Astroturf Alert!

That's not grass, man.

Reporting live from Batmale Hall, Randy Cyberia . . .

Congratulations to Best of the Bay Ben!

Best of the Bay 2011: BEST HOMEBOY SCRIBE

Related: 

BEST OF THE BAY 2011

Best of the Bay 2011 Editors Picks: Arts and Entertainment

Awash as it is in traffic-stopping murals and radical neighborhood galleries, the Mission hasn't produced a lot of novels recently from its native sons and daughters. So when born-and-bred Missionite and City College literature professor Benjamin Bac Sierra's debut effort Barrio Bushido turned out to be a magical realistic, drug-and-violence-driven, sophisticated lyrical achievement, the 'hood rejoiced in its son. Bac Sierra's readings at Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts turned out a capacity crowd, and a retinue of candy-painted, hydraulic-powered low-riders lined the curb outside. With Bac Sierra as a role model, maybe the barrio won't have to wait long for another of its own to follow suit and publish something great.
todobododown.wordpress.com

http://www.sfbg.com/specials/best-bay-2011-best-homeboy-scribe

From the CHE Ticker . . .

California’s Public Colleges Are Falling Behind, Report Says

July 20, 2011, 1:59 pm

The often-celebrated public system of higher education in California is average, at best, and getting worse, argues a report released today by researchers at Sacramento State University. The report evaluates the state’s performance on six measures and finds major declines in college preparation, affordability, participation, and finance compared with other states over the past seven years. “It is a serious mistake to assume that a subset of high-profile, high-performing colleges and universities equates to a public postsecondary system that is up to the task of educating growing generations of Californians,” the report says.

Read the report.

SF Fringe Festival Play about a Community College English Teacher

Coming in September!

Panic!

EXIT Studio
San Francisco, CA

This comedy traces the journey of a community college English teacher who starts having panic attacks while teaching Hamlet, is repeatedly visited by the ghost of her dead father, and receives advice on reducing anxiety from characters such as Crazy Larry the cynical teaching veteran, Rainbow the yoga teacher, and Elvira the healthfood store clerk. Laura Wiley plays over ten different characters in this solo show on anxiety, middle-age disillusion and listening to your inner voice.

Laura Wiley has studied solo performance at the San Francisco Marsh. She is grateful for all the artistic input, script feedback, acting coaching and encouragement that she has received on this piece from four special people affiliated with the Marsh--David Ford, Ann Randolph, Mark Kenward and Rebecca Fisher.

In addition to acting and writing, Laura draws, paints, plays classical and jazz flute, and sings. Her websites are www.lauraaustinwiley.com and www.laurawileyflute.com.

Times and Place EXIT Studio, 156 Eddy St, SF FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 7:00 PM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 4:00 PM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 10:30 PM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1:00 PM http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/182348 Kid Friendly: No Dog Friendly: No Non-Smoking: Yes! Wheelchair Accessible: Yes!

Contact

Who:	Christina Augello
Phone:	415-673-3847
Email:	mail@sffringe.org
Web:	http://www.sffringe.org

Narrative Techniques by Randall

History of Teacher Ed

Bridging the “Widest Street in the World”
Reflections on the History of Teacher Education
By Jeffrey Mirel
The long-standing divide between education school faculty members and their liberal arts colleagues has hindered teacher education in America. Instead of continuing to debate the relative merits of pedagogy versus content, professors on both sides should realize that prospective teachers need to know not only their subject matter, but also how to teach it so students will understand.


Read the article . . .

Patrica Delich's new book on online teaching!

Patricia Delich, CCSF's former educational technology designer, helped many of us get rolling with online teaching.  She has published a new ebook about online course development.  Here it is.  You can learn more about Patricia's work at http://elearningnetworks.com

Designing and Developing
an Online Course: A Guide for Educators

Written by an educator for educators, this ebook covers the practical questions that often arise when designing and developing an online course. Topics in this ebook were collected and assembled from questions asked over my years of working closely with educators. It is designed to help educators create an online course that is usable, accessible, and engaging so students get the most out of an online course. If you have been asked to design and develop an online course and need some help, you've come to the right place. I'll provide tips to help you prepare to work on your course all the way through to the final touches.

Available Ebook reading formats:

When you purchase the full book, you gain access to all formats.

Format	Full Book	Sample First 9%
Online Reading (HTML)	Buy	View sample
Online Reading (JavaScript)	Buy	View sample
Kindle (.mobi)	Buy	Download sample
Epub (open industry format, good for Stanza reader, others)	Buy	Download sample
PDF (good for highly formatted books, or for home printing)	Buy	No sample available
LRF (for Sony Reader)	Buy	Download sample
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)	Buy	Download sample

I am Worried about My Grade (encore)

No Wonder Twins?

Loren Bell: "How to Read Emily Dickinson"

Today, Friday, May 6th, 1:30-3 p.m., in Batmale Hall 349 . . .

Loren Bell will discuss "How To Read Emily Dickinson."

The English Literature Club invites all to attend.

The admission price?

Loren recommends that you "bring a favorite poem by Emily Dickinson," but literary browsers and the merely curious are welcome too!

Thank you.

My Mother Taught Me To Hunt

She did, indeed. "What did you learn in school today, Matthew?" she started asking when I was five. She made me feel I should learn things, so I have pursued learning, sometimes relentlessly, ever since. Learning something (or, better, multiple "things") to bring home and share became proof of my prowess: a string of trout for the pan after a day of fishing for knowledge. And, she listened to my answers each day for so many years that I think about reporting what I've "caught" at the end of each day, still, even now.

(We didn't get along all the time, but those-- asking and listening-- were absolute gifts.)

When I think of her, I now often think of the ending to Ted Kooser's poem "Mother":

But the iris I moved from your house

now hold in the dusty dry fists of their roots

green knives and forks as if waiting for dinner,

as if spring were a feast. I thank you for that.

Were it not for the way you taught me to look

at the world, to see the life at play in everything,

I would have to be lonely forever.

The poem's ending catches my sense of debt, of appreciation, and while I don't think I ever feared the spectre of loneliness the way the poem's speaker seems to have done, perhaps the gifts of seeking knowledge, of seeking life, and of reporting it, of sharing it, have protected me in their own way.

Thanks, Mom.

Your son,

Matthew David

P.S. I posted an expanded version of this entry on my own blog (Matt Duckworth Underwater) back in December, near the anniversary of her death. Since Mother's Day is this Sunday, it seems fitting to remember my mother again, though without the anger this time.

A Po-Mo Whodunnit

If you enjoy a good mystery with a twist, Sean Kim recently published a detective tale in Southword Journal. Click the link below then click again on 'Fiction':

http://www.munsterlit.ie/Southword/Issues/19A/contents.html

Dylan Thomas and Jack Kerouac's iPhone directions

I loved this New Yorker "Shouts and Murmurs."
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2011/05/02/110502sh_shouts_hanson

"so much depends

upon

a Red Lobster..."

and

"Do not go gentle when you make that right..."

Crissy Field Fun

Glorious day by the Bay: great pick for the day, Craig.

Here are some of my photos of the English Department get-together this afternoon.

Enjoy!

--Matt Duckworth

A Teacher of 45 Years Speaks Out: How Educators Are Being Blamed for Our Financial Mess

"I am sorry I became a teacher. I honestly didn't mean to place so many states in danger of going bankrupt."

 

This piece first appeared on the Good Men Project Magazine.

 

For over 45 years I have enjoyed making a living teaching. It hasn’t been easy or lucrative, but it had its rewards, one of which was a secure retirement plan.

 

Now, after reading the recent California Little Hoover Commission Report that recommends that public school retirements be reduced, even for those who are already retired, and the actions of the Ohio, Idaho, and Wisconsin republicans in accusing teachers and their pensions and bargaining rights as mainly responsible for that state’s financial situation, I am sorry I became a teacher. I honestly didn’t mean to place so many states in danger of going bankrupt.

 

I also realize now that I am sorry to have chosen education as a career for other reasons. I am sorry that my wife may have to work until she is well past 70 and endure the rigors of 12-hour shifts as a nurse. I am sorry that I may become a burden to my children because my retirement income won’t cover the costs of extended care. I am sorry for those students I encouraged to become teachers, telling them to ignore the glow of the better-paying professions.

 

I am sorry that the government is punishing me for being a civil servant by taking away over 60 percent of the Social Security benefits I had paid for during years of part-time work in the private sector to help put two children through college. I am sorry that, if I outlive my wife, I won’t be eligible for her Social Security benefits—because I’m a public servant.

♦◊♦

I am also very sorry that the vast conservative media have chosen teachers as a topic for loathing and hatred.

 

I am sorry that the right-wing politicians and conservative think tanks are at work to convince the public that education would work better if schools were private. I am sorry that the producers of Waiting for “Superman” didn’t travel a few miles farther to see my school and talk to the parents and students. I am sorry that the writers of the movie didn’t get a chance to see what is really happening in America’s schools. I’m sorry they didn’t call their work Waiting for “Funding.”

 

The use of misleading facts to bully educators is rampant. Most recently, Wisconsin teachers, fighting merely for the right to negotiate as a union, were accused of causing over 7 million dollars of damages to the State Capitol Building and grounds. The media spread that lie and never followed up with the fact that the damages never were properly assessed. Sorry to say, but this is just one example of the media’s bullying of teachers. When is the last time the public learned that 145,100 public school teachers were physically attacked and that 276,000 were threatened with injury?

 

I am also sorry that, as a teacher, I did such a poor job of teaching students to think for themselves, and let the fear mongers drug their critical thinking skills. I am sorry that I spent so much time getting my students ready for the state test that I did a poor job of teaching them to ask for proof when an organization says it offers fair and balanced news reporting.

 

♦◊♦

Until today I never stopped to look at what my decision to become a teacher had cost. I wrote a letter to one of the commissioners on the Little Hoover Commission expressing how my decision to become a teacher had cost my family dearly and that their findings made me sorry I had become a teacher.

 

The response was hardly unexpected. The secretary of the commissioner responded by writing that teaching was a valued profession. But apparently not valued enough for the commission to advise the California legislature not to leave the teacher retirement plan alone. After all, the budget has to be balanced and God forbid there is a tax increase. Sorry to say, their recommendations, if followed, would result in extensive court battles, legal costs, and the possibility that teachers would continue to be the scapegoats whenever the economy is troubled. By the way, sorry to say, not one member of the Little Hoover Commission is a teacher or educator, and the commission is dominated by big business members. The findings of the Little Hoover Commission are not unexpected, given President Hoover’s legacy.

 

♦◊♦

I left the financial world after tiring of the constant manipulation of the general public to add to the company’s bottom line. I am sorry I didn’t fight my temptation to help others and instead stay in the corporate world with a secretary, reserved parking spot, executive dining room, paid-for college courses, free health care, my own office, and a chance to continue to hobnob with the movers and shakers of the world from Richard Nixon and king-maker Asa Call to Ronald Reagan.

 

At age 22 I had my own upscale apartment in Los Angeles and a racing Cobra. Life was good and the pension plan was lucrative as I had to pay nothing into it. The company was going to move to a beach community and I would have been a made man. All I had to do was ignore my desire to help others.

 

Sorry, but I couldn’t resist: I entered a teaching college and, now, over 45 years later, I have a lot of apologies to hand out.

 

I know that my fellow teachers have spent decades teaching our students about the evils of bullying and to not tolerate it. The theme “Don’t Be a Bystander” is one of our major lesson plans. And yet, I am sorry to say, we are now the ones being bullied. Perhaps it is time for us to join together and write letters, make phone calls, and express ourselves to our elected officials to let them know that there are millions of teachers who vote—and we won’t want them to be sorry.

 

 

Alan Haskvitz, a teacher for 45 years, honestly didn’t mean to place so many states in danger of going bankrupt. He just wanted a secure retirement plan.