jackiedoherty.org

I’ve been reading The Iliad and have been struck by its relevance to modern life – pretty amazing for a work that is over 2500 years old.  Once you find a translation that you like and get used to the long lists of warriors (including background information on each), the gory violence, the repetitiveness and the elaborate similes, you find that compelling universal themes begin to emerge. Besides the big issues of the meaning of life, the role of fate, and the importance of a moral vision, there are amusing and insightful descriptions of normal human behavior.  For instance, the Goddess Thetis in her constant watchfulness and ceaseless meddling to benefit her son, the great warrior Achilles, resembles the ‘helicopter Moms’ of today. {If you haven’t heard this term, it refers to those mothers who are always hovering overhead “with the ferocity of a red-caped, flying squirrel” to quote an internet definition (the site also has an amusing quiz)}.    more »

When I was a kid, I always hated Sunday afternoons, with each minute ticking by bringing me closer to Monday morning and another long week of school.  I remember feeling a kind of paralysis as I would resist any activity that might make my remaining time speed up.  So, I would mope around feeling the loss of each second, until the day was gone (and wasted).  It isn’t so much that I hated school as I regretted the lost freedom and opportunities, the vista of possibilities that, on Friday afternoon, the weekend seemed to represent.  Turning 50 has given me a bit of the same feeling.  Suddenly I am in the Sunday afternoon of life and I feel the same regret – why didn’t I do more, why did I waste Saturday morning sleeping; or now: why did I never go to grad school or learn to play the piano?  Tonight, many of us will be gathering to celebrate a friend’s 50th birthday, and  I was trying to work up a few words of encouragement – Life begins at 50!  Fifty is the new forty!— but the words that keep coming to mind are Marlowe’s  ,sorry, that’s Marvell, - see Elaine’s comment below – (‘but at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near.’)  Sounds pessimistic, I know, but maybe a sense of urgency is not the worst quality to take past the mid-century mark.  It might be what’s needed for me to make the most of that “Sunday afternoon.”  As for my friend, my sense of his life is that he will keep on doing what he’s doing and have none of the above regrets.  So, Happy Birthday, friend! Avante!

I have been thinking a lot lately about the attitude of journalists and the established media toward bloggers.  On the one hand, you have the newspapers trying to co-opt the blogging phenomenon by creating their own blogs, but on the other there is a not-so thinly-veiled tone of contempt or attempt to dismiss blogging in editorials and articles.  These range from the mildly-disapproving tone of Sven Birkerts of the Boston Globe in his July 29, article (“Lost in the Blogosphere“) to the latest editorial rant in the Lowell Sun. 

Certainly, blogs come in many shapes and sizes and should perhaps be approached with more caution than most media, but what is upfront about blogging is the bias – the blog exists for a purpose, to propound a certain world view and that purpose is up for discussion, along with all of the blog content.  The bias of an established media outlet is often much less apparent and in many cases is buried beneath a façade of journalistic integrity. 

After reading Birkert’s article in July, I was thinking about how news used to be disseminated.  People who wanted to get their view of events or opinions out would write pamphlets and broadsheets, often sensationalized, that were then as widely distributed as possible.  Just recently I heard the term “the new pamphleteers” applied to bloggers and ended up reading an interesting article on the topic (Kochan, Donald J., “The Blogosphere and the New Pamphleteers” . Nexus Law Journal, Vol. 11, 2006 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=908631).  In this article, Kochan cites “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine and “The Federalist Papers” as “revered” examples of pamphleteering in this country.  He goes on to equate blogging with pamphleteering as “an individual’s opportunity to introduce his ideas to the community.”  It’s extremely readable and well-reasoned and free on SSRN, so please check it out and let me know what you think!  Birkerts seems to fear the proliferation of ideas, the diffusion of our collective energies and the loss of accountability.  Yet, I submit that bloggers are highly accountable to their readers and more so because, as I stated above, their biases are out in the open.  And as those who blog understand, it takes discipline and consistency to maintain it so readers keep coming back.  Kochan makes the following point that responds to Birkerts’ fears:

…in the marketplace of information, the cream of the crop rises to the top.  That is why some blogs are merely rants or of interest to few that add little or no value, and others establish reputational value that leads to high visitation rates and wide attention.

I would add that some newspapers and other traditional media descend to the level of rants which may diminish their subscriber rates and the attention that is paid to them.

If you’re a parent of a Lowell Public School student, check backpacks this week.  (Most K-8 reports should be coming home today; LHS report cards are due home on Thursday.) Love them or dread them, report cards are one way parents and teachers can connect around student learning.  Like most things in life, report cards have changed, and elementary cards, in particular, have undergone a complete overhaul to provide a more objective, informative snapshot of your child’s school work.  Today’s elementary report cards, like the curriculum, are standards based, which means students are evaluated on their ability to achieve the standards expected at each grade level. For instance, a first grade math standard under Number Sense & Operations requires students to name and write numbers to 100, identifying place and value. By second grade, that standard is to 1000, by third it’s 9999, and so on.  ELA categories are also standards based with students evaluated on their ability to show “knowledge of vocabulary” and “spell grade level words in writing.” The elementary report cards also include a bar chart that indicates a child’s reading ability based on grade level expectations. The marks used to evaluate progress in elementary report cards are also different.  For instance, letter grades such as an A used to mean Outstanding and a B meant Above Average; now numbers are used for academic subjects with a 4 indicating Area of Excellence-Exceeds Standard and a 3 meaning Area of Competence-Meets the Standard, while letter grades now convey student effort. These changes provide report cards that offer parents an informed report of student achievement based on consistent, standards-based instruction as well as a more objective assessment tool for teachers. 

Dick has an interesting post today, titled “An Appointed School Committee.” His title was meant to get our attention, which it does, but the focus of his post is more about Lowell’s appointed-mayor system of government and its impact on our schools rather than actually looking at not electing our school board. While reading it, I couldn’t help thinking about a letter Margaret had published in the Sun a few years ago that touches on the same issue. Even though some of the players have changed since then, the notion still surfaces in certain quarters and revisiting her thoughts on it is worth a read.

I admit, yesterday’s Column struck me—kind of like getting punched in the gut—as the bullies sank to a new level of gleeful meanness. From the moment I stepped into the political arena, I promised myself that fear would not stop me from doing what’s best for Lowell kids. Throughout my two terms on the committee, I have stayed true to that promise although it has gotten me several media beatings, and I knew it might cost votes someday—maybe even an election. My own children knew it too. From the beginning, it was important to me that they understand the positions I take are based on what I think is right and not what others want. If it costs me an election, that’s okay: I would be home more nights with them, comforted by the knowledge I did my best. Being a good school committee woman, like being a good parent, is not a popularity contest; often, both jobs require taking a stand that makes some folks unhappy. During this campaign, I chose to support the superintendent during her highly politicized attempt to move the high school forward—again, because of our progress under her leadership, her right to pick her team, and because it was the best thing for Lowell kids. Column writers attempt to frame me as a loser for this, and perhaps to them, I am (“…finishing fourth this year after topping the ticket in 2005. Oh my!”). For me, standing by my convictions to improve our schools is never a loss. As we go forward, I will continue to speak and vote my convictions as a member of the Lowell School Committee. And no matter what they write about me, that is a definite win.

With the election over, it seemed like a good time to clean out a desk drawer, and this is what I found:

“Life is too Short to be Little” 

My favorite quotation is the sentence above, written by Disraeli.  It has helped through many a painful experience.  Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget.  Perhaps someone we helped has proved ungrateful…or someone we believed to be a friend has spoken ill of us…some reward we thought we deserved has been denied us.  we feel such disappointments so strongly that we can no longer work or sleep.  But isn’t that absurd?  Here we are on this earth, with only a few more decades to live, and we lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a year’s time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody.  No, let us devote our life to worthwhile actions and feelings, to great thoughts, real affections and enduring undertakings.  For life is too short to be little. 

-Author unknown 

I just got the schedule for the broadcast of the Mary Bacigalupo Educational Forum which was held at the Stoklosa School on October 27.  Featuring keynote speaker, Joyce Epstein, the forum was entitled “Then and Now:  New Directions for Family, School and Community Partnerships.”  Starting this weekend, the Forum will be shown on LTC Channel 10 as follows:  Saturday and Sunday at 6:00 pm, Monday at 8:00 am, Tuesday at 1:00 pm, Wednesday at 6:00 am and 1:00 pm, Thursday at 10:00 am and Friday at 5:00 pm.

Governor Deval Patrick will hold a public meeting at the Stoklosa Middle School, 560 Broadway, at 6:30 tonight to discuss his vision for the future of our public schools. The governor will specifically address the goals of his Readiness Project with a focus on expanded time for teaching and learning. This is an opportunity to learn about the Governor’s education priorities, which will impact the district’s programs going forward. Tonight’s discussion on expanding the school day is especially timely here in Lowell because we currently have a state planning grant specifically on that issue. Please join us at tonight’s meeting as a show of support for how important good public schools are to the city, and as a way to learn firsthand the Governor’s vision for the future education of our children.  

I was once advised “never let yourself get too up or down in politics.”  Good advice, but hard to take.  For incumbents who lost a seat, for challengers who didn’t make it, even for myself (less votes than the last election), the day after can be tough. There is comfort, however, in knowing that you had the courage to run, the commitment to work hard to achieve your goal, and the willingness to be an active player in the most important part of our democratic process. Thanks to all the candidates who ran and congratulations to those who got elected. Novelist and poet Barbara Kingsolver puts it in perspective this way: “Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work that goes on, it adds up.”

And so, I am grateful to be re-elected to the Lowell School Committee to continue the daily work of improving our schools. Thank you to all those people who donated to my campaign, gave me lawn sign locations, held signs at the polls in the cold and rain, and encouraged me every day in so many ways. Most importantly, thanks to every citizen who braved the weather yesterday to vote for me. Thank you for the opportunity to serve our community in this way. I am as determined as ever to continue to be an outspoken advocate for our children and to build on the progress we’ve made toward excellent schools.