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Showing posts from January, 2014

Photo Finished

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For thoroughbred horse enthusiasts like me, this time of year is when we begin to think about the 3-year-olds.  Having just had their birthday on January 1st, the fantasy turns to the ultimate dream: the Kentucky Derby.  Of course only 20 of the thousands foaled three years ago will ever get the chance to run for the roses, but the dream will flourish until it becomes final who will enter the gate and who will not.  That's why I focused on a colt named Cairo Prince who was heavily favored to hit the Derby trail after his run in the Holy Bull Stakes yesterday.  He certainly looked the part.  He ran like it too.  A fairly easy win that left his rivals in his wake.  OK that's where this takes a departure.  Hopefully Cairo Prince will stay healthy and continue to improve.  I hope he gets his shot at the triple Crown.  But at the end of the day, when I Googled the name Cairo Prince I was struck with how quickly his winning photo appeared online.  And why would this be such a shock?

Between the Pages

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One of the unfortunate things that comes with the wisdom of age is the realization that some things will never change.  The bad news here is, of course, that poverty and political high jinks, and greed continue along at their unaffected pace.  The good news, however, is that some things, albeit very few, do actually change.  Witness the rapid impact of technology on all things in this culture.  I'm constantly reminded how kids in the high school classroom have never lived in a world without computers and cell phones.      Recently, I've noticed that the shift in technology has moved into my dream life, with cell phones and now smart phones making appearances in the theater of the night on a regular basis.  Like older motifs, I find that the phone becomes suddenly inoperable, or crumbles in my hands.  On other occasions, I can't find the numbers for keys, and now and again I don't know my number or the one I'm trying to reach.  I keep thinking to myself during these

I Got Nuthin"

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Been thinking for the past few days about my little experiment back in the classroom.  I, like many educators I know, was always fond of saying, "something happens when you leave the classroom...something that inhibits your ability to identify completely with other teachers."  It's so true.  That's why I eagerly welcomed the opportunity to model a few lessons and let one of the beginning teachers I work with see me in their place.  That means seeing how I deal with the myriad of things that arise daily.  How I make myself vulnerable, handle frustration, where I succeed and where even my 30+ years experience can't get me out of a jam, or a blind alley, or prevent an emotional response from leaking out. In retrospect, I think the lessons went well.  I was able to come across as knowledgeable, comfortable, and easy going.  I wondered, beforehand, how much change I'd notice in things like attention span, or ability and willingness to share ideas with others, (spe

One More Time

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It's been about eight years since I retired from full-time teaching.  Eight years since I ruminated about a lesson, made some notes on a little background research just in case a question comes up, and eight years since I realized that, yes, a typo can get through a spell check easily.  So, when I went into a high school sophomore English class--actually three of them-- to model some lessons for a first year teacher I'm currently mentoring,  had a few concerns.      I was making jokes about my "teaching chops," or whether I still had "it."  But what I was really wondering was what will these students be like.  They are, on the surface, very different from the student population I worked with for so many years.  Thee is a lot of water, and many more bridges between Sandy, Oregon and El Cerrito, California.      I labored for three decades in the East Bay; sandwiched between Oakland and Richmond, Ca.  10 minutes from Berkeley, 20 from San Francisco, and defi

Let's Split

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Guess it's just that time of year again.  The time to think about new beginnings and a few what ifs.  But as 2014 is being born, so too are a few other ideas about what the future of this century holds.  For those of us born mid last century, any year that begins with a 2 was always going to be the future.  As children, we knew that there would come a day, in a new century, when we'd see so many things differently.  That time is now. Yes, this includes all the advancements in technology, the myriad forms that a computer takes, the advancements in health (note: not health care) transportation, and the general ease with which people spend their days. Yet, all is not Utopian in this advanced world we have long expected.  The fact is that we're a much more divided nation now than ever before.  We really are, as a culture, on a few different pages when it comes to core values and the principles and ethics with which we'd like to live our lives. Just a soft peek at the issu