Day Four Of Forty Days Of Gratitude

Today was the day that the Tech Department finally came to fix my room. I can now use my smart board and it will make it easier to teach new skills.

I was also thrilled to realize that I am a paid member of Quia. I've been thinking about joining but I haven't done it because it costs $50 per year. I asked the school if they would pay it and they told me to submit a purchase order. I did just that and I don't remember receiving word that my membership had actually been paid.

This will really make things so much easier for me. Thank goodness. I really am grateful for this. Quia is a site that lets you give students tests online as well as play games like Rags to Riches or Jeopardy with their vocabulary. I am very grateful that my students will now have access to this site.

After school today we had to watch a DVD that was made in conjunction to the Dr. Ruby Payne book on poverty that we read. She talked about how many people who win the lottery are broke five years later. She was using this in her discussion of how money does not necessarily make you rich. She then said "And you thought God wasn't answering your prayers." Then she laughed.

I decided to do some quick research about lottery winners and here's what I have discovered.

Winning $15,000 a year for 20 years - no major effect on your life

Winning $80,000 a year for 20 years - would affect your labor force participation, automobile expenditures, the value of the home you own,and your savings.

According to a recent study by Guido W. Imbens, Donald B. Rubin, and
Bruce Sacerdote:

“Winning $15,000 a year for 20 years would not have a major effect on your life. However, if you instead won $80,000 a year for 20 years, it would affect your labor force participation, automobile expenditures, the value of the home you own, and your savings.

The survey gives a uniquely historic insight into the lives of Lottery winners over the last five years. I have summarized the article.

55% - are happier after winning
43% - no affect on happiness
2% - are less happy

“The happiness of the winner is not affected by the size of his or her win.”

“Winning the Lottery appears to have very little impact on the winners’ perception of their social class or their political persuasion.”


According to Dr. H. Roy Kaplan author of several books on lottery winners, “winning the lottery doesn't change people's lives as much as is imagined.

“You can catapult people from one economic status to another overnight, but a lifetime of beliefs and experiences change more slowly.

People who were outgoing and gregarious before winning took it in stride," Kaplan said. "People who were shy and withdrawn before winning became suspicious and paranoid.

Most lottery winners keep their jobs, but find their relationship with co-workers changed. Most are inundated with requests for money, both from friends and strangers.

Money doesn't change a person's level of happiness, said Kennon Sheldon, a psychologist at the University of Missouri at Columbia. "We consistently find that people who say money is most important to them are (the unhappiest)," Sheldon said.”

I just thought that was interesting so I thought I'd share.