How Bad Bosses Kill Employee Engagement

If you’ve ever worked for a bad boss, you’ve probably uttered these famous words …. “I don’t get paid enough to put up with this crap!” Bad bosses destroy morale and employee engagement and, more often than not, they brighten up the whole company when they quit or are finally fired. So what makes someone a bad boss? The following 15 behaviors are a few of our favorites:

1. Doesn’t trust their team: Not trusting their team makes it impossible for their team members to get things done. When managers do not trust their team, they tend to not delegate and end up doing the tasks themselves. With little trust, they justify their command and control management style. The end result is usually a lack of communication with the team, resulting in delayed projects.
2. Do not value a work-life balance: These bad bosses have little respect for team members’ personal time. These managers feel that since they are the boss, the employee should feel grateful to have a job. With a commodity type of attitude, these managers assume they should have 24-7 access to placing demands on the team members.
3. Tell, don’t ask: Bad bosses tend to make demands on people without gaining input from the person they’re managing. These bosses tend not to listen well and are not good at taking feedback. Eventually, this bad boss is making decisions on only half of the information available because their team gives up hope that communicating important information will be valued by the manager.
4. Takes credit and passes the blame: Employee engagement killers love to take the credit when things go exceptionally well…especially when the boss did not do any of the work. On the opposite side of the fence, bad bosses never take responsibility when things don’t go well and feel best when they are throwing someone under the bus and passing the blame.
5. Practice the “need to know form of communication:” Bad bosses are always too busy to take the time to communicate to the people who will be impacted by the information. They withhold information as a form of power and justify the style as only communicating when people “need to know.”
6. No recognition: Bad bosses are way too busy to take the time to recognize people for what’s going well or right. But, they always have the time to let someone know when the results don’t meet his or her expectations.
7. Ungrateful: Bad bosses treat people like a commodity. They couldn’t care less if it is you or someone else who gets the job done, as long as the job gets done. They place almost all their value on the task and very little value on the relationship with the people who are doing the task. Bad bosses have a hard time saying two of the most powerful words in the English language, “thank you.”
8. Uses disrespectful communication: Bad bosses feel that it’s alright to communicate to someone in a disrespectful manner. This could include swear words or inferring that someone is stupid or didn’t think before they made a decision. Either way, disrespectful communication makes many people feel inferior or inadequate as a team member. Last, disrespectful bosses have the bad habit of giving a team member negative feedback in front of others on the team.
9. Lie: Bad bosses tend to communicate what they think they need to communicate to accomplish their goal, rather than telling people the truth. The outcome is that team members do not trust anything the boss says because it’s impossible to know when they’re telling the truth.
10. Brown nose: Bad bosses are great at kissing up to their boss or others in power. To try to make themselves look good, they treat people below them poorly, in hopes of getting even more done.
11. Always say “I” and seldom say “we”: Bad bosses sound like they are warming up for the opera… My, my my, me, me, me, I, I , I. What bad bosses have trouble saying when great things have been accomplished is we.
12. Hire mediocre performers: Bad bosses don’t like to be outshined, so they hire people who are not as smart, gifted or talented as they are. Plus, when someone is not at the level of the bad boss, it makes it even easier to talk down to him.
13. Promote mediocrity: Bad managers don’t encourage people to learn, grow, develop and take risks. They prefer to operate in a status quo environment. One of the bi-products of this is bad managers usually have fewer direct reports who are promoted to other areas in the organization. These managers lack the skills to take on additional responsibilities in the organization because they have been raised in an environment where growth and development has been punished, not rewarded.
14. Exhibit frequent moodiness: Have you ever worked with a boss where you had to check with others before going into their office to talk with them because you never knew what type of person you were going to meet that day? Sometimes they were happy and a joy to be around. Other times, they were downright nasty. Moody people are one of the most difficult types of people to work for because you don’t know which side of the bed they woke up on.
15. Play favorites: Bad bosses define loyalty differently than great leaders. Bad bosses define loyalty as how loyal you are to them, no matter what the situation is. They then treat people differently, based on who they determine to be loyal. One way this difference shows up is some people on the team are held accountable, while other poor performers are allowed to slide.
16. Hidden secrets:They refuse to get their teams input. They never want you to talk to your teammates, they restrict your movement and ability to succeed.  These people normally lack integrity. 

So here are the behaviors that will kill employee engagement. Can you imagine working for a boss like this? I don’t know about you, but I would quit. No one gets paid enough to put up with that crap. Abuse in the workplace is worse than an abusive home. Why you ask? Because you spend more time at work,for most, than you do at home. 

Posted by tammyduffy at 8:18 AM EST

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 Women's March Washington Jan 2017

 https://www.facebook.com/359697407526169/photos/?tab=album&album_id=726682457494327 

Other photos from March by Duffy

By Tammy Duffy, PhD

They thought about 200,000 would come.

The number of people who came were 1.3 million and counting to Washington DC, on January 21, for the Women's March on Washington. They came from all walks of life and places in the United States. I spent time speaking with a lot of women, including the homeless on the street. The homeless had the best stories as to why they were at the march. They had the most hope for America.

In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us. "Women’s March ‘Mission & Vision’"

The women and men who walked did so to honor those female warriors before us--the suffragettes, women’s libbers  trailblazers like Margaret Thatcher, Condelleza Rice, Hillary Clinton and others―and give voice to their concerns in a new era. I marched because I am concerned. I am concerned about Women's rights. I did not march to de-legitimize the presidency.  I marched to better understand everyone's position. I am a republican who struggled on who to vote for this election. I did vote. As a scientist I like a more analytical approach to decisions. Selfishly, I want to see this type of decision making with our new administration. 

I grew up in the hood. My grandparents lived in East Trenton, NJ. My parents lived in the attic of my one grandparents home when they first got married for year. My Father had his own business and actually did a lot of the steel construction for President Trump's casinos in Atlantic City. I grew up learning how to appreciate that a hard day at work can reap many rewards. My parents had no money to send me to college, yet I was able to achieve a PhD in Health Physics. America is a land of great possibility.If you have passion and time you can do anything no matter how much money you have. 

I am concerned with the defunding of Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual's income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence. PP believes that respect and value for diversity in all aspects of life is essential to our well-being. They also believe that reproductive self-determination must be voluntary and preserve the individual's right to privacy. The government should not be involved in this. Planned Parenthood's ability to train families on the enhancement of the quality of life and strong family relationships is key to a families success. The key to a childs success. The key to America's success.

Planned Parenthood also provides comprehensive reproductive and complementary health care services in settings which preserve and protect the essential privacy and rights of each individual. They act as an advocate to public policies which guarantee these rights and ensure access to such services. Their ability to provide educational programs which enhance understanding of individual and societal implications of human sexuality. The video controversy damaged their brand. The videos are believed to be doctored. Who knows the real truth. What I do know is that PP has given the women in the disparate communities of the United States their only resource for healthcare and knowledge for sexual health, etc. Taking this away will severely damage the health care costs and well being of millions in the United States. The communities that utilize these resources are the very people who have the highest health risks.  The education for birth control, HIV/AIDS care and prevention, or medically accurate sexuality education are now defunded for PP. This means open access to safe, legal, affordable abortion and birth control for all people, regardless of income, location or education is viewed as not important to defund it.

Ivanka Trump wants to focus on women's issues. Yet, I have never seen or heard that she has visited the bowels of the inner cities to learn what the real issues are for the middle and lower class of America. She needs to come and visit us. She grew up very privileged, she cannot have a clear understanding or background on the real issues that mid and lower class America has. This is not to criticize her, but to guide her on how to develop programs that work and are sustainable. We want her to help us and the only way to do that is to visit us.

Women can change a society. We have seen this globally with the implementation of microfunds in poverty stricken countries to women and they transform their communities.

Women in America are still 35 percent more likely than men to be poor in America, with single mothers facing the highest risk. Currently, 35 percent of single women with children live and raise their families in poverty.

Despite composing nearly half of the workforce, women account for 60 percent of the nation’s lowest paid workers. The salaries for the vast majority of jobs held by women, in industries such as retail and hospitality, are consistently lower than in traditionally male career paths, such as construction, engineering, and energy. For this reason, Legal Momentum is working to expand women’s pathways into non-traditional work, which promises stronger salaries, stable benefits, and a pathway from poverty to prosperity.

Women and children account for over 70 percent of the nation’s poor. Unfortunately, the nation’s anti-poverty and safety net programs have repeatedly failed to take into account the reality of women’s lives and provide sufficient provisions for helping women and families escape poverty. Until very recently, and as is still the case in many states, unemployment insurance in most states was limited to full-time workers, leaving part-time workers – the vast majority of whom are women – with no assistance if they lost their jobs. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the country’s main program for addressing family poverty, does not provide enough support to prevent acute material hardships – like hunger, homelessness, and utility cut-offs – for the families that rely on it. Work requirements for women with very young children create even higher hurdles. With women accounting for over 90 percent of adult TANF recipients, reforming this program is critical to alleviating women’s poverty.

There are 11.5 million single-mothers in America. While women’s workforce participation has increased, the supply of affordable child care has lagged far behind, meaning that many single moms literally cannot afford to work or have to spend a large share of their meager income on childcare.

More than one in eight women, more than 16.9 million, lived in poverty last year. Poverty rates were particularly high for families headed by single mothers — 1 in 3 (36.5 percent) lived in poverty. More than half of all poor children (56.2 percent) lived in female-headed families in 2015.

Poverty Rates in District of Columbia

Women: 16.3%

Female- Headed Families: 40.3%

Black women: 23.9%

Hispanic women: 11.3%

Asian women: 15.8%

Native American women: -

Women 65 and older: 15.0%

Children: 25.6%

Poverty Rates in New Jersey

Women: 10.6%

Female-headed families: 33.6%

Asian women: 7.4%

Black women: 17.2%

Hispanic women: 21.0%

Native American women: 16.9%

Women 65 and older: 9.0%

Children: 15.6%

https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Poverty-State-by-State-2016.pdf

I do agree that some of the posters women, men and children were carrying during the march were vulgar. There is nothing to gain in that level of vulgarity. Two wrongs do not make a right. I found it disturbing when I saw 10 year old girls walking with their Mom's and the 10 year old was holding a sign that said, "Don't touch my pussy." That kind of parenting is not parenting, it was simple craziness to see that.

Fortunately only a few people out of the 1.3 million that attended the march could actually hear the celebrities. The celebrities do not matter. Their voices for the most part are heard only that day, and do not influence or help inhibit a change. There are some that do make a difference, but not every day of their life. Where the celebrities were positioned you could not get near that area on the side of the museum so the vast majority never heard their rhetoric. There is nothing to gain in their vulgarity either.

When you speak to women who went to other marches that day there is a unique thing that happened at all the marches. There was no pushing and shoving, everyone was in a positive energetic mood and there was lots of love in the air. At every march. That alone is simply magnificient. Imagine taking that level of passion, you could change the world.

Women's rights are human rights. We need to continue to fight for equal rights and not have reversed Roe Vs Wade. Individual choice matters, its our constitutional right. We need to passionately assert that we will not rest until we ensure that women have the right to control our own bodies, that with hard work and diligence we can break the glass ceilings of our choosing, that we will not tolerate sexual harassment, bullying, and assault by strangers and acquaintances alike, either in color. It is our moral imperative to dismantle the gender and racial inequities within the criminal justice system. It's not ok. Women need to speak up when they are not at marches. I have watched women in corporate America put up with horrible situations for they are afraid to open their mouths about a sexual harassment in workplace. There are too many times that a company does not address it, even when a complaint is filed. That company is worse than the harasser in my opinion when they refuse to address it. Women need to not be afraid and stand their position and demand action.

There has to be an economy powered by transparency, accountability, security and equity. All women should be paid equitably, with access to affordable childcare, sick days, healthcare, paid family leave, and healthy work environments. We can only hope that this is addressed with the new administration. All workers – including domestic and farm workers, undocumented and migrant workers - must have the right to organize and fight for a living minimum wage. There are numerous farmers who hire undocumented workers to harvest their crops. They are not paying them what they should. This needs to be corrected.

Civil Rights are our birthright, including voting rights, freedom to worship without fear of intimidation or harassment, freedom of speech, and protections for all citizens regardless of race, gender, age or disability. We believe it is time for an all-inclusive Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Every American should feel their voice matters, all the time. To silence the press, the American public is not what democracy is about.  There is no doubt there is so much press tht is dishonest. It is rather disturbing. I do more fact checking with my blog than newspapers do with the articles they print.

During yesterday's march people chanted,"This is what a Democracy looks like."  I felt so proud to be an American yesterday. The inspiration I left DC with yesterday is electric. I did not just march, I want to make a difference for women in America.  I wantour new administration to view the march in DC yesterday as women supporting change. We want positive change and a voice when changes are made.

I try to live every day in solidarity. I believe in social justice, conversations can’t just stop because they’re inconvenient. Everyone must speak up and hold their feet firmly to the ground or change cannot happen. If you change nothing, nothing changes.

It's the courageous conversations that women have that opens dialogues with people and groups.  We need to get the youth of America integrated in making change. They are not just our future, they are our present. How do we create space for them?

The rhetoric of the past election cycle was insulting from both sides to the American public.  We are now confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.  The global marches clearly sent a message. In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington sent a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We want to stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us. We want to work together to direct America into the right direction. Everyone needs to embrace each other or we cannot succeed.

There were some poignant messages in President Trump's inauguration address:

We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.

Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.

And this, the United States of America, is your country.

I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.

When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.

There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected

You will never be ignored again.

Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.

The American public needs President Trump to live up to these words. They are very powerful words. They are great words. There will be decisions made that the American public may not like.

It will always be important for our new President to let the American public understand the "why" a decision is made.  The politicians of America never to do this. If the 'why" is shared,ie. defunding Planned Parenthood, the possible (as being reported in the press, not sure if this is correct) defunding of the National Endowment of the Arts, etc, Americans better understand the decisions. President Trump was elected because the American public is fed up with the status quo in Washington. They wanted drastic change. He is representative of that drastic change.

President Trump needs to be given a chance to change our country whether you voted for him or not. The damage that has been done over the past decade to America is monumental by career politicians who only care about their own pocketbooks and not the American public. I recently sent a letter to 10 NJ politicians on a critical safety issue in my town. We have gotten ZERO response from all 10 politicians. That is disgraceful. This is that status quo in our government though.

It will not take overnight to fix and course correct America. The correct facts are important. The way the information is shared with the press and American public is important. The American public is important. I want the leader of our free world to positively impact the rest of my life and those younger than me.

To use the words of our President.. with only subtle alteration...

TO all of our people,  we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People. The United States of America, is your country.

I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.

There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.

God Bless America and the new President of the USA, President Donald Trump. We want our country back. Fight for us, keep us safe and protected.

Posted by tammyduffy at 1:14 PM EST

Updated: Sunday, 22 January 2017 6:42 PM EST

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They thought about 200,000 would come.

The number of people who came were 1.3M and counting to Washington DC on January 21 for the Women's March on Washington. They came from all walks of life and places in the United States. I spent time speaking with a lot of women, including the homeless on the street. They had the best stories and the most hope for America.

In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.Women’s March ‘Mission & Vision’

The women and men who walked did so to honor those female warriors before us--the suffragettes, women’s libbers  trailblazers like Margaret Thatcher, Condelleza Rice, Hillary Clinton―and give voice to their concerns in a new era. I marched because I am concerned. I am concerned about Women's rights. I did not march to de-legitimize the presidency.  I am a republican who struggled on who to vote for this election. 

I grew up in the hood. My grandparents lived in East Trenton, NJ. My parents lived in the attic of my one grandparents home when they first got married. I grew up learning how to appreciate that a hard day at work can reap many rewards. My parents had no money to send me to college, yet I was able to achieve a PhD in Health Physics.

I am concerned with the defunding of Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual's income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence. They believe that respect and value for diversity in all aspects of our organization are essential to our well-being. They also believe that reproductive self-determination must be voluntary and preserve the individual's right to privacy. Their ability to train families on the enhancement of the quality of life and strong family relationships is key to a families success.

Planned Parenthood provides comprehensive reproductive and complementary health care services in settings which preserve and protect the essential privacy and rights of each individual. They act as an advocate to public policies which guarantee these rights and ensure access to such services. Their ability to provide educational programs which enhance understanding of individual and societal implications of human sexuality. The video controversy damaged their brand. The videos are believed to be doctored. Who knows the real truth. What I do know is that PP has given the women in the disparate communities of the United States their only resource for healthcare and knowledge for sexual health. Taking this away will severely damage the health care costs in the United States. The communities that utilize these resources are the very people who have the highest health risks.  The education for birth control, HIV/AIDS care and prevention, or medically accurate sexuality education are now defunded for PP. This means open access to safe, legal, affordable abortion and birth control for all people, regardless of income, location or education is viewed as not important to defund it.

Ivanka Trump wants to focus on women's issues, she says. Yet, I have never seen or heard that she has visited the bowels of the inner cities to learn what the real issues are. She needs to come and visit us. She grew up very privileged, she cannot have a clear understanding or background on the real issues that mid and lower class America has. We want her to help us and the only way to do that is to visit us.

Women can change a society. We have seen this globally with the implementation of microfunds in poverty stricken countries to women and they transform their communities.

Women in America are still 35 percent more likely than men to be poor in America, with single mothers facing the highest risk. Currently, 35 percent of single women with children live and raise their families in poverty.

Despite composing nearly half of the workforce, women account for 60 percent of the nation’s lowest paid workers. The salaries for the vast majority of jobs held by women, in industries such as retail and hospitality, are consistently lower than in traditionally male career paths, such as construction, engineering, and energy. For this reason, Legal Momentum is working to expand women’s pathways into non-traditional work, which promises stronger salaries, stable benefits, and a pathway from poverty to prosperity.

Women and children account for over 70 percent of the nation’s poor. Unfortunately, the nation’s anti-poverty and safety net programs have repeatedly failed to take into account the reality of women’s lives and provide sufficient provisions for helping women and families escape poverty. Until very recently, and as is still the case in many states, unemployment insurance in most states was limited to full-time workers, leaving part-time workers – the vast majority of whom are women – with no assistance if they lost their jobs. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the country’s main program for addressing family poverty, does not provide enough support to prevent acute material hardships – like hunger, homelessness, and utility cut-offs – for the families that rely on it. Work requirements for women with very young children create even higher hurdles. With women accounting for over 90 percent of adult TANF recipients, reforming this program is critical to alleviating women’s poverty.

There are 11.5 million single-mothers in America. While women’s workforce participation has increased, the supply of affordable child care has lagged far behind, meaning that many single moms literally cannot afford to work or have to spend a large share of their meager income on childcare.

More than one in eight women, more than 16.9 million, lived in poverty last year. Poverty rates were particularly high for families headed by single mothers — 1 in 3 (36.5 percent) lived in poverty. More than half of all poor children (56.2 percent) lived in female-headed families in 2015.

The rhetoric of the past election cycle was insulting from both sides to the American people.  We are now confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.  The global marches clearly sent a message. In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington sent a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We want to stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us. We want to work together to direct America into the right direction.

There were some poignant messages in President Trump's inauguration address:

We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.

Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.

And this, the United States of America, is your country.

I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.

When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.

There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected

You will never be ignored again.

Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.

The American public needs President Trump to live up to these words. They are very powerful words. They are great words. There will be decisions made that the American public may not like. It will always be important for our new President to let the American public understand the "why".  If the 'why" is shared,ie. defunding Planned Parenthood, the possible (as being reported in the press, not sure if this is correct) defunding of the National Endowment of the Arts, etc, Americans better understand the decisions. President Trump was elected because the American public is fed up with the status quo in Washington. They wanted drastic change. He is representative of that drastic change.

President Trump needs to be given a chance to change our country whether you voted for him or not. The damage that has been done over the past decade to America is monumental by career politicians who only care about their own pocketbooks and not the American public. I recently sent a letter to 10 NJ politicians on a critical safety issue in my town. We have gotten ZERO response from all 10 politicians. That is disgraceful. This is that status quo in our government though.

It will not take overnight to fix and course correct America. The correct facts are important. The way the information is shared with the press and American public is important. The American public is important. I want the leader of our free world to positively impact the rest of my life and those younger than me.

Posted by tammyduffy at 12:41 PM EST

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Glacier Ice Bar & Lounge

The Sagamore Resort’s Glacier Ice Bar & Lounge

Whether you are sad or happy about the up and coming Trump presidency, you can escape the world at the Sagamore Ice Bar after the inauguration.

See the transformation of 18,000 pounds of crystal-clear ice into one of the “hottest and coolest lounges” in the Adirondacks. Exquisite ice carvings and sub-zero temperatures make this swanky lounge an unforgettable experience. After sipping cocktails the Ice Bar, step inside and warm up next to the cozy fireplace at Caldwell’s Lounge or mingle over hors d’oeuvres and authentic Italian specialties at La Bella Vita.

2017 Glacier Ice Bar Hours of Operation

Click here to view the Ice Bar Food and Drink Menu!

The ice bar will be open during the weekends and hours below. Please note the sculptures will also only be viewable during these times. They are covered in during the day to prevent melting!

• January 20 - 22
  • Friday: 4pm - 10pm
  • Saturday: 12pm - 10pm
  • Sunday: 12pm - 4pm
• January 27 - 29
  • Friday: 4pm - 10pm
  • Saturday: 12pm - 10pm
  • Sunday: 12pm - 4pm

Weekend at the Glacier Ice Bar

To be able to accommodate everyone, we will have the following enhancements throughout the property.

• Glacier Ice Bar & Lounge: The obvious star of the weekend. All 18,000 pounds of hand-carved, crystal-clear ice will be on display at the Veranda Top Terrace. Belly up to the chilling bar, and grab an ice bar stool (adorned with "furs" to keep you dry!) and order one of our delicious hand-crafted cocktails.
• Lobby Express Bar: Relax and thaw out in the hotel lobby as you take in the great views, people, and of course enjoy one of the Glacier Ice Bar beverages or your favorite glass of wine.
• Lakeview Bonfire: Experience winter in all its glory, and partake in the quintessential campfire activity of creating your favorite S'mores on the Veranda 2nd Terrace!
  
• Chili and Chowder Lounge: Savor our Chef's chili and chowders along with Cheddar Ale Soup in a fun-filled atmosphere on the Dollar Terrace, where you can also catch the latest game on one of four flat screen TVs. Beverages will be served here as well!
• Mr. Brown's Pub: Mr. Brown's will be open and will feature live entertainment on Friday and Saturday evenings of the ice bar weekends by guitarist Brian Chevalier beginning at 9pm!
• Caldwell's Lobby Bar: Enjoy the eclectic sounds of Matty B. on the saxophone and enjoy your favorite martini, wine, or small bite in Caldwell's Lobby Bar.
• La Bella Vita: Our signature restaurant will be open for those who would like to warm up from the ice bar and enjoy an artfully prepared Italian-inspired meal.

Posted by tammyduffy at 8:47 AM EST

Updated: Saturday, 14 January 2017 8:52 AM EST

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 Conversations with Photography Greats: MCCC Professor Michael Chovan-Dalton Hosts ‘thePhotoShow’ Podcast

Professor Michael Chovan-Dalton, coordinator of the Photography and Digital Imaging program at Mercer County Community College (MCCC), is as busy in his time off campus as he is in the classroom. Chovan-Dalton is the creator of thePhotoShow, a podcast he co-hosts with Kai McBride, a photo professor and manager of photography facilities at the School of the Arts at Columbia University.

The inaugural episode of thePhotoShow aired in July 2015 and, 37 episodes later, the hosts show no signs of slowing things down.  

The School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City, where Chovan-Dalton earned his BFA, and Charles Traub, the chair of SVA’s Photo and Video Graduate Program, have been key sponsors of the project, providing the hosts with recording facilities and an eager base of listeners that keeps on growing.
Chovan-Dalton sees the podcasts as a way for the photography community to communicate and grow. “The show is a means to connect and reconnect with photographers I have known and to expand that community to new photographers,” he explains.
Chovan-Dalton and McBride book all the guests, who have welcomed the show’s conversational format. “We let our guests go in any direction or expand upon any idea. We record until we all feel like we have said what we wanted to say,” Chovan-Dalton explained.
In December, for the very first time, the show was recorded before a live audience at SVA.  Chovan-Dalton moderated a screening and Q&A session with director Martin Bell about the documentary “Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell,” a film Bell made with his wife, acclaimed photographer Mary Ellen Mark, prior to her death last year.

While he has enjoyed his conversations with all of his guests, Chovan-Dalton said it has been especially gratifying to speak with some of his mentors and people whose work he has admired for a long time, such as Thomas Roma, Charles Traub and Susan Kismaric.

Chovan-Dalton says his students are not required to tune in, but they certainly benefit if they do. He often references the podcasts in his History of Photography (PHO 110) course. “I am constantly learning new things about historical and contemporary photography. My guests personally knew the photographers, directors, curators and gallerists who made or are making history.

In addition to his BFA from the School of Visual Arts, Chovan-Dalton earned his MFA from Columbia University. Episodes of thePhotoShow are available at www.thePhotoShow.org

Posted by tammyduffy at 8:00 AM EST

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  Make 2017 the Year You Really Get into Shape

THE WORKAHOLICS WORKOUT

The Author of this blog is a triathlete, marathoner, mountain climber, adventurer. This year she will climb Mt. Everest to base camp. These activities can only be done if you are in shape. 

We all have busy schedules and our biggest excuse for not getting into shape is that we do not have the time. You have to make the time. When you do, you will be healthier and feel better about yourself. Make 2017 the year yo have no more excuses.

You do not have to be an extreme athlete to focus on being in shape. Save your money for you also do not have to belong to a gym or a boutique workout place to get in shape.

You can do it from the comfort of your own home. There is no annoying make believe trainer at the gym that you have to meet with to assess you, only to give you some cookie cutter training program.The gyms do a horrible job of cleaning the equipment. People are on their honor system to clean a piece of equipment prior to an after use. They do not do this. So whatever germs the person prior has left on that treadmill, you will pick up. Whatever germs they have left on a yogamat, you will pick up. It's just gross. 

So have a healthier, cleaner atmosphere to workout in this year, your home. The outside air. All you need is passion and dedication and a little help from Duffy's Cultural couture to succeed.

This year you can subscribe to a weekly workout plan that will help you get in shape for 2017. Each week we will post a new workout that you can do from your home.

For those of you stuck behind a computer all day, you can still get your workout in. We will show you exercises you can do at your desk with things on your desk. You do not have to buy any extra equipment. 

How this will work.... You will first pay an annual subscription fee of  $10 USD. Then each week you pay an additional $1USD for the weekly workouts. They will be sent to you by email as a PDF.

You can pay week by week, you can stop at any time or you can pay all at once ( $62 USD for the year). They will be sent every Saturday.

This gives you 52 workouts. One per week. If you include your cell phone # we will send you motivational text messages through the week to keep you motivated.

You can share your stories and photos with Duffy's Cultural Couture and we will you can be the focus of a inspirational story in 2017 on the blog. 

To sign up for your Workaholics Workout send an email to:  tammy.duffy@yahoo.com to begin your steps to a healthier you in 2017. Write in the reference of the email Workaholics Workout.

**As with any workout, always check with your physician to make sure you are capable. Do not do anything you cannot do.  We all know our limits. With any exercise, just do not do it if you cannot. 

 **Payments will be made thru Paypal to tammy.duffy@yahoo.com

Posted by tammyduffy at 9:38 AM EST

Updated: Sunday, 1 January 2017 10:29 AM EST

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Hamilton Stinks: Ignoring Public Health and Safety

 This is a letter that was sent to the leadership of NJ. Will the leadership rally and help residents or will residents public safety and health continue to be ignored?

Posted by tammyduffy at 10:42 AM EST

Updated: Saturday, 31 December 2016 12:02 PM EST

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 How Dangerous Has Hamilton Mercer County Become?

FBI Report 2016

Excerpts from the FBI Crime Report

The crime rate in Hamilton is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 37 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in Hamilton is 1 in 27. Based on FBI crime data, Hamilton is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to New Jersey,  Hamilton has a crime rate that is higher than 92% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes. In fact, after researching dangerous places to live, NeighborhoodScout found Hamilton to be one of the top 100 most dangerous cities in the U.S.A.

Importantly, when you compare Hamilton to other communities of similar population, then Hamilton's crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Hamilton does relative to all communities in America of all sizes, when NeighborhoodScout compared it to communities of similar population size, its crime rate per thousand residents stands out as higher than most.

The crime data that NeighborhoodScout used for this analysis are the seven offenses from the uniform crime reports, collected by the FBI from 18,000 local law enforcement agencies, and include both violent and property crimes, combined.

Now let us turn to take a look at how Hamilton does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Hamilton.

For Hamilton, we found that the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nation, across communities of all sizes (both large and small). Violent offenses tracked included rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon. According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI reported crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of one of these crimes in Hamilton is one in 82.

Significantly, based on the number of murders reported by the FBI and the number of residents living in the city, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that Hamilton experiences one of the higher murder rates in the nation when compared with cities and towns for all sizes of population, from the largest to the smallest.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that Hamilton's rate for property crime is 25 per one thousand population. This makes Hamilton a place where there is an above average chance of becoming a victim of a property crime, when compared to all other communities in America of all population sizes. Property crimes are motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny, and burglary. Your chance of becoming a victim of any of these crimes in Hamilton is one in 40.

Importantly, it was found that Hamilton has one of the highest rates of motor vehicle theft in the nation according to our analysis of FBI crime data. This is compared to communities of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. In fact, your chance of getting your car stolen if you live in Hamilton is one in 175.

The only person feeling safe in Hamilton is the Mayor. The residents pay over $500,000 a year for her own personal security detail. 

Posted by tammyduffy at 4:14 PM EST

Updated: Sunday, 18 December 2016 4:18 PM EST

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 Explore the Many Meanings of RED
In Newest Hunterdon Art Museum Show

Discover the many shades of meaning for the color red at the newest Hunterdon Art Museum exhibition.

RED, which opens Sunday, Jan. 15, features works by 10 artists who use red not necessarily as a predominant color, but because it conjures up a specific emotion or plays a vital role in the work’s narrative.

As exhibition curator Heather Cammarata-Seale explains, red is a paradoxical color; a color of contradictions and extremes.

“Love and anger. Life and death. Good luck and danger. Royalty and revolution. Disgust and desire. These associations impact the way we react to the color,” Cammarata-Seale said. “The way we respond to someone wearing the color red is very different than our response to someone enrobed in black.”

And, while red is often used to attract consumers – think of the branding for Target, McDonald’s or Coca-Cola – the color can signify quite the opposite, as demonstrated by artist Julie Heffernan.

Heffernan’s contribution to the exhibition shows a resolute character fighting to survive in a world facing imminent environmental disaster, Cammarata-Seale said. The landscape and atmosphere of this world are suffused with red, a warning sign that the Earth is warming up to climate change.

Artist and environmental activist Pat Brentano also seeks to make everyone aware of the toll human action takes on the natural environment. While her work is heavily reliant on black, white and gray, she features pointedly positioned washes of red as a marker of urgency, danger and decay.

Serena Bocchino’s art visually interprets American jazz music. Her Fever series, of which four works are included in this show, take the song made famous by singer Peggy Lee as its point of departure.

“Using an improvisation technique to create a visual experience akin to an auditory one, Bochinno creates abstract shapes, marks and lines by spontaneously drawing with graphite and carefully pouring pure paint directly onto the canvas,” Cammarata-Seale said.  
The artist uses red paint not only to represent the syncopated rhythms of jazz music but also to embody the heat and passion related in the song’s lyrics.

Everyone is welcome to attend the opening festivities Jan. 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. Viewers can also check out works by Emily Barletta, Cathy Choi, Valerie Hammond, Heidi Howard, Sean McDonough, Margeaux Walter and Kimberly Witham.

Cammarata-Seale, the curatorial associate for modern and contemporary art at the Princeton University Art Museum, said she hopes viewers will draw a deeper appreciation of the multiple meanings the color red can represent after seeing this exhibition.

“I hope that visitors realize that red is not only visually impactful but filled with historical, metaphorical, and symbolic meaning, she noted. “I hope they recognize that artists are not only using the color for its beauty but for its cultural associations and inherent chromatic qualities.”
Two artists featured in this exhibition will lead programs in 2017 at the Museum: Serena Bocchino will lead All About Line: Drawing Workshop, while Pat Brentano will teach The Art of Observation: Drawing, Writing, and Learning to See. For more information on both workshops, visit www.hunterdonartmuseum.org

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC

The Museum is at 7 Lower Center St. in Clinton, New Jersey, 08809. Our website is www.hunterdonartmuseum.org and our telephone number is 908-735-8415. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm and suggested admission is $5.

ABOUT THE HUNTERDON ART MUSEUM
The Hunterdon Art Museum presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art, craft and design in a 19th century stone mill that is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Founded in 1952, the Museum is a landmark regional art center showcasing works by established and emerging contemporary artists. It also offers a dynamic schedule of art classes and workshops for children and adults.
Programs are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and by funds from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, New Jersey Cultural Trust, Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission, Investors Bank, The Large Foundation, and corporations, foundations, and individuals. The Hunterdon Art Museum is a wheelchair accessible space. Publications are available in large print. Patrons who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired may contact the Museum through the New Jersey Relay Service at (TTY) 1 (800) 852-7899

Posted by tammyduffy at 4:00 PM EST

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 Key findings from PISA 2015 for the United States

The performance of 15-year-olds in the United States in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) compares it to that in four countries/economies: Canada, Estonia, Germany and Hong Kong (China).

The recently released report examines policies from these four education systems, which were all selected for their high performance and high or improving levels of equity. It concludes with a discussion of science instruction in the United States.

Key Findings from PISA

The United States remains in the middle of the rankings.  Among the 35 countries in the OECD, the United States performed around average in science, the major domain of this assessment cycle. Its performance was also around average in reading, but below average in mathematics. There has
been no significant change in science and reading performance since the last time they were the major domains (science in 2006 and reading in 2009).

One in five (20%) of 15-year-old students in the United States are low performers, not reaching the PISA baseline Level 2 of science proficiency. This proportion is similar to the OECD average of 21%, but more than twice as high as the proportion of low performers in Estonia, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Macao (China), Singapore and Vietnam.

At the other end of the performance scale, 9% of students in the United States are top performers, achieving Level 5 or 6, comparable to the average of 8% across the OECD. By contrast, over 15% of 15-year-old students in Japan, Singapore and Chinese Taipei achieve this level of performance.

Attitudes towards science are positive overall students in the United States display high levels of epistemic beliefs, or those beliefs that correspond with currently accepted representations of the goal of scientific enquiry and the nature of scientific claims. Over nine in ten 15-year olds in the United States agree that ideas in science sometimes change, that good answers are based on evidence from many different experiments and that it is good to try experiments more than once to be sure of one’s findings.

Some 38% of 15-year-olds in the United States expect to work in a science-related career at age 30. Only 24% of students across the OECD, by contrast, expect to do so. The majority of these students in the United States (22%) expect to become health professionals; 13% science and engineering professionals; 2% ICT professionals; and 1% science-related technicians
and associates.

Girls are more likely than boys to expect to become health professionals (35% vs. 9%), but boys are more likely than girls to expect to become science and engineering professionals (20% vs. 6%) and ICT professionals (4% vs. 0.5%).  The influence of socio-economic status on student performance is about average,but equity has improved since 2006.

In the United States, 11% of the variation in student performance in science could be attributed to differences in socioeconomic status, similar to the average variation in performance observed across the OECD.

PISA index of economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS) in the United States is associated with an increase of 33 score points in the science assessment, which is below the average of 38 score points across the OECD.

Disadvantaged students in the United States were 2.5 times more likely to be low performers than advantaged students. However, disadvantage does not consign students to low performance: 32% of disadvantaged students in the United States were resilient, performing above expectations and among the top quarter of students with the same socio-economic status across all countries and economies in PISA. This proportion has increased by 12 percentage points since 2006.

Equity has improved in the United States since 2006, when socio-economic status accounted for 17% of the variation in student performance in science, and a one-unit increase in the ESCS index was associated with an increase of 46 score points. However, mean performance did not increase over the same period. The increase in equity can be attributed to gains in performance among disadvantaged students, but these were not large enough to significantly increase the country’s mean performance. There has been little change in science performance among advantaged students. Students’ science performance is also associated to the socio-economic composition of their schools.

In the United States, a 91-point gap in science performance exists between students attending advantaged schools and those attending disadvantaged schools. This is larger than the gaps of less than 70 points observed in Canada and Estonia.
The level of between-school variation in science performance in the United States is below the OECD average, whereas within-school variation is higher than the OECD average. The bulk of variation in performance in the United States is observed among students attending the same schools rather than different schools. This is partly due to the fact that schools sort and track students to a lesser extent in the United States than in other OECD countries.

Time and resources devoted to science differ between schools Principals in disadvantaged schools in the United States are more likely to report a shortage of human resources than principals in advantaged schools. This may exacerbate disparities in performance related to socio-economic status. There are no significant differences in access to material resources across schools.

Advantaged students receive approximately 50 minutes more of science instruction per week in school than their disadvantaged peers. This is equivalent to 30 hours per year for a school year of 36 weeks, compared to 22 hours on average across OECD countries.Policies to promote equity in education.

Education systems should ensure that all students are able to access high-quality education and reach their full potential,regardless of their social or economic status. Equity does not come at the expense of high performance: Canada, Estonia,Germany and Hong Kong (China) have all attained high levels of performance with high or improving levels of equity.

Five policy pillars that aim to continuously improve teaching and learning in schools and to promote equity in education have been identified, drawing on the experience of these countries:

1. A clear education strategy to improve performance and equity should be implemented.
2. Rigorous and consistent standards should be applied across all classrooms.
3. Teacher and school leader capacity should be improved.
4. Resources should be distributed equitably across schools – preferentially to those schools and students that need
them most.
5. At-risk students and schools should be proactively targeted.

Approaches to science educat ion in the United Stat es
Science instruction in the United States has changed over the past few decades. In addition to acquisition of knowledge specific to each field of science, emerging science education underscores the concepts spanning many fields of science and the practices used by scientists and engineers. This is in line with what the PISA science assessment examines: the ability to explain scientific phenomena, to evaluate and design scientific inquiry, and to interpret the data collected by
the inquiry. Different instructional approaches need to be considered and introduced to enhance students’ learning and their use of scientific knowledge in the real world.

The main purpose of formative assessment is the feedback it provides to both learners and instructors about gaps in students’ learning, so that further instruction and support may be provided to bridge those gaps. It is critical that assessments be
aligned to instruction to make them informative to both teachers and students. Teachers who regularly implement formative assessments – both formalised assessment tasks and less formal check-ins – are in a better position to adjust instruction to address student challenges and provide opportunities for deeper learning when appropriate. Students who regularly receive feedback can begin to gauge their own progress and recognise the need for additional help from teachers and peers.

PISA 2015 asked students who attend at least one science course how often certain activities happen in their science lessons. The teaching strategies used by teachers are grouped into four approaches: teacher-directed instruction, perceived feedback, adaptive instruction and enquiry-based instruction. According to students’ reports, these teaching approaches are not mutually exclusive, even if some teaching approaches, such as adaptive teaching and providing feedback, are more frequently combined than others.

When students in OECD countries were asked about what happens in all or most lessons, almost seven in ten reported that they are given opportunities to explain their ideas, about six in ten reported that their science
teachers explain how a science idea can be applied to different phenomena, and half reported that their teachers explain the relevance of science concepts to their lives. Only one in four students or fewer reported that they are allowed to design their own experiments, spend time in the laboratory doing practical experiments, or are asked by their science teacher to do an investigation to test their ideas.

In all OECD countries except Korea, using teacher-directed instruction more frequently is associated with higher science achievement, after accounting for the socio-economic status of students and schools; and students in all countries also hold stronger epistemic beliefs, such as believing that scientific ideas change in light of new evidence, when their teachers used these strategies more frequently. A positive association is also observed between these teaching practices and students’ expectations of pursuing science-related careers. In no education system are these
instructional practices associated with students being less likely to expect to work in science-related occupations.

In 27 of the countries and economies that participated in PISA, students in socio-economically disadvantaged
schools are more frequently exposed to enquiry-based teaching than those in advantaged schools, while the
reverse is true in 10 other education systems. After accounting for the socio-economic profile of both students and schools, greater exposure to enquiry-based instruction is negatively associated with science performance in 56 countries and economies. Perhaps surprisingly, in no education system do students who reported that they are frequently exposed to enquiry-based instruction score higher in science. However, across OECD countries, more
frequent enquiry-based teaching is positively related to students holding stronger epistemic beliefs and being more likely to expect to work in a science-related occupation when they are 30, even if these relationships are weaker than is the case with teacher-directed and adaptive instruction.


The main purpose of formative assessment is the feedback it provides to both learners and instructors about gaps in students’ learning, so that further instruction and support may be provided to bridge those gaps. It is critical that assessments be
aligned to instruction to make them informative to both teachers and students. Teachers who regularly implement formative assessments – both formalised assessment tasks and less formal check-ins – are in a better position to adjust instruction to
address student challenges and provide opportunities for deeper learning when appropriate. Students who regularly receive feedback can begin to gauge their own progress and recognise the need for additional help from teachers and peers.

Posted by tammyduffy at 2:25 PM EST

Updated: Sunday, 11 December 2016 2:46 PM EST

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