Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day, one of the events for National Poetry Month, a month-long celebration of poetry held in April each year by the Academy of American Poets. On April 18--Poem in Your Pocket Day--people are urged to carry a piece of poetry in their pockets and to share it with other people during the day. It is a fun activity to get poetry out of the hallowed halls of academia and into everyday life.
My selection for this year's pocket poem is Mark Doty's "A Display of Mackerel":
A Display of Mackerel
They lie in parallel rows,
on ice, head to tail,
each a foot of luminosity
barred with black bands,
which divide the scales'
radiant sections
like seams of lead
in a Tiffany window.
Iridescent, watery
prismatics: think abalone,
the wildly rainbowed
mirror of a soapbubble sphere,
think sun on gasoline.
Splendor, and splendor,
and not a one in any way
distinguished from the other
--nothing about them
of individuality. Instead
they're all exact expressions
of one soul,
each a perfect fulfillment
of heaven's template,
mackerel essence. As if,
after a lifetime arriving
at this enameling, the jeweler's
made uncountable examples,
each as intricate
in its oily fabulation
as the one before.
Suppose we could iridesce,
like these, and lose ourselves
entirely in the universe
of shimmer--would you want
to be yourself only,
unduplicatable, doomed
to be lost? They'd prefer,
plainly, to be flashing participants,
multitudinous. Even now
they seem to be bolting
forward, heedless of stasis.
They don't care they're dead
and nearly frozen,
just as, presumably,
they didn't care that they were living:
all, all for all,
the rainbowed school
and its acres of brilliant classrooms,
in which no verb is singular,
or every one is. How happy they seem,
even on ice, to be together, selfless,
which is the price of gleaming.
Copied from poets.org, the website of the Academy of American Poets
I chose this poem for several reasons. First, last year we were involved in a year-long Oceans Coop that culminated in an unforgettable trip to study the coral reefs in the Virgin Islands. So the nominal subject matter-fish--is close to my heart. Secondly, several lines in there really reminded me of a wonderful art exhibit called "Carbon Load" that my son's very talented art teacher, Jenny Eggleston of Egg in Nest Art Studio, had at ArtSpace in 2011.
Mostly, however, I think I picked this poem because I read a wonderful essay by Doty on his thought process as he was composing this poem. It is a wonderful explanation of how poetry can proceed from a simple, everyday image--like a row of fish on ice--to a grander statement on the nature of life, death, and everything in between. Entitled "Souls on Ice," it is a great resource for students and teachers trying to better comprehend the magic and magnificence that is poetry. I recommend you read it on the poets.org website.
And don't forget to share your favorite poem with other people today!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Discover the History of Words through Mysteries of Venacular
Expanding your vocabulary is a great goal in itself, but it tends to take up more importance as students prepare to face such tests at End of Grade (EOG) exams and SAT/ACT, etc. But here is a resource that can make your vocabulary-building more fun.
Plus, some of the words have some additional content on the TED-Ed Lesson Plan site. The lesson plan for the word "noise" has some additional questions to make you think about the etymology, a place to discuss your thoughts about this word with other people, and other resources, such as the top five sounds scientists have discovered are the worst for the human ear. And just imagine--nails on a blackboard is only #5! To listen to the sound of the single worst assault on human hearing, check out the lesson plan.
Right now, there are only a few words, but new videos are being added periodically. So while it isn't a mainstay for vocabulary building, it is an intriguing resource for families like ours who are continually amazed at some of the way that English came to be as it is today.
The website, Mysteries of Venacular, is developing a series of fun videos on the twists and turns that English words have taken from their Greek, Latin, Old English, or other roots to their modern meanings and spellings. Mysteries of Venacular tend to focus on simple words, like clue or hearse, but which came from unique or memorable origins (Greek mythology for the former and a word for "wolf" for the latter). Once you've seen one of these videos, you'll never forget where the word came from.
For example, watch this video on the derivation of the word "noise":
Plus, some of the words have some additional content on the TED-Ed Lesson Plan site. The lesson plan for the word "noise" has some additional questions to make you think about the etymology, a place to discuss your thoughts about this word with other people, and other resources, such as the top five sounds scientists have discovered are the worst for the human ear. And just imagine--nails on a blackboard is only #5! To listen to the sound of the single worst assault on human hearing, check out the lesson plan.
Right now, there are only a few words, but new videos are being added periodically. So while it isn't a mainstay for vocabulary building, it is an intriguing resource for families like ours who are continually amazed at some of the way that English came to be as it is today.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Teen Summer Camp Opportunity: Teen Writers' Workshop at NCSU
The hits just keep coming at NC State, which also has a summer program for burgeoning creative writers. The Teen Writers' Workshop, sponsored by the NC State College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of English, is a two-week, nonresidential summer camp with daily afternoon activities to help students in high school to develop their creative writing abilities.
The students spend two and a half hours on campus each afternoon with lessons on four different tracks: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and drama (each students lists their preferences, and are placed in two different areas). Established professional writers, most of whom also teach at area colleges or high schools, give lectures, assign writing activities, put students into small groups to discuss or create something together, or work with students one-on-one on their writing.
The students-to-teacher is kept low (a maximum of 12 students per instructor) to assure that all writers get individual attention. The teen writers get instruction in such creative writing components as plot, character development, conflict, action, and more. On the final day, students invite friends and families to celebrate the creativity of the group through a public reading of the work they have produced; they also get to take home a journal of work created by themselves and their peers.
The Teen Writers' Workshop costs $250, and is open to rising 9th through 12th graders as well as students entering college next fall. They are now accepting applications, which require teens to express what they hope to achieve through their participation as well as to submit up to two pages of their current creative writing. The deadline for applying is Monday, June 3.
For more information, check out their website or contact the program director, Laura Giovanelli, at lbgiovan@ncsu.edu.
The students spend two and a half hours on campus each afternoon with lessons on four different tracks: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and drama (each students lists their preferences, and are placed in two different areas). Established professional writers, most of whom also teach at area colleges or high schools, give lectures, assign writing activities, put students into small groups to discuss or create something together, or work with students one-on-one on their writing.
The students-to-teacher is kept low (a maximum of 12 students per instructor) to assure that all writers get individual attention. The teen writers get instruction in such creative writing components as plot, character development, conflict, action, and more. On the final day, students invite friends and families to celebrate the creativity of the group through a public reading of the work they have produced; they also get to take home a journal of work created by themselves and their peers.
The Teen Writers' Workshop costs $250, and is open to rising 9th through 12th graders as well as students entering college next fall. They are now accepting applications, which require teens to express what they hope to achieve through their participation as well as to submit up to two pages of their current creative writing. The deadline for applying is Monday, June 3.
For more information, check out their website or contact the program director, Laura Giovanelli, at lbgiovan@ncsu.edu.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Teen Summer Camp Opportunity: Polymer Day Camp at NCSU
If horticulture isn't your thing, how about chemistry? Here is the information on a hands-on chemistry and engineering workshop about polymers and fibers, offered by the College of Textiles at NC State:
Polymer Day Camp
The Chemistry and Engineering of Polymers and Fibers Workshop
July 25 - 26, 2013
Apply Online!
Apply Online!
This workshop is designed for high-school students interested in physical sciences and engineering, and attending NC State University.
Attendees will:
- Engage in hands-on laboratories and interactive sessions
- Learn about degree programs in Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science
- Learn about scholarships in College of Textiles
- Learn about admissions process for NC State University
- Be provided with lunch and snacks
- Print their own NC State t-shirt following the first day of camp and attend dinner (parents and siblings welcome!)
Elibility:
- Must be a rising senior, junior or sophomore and
- Not enrolled in S.T.E.P. for Summer 2013 and
- Be able to provide your own transportation and accommodation to and from NC State. (Out-of-town attendees should contact us for housing suggestions.)
Cost: $40 administrative fee payable upon acceptance (financial assistance may be available).
Location: The program will be held in the College of Textiles' world renowned facilities, located on NC State's Centennial Campus. (1000 Main Campus Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606)
Interested in attending? Apply Online!
Acceptance is based on available space and qualifications of those applying. Applications will be reviewed beginning June 2013.
Acceptance is based on available space and qualifications of those applying. Applications will be reviewed beginning June 2013.
Questions? Please email Amanda Holbrook from the Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science Department atamanda_holbrook@ncsu.edu if you have any questions.
Dress Code: You'll be in the lab (!!) so please wear long pants, closed toed shoes and hair ties for long hair. (Clickhere for TECS' Commitment to Safety.)
More Information: Click here for maps, 2012's camp schedule and release forms required to attend camp.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Teen Summer Camp Opportunity: Horticulture at NC State University
There are lots of great high school camp opportunities in the Triangle NC area, many associated with local universities or institutions. So this is the first in a series of posts about these outstanding summer learning opportunities for teens. Here is the information about the Horticulture program offered by NC State University:
Horticultural Science Summer Institute
July 7th-12th, 2013
High school-aged youth (rising sophomores, juniors and seniors) are invited to apply to a weeklong, residential horticultural experience on the campus of NC State University. Youth will have hands-on opportunities to explore a broad range of horticultural possibilities from breeding better fruits and vegetables, growing a diverse selection of woody ornamentals, lengthening the life of cut flowers, learning sustainable production practices, climbing trees, designing landscapes and delving into tools that enhance our understanding of plant growth. Participants will visit a variety of horticultural businesses, eat delicious local food, explore campus, watch garden films, and arrange flowers. Youth will also be introduced to career possibilities, college-making decisions and leadership development.
The cost of the institute will be $500 with a $150 deposit due upon application acceptance. Many meals (but not all) included. Please fill out the online application and have a non-family member submit one letter of recommendation to liz_driscoll@ncsu.edu or Liz Driscoll, 218 Kilgore Hall, Campus Box 7609, Raleigh, NC 27695
Click here to submit an application! Applications due by May 22, 2013 at 5:00PM.
http://go.ncsu.edu/hssi
Draft Schedule (Please see attached last year's schedule)
Sunday, July 7th
Afternoon Registration (Tentatively Bragaw Hall), Cookout and Keynote opening
Monday, July 8th
Ornamental Plants (visit to JC Raulston, plant identification, plant propagation, cut flowers, nursery) Evening activities: team-building, campus exploration
Tuesday, July 9th
Vegetables (vegetable production, breeding, food safety, farm tour) Evening: garden movie screening
Wednesday, July 10th
Veggies and local foods (fruit production, tasting, grafting, food systems, farmer’s market) Evening: Floral design
Thursday, July 11th
Landscape Design and Consumer Horticulture (landscape design, treen-climbing, rain gardens) Evening: Cookout, games, presentation editing
Friday, July 13th
Career reflections, college decisions, Parent luncheon
For more information visit: http://cals.ncsu.edu/hort_sci/extension/YouthSummerInstitute.php
Friday, March 22, 2013
Wake County Teen Poetry Contest Now Open
It's time for the annual Teen Poetry Contest that is organized each year by the Wake County Public Library (NC) system. Teens living in Wake County, NC and in grades 6-12 can submit up to three original poems to the contest. Winners are chosen for 6th, 7th-8th, 9th-10th, and 11th-12th grades and are honored with a trophy, reading their work at a reception, and having their work published on the WCPL website.
Submit your poems online before the deadline of April 30 on the Poetry Contest website:http://www.wakegov.com/libraries/events/Pages/aboutteenpoetry.aspx
Good luck to all your teen poets!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Online College Degrees Do NOT Necessarily Save Money
One of the arguments in favor of online education is its ability to use technology to reach more people and thus reduce costs. However, that is not what is happening. Instead, many colleges are trying to use these programs as cash cows to bring money into the coffers of their brick-and-mortar schools--or, in the case of completely online colleges, into the pockets of their investors. For example, one of the most well-known online colleges, The University of Phoenix, charges $66,000 for its online bachelor's degree in Business and Management. In contrast, the University of Wyoming offers a similar online degree, but charges only $16,000 for the program.
Below are some excerpts from a study by GetEducated.com about the true costs of online learning. But the bottom line is that most colleges are charging their online students about 5-10% more than their campus-based students, and for-profit colleges (like University of Phoenix) are charging as much as they can get away with. So if your students are considering online degrees, make sure to check into the alternatives closely, because there are big differences per credit hour on what similar programs are offering.
excerpts from Online Learning Myth #2: The Cheap Online College by Vicky Phillips
Online learning pundits predict that the marriage of educational technology with college learning will result in the birth of a new litter of low-cost or cheap online colleges. I wish this notion were true. I wish online education was destined to lower the cost of attending college while also solving the student debt crisis that plagues America. Instead, surveys show just the opposite – online college costs might actually be higher than residential college costs. The cost of masters degrees, online MBAs especially, are often higher than the equivalent on-campus versions.
Don’t get me wrong. Tying technology to education can indeed lower the cost of delivering college courses. Online learning could, in theory, provide what one Forbes business writer has envisioned as a national system of “cheaper education for the masses.” It could, but it isn’t.
For the last decade GetEducated.com has tracked the real cost – the tuition AND online learning fees – for online degree programs across the country. We then publish this data as lists of the most affordable online learning degrees. .... Our data shows that the #1 determinant of online college costs is not whether that degree is offered online or on campus – it’s the business structure of the degree-granting institution. For-profit colleges charge what the market will bear. Public universities charge what tax payers and the legislature will allow. ... According to a 2011 cost survey of more than 700 online bachelors degrees undertaken by GetEducated.com, degrees from for-profit schools are on average 50% more expensive than degrees from non-profit, public institutions (the average non-profit public university’s bachelors costs $33,997 while the average for-profit version costs a whopping $51,280).
... Online degrees suffer from a stigma of “cheapness,” but current practice among both for-profit colleges and non-profit colleges indicate that cost control is not destined to be a real part of any grand national pledge by the online learning sector to help make college more affordable to students themselves. I caution those who believe that educational technology and online learning will universally lower college costs and indebtedness, for the students who use it. Instead, what is unfolding, if one examines the cost data, is a pattern akin to what happened in the 1980s when health care was converted to a profit-driven structure. Higher education will continue to balloon in cost. Institutions – both for-profit and cash-strapped non-profits — will increasingly enlist technology to cut costs. Alas, consumers themselves may increasingly be denied the benefits of these cost cutting measures. .....
Read Online Learning Myth #2: The Cheap Online College for more specifics on average costs for online programs and what is happening to the money they save the sponsoring institutions.
Below are some excerpts from a study by GetEducated.com about the true costs of online learning. But the bottom line is that most colleges are charging their online students about 5-10% more than their campus-based students, and for-profit colleges (like University of Phoenix) are charging as much as they can get away with. So if your students are considering online degrees, make sure to check into the alternatives closely, because there are big differences per credit hour on what similar programs are offering.
excerpts from Online Learning Myth #2: The Cheap Online College by Vicky Phillips
Online learning pundits predict that the marriage of educational technology with college learning will result in the birth of a new litter of low-cost or cheap online colleges. I wish this notion were true. I wish online education was destined to lower the cost of attending college while also solving the student debt crisis that plagues America. Instead, surveys show just the opposite – online college costs might actually be higher than residential college costs. The cost of masters degrees, online MBAs especially, are often higher than the equivalent on-campus versions.
Don’t get me wrong. Tying technology to education can indeed lower the cost of delivering college courses. Online learning could, in theory, provide what one Forbes business writer has envisioned as a national system of “cheaper education for the masses.” It could, but it isn’t.
For the last decade GetEducated.com has tracked the real cost – the tuition AND online learning fees – for online degree programs across the country. We then publish this data as lists of the most affordable online learning degrees. .... Our data shows that the #1 determinant of online college costs is not whether that degree is offered online or on campus – it’s the business structure of the degree-granting institution. For-profit colleges charge what the market will bear. Public universities charge what tax payers and the legislature will allow. ... According to a 2011 cost survey of more than 700 online bachelors degrees undertaken by GetEducated.com, degrees from for-profit schools are on average 50% more expensive than degrees from non-profit, public institutions (the average non-profit public university’s bachelors costs $33,997 while the average for-profit version costs a whopping $51,280).
... Online degrees suffer from a stigma of “cheapness,” but current practice among both for-profit colleges and non-profit colleges indicate that cost control is not destined to be a real part of any grand national pledge by the online learning sector to help make college more affordable to students themselves. I caution those who believe that educational technology and online learning will universally lower college costs and indebtedness, for the students who use it. Instead, what is unfolding, if one examines the cost data, is a pattern akin to what happened in the 1980s when health care was converted to a profit-driven structure. Higher education will continue to balloon in cost. Institutions – both for-profit and cash-strapped non-profits — will increasingly enlist technology to cut costs. Alas, consumers themselves may increasingly be denied the benefits of these cost cutting measures. .....
Read Online Learning Myth #2: The Cheap Online College for more specifics on average costs for online programs and what is happening to the money they save the sponsoring institutions.
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