"Creating People On Whom Nothing is Lost" - An educator and writer in Colorado offers insight and perspective on education, parenting, politics, pop culture, and contemporary American life.
Disclaimer - The views expressed on this site are my own and do not represent the views of my employer.
It can be a frustrating process for writers and scholars, the process to publishing an article in a journal or magazine. Following the arduous task of actually producing a work of publishable quality -- what did Hemingway say? ... sit down at the writing desk and open a vein -- then comes the job of pitching and querying and waiting for acceptance and rejection.
And, with that is the dreaded request for "exclusive submissions."
While many -- in fact, the majority that I pay attention -- journals and magazines accept simultaneous submissions with the simple request to "please notify us if the piece is accepted elsewhere," some publications put an unrealistic requirement on writers to give exclusive reading rights for several months with no promise of publication.
While I understand reservations about simultaneous submissions out of concern for the time of submission readers and editors, it's equally challenging for writers and scholars to concede to exclusive submissions and wait for months at a time only to receive a single rejection and start again. Granted, writers certainly have the freedom to simply not submit to publications with that requirement, I personally feel like it's a flaw in the system.
The green light, the red hat, the whiteness of a whale ...
Symbolism in literature is the catnip of the English teacher and often the bane of existence and teeth clenching frustration for the high school and college student. "Does it really mean that?" has been asked by more students than "can I have a bathroom pass?" And while the use of symbolism is undoubtedly a key technique for writers of western literature -- drawing heavily from the Judeo-Christian ethic and foundational literary and philosophical works of western civ -- authors and readers will occasionally dismiss the very possibility of a symbolic component, glibly noting "the names were simply pulled from a phonebook" or "sometimes yellow is just a color."
It was a simple line in a speech about education, but it packed a wallop:
"... the soft bigotry of low expectations."
That line, written by Michael Gerson and delivered by President George W. Bush in a speech promoting the No Child Left Behind Act, addressed low academic expectations casually, sometimes unconsciously, or worse intentionally, put upon predominantly poor and minority students and directly influencing lower academic achievement. For roughly a quarter century now, ideas about standards and expectations have driven countless reforms in education designed to improve achievement. Much of it has been ineffective.
There are endless bromides and slogans and cliches about best practices and what works for kids, notably the idea that students "rise to the level of expectations." On the other hand, critics might reasonably argue that the idea of "meeting kids where they are," acknowledging individual students' abilities and needs as opposed to more rigid ideas about "how kids are supposed to be" has led to a lowering of expectations. Basically, this might boil down to an assumption and resignation that "kids don't read" and kids won't read an entire novel, or kids can't write a multi-paragraph essay, so schools, classes, teachers simply stopped assigning them.
Clearly that sounds terrible. However, I will not immediately dismiss the idea of being "a responsive educator." By that I mean, approaching each class and lesson with acknowledgement of the actual humans in the classroom, as opposed to simply teaching a curriculum or unit or lesson. Educators must be attentive to the specific knowledge, skills, and needs of the actual students in the classroom or much time can be wasted. That might be from assuming kids simply know something and thus don't need instruction, or even a reminder, which can compromise and almost guarantee glitches in learning if not failure. However, it can also mean assuming kids don't know something, which leads to wasting time with redundancy.
So, it's complicated, to say the least. An interesting and compelling take on the issue, one that has ignited some genuine debate and discussion online and in schools is the advice, even admonition, from Case Western English Professor Walt Hunter in an essay for The Atlantic: "Stop Meeting Students Where They Are."
At some point over the past 15 years, kids stopped reading. Or at least their teachers stopped asking them to read the way they once did. We live in the age of the reel, the story, the sample, the clip. The age of the excerpt. And even in old-fashioned literature classes, assignments have been abbreviated so dramatically that high-school English teachers are, according to one recent survey, assigning fewer than three books a year.
I’ve seen the effects of this change up close, having taught English in college classrooms since 2007, and I’ve witnessed the slow erosion of attention firsthand, too: students on computers in the back of lecture halls, then on phones throughout the classroom, then outsourcing their education to artificial intelligence. We know that tech companies supply the means of distraction. But somehow the blame falls on the young reader. Whole novels aren’t possible to teach, we are told, because students won’t (or can’t) read them. So why assign them?
When I walked into my American-literature class at Case Western Reserve University last fall, I looked at 32 college students, mostly science majors, and expected an uphill battle. As my colleague Rose Horowitch has reported, “Many students no longer arrive at college—even at highly selective, elite colleges—prepared to read books.” One-third of the high-school seniors tested in 2024 were found not to have basic reading skills.
Yet by the end of the semester, as we read the last sentence of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, I regretted ever doubting my students. I am now convinced that I was wrong to listen to the ostensible wisdom of the day—and that teachers of literature are wrong to give up assigning the books we loved ourselves. There may be plenty of good reasons to despair over the present. The literature classroom should not be one of them.
Years ago, the talk was about the "war against Sesame Street."
For many years, one of the key cultural battles between Democrats and Republicans was about the federal funding of national public media. And to many people that meant the two organizations at the top which are NPR - National Public Radio - and CFB which manages PBS - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Public Broadcasting System. And, of those two, it was PBS that resonated the most with the average voter, consumer, taxpayer because, well, ... "Big Bird and Sesame Street."
That battle over federal funding for public programming that critics and opponents felt slanted to the left and stifled voices from the right was most prominent around 2012 with the candidacy of Mitt Romney, though it hearkens back to the early 90s with the rise of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh. At the time, there was little enthusiasm for cutting funding to public broadcasting, as it was effectively framed as an attack on Elmo.
Fast forward to the brave new world of 2025, and the Republican Party, controlling the Executive and Legislative branches, has succeeded in cutting billions of dollars that once helped support local public radio and television across the country. Since that legislative battle happened during the passing of the comprehensive spending bill, it seems for now that: Public Media Holds Its Apocalypse at Bay, for Now.
Things looked bleak last summer for KCAW, a tiny public radio station serving the remote community of Sitka, Alaska (population 8,393).
Congress had just slashed $500 million in funding for public media, blowing a $187,500 hole in the station’s budget. Mariana Robertson, the station’s general manager, said she had faced a potential “doomsday” situation that included cutting staff.
Then the donations poured in.
Now, Ms. Robertson is one of many station directors across America who find themselves in unexpected territory: first, expecting the worst, but then buoyed by a flood of emergency funding that has kept their stations stable and surviving. For now.
I'm not a regular listener of NPR, and I no longer have broadcast or cable television, so I've mostly noticed the effective in the area I most appreciate the media -- local music radio like The Colorado Soundand Indie 102.3 here in Denver and Fort Collins. And, I am hoping for the continued public support through donations while we hopefully reach a consensus and collaboration on the value of federal funding for public broadcasting.
It was forty-one years ago, yesterday, that Louden Swain took on "the Shute."
If you know, you know. And Vision Quest is a purely classic teen drama-comedy-inspirational-sports movie from the teen years of Gen X, based on a YA novel from Terry Davis, and starring a young, adorable Mathew Modine alongside Michael Schoeffling (yeah, Jake from Sixteen Candles) and Linda Fiorentino. It's one of the best from one of the best times in cinema -- teen films in the 1980s were a genre above itself, and Vision Quest is a real gem.
It's an unlikely story to say the least, one made in Hollywood with Hollywood stars, to be sure.
A couple of American guys with no real connections to futbol (soccer), Great Britain, or the English Premier League, and all its subsidiaries, decide to buy a soccer team and end up reviving an historic town and franchise at the same time. It's kind of silly, and an even more idealistic narrative than the brilliant and heartwarming story of Ted Lasso that saved the feel good sports story a few years back. This is, of course, the story of "Ryan Reynold, Rob Mac, and Wrexham Football Five Years Later."
“I didn’t know Rob, [Reynolds explains]. But I noticed we followed each other on Instagram. I sent him a little note. I think I even told him not to respond. I just wanted to say I’d enjoyed something he did.”
From such inauspicious beginnings came one of the more remarkable sports partnerships. The two actors have spent the past five years transforming the fortunes of not only a football club but an entire town (now city) by restoring a sense of civic pride many locals in Wrexham feared had gone for good.
The Athletic is speaking exclusively to Reynolds and Mac to mark their anniversary today. We are five years on from the February 9, 2021 takeover that has effectively rewritten the book on how to successfully run a football club. And this despite the fact, as Mac quips in our interview, “We still don’t 100 per cent understand the sport!”
Years ago, a group of English colleagues and I took a post-graduate class in literature with another who was a Ph.D. and adjunct for a local university. Several of us were just interested in some professional development while a couple others were using the class as part of their MA in English. The class was primarily Victorian in nature, and we read some incredible works of literature, some familiar - namely Jane Eyre - and others new and obscure - like the sublime melodrama East Lynne from Ellen Wood.
And then we read Wuthering Heights. Surprisingly, none of the English majors in the room had read or taught the book. And for that we were thankful. Truly, the room was in consensus that it was one of the worst novels we can recall reading in its entirety. Other than the professor, who was quite amused by our contempt for the story, no one enjoyed it, and the reason was clear: it is a truly miserable story in a miserable setting about miserable people and a miserable message.
This is an update and repost of a unit I used around this time of the year when I taught AP English Lang & Comp. One of my favorite times and lessons of the year.
Each year in my AP Language class, as the exam approaches, I shift gears with my highly motivated students, and I ask them to look inside themselves as they look toward their future. It’s a challenging time for young people, and many face anxiety, not over their tests or their grades, but over their identity. As they hurtle forward toward adulthood, they pause. They struggle because, for many, they do not know who they are. These kids are in search of their personal legend. And Paulo Coelho’s classic parable about a shepherd in search of treasure – The Alchemist – may be just the guidebook they need.
I have a variety of activities designed to help the kids along the way – not the least of which is a series of study questions about the book. They can learn much from the stories of the Englishman, the parable of the oil and the spoon, Santiago’s time with the Crystal Merchant, the idea of “maktub,” the lessons of the camel driver, and more. The story is simple and accessible, and many teachers might worry this book is dumbing things down. But it’s not always about college-level diction and syntax. Sometimes it’s about self-reflection and living deliberately. The kids need this book, and they need to find their “Personal Legend.” Each person has a raison d’etre – a purpose in life – but there is no guarantee we will live the life we were meant to live and fulfill the role we were meant to complete. So, some soul searching is in order.
I couple the study of Coelho’s The Alchemist with a variety of journals and activities designed to get them pondering their place in the universe. For example, I begin with a story from Robert Fulghum’s It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It about the census. Fulghum’s essay on how every single life matters in serious and significant ways is thoughtful – using a quote from Mary Oliver, I ask the kids, “What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” I give them the classic “Proust Questionaire,” asking them questions about what they are afraid of, what they would never give up, what they would gladly give up, what their perfect day is like, etc. I share with them the story of Sarah Marshall – a misguided teen from Barb Schneider's bookThe Ambitious Generation. It’s a reminder of the wrong way to approach college and adulthood.
These activities and our discussions of the story culminate in a multi-genre paper called “The Alchemist Project.” For some kids, it’s exactly what they are looking for because they end up finding themselves. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is the perfect “self-help” book for high school students because it comes in the form of a readable parable, and the narrative helps to disguise the preachy nature of many books designed to help teens find themselves and find their way in the world. However, it’s not enough to simply read and discuss the book – teachers need to craft activities and tasks around the ideas of the book which engage the students in their own journey and quest for their personal legend.
Thus, in continuing my explanation of the “Alchemist Project,” I always show a truly engaging TED talk from Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs.” Rowe has some fascinating bits of advice and insight for students. Most importantly, he ponders the idea that “follow your passion” might be the worst advice he ever got. That bit of wisdom fits well with my previous story of Sarah Marshall – the girl from The Ambitious Generation who was adept at getting into college, but not so adept at figuring out why she was going in the first place. I advise my students that in Rowe’s view: “Some people should follow their passion, some should follow their skills, and some should just follow the market.” This video always has a significant impact on students, and I ask them to journal and comment on Rowe’s ideas in relation to their own search.
I also share with students a piece from New York Times writer David Brooks about institutional thinking called “What Life Asks of Us,” followed by perhaps the most interesting and engaging task, which is to complete an extensive analysis of their "Imaginary Lives.” It gives them a chance to dream and wonder, and ultimately try to see themselves in a future. That piece connects students back to a quote from Henry David Thoreau who suggests “if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
All these questions and activities are meant to elicit some serious self-examination, for the goal of this book and this project is for students to figure out, not what they want to do, but who they really are. I ask them to journal again after reading another Robert Fulghum essay about a girl who was “sitting on her ticket,” and I ask them how they are getting in their own way. It always has a way of motivating them to think critically about the choices they make everyday. I always conclude our unit by showing them a short clip of Randy Pausch, the man known for The Last Lecture. Pausch’s book and hour-long presentation filmed at Carnegie Mellon are wonderful, but if you want to limit the time, he gave a compelling short version of his speech on Oprah. It is definitely worth the discussion, and coincides well with the story of The Alchemist. While Coelho’s book says “The universe conspires to help you achieve your personal legend,” Randy Pausch posits, “If you are living correctly, your dreams will come to you.” Ultimately, The Alchemist is a meaningful book for many high school juniors and seniors, and while it’s not academically rigorous, it can be personally enriching. Students sometimes dismiss the book as a little cheesy – and it probably is. But even the most hardened student finds something useful in our “Alchemist Project.”
We've all seen it before in movies and television: the "heartbreaking tale" of the bright, talented, and aspirational young adult who rises above their situation and gets into the Ivy League but can't go because the kid is poor, and the college is just way too expensive.
Such an unfortunate situation, ... and also wildly inaccurate, if not completely false and misleading.
The college admissions process and the price of a degree is not an uncommon point of discussion for American families, and those situations have been an increasing point of concern for decades now. The affordability crisis hits in all sorts of ways, but the affordability of a university education, especially at elite schools like the Ivy League, is an often-misunderstood concept. And, I regularly come across online posts and stories -- and, of course, the annoying Hollywood distortions -- about a kid "getting into their dream school," but turning it down because they can't afford it.
Here's the deal -- a kid growing up in poverty who gains admission to the Ivy League, or elite schools such as the University of Chicago, will likely go to college for free. Elite schools with huge endowments (Yale University's is nearly $50 billion) provide extensive financial aid on a need basis. And, for schools like Penn, tuition is waived completely for families making less than $200,000 annually.
Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) is offering free tuition to undergraduate students from families with annual incomes up to $200K through its "Quaker Commitment" initiative. For families earning up to $75,000 the aid package also covers housing and dining.
While the sticker price for major universities can be eye-popping, it's important to note how few students and families are actually paying full tuition at numbers like $80,000 a year. In fact, at Harvard and many, if not most, of the Ivies, as much 60% of students receive 50% financial aid or greater. Now, that said, half-off of the tuition can still be tens of thousands of dollars a year, and families still face large bills for room and board. But, it's important for families to understand the actual details. And the online Net Price Calculator is quite helpful and pretty accurate in letting students know what they will actually pay.
If ya know, ya know. The catchphrase where I grew up -- St. Louis, "the Lou," where baseball is religion -- is always about how many days until "Pitchers and Catchers report."
Few poets have the ability to make my smile, laugh, cry, and think all at the same time in the way that Billy Collins does. As a high school English teacher for many years, I realized that I could find a Billy Collins poem for practically every lesson, every discussion, every unit, every situation that I covered in the course of a high school year. Just yesterday I was talking with a colleague about just such a thing, as she began a new unit, and I shared with her one of my favorite Billy Collins poems.
To My Favorite 17-Year-Old High School Girl
Do you realize that if you had started building the Parthenon on the day you were born, you would be all done in only one more year? Of course, you couldn’t have done it alone, so never mind, you’re fine just as you are. You’re loved for just being yourself.
But did you know that at your age Judy Garland was pulling down $150,000 a picture, Joan of Arc was leading the French army to victory, and Blaise Pascal had cleaned up his room? No wait, I mean he had invented the calculator.
Of course, there will be time for all that later in your life, after you come out of your room and begin to blossom, or at least pick up all your socks.
For some reason, I keep remembering that Lady Jane Grey was Queen of England when she was only fifteen, but then she was beheaded, so never mind her as a role model.
A few centuries later, when he was your age, Franz Schubert was doing the dishes for his family but that did not keep him from composing two symphonies, four operas, and two complete Masses as a youngster.
But of course that was in Austria at the height of Romantic lyricism, not here in the suburbs of Cleveland.
Frankly, who cares if Annie Oakley was a crack shot at 15 or if Maria Callas debuted as Tosca at 17?
We think you are special just being you, playing with your food and staring into space. By the way, I lied about Schubert doing the dishes, but that doesn’t mean he never helped out around the house.
In a world and nation overly focused on negativity, it's important and practically necessary to remind ourselves that there are many places and reasons to find joy in the everyday. And few "institutions" have the ability and reach to provide simple mirth to so many people in such simple ways as Jim Henson's magical world of friends like Kermit and Miss Piggy and Elmo and the Swedish chef and more.
And, in a time of reboots and remakes and rebrands of classic entertainment from the past fifty years, the return of The Muppet Show is a refreshing and comforting bit of news. I can still recall the Sunday evenings of my youth at 6:00 PM with the purest of sketch comedy, entertainment that wholesomely appealed to the kids who watched and their parents who occasionally check in as well. Thus, February 4 this year hearkened us back to those halcyon days through a collaboration of Disney and ABC to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show. And as the New York Times reported, This Is Your Grandparents’ ‘Muppet Show,’ Fortunately:
Backstage on the new special, “The Muppet Show,” Sabrina Carpenter excitedly greets Miss Piggy, in whom she recognizes a kindred spirit. “I grew up watching you,” Carpenter says. “My parents grew up watching you. Their parents grew up watching——” The joke, of course, is that Carpenter ends up offending the diva by implying that she’s old. But there’s a truth to it, too: Since the madcap critters lit the lights on the comedy-variety “Muppet Show” in the 1970s, every generation has gotten its own Muppets.
Sometimes we get them more than once. In 2015, ABC — which had aired the prime-time update “Muppets Tonight” in the 1990s — premiered “The Muppets,” an awkwardly edgy workplace mockumentary. (“This is not your grandmother’s Muppets,” the president of ABC promised/threatened at the time.) In 2020, Disney+ gave us “Muppets Now,” a streaming show about Kermit and company producing mini streaming shows, which lacked the original’s theatrical pizazz.
The premise for “The Muppet Show” of 2026, a (for now) single-episode special premiering on Wednesday on Disney+ and ABC, is comparatively simple: It’s “The Muppet Show.” And wocka wocka wocka, that’s all you need.
