Amazing Alice in Wonderland Remix

Less Than One Week

Counting down the days until I begin officially teaching for the fall, and boy, am I amped up for it.

I've finalized the majority of my activities and short stories that I want to use for my three freshmen English courses, and I've compiled almost 50 improvisational exercises, ice-breakers, and acting activities for my theatre course. All that remains is to find out exactly what condition my Writer's Workshop students are in and I can begin figuring out lessons for them. I've heard differing views on what these students will need the most work on, ranging from simple grammar and spelling to sixth grade English concepts and terminology. Others say they need help forming sentences and completing essays and my main priorities should be to get them better at writing in general, finding their errors and self-correcting them, and then move onto stories and readings with them. Being a first-year teacher, not knowing what to expect from this class, yet trying to plan out everything for this class, is becoming the most confusing and taxing aspect of the pre-planning for the school year. I think once we actually get this class' metaphorical hot air balloon off the ground, I'll be able to see where we need to point it, but right now I'm lost somewhere in the woods waiting to see what sort of supplies they're going to come with.

Other than that I've just completed three poems that I like very much. While they might not be of the highest quality, I sure will have a lot of time to complete and revise a lot of my work in the coming months. The environment in my classroom seems to be very conducive to create work and I bet that I'll find myself revising and writing after school some days--feeling inspired and energized from teaching and familiarizing myself with the wonders of literature. I felt that way while I was student teaching, but unlike during that time, I won't have a job I have to run to directly after school. That provides me with an additional 12-15 hours per week that I didn't have when I was student teaching. Seems promising and exciting.

Les Paul, Frank McCourt, Michael Vick, etc.

Sad to hear yesterday that Les Paul died, though I must admit I thought that he had died already--sometime when I was in high school. Well, I guess not.

What we all know about Les Paul was that he was a virtuoso on the guitar, and was the equivalent of Einstein to the guitar. He invented, reinvented, redesigned, and shattered all the concepts of what a guitar should be: what it should look like, how it could be played, what colors and designs could be utilized, how to augment the sounds the guitars produced, and how to mass market these guitars to the public. The Gibson LesPaul is still one of the most popular guitars in history and revolutionized 70s rock n' roll. Without him, Led Zeppelin might have sunk like a lead zeppelin.

K. and I got a new computer a few days ago and I have been scrambling around trying to get everything installed on it, and have been trying, though futilely at this point, to successfully set up the wireless network on all the computers. First, I went through the process of reinstalling the wireless device on each computer, then I had to deal with the computers not recognizing the wireless, then the wireless itself looking for a cord (hence being the antithesis of wireless...), and then one computer (the one I'm typing on, obviously) recognizing the wireless network and another not. Needless to say, I need to work on all of this more tonight. Hopefully Tyler can walk me through some of the more intricate ins and outs of troubleshooting so I don't dropkick all these devices out the window.

Also sad to hear of the passing of Frank McCourt a week or two ago. I've been away from the blog for so long that I'm missing news stories by the weeks now. I remember the first time I read Angela's Ashes in high school and how it affected me. I remember arresting description, a whole world that transformed Ireland from a picturesque emerald isle into a place that's not so one-dimensional, but one that's challenging, poverty stricken, and intense. I'd love to teach the book in the years coming. Perhaps I will try to read it during the first few months of teaching this year; since McCourt was a great high school English teacher, I could probably glean a few things from him through Ashes and Teacher Man.

BTW, just finished watching Bear Grylls wrangle a wild reindeer in Siberia. He trapped it against a tree and tied its head to the trunk, then struck it between the ears to kill it. It seemed a bit too manufactured, but overall very enthralling. He's still one of the toughest and craziest guys on television.

Now onto Michael Vick. I've already blogged on how I feel about Vick, but upon hearing he was being reinstated by the NFL, I felt that he could only repay this extreme debt he now has to Tony Dungy and the NFL (who I still don't believe should ever have done him favors) by donating his $1.3 million salary for next year to PETA or another animal protector's association. Wouldn't that make a great gesture? Proof that he has changed as a man and has altered his opinions as he swore to the committees? Wouldn't it make him look better in the eyes of all the people who still aren't satisfied with a measly 18-month prison sentence?

DVR Addiction

For months K. bugged me to get DVR for our television. The most common complaint was that her favorite shows aired at either 9 or 10 pm EST, causing her to lose precious hours of sleep each week.

So while I was at the Lesley residency, we made an appointment to have DVR installed. Instantly I became addicted to it, of course, and this has only worsened since.

As of yesterday, the DVR was 52% full, with all of the programming being mine, and the majority of it being either History channel specials or movies that I have never seen but suspected I should see.

Take Contact for instance. Why have I never seen this movie? I couldn't tell you, but with the assistance of DVR I watched it in less than 45 minutes--skipping over the trite parts, commercials, etc. And what an amazing movie it is too--visually stunning in parts and amazingly suggestive and exploratory. Jarhead, too, I thought was an incredibly moving film. Having read the memoir, I thought the movie sorely lacked in the hilarity and cleverness presented by the deadpan and dry underlying humor of the book, but I did feel like the movie was much more suspenseful than the book. I thought several of the scenes were extremely moving too. It is amazing to think that there can be such carnage and such ennui simultaneously. A "jarhead" really does need to have an "all or nothing" mentality to survive.

I wonder if other people have these same DVR addictions. I know a few friends who experience DVR anxiety when it either becomes too full and their DVR begins deleting programming, or when they don't have enough time to watch their scheduled programming. I think I'm beginning to feel this way about the DVR, but it is also proving to be a great catalyst.

While emptying the DVR of programming yesterday and today, I've managed to cut out nearly 55 hours of programming in only a few measly hours and I've managed to get material for at least 6-10 new poems and have written three (drafts) during this time.

Tomorrow K. and I are off for a surprise 'party' for a friend of ours, which I will blog more about during an appropriate time as they might be a regular reader here and I don't want to give anything away. I also may be taking a pilot test tomorrow morning for the MTELs (see previous post about the MTEL tests...), which is basically a quick test that I take and then rate on a questionnaire. It should take around 1 1/2 hours to take and rate the test and the 'reward' for doing it is a $30 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble--well worth it in my opinion.

Blogging again soon.

Start of Summer

So far this summer has been spent doing two activities: playing four square and reading/writing poetry.

I began a job last week as a counselor at the B&G Club daycamp and now spend my mornings and afternoons playing soccer, supervising kids in the pool, playing with gimp and brainstorming ideas for poems. I spend my evenings and weekends reading and writing as much poetry as possible, trying to use what remains of my energy and channel it into profound ideas and radical leaps and surprises in my writing. My success rate for this is so far debatable, at best.

I have come up with a handful of great ideas during the camp day and have dutifully found the first piece of scrap paper I could find to scribble them down to ensure I'd never forget them. I've read two or three books of poetry so far since the residency, and am in the process of reading the book for my 'group' annotation, which will be an annotation that I complete along with the other students also studying with my faculty mentor. The goal of this group annotation is to see what each of us might have missed, to get a better idea of what we each look for and "see" when we read a poem (and therefore what we might write when we feel inspired, and what we'll take away), and as impetus to get all of us into a continued discussion about the book and about our work during the semester.

I'm also reading (here and there though) a bunch of short stories and longer works in anticipation of teaching in the fall. I was also given the great news when I went to see my classroom two weeks ago, that my suggested book for summer reading Rats Saw God has been given the green light as a possible summer reading book for students and I have at least six students signed up for it right now! That's impressive, especially since they probably saw my name and said "who the heck is that?!", but trusted the book cover and description enough to go out on a limb and decide to read it.

When I was in high school I think I considered Rats Saw God to be the next Catcher in the Rye. It was so radically transformative that I think it made me reconsider friendships, appreciate others more, and realize there was a vast world beyond the small town where I grew up. I think before that book I considered I would live and die in that town, would probably marry someone from nearby or from even in the town and would see little of the world. For some reason that desire to strike out and explore, to try new things, to go to college (!), and to really experience life never really brewed within me. I felt lethargic and apathetic to a lot of stuff and never considered I'd be very good at anything--probably because I felt like I was already locked into a schedule and lifestyle that I would never be able to shake away. I think the book ignited something that had laid dormant for a while, and since then I've rediscovered more and more books that continue to excite and thrill me. Now I read, write and create at a breathless pace (compared to what I did years ago), and I consider myself to be a teacher and writer and I'd like to say a lot of the inspiration for 'living' came from the books I read, which really opened up my mind to the promise and impulse of creativity.

I hope this year goes very well. As a new teacher I of course have a ton of ideas about what I'd like to teach, some unique lessons I'd like to incorporate, and some radical assignments I'd like to implement--such as a blog, a webpage, a video for YouTube, some poster board projects, etc. Here's hoping it all turns out amazing and that the students are generally responsive. I think I have skin thick enough to know that many students will be apathetic to the work, many will be uninspired even though others may thrive in the environment, and there are some students that I have that, no matter how diligently I try, will never be receptive to my ideas and will never consider me one of their favorite teachers. My hope though, is that they do learn something in my class and take away perhaps some new vocabulary, ways to extrapolate themes from texts, methods for writing and creating, and a better eye and ear for grammatically correct sentences.

There's nothing more important in this world than education and inspiration.

Fourth of July

Since today is our nation's birthday, I suppose it's an important date for me to begin my next blog post.

Today marks the anniversary of the day that our founding fathers decided, hey, let's have an annual celebration to celebrate July 2. Of course, they decided this on July 3, so they planned it for the next evening. The official date was July 2, but not we accept July 4 as the official day of our Independence. In reality, it took much longer and did not occur on a single day, but if we were to pare it down to a single day: July 2 would be the most historically accurate.

Both former President John Adams and former President Thomas Jefferson (bitter rivals as well as the best of friends during their lives) died on the same fourth of July--quite a creepy fact.

I'll be spending it at K.'s sister's place with many family and friends, and will be eating (hopefully!) copious amounts of excellent food. I'll also be delaying finishing reading my poetry books, revising, and writing, as I should be every free moment for the next 6 months.

Hope everyone has a great holiday.

End of the residency

I took a strong liking to the end of the residency, but not because I was sick of it, I was just too exhausted to continue going for even another day or two--it really did end at the perfect time.

Now I'm not exhausted with poetry or overwhelmed with the work and the daunting task of writing, creating and reading that is stacking higher and higher everyday, I was more exhausted from the commuting and the immediate life-shift that happened to me when I arrived there. No more was I "Jeff the sad unemployed freelance writer and future teacher," I was "Jeff the optimistic and rearin'-to-go prospective poet."

I tried to give as much astute insight as I could there, and felt for a while that my comments were some of the most valuable and most crucial for the success of my peers' work, but there were a lot of BIG things that I missed. Needless to say, I felt less than intelligent after some of these comments and recommendations, and I came away feeling that my own work needed, well, a lot of work.

While the comments that I got last semester I largely disagreed with (from all that I've read in magazines/journals, in poetry books, and in what I have received as criticism from my other readers), I have to admit the level of criticism rose this current semester and became a lot more intricate.

I will write more, and in more detail, perhaps tonight, but for now, it's off to the shower and to camp, which has become a fabulous summertime experience. The pace is fast (it keeps the kids entertained a lot better than the other camp that I previously worked at), and the weather has been so-so (it's currently raining and 73 today.)

Michael Jackson

I suppose it's almost compulsory that I blog about the passing of Michael Jackson. But what is there to say about someone who has died who the writer has never known. Certainly there are epic elegies to those who the writer has never or could never know (especially when those deaths span centuries or even millennia), but how does one write about an entertainer? A musician who was marred by scandal, private dealings that may or may not be suitable for all ages to read, jealousy, secrecy, bankruptcy, and physical "abnormalities" that caused his life to become a circus akin to the theme park he owned.

It's a tough job to write something about someone whose heyday arguably began three years before I was born and ended when I was two. It's also difficult to forget all the controversies: the children who have accused him over the years, the dangling baby over the balcony, the plastic surgeries, the dismaying changes in voice, appearance, attitude and presence in the everyday world.

To write about Michael Jackson is to acknowledge all his life was inundated with, but then to sift out what was ultimately the most distracting aspects, and arrive at a solid, appreciative image of a man who had the creativity, dancing and singing skills unparalleled by most performers in their lifetimes. It is to recognize that greatness is often accompanied by a fall. There cannot be one without the other. And only through acknowledgment of this inextricable relationship can one arrive at an appreciation and commemoration of someone like Jackson, who, although dead, is still living today as I write this and will never be forgotten.

I don't believe there will be Jackson sightings as there are still Elvis sightings, but there will be impersonations, and biographers galore; those concerned with glorifying, demystifying or deconstructing a man whose life was lived in front of the camera, the microphone and on the stage. There are words to be said in poetry, in elegy, and in memory. There are words for every moment of Jackson's life, but not enough space here. For a man who lived a life that was bigger than himself, he did the best he could to not be swept away--as everyone eventually is when placed in that situation. Michael Jackson does not leave a void in music; on the contrary, he filled one with the music he created and the life that he lived. Appreciate what he gave us and do not concern yourselves with what sensationalities plagued him.

Seeing Everything in Poetry

When I first rode the T last Friday, coming from South Station into Cambridge for the first time since mid-January, I was struck with a sense of remembrance for the extreme promise and excitement I felt when living and learning within this mecca of intelligence, artistry and literature.

True, Cambridge is one of the main literary centers of the world, and Boston-Cambridge-MetroWest is one of the most literate and well-read areas of the world, but just coming off the T into this world is like entering a totally new world. It's shape is different--Victorians juxtaposed with crowded streets, MIT and Harvard students ambling from building to building, runners and dog walkers stuffing the sidewalks, and casual tourists snapping photos of everything they deem noteworthy or photo-worthy.

My problem though is seeing everything in poetry. The scream of the T as it slides from track to track between stops is poetic. As is the homeless man who holds a sign in the opposite direction, but his half-full can in mine (intentional on both counts). Everything seems to breathe life into me--into my poetry. I'm feeling unbridled and too jittery (and not just from the coffee) to sit still in seminars. I want to be in a writing circle right now.

If we were forced into a room to write for 12 hours--given some food and beverages here and there--it could be one of the most successful half-days of my life. Poetry is nearly tangible here. Metaphor is palpable (also a metaphor).

And in living this life, I'm left wondering how much of this I can take before I stop paying attention to what's happening around me and start focusing again solely on my work? Will my concentration continue unabated (not as it did last year when I was laid off immediately after the residency and had my world upended violently) for a full year (as I plan to defer my next semester because of full-time teaching)?

All I can do is hope this feeling stays with me and I continue to see everything in terms of poetry. My mind seems sharper and more intelligent while I'm here. I feel like less is impossible.

It's a treat to be able to be here and to have the opportunity to write for not only a hobby, but potentially a career, as being a great reader and writer can only make a trained teacher a better teacher.

I learn more each moment I am here and feel guilty for taking a five minute break right now to blog. Yes, I feel compelled and/or obligated to report on my status, but I feel the same way about returning to my notebook of five recently begun poems, and trying to hammer another few before I focus for an hour on them tonight on the train.

This residency is cathartic, uplifting, invigorating and fulfilling. It's the type of environment I wish I could be surrounded in everyday--is this how I'll feel teaching? How literature and/or writing teachers feel? If being surrounded by learning, writing and literature can feel this fulfilling and 'perfect,' I hope I can only be as lucky as to experience it everyday for the remainder of my life.

Running progress

Went for my latest run on Wednesday, June, 17, and I have to say I can feel my lungs getting stronger. My legs weren't in the least bit uncomfortable, tight or sore both afterward or the next day. I feel like I'm making a lot of progress and should be able to do a 5k or 10k at some point in the near future.

This run was shorter than the last--a quick 2-mile run that I did in 18 minutes (give or take a minute.) That puts my mile average, with the hills included both heading out and coming back) at 9 minutes--certainly not a great achievement for a runner overall, but a great achievement for me, as I have been able to maintain this without stopping and have shaved at least four minutes total off my time from when I was running this last year.

My goal is to be able to do this run in 15 minutes flat. I think 7 1/2 minutes is a great average for a mile, running both uphill and slightly downhill. I'd like to be able to do it sooner than later, of course. Hopefully this summer while being outdoors and exercising a lot more than I was both last summer and all of last year, that I'll be able to shed my winter weight and recent running slump.

I remember the days of high school when I did the mile in gym class in under 6 1/2 minutes and was commended by the gym teacher for improving my time greatly--and I didn't feel winded at all after finishing. In fact, math class was still a cinch afterward.

More Disney photos

Here are some addition Disney photos to really make me overly-nostalgic for the "Happiest Place on Earth."


The dedication at the entrance of Walt Disney World.


The entrance to Fronteirland station!


The entrance to the best and most soothing ride in the world, Splash Mountain. :) (obligatory emoticon.)


Pirates of the Caribbean entrance!


The entrance to Liberty Square, with tea and other accoutrement to really transport you to 1776 and beyond--a time when America was arguably more forward-thinking.


The entrance to Adventureland.


The sign pointing the way down to Jungle Cruise.


The amazing and (still) futuristic and enduring entrance to Tomorrowland. Though it might not be as futuristic and up-to-date as it was when the park first opened, it surely does still retain that 'what will come about tomorrow' feeling; and, of course, it still promotes space travel as the pinnacle of futuristic and desirable achievement, though the world seems disinterested in it as a whole. (Until an asteroid is mentioned, or a black hole or the like...then EVERYONE jumps on the bandwagon.)


The entrance to Peter Pan in October (note the 30 minute wait time during peak hours...and how no people managed to interrupt the shot...hmmm...).

Some images from elsewhere in Disney...


The sign for the Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios! (No longer MGM.)


Anandapur in the Animal Kingdom--setting you off to know you are entering a totally different land. This park is very up-and-coming and the latest village presenting Expedition Everest is truly an accomplishment for any theme park and it will quickly become a fan favorite. It really is like an entirely different world that can transport and captivate.

Absenteeism

I have, for the past few days, been blogging sparsely (at best) and have been totally non-existent in cyberspace. The reasoning behind this is preparation for my latest 10 days in Cambridge, MA, as part of my second semester of studies in the Lesley University MFA in Creative Writing (poetry, English, Journalism) low-residency program.

Since the entirety of the semester is based off of distance-learning, the format works perfectly for me. As a teacher, having the opportunity to write during the early mornings/evenings and on the weekends is a great plus, as opposed to the alternative of attending classes either full-time during the summer or going part-time over a 5- or 6-year period and struggling to finish up a Master's program in time.

Last semester I was able to create around 50 pages of poems--an amazing feat of proliferation and creativity--and this semester I hope to be able to achieve more. Since January, my personal life has been on a roller-coaster. I was engaged, attended my first residency, and was laid off from my job all within 3 weeks. Paired with the plummeting and uncertain economy and free world, my personal life tumbled into a free-fall that I still feel hesitant in saying I have recovered from. The following is a brief (yeah, right) synopsis and explanation of how the past semester (writing-wise, academically, personally, future-wise, and depression-wise) went for me.

Since struggling and searching 16-18 hours per day to find a job, realign my personal life, devise a financial savings plan, search for a part-time and summer job, become certified to teach in MA and RI, and write enough to keep myself in the MFA program (and to produce something better than trite or sentimental teenage verse), I have found a semi-stable foundation and feel much more confident heading into this next semester than I did heading into the first.

For starters, I know what to expect this time going in. Immediately after the January residency, I was prepared to write, revise and read my heart out and take all the time in the world with a stable backing behind me. The very next day I was laid off and (idiomatically) thrown onto the street. Physically I felt drained and hopeless. My psyche was bruised and twisted into an imbroglio that was devastating and painful. I dropped at least 15 pounds, found myself depressed and dazed, and believed the world was probably coming to an end.

I found myself researching and learning more about stock market and economic trends than I was studying and reading poetry. I found the poems of Robert Lowell dull and uninteresting, and the banter of Rick Santelli of CNBC to be intriguing and provocative. Left disillusioned and frightened, I headed blind into a world that looked neither promising nor bright.

The winter days dragged on. Snow piled into a cascade of sadness and uncertainty that was impossible to shovel away (through K. and others tried their hardest). The lack of light seemed to be my inner monologue. I spoke in macabre vowels. I breathed an apocalyptic fog. It took more than 5 weeks for the first secondary teaching job to appear, and even longer to devise a plan to become certified, find a job (close by) and secure myself a financial future. Writing appeared in a helter-skelter fashion. Then in spurts, then began to finally materialize into something malleable and palatable. I was no longer thinking in terms of trite songs and dull repetitions. I wrote at times like a house aflame, while during other times I was more arid than a March 6, 2009, stock portfolio (see: lingering financial and economic influences on my psyche).

The stock market turned around and at this writing is 2,300 points higher than it was during the depths of its downturn and during the depths of my own depression. Hopefully the job market as a whole turns around quickly and comprehensively--offering all Americans a chance to breathe again and look at the world as a sunny place with promises of hope as opposed to a careening wheel becoming more and more shriveled with each passing day; tossing off the jobless at every turn and ruining the prospective lives of more generations.

I have secured a teaching job for next year and feel both humbled and lucky to have found one--both so quickly (3 months after becoming unemployed and about 1 1/2 months after teaching jobs began to be posted) and with such benefits to it. I may have the opportunity to teach 1) creative writing (!!), 2) drama (!!), and 3) journalism (!!)--all of which are my fortes.

If the MA economy is able to turn around by the end of 2010 and return to something normal and/or promising, I hope to be able to keep this job past the 2010-2011 school year. It seems likely that I will retain the position for the aforementioned school year, but for the 2011-2012 school year (when all federal funding will be non-existent) and districts and the state of MA again cutback on all aide to towns and local governments, the position may be cut along with hundreds (maybe thousands) of others across the state as virtually every town would be forced to raise taxes more than a nominal amount to bridge the difference gap between the prospective tax revenue and budget and what would be needed to retain every service and job from the previous year. (The level funded fiscal 2010 makes me feel more confident in 2010-2011 than I previously did as well.)

Regardless, this upcoming school year promises to be filled with enjoyment, excitement, preparation and guidance. I know positively that I will cherish every day I am teaching high school English. It is a life-long dream come true. The classes could not be better, the school is immaculate, the schedule is highly desirable, and from what I have observed of the students, they seem eager to learn, intelligent, diligent, and receptive.

As for the MFA program, I feel I have a very solid and structured writing schedule for this upcoming year (moreso than this past semester even before I became unemployed). I feel I'll learn a lot this semester as well and will be able to revise, finalize (?), and write a lot more and a lot more often. Instead of two or three days a week creatively writing, I might be able to get five or more in!

Here's to hoping the economy turns around as soon as possible to provide the necessary foundation for everyone to live again without the worry that at any moment their lives will implode on a whim of the unpredictable and uncontrollable stock and housing markets.

Say it ain't so, JK!

This article came out today and states that another publishing company is suing the publishers of Harry Potter (Bloomsbury) for copyright infringement, alleging that portions of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as essentially stolen ideas and materials.

While I suppose it is inevitable that some portion of some book would have some kind of similarity to some aspect of one of the Harry Potter novels (it is, after all, nearly impossible these days to produce an entire work without borrowing from, alluding to or referencing an idea, event, character type, theme, etc. from another book, story, poem, idea, etc.), it does seem kind of fishy that the book in question is another 'wizard' book.

So, did JK Rowling knowingly borrow aspects of the book? Is there a foundation behind this argument? Can it be proven? If so, does it diminish her reputation as a creative genius? Does it somewhat lessen her impact on adolescent and pre-teen reading? Does it disqualify her as one of the greatest authors of the past 25 years? I think not. One thing is for sure: she did not steal a whole idea, as "parts" of the book are claimed to be "similar." She also vehemently denies any previous knowledge or reading of the book, making it entirely impossible to plagiarize. Perhaps it proves that there is a pre-determined direction for a book or idea to go in, regardless of the author's own bias, and that writing is truly an unconscious being in and of itself.

City and Town Stimulus Instead

Have I not been saying this for the past three months? Directly to towns and cities, not the country as a whole with spending spent arbitrarily. Begin at the trickle-down point. The government cut funding to cities and towns, which in turn had their internal funding cut because of decreased tax revenues, etc. Then a stimulus is passed, but little money is given back to the cities and towns that it was stripped from. An economic 'stimulus' should have been to bridge the incurred budget gaps of the cities and towns of America--that way towns that wanted it could accept it, those who didn't, would not be required to. It would have alleviated a lot and would have offered up some resolution to cities and towns still battling with budgets currently, and that will continue to struggle for a few years to come until things 'level out'--notice: not 'return to normal.'

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090615/ts_nm/us_economy_mayors

A New Way To 'Rate' Schools

During my long and arduous job hunt, I researched many school districts and schools throughout MA, RI, CT, and NH, looking for leads on the school environment, the level of commitment, respect and interest of the students, the comaraderie of the faculty and staff, and, of course, the availability of jobs (often information related to school enrollment, growing/shrinking population and/or enrollment, impending teacher retirements, school size and size history, etc. were all pertinent).

What I found were a ton of websites offering scattered, outdated, or partial information relating to one or a few of the things I felt were pertinent to my search. Concurrently, if I were a parent or new family looking to move, I would be looking for much more information on a district than what could be garnered from the websites listed. Of course, it seems the web is the fastest and most comprehensive way to discover as much as possible about a town or a school district, short of sitting down and studying the district or speaking with a few dozen townspeople, teachers and administrators, and students.

So how does a prospective teacher find out as much as possible about a district? Well, the MA Department of Education has a website listing the district profiles, which outline the demographic, enrollment, test scores, staffing, salary, etc. data for the school district, up to the most current year (2008-2009 data was on the website). This is helpful, but leaves out many crucial aspects of a school, mainly: the average class size.

I could find no website offering the average class size. As a teacher, this is very important to me, and as a student and a parent, it is dually important as no student wants to be lost in a sea of sleepy adolescents and no parent wants their child to join these ranks. Everyone wants a healthy mix, manageable and teachable class sizes, and ample opportunity for extra help, further explanation or additional projects/assignments/etc. Arguably, learning isn't as fun and interesting if there are no opportunities for discovery and appreciation of the material being presented and many research studies have found irrefutable correlations between class sizes, student memory and enthusiasm, teacher longevity and passion, and (perhaps most importantly in today's world) test scores.

There are websites which offer up the average student/teacher ratio, which is helpful in determining class sizes, but these numbers also take into account special education teachers and teacher's aides (even if any of these teachers aren't 1.0 FTE [full-time educators]). Therefore, the numbers are skewed. A student/teacher ratio of 13/1 might sound appealing since it would seem like class sizes of 13 are the norm, but a school might have classes of 20-30 with a number like that, given the number of special education classes with fewer than 13 students in them, and with the addition of teacher's aides of classroom aide's which also lower the ratio.

One school district I investigated has a student/teacher ratio of 19/1, which was above the MA state average. After calling the school to get some further information, I spoke with a representative from the high school who informed me average class sizes for seniors averaged around 20-25 (not bad by any means), but average sizes for freshmen classes could average up to 40 students per class (and one of her classes that year was at 43).

For both a teacher and a parent, this is necessary information that, although it might be a turn-off to some, needs to be presented in some way to give a proper portrayal of the type of atmosphere of the classroom. Does this mean the classrooms are filled to the brim? Students without desks or proper materials? Does it mean there is a burgeoning influx of freshmen each year and a high drop-out rate, which offsets the average class size?

With so many questions there is only one thing for certain: 19/1 is incorrect at best, and negatively misleading at worst.

For some teachers, demographics (racial makeup, socio-economic status, two-parent households, amount of population with at least a diploma/bachelor's degree, etc.) is extremely important in determining a district to teach in. As a young (and arguably too optimistic and passionate) teacher, I could care less about such factors as the potential for success and unconfined achievement is inherent in every student, regardless of these factors, and is often used as an excuse or a crutch by people (sometimes the students' themselves) who look for explanation behind a negative or skewed number, and look for somewhere to cast blame. Pulling up one's self by one's own bootstraps is arguably the most noble or virtuous ideal in our current society, as rags to riches is still glorified tremendously, perhaps even above middle-class to riches. The American Dream is alive and well still (despite the recession), but its shape has changed, its ideals are shifting, and its parameters are constantly jostling for proper position. But this is another entry entirely.

So how can a school district/town properly portray their schools and get all the important or necessary information out to the public, to prospective students/families moving to town, to students deciding on public vs. private school, to teachers looking for their first jobs or for better positions? The answer is: the internet.

Websites such as a greatschools.net/ offer a lot of information not readily found elsewhere: test scores from year-to-year (to determine if improvement is present or a plan for it has been implemented recently), enrollment size, spending per pupil, advanced placement exams, school demographics, and, most importantly and uniquely, parent reviews and ratings.

While ratings can be arbitrary--a student has a bad day and comes home and rates the school as a 1 star out of 5--the parent reviews, student reviews, and faculty reviews are very helpful, informative and offer a great glimpse into the types of relationships between parents, administrators and teachers. It is arguably the most unique and important tool in discovering how your child will like a district, how you will be respected as a parent, and what type of education and enviroment your child will experience. For prospective teachers, it's important to understand the current mentality and attitude in the district, the school and how it has changed (either for better or worse) over the past few years.

Greatschools.net/ is a great tool that, I believe, students should be urged to use at the end of the school year--to provide their overall vibe and experience for the year, what they thought of their teachers, if they felt they learned a lot, and perhaps, what can be done to improve the school(s). There is nothing like hearing from the mouths of babes what has to be improved and what needs to be improved to really cause a town to rally behind improvements, changes or ratifications to schools, budgets, etc.

Another important and relevant tool is Wikipedia. Seeing if a school has a webpage on Wikipedia is helpful in determining the technological prowess of a school district. Often, a school district will have an outside company or a technology specialist do their websites, but often Wikipedia entries are created by faculty/staff or students themselves to chronicle and display their school. It shows pride and thanks, positivity (or negativity, depending on what's on the page), and offers another glimpse into the school behind the numbers--especially if its a large and comprehensive Wikipedia webpage, and includes graphics, or includes some type of information not found elsewhere.

Faculty/staff webpages, blogs (ahem, ahem), etc. really convey a sense of wherewithal between the students and faculty and show the gap between classroom teaching and technology is beginning to close. What is more important to implement than technology? With most of the US population now 'online' in one way or another, is it surprising or depressing that 25% of schools in the US are not using the internet, are not internet-ready or do not even have a computer lab? (A story in the NY Times a few months ago chronicled a school in Mississippi that has been struggling to get a computer for years and has finally gotten one--a 1999 Gateway computer, unable to connect to the internet [which is also not available in the area], and printer. The students are finally able to type papers and use the built-in encyclopedias on the computer as an additional resource. While some may argue that it is simply a sign of the region the school is located in--disadvantaged, rural or isolated--the story continued on to say that more than 20% of the town has both a computer and internet access.)

The Bottom Line

Teachers and administrators need to do everything they can to promote the schools via new technology: internet pages and blogs (both personal and classroom), online assignments available long after the class recesses for summer, a comprehensive and inventive school webpage, and a determination to listen to students and parents and attempt to solve problems from year to year to increase the cohesiveness between both parties.

Parents need to vocalize or electronically express their concerns, but also their appreciations. Stating on greatschools.net/ that your daughter wasn't satisfied with her education in sixth grade says nothing about any improvements that she experienced in seventh or eighth grade, and displays nothing about any progress that may have been made by that teacher or that district when your son came through the school three years later. An entry that states concerns were met with answers, and solutions have been implemented, progress has been made, or you can tell that there is a caring and determined staff despite uncontrollable factors or budgets, is key to asserting the successes of a district, not simply its shortcomings.

Students need to truthfully and, without bias as much as possible, reflect what they subjectively thought about their teachers, administrators, school, etc. and what can be done to improve it. I will urge my students to create a Wikipedia page and add any historical information they can find about the school and/or town, to insert any successes (both personal and school-wide) to the page, to offer information about faculty and staff, and to continue to explore the opportunities the internet provides to thoughtfully and realistically portray their school so that any necessary changes or augmentations can begin as soon as possible.

The technology or graphic design classes in the school need to take over the school website and make it flashy, including the latest java applications, etc., and need to give a comprehensive overview of the school: include a separate webpage for each teacher with their name, photo, classes taught, educational information, and either a statement about themselves or their educational philosophy. What could be more helpful or important than knowing that? I know, as a former high school student, this would have helped me when I was in high school to avoid a certain teacher who believed that rote lecturing was the best method to teach. She refused to allow discussions, was not available for extra help, and had an educational philosphy which didn't appeal to me or work for me--as a result, I ended up switching out of her class halfway through the year and entering another class (same level, same period of the day) down the hall, and saw my grades improve by one and a half letters quarter-over-quarter.

1) Create/update greatschools.net/ reviews, Wikipedia webpage, ratemyteachers.com, etc.
2) Have graphic design classes update school webpage to be more comprehensive, colorful and appealing.
3) Urge all faculty and staff to have some type of online presence to bridge the technology gap
4) Create a comprehensive online presence to address needs, to display all necessary information, and create a platform for ratifications, discussions and improvements.
5) Encourage cohesiveness and camaraderie and promote discussion between the different parties.
6) Get students more involved, interested and aware of their place in the school and the world.
6) TK.