Weekly Reader folds into history

“Curiouser and curiouser.”

All posts tagged education

Posted:
July 23, 2012
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Weekly Reader folds into history

The Daily News reported today that Weekly Reader was sold to Scholastic last February. It was cited that Scholastic was “axing all but five of Weekly Reader’s 60 employees in White Plains, NY.” I suppose that is an accurate (albeit broad-stroked) account. Those of us who have not been picked up have, for the most part, moved on. Though it’s probably safe to say that none of us will ever forget the work we did or the extraordinary people we collaborated with at our beloved company.

From my own perspective, working for such an inspiring piece of Americana was always a delight. Whenever I told someone what I did for a living, regardless of their age, they would more often than not respond: “Ohh, Weekly Reader! I used to love getting those in school! You guys are still around?” Heh. Well…

Despite the many challenges we faced in our final years, the incredibly talented team of dedicated people that put those educational periodicals (both elementary and secondary) together always gave it their all. ”Like all papers,” the Daily News reported, “Weekly Reader was struggling with changes roiling the print world and was under pressure to develop digital editions.” True, we struggled inasmuch as any other publishing company does in today’s world. But rather than shy from new technologies, we embraced them. We created digital editions of all our magazines, launched “e-issues” (educational, interactive, themed web sites), wrote blogs, and kept the lines of communication open with teachers and educators as we attempted to stay one step ahead of the ever-evolving classroom environment. In the end, I suppose Weekly Reader became a casualty of the times. It’s sad that we no longer get to work together in White Plains, doing what we love to do. But what’s more depressing is that this time-honored brand that so many of us grew up with, loved, trusted, and learned from is now but a memory.

I do look forward to seeing what Scholastic does in the future and I am confident that, though WR is no more, what it stood for will live on.

And to exit on a promising note: if anyone out there should ever require a talented, dedicated, creative editor, art director, photo editor, copy editor, production designer, or web designer for an educational or otherwise, print or digital publishing task, gig, job, or consult… I know sixty extraordinary candidates.

 

Posted:
June 30, 2012
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Pay it Forward, Bring it Back – A Freelancer’s First Month

Of all the careers, in all the towns, in all the world… …you had to be mine.

Since the sad, sorry closing of my old company and the beginning of my new career as a freelance writer/editor, I’ve been pretty lucky. I sort of fell right into my first contract job by paying it forward. By that I mean that while I was scouring the web for freelance gigs for myself, I was also looking out for others. If I saw a job that wasn’t necessarily right for me but might be right for a colleague, of course I would forward that information on. As it turned out, one of these did actually result in a good friend of mine snagging a pretty impressive project. That, in and of itself, made me happy! Then, come to find out, the contract she received was such a large undertaking that she was alloted a small staff! So she came back to me and asked if I’d like to join the team. Heck yes, I would!

Without saying too much about the project, I believe it would be all right for me to say that it involves working on a career-focused educational game for students. In doing much research of hundreds of different professions over the past three weeks, I have come to really appreciate where I am in life right now as well as becoming more aware of  how many other opportunities there are out there. I don’t presume to understand how one child grows up to be a neurosurgeon while another becomes an editor while another becomes a game show host while another becomes an electrical engineer while another becomes a candlestick maker. The paths we choose are based on an incomprehensible amount of conscious and unconscious decisions, traits, skills, etc. as we go. All I know is, out of the countless professions that could have chosen me, I am very content with this one so far. Of course, I am still a newbie as a freelancer and I don’t pretend to think it’s all wine and roses just because I landed this first gig pretty pronto. I am sure there will be days in the future where I will be at my wit’s end trying to find work. I hope those days will be few and far between. But in the meantime, it’s pretty groovy to make your own hours, choose your own projects, write-off office supplies, meet interesting people, learn new things, and do it all in footy pajamas! Just kidding, those only come out in the winter.

The only two big cons I have seen so far are: having to buy my own insurance and the occassional loneliness. The former is just a necessary evil of the business. Suck it up and deal. Pretty soon everyone is going to have to be insured whether they have a company to pay for it or not so I guess I’m ahead of the curve there. As far as the loneliness goes, it’s not terrible. I still keep in touch with the old crew and I do live with my girlfriend and four cats so they all keep me on my toes, no doubt. And the newly installed birdhouse out back makes for interesting company every day. I do enjoy raising and shaking my fist at those damn squirrels while secretly marveling at their acrobatics. But sometimes I do miss the long commute into work, the company camaraderie, the excitement of a magazine well-done, and even (or especially) the moaning that inevitably comes in any shared office from the “same boat mentality.” I’m a one-man show now. It is at times very exhilarating and at others, kinda dull. But at least it’s where I want to be and when someone asks me what I do, I can say with pride, “I am a freelancer,” and smile.

-LW

Posted:
April 3, 2012
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Writing is Personal? Since when? (Writing Tip No. 7)

The Writing Part

Any writer throughout history will tell you this (yes, I’ve met and asked them all): writing is you and your soul on paper. Once you release your words, they are for public fare. Can you live with what you’ve written with no “take backsies” or rewrites? If you answered yes, then maybe your manuscript is ready to get out there. Maybe that is the key to knowing when you are finished with anything. When you can see your words there, as they stand; they represent you in many meaningful ways. No matter if you’re writing an autobiography or a brilliant fantasy of a world where ordinary people never have to choose between being Team Edward or Team Jacob—if you are writing that book, please let me be your story’s first eyes!—the quest is always the same. Love your words and your words will love you back. It’s a symbiotic relationship we often take for granted. But then again… they are only words.

But you own them! Make them go! Get your crazy eyes on and write how you feel and how it matters. Then throw out that scorned teen’s diary nonsense and start over. Extreme? I’m just guessing. Cuz that’s where I go at some beginnings. But your own bad or cliche* writing can give you perspective and help you move forward with your craft. Take a step back and ask, “What’s wrong with this picture?” Overall and in pieces. If it’s yours and perfect and you approve, set it free.

Or just keep a stack of thought and story-filled notebooks under your mattress and enjoy them all for you only. May whatever goal you seek for your work come true. And while we’re askin’ for stuff… may God bless ponies and bunny rabbits.

The Reading Part

I am reading Watership Down as an audible.com book. And please don’t tell me that listening to a book can not be claimed as reading a book. I won’t have that argument because it is silly. I’m still getting the story. At any rate, please, no spoilers either. I have never read it and so far as I can see early on, it is quite magnificent. If you are familiar, I am so rooting for Fiver. I mean, why wouldn’t you be? Wait, don’t answer that. We’ll talk again in a few weeks. But the main plot of the story is that a group of bunnies leave the comfort of their home in the meadow because of an unfounded prediction that the entire herd <?what’s a giant group of bunnies that live together called? a common probably.> common would perish. That’s abouts alls I knows and I don’ts know no mores. I said there’d be unecessary plurals at some point earlier today.

But I do need to pick up my kindle again. I tried a few books recently but they all sort of petered my interest quickly out. In fact, the last good novel I read was (semi-ironically) The Reader. It’s a brutally honest look into the heart and mind of a former female Nazi guard and her torrent love affair with a 15 year old. Unbelievable that I had never heard of this book before but it was an excellent read to say least and it would be a wonder if it is not banned. Though I do believe there is a large gap between banning a book and quietly accepting one. I have a feeling that the educational community does the latter and doesn’t really draw attention to the book by teaching it. Though if a student found it on his own, he’d probably be encouraged by the school system. I would hope, anyway. Clearly these are only speculations on a much broader subject. It’s also one I didn’t mean to stumble into. So, with that…

The Part That Talks More About The Picture

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The Part Where It Ends For Now

Today, a friend of mine sent me a literary quote and it speaks for itself:

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on. — Robert Frost

Posted:
March 20, 2012
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Fiction involves brain science. Brain science is not fiction. Repeat.

In a recent post, I was talking about the importance of nonfiction when it comes to balanced literacy programs vs. core knowledge. And if that means anything to you at all, you may also have heard about the piece that was in the Times on Saturday about how brain science is alive and well when it comes to reading. All hail brain science!

To begin, how many solid arguments do you suppose there are for advocating fiction in the classroom? Yeah. Hi. Only about a billion!

From NYT:

Researchers have long known that the “classical” language regions, like Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area, are involved in how the brain interprets written words. What scientists have come to realize in the last few years is that narratives activate many other parts of our brains as well, suggesting why the experience of reading can feel so alive. Words like “lavender,” “cinnamon” and “soap,” for example, elicit a response not only from the language-processing areas of our brains, but also those devoted to dealing with smells.

Did you know this? It’s fascinating that a certain part of our brain can detect what cinnamon smells like just by reading the word. How often do you suppose that word comes up in essays or nonfiction? OK, maybe the answer is a lot. Or if it is not found often outside of recipes, then there are bound to be tens of thousands of other descriptive words that any essayist may have in his arsenal. I think the general idea is that, in nonfiction, you can’t use a word like lavender in the same way that you can in a fictional tale. It would not be quite as magical and would stir up only connotations of its color (or smell, depending on context). And yes, soap is soap is soap. Do our brains really register that much of a difference if it’s real or imagined?

The novel, of course, is an unequaled medium for the exploration of human social and emotional life. And there is evidence that just as the brain responds to depictions of smells and textures and movements as if they were the real thing, so it treats the interactions among fictional characters as something like real-life social encounters.

Fall into the story. I’ve tried to understand what that means my whole life. Is there any equivalent to reading a novel? What it does to you or how it makes you feel; how it forms in you (at an early age) so many different ways in which you can view your own world. How you relate to others based on characters you once knew in books. How much of an influence stories were in our lives! If we are read the right ones, I suppose. Whichever those may be.

 … novels go beyond simulating reality to give readers an experience unavailable off the page: the opportunity to enter fully into other people’s thoughts and feelings. … A 2010 study by Dr. Mar found a similar result in preschool-age children: the more stories they had read to them, the keener their theory of mind ( [the] capacity of the brain to construct a map of other people’s intentions )

It is true that when reading a straight narrative of who, what, where, why, and when, you aren’t often given the emotions behind the facts. And that’s probably how it should be. Students should learn from informative texts as EQUALLY as they do from their stories and their fantasies. Again, heh, I am respectfully (and I guess politically) on both sides of this. Why should one side outread the other? Can’t there be a fair and equal balance? I imagine the problem would come then between grades. If a student has different teachers as he/she progresses through K-12, who’s to say which texts are right for each level? Who is to say? Maybe there doesn’t have to be such a fuss about it after all. Maybe these are only idiosyncrasies in an otherwise scattered and non-centralized educational system. Can any one answer be right?

Reading great literature, it has long been averred, enlarges and improves us as human beings. Brain science shows this claim is truer than we imagined.

Word to that.

-LW

*Interesting note: When you type the word “fiction” into Google Images, the first that pops up is Alice and her croquet racket (above).

Posted:
March 13, 2012
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Core Knowledge or Balanced Literacy, who’s to say?

I have been hearing rumbles of the “great comeback of nonfiction in today’s schools” for well over a year now. Is it just a crazy fad like Laverne and Shirley or “washing your hands,” or is it the real deal? Surely, I jest on all fronts. Nonfiction text has always been on the rise. What’s funny is that it was never down to begin with!

On Sunday, the NY Times reported that a recent study found that “second graders who were taught to read using the Core Knowledge program scored significantly higher on reading comprehension tests than did those in the comparison schools.”

What is the Core Knowledge program?

Here is a well written piece of it by the Core Knowledge Foundation’s curriculum page: Explicit identification of what children should learn at each grade level ensures a coherent approach to building knowledge across all grade levels.

That is pretty unapologetic and stringent. It sounds as if they are recommending that our students become drones! However, this next part redeems it.

Every child should learn the fundamentals of science, basic principles of government, important events in world history, essential elements of mathematics, widely acknowledged masterpieces of art and music from around the world, and stories and poems passed down from generation to generation.

I think that just about covers the gamut of nonfiction, don’t you? How teachers deliver the information and what that precise content is is what seems to be at the center of this. The Core Knowledge program strays from the popular guided reading techniques and seems to include very little in the way of teaching reading through fiction or fairy tales.

From NYT:

Reading nonfiction writing is the key component of the Core Knowledge curriculum, which is based on the theory that children raised reading storybooks will lack the necessary background and vocabulary to understand history and science texts.

Disagree? I don’t think they are going as far as to say that we should be reading our babies and young children The Wall Street Journal every evening in order to instill a better early vocabulary and context for the world (although I’m pretty sure a nighttime rendition of WSJ might knock the wee ones out cold, bonus!). However, there is definitely a hint of the ludicrous suggestion, albeit never quite as bold.

Nonfiction texts have a place in American education today, absolutely. It is widely agreed that teen boys will prefer to read a harrowing story of a mountain climber’s survival or the true story of an Iraqi war veteran over such blather as Romeo and Juliet or The Great Gatsby. That’s all well and good. We should be pushing them toward the texts they love while using our other hand to nudge them toward the classics. We still need imagination in our lives and in our future. I’m on both sides of this. Ooh, how diplomatic.

Is it naive to think there can be one instructional reading program for all and all for one instructional reading program? Well, if that were the case then someone would have a monopoly on our youth’s minds. That in itself is dangerous enough to give me the willies. But here’s a thing about great nonfiction: it is great because it reads easy, like a book. It is captivating and it can move the reader to think differently or even act differently. That is an incredible power that should never be overlooked when discussing the issue. No matter what the text consists of, if it touches someone, it’s gold.