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Holding hands with her daughter
they crossed the street
Her other hand caressing
the cell phone
fingering the buttons
a coy smile
slight giggle
staring into its light.
A quick tug from the daughter
and mom knows there is a curb,
a hurdle to overcome.
down my street,
took the Otis to my 7th floor
turned on my flat panel
to see the news from the coast
Oil! Everywhere!
How could they let that happen!
The birds! the turtles!
I took out my Papermate to pen a note to my senator.
Nah, I’ll just e-mail my disgust
about what they do and what they didn’t do,
about what they should do and shouldn’t do.
I’d take the bus tomorrow
if I could stop to buy my coffee.
I sent all jobs to Mexico
and did not shed a tear
I’ll make more cash, the stock will soar
by bonus time next year
Now sales are down, no one’s employed
there’s economic fear
Guess I forgot: no jobs = no sales
cuz my customers are here
The LA Times had a story about the great success of one district that gave teachers freedom to plan- no pre-planned lessons, no pacing guides just high standards and teacher creativity.
I loved to read about it. So I posted a comment on its site:
S. T. Flemingat 9:55 AM April 25, 2012Collier and Thomas (2004) write of the “Astounding Effectiveness of Dual Language Education for All” and it is true. I also believe that when teachers are given the freedom to create they invest themselves in the teaching and the learning. Keep up the great work!!
Were they banned? The District says they were just removed from the classroom but that students can still find them in the library. Hopefully that will happen. It sounds like a ban to me. If nothing else, I hope that it gives attention to these texts and motivates people to read them.
Rene said the seven books removed from the classrooms were:
- “Critical Race Theory” by Richard Delgado;
- “500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures” edited by Elizabeth Martinez;
- “Message to AZTLAN” by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales;
- “Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement” by Arturo Rosales;
- “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo Acuña;
- “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by Paulo Freire;
- and “Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years” by Bill Bigelow.
S. T. Fleming 