Parenting in the Gen X/Millennial Age

Everybody has something to say about "other people's kids." You know, how kids these days are out of control, and how people need to discipline more and take care of their kids. But, of course, we also live in the era of "helicopter parents," who are over-parenting to the point of driving their kids' teachers and college professors and even bosses nuts. I certainly have strong feelings about how many parents are doing it wrong. Certainly, people probably have issues with my parenting - though my kids really are quite incredible. A couple of new manifesto's about parenting are joining the shelves at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, alongside the thousands of other "How to Parent" books that have pledged to give new parents the tools of the trade. We've learned a lot - and nothing at all - since the early advice of Dr. Spock.

Alison Gopnik of the Wall Street Journal makes an interesting argument "Against Parenting" in a Saturday Essay of the WSJ (adapted from her upcoming book The Gardener and the Carpenter). I was intrigued by Dr. Gopnik's assertion that we are making a mistake if we turn the word parent into a verb. Since we don't "wife" or "child" or "brother," we shouldn't talk about parenting. Because the idea of a "parent" is that it's something we are, not something we do. I could, of course, take a linquistic exception to her claim, for we are really just substituting the world "parenting" for "raising a child." And some people do not do much of that. But I like the idea that the idea of a parent is more an identity than a job. And Gopnik's really interesting idea against parenting is the mis-guided belief of too many parents these days that specific things they do will produce desired results in their kids. If they send the kid to a camp or play Mozart to their womb that their kids will miraculously turn into Ivy League success stories. It simply doesn't work that way.

As individual parents and as a community, our job is not to shape our children’s minds; it is to let those minds explore all the possibilities that the world allows. Our job is not to make a particular kind of child but to provide a protected space of love, safety and stability in which children of many unpredictable kinds can flourish. It’s not easy to be a parent, especially in the U.S. right now. It takes time and energy and money to provide the support and nurture that children need. We evolved in small-scale societies, where an extended group of caregivers could spontaneously provide resources for the children they loved. In a big, postindustrial world, we treat most human activities as if they were either a kind of production or a kind of consumption—so that raising children is seen as either very badly paid work or a very expensive kind of luxury. But the “parenting” industry isn’t the answer. Instead, we have to find a way to help parents be parents, and to provide the love and care that all children deserve.

Another trustworthy voice in the world of parenting, or raising kids, is Dr. Leonard Sax who just released a new study called The Collapse of Parenting.  Sax, who did some brilliant work in his book Why Gender Matters argues that contemporary parents - which mostly means the Baby Boomers, but is spreading to Generation X - have ceded authority to their kids and are doing psychological and emotional damage by being afraid to parent.

The point of the book is, look, you need to give kids choices in some domains but not in others. I'm seeing a lot of parents who are really confused about in what domain is it appropriate to give kids a choice. For example, is it OK for your 14-year-old to take their cell phone to bed with them? My answer is no. But so many parents think it is their job to be their child's best friend. That's not your job. Your job is to keep your child safe, make sure they get a good night's sleep and give them a grounding and confidence and help them to know who they are as human beings.

Read & Listen to Chimamanda Adichie

In this complicated and confusing day and age, with issues of race and identity peppering our daily lives through politics and entertainment and, yes, certainly tragedy, I can think of no more pertinent voice than that of the beautifully poetic and insightfully wise Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie. I am currently wrapped up in her novel Americana, which tells a complex and intricately woven story of a Nigerian woman living in America. The book was recommended by a good friend who is also a school board member who always asks first, "So, what are you reading?" Adichie's story captivated her, and she had to share the title. Since then, my wife and my teenage son have both devoured the book, and now I am immersed in the story of Ifemelu, a young Black woman who shares the fascinateing revelation that she wasn't ever really aware of being black until she came to America. Here's an overview from a brief review from NPR:

In Americanah, a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, moves to the United States for school, leaving behind her boyfriend, Obinze, and her family. It's a story of relocation, far-flung love and life as an alien, spread across three continents. It's also about the lonely but privileged perspective a stranger gains by entering a new culture. Indeed, it's more powerful than that inAmericanah, because Ifemelu experiences America both as a black woman and as an African woman. In the U.S., those two identities combine for experiences dark and light that Adichie skillfully renders in gray scale.

Adichie's perspective on race and culture is valuable for the third-party view that it offers. But more than that, her stories are simply rich and engaging narratives of humanity. Her voice and vision are so rich in the depth she brings to so many characters who flit in and out of Ifemelu's life. I can't really describe how much her language affects me, but I hope many people read her works and share her impact. I first learned of Adichie several years ago when a colleague introduced us to her powerful and engaging TED Talk about the "Danger of the Single Story." The insight about identity and the problematic way that we view diversity is so important in contemporary society. Reminiscient of Harper Lee's lessons from Atticus about "walking around in someone else's skin," the single story idea must come to be understood by those who live aloof to the narrowness of their worlds.

Breckenridge Getaway

Breckenridge is my family's favorite place in the mountains, and it truly is the perfect mountain town.  While we are not a big ski family, we love the trails and activities in the summer, and even manage to get in some cross country skiing on ocassion. In fact, we love Breck so much we became property owners a few years ago, purchasing a time share at the Grand Lodge on Peak 7. The Grand Lodge is a ski-in/ski-out resort, and just a few days ago we finished off our 4th of July celebration with the unique pleasure of soaking in a hot tub and pool looking up at the gorgeous peaks of Summit County.

Another benefit of our ownership at the Grand Lodge is our enrollment in the Interval International time share system for trading our spot. We've gone to Park City and Beaver Creek and Orlando, and we have a romantic trip planned for Aruba as well. It's a pretty cool system that enables middle class people like me to enjoy vacations at places we could never truly afford at face value.

For a chance to share in the fun and soak up a little Breckenridge atmosphere, it's worth checking out a great deal for a couple nights in Breck. Take a look at the Breckenridge Grand Vacations website, and consider a trip to the quintessential mountain town. And, feel free to tell them Michael sent you.

Break Means Break - But, oh, the Summer Slide?

As we pass the mid-summer holiday, and students realize that autumn is beginning to encroach on the freedom of vacation, many teens will begin to cautiously eye that "summer reading" or "math packet" collecting dust in the corner of their rooms. The reason behind the idea of summer homework is the concern about the "Summer Slide," which sounds like a great vacation water spot but is actually the idea that when kids aren't in school, they lose the skills and content from the previous year. It's been used as an argument to end summer vacation, but that is a terrible idea. Granted, there is plenty of evidence that students need to stay mentally active during the summer, and we certainly hope they read a book or two. In reality, students of college-educated middle class homes do not exhibit the slide the way struggling students of financially-lower demographics do. Reading and summer activities are clearly key. That said, I have long been a proponent of the idea the Break Means Break. Especially during fall, winter, and spring breaks, teachers need to lay off the homework and packets and just let kids decompress for a bit. With that in mind, here's a re-post from one of my other blogs:

On Winter Break - or Fall Break and Spring Break for that matter - I do not give my students homework.  That means nothing, zilcho, zip.  It is called "break" for a reason, and I do not feel the overwhelming need to burden the kids with busy work during the holidays.  This puts me in a minority among teachers, but I can't quite figure out why.

We break for winter two weeks before the end of first semester and final exams, and many students claim they spend the entire break studying for final exams.  Now, I don't believe that at all, but I do sympathize with kids who have an extra book to read or a final review packet to complete or pages of calculations or research papers to complete.  There should be enough time during the normal thirty six weeks of school for teachers to accomplish all they need to accomplish.  If not, they are probably erring on the side of forcing too much "content" into their lessons.

The issue of content is a contentious one, as teachers revere their content and can't imagine their students missing out on one fact or name or equation or definition or connection.  But this point of view too easily veers into rote memorization of trivial content or, worse, busy work.  As an English teacher and supporter of core knowledge approaches, I completely support the intention to build within students a vast store of background knowledge which they can and must use to access new information.  But nothing is so serious or monumental that it can't be accomplished during the standard schedule.  There is nothing wrong with students continuing to read and learn during time off school.  But that's a long way from believing that the extra "vacation packet" is going to solve the ills of gaps in student knowledge.

So, this break, take a break.

Detente in Colorado's Liquor Law Battle

Reason has prevailed regarding liquor sales in Colorado, and the state is going to take the slow road to "fixing what wasn't broke" to begin with. The Denver Post reported yesterday that the pro-corporate monoply supermarket chains have ended the planned ballot initiative that would have allowed the sale of full strength beer and wine in grocery stores. The corporate lobby behind this plan to monopolize liquor sales was called "Your Choice Colorado," and it depended on the naivete of Colorado's many new transplants from other states where supermarkets sell booz. For people outside of Colorado, this may seem strange, but the state has a unique culture of requiring independent liquor licenses for stores that goes back to Prohibition.

This fall Colorado was expected to vote on, and likely pass, a measure to allow all grocery stores across the state to sell wine and full-strength. Friday, the campaign announced it was ending petition-gathering to get on the ballot. The news leaked out Thursday evening when The Denver Post obtained a memo hung on a King Soopers breakroom bulletin board instructing store employees to cease efforts to collect signatures and take down campaign signs.

Yet, just because the local Safeway or King Soopers doesn't sell beer and wine that doesn't mean booze is hard to buy. Colorado is home to roughly 1,600 independent liquor stores which are conveniently located near almost every supermarket/retail area in the state. And the independent liquor stores are specialty shops with trained staff who sell one thing and are therefore much more able to assist customers in purchasing beer, wine, and spirits. And, I will admit that when I first moved from Illinois where booze is sold in the supermarket, I was a little surprised and even felt inconvenienced. Yet rather than demanding that an entire state/region change to meet my needs, I came to fully appreciate that value that comes when we Keep Colorado Local.

Colorado, which has been called "Beer's Napa Valley" because of the rise of an incredibly productive craft beer industry, is home to many independent producers of the nectar of Dionysus. With so many liquor stores to choose from, consumers will find that they can always find new and interesting products by simply shopping at different stores. That's not possible when the predominant sellers of a product have one ordering form for hundreds or thousands of stores across vast areas. That limited supply practice is what is called the Walmart-fication of the retail world, and it doesn't compliment an independent artisan craft spirit in a place like Colorado.

Granted, the new bill will eventually expand full liquor sales to supermarket chains, but it does it slowly, and it prevents one large corporate chain from driving one independent store out of business across the street. And that's a great benefit to Colorado.

Yes, Vocabulary Instruction

Re-print: Mazenglish, June 2013

Prior knowledge and a broad vocabulary are the keys to effective reading and English skills.  As a result, the role of vocabulary acquisition cannot be underestimated in the English classroom, from kindergarten to graduate school.  Some studies estimate that lower income children enter school with a word recognition vocabulary that can be as much as 10,000 fewer words than middle and upper income kids.  Realistically, on a usage level middle and upper income kids use know and use 3000-5000 more words than others.  And that is a huge part of the story of the achievement gap.

Now, as the Common Core approaches, and literacy moves to the top of the agenda with its added - and necessary - emphasis in the content areas like social studies, science, and the arts, the role of vocabulary instruction is of paramount importance.  A new round of studies indicate "Students Must Learn More Words" in order to be successful in school.  This is certainly not news to people like E.D. Hirsch or Dan Willingham of the Core Knowledge movement.  They know - and can support with decades of research - that "the more you know, the more you can learn."  From word walls to word games to sophisticated literary offerings, lessons designed around vocabulary acquisition are integral to a successful education and any intent to close the achievement gap.

A plethora of vocabulary instruction manuals are out there these days, but Word Nerds, a new offering from Stenhouse Publishing might be worth looking at.  Any new ideas on improving vocabulary for an increasingly dys-fluent population are to be appreciated and developed.

What Does Handwriting Say About Us?

Re-print: Mazenglish, June 2014

With the decreased emphasis on handwriting that is happening in schools as a result of the Common Core State Standards (resulting from the need/plan to assess kids online via the PARCC or SB tests), some teachers decry the lost art of handwriting. Many believe handwriting can tell us so much more than the information which is actually written down. According to graphologists, many personality traits can be identified through handwriting analysis.

Here's a great presentation from BuzzFeed of some of those theories:

https://screen.yahoo.com/buzzfeed/handwriting-says-180423008.html

Certainly, there is a cognitive development and skill associated with manual writing. And it will certainly be a loss if handwriting instruction and cursive writing goes by the way-side in the name of standardized assessments.

Pro Soccer Needs to Grow Up

I started playing soccer when I was five years old, and I played year round until college. From those early years in the 1970s, when everyone told me that by the time I was an adult soccer would be as big in America as the Big Four, I've remained a fan, though I am by no means a regular viewer. And the recent third place game in Copa America between the USA and Columbia is a perfect example of why. Here are some thoughts on that game and the game:

The USA needs to learn to shoot the damn ball. How many touches can a team need when the ball is in the box? European and South American players have always known to push once and shoot. And they've always had the touch to make that happen. For as long as I've watched pro soccer, I've been mystified and annoyed at how Americans always push once too far and lose the ball. Team USA had the ball - in stoppage time down one - in the box and could have taken a dozen shots, but never had the confidence. And USA soccer will always struggle until they learn to pop the shot.

Secondly, the world's game needs to make some definitive rule changes. First, continuous substitution is a no-brainer. A player with fresh legs is more exciting to watch. A rested player stepping on to the pitch seeks to make an immediate impact and change the tempo. The limit on subs is foolish and pointless. Secondly, re-entry for any player should be allowed - another no-brainer. And, along with that, any player who flops for any significant time - especially writhing on the ground - must come off the pitch. He can come back on five minutes later. But if he is going to make a federal case about that little scratch on his elbow or bump on his thigh, he needs to take a seat. Pro soccer players are the biggest wussies in professional sports - and that's saying something considering the corybantics of Lebron James, the biggest wuss of all. Thus, soccer refs need to start issuing yellow cards for ridiculous flopping. I'm just soooooo over the theatrical silliness of the sport.

Finally, soccer needs to get rid of the penalty for off-sides. Arghhhh! Isn't that the worst disappointment to hear the whistle at the most exciting moment of the game. Defenses need to adjust and leave a man back if necessary. If they choose not to, that's their risk. Off-sides simply slows down and stagnates a game that could be so much more engaging. Hockey has made similar changes to the OT periods. And soccer should do the same.

Love you, soccer. Let's be big boys now.

An Update on the Beautiful Sport of Sumo

When I lived in Southeast Asia in the mid 1990s, I fell in love with the ancient Japanese sport of sumo. It was a timely moment to encounter sumo, as its popularity soared in the 90s with the epic matches of two incredibly popular young stars, Japan's Takanohana and the American Samoan Akebono. Akebono was the first non-Japanese wrestler to ever achieve the title of yokozuna, or grand champion. Since those epic matches and exciting days watching two weeks of the basho, I have lost track of the sport. So, I was pleasantly surprised to run across this great bit of sports commentary on the current champions and state of the sport. Sportswriter Benjamin Morris has put together an impressive review of the sport entitled "The Sumo Match Centuries in the Making," recently published on Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight.com. The point of the title and the focus of Morris' perspective is a championship match featuring an all-time champion Hakuho who defeated his rival Harumafiji in a one-second match by "stepping aside," which is a legal move but almost unheard of at the championship level. Morris explains how the sport came to this.

There is no bell. The match starts with a tachi-ai (initial charge), which generally happens the instant the opponents are set. Harumafuji lunged from his crouch, low, exploding toward Hakuho in an effort to take control of the bout early. Instead, he caught a quick palm to the face — and then air. His momentum carried him clear out of the other side of the ring, like he’d tried to bull-rush a ghost.
The match had lasted one second. Kisenosato scowled and walked out of the ring area. Commentators didn’t quite know what to say; one of the English announcers let out a long “hmmmmm.” The crowd booed its champion. This is not normally how a match of this scale plays out. Side-stepping an opponent’s charge is legal but considered beneath the dignity of top sumotori. The move is known derisively as a henka (変化), which translates to “change” or “changing,” while connoting the root “strange” (変). That it would be used by an all-time great in one of the most consequential matches of his career was strange indeed.

In a tear-soaked post-match interview, Hakuho appeared to express regret for the tournament ending the way it did. But he did not clarify his side-step’s strategic underpinnings, such as whether it was planned, or a response to something he saw while the wrestlers were getting set, or a reflexive reaction to Harumafuji’s charge itself. But regardless of premeditation, consider the story told on the faces of the competitors: Snatch Hakuho from his peak, shove him into your DeLorean and send him into any point in the past — including the 1790s — and he will almost certainly be a favorite to stay in the ring, on his feet, against any human or human-like god-giant that he runs into. We know this.
But considering his unprecedented domination of his competition, his broad skill set and, yes, even his controversial willingness to push boundaries in pursuit of victory, he can likely match any sumotori legend for legend as well.

In reading Morris' commentary, I was inspired to do a little digging into the sport, and I was quite pleased to discover the link to the match featured on a YouTube channel. Jason's All Sumo Channel appears to be a great place for Westerners who once had a fondness for the sport to re-connect. Here's a look at that final match with some voice-over commentary from Jason, the creator of the channel.

A Work in Progress

As we pass the summer solstice of 2016, and I reflect on years of writing - especially my plans for writing that have yet to materialize - I realize that I am still a work in progress. "A Teacher's View" is still a work in progress. I have still not fully actualized the "life that I have imagined," and my plans to "advance confidently in the direction of my dreams" have for the most part gone unfulfilled. At certain times during the year - New Year's, Fall Break, Summer Vacation - I always make plans to "get my life in order" and become the writer and cultural critic that I've long felt is what "I really want to do when I grow up." So far that hasn't happened in the style I've envisioned. So, I continue on as a "work in progress."

Some time this summer, I hope to proceed with the publication of my first work of non-fiction, a critical analysis of Douglas Coupland's early work entitled "McJob: Business and Consumer Culture in Douglas Coupland's Early Novels." It was my master's thesis which I've developed for publication. The original goal with that piece was to lay the groundwork for a serious piece of criticism I've been researching for the past year or so. It was - and is - a collection of pieces of "Generation X" criticism entitled McLife: a Gen Xer Looks Back at Twenty-Five Years. As I've noted before, 2016 is the perfect year for that commentary because it is the quarter-century mark for three definitive pieces of Gen X culture:  Douglas Coupland's Generation X, Richard Linklater's Slacker, and Nevermind from Nirvana. Of course, I haven't finished the piece, even as 2016 quickly progresses, and I move further into middle age.

Oh, well.

Beyond that, there are so many pieces I still want to write, and so many works that I want to read or experience. Currently, I am engaged with a brilliant piece of criticism from New York Times film critic A.O. Scott - it's called Better Living Through Criticism. It both inspires me with the type of thinking and writing I want to read and produce, and it scares and depresses me with how erudite it is and how small it can sometimes make me feel. That said, I will try to focus on the inpiring parts. Scott's thoughts on art may still motivate the artist and critic that I know resides somewhere inside of me. Art ... yes, more art. And more culture. If I am a work in progress, I am hopefully progressing toward an ever-deepening knowledge and appreciation of art.

This blog will remain the record of my journey.

Supporting "The Establishment" - Conservative America's Naive Views on Government

For quite a few years now, I've listened to my older, middle-class, suburban, white neighbor rant and rave and rail against "the guv'ment." He seems to believe the United States government is a huge fascist organization out to take everyday citizens' money and freedom ... not to mention guns. We all need to restrict and limit government and scale back all public funding. My response has always been something along the lines of "You want to see what no government infrastructure looks like? Move to Somalia. You'll love it, and you can have all the guns you want. Which is good because you'll actually need them."

That same sentiment is aptlhy articulated in today's USA Today with a succinct piece of commentary from Stanford professor Keith Humphreys who writes, I Like the Establishment, and You Should Too. Humphrey shares my neighborly advice when he reminds comfortable middle class conservative suburban libertarians and Trump supporters: "They should get out more. To Iraq, for example. Or Lybia or Venezuala. Or the Central African Republic. Or indeed any nation that lacks an establishment."

None of this is to say that The Establishment has ever been completely fair-minded or unfailingly open to outsiders. For example, 100 years ago virtually every establishment figure in the USA was a white male Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Yet as with other changes in society, The Establishment has been very good at reforming itself in response to increasing diversity in society and attendant demands for equality, including by absorbing people of diverse religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds. It is after all The Establishment and not any self-styled revolutionary that is offering the country the first woman candidate with a good chance of becoming president. Teenagers being raised by long-married parents often chafe at the rules their elders set, the traditions they keep, the mistakes they make and the conventionality they exude. Yet if those unhappy young people have a friend who is growing up in a home in which multiple divorces have occurred and the faces and rules have changed markedly every few years, they might gain a new appreciation for the stability they have enjoyed. American revolutionaries should likewise look at the world’s unstable nations before raging at their own country’s establishment. We would all miss it terribly if it were gone.

The sad reality is that far too many Americans have little understanding of the stability and safety provided by institutions like "the government." Granted, the American bureacracy has become somewhat of a behemoth in terms of public funding, and there are many common sense ways to streamline federal and state budgets and agencies. The expansive growth of government services and interference in the private sector is certainly a drag at times. But there is much to be said for consistent electricity, sound education system, fair justice system, clean water, and relatively trustworthy roads.

And when middle class suburban Americans buy into some myth that America is failing, I am dismayed by their ignorance.

Muhammed Ali - Fierce Boxer & Lyrical Poet

The passing of Muhammed Ali - one of the greatest political, cultural, and sociological forces in American history - has generated some appropriately poetic reflections on the man and the myth. Ali is one of the earliest sports icons in my Gen X memory, and I vividly recall the fight against Leon Spinx to regain his title a third time as one of the first significant sporting moments for which I was aware. Ali was something more than just a boxer or champion or icon - he is one who truly transcended the physical realities of his prowess in the process of becoming a cultural force. And, that was a result of his intellectual character and truly brilliant wit.

As an English teacher and cultural critic, I have always appreciated the writing about Ali's lyrical mastery - "the rope-a-dope" and the "Rumble in the Jungle" - and I am still intrigued by the complexity of his personality. Two pieces in today's New York Times accurately and aptly capture and explore that depth. The first is from the intellectual cultural historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who examines and explains Muhammed Ali: the Political Poet.

But the same verse can strike one critic as doggerel and another as art, and not everyone missed the power — and the point — of Ali’s poetics. Even Ahern admitted that “the guy is a master at rhyming,” and The New Yorker editor and Ali biographer David Remnick would eulogize him as “a master of rhyming prediction and derision.” Perhaps Maya Angelou, whose own poetry is sometimes labeled doggerel, said it best: “It wasn’t only what he said and it wasn’t only how he said it; it was both of those things, and maybe there was a third thing in it, the spirit of Muhammad Ali, saying his poesies — ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.’ I mean, as a poet, I like that! If he hadn’t put his name on it, I might have chosen to use that!”

The second piece is a cool reflection from Rosie Schaap, and in it Schaap shares a thoughtful personal memory of Ali from when she was a young girl and had the pleasure and privilege of meeting him at a photo shoot. The sincere story about the "soft side" and genuine character of Ali is telling for its insight on the depth of this man's personality and spirit. Schaap shares the story of Muhammed Ali, my Father, and Me.

I certainly was too young to grasp, at the time, the subversive brilliance of staging Ali in the costume of one of the most famous archetypes of white privilege and power, given his unapologetic identity as “a race man,” his potent pride in his blackness. I wish I could remember more about that day, but after more than 40 years, the memories have inevitably faded. I recall it now in a softly spectral way: I somehow knew, even if I wouldn’t have said it this way at the time, that I was in the presence of a great human, who was also very funny, and who took the time to play with children and seemed to enjoy it. I remember his physical presence, so vast compared with my toddler smallness. 

Literacy in the History Classroom

RE-PRINT: Mazenglish, 2012

One of the most frustrating  aspects of  teaching for  me is the struggle my students have - especially the groups of boys I mentor - in passing history and social studies classes.  For me, the biggest challenge and problem and barrier to success is the ominous social studies text books, which seemed designed to derail literacy efforts.   The  kids simply do not  handle  these books well.  And, I would assert that social studies teachers are not well trained in teaching the literacy component of their  class.  Reading and writing instruction should be part of the social studies class, precisely because the reading material can be so daunting.  And, like  English teachers, the social studies and history teachers cannot  simply continue to assign reading and writing - they need to teach it.  Students need to be taught how to engage with non-fiction texts.  They need to be inspired and intrigued enough to seek greater knowledge and understanding.

Thus, I was pleased to come across a great bit of news in Education Week about "history lessons that blend knowledge and literacy."  The Reading Like a Historian program from Stanford educational programs is designed to move past the rote memorization of historical facts and dates that have long brought about failure in history classes.  Certainly, core knowledge is a necessity in learning.  However, there is a clear point  where factual data becomes trivial information.  For example, think and answer quickly:  Who was  Samuel Gompers?  Why was  the Whiskey Rebellion fought?  What was the southern name for the Battle of  Antietam?  Who were the generals at the battle of Bunker Hill?  Who was Tippecanoe and Tyler, too?

It just  becomes such a mess of randomized information.  And without a really great storyteller in the front of the classroom - and I know many by the way - the average student and the average American just doesn't  engage with all the names of all the vice-presidents in history.  So, a bit more on the skill of studying history, and a bit less on the minutiae, would do wonders for social studies instruction.

Great Books for and about Adolescent Boys

RE-PRINT from Mazenglish blog - 2012

As the school year winds down, and I take a break from to the task of teaching and molding teenagers - especially boys - I am thinking about books that are great reads for and about teenage boys.  Teaching honors English for freshman, I always begin the year with John Knowles A Separate Peace, followed immediately by William Golding's Lord of the Flies.  These classics always generate engaging discussions - if not always stimulating teen boys for reading.  The adolescent boy is a fascinating creature, and they are always worthy of research and study.  And, from all we know, it's amazing the human race has survived considering all the great men of the world had to be adolescent boys at some point.

The following is a list of great books about the adolescent male - the "teenage boy." They are not always preferred by teen boys, but they are great reflections of that creature and subculture.

Contemporary Fiction

Carter Finally Gets It - Brent Crawford

Paper Towns - John Green

Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green (OK really anything by JG)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Spanking Shakespeare - Jake Wizner

King Dork - Frank Portman

Like We Care - Tom Matthews

Twisted - Laurie Halse Anderson

Stotan - Cris Crutcher (and anything else by Crutcher)

Vision Quest - Terry Davis

Swim the Fly - Don Calame

The Last Algonquin - Theodore Kazimeroff

Education of Little Tree - Forrest Carter


Classic Literature

A Separate Peace - John Knowles

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain

Food Network Star Returns

And Bobby and Giada are back ... with another group of amateurs who are going to annoy us until one of them is named the next Food Network Star .... and then go on to not have a show or be put in a really crappy time slot with some contrived idea. Seriously. Is anyone interested in watching Season 11 winner Eddie and his show about a kids BBQ competition? And, how 'bout the fabulous offerings from that Food Network Star Lenny McNab. Clearly, that season was a complete and total waste of time, not to mention incredibly poor judgment and vetting on the part of the Food Network execs. How did they not see that disaster coming? It was clear he was crass and unsophisticated to begin with. And, we're all still waiting for Chef Lucca's show, too.

Actually, we're not. I'm much more into HGTV these days. Property Bros or Caribbean Living, anyone?

But, I have been a pretty loyal fan of the Food Network Star idea, and I was interested enough to tune in for part of episode one, including the Star Salvation episode right before.. And, for a brief moment, I was pretty excited because I thought a true Food Network Star, Michelle Ragussis, was going to get another shot. Michelle was clearly the most talented and camera-ready contestant to ever lose out on the show. Nikkie Dinky is a close second. Yet, for mystifying reasons Tyler Florence and Valerie Bertinelli ( ... really?) chose to send Martita back for another shot. Sorry, Michelle. There is clearly some inexplicable bias against you.

So, this seasone we are offered ... really, nothing. My gut tells me from day one that the only real potential stars are the Italian guy, Damiano Carrera, and southerner Joy Thompson. The others are almost too painful to watch. But I will probably check in from time to time to see how they are all doing.

What do you think of the show and this year's crew?

Literacy Skills & Rigor

Re-post: Mazenglish, January 2013

What should high school students read?  And what should high school teachers teach?

The struggle in high school classrooms is vast.  Teachers face the challenges of offering students a rigorous curriculum that will prepare them for college and life and developing basic literacy skills by engaging them with material they can handle.  However, it doesn't have to be an either or decision.

Two great instructional texts for teachers to craft their English classroom model are Carol Jago's Classics in the Classroom and Denver-area teacher Cris Tovani's I Read It But I Don't Get It.  Both women are renowned English teachers who have decades of experience promoting literacy and refining the best practices for the English classroom.

Allusions - What Students Need to Know

Re-post: Mazenglish - August, 2012

All literature draws from the record of stories and events that has preceded it.  English and American literature primarily draws inspiration from the stories of Western civilization, grounded in the the Judeo-Christian ethic, as well as Greek and Roman history.  Thus, the challenge for many readers - and students in the high school classroom - is accessing the texts with enough prior knowledge to recognize the allusions and "get the point."  As an English teacher, I often tell my students they need to be on their way to becoming - in the words of Henry James - people "on whom nothing is lost."

In the past few years, my colleagues and I have discussed the challenges of engaging students in classic literature when there is so much that is no longer common knowledge.  At the AP level especially, teachers speak at conferences about how much students need to know - and the disconnect from their actual store of knowledge.  To that end, we began compiling a list of allusions and references that students may encounter and might need to know.  Certainly, the lists of "cultural knowledge" the E.D Hirsch has assembled for his book Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know is a foundation and the gold standard.  In fact, it forms the curriculum of many schools that adopt the Core Knowledge movement.  For others, a more abbreviated list is perhaps more practical.

To that end, I developed a list of common cultural allusions, and we have made it a part of the English handbook.  The abbreviated list has background info, and it is divided into sections on:

Biblical allusions

Greek and Roman myths

Anglo-Saxon myths

Major historical events

Pop culture references

Cherry Creek Student Build a Tiny House

If you spend any time watching the immensely popuar House & Garden Network - HGTV - then you are aware of the tiny house movement. People across the country are taking "downsizing" to a whole new level with homes that are often no bigger than the size of a contemporary bathroom. Whether it's part of the de-clutter and simplify phase of a society that's reacting against decades of materialistic expansion, or if it's just an economic necessity to purchase a smaller abode in a country where property values have once again gone north of sanity, the interest in tiny houses is real.

But where do these tiny houses come from, and is there anything students can learn from the movement? Those are the questions being asked and answered by a group of students at Cherry Creek High School. Kids of Jeff Boyce's Environmental Science class have been pursuing knowledge and experience while designing and building a tiny house over the past year. Here's some coverage of their efforts:

A former contract environmental scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency, Boyce said the tiny house provides valuable insights into sustainable building practices. The house is being outfitted for solar panels. Boyce said that once students help put them in place, they will be linked to a computer system that will display how much power the panels are generating, how much the house is using, and how much power is required to do normal everyday things like charge a smart phone or laptop, among other things.

"It's a teaching tool that I can use to talk to kids about energy efficiency, resource consumption, conservation and their practices at home," Boyce said. The work students put in also has provided hands-on experience that could be valuable in a variety of jobs, Boyce said, including fields that are in high demand right now like renewable energy. "The STEM application — really making science real — that's what the tiny house is all about," Boyce said. "That's what my environmental sciences curriculum is all about. It's providing a foundation so kids can do more than work at the jobs they are doing right now."

Students who took part in the tiny house project sacrificed hours on the weekends to participate. Several of them said they were surprised by just how much they learned through workshop sessions where they watched construction professionals hang siding and perform other tasks before the students tackled them themselves.

The Force Awakens Gen X Nostalgia

The Force Awakens Gen X Nostalgia

The opening text scrolled up the screen … and it was 1977 again. By now, those of us in our forties who have seen JJ Abrams’ re-tread of George Lucas’ classic space opera have settled into a comfortable pose of contented reminiscence, as we reflect on the most important movie of our youth. Yes, of course, as too many critics have been quick to point out, we’ve been here before. There is no doubting the striking similarities between the original film and Episode VII, with Rey almost identically substituting for Luke in the early scenes, and the plotline of a secret message carried by a droid making us nostalgically nod our heads or cynically roll our eyes in recognition and reminiscence. But it was almost as fun the second time around. A true Gen Xer can enjoy the movie for all the praise it gets while also acknowledging the validity of every criticism of Abrams. Yet, we get it – you have to go back to go forward. Screenwriter Blake Snyder pointed out that Hollywood studios and filmgoers simply want “the same thing, only different.” That is the art of allusion and archetype which grounds all fiction and continually enthralls audiences with the same basic stories re-told with different costumes, settings, and characters. And, considering the original Star Wars: A New Hope drew heavily from the mono-myth first explained by Joseph Campbell, it’s only appropriate that Star Wars: The Force Awakens pay homage to the archetypes. At this point in our lives, Generation X is ready to look back and live it all again, maybe a bit jaded, but hopefully with some wisdom.

In framing the story of Rey and her almost mystical connection to The Force, Abrams doesn’t dodge the obvious connections to the past. Instead, he writes the redux directly into the film, referencing it when Maz Kanata tells Rey, “I’ve lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people. I know your eyes.” Clearly, Maz is dropping hints about Rey’s true identity, but Abrams is drawing on a larger truth about stories and the human condition. Students of literature and film know that there only seven basic stories anyway. And, as the children of Generation X move into adolescence, and as the political and cultural landscape reflects a stagnation reminiscent of the 70s and 80s, the return of a familiar epic hero seems eerily appropriate. Is it really that surprising that the Star Wars myth is returning at the exact same time Sylvester Stallone is back to the original Rocky story? Most Gen Xers are now heading into the midst of the U-curve of emotional growth, and it’s at this point that life seems to bottom out only to suddenly start getting cool again because we are now looking at the world with a bit of hard-won wisdom. We know stuff. The year of 1977 brought the release of Star Wars, but it also saw the rise of punk rock and all its rebellious spirit which no doubt influenced young Gen Xers.  As disaffected a generation as Gen X was supposed to be, the idea of nostalgia would almost seem unfathomable. In Star Wars terms, Gen Xers were much more like Luke Skywalker who couldn’t wait to get away from home than they are like Rey who wants nothing more than to get back home. Yet, strangely, Generation X is every bit as retro as their initial hipness foresaw, and the return of Star Wars is a reminder of the magic their entertainment represented to their coming-of-age. The nostalgia boom is big for Gen Xers, and it’s with no shame that forty-somethings are looking back fondly upon a past that really wasn’t much to speak of when they were in it.

So, what to make of the nostalgic feelings about a story that seems so familiar but contains enough subtle twists to be “the same thing, only different.” Certainly, the villain of The Force Awakens is a bit of a departure, or perhaps a development in the Lucas legend. Kylo Ren – a child of divorce and the emotionally-frazzled product of a dysfunctional home – is not the cold and calculating automaton that intimidated us as Darth Vadar, but instead a brash young bully, prone to Millenial-esque emotional swings and moments of self-doubt.  Clearly, the moment of patricide – an ironic reversal of the “Luke, I am your father” scene from the original – was a clever bit of re-branding. And, Gen Xers get it. Of course, Han Solo had to die just like Obi Wan did. That was our first acknowledgment of the archetypal coming of age – the loss of a mentor figure. Generation X was a group defined by loss and harsh realizations, especially about institutions and authority figures. Luke would ultimately be abandoned by the only father figure he knew – for that was how Xers grew up. As Gen X writer, Chuck Klosterman noted in his essay “Lisa Loeb on Planet Hoth,” Empire Strikes Back is really the most Gen X of movies – it’s the darkest of films grounded in disappointment and frustration, the good guys losing, and the deepening sense that it’s never going to get better. Ultimately, Empire and the whole trilogy reflected Cold War and recession realities that left a generation jaded, but stronger and wiser for it. That wisdom, wrapped up in myth and legend, is why Star Wars nostalgia resonates with Xers.

Yet, there are also unexplained and underdeveloped plot twists in The Force Awakens that give an original fan pause, seeking to understand those meta-moments and glossed over plot points. A significant difference and development is the new weapon that wipes out numerous planets in The Republic for whom the audience has no real emotional connection other than passing reference to The Republic. In Star Wars: a New Hope, it was Leia’s home planet of Alderaan that was at risk, and as the vulnerable and recognizable humanity served as the example of the Empire’s power and sheer ruthlessness, the chilling effect was pervasive. But in The Force Awakens, the massive weapon is just a cool special effect for many younger viewers who won’t take time to consider the significance of The Republic.  Has an era of drone strikes and a never-ending War on Terror so desensitized society that the political ramifications of mass destruction are reduced to big impressive fireworks? Some deep humanist reflection is missing in a movie that so blandly glosses over the annihilation of millions. From that point, Star Wars: the Force Awakens veers into meta-fiction during the déjà vu discussion of attacking the new “Death Star,” which for older audiences had to happen, but also weakens the overall story. Do we really need Jedi fighters seemingly aware that they’re in a movie, repeating lines from nearly four decades ago? It seemed a self-serving conceit from a slightly embarrassed director, rather than an insightful bit of self-aware satire. Meta-fiction in Star Wars seems eerily out of place, as amusing as it is. Gen Xers were the first audience to truly appreciate meta-fiction, but its use in Star Wars is somewhat pathetically patronizing.

Thus, the question for Gen X viewers is whether we appreciate JJ Abrams’ paying homage to the original epic, or whether we are pissed off at the way he hacks off the foundation of the franchise. As Generation X sits in the heart of middle age, with the youngest at 35 and the bulk of us taking our pre-teens and middle schoolers to the movie, The Force Awakens is a perfect moment of “Where Are We Now.” The original news that Disney had purchased the franchise sent shivers of artistic malpractice through many Gen Xers. For a group raised on punk rock, and for artists and fans instrumental in the rise of alternative music and independent film, the Disney-fication of our most sacred bit of pop culture seemed a gut-wrenching sell-out. Yet, as our kids’ eyes lit up with the hype of the first trailer, and we couldn’t help but smile at the appearance of Han and Chewy, the nostalgia won us over. Despite the cynicism of a jaded generation, Generation X was ready to reflect fondly on its past. Gen X is, no doubt, a strangely sentimental group that has been in some ways nostalgic for the past almost from the moment they entered adulthood. Perhaps no group ever graduated college as ready for retirement as the group of Xers in Noah Baumbach’s Kicking and Screaming who lamented, “I’m nostalgic for five minutes ago.” It wasn’t as much about slacking as it was about weariness. And now, as those nostalgic kickers and screamers enter middle age, the return of our oldest mythology revives the wisdom of our pop culture mythology.

If there were ever a time for Generation X to begin looking back, then 2016 is the moment. This year represents the quarter-century mark for much of the entertainment that marked the post-Boomers as Generation X – notably, Douglas Coupland’s Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, Richard Linklater’s Slacker, and Nirvana’s Nevermind. But if the seminal works of the 90s consciousness are representative of Gen X identity, then the iconic films of the late 70s and early 80s like Stars Wars and Empire Strikes Back were the foundation.  With the return this year of both The Muppets and The X-Files, Gen Xers can embrace the satirical whimsy of childhood in Kermit and Piggy’s innocently dysfunctional romance, while also wallowing in the jaded cynicism of Mulder’s return to smoking out government conspiracy. Certainly, the darker side of reflection would seem to be the default of Xers, as New York Times critic A.O. Scott has explained as the midlife crisis of Generation X.  And, recent works such Ben Stiller’s While We Were Young and the Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Judd Apatow’s This Is 40, and Noah Baumbauch’s Greenberg have almost too often reflected the generational ennui that never really left Gen Xers after their youth that was, in the words of Allison in Breakfast Club, “unsatisfying.” Thus, for a generation that has often felt like reality never stopped biting, the return of our original rebel alliance, framed so poignantly in that final encounter between Ray and Luke Skywalker, is righteous cause for the cautious nostalgia the Force has awakened.

DJ's Make Millions? Calvin Harris Tops the List

This weekend my high school held prom at a cool venue in Denver, and the DJ for the  evening was a sophomore at our school. It was impressive, as he had hundreds of kids on the dance for hours, and they all had a blast. Over the years, we've hired DJs for our dances, and I've never given much thought to people who do this for a living. But I've taken notice recently after learning that the world's top DJs can make tens of millions of dollars a year. Who knew?

It’s been a year to remember for Calvin Harris. Over the past twelve months, the Scottish DJ earned $66 million, dropped an album that rocketed to the top of the U.S. dance charts and started dating Taylor Swift, in the process dethroning Jay Z and Beyoncé as music’s top-earning couple. The fact that he’s the world’s top-earning EDM act—tying the record for annual earnings by a DJ, which he set last year—is almost a footnote. Harris HRS -0.01% is once again the top name on our Electronic Cash Kings list, nearly doubling the total of second-rankedDavid Guetta, who pulled in $37 million. Not bad for a guy who’s roughly a decade removed from being a supermarket stockboy in a remote town in Scotland.“The rise of dance music has been astronomical … I happened to be in the right place at the right time,” he told FORBES.

That sort of money simply baffles me - though I am just beginning to understand how the world of EDM - Electronic Dance Music - can be so lucrative. Entertainment has come a long way since the days of traveling minstrel shows, and there is no doubting the revenue involved in EDM. So, the next time a student is talking about his interest in DJ-ing, I will look more favorably. Though I am not entirely sure of when the DJ is writing and composing (or creating music) and when he is simply mixing and playing the music. This is a world that I'd like to learn more about. I'm thinking I might learn something from a new drama about the EDM world - We Are Your Friends. I'm not sure how authentic it is, but the film looks intriguing.

Cole Carter (Zac Efron) is a former track star and struggling 23-year-old DJ in the electronic dance music (EDM) scene, dreams of becoming a major record producer. He constantly reminds himself of his plan to rise to the top consists of three things: a laptop, some talent, and one track. Cole lives with his friend, Mason (Jonny Weston), and they would usually hang out along with their friends, Ollie (Shiloh Fernandez) and Squirrel (Alex Shaffer), around their native San Fernando Valley. With Mason's help and his friends heavily promoting at college campuses, Cole finally books a gig to DJ at a local nightclub, where he meets the headliner, a once-innovative DJ, James Reed 

Edward Wan of Washington is the National "Math Bee" Champion for 2016

Math Counts.

In this STEM-focused era when schools, companies, and legislators are falling all over themselves to promote the study of science, technology, engineering, and math, it's truly surprising that more people are not aware of the national Math Bee known as MATHCOUNTS. The MATHCOUNTS competition is sponsored by the Raytheon Corporation and organized by a foundation of people including the National Society of Professional Engineers and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Like the national spelling bee, MATHCOUNTS is open to middle school students who compete in regional and state tournaments for the chance to compete at the national level.

The competitors known as "mathletes" compete in individual and team written rounds with the goal of "making the stage" for the lightening fast Countdown Round, where the top mathletes answer complex math questions on algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics, and they must solve them in forty-five seconds or less. The mad math skills of these kids is truly extraordinary, and the head-to-head matches are nothing short of breathtaking in their intensity.

Check out these highlights from the Countdown Round:

This year's competition was held at the Renassiance Hotel in Washington DC, and the last two mathletes standing were eighth grader Edward Wan of Washington and Luke Robitaille of Texas. The Texas team was truly dominant this year, winning the team competition and sending all four of its mathletes to the 12-person countdown - a feat which has never happened. Texas also feature two sixth graders in countdown, which has also never happened. The countdown round was featured on ESPN3 on Monday, May 9 during the mid-day. It's nice for ESPN to offer the coverage - but it's a bit of a shame that ESPN offers three hours of prime-time air to the national spelling bee. While we shouldn't take anything away from the achievements of the nation's top spellers, there is really no comparison to the incredible math skills of the nation's top mathletes. Perhaps someday, the Department of Education and ESPN and Raytheon will give proper due to the kids of MATHCOUNTS.

6th Annual Cherry Creek Poetry Slam

The power of language is alive and well in the Cherry Creek School District of Colorado, and the young slam poets of the district's six high schools are making their voices heard. Slam poet Jovan Mays is a key force behind the growing slam community in the southeast Denver school district. As a former national slam competitor and as the Poet Laureate of Aurora, Jovan inspires all kids to embrace the spoken word as a platform for their thoughts. Here's a link to the story I wrote on the Cherry Creek School District's 6th Annual Poetry Slam.

“The point is not the points – the point is the poem.” That artistic wisdom was laid down by slam poet Jovan Mays two weeks ago at the Sixth Annual Cherry Creek School District Poetry Slam. Mays, who is a district alum and the Poet Laureate of Aurora, emceed the event as twenty-four high school poets took the stage at Eaglecrest High School on April 14 to throw down verbal gymnastics in their bid for the district championship.

This year’s slam host was Ashley McCulloch, an English teacher and debate coach, who coordinated the event with students from Eaglecrest and other district high schools. For the first time, the Cherry Creek Slam featured poets from all six high schools. Jovan explained how “This district slam began six years ago after I competed at the National Poetry Slam, and I just knew I had to bring this art form back to students in my community.”  He has worked tirelessly during the past decade or so to workshop with students and teachers, promoting the power of language and the freeing power of poetry. “This art form saved me in high school,” Jovan has noted, and he is committed to opening the medium to as many kids as possible.