Flash Fiction

I’ve read some pretty good flash fiction, but haven’t heard much about it lately. Does this qualify?

The new owners said everyone had to re-apply for their job. I was very qualified, an expert. I was rejected. She just didn’t like me. I sat across the street, having a coffee. I watched as she left the sidewalk cafe across from me, got in her car. She didn’t get far. I sipped my coffee, grinning at the last nail from the package.

Getting Back

I wrote two very good articles for a regional magazine, submitted them, and waited. Everything else I had written was published, I was paid, very nice arrangement. There has been some changes at the mag, my two articles, saleable elsewhere, have not been published, I have not been paid. If they aren’t going to be used, I will sell them to a diff. pub. I contacted the editor. Not much of a relpy. Second contact: editor is only part time now. Phone calls to main desk (automated, which I loathe), and to editor have so far resulted in…..bupkis. Any advice out there for me? Have you perhaps gone through something like this? Assistance please.

What Laptop?

Do you use a laptop in your writing routine? I’m looking for one, PC type. My desktop is a pc, all my programs are pc etc etc. I am working with a borrowed powerbookg4 right now. Nice machine and all, but my preference is a pc. Any help out there for what to get? What do you use and how come?

Writing time again

I subscribe to a couple of writing email newsletters (freelance, writers digest), Beth Eriksons newsletter among others. I am always looking for tips on the art of writing and freelancing in particular. I have published clips and enjoy writing. I have downloaded ebooks about how to do it better. My question to one and all is this: do you have any tips, information, insights that you might like to share with the rest of the writing universe about how you get your writing done and published? Personally, my main task is simply getting enough queries out there to insure that someone will respond positively to what I am proposing. I am not always up to the task of staying on top of that. Life intervenes on a regular basis. I am getting better at it though. My newest query will sail out of here tomorrow.

All Day Kindergarten?

That is what we do at our school. For about the last 4 years. The thought was that we would actually attract more families to our district if we did so. It didn’t work. Our small district is stiil going through declining enrollment, and has been working, successfully I must add, through this for the last 12 years. We’ve been good at cutting the budget, working with what money we have, and planning for the upcoming cuts, all the way through. I am one of the teachers, headed the teachers association for many years, and was completely involved, and still am, with the process. Yes there were years when we didn’t get much in our paychecks, but we are still solvent and forging ahead. All of that lead to the idea of all day K. I was, and am, against the idea. We did not attract anyone to our district just because of it. One still has to be able to buy a house here, which is an expensive proposition, or rent a place, which is a scarce and expensive proposition, or get an interdistrict transfer to our district. We live in snow country, and we typically don’t get many transfers. So, what about all day K? Besides the completely off the wall hope of people moving here for it, literature was produced espousing the joys of extended time in the classroom, more teaching at a more leisurely pace and so on. Prior to the all day K, we has am and pm sessions. One group would show up at 8, stay till 1130, the other group would come at 1230 and leave at 315ish. For each session we had two credentialled teachers for the 25-30 students, plus a one hour aide, and often a parent helper. Small groups (three each day) were alway taught by the teachers, with one non-academic group taught by the aide or parent, with tutoring done by any of us. Every day there were at least two teachers in the room. A lot of teaching for the time periods. For 4-5 years old children, turning 5-6, this matched their attention spans. It was a rich enviornment. Along came the 20 to 1 student teacher ratio, and all day K. Now the children, the same 4-5 years olds turning 5-6, show up at 9 and leave at 315. There is one teacher in the room, and one aide, one hour a day, and sometimes a parent volunteer. Mostly, it’s just me and my aide. Small groups, three at a time, are now taught by me, my aide, with an independent group monitored by the two of us. In the afternoon, the groups, all three of them, or two of them, or if possible one large group, is done by me. We lost a great deal of actual teaching time doing this. We gained nothing. The math is pretty simple. By the 90th day of school my class has completed the entire mass of minutes that we use to do in 180 days of am/pm, with no preceptible gain. The children are fried by this point. Now, to be fair, there are a lot of folks who think all day K does something wonderful for very young children. Just do a google or yahoo seach on “all day kindergarten” and you’ll come up with a great deal of information. In the 21 years I’ve been teaching Kindergarten, I simply think that it is fundamentally wrong to structure a young child’s day in this manner. We do provide parents with all day care for their Kindergartners, which may be a benefit to them. I just have to wonder when these children will burn out on school, starting off which such a long day, in addition to any pre-school they may have had. When do they get to be children, learning the ways of the universe by free play and interacting in an unstructured, childhood manner? The National Association for the Education of Young Children is an excellent place to look for infomation regarding this and all issues about educating our children.
Any thoughts on this out there?

Because I think so, that’s why

I am a believer in technology use in general. I’m a teacher (Kdg) and a skeptic: assume nothing, verify everything. One of the problems that we continue to have in the education field is heartfelt assertions that something works or is good without any underlying proof. Anecdotal stories often are accepted as fact. In a recent article Christi Strike reports on test score differences between two classrooms, one more old-fashioned than the other, an older teacher/younger teacher issue. It is a well written article. One would think that the information given goes a long way to proving that the techno rich enviorment trumps the world of paper and pencil. Maybe. Another article I read, again at Technology and Learning, was by a technology lab teacher. His main point was that the students in his lab learned better than students who did not have the tools his students had. Proof? Because that’s what he felt. No stats, no longitudinal research data, just the old “because I think so”. This is not to say that such a stance isn’t supportable. Could be that it is. My point is that as educators it seems important to back up our statements with data that is solid. That takes more time of course, and if one is doing research, one doesn’t always get the results that are sought after. Perhaps it is actually important to have data that can be verified. At least, that’s what I think.

Tecno Isolation?

Not too long ago I was quite sure that being overly plugged into the computer–blogging etc–was a good way to stay socially isolated. I no longer think in those terms. It seems to me that the global reach of all these computer generated possibilities is more likely to tie the world together, rather than isolate us all. Of course, isolation continues to be a possiblity. I just read a post that illustrates the positive possibilities quite well. More news travels faster through cell phones/computers now than the networks can keep up with. The young people of today (in heart and mind, I am, in body, well, I’m among the more “mature”) are very much in touch with each other and the world than I ever was. I am sure that this is all for the better, as long as the electricity stays on. Yes?

Writing the day away…sometimes

I think that most of who freelance are constantly faced with the reality of everyday stuff eating up time that we could use for writing. That, at least, is true with me. I have queries to send in, but the lawn really needs to be cut. A little shopping, computer and web maintenance, and so on. I keep reading that passion for writing overcomes all. I am waiting for the overcoming. Still, no one can write what I want to write but me. How about you? What do you do to motivate yourself enough to ignore the lawn?