Dear High School: Stop Hurting Future America
Friday 26 February 2010 at 10:40 pm
In part because someone at the local AmeriCorps branch was foolish enough to ask me, and in another part because I was foolish enough to agree, I ended up tutoring a bunch of ninth graders at Como Park Senior High. This has impacted my life in exactly two ways: First, I am the Foursqaure Mayor of Como Park Senior High. Second, I now thoroughly believe that classic American literature has no place in a 2010 high school literature curriculum.
In specific (and from which you might easily extract my more general opinion) I'll mention that my kids are all reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Also, notably, they all hate both the book and the act of reading books as a result. But, insist the teachers, they must read this important and historical classic if they're going to learn to appreciate literature. I, however, can think of several things wrong with this assertion...
Is it an important, informative and thought-provoking piece of American literature? Yes, if you're a white kid in the suburbs in 1962 and you have no other possible chance at the merest possibility of exposure to the ideas and considerations you might glean from this story. If you're an American high school freshman and this is, in fact, today then there is nothing in this book relevant to you. It is an outdated and obsolete teaching tool that should be replaced with something the kids will actually be willing to read. Give them Twilight if you have to. I don't care as long as it is something they will want to read. By forcing them to read something they hate, you are teaching them to hate reading. And school is pretty hard if you hate reading.
Friday 26 February 2010 at 10:40 pm
In part because someone at the local AmeriCorps branch was foolish enough to ask me, and in another part because I was foolish enough to agree, I ended up tutoring a bunch of ninth graders at Como Park Senior High. This has impacted my life in exactly two ways: First, I am the Foursqaure Mayor of Como Park Senior High. Second, I now thoroughly believe that classic American literature has no place in a 2010 high school literature curriculum.
In specific (and from which you might easily extract my more general opinion) I'll mention that my kids are all reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Also, notably, they all hate both the book and the act of reading books as a result. But, insist the teachers, they must read this important and historical classic if they're going to learn to appreciate literature. I, however, can think of several things wrong with this assertion...
Is it an important, informative and thought-provoking piece of American literature? Yes, if you're a white kid in the suburbs in 1962 and you have no other possible chance at the merest possibility of exposure to the ideas and considerations you might glean from this story. If you're an American high school freshman and this is, in fact, today then there is nothing in this book relevant to you. It is an outdated and obsolete teaching tool that should be replaced with something the kids will actually be willing to read. Give them Twilight if you have to. I don't care as long as it is something they will want to read. By forcing them to read something they hate, you are teaching them to hate reading. And school is pretty hard if you hate reading.
A Jolly Old Suicide-To-Be
Friday 26 February 2010 at 6:38 pm
Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's two years ago and he plans to commit assisted suicide when the time comes. The link below will take you to an interview he did last night with the CBC, in which he speaks of his advocacy for assisted suicide.
It's a strange sort of feeling, hearing Mr. Pratchett speak about his own death as such a matter of fact. At my age, I've dealt with some death. Enough that I've come to terms with the fact that I'll deal with more. Perhaps my friends, likely my family and definitely my pets will all expire before I do and I'm no more thrilled with that than one might expect, but I am prepared for it. You know, when the time comes. But Terry Pratchett is a role model and a bit of a celebrity author and some part of me can't quite wrap my head around the idea that such a talented creative type will one day stop being there. I can't explain it. I wish I could, but I can't.
Terry Pratchett talking to CBC's As It Happens about assisted suicide. February 25, 2010
Friday 26 February 2010 at 6:38 pm
Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's two years ago and he plans to commit assisted suicide when the time comes. The link below will take you to an interview he did last night with the CBC, in which he speaks of his advocacy for assisted suicide.
It's a strange sort of feeling, hearing Mr. Pratchett speak about his own death as such a matter of fact. At my age, I've dealt with some death. Enough that I've come to terms with the fact that I'll deal with more. Perhaps my friends, likely my family and definitely my pets will all expire before I do and I'm no more thrilled with that than one might expect, but I am prepared for it. You know, when the time comes. But Terry Pratchett is a role model and a bit of a celebrity author and some part of me can't quite wrap my head around the idea that such a talented creative type will one day stop being there. I can't explain it. I wish I could, but I can't.
Terry Pratchett talking to CBC's As It Happens about assisted suicide. February 25, 2010
Athleticism Trainwreck
Thursday 25 February 2010 at 8:11 pm
For a while during college, when the paltry sums of financial aid to which I had access ran out and my high-profile, no-holds-barred brand of activism had gotten me blacklisted from every other living wage job in town, I took a job as a manager at the strip club out on the outskirts of town. What? Oh, alright. I'll wait...
Finished snickering? Good. Now that that's all out of your system, I'll be the first to assure you that managing such an establishment is hardly any fun. You're dealing with clientele who are mostly d-bags and sleazes. You're running around trying to keep a dozen highly-excitable divas civil toward one another. You're working until 4am every night and you've no time for sleep, study or a social life. It paid the bills and the tuition (although I don't mind telling you how badly the grades suffered) but I wouldn't go back to it for all the awards on Gaiman's mantle.
There were a couple of dancers I quite liked watching, though, and not because they were naked. (That didn't hurt, but I honestly never got the whole fascination men had with seeing genitalia they would never be allowed near.) I liked them because of their pole tricks. There was always something about a woman who could hold herself upside-down with one leg and spin so fast she became little more than a vague blur of hair, glitter and thong underwear that I always found fascinating. That said, and with congratulations to Robyne Robinson on having managed to use the phrase "workin' the pole" in a newscast, I will now direct your attention to this:
The world champion in her sport, Sato is as athletic, dedicated and competitive as the Olympians representing their nations. And she thinks it's high time her discipline, too, got some real recognition.
Thursday 25 February 2010 at 8:11 pm
For a while during college, when the paltry sums of financial aid to which I had access ran out and my high-profile, no-holds-barred brand of activism had gotten me blacklisted from every other living wage job in town, I took a job as a manager at the strip club out on the outskirts of town. What? Oh, alright. I'll wait...Finished snickering? Good. Now that that's all out of your system, I'll be the first to assure you that managing such an establishment is hardly any fun. You're dealing with clientele who are mostly d-bags and sleazes. You're running around trying to keep a dozen highly-excitable divas civil toward one another. You're working until 4am every night and you've no time for sleep, study or a social life. It paid the bills and the tuition (although I don't mind telling you how badly the grades suffered) but I wouldn't go back to it for all the awards on Gaiman's mantle.
There were a couple of dancers I quite liked watching, though, and not because they were naked. (That didn't hurt, but I honestly never got the whole fascination men had with seeing genitalia they would never be allowed near.) I liked them because of their pole tricks. There was always something about a woman who could hold herself upside-down with one leg and spin so fast she became little more than a vague blur of hair, glitter and thong underwear that I always found fascinating. That said, and with congratulations to Robyne Robinson on having managed to use the phrase "workin' the pole" in a newscast, I will now direct your attention to this:
The world champion in her sport, Sato is as athletic, dedicated and competitive as the Olympians representing their nations. And she thinks it's high time her discipline, too, got some real recognition.
Meet the New Blog, Same As the Old Blog
Wednesday 24 February 2010 at 5:52 pm
When the server kept crashing because of too much traffic, I figured it was time not only to streamline the website and move myself to a better host, but to do so without having properly backed up my old website. I'm not saying all those years' worth of blog posts are gone forever, but I'll say they probably are. That said, if I can get them back I will. In the meantime, I think I'd better repost my MarsCon schedule:
I'll be returning to MarsCon this year to pontificate about writing and whatnot and, if time allows, to heckle the guys on the Dr. Who panels. Here's the schedule so far: (more)
Wednesday 24 February 2010 at 5:52 pm
When the server kept crashing because of too much traffic, I figured it was time not only to streamline the website and move myself to a better host, but to do so without having properly backed up my old website. I'm not saying all those years' worth of blog posts are gone forever, but I'll say they probably are. That said, if I can get them back I will. In the meantime, I think I'd better repost my MarsCon schedule:
I'll be returning to MarsCon this year to pontificate about writing and whatnot and, if time allows, to heckle the guys on the Dr. Who panels. Here's the schedule so far: (more)
