Hi
Amanda is hosting this week’s Day in a Sentence, and she is collecting your reflective sentences with the intent of gathering and posting them all sometimes next weekend (so don’t panic).
Please join Amanda at her blog for this week’s Day in a Sentence.
Peace (in the words),
Kevin
Well, just as Slice of Life ends, so begins poetry with pictures over at Bud the Teacher’s blog. Each day, Bud posts an interesting photo, with a little bit of guided thoughts, and asks for folks to submit a poem.
Today the photo and idea around breaks inspired me to write this poem:
I’m breaking in
so you can break out
with those dance moves you’ve been working on
with the Wii.
I hear you down there at night,
with speakers on low,
your feet pound-pound-pounding to the beat
while I am deep in sleep,
dreaming of the microchips that carry the rhythm
of you.
And I am trying to use Vocaroo to record my poems with Bud.
Peace (in the night),
Kevin
A new report out (funded by the Gates Foundation) tries to quantify the impact that our library system in our country has on providing access to technology to its patrons, including those who live at or below the poverty line. If you think about it, for many, the library remains a vital spot not just for books, but also for use of computers.
The report is called “Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries” and the summary of the findings are available as a PDF online. The researchers combined phone calls, on-site interviews and web-based questions to gather their data.
Here are some of the things they found:
The report also offers up some recommendations:
And the report notes:
Over the years, libraries have made significant investments to keep pace with digital developments, but surging demand quickly wears out equipment, taps available bandwidth, and strains library resources. As resources and services increasingly migrate online and devour greater bandwidth, more patrons will need access to fully participate in the digital age. That means libraries will require more resources, not less, to meet this growing need.
So, let’s hear it for our libraries (and librarians), whose budgets keep getting slashed and whose hours keep getting dwindled in a time when they are probably needed the most if we are to address the problems of the Digital Divide among the haves and the have-nots in this world.
Peace (in the stacks),
Kevin
In the recent edition of Newsweek, Anna Quindlen sounds off about where the world of books and reading may be heading, particularly in light of the oncoming bus known as the iPad (which writer Daniel Lyons writes about in an interesting way in the same magazine, pointing out the benefits and dangers of Steve Jobs/Apple’s closed systems).
Quindlen notes that there “is and has always been more than a whiff of snobbery about lamentations that reading is doomed to extinction.” Books in book form are still everywhere, and most of us are still in the transition from paper and digital form, and that transition may be around for quite some time.
I am a digital guy, for sure, but I have not yet made my way to the Kindle, Nook or iPad or any other (although I have read books on my iTouch and on my XO computer, just to see what it was like). I am still attached to the physical substance of the book, even though, I understand the interesting aspects of eReaders and am fascinated by the possibilities of multi-layered composition.
I liked this point made by Quindlen, too:
“Reading is not simply an intellectual pursuit but an emotional and spiritual one. It lights the candle in the hurricane lamp of self: that’s why it survives.”
I imagine that this holds true, whatever the “container” the book comes in.
Peace (in the digital world),
Kevin
(This is the last part of the Slice of Life project at Two Writing Teachers)
The rain has been unbearable the last two days or so. Just deluges of downpour and along with keeping an eye on the rivers — the one down the street is near the edge of the bank — and the flow of water into my basement sump pump — it’s churning out a near constant stream, worrying me about the motor — we are just plain bored out of our skulls. And the kids have been at each other’s throats, too, as we wait for what they say will be record-high temperatures and sunny days ahead.
So, last night, we went to Blockbuster and rented The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which one of the few Roald Dahl stories that I don’t think I have read, although all three of my boys know the story of the wily fox who is torn between being the “wild animal” that he is and the family member he has become.
I love stopmotion movies and I sort of like Wes Anderson as a director, and while I was not blown away by Mr. Fox, it was rather quirky and likeable, and it definitely had that Wes Anderson feel to it. His movies always seem off-balance to me, in a good way.
It was nice just to have the four boys hanging out in the living room, with us cracking jokes and watching the flick. (My wife is away this week). I realized later that we never got the popcorn going. What I thinking?
Peace (in the last slice of the month),
Kevin
It’s been hard to make sense of what happened in our neighboring South Hadley where it appears now (after our district attorney levied criminal charges) that a group of popular high school kids targeted a girl from Ireland to the point where she took her own life a few months ago.
It’s sad all around, really. Sad that the girl had no concept of where to turn to for help. Sad that any kids could act that way towards another (verbal, emotional, physical abuse). Sad that this went on too long in a school where teachers should have seen the signs (I’ll withhold judgment since we really don’t know that whole story). Sad that online sites like Facebook and others were used as part of the bullying. Just sad all around.
The headlines on our local paper were blaring about the criminal charges against the high school bullies whose actions led to the death of a classmate. The charges include some counts of rape. It’s one of the only days that I consciously hid the front page of the newspaper from my own children. We’ve talked about the situation in that neighboring town, and we’ve talked about bullying (we’ve had our share of both sides of that coin here), and we’ve talked about an appropriate response. I am not putting my head in the sand, but I am not ready to talk about rape charges, either.
I noticed on Twitter that Kathy Schrock had started to compile some resources for dealing with bullying and cyberbullying issues, and I appreciated that and I wanted to share it out, too. I do talk to my students about this issue and we have some pretty far-ranging talks about how words have power, for good or bad.
This resource by Kathy comes as our state is moving towards enacting a law against bullying which is far-reaching in scope. (Kathy works on the other side of the state). I’m not sure if the law will be effective. The way to stop such action is at the moment it happens, but it may spur administrators to be more pro-active in education around the issues of bullying. Certainly the death of this girl has opened up a lot of eyes.
I hope I never see headlines like the ones I have been seeing, ever again.
Peace (please),
Kevin
This is the third year that I have spent the month of March participating in the Slice of Life challenge over at Two Writing Teachers with Stacey and Ruth. This morning, I thought I would reflect on why I take part in the daily writing project as a podcast.
Reflections on Slice of Life
Peace (in the Slice),
Kevin
(This is part of the Slice of Life project at Two Writing Teachers)
Yesterday afternoon, my voice was almost gone, down to a bare whisper, because I spent the day loudly and enthusiastically encouraging my students in games of Quidditch and soccer and even Dodge Ball on a yearly field trip we take to an indoor soccer arena.
Some of you know that our school is now in its 11th year of playing a version of Quidditch that is complicated to learn and amazing to watch and allows for kids of all athletic levels to participate. In a few weeks, the four sixth grade classes will face off in a full-day Quidditch Tournament at our school.
This year, I have a homeroom that struggles to work together due to some personalities but they have been pulling it together lately in ways that have me smiling in satisfaction and they were wonderful yesterday on our field trip. They worked as a team (we are called Dry Ice, see logo). They cheered each other on. They didn’t wallow in mistakes or point fingers at each other.
I tried to set the example, of course, with my rousing cheers and pats on the backs, and doing that one-to-one coaching stuff around hints and suggestions for play, but they were right there with me. And so, tired out and almost out of voice, I felt as if we had accomplished something important as a class yesterday. We were working as a a team, and as cliche as that sounds, it is important.
Peace (on the field),
Kevin
(This is part of the Slice of Life project at Two Writing Teachers)
Sometimes, when I get an hour or so alone in the house, I pull out my guitar and try to write a song or least, work on a melody. Yesterday morning, I had this idea of writing a song about writing, but the song veered off in a different direction as I was writing, and I went with it just to see what might happen. This is one of those songs that may not get any farther than this, to be honest, because it sounds a bit too much like some of my other songs. I like it — I like the message of finding hope even the face of pessimism — but the song isn’t quite interesting enough at this point to move it on. That could change, of course.
Still, here it is: a demo song written and recorded yesterday morning, in an empty house, in about an hour.
Deep Blue Lines
(listen to the song)I look at the paper and I see the deep blue lines
My heart is full but I’m feeling like I’m falling behind
You can take my words –Go on — take ’em – I don’t mind
Just leave me here in silence for a little whileI can hear the songs playing on the radio
The gospel queens are trying to save my soul
The DJ’s talking in a cadence – soft and low
Just leave me here in silence of the shadows‘Cause everyone has a story
a story they can tell
about the world outside
and how it’s all gone to hellBut I have a vision
a vision I can see
How the world gets saved
by people like you and meI hear the morning echo in the stars
You voice is like an angel from afar
as I wait down here in darkness with my guitar
just take my hand and lead me to where we are
Peace (in the light),
Kevin
(This is part of the Slice of Life project at Two Writing Teachers)
You should see our dog in the mornings. We let him sleep on our kids’ beds (not ours) and they have devised an elaborate system for who gets the lunk for the night. (They even have a theme song, sung to Eddie Money, about “Duke’s on my bed tonight, he’s gonna sleep right there until the morning light …”)
My job is to grab him in the mornings and get him outside, and he is often bunkered down hard, huddled up against the boy and reluctant to come with me. He”ll twist away, stretch his head, push his paws out, whatever. I’m always amazed at how much bed he takes up with his long legs (he’s part lab and part hound, and he has this incredible long, lean body.)
In the dark, I am searching for his collar because the only way to get him is to slowly drag his prone body to the edge of the bed, hold out my hands to catch him (all 60 pounds of him) before he falls and then guide him downstairs. He’ll stretch and yawn and then, with the collar in my hand, he bobs and weaves his head away from me.
All the while, his tail is wagging. It’s an odd way to start the days, but there you go.
Peace (with the dog),
Kevin