Posted on by Laura Lee

Chicago: The Measurable Result of Closing 50 Schools in One Day in 2013

Educators could have predicted this! Why don’t we listen to those who in the know?

dianeravitch's avatarDiane Ravitch's blog

Julie Vassilatos read the report of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research about the closing of 50 schools in one day in 2013. She knew that there was no academic gain for the children affected.

http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-public-fools/2018/05/in-the-wake-of-the-mass-school-closings-one-measurable-result/

But there was one measurable result that no one talked about: Sorrow.

“The sorrow of children whose schools were closed.

“It’s measurable. The researchers measured it. They liken the losses that the students–and teachers, staff, and families–experienced, to grief. The technical term for it is “institutional mourning.” Children and staff talked about losing their school “families,” spoke of the forced separations like a divorce, or a death. Generations-long relationships with schools ended abruptly after a pained, humiliating school year of battling to keep them open–schools that served as neighborhood anchors, social roots, home of beloved teachers. Most of the 50 shuttered schools have since stood empty and fallow after the closings, untended…

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Posted on by Laura Lee

Protect youth from predatory college practices/ article in Politico

justice scales       Today’s article here: Politico

Judge deals setback to DeVos’ handling of student fraud claims

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Why does this matter? We need to protect our youth from predatory schools, lenders, etc.  As an educator, I’ve seen young people attend for- profit colleges, only to end up with staggering loans and an education they could not use. Worse, some were enrolled at colleges that closed, yet they still had major student loan debt.
We can do better; it harms us all to have youth crushed by student loans with no way to pay them. 
Laura Lee
Posted on by Laura Lee

Two poetry submissions this week

poetry     Two poems submitted this week.  That’s two more than last week, so we are in the positive direction.  More to follow.  Two rejections or two acceptances or… two no answers.

I enjoyed writing these poems, one a political poem and one simply bizarre–but inspired by a rather unique painting.  Art can inspire art!

Have you had any luck lately publishing?

Posted on by Laura Lee

Educators: Diane Ravitch’s websites

Website            If you are an educator in America or follow education issues, you probably know about Dr. Ravitch’s websites. I highly recommend her websites, as Dr. Ravitch dares to challenge the status quo.

As she writes on her blog:

Diane Ravitch’s website

A bit about her background, from her website:

My website is dianeravitch.com.
I am a historian of education and Research Professor of Education at New York University.
I was born in Houston, Texas, attended the Houston public schools from kindergarten through high school, and graduated from Wellesley College in 1960. I received my Ph.D. in the history of American education in 1975.

Posted on by Laura Lee

Rattle, a great site for poets/ mini review

colorful art                If you are a poet writing in English, you might/ probably know Rattle.com and its amazing print journal.  Rattle is the online magazine, and information on how to subscribe to the fine quarterly print journal can be found here subscribe.

The magazine sponsors a weekly competition for poems written in response to current events.  See here: Poets Respond.

But for me, a poet who has always been inspired by other writers and artists, one  of the most fascinating aspects of this multi-faceted journal is Rattle sponsors an Ekphrastic Challenge each month, when poets respond to a work of visual art by writing poem inspired by this visual art.  Details may be found here: Rattle’s ekphrastic challenge.

The poetry is, in my opinion, amazing.  It is fresh and frightening, raw and refined.  It’s really good modern poetry.

But the site says it best:

Rattle’s mission is to promote the practice of poetry.

We feel that poetry lost its way in the 20th century, to the point that mainstream readers have forgotten how moving language alone can be…The pure love of language is one of the most important experiences in the history of human culture, and somehow most of us have forgotten about it.

If you are a poet, you can learn from the best modern poets by reading Rattle’s online magazine, their print magazine, and even their Facebook page.  If you say you don’t like poetry, I challenge you to read there for a few days and come back to me and tell me that again.

Rattle reminds us of the power of poetry.

Posted on by Laura Lee

Writing to and in the voices of fictional characters

writing to characters

       I’ve written to fictional characters for many years; sometimes, I get replies.  When very young, I used to write to Anne Frank to offer comfort, to seek comfort, to wish she had lived.  Imagine what she could have written, what she could have become as an adult. I wrote to her when I was very young, before I really understood her history.  I wrote to her as if she were a character in a book, and I just loved her.

I have written in characters’ voices to other characters, in the form of ekphrastic poems.

I have written poetry in the voices of Levin from Anna Karenina, of Macduff from Macbeth, of Simon from Lord of the Flies.  I have written in the voice of Lucy Gayheart in Willa Cather’s fine novel of the same name.  To characters in the novels of Thomas Wolfe–o, lost!  To characters in the amazing novels of John Steinbeck.  To characters in those many young adult novels I read when a teen–I wanted to tell them I understood.

Do many others do this?  It seems such an incredible thing to me when a writer creates characters that truly speak to me; they help me grow as a person.  They help me empathize, see things from other points of views.

From one mind to another, across the years and the miles? That’s such an amazing gift of literacy.  Literacy means we don’t have to be confined to one place and time, and that is a priceless gift.

Posted on by Laura Lee

Writers: writing, politics, art… Tuck Magazine mini review

journal      As promised, I will continue to post links to sites I find are good for teachers, writers, poets, and more.

Tuck Magazine
–an online political, human rights and arts magazine, because social justice and the arts are important.

From their site:

“Tuck Magazine is a political, human rights, lit, music and arts journal with a difference: we aim to entertain a wide variety of readers globally.”

Now don’t you want to go there and read?  I feel it’s important to have creativity walk with compassion, which is the “slogan” of this site, after all.  I like what they are publishing.

If you have some sites you consider worth reading and investigating, let me know!

Laura Lee

Posted on by Laura Lee

Creativity and compassion should walk together.

teach                     Creativity and compassion should walk together–what does that even mean? Thank you, students.

I had no business entering teaching later on in life, and certainly had no business teaching where I did for my first full-time teaching job. I’d come out of business, gone to graduate school, and entered teaching in my middle years.

Prepared, but totally UNPREPARED for the great needs of the kids. My kids. Yes, I found teachers tend to refer to our students as OUR KIDS, MY KIDS. We love them.

My kids taught me so much, and among the many lessons learned is that it is better to be compassionate than talented.  Does the world need another poet? Maybe, although I love poetry and would argue how important poetry is to the ever changing world. But does the world need better teachers? Oh, yes. (Poets don’t hate me. I love poetry! We need great poets of social justice and to keep poetry alive!)

I found my talents were challenged daily, hourly, even every minute I taught.  I grew so much as a person in patience, humor, and love.  Yes, love. Can we even use that word?

I found my talent for researching resources and creating lessons to engage even the most reluctant learners were challenged every day.

Some time I will write about what I lost by teaching where I did for so long, but for now I want to acknowledge something that has changed my life for the better:

Kiddos, my Kids, all the students even my college students–you’ve helped me become a better person. I had no idea the heart could grow so much. (Can we say heart?)  I had no idea how much my talents that lay dormant when I worked in business would be needed as a teacher.

I know I am a much better teacher than I am a writer, and I am okay with that.  What I’ve gained through teaching is immeasurable, even shocking.  I had not expected that!  I promise I will continue to improve as a teacher, even in retirement years.

Thank you, students past and present–I so hope you are doing well.  Thank you.

Posted on by Laura Lee

Cold Ones Rule/ response to a writing prompt long ago

From the old MSN writing groups, long closed… UFO

More than once we had writing prompts based on photos or images.  One was some type of floating supernatural ball. Wish I could find the image! This one isn’t it…but will do.  From that, I wrote  many versions of this poem:

COLD ONES RULE

Earthbound no more
not flying
but landless

cities melted
lights mock
our little kingdoms

domed over, micro-sized
feel your humanity
slipping, slipping….

hang on to your souls
those skittish, slippery
links to warmth

the cold ones rule

(c) L. Lee 2000