I woke up slowly this morning, in the grip of an unusually bad dream, so I am not handling this Pete Seeger news with my usual stoicism. When my students ask me one of the questions in their textbook, "Who is your hero?" Seeger is often who I say.

Rest in peace, old man. You've ably passed on the banjo to the young ones.

Click to view

with the Rivertown Kids
( Read more... )

I found this poem breathtaking (literally) in its imagery and in the way it spiral-sidesteps to an emotional climax. I would also suggest that if you're already feeling wibbly, perhaps Don't Go There. Or perhaps do.

"Prayer for My Unborn Niece or Nephew"
~ Ross Gay

( their child will emerge with ten fingers,
and toes, howling, and his mother will hold
his gummy mouth to her breast and the stars
will hang above them and not one bomb
will be heard through that night )

Ooh y'all. I've just had an intense flashback to a disturbing childhood misconception.

I think I might have mentioned once before that when I was young, I understood about actors, but not acting or special effects. I never engaged in "pretend" play, and being fairly literal minded, I didn't realize that anybody could. I knew, for instance, that ( Read more... )

I always assumed I had read Where the Wild Things Are, but thinking about it more in-depth recently, I realized (fox1013, cover your eyes!) I probably never have. I'm familiar with it, of course, because it's part of our culture, and I might have seen it on Reading Rainbow or something. But Reading Rainbow started when I was a little past its target age/ ( Read more... )

While I'm waiting for my final interviewee of the day to arrive... it's been far too long since I posted Good Things. My file is clogged with them.

Mother and baby love - I think I gasped when I saw this photo.

Plesiosaur on Monmouth Beach = the "Nessie" of Dorset (And check out the gorgeous Ammonite Pavement)

How to help a child with ADD clean ( Read more... )

I'll highlight the main points in bold. :)

Background for visitors:
Recently, my hometown, a small rural town where my family all live (I am located in a city about three hours away), was struck by an F3 tornado that devastated large portions of the residential section and downtown. One of the biggest losses was the historic middle school ( Read more... )

Student interviews yesterday and today - more on that later. First...

* Oh dear. I seem to have done it again. It was supposed to be a water bottle carrier...( but it turned into something a Time Lord would hide in his sock drawer. )