So you want a day off. Let's take a look at what you are asking for. There are 365 days per year available for work. There are 52 weeks per year in which you already have 2 days off per week, leaving 261 days available for work. Since you spend 16 hours each day away from work, you have used up 170 days, leaving only 91 days available. You spend 30 minutes each day on coffee break which counts for 23 days each year, leaving only 68 days available. With a 1 hour lunch each day, you used up another 46 days, leaving only 22 days available for work. You normally spend 2 days per year on sick leave. This leaves you only 20 days per year available for work. We are off 5 holidays per year, so your available working time is down to 15 days. We generously give 14 days vacation per year which leaves only 1 day available for work and I'll be darned if you are going to take that day off!

The boss was complaining in our staff meeting the  other day that he wasn't getting any respect. Later  that morning he went to a local sign shop and  bought a small sign that read: 

            "I'm the Boss!" 

            He then taped it to his office door. 

            Later that day when he returned from lunch, he found that someone had taped a note to the sign  that said:"Your wife called, she wants her sign back!" 

Cu Ti wrote to his Daddy: What are the differences between WIFE and GIRLFRIEND, Dad?

His Daddy replies:

- My dear, Wife is a TV. Girl friend is a HandPhone. At home watch TV.

Go out, bring HandPhone. No money, sell TV.

Got money, change HandPhone. Sometimes enjoy TV, but most of the time play with HandPhone.

TV is free for life. But HandPhone, if you don’t pay, services will be TERMINATED!!!

But you should be careful with both, my dear son!

An older gentleman was playing a round of golf. Suddenly his ball sliced and landed in a shallow pond.

As he was attempting to retrieve the ball he discovered a frog who, to his great surprise, started to speak!

"Kiss me, and I will change into a beautiful princess, and I will be yours for a week!"

He picked up the frog and placed it in his pocket. As he continued to play golf, the frog repeated its message.

"Kiss me, and I will change into a beautiful princess, and I will be yours for a whole month!"

The man continued to play his golf game and once again the frog spoke out.

"Kiss me, and I will change into a beautiful princess, and I will be yours for a whole year!"

Finally, the old man turned to the frog and exclaimed, "At my age, I'd rather have a talking frog!"

Mr. Grey had a nice shop in the main street of a small town. He sold jewellery, watches, clocks and other things like those. All went well for some years, and then Mr. Grey's shop was broken into at night twice in a month, and a lot jewellery was stolen each time. The police had still not managed to catch the thief three weeks later. So Mr. Grey decided that he would try to do something about it. He, therefore, bought a camera, fixed it up in his shop so that it would photograph anyone who broke in at night, and put some very cheap jewellery in front of it for the thief. 

A few nights later, the thief did come again, but he did not touch any of cheap jewellery that Mr. Grey had put out of him. He took the camera. It was worth 150 pounds. 

A Rat was traveling along the King's highway. He was a very proud Rat, considering his small size and the bad reputation all Rats have. As Mr. Rat walked along—he kept mostly to the ditch—he noticed a great commotion up the road, and soon a grand procession came in view. It was the King and his retinue.

The King rode on a huge Elephant adorned with the most gorgeous trappings. With the King in his luxurious howdah were the royal Dog and Cat. A great crowd of people followed the procession. They were so taken up with admiration of the Elephant, that the Rat was not noticed. His pride was hurt.

"What fools!" he cried. "Look at me, and you will soon forget that clumsy Elephant! Is it his great size that makes your eyes pop out? Or is it his wrinkled hide? Why, I have eyes and ears and as many legs as he! I am of just as much importance, and"

But just then the royal Cat spied him, and the next instant, the Rat knew he was not quite so important as an Elephant.

A resemblance to the great in some things does not make us great.

One day, a rich dad took his son on a trip to a poor village. He wanted to show his son how the people in the village lived. They spent time on a farm of one of the poorest families. At the end of the day, the dad asked: “Did you see how poor they are? What did you learn?”

The boy answered: “We have a dog, they have four. We have a pool, they have a river. We buy food and they grow theirs. We have walls to protect us, they have friends.”

After they left, the boy wanted to tell his dad the truth.‘’Well, thanks for showing me how poor we are”, said the boy.

Moral of the story: Appreciate what you have!

Once there lived a hind in a forest. She had a son who had grown very young and strong. She was very happy to see his stout body and branched strong horns and thought, "stags have powerful horns, why should they be afraid of hounds, wolves then? It's sheer cowardice. I would never like my son to do it at all."

After some time, the hind's son came there. The hind wanted to teach him to be courageous. She said, "Son! You have a stout body and strong horns. So, you must not run away from hounds and wolves. Don't be a coward."

"Ok, mom; I won't", said the stag.

 Just then the mother and the son heard the bark of the hounds. The hind got ready to run away when her son asked her to stay on. She said, "You may, but I have no horns."

Saying so, she ran as fast as she could.

The mother herself was a coward and was teaching courage to her son. What a satire!

Artist : “That, sir, is a cow grazing”

A stranger on horse back came to a river with which he was unfamiliar. The traveller asked a youngster if it was deep.

Thought this was particularly apt for me and Wednesday afternoons... 

 Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. 

 Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. 

 If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my reputation."  

There was this gas station in "redneck country" trying to increase its sales, so the owner put up a sign saying, "Free Sex with Fill-up." Soon, a customer pulled in, filled his tank, and then asked for his free sex. 

 The owner told him to pick a number from 1 to 10, and if he guessed correctly, he would get his free sex. 

 The buyer then guessed 8 and the proprietor said, "No, but you were close. The number was 7. Sorry, no free sex this time, but maybe next time."

 Some time thereafter, the same man, along with his buddy this time, pulled in again for a fillup, and again he asked for his free sex. The proprietor again gave him the same story, and asked him to guess the correct number. 

 The man guessed 2 this time and the proprietor said, "Sorry, it was 3. You were close, but no free sex this time." 

 As they were driving away, the driver said to his buddy, "I think that game is rigged, and he doesn't really give away free sex." 

 The buddy replied, "No, it's not rigged...my wife won twice last week."  

After weeks on the road an over the road trucker pulled into a brothel.The trucker walked up to the madam, slapped $500.00 on the counter and demanded "Give me a bologna sandwich and the ugliest, meanest, most foul tempered woman in the house." 

 The madam looked at the trucker and exclaimed, "Sir for this kind of money you can have the best steak with all the trimmings and two of the prettiest girls in the state." 

 The trucker slowly looked up and with a tear in his eye said, "You don't understand, I'm not hungry or looking for company, I'm homesick!" 

An older couple was lying in bed one night. The husband was falling asleep but the wife felt romantic and wanted to talk. She said, "You use to hold my hand when we were courting." 

Wearily he reached across, held her hand for a second, then tried to get back to sleep. 

 A few moments later she said, "Then you used to kiss me." Mildly irritated, he reached across, gave her a peck on the cheek and settled down to sleep. 

 Thirty seconds later she said, "Then you used to bite my neck." Angrily, he threw back the bed covers and got out of bed. 

 "Where are you going?" she asked. 

 "To get my teeth!" 

A 55,000-year-old human skull found in northern Israel confirms that humans were in the area at the time. Scientists have theorized that humans migrated from Africa to Europe between 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, and this skull is being hailed as key evidence in this theory. The find was announced on Jan. 28 and published in the journal Nature.  

It is an important missing piece in human prehistory, study author Israel Hershkovitz told the Times of Israel, because it connects African and European hominids. The skull was buried in the Manot Cave by a cave-in some 30,000 years ago. The cave was discovered when a bulldozer accidentally opened a hole in its ceiling in 2008. 

The Manot skull is the first to show that Neanderthals and modern humans inhabited the southern Levant region at the same time. Studies in recent years have shown human populations to contain a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA and have also placed an interbreeding at around 50,000 years ago. This date may be supported by the Manot skull. 

European humans may have inherited anatomical features from early Levantine populations, according to the study.  

Beware (or, at least, be very careful of) the IndoPacific waters and parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Though the American alligator that dragged away a two-year-old outside Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort in Orlando last week is quite terrifying, the ancient reptile isn’t the scariest creature to stalk the dark corners of the Earth. Indeed, there are many ferocious creatures, both large and small, that are downright deadly. Here, the ten most dangerous animals in the world.

10. Cape Buffalo 

Cape Buffalo, which number close to a million and are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, are a relatively mild species when left alone, preferring to travel in massive herds to graze in early morning and late afternoon hours or to gather around watering holes to stay hydrated. However, if an individual (or its calf) is threatened or wounded, they become the incarnation of their nickname: Black Death. Responsible for killing more hunters in the continent than any other creature, these behemoths, which can grow up to six feet tall and weigh close to a ton, circle and stalk their prey before charging at speeds of up to 35 mph. They’re even known to continue charging no matter where they’re injured, and will not hesitate to attack moving vehicles. You don’t want to mess with those horns. 

9. Cone Snail 

Found in the warm waters near and around the equator (think the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Indonesia), these beautiful creatures, instantly recognizable for their highly prized brown-and-white marbled shells, can be seen in shallow depths closer to shore, near coral reefs and rock formations, and beneath sandy shoals. But do not dare to touch the 4 to 6-inch long gastropods: their concealed, harpoon-like “teeth” contain a complex venom known as a conotoxin, making them one of the most venomous species of snails. If you suffer the unlucky fate of becoming one of the handful of people ever stung, head to the emergency room immediately, as there is no antivenin. The toxin, which stops nerve cells from communicating with one another, can not only cause paralysis within moments, but—per its nickname of “cigarette snail”—you have about enough time to smoke a stick before dying. 

8. Golden Poison Dart Frog 

The poison dart is a large, diverse group of brightly colored frogs that live mostly in northern South America, of which only a handful of species are particularly dangerous to humans. The most deadly, thegolden poison dart, inhabits the small range of rain forests along Colombia’s Pacific coast, and grows to around two inches long (roughly the size of a paper clip). Its poison, called batrachotoxin, is so potent that there’s enough in one frog to kill ten grown men, with only two micrograms—roughly the amount that would fit onto the head of a pin— needed to kill a single individual. But what makes the amphibian especially dangerous is that its poison glands are located beneath its skin, meaning a mere touch will cause trouble. Interestingly, the indigenous Emberá people have laced the tips of their blow darts used for hunting with the frog’s toxin for centuries. Sadly, deforestation has landed the frog on several endangered lists, but even if you do have a rare sighting when hiking, don’t go reaching for it. 

7. Box Jellyfish 

Often found floating (or moving at speeds close to 5 mph) in the Indo-Pacific waters north of Australia, these transparent, nearly invisible invertebrates are considered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the most venomous marine animal in the world. Their namesake cubic frames contain up to 15 tentacles at the corners, with each growing as much as 10 feet long, all lined with thousands of stinging cells—known as nematocytes—that contain toxins that simultaneously attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. While antivenins do exist, the venom is so potent and overwhelming that many human victims, of the hundreds of reported fatal encounters each year, have been known to go into shock and drown or die of heart failure before reaching shore. Even if you are lucky enough to make it to the hospital and receive the antidote, survivors can sometimes experience considerable pain for weeks afterward, while bearing nasty scars from the creature’s tentacles. 

6. Puffer Fish 

Puffer fish, also known as blowfish, are located in tropical seas around the globe, especially around Japan, China, and the Philippines. Though they’re the second most poisonous vertebrate on the planet (after the golden arrow dart frog), they’re arguably more dangerous as their neurotoxin, called tetrodoxin, is found in the fish’s skin, muscle tissue, liver, kidneys, and gonads, all of which must be avoided…when preparing the creature for human consumption. Indeed, while wild encounters are certainly dangerous, the risk of death from a puffer fish increases when eating it in countries like Japan, where it is considered a delicacy known as fugu and can only be prepared by trained, licensed chefs— even then, accidental deaths from ingestion occur several times each year. The tetrodoxin is up to 1,200 times more poisonous than that of cyanide, and can cause deadening of the tongue and lips, dizziness, vomiting, arrhythmia, difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis and, if left untreated, death. 

5. Black Mamba 

Though species like the Boomslang or the King Cobra are dangerous thanks to their respective poisons, the Black Mamba is especially deadly due to its speed. Found in the savannas and rocky areas of southern and eastern Africa, the species, which can grow up to 14 feet long, is the fastest of all snakes, slithering at speeds of up to 12.5 mph, which makes escaping one in remote areas that much more difficult. Thankfully, black mambas usually only strike when threatened—but when they do, they’ll bite repeatedly, delivering enough venom (a blend of neuro- and cardiotoxins) in a single bite to kill ten people. And if one doesn’t receive the correlative antivenin within 20 minutes, the bites are almost 100 percent fatal.

4. Saltwater Crocodiles 

Alligators may be scary, but they have nothing on their cousin, the fearsome crocodile, which is more short-tempered, easily provoked, and aggressive towards anything that crosses its path. Of all the species in the world, the largest—and most dangerous—is the saltwater crocodile, which inhabits the Indo-Pacific region ranging from parts of India and Vietnam in Southeast Asia all the way to northern Australia. These ferocious killers can grow up to 23 feet in length and weigh more than a ton, and are known to kill hundreds each year, with crocodiles as a whole responsible for more human fatalities annually than sharks. Saltwater crocodiles are especially dangerous as they’re excellent swimmers happy in either salt or freshwater (yes, their name is confusing), and can strike quickly with a bite delivering 3,700 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure, rivaling that of the T. Rex. If that’s not enough to scare you, put it in perspective: humans chomp into a well-done steak at around 200 psi, a mere five percent of the strength of a saltie's jaw. 

3. Tsetse Fly 

Often regarded as the world’s most dangerous fly, the tsetse fly—a small speck of insect that measures between 8 to 17 mm, or about the same size as the average house fly—is commonly found in 36 subSaharan countries, especially those in the center of the continent including the Sudans, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola. While the flies themselves are nasty bloodsucking bugs that usually feed during the peak warm hours, their true terror lies in the protozoan parasites they spread known asTrypanosomes. These microscopic pathogens are the causative agent of African Sleeping Sickness, a disease marked by neurological and meningoencephalic symptoms including behavioral changes, poor coordination, as well as the disturbances in sleeping cycles that give the illness its name, and can cause death if left untreated. While there are no vaccines or medications available to prevent infection, methods of protection include wearing neutral-colored clothing (the tsetse fly is attracted to bright and dark colors, especially the color blue), avoiding bushes during the day, and using permethrin-treated gear in more remote areas.

2. Mosquitoes 

Clocking in at just three millimeters at their smallest, the common mosquito, even tinier than the tsetse fly, ranks as the second most dangerous on our list due to the sheer amount of deaths each year attributed to the various pathogens carried by several of the more than 3,000 species around the world. Found in every region on the planet except Antarctica, the irritating insects—primarily those from the generaAedes, Anopheles, and Culex—are the primary vectors of diseases such as malaria, chikungunya, encephalitis, elephantiasis, yellow fever, dengue fever, West Nile virus, and the Zika virus, which collectively afflict an estimated 700 million and kill roughly 725,000 people each year. As the World Health Organization notes, more than half of the human population is currently at risk from mosquito-borne diseases. Given that the pests are attracted to our body temperatures and the CO2 we exhale, our best tools to prevent infection lie in the usage of insect repellents high in active ingredients like DEET and picaridin.

1. Humans 

Surprised? After all, we’re animals too, and since we’ve been killing each other for 10,000 years, with the total deaths from war alone estimated over a decade ago at between 150 million and 1 billion, it’s a no-brainer that we top the list. Though human beings are said to be living in the most peaceful period now than at any other time in our history, we still assault each other with incredibly high rates of senseless brutality, from gun violence in cities like Chicago and Orlando to continual terrorist attac ks around the globe. We're dangerous to other animals, too—think global warming and the destruction of forests and coral reefs. Given the threat we pose to countless other creatures—and the fact that we often act irrationally and have the capacity to annihilate our entire planet with a host of horrifying weapons like nuclear devices and genetically-modified superbugs—we are squarely atop the list as the most dangerous animal in the world. 

Myanmar was for decades ruled by an oppressive military junta. However, since the country returned to democratic ways, things have changed. The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has just stated that Myanmar is home to the world's most generous people. 

It is the third successive year for the country to achieve this accolade. The CAF "World Giving Index" found that 91 per cent of Myanmar residents gave money to charity in the past year, 62 per cent helped a stranger, and 55 per cent claimed they had volunteered. 

An economic adviser to Myanmar's president said: "The results demonstrate very sharply how a 'poor' country can be a 'rich' one through its generosity, by focusing on giving rather than getting." 

The report also found that people in Iraq are the kindest to strangers. Eight in 10 Iraqis are reported to have helped someone they don't know in the past year. 

The BBC commented on how significant this statistic was, given the turmoil Iraq has been in for years because of war. It stated that: "It is the kindness of Iraqis…to complete strangers in the face of years of conflict and terrible violence which stands out in the list." 

John Low, CEO of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: "The generosity of people, even in countries suffering from disaster and turmoil, is truly humbling." He added: "Unconditional gifts of time and money are a life-changing force for good in the world." 

A man and his wife are in court getting a divorce. 

 The problem was who should get custody of the child. 

 The wife jumped up and said, "Your Honor. I brought the child into this world with pain and labor. She should be in my custody." 

 The judge turns to the husband and says, "What do you have to say in your defense?" 

 The man sat for a while contemplating...then slowly rose. "Your Honor, if I put a dollar in a vending machine and a Pepsi comes out...whose Pepsi is it...the machine's or mine?"😆😆😅

A woman was telling her friend, "It is I who made my husband a millionaire." 

 "And what was he before you married him?" asked the friend. 

 The woman replied, "A billionaire..."

Two men waiting at the pearly gates strike up a conversation. The first man asks the second. "So, how'd you die?" 

 "I froze to death," says the second. 

"That's awful," says the first man. "How does it feel to freeze to death?"

"It's very uncomfortable at first", says the second man. "You get the shakes, and you get pains in all your fingers and toes. But eventually, it's a very calm way to go. You get numb and you kind of drift off, as if you're sleeping. How about you, how did you die?"

"I had a heart attack," says the first man. "You see, I knew my wife was cheating on me, so one day I showed up at home unexpectedly. I ran up to the bedroom, and found her alone, knitting. I ran down to the basement, but no one was hiding there, either. I ran up to the second floor, but no one was hiding there either. I ran as fast as I could to the attic, and just as I got there, I had a massive heart attack and died."

The second man shakes his head. "That's so ironic," he says. 

"What do you mean?" Asks the first man. 

"If you had only stopped to look in the freezer, we'd both still be alive."  

One day a man walks into a dentist's office and asks how much it will cost to extract wisdom teeth.

 "Eighty dollars," the dentist says. 

 "That's a ridiculous amount," the man says. "Isn't there a cheaper way?" 

 "Well," the dentist says, "if you don't use an anaesthetic, I can knock it down to $60." 

 "That's still too expensive," the man says. 

 "Okay," says the dentist. "If I save on anesthesia and simply rip the teeth out with a pair of pliers, I could get away with charging $20." 

 "Nope," moans the man, "it's still too much."

 "Hmm," says the dentist, scratching his head. "If I let one of my students do it for the experience, I suppose I could charge you just $10." 

 "Marvelous," says the man, "book my wife for next Tuesday !"  

A young woman was taking an afternoon nap. After she woke up, she told her husband, "I just dreamed that you gave me a pearl necklace for Valentine's day. What do you think it means?"

 "You'll know tonight." he said. 

 That evening, the man came home with a small package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it--only to find a book entitled "The meaning of dreams".  

College life is something that teaches us many things. It tells us how irritating and annoying can people be in the beginning; yet at the end these people are the ones whom we call our best buddies. Here are 11 life lessons that you won't learn from years at the university. 

1. The courses and classes can't be used much 

The guy who sits next to you in the office may not have taken the same course that you did. The two of you may belong to different academic backgrounds, still you both earn the same respect and money. No one asks you what you learned in college, but you have to learn things on your own and finish the task which your boss "assumes" that you learned in college. College is over and now life is beyond the lectures and textbooks. 

2. In life, skills matter 

The person who supervises you might just be younger than you. However, you will call him "sir". In college a junior, who may be elder to you, respected you because you were senior. That was college, where respect was given. In real life, respect is earned. 

3. The art of communicating 

You may had escaped the Personality Development classes in college but in life you realize the importance of communicating well. You might need to propose a girl, you have to ask for a salary hike, or you may want to discuss issues with your neighbors. Communication skills are something which can make or break you. 

4. How to judge people correctly 

In college a person is your friend or foe, but in life you just can't guess what relationship you share. A "somebody" at office may proof to be a "nobody" at the time of need. A good friend at the office may cut off your chance of  promotion because he has to make his own way. So you have to learn how to identify the traits of people around you. Actions may contradict the words. 

5. You check yourself: what you say, how you say and to whom you say 

In college you could abuse and fight with your batch mates on one day and the other day you found yourself busy with the same people because you had to complete an assignment together. But in life it is a different story. In college your friends and the others knew what you mean by your words, but in life people will perceive you as per their perceptions, not as per your words. 

6. Networking and social connections always help 

In college your friends could be your world. But in life you can't sustain without networking and social connections. You need a job referral; you need a new house; you need to start a business; you need to start your social activists group. This all means you need good relations with people. 

7. Saving money isn't easy 

The quest to explore life, the thrill of being 100 feet in the sky, the joy of savoring the red wine in a vineyard, the scuba diving experience with the corals and sea creatures. For any of these adventures, you need some savings, which isn't easy. Your paycheck will always have somewhere else to go–buying food, clothes, paying the bills, visiting your parents. And you'll notice there won't always be a lot left over after this. 

8. In relationships, actions speak 

In college life, a romantic relationship thrived on sweet words. But in real life actions speak. You look at the person; you observe his/her actions and notice how he/she makes you feel. So be careful about the words you use, but also be careful about your actions and gestures. 

9. Making mistake is fine but it must be a new one each time 

Each mistake allows you to learn something. It leaves you with a lesson. But to succeed you must make a new mistake each time, so that you always get a new lesson. In college it was okay to ask the same silly question to the same professor again and again, but in life if you ask the same questions or make the same mistake again and again you will labeled as "dumb." 

10. It is important that you keep marching ahead. Life is a journey, not a destination 

When you were in school, you only wanted good grades. Once you reached college, you wanted to be famous. When you got your job, your next aim was to get a promotion. After being promoted you wanted a free holiday ticket with family, and so on. Life moves on and on and every moment you have new expectations and aspirations. So just pay attention to the little joys and keep moving ahead. 

11. Everyone is really busy, so you need to take care of yourself 

Everyone around you is fighting his/her own fight. Even a five-year-old has his own challenges and tasks to do. Everyone is busy thinking about himself, so take care. Yes, you need to love and care for the person whom you see in the mirror because college is over and your friends aren't there. 

As teachers, we may never know the breadth or depth of impact we have on our students, but sometimes we are fortunate enough to learn that we have shared something valuable with our colleagues. It is even more exciting to find out that a colleague has, in turn, shared that technique or tool with her students. 

I have been a passionate advocate for visual notetaking in the classroom since I stumbled upon author and designer Mike Rohde’s book, The Sketchnote Handbook, about two years ago. As an elementary art specialist, I saw that, after incorporating the book’s techniques into my classroom, using simple images to synthesize content and demonstrate understanding came naturally to students. Kids learn to draw before they write, and pictures are how they make sense of the world. 

A previous generation referred to this form of notetaking as doodling, but that is starting to change. One reason this effective tool—which uses a combination of images and text to make meaning of verbal or text-based information— hasn’t made its way into many teachers’ hands is that the data-driven testing craze has usurped the time and energy to explore or try any new creative literacy strategies. With new math and reading curricula rolled out frequently, districts barely have time to train teachers the basics, much less explore creative literacy tools. 

I decided to affect change within my immediate circle of influence and utilize these visual skills on a daily basis with my elementary art students. For the past two years, I have offered professional development workshops on visual notetaking and literacy to colleagues in my district to increase awareness of this literacy tool. These collaborations span across content areas and grade levels—with teachers in special education, teachers in social studies, and teachers in elementary through high school. 

THE SCIENCE OF MEMORY

 The success of visual notetaking is backed by science. The Picture Superiority Effect refers to the phenomenon that we remember pictures better and longer than words or text. If students read text alone, three days later they only remember 10 percent of the information—but adding a picture to the text increases recall to 65 percent. And dual-coding theory says that our brains process and store visual information differently than verbal or text-based information. When students use images and text in notetaking, it gives them two different ways to pull up the information, doubling their chances of recall. 

Yet, when I first learned about visual notes, a teacher in my building made a student redo multiple worksheets for "doodling" in the margins, and other students would echo that they would get in trouble with their teacher for drawing. 

Why aren’t more teachers providing students with this option? And just as importantly, why are students actually being reprimanded for their natural instinct to record ideas visually? 

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS 

One recent experience helped me realize the powerful ripple effect of teacher leadership and collaboration. I met Ms. G., who teaches English at the Juvenile Detention Center in Wauwatosa, Wis., during a notetaking workshop I led this summer. She invited me to her classroom to teach her students the technique in a simple way. 

A dozen teenagers settled in and opened Beverley Naidoo’s Out Of Bounds, an anthology of short stories about apartheid. For this class, they would read aloud and draw out the storyline on whiteboards. Ms. G. gently encouraged students—there were all levels of reading ability, ranging from elementary to high school—when they stumbled on a name or difficult word. When she stopped the reader, she asked, “What just happened, and what pictures could we draw to show that?” 

In notes left on the board from the previous class, I could see that Ms. G. taught her students several techniques from my workshop. They had gotten the hang of using literal images to communicate complex concepts and emotions. They had made effective use of stick figures to show relationships between characters and used words and arrows to add clarity and meaning to their drawings. They had even used different fonts to stress the importance of main concepts and word bubbles to show who was saying what or to give meaning or detail to an idea. 

For those 45 minutes, the marker became a transfer of power and a voice in the classroom. Most of the students offered to read a section of the book out loud or suggested visuals that would bring life to the text. Personal expression, demonstration of comprehension, and confident engagement were visible through a dry-erase marker. Students who would have not been able to engage with the text in other ways could still do so through the drawings used to represent concepts. Developing visual vocabulary is just like increasing verbal or textual vocabulary—it takes practice to move it into working memory. 

VISUALIZING SUCCESS 

The class left me with a reminder that visual notetaking could have infinite possibilities for so many students—minority students, students on the autistic spectrum, students with dysgraphia or dyslexia, English-language learners—if we could just put this tool into their toolboxes as another means to demonstrate their understanding. Can a simple literacy tool like visual notetaking support learning in the classroom and even increase personal agency for incarcerated students who struggle academically? Ms. G. provides proof: Since that first class, she has used visual notes as an integral part of helping her students learn vocabulary from the books they read and give students the option to respond to a writing prompt with a visual answer first to help them think more deeply and communicate more clearly. One Englishlanguage learner who struggled with written definitions of vocabulary drew out his understanding and was able to visually communicate the definitions correctly. 

When teaching students to use visual notes, it is so important to foster a safe space for students to take risks and try. In workshops, I find that the main obstacle for teachers is their fear of drawing. Teachers use the "but-I-can’teven-draw-a-stick-figure" excuse, but I encourage them and let them know that it is actually better if they draw poorly because it isn’t about art—it is about ideas. If a teacher is brave enough to step up to the board and draw poorly while still communicating what she needs to relay, it gives students permission to do the same.

The author Margaret J. Wheatly writes, "A leader is one who ... has more faith in people than they do, and ... who holds opportunities open long enough for their competence to reemerge." This is true for teacher and student leadership as well. We should strive to show our students and colleagues that we will hold space for them until their competence and creativity emerge. Visual notetaking is one small but powerful way to enable students— and their teachers—to take the lead. 

After years of scrimping and saving, a husband told his wife the good news: "Darling, we've finally saved enough to buy what we started saving for in 1979." 

 "You mean a brand new Jaguar?" she asked eagerly. 

 "No," he replied, "a 1979 Jaguar." 

A man walked into a department store and told an assistant he'd like to buy a present for his wife.

 "Certainly, sir," replied the assistant. "Perhaps a dress or a blouse?" 

 "Anything," said the man. 

 "And in what colour?"

 "It doesn't matter." 

 "Size?" 

 "Immaterial." 

 Seeing the assistant's confusion, the man explained that whenever he bought his wife something she would always take it back to the shop and exchange it. 

 "Why don't you get a gift voucher instead?" the assistant asked him. 

"Oh no," said the man. "That would be too impersonal."

Bob visited his friend Joe's house and was amazed at how well Joe treated his wife. He told her several times how attractive she was, complimented her on her culinary skills and showered her with hugs and kisses.  

"Gee," Bob remarked to his friend, "you really make a big fuss over your wife." 

 "I started to appreciate her more about six months ago," Joe said. "It has revived our marriage, and we couldn't be happier."

 Inspired by Joe's story, Bob hurried home, hugged his wife, told her how much he loved her, and said he wanted to hear all about her day. Instead she burst into tears. 

 "Darling," Bob said, "whatever's the matter?" 

 "This has been the worst day I've had for a long time," she replied. "This morning Billy fell off his bike and hurt his ankle, then the washing machine broke down. Now, to top it off, you come home drunk!"  

The doctor asked the expectant father to try out a machine he had invented that transferred labour pains from the mother to the father. Billy agreed and the machine was set up. But although it was set to its highest setting, Billy felt not a twinge. 

Later that day he went home to pick up a few items his wife wanted and discovered the milkman lying on his door step groaning in pain.  

A man asked his wife, "if you could have anything in the world for one day, what would you want?" "I'd love to be six again," she replied.  

On the morning of her birthday, he got her up bright and early and off they went to a local theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the Screaming Loop, the Wall of Fear, everything there was! Wow! Five hours later she staggered out of the theme park, her head reeling and her stomach upside down. Off to a McDonald's they went, where her husband ordered her a Big Mac along with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate shake. Then it was off to a movie: the latestHollywood blockbuster, hot dogs, popcorn, Pepsi Cola and M & M's. What a fabulous adventure!

Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed. He leaned over and lovingly asked, "Well, dear, what was it like being six again?" 

 One eye opened. "You dummy, I meant my dress size."   

One night a fellow drove his secretary home after she had imbibed a little too much at an office reception. Although this was an innocent gesture, he decided not to mention it to his wife, who tended to get jealous easily.

The next night the man and his wife were driving to a restaurant. Suddenly he looked down and spotted a high-heel shoe half hidden under the passenger seat. Not wanting to be conspicuous, he waited until his wife was looking out her window before he scooped up the shoe and tossed it out of the car.   

With a sigh of relief, he pulled into the restaurant parking lot. That's when he noticed his wife squirming around in her seat. "Honey," she asked, "have you seen my other shoe?" 

As a young married couple, a husband and a wife lived in a cheap housing complex near the base where he was working. Their chief complaint was that the walls were paper-thin and that they had no privacy. This was painfully obvious when one morning the husband was upstairs and the wife was downstairs on the telephone. She was interrupted by the doorbell and went to greet her neighbor.

"Give this to your husband," he said thrusting a roll of toilet paper into her hands. "He's been yelling for it for 15 minutes!" 

"Darling," said the young man to his new bride. 

"Now that we are married, do you think you will be able to live on my modest income?" 

"Of course, dearest, no trouble," she answered. "But what will you live on?" 

A bum approaches a well dressed gentleman on the street. "Hey, Buddy, can you spare two dollars?" 

The well-dressed gentleman responds, "You are not going to spend in on liquor are you?" 

 "No, sir, I don't drink," retorts the bum. 

 "You are not going to throw it away in some crap game, are you?" asks the gentleman. 

 "No way, I don't gamble," answers the bum. 

 "You wouldn't waste the money at a golf course for greens fees, would you?" asks the man. 

 "Never," says the bum, "I don't play golf." 

 The man asks the bum if he would like to come home with him for a home cooked meal. The bum accepts eagerly. While they are heading for the man's house, the bum's curiosity gets the better of him. "Isn't your wife going to be angry when she sees a guy like me at your table?" 

"Probably," says the man, "but it will be worth it. I want her to see what happens to a guy who doesn't drink, gamble or play golf."  

Mama was in the garden. “What are you doing?” Johnny asked. She said she was planting roses. Roses are flowers. They are very pretty. They are usually red. Roses have thorns. His mama said, “Thorns will stick you. Be careful around thorns.” Johnny went to the front yard. His dog Rex was waiting for him. Johnny picked up a stick and threw it. Rex chased the stick. He brought the stick back. Johnny ran around the house. Rex chased him. Johnny ran through the garden. Rex ran through the garden. Mom yelled at Johnny and Rex. She told them to play somewhere else. She told them to stay out of the garden. Johnny apologized to his mom. He went to the garage and got his bike. He went for a bike ride. Rex ran next to the bike.

It is December. That means it is Christmas time. Christmas time means Santa Claus is coming. Sara and Billy love Christmas. They love Santa Claus. They love the gifts from Santa. Last year they got nice gifts. Sara got a teddy bear and a rubber duck. Billy got a green boat and a rubber duck. The rubber ducks float. When Sara takes a bath, her pink duck floats in the water. When Billy takes a bath, his blue duck floats in the water. One time Billy put a goldfish into the tub. It swam for a while. Then it died. He buried it in the back yard. He was sad. This year Sara and Billy want bicycles. Sara wants a red bike. Billy wants a blue bike. Mama said she would talk to daddy. Sara asked mama, “Why don’t you talk to Santa?” Mama said, “That’s a good idea. When daddy comes home, he and I will talk to Santa.”