with microlending. I think its an awesome concept, especially how they were able to make it work within the cultural norms of the societies they were working with. I'm always very interested in anything that gives women better access to the world economy.

 

Freakinomics is a fantastic book. I especially loved the sections on how TV watching doesn't really impact test scores and why crack dealers live with their mothers. If you like their take on things, I recomend you check out The Undercover Economist column on Slate. Its more of the same approach. http://www.slate.com/?id=3944&cp=2134391

 

Welfare reform is a tricky one. I'll have to get back to you after I've thought it over.

[TheDiceAgain...]

Good Afternoon Mother,

Along the same lines as the last question:

 

Aside from actually teaching economics, would you consider yourself personally more of a Keynesian economist or do you follow the Laissez-faire/Adam Smith school of thought?

[goldeneys]

ok, I got a question :twisted:

 

how old are you?

[Mat Cauthon]

Its not very polite to ask of people's ages :P

 

 

Anyways, Your Amyrlyness, what are your views on Egwene? Is she too rude and totally ignoring her childhood friends of Mat and Rand or is she justified because of her new position? (wanted to ask because you, as the all-knowing Amyrlyn Seat may have a better view on it than us mere mortals).

 

Also, who is your LEAST favorite (main) character of the book?

[Kaznen]

Are you getting bored during your school's Christmas break?

 

Not as much as you'd think. I've been hanging around DM more and catching up on things I neglected in the lead up to the end of the semester. I've been doing some house cleaning too. That's why I was able to take all those pictures for Cleo earlier. If I can get the upstairs clean' date=' I'll post pictures of those rooms too.

 

I have some work I need to finish before Monday. I need to finish writing my report cards and calculating my grades. I also need to write my nine week plan for lessons. It'll be interesting, as I'm teaching language arts for the first time this semester and I'm not quite sure how I should do that yet. I know one class will be doing poetry and the other will be doing mythology. I'm not sure HOW yet. It'll come though.[/quote']

 

Two words: Conjunction Junction. They have a DVD player in your charter school, don't they?

[the dude]

schoolhouse rock awww yeah. blind melon did a song for that. 3 is a magic number. friggin' sweet.

[JenniferL]

Good Afternoon Mother' date='

Along the same lines as the last question:

 

Aside from actually teaching economics, would you consider yourself personally more of a Keynesian economist or do you follow the Laissez-faire/Adam Smith school of thought?[/quote']

 

I'm more of an Adam Smith kind of person. The free market has its flaws, but it seems to work better than anything else we're tried so far.

[JenniferL]

ok' date=' I got a question :twisted:

 

how old are you?[/quote']

 

I just turned 27. To give you some perspective, I've been the Amyrlin Seat here since I was 18. No, I don't think I've wasted my life. =)

[JenniferL]

Its not very polite to ask of people's ages :P

 

 

Anyways' date=' Your Amyrlyness, what are your views on Egwene? Is she too rude and totally ignoring her childhood friends of Mat and Rand or is she justified because of her new position? (wanted to ask because you, as the all-knowing Amyrlyn Seat may have a better view on it than us mere mortals).

 

Also, who is your LEAST favorite (main) character of the book?[/quote']

 

Out of all the characters, I identify most strongly with Egwene. Even before I was an Amyrlin myself, her journey resonated strongly with me. We have some of the same personality traits, the stubborness, the natural arrogance (I've been told I seem humble. I'm not, I'm just so arrogant I don't require you to actually acknowledge me. You're THAT beneath me. =)), the tendancy to see people in terms of utility. I think I have a bit more self awareness though, but then I'm quite a bit older than she is now.

 

Egwene has had an enormus amount of responsibility thrst on her too soon. Yes, by the standards of her era, she's an adult. But most women don't gain the shawl until they are in their thirties, and most Amyrlins aren't raised until they've worn the shawl a centry or more. She is incredibly young.

 

The odd thing is, I think the added responsibility has improved her character greatly. Her most annoying period was when she decided she was going to fight with Nynaeve for no good reason. But I think that was because she was struggling to take on adult responsibilties and Nynaeve wasn't acknowledging that. Now that she's got people recognizing that she is capable and is mature, she doesn't feel the need to shriek about it constantly. (Also notice the difference in how she handles getting respect from Nyna, vs. the Tower Aes Sedai. Obviously she learned from that mistake.)

 

I don't really have a least favorite character to read. Their are characters I prefer, yes. But I enjoy reading any part of this series.

[JenniferL]

 

Two words: Conjunction Junction. They have a DVD player in your charter school' date=' don't they?[/quote']

 

Yes, we have a DVD player. But we can't watch School House rocks for an entire semester. =)

[Guest TigerToe]

I just gotta know...was it you or was it me?

[Tigara]

Mother, did you have an Ajah before you were Amyrlin and if you did, what was it?

[Guest Karana Majin]

*giggles at Tigara's question, because I know the answer*

 

Ok, Kat, honestly. Was it as good for you as it was for me?

[Kaznen]

But I'm an English major and times when I rewriting a seven page paper, line by line, I'll think, "is this a conjuction? 'Conjuction Junction, how's that function' YES."

 

The sing songy songs of grammer not only makes the many rules of the English language easy to remember but also fun! Something I thought was impossible.

[JenniferL]

I just gotta know...was it you or was it me?

 

It was you. And you should apologize.

[JenniferL]

Mother' date=' did you have an Ajah before you were Amyrlin and if you did, what was it?[/quote']

 

I did! It should be very obvious to anyone that knows me. I was a Brown. =)

 

I tend not to crow about it, because I've always believed strongly that an Amyrlin should be of all Ajahs and none. Sometimes I can see myself as a Blue, but I'm Brown through and through.

[JenniferL]

*giggles at Tigara's question' date=' because I know the answer*

 

Ok, Kat, honestly. Was it as good for you as it was for me?[/quote']

 

Better.

[JenniferL]

But I'm an English major and times when I rewriting a seven page paper' date=' line by line, I'll think, "is this a conjuction? 'Conjuction Junction, how's that function' YES."

 

The sing songy songs of grammer not only makes the many rules of the English language easy to remember but also fun! Something I thought was impossible.[/quote']

 

Grammar is a very small part of language arts these days. The emphasis now is on producing outstanding communicators. Its still taught and I will be marking points for obvious mistakes (using "u" instead of "you" is and always will be instant death in my class), but its not all we're going to do.

[Zardi]

What made you decide to teach middle schoolers?

[the dude]

can i leave work early today? please?

[Alys Kinch]

if kath doesn't mind, i will answer that one. no! get on msn today, please! (with puppy eyes)

[the dude]

hahahaha, that should be doable in a bit. still in the morning rush... 8)

[JenniferL]

What made you decide to teach middle schoolers?

 

They kicked me out of elementary ed.

 

 

Well, sort of. After I failed all my "How to teach reading" classes, they told me I'd have to start all over again and repeat things that I passed. They strongly suggested I re-evaluate my career choices at that point. I agreed.

 

After some soul searching, I realized that I enjoy teaching and I enjoy children of all ages. However, I did NOT enjoy teaching reading, especially phonics. Unfortunately, if you are an elmentary school teacher, you do NOTHING else. Its nothing but reading and math all day long. So in a fit of rebellion, I changed my major to MS Science & Social Studies.

 

After I got some experience with middle schoolers, I realized that I truly enjoy this age group, especially sixth graders. Its a nice balance of being young enough to enjoy play, but mature enough to handle in depth study.

 

They've got me teaching language arts this semester, which I swore I'd never do again, but I found myself excited about it when the idea was first floated. I get to incorporate it with social studies, so its really like I get 2 hours to do social studies every day now. I'm really loving the unit on African trickster tales we started today. Which just shows that I'm not against teaching reading and writing, I just needed to be doing it at a higher level.

[JenniferL]

can i leave work early today? please?

 

I'm guessing "no", since I'm just now replying. =)