My favorite sportswriter of all time

When I was 17 years old, I took a freelance writing job with my local community newspaper. I got paid $10 per football game to cover the game for the paper. That launched me into a newspaper career that ended only recently, as I transition into a career in education as an English/Language arts teacher.

As I reflect back on my time as a fledgling sportswriter, I'm reminded of my favorite sportswriter of all time: the great Mitch Albom. For years, he was a sports columnist at the Detroit Free Press, and he won best sports columnist multiple years in a row, to the point that one person suggested -- only half jokingly -- to rename the award the Mitch Albom Award (which didn't happen, of course.)

In addition to his work in sports, Albom also wrote a great non-fiction book titled "Tuesday's with  Morrie," which recounted his relationship with a sociology teacher in college. He also wrote "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," a fictional story. Both were turned into TV movies.

After Albom, here's how I would round my top 5 of all-time favorite sportswriters.

No. 5: Jim Murray
No. 4: Frank DeFord
No. 3: Peter King
No. 2: Geoff Calkins
No. 1: Albom

Who are some of you favorite writers? (Sports or non-sports ...)

The reviews are in ....

True to form, I saw the finale installment of the Hunger Games movie franchise on opening day. My initial thoughts: They should have saved on the money they made by splitting the final book into two movies. Here's an excellent review of the final one:

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

As for me, I'm spending today with me immediate family at my parents' house in Memphis. I'm thankful for my family, more than anything else. I'm also thankful for my health, my future career as a teacher, and the University of Tennessee and University of Tennessee at Martin! There are many more things, but these are the top ones that come to mind this beautiful day.

So wherever you are, whatever you're doing, stop and take a moment to say thanks for the blessings in your life!

Coates wins National Book Award for non-fiction

Ta-Nehisi Coates won the National Book Award for non-fiction yesterday for Between the World and Me, which has been described as "the searing best seller about being black in America."

He dedicated the book to his friend from Howard University, Prince Jones Jr., who was killed in Fairfax, Va., by a police officer in 2000 "because he was mistaken for a criminal," Coates said. Alluding to shootings of blacks by police this year, Coates said, "At the heart of our country is the notion that we are OK with the presumption that black people have a predisposition toward criminality."

Hunger Games finale only a week away

Julius Caesar: Helpful links for creating unit, lesson plans

I'll be spending the next couple weeks putting together a unit plan on Julius Caesar for 10th grade students. As I began the process, I thought it might be helpful to post links to various sources I find helpful throughout the process -- for my own benefit as well as others who may be taking on the same task. Links will be updated throughout the next couple weeks.

Veterans Day: Students, nation stop to say 'thank you'

I tutor students at a local middle school every Wednesday morning. This morning was unlike any other morning I've had at the school since I began helping students in English Language Arts. There's always a certain energy -- a buzz, if you will -- that greets you when you walk into a middle school classroom. The excitement exuding from the students was obvious from the moment I walked in the door this morning. One student was drawing an American flag on the whiteboard. Another student was writing a patriotic poem on the board. Other students, meanwhile, were talking about the special assembly about to be held on this especially special day.

About 30 minutes into first period, all students were dismissed to the gym. Over the course of the next 30 minutes or so, the students put on a fitting tribute to the men and women, past and present, who have served America in our armed forces. It was a great show.

Students carried our nation's colors into the gym. The school band played an array of patriotic songs. Other students read patriotic poems before a guest speaker -- a local veteran who served combat tours on active duty -- spoke to the students about Veterans Day and offered them a brief glimpse into what it's like serve in the armed forces. In addition to students and teachers, there were also many local veterans -- some old, some young -- in attendance to watch the program. I'm not a mind reader, nor did I interview each of the veterans afterward, but I feel safe in saying that every veteran in attendance appeared to appreciate the students' recognition of their service to our country.

This middle school was not alone. Across the county, state, and nation, many schools were holding similar programs to honor veterans. That's great. It really is. We should also encourage our students not to limit their gratitude and recognition to one day per year. Every day is a great day to pause and say "thank you" to a veteran.

Finalists for the 2015 National Book Awards

The Washington Post has a great article on its website today about the five finalists for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature.

The winners will be announced November 18. The finalists include: Ali Benjamin for "The Thing About Jellyfish;" Laura Ruby for "Bone Gap;" Steve Sheinkin for "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War;" Neal Shusterman for "Challenger Deep;" and Noelle Stevenson for "Nimona."

The Post article goes into detail with information about each author and their work of literature.

Ali Benjamin, author of "The Thing About Jellyfish,"
 is one of five finalists for a National
Book Award in Young People's Literature.

Young People's Literature is just one of four categories included in the National Book Awards. The other categories, including finalists, are as follows:

FICTION:
- Karen E. Bender, "Refund"
- Angela Flournoy, "The Turner House"
- Lauren Groff, "Fates and Furies"
- Adam Johnson, "Fortune Smiles"
- Hanya Yanagihara, "A Little Life"

NONFICTION:
- Ta-Nehisi Coates, "Between the World and Me"
- Sally Mann, "Hold Still"
- Sy Montomgery, "The Soul of an Octopus"
- Carla Power, "If Oceans Were Ink"
- Tracy K. Smith, "Ordinary Light"

POETRY:
- Ross Gay, "Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude"
- Terrance Hayes, "How to Be Drawn"
- Robin Coste Lewis, "Voyage of the Sable Venus"
- Ada Limon, "Bright Dead Things"
- Patrick Phillips, "Elegy for a Broken Machine"

Biographies for all finalists may be found in this official press release (in PDF format) from the National Book Foundation.

The National Book Foundation’s mission is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America. In addition to the National Book Awards, for which it is best known, the Foundation’s programs include 5 Under 35, a celebration of emerging fiction writers selected by former National Book Award Finalists and Winners; the National Book Awards Teen Press Conference, an opportunity for New York City students to interview the current National Book Award Finalists in Young People’s Literature; NBA on Campus, a partnership that brings National Book Award authors to colleges across the country; the Innovations in Reading Prize, awarded to individuals and institutions that have developed innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading; and BookUp, a writer-led, after-school reading program for middle-school students.

The National Book Award is one of the nation’s most prestigious literary prizes and has a stellar record of identifying and rewarding quality writing. In 1950, William Carlos Williams was the first Winner in Poetry, the following year William Faulkner was honored in Fiction, and so on through the years. Many previous Winners of a National Book Award are now firmly established in the canon of American literature, such as Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, Jonathan Franzen, Denis Johnson, James McBride, Joyce Carol Oates, and Adrienne Rich. 

Happy birthday: Albert Camus, Nobel Prize winner

A very special "happy birthday" is in order for Albert Camus, who was born on this date (Nov. 7) in 1913. He was a French Nobel Prize-winning philosopher and novelist.

During the war, Camus joined the Combat, a French Resistance cell which published an underground newspaper by the same name. The group worked against the Nazis, and Camus became the underground paper's editor in 1943. The Allies liberated Paris in August 1944, and Camus witnessed and also reported on the last of the fighting. He was also one of the few French editors to publicly express opposition and disgust to the United States' dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan.

However, his Nobel Prize in literature did not come as a result of those efforts. Instead, his Nobel Prize came as a result of his work in 1957, when he wrote for L'Express. He was awarded the Nobel Prize "for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the conscience in our times."

Albert Camus died on January 4, 1960 at the age of 46. He was killed in a car accident, taken from us way too soon.

Happy birthday, Mr. Albert Camus, Nobel Prize winner!

Get ready for Part 2 of Mockingjay!

For the past four Novembers, I've looked forward to two things, and not necessarily in this order:

1.) Thanksgiving (who wouldn't?).

2.) The latest Hunger Games movie release.

This November is certainly no exception, as I eagerly await the fourth and final installment of the Hunger Games movie franchise. The movies are based, of course, on the The Hunger Games trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. While there are, or will be, four Hunger Games movies, there are actually only three Hunger Games novels. They are, in order of release: 1.) The Hunger Games, which was released in 2008; 2.) Catching Fire, which was released in 2009; and 3.) Mockingjay, which was released in 2010.

The series follows Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as they fight through a deadly battle royal forced upon them by the government, which is led by the evil and despicable President Snow. There are four movies, as opposed to three, because the final book, Mockingjay, has been split into two parts for the motion picture. Part 2 of Mockingjay will be released on Nov. 20, and I couldn't be more excited.

Here's an interesting fact regarding the novels: In August 2012, the series ranked second in an NPR poll of the top 100 teen novels. Harry Potter ranked No. 1 in the poll. Also in August 2012, Amazon announced that the Hunger Games trilogy was its top seller, surpassing the record previously held by -- you guessed it -- Harry Potter. Take that, Harry!

Through the end of 2014, the Hunger Games trilogy has sold more than 65 million copies in the U.S. alone, which, when broken down by actual book, breaks down this way: more than 28 million copies of The Hunger Games, more than 19 million copies of Catching Fire, and more than 18 million copies of Mockingjay.

As for the movies, so far my favorite has been Catching Fire, the second movie of the four. But ... the trailers for Part 2 of Mockingjay look awfully good. I can't wait to see it. It's been November ritual for the past four years. The only sad part about it all is that this is the last November that I'll have a new Hunger Games movie to look forward to.

Should scientists study art and literature?

Should scientists study art and literature?

According to Chad Orzell, the answer is a resounding “yes!”

Orzell is an associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy at Union College, a small liberal arts institution in Schenectady, New York. He holds an undergraduate degree in physics and a Ph.D. in chemical physics. In addition to teaching science, he also writes about physics and science as a contributor to Forbes.

He penned an article titled “Why Scientists Should Study Art and Literature,” which was posted to Forbes’ website October 28. Orzel notes that many scholars of “the humanities” – a term he hates – have written extensively on the benefits of a well-rounded education. The problem, he says, isn’t that he disagrees with them. It’s just that he doesn’t like the way the frame their arguments.

Orzell writes:

So, what follows is an attempt by someone who is a scientist by training and inclination to give a reasonably specific and concrete argument for why even people who plan to pursue careers in the STEM fields ought to study “the humanities.” I’m trying to emphasize practical benefits here– not the crass 'employers want ‘soft skills’ so taking English will help you get a job” sort, but “this is how these subjects will help you be a better scientist or engineer”– because that’s what I usually find missing from these articles, and I suspect the same is true for many other people of a scientific bent.

It’s an excellent article. Read it here.

Happy Halloween: A nod to Poe

Halloween is upon us. With that in mind, here's a scary thought: Edgar Allan Poe.

Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston. He is best known for his poetry and short stories. If you know anything about Poe, you know that his poetry and short stories could be ... well, a little on the creepy side.

In my mind, and in the spirit of frights for Halloween, the scariest thing about Poe is that he was also a literary critic. Now that's scary. Imagine being a writer in that time period and learning that Poe had written a review of your work. In all seriousness, Poe did have a reputation as being a rather harsh literary critic.

His work, scary and creepy as it is often perceived, is no laughing matter. Poe’s contribution to literature in the United States and around the world cannot be overstated. Each year to this day, for example, the Mystery Writers of America give out an annual award (known as the Edgar Award) for distinguished work in mystery writing.

Poe is also regarded as one of the first American writers to attempt to make a living off of writing alone.

His death, like much of his work, is something of a mystery. Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore on October 3, 1849. According to Joseph W. Walker, the man who found him, Poe was discovered “in great distress, and in need of immediate assistance.” Poe died four days later at Washington Medical College, having never recovered enough to explain how he came to be in such a condition. At the time of his death, he was wearing clothes that did not belong to him. The night before he died, Poe reportedly called out the name “Reynolds” throughout the night, but never explained who “Reynolds” was. “Reynolds,” as well as Poe’s exact cause of death, remain a mystery.

When was the ellipsis first used?

I ran across an interesting article from The Guardian and wanted to share it with everyone. The story was posted on the The Guardian’s website under the headline “Unfinished story … how the ellipsis arrived in English literature. According to the story, Dr. Anne Toner “believes she has identified the earliest use of the ellipsis in English drama, pinning it down to a 1588 edition of the Roman dramatist Terence’s play, Andria, which had been translated into English by Maurice Kyffin and printed by Thomas East, and in which hyphens, rather than dots, mark incomplete utterances by the play’s characters.”

The article goes on to list what The Guardian considers to be the “six best ellipsis in literature. The six best, according to the Guardian are from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by TS Elliot, “The Great Gatsby” by F Scott Fitzgerald, “Hope is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson, “Letters from Virginia Woolf to Vita Sackville-West, and a diary entry in which Virginia Woolf images death by a bomb. (The article contains the exact outtakes lauded for their usage of ellipsis.)

Read the full article here.

Happy birthday: Helen Maria Hunt Jackson

A very special “happy birthday” is in order this week to Helen Maria Hunt Jackson. She born as Helen Fiske on October 15, 1830.

She was an American poet and writer. She became an activist for improved treatment of Native Americans, who were mistreated at the hands of the U.S. government. She detailed this mistreatment in “A Century of Dishonor,” which was published in 1881. Three years later, in 1884, she published “Ramona,” a novel which dramatized the mistreatment suffered by Native Americans in Southern California after the Mexican-American War. The novel was a commercial success and helped attract attention to her cause.

Though she died on August 12, 1885, the works of Helen Maria Hunt Jackson live on through her books and poetry. Happy birthday, indeed!

Non-fiction writer wins Nobel Prize for Literature

Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarusian author, received the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature on Oct. 8, becoming the 14^th woman to win a prize that has been awarded 107 times. Alexievich received it “for her polyphonic writin
gs, a monument to suffering and courage in our time,” according to Nobel Prize’s official website.

According to an in-depth feature by Ron Charles of washingtonpost.com, “The Nobel committee rarely chooses nonfiction writers for the literature prize. Alexievich, 67, is the author of, among other books, ‘Voices From Chernobyl,’ about survivors of the nuclear plant disaster in Ukraine in 1986. She has also been a forceful critic of Russian military action and of President Vladimir Putin.”

Awarding the prize to Alexievich “is a bold decision,” according to the headline from The Independent. It was also a “brilliant choice that recalibrates the status of ‘non-fiction’ in the literary canon,” Arifa Akbar writes in the op-ed.

Alexievich was born May 31, 1948 in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.

The Los Angeles Times has seven reasons why the prize went to a Belarusian you don’t know. The last American to win the award was Toni Morrison in 1993. No. 1 on the Times list? “American literature is ‘too isolated, too insular.” Carolyn Kelley, writing for the Times, explains: “In 2008, then-Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy Horace Engdahl made headlines when he declared American literary culture "too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature." That year, the award went to French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, a writer with virtually no public profile in the United States.” 

The Nobel Prize for Literature was first awarded in 1901. Winners from the last 10 years include Patrick Modiano of France (2014), Alice Munro of Canada (2013), Mo Yan of China (2012), Thomas Transtromer of Sweden (2011), Mario Vargas Liosa of Peru/Spain (2010), Romanian-born Herta Muller of Germany (2009), J.M.G Le Clezio of France/Mauritius (2008), Persian-born Doris Lessing of the United Kingdom (2007), Orhan Pamuk of Turkey (2006), and Harold Pinter of the United Kingdom (2005).

Media matters: Milan Mirror-Exchange makes 'historic acquisition'

The Milan (Tenn.) Mirror-Exchange made what it calls a “historic acquisition” with the recent purchase of the Humboldt Chronicle and Tri-City Reporter in Dyer. The Mirror-Exchange announced the deal in this week’s print edition (Tuesday, Oct. 6). According to the report, the purchase was finalized Oct. 2 when Mirror-Exchange owners Scott Elliott and Victor Parkins bought the Humboldt and Dyer papers from Wisconsin-based American Hometown Publishing.

The Milan Mirror-Exchange newspaper announced a "historic acquisition" of the Humboldt Chronicle and Tri-City Reporter in Dyer. All three newspapers are located in Gibson County, Tennessee. Community newspapers in all counties play a vital role in communicating news about our school systems, highlighting our students' accomplishments, and relaying timely and pertinent information to parents and our communities.

The Mirror-Exchange now owns three of Gibson County’s four weekly community newspapers.

“We believe strongly in newspapers and the power of the printed word,” the paper quoted Parkins as saying. “Having all three newspapers under one umbrella gives us a lot of flexibility and opportunities to expand coverage across the entire county. In time, we believe our readers will see a much better value in their hometown newspapers.”

The fourth paper, the Trenton Gazette, is located in the county seat and owned by the Union City Daily Messenger in Obion County. All four of Gibson County’s community newspapers are locally owned, and that’s great news for everyone living in Gibson County. All four newspapers do a remarkable job covering their communities.

 

Media matters:

Community newspapers play a vital role in reporting education news to the communities across the nation. School boards, systems, and administrators should seek good working relationships with their local community newspapers. In addition to objective reporting on policy matters and other hard news items, our community newspapers also give us a platform to highlight our students’ accomplishments, inform parents and the community on pertinent information.

 

'Please excuse our mess ... Renovations under way!'

I often see messages like this posted outside restaurants, inside convenience stores, and other areas where construction crews are making a mess of something or another. Once they’re done, everybody smiles and says, ‘Wow, so glad they did that!” It’s a different story during construction, when crews leave a mess customers must put up with. That’s how this blog feels today, as I continue to upgrade the template for this blog. Hopefully, it will all be worth it in the end. For now, though, all I can say is: Please excuse my mess! Renovations under way.”

All previous posts made on this blog are still here. They’re not going anywhere. However, you may notice some formatting and/or coding issues for the next several days. Thanks for bearing with me.

I’d also like to thank, as well as recommend, DesignRazzi.com for the free template. A google search led me to that website, which has one particular post containing a list of more than 225 free templates to choose from. I started browsing the templates several hours ago. I found several I liked, but ultimately settled on the Sturd Template. DesignRazzi.com describes the Sturd template like this:

Sturd is a lightweight, 2 column, widget ready, SEO optimized, fast loading, easy to customize Blogger theme for blogger blogs. Sturd Blogger Template has top navigation menu, related posts, right sidebar, social and share buttons, Google fonts and more.

Sturd won my affection over several other serious contenders, including (in no particular order) Zenzero, Stock, MineZine, Flato, Flow, and F2. Honorable mention is also in order for Aquarius – I loved the sophisticated simplicity – but figured no self-respecting Gemini should pick a template named for another zodiac creature, air sign or not.

I spent a good 30 minutes pursuing 25 newspaper and magazine themed templates from another website, SpicyTricks.com. I really liked the look and overall feel of The Blogger News Times, but decided it might be a tad too complex given the nature of this blog. (Think of it as the KISS rule: Keep It Simple, Stupid!) I also wanted a template that easily loaded and displayed on mobile devices, and the Sturd seems to fit the bill.

Thanks for stopping by. And, yes, please pardon our mess, broken links, odd-sized and shaped photos, etc.

Burke: Teaching Reading

This week, in another course I am taking at UT Martin, we focused on teaching reading. The other course is focused on teaching English in middle or high school, so the “teaching reading” part is framed specifically for English teachers. However, there were many good points discussed that I believe would be relevant to all middle and high school teachers, not just English teachers.

We reviewed Chapter 5 – titled “Teaching Reading” – from “The English Teacher’s Companion” written by Jim Burke. The chapter was packed full of tried and tested techniques for teaching reading. I highly recommend reading this chapter as a supplement the course material in Reading 633. Chapter 5 of Burke’s book covers pages 136-202. On pages 163-172, Burke lists what he considers to be 10 traits of “excellent reading instruction” that is “supported by major reports focusing on middle and high schools.”

Burke provides plenty of detail for each of the 10 traits, and to you’ll need to pick up a copy of his book to read the full explanations. However, I thought it would be beneficial to list the 10 traits here.

According to Burke, the 10 traits are:

Teachers provide direct instruction throughout the reading process …

Teachers integrate instruction throughout the content of their courses.

Students read interesting or real-world texts for authentic reasons …

Students engage in regular, authentic discussions …

The teacher provides targeted, strategic instruction …

The teacher selects texts that grow progressively more complex …

Teachers have students write intensively and frequently about what they read …

Assess students before, as, and after they read a text …

Provide time in class and outside to support extensive reading ...

Use a variety of instructional strategies …

If you have a chance to get ahold of a copy of “The English Teacher’s Companion” by Jim Burke, you should. I highly recommend Chapter 5. It’s well worth the read!

Click here to visit Burke’s website.

What a week!

Banned Books Weeks is coming to end, and I can think of no better way to end the week-long celebration of freedom than by sharing the following five videos. Please take a moment to watch them. You'll be glad you did.

High school journalism

I completed a professional journal article review earlier this week. I focused my research on the impact high school journalism courses may or may not have on students involved in such courses. As part of my research, I reviewed two professional journal articles touching on this subject, and wanted to share what I found.

 

The first journal article I read was researched by Jack Dvorak and Choi Changhe. They “found statistically higher scores for students who had high school newspaper or yearbook experience compared with non-journalism students.” College freshmen with high school journalism experience also scored high grades in freshmen college English courses than non-journalism students. Students with journalism experience also scored higher on the ACT, averaging a composite score 21.58 compared to 21.4 for non-journalism students.

 

The second journal article was researched by Lee Becker, Jeong Y. Han, Donna Wilcox, and Tudor Vlad. The results of their research were nearly identical to that of Dvorak and Changhe. Becker et al. found that students involved in high school journalism are more likely to perform better as college freshmen than their non-journalism peers. According to Becker et al., “Exposure to journalism at the high school level appears to have a lasting effect on students. The findings from this analysis add to, and update, the existing research on the impact of participation in high school journalism extracurricular activities.”

 

As I mentioned in my professional journal response, these statistics are important because, in short, the print newspaper industry is in a death spiral. Print newspapers, as we all know and (used to) love them, are going away for good. However, as I argued in the my paper, high school administrators and journalism advisors simply need to adapt their ways of teaching journalism so that the focus becomes less on print newspapers (if this hasn’t been done already). The statistics over the last 30 years are pretty clear – high school journalism equals better grades in college. I suspect those statistics will still hold true 30 more years from now, when print newspapers are a thing of the past. It’s the basic journalism skills, though, that make the difference – not so much the medium.

 

Banned Book Week: Fight against censorship!

Banned Books Week is coming up Sept. 27 – Oct. 3. I realize that’s still a week away, but it’s never too early to start celebrating the freedom to read.

Here’s how the American Library Association describes the annual event:

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

After hotdogs, baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet, what could possibly be more American than celebrating our right to express ourselves and read the expressions of others?

Here a few news items and notes about Banned Books Week:

This year’s event celebrates young adult literature.

According to BannedBooksWeek.org:

More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982 according to the American Library Association. There were 311 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2014, and many more go unreported.

Click here to see the 10 most challenged titles of 2014.

Just in time for Banned Books Week 2015, an East Tennessee mom is making international headlines for her strong objections to. And by “strong objections” I mean she literally calls it “pornography” and wants it banned, as The LA Times explains:

A bestselling book about science, race and the family of a woman whose cells were the source of some of the most important medical innovations of the 20th century is "pornographic," according to one Tennessee mom.

Jackie Sims' 10th-grade son was asked to read "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" during the summer. "I consider the book pornographic," she tells WBIR-TV. Her son was given an alternate text to read after her objections.

Now, Sims wants the book removed from Knox County Schools entirely.

I just feel that strongly about it being out of the hands of our children," she says. There are about 59,000 students in the school system, which includes about 90 schools.

Read the full story here.