4 Reasons Why Common Core is Worse Than ISIS

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Q. What’s the difference between Common Core and ISIS?

A. One is a destructive ideology created by fundamentalist zealots that want to destroy the foundation of America.

The other is a terrorist group in the Middle East.

I have tried to be really objective about Common Core. I have read both sides of the argument, watched videos with both positive and negative slants, and have even bought Common Core workbooks so that I could see it used firsthand.

 My determination remains the same:

Common Core is an utterly worthless educational platform that will create a domino effect of failure in America’s schools.

 I am not some crackpot that thinks he’s the next Arne Duncan because he saw an education report on Fox News. I am a former high school teacher that ran an Academy of Engineering and taught business classes at the college level. I have a Doctorate in Education and have written 7 books on advanced life development.

More importantly, my 9^th grade report card was straight Ds and Fs. I failed out of high school in 12^th grade. I can honestly say that if we had Common Core, I would have easily failed in 7^th grade instead.

  I would probably be washing dishes in a bowling alley today, having never launched        my own company, appearing on TV, radio, and podcasts, and starting my own magazine.        Common Core is marvelously effective at getting students and parents to hate learning.

 Without further ado, here is my take on why Common Core is a far bigger threat to            America than the largest purchaser of white Toyotas in Syria known as ISIS.

 1. We have a plan to neutralize ISIS, but not for Common Core

Despite what most political pundits will tell you, our armed forces have taken massive steps in eliminating the ISIS threat. Our Green Berets are training indigenous forces to rise up against terrorism, the CIA is conducting joint air strikes against ISIS controlled strongholds, and Intel specialists from all branches of service are constantly tracking the movement of ISIS forces.

We are actively pursuing military options to rid the world of the existence of ISIS forever. 

Common Core has no plan in site for its pending elimination. 

Textbook and educational software companies continue to get rich off of our schools mandatory and expensive implementation. Administrators continue to tout it as an amazing gateway to “expansive and critical thought.” The Dept of Education refuses to admit that possibly, JUST POSSIBLY, it could be the biggest failure in educational policy since the infamous No Child Left Behind. Remember that bag of crap? The infamous promise that by 2014, ALL students would test “proficient” in math and English?

Well it didn’t quite go that way. An article from the NPR website sums it up best: “According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the "Nation's Report Card," "proficiency" rates last year were below 50 percent for every racial and ethnic group, in both reading and math, in both 4th and 8th grade. The exceptions? Asians, in all subjects (51-64 percent) and whites in 4th grade math only (54 percent).”

That’s a lot of kids left behind. Well, unless you’re Asian, but I’m not going there. People are a bit sensitive these days, even when you say they are good at math.

Since no one is stepping up and saying, “COMMON CORE IS GARBAGE AND I AM NOT STANDING FOR IT” I will. I have started a petition to have the Obama Adminstration repeal it. This is how progress is made. I have YET to talk to one parent, student, or teacher that supports this plan. It is 100 percent hated across the board.

You can sign it here.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/repeal-common-core-june-2016

 2. Isis has a minimal impact on America, Common Core will have a HUGE impact on America

In the last 10 years, domestic terrorism has claimed roughly 71 lives. 71. That’s a horrible loss of life, but in comparison, lightning kills 47 people every year. Compare that with Common Core which has infiltrated 40 states like cancer with its indecipherable problems, crying children that can’t understand why the hell 3x5 = 15 is now wrong, and parents that are already at the end of their patience.

Common Core left unchecked, will add to our embarrassingly high dropout rate, increase the academic divide for minorities and females, AND CREATE FOUR TIMES AS MUCH WORK FOR STUDENTS.

Think I am joking? Watch this video. It’s infuriating.

You wonder why high school students despise school? This is a great reason why.

 3. ISIS opposes higher education for females. Common Core DECIMATES the value of higher education for females

One thing that ISIS really hates is females going to school. They go out of their way to make sure that women are strongly dissuaded from attending institutions of higher learning through intimidation, scare tactics, or strongly written letters.

Common Core takes it one step further by TRAINING FEMALES HOW TO HAVE A MISMATCHED AND WORTHLESS EDUCATION. Before Gloria Allred calls again, here is what I mean. The stats for women pursuing degrees in STEM fields are hardly encouraging. This graphic from the Washington Post shows that over a 10 year span, the rate of completion for women in STEM degree programs dropped across EVERY field. the notorious 80/20 divide for Engineering degrees still lingers as well.

 

How does Common Core factor into this information? With its implementation, MORE girls will be dissuaded from taking math based courses. This in turn diverts them into lesser paying, menial careers that hinder them from reaching their full potential.

Women are already choosing fields that pay less than men, complete more Master’s degrees overall, but outside of Nursing, do not nearly go into as many math based careers. Consider this data from www.collegeatlas.org.

Most Popular Bachelor’s Degrees for Men

Total number of Bachelor’s Degrees earned by Men (2011-’12): 685,381

Degree		# of Degrees		% of Total
Business Administration and Management		66,190		%
Finance		22,931		3.3
Biology/Biological Sciences		21,906		3.2
Political Science and Government		20,947		3.2
Accounting		20,446		3
Psychology		20,432		3
History		20,088		2.9
Economics		17,756		2.6
Mechanical Engineering		15,424		2.3
Marketing/Marketing Management		14,613		2.1

Most Popular Bachelor’s Degrees for Women

Total number of Bachelor’s Degrees earned by Women (2011-’12): 915,986

Degree		# of Degrees		% of Total
Psychology		68,808		7.5
Business Administration and Management		64,405		6.7
Nursing (RN,ASN,BSN,MSN)		61,405		6.7
Elementary Education and Teaching		36,358		4
Biology/Biological Sciences		33,950		3.7
English Language and Literature		28,945		3.2
Accounting		24,068		2.6
Communication Studies/Speech Communication		22,000		2.4
Sociology		20,064		2.2
Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies		19,396		2.1

You can clearly see that women choose to pursue education in fields that are more “social” in nature. Men choose fields that are more analytical. From a qualitative standpoint, I personally witnessed this as a 9^th grade Engineering teacher. The girls didn’t find Engineering fun because:

1. They thought it was “nerdy.”
2. They didn’t know any young female engineers.
3. Their fathers didn’t want them to go to college, they wanted them to get married and have kids by 19. (I’m dead serious on this one. It was heart breaking.)
4. They thought the math would be too hard and they were intimidated.

Now I want to share something that the dean of a college told me that hit me harder than an elbow from Macho Man Randy Savage.

Common Core is not used in college math.

Common Core is used in middle school and high school math

DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE A PROBLEM?

What the heck happens when Common Core trained female students that gutted out their math classes get to college and EVERY METHOD THEY LEARNED is useless in college?

Mind=blown

 4. ISIS creates jobs for our troops. Common Core has ZERO real world relevance

Because of the emergence of ISIS and other nutcase groups, America has a strong demand for Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Coast Guardsmen. This in turn also creates a demand for security personnel, contractors, and intelligence specialists at the

“alphabet companies”, CIA, NSA, FBI, DOD. So in a way, every time those idiots release a beheading video, America responds by creating jobs, prosperity, and exporting what we dominate at: Freedom.

This is why they hate us. Because America is awesome. 

 Common Core has absolutely zero real world relevance. This alone should TERRIFY every person in America. There is NOT ONE RECORDED INSTANCE where someone has used Common Core in any natural work based scenario. There is ZERO need to further diagram and expand number theory. There is NO JOB in which you figure out how to estimate how many triangles fit into a rectangle. (I know there will be one mouth breather that will write and say, “Hey man, I’m a carpenter and I have to estimate carpet samples, jerk”) Awesome. Congrats on being the .0001 percent that actually can use this in a meaningful fashion.

You know how you learn carpentry estimating? BECOMING A CARPENTER AND DOING ESTIMATING. The entire high school population in America does not need to learn this.  

In summary, there are 3 very flimsy reasons that Common Core supporters use to justify its existence:

1. It promotes school standardization across the United States.

So did state-run education in Communist Russia. I don’t think that worked out well, either. Communist Core has got to go.

2. It teaches students deeper level of thought and deconstruction of math problems.

So can creatively written math problems that incorporate actual things that students will see in the real world (video games, Facebook, race cars, pirates, computers, movies). Why does every Common Core math problem have to read like an accounting manual from 1947?

This is a lesson plan I created in 20 minutes covering the
same material . It's fun  and interesting.
No wonder I was laid off from teaching.

This is an actual Common Core Workbook on Circle Theory.
Great if you have trouble sleeping. 

3. Common Core prepares students for real life.

HA HA HA HA HA. Oh, you are being serious. I think I explained above that Common Core has NO relevance to a student’s future career, whether they are a CEO, lawyer, or a hot dog vendor on 42^nd St.

So there you have it. My take on why Common Core is a black hole of worthless pedagogical theory. Feel free to sign the petition if you agree. If you support Common Core and want to tell me about how wonderful it is, feel free to write a long, detailed diatribe in the comments section. After I am done openly mocking you, I’ll hit that wonderful “delete” button so you cannot expose others to your silliness.

PS: I am available for hire as one of the awesomest educational consultants in the country. Hit me up at www.bluedragonent.com for details. I have these really weird ideas that learning should be fun and engaging. Crazy, huh?

Dr. Rob

How to DECIMATE Your Food Bill and Still Eat Healthy.....................

Look, we have been together a long time. Those ski trips, that Columbian prison....just go right and subscribe. Its the right thing to do. 

Happy Wednesday Blue Dragon Army! As a transformational coach, my job is to teach you how to be good at ANYTHING. Since I have become a full time entrepreneur, I have become acquainted with an old and dear friend:

POVERTY

Yes, this the fun part of chasing your dreams and sticking it to the man. Its like revisiting my college days. 

Know what the best diet ever is? STARVING. 

So today, I went over my finances. 

After all my bills are paid, I allotted myself a whopping 40 bucks for groceries. The real value to YOU, the reader, is what I did with that 40 bucks. 

4 Words: 99 Cents Only Store. 

With a slight amount of cooking knowledge and some ground rules, you can DOMINATE your food bill. You need to find a 99 Cents Only Store with a fresh vegetables section to maximize results. 

There are certain rules that must be adhered to otherwise you are going to look like Danny Devito in a week. I'm not going to mince words, there are a LOT of fat people at these stores. If you look at what they are buying, you see why. Chips, soda, chocolate bars, canned vegetables, bread. Here are the rules I follow to maintain a healthy lifestyle:

1. Anything canned is HUGE in sodium and will pack on water weight pounds

2. Stay the F out of the candy and chips aisle. Ain't no good coming from that place

3. Sodas and flavored drinks, to include fruit juices are high in sugar and will fatten you up quickly

4. Processed meat and frozen ANYTHING is loaded with sodium and chemicals. 

5. Rice and pasta are starches and should be used sparingly, that being said, brown rice and a once a week pasta dish are ok. Red potatoes are ok 1-2 times a week. 

6. Certain foods are SUCH a good value, its a no brainer:

milk

eggs

garlic

butter

cheese

parsley

chili powder

sea salt

microwave popcorn

7, Keep a few things in mind: 80 percent of "cheese" is hardened vegetable oil. Check the label if you don't believe me. Guess what? Dry coffee creamer and imitation bacon bits are hardened soy flakes. Once again check label. Cooking spray is soybean oil usually. 

Why is this important? Soy consumption leads to estrogen production in men, man boobs, lowered sex drive and possibly erectile dysfunction. This article from Men's Health supports my claim: http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/soys-negative-effects.

So without further ado, here is what I ended getting for only 31 bucks:

CLICK TO ENLARGE 

THAT is how you shop, cook, and feed yourself. You should send this to every college student you know and tell them to quit eating out so much. I hope this is a valuable lesson that planning and some small culinary talent can pay off BIG and save you money. 

 

31 bucks. Think about it. 

Rob.

The Kid's Book That Can Make You Rich...........

Subscribe here (fabulous cash and prizes could be yours! Big money no whammies!) ----->

Genius can be found in some pretty unlikely places. 

In the case of today's blog post, I turned to a well known kid's book called Stone Soup. Kid's books have a lot of advice and guidance that adults can turn into life lessons of success, if they are open minded enough to get the underlying message.

A few years ago, I needed a new perspective on management. I remembered vaguely about this book and ordered it off Amazon.......for a penny. That's right. One of the most powerful books on networking and intellectual asset management costs a penny. 

Let that sink in before your stupid HR team drops another 6k on "corporate training" so that you can get yelled at while reading Sun Tzu. 

The basic premise of the book is that three monks are visiting a small province in China where the locals have become reclusive and unfriendly. They only care for themselves and although there are many skilled people in the village, they do not collaborate.

The monks see all this and start building a fire. They gather a few stones and start boiling them in water. A small girl sees what they are doing and brings out a larger pot to help. Then a villager surreptitiously creeps out and offers spices. Another comes out and offers carrots. A third offers onions. 

We need Sriracha, STAT

This continues until all the villagers have come out and contributed. A feast is held. Lanterns are lit. Everyone eats and shares stories. Music is played long into the night. The monks leave with a hero's farewell. They have forever changed the village with their ingenuity and wisdom. 

So what can you surmise from this story? Quite a few things, it turns out:

1. Every person is an asset - Every single person you meet knows someone that can use your services, aid you in life, or help you advance. You just have to ask the right questions

2. Aptitude is EVERYWHERE - There are hundreds of talented people out there WAITING for the chance to help you. The beauty of finding one of these specialists? Most of the time they are SO advanced, that they will help you for "love of the game." If you are one of these hyper-developed people, be sure and offer to help others. 

3. You can hand pick a team and accomplish AMAZING feats - Don't believe me? I was fired from my day job. On Dec 30th, I started the idea of creating the first magazine devoted to advanced life design. I grabbed my own A-Team of specialists from my Facebook friends, my FB business groups and strangers that had a very high aptitude at a needed skill. In 22 days, our January issue was done. We launch Wednesday the 20th. I could not have done this without those very special 10 people. 

4. If you take, YOU MUST GIVE - This is where many of you get things messed up. If you are going to ask someone for their time and help, you NEED to offer something at a 3:1 value of what you are asking. I get people that ask for life coaching advice weekly. The decent thing to do would be to at least offer my regular life coaching fee or a service in barter. Think about it, asking me for something gives you advice from a PhD that has a decade of experience. You get all the benefits, I lose time to work on my own projects. I love helping others but free advice does not pay my rent. Respect my gifts and talents and offer something in return. 

5. If you can solve someone's problem for them, DO IT - The monks solved the village's problems with a simple solution. They will now have a lifetime of gratitude for what they did. Imagine if you could do that for someone. It's not that hard. Maybe you know someone that can help them with their website issues. Maybe your cousin Larry is a great mechanic and another friend is having car issues. There are tons of ways to connect people and make their lives easier. Keep your "sixth sense" open, listen for someone's issues and step up. 

6. You will find greatness in unlikely places - The old man in Starbucks reading the paper might have fought in Vietnam. The 11 year old that is playing outside your apartment might be able to fix your computer. The shy girl next to you at Chilis that is buried in a book might be an expert at clothing design. Until you talk to these people, you will NEVER know their potential. Remember that. If you bumped into me in a coffee shop, you'd see a big, angry looking dude in a Macho Man Randy Savage t shirt, not a dual CEO and PhD that has been on TV, radio, and podcasts. Appearances ARE deceiving. Get out of your comfort zone and say hi to someone you wouldn't normally talk to. You'll be amazed at what you find. 

I hope this has inspired you to rethink the way you view people around you. There is SO MUCH potential for amazing results if you can just adjust your thinking slightly. 

If you want your own copy of Stone Soup, here is the link:

Click HERE to buy

Until next time, get out there and make some damn soup.

Rob

You're Not Stupid...The Way They Test You IS.................

Do me a favor, just between us......look to the right, and add your email to the list. I promise I won't sell it to Tai Lopez....

This post has been a long time in coming and I think it's going to resonate with a lot of people. It took a conversation with my best friend, Jeff Reiman to really sink in.

Jeff, being awesome as usual

I have a cognitive processing disorder. 

I have never admitted this to anyone. Throughout my life, I have always been treated like a "slow" person. I have always been able to read at a really high level, but any type of testing or formal instruction has created INCREDIBLE difficulty for me. Fellow students tease me. Coworkers shake their heads at me and tell me I'm stupid. Air Force guys put me in a "box" and wrote me off as a dumbass. My enlisted supervisors consistently reminded me daily that I was wasting my time in college and that I was one of the dumbest guys they had ever met. 

Jeff and I were eating Chinese food and we were talking about how another Airman had recommended I go to a formal Air Force school to learn a new skill. My exact comment went like this: 

"How in the hell can she recommend this for me, when I have had trouble in EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL I have ever attended, both civilian and Air Force? My brain has so much activity going on at once that it SHUTS DOWN when I get bored. I have to try three times as hard as other people when I am learning something that I hate."

We then had a good laugh and started talking about what my brain looks like. THIS was the collaboration of our thoughts:

If you ever have a conversation with me and I start looking to the left, this is what I am thinking of.

I have always been like this. It's not just simple ADD. It's my brain seeking something fun or interesting to think about. As Jeff and I were laughing at this, the pattern emerged:

*Failed Pre-Algebra three times

*Failed out of high school

*Didn't take SATs because of intimidation

*Failed out of college

*Failed out of 2nd college

*Almost failed out of Air Force tech school

*Failed FBI written exam (math based)

*Low score on Officer Qualifying Test (math based)

*Failed my Air Force promotion test

*Failed my 2nd portion of same test

What do all these failures have in common? 

Standardized Testing. 

I remembered the DAY I solved this little issue. I was reading a new book at lunch called the Millionaire Mind, by Thomas Stanley. He had developed several traits from hundreds of interviews with successful millionaires such as:

Very little fear of risk

Mostly C students

Good with people

Awful test takers

Off the charts creative

Excellent problem solvers

Bounce back quickly from failure

Very high aptitude at a skill/field

I felt like I had been socked in the face by Mike Tyson. 

That day, two realizations became apparent. 

1. Anytime I was forced to learn something I hated, my brain shut off. 

2. Anytime I worked on something I enjoyed, I could access HUGE portions of talent.

*Despite never taking SATs, completed 6 degrees including a Doctorate in Education

*Airman of the Year in 2007

*7 published books

*4 clothing lines

*Skateboard line

*Built my own business website and this blog

*By creating high value, got on TV, radio, and podcasts

*Studied running techniques and completed a nonstop 16 mile beach run

*Gave a lecture on speed learning at a college. Cross referenced four techniques to teach a brand new subject cold in 20 minutes. To prove that it worked, I used something easy.........nanotechnology. Students were amazed. 

*Remember how I failed Pre-Algebra three times? I was hired as an ENGINEERING teacher at Morse High School. In five years, I was running an Academy of Engineering, was nominated for Teacher of the Year and was teaching concepts in Physics, Trig, Algebra, and Pre-Cal. Once I had projects to use as a kinetic teaching device, the boring math that had eluded me fell into place. Today I LOVE math. 

*Using reverse engineering techniques and the brain drug Alphabrain, sped read 802 pages of material for an Air Force promotion exam in 45 minutes...............and missed a passing score by ONE question. 

*Came up with a brand new concept for a magazine and had it ready to launch with 10 guest writers..........in 18 days. 

How many students are we failing every year but not recognizing their aptitude? By telling them that their stupid tests will influence their WHOLE LIVES? By creating anxiety because they don't get good grades? Why do we introduce worthless programs like Common Core? To fail even MORE students? To make our math scores LOWER? 

How many taxi drivers and low level construction workers have we created that can go home and create amazing things with their hands, that could be CEOs, that could be the next Einstein, Tesla, Jobs, or Oppenheimer?

Once I started thinking about this, I got to a section that CHANGED EVERYTHING. 

Stanley talked about a man named Robert Sternberg, who had failed standardized tests as a child and had developed a crippling fear of them. He had a teacher who encouraged him to learn and develop his mind. 

Robert Sternberg ended up earning a PhD from Stanford and becoming a Professor of Psychology at Yale. 

I'll bet that stupid ass test didn't see that one coming. 

I ended up reading the 9 best books I could find on intelligence styles. 

*Limitless is Rob's Pick of the Week*

Sternberg's Successful Intelligence was the book that ROCKETED me to intellectual confidence and success. If you have a child that is having trouble in school, I highly suggest sitting down and reading it with them. 

Essentially, Sternberg said there are three learning styles:

Analytical - good at tests, can only come up with one solution to problems, usually become architects, accountants, engineers, doctors, lawyers

Creative - amazing at projects, bad test takers, can create 20 solutions to a problem, HUGE spatial intelligence, giant imaginations, usually become artists, musicians, CEOs, entrepreneurs

Practical - street smart, common sense and the ability to "Macguyver" life. 

I'm a creative with some practical. I have now done a self assessment and realize what I am bad at:

*Tests that measure rote memorization, but not work ethic, aptitude, emotional intelligence, decision making under pressure, creativity, social interaction, span of knowledge, or any type of original thought

vs what I am good at:

*Rapid reading level and ability to self learn anything at a PhD level utilizing 16 possible methods of instruction that I isolated and created

*Ability to determine aptitude and talent in other people, convert them into an asset, then offer three times value of what I ask of them

*Determining the VALUE of information, creating an original product and then monetizing it

When you sit down with paper and do a self analysis, you will realize your gifts. 

I really appreciate you reading this. I hope you pass this along to friends and teens and anyone that may feel stupid in life. Remind them that many people may call them dumb, but Dr. Rob will tell them why they are brilliant. 

See you next week. 

Dr. R.