Colleagues,

Another book, one that my wife, who was for many years a public  
school art teacher, recommended, and I found very inspiring is The  
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon.

"Every once in a while, a book comes along that opens up a completely  
new point of view to its readers. In The Curious Incident of the Dog  
in the Night-time, Mark Haddon writes a story from the perspective of  
an autistic boy, which opens up an understanding of what life looks  
like through the eyes of this disability. But Chris, the protagonist,  
doesn't seem to feel that he has any disability at all. In fact with  
his photographic memory and advanced math skills, he looks at non- 
autistic people as having disabilities. Chris does display many of  
the symptoms of autism -- he doesn't like people touching him and  
when under stress he will collapse to the floor and make groaning  
noises. Chris has -- to him -- logical explanations for his behavior.

One night, fifteen-year-old Chris finds his neighbor's dog,  
Wellington, dead her front lawn with a garden fork sticking out of  
its side. Chris likes dogs and he likes mystery stories, so he  
decides that he will do detective work to solve the mystery of who  
killed the dog. One of Chris's teachers encourages Chris to write  
down the events, and the book represents the story of Chris's  
detective work told from his own perspective. Chris must balance his  
fear of strangers with his desire to interview people about the  
murder, and mainly he does overcome many of his fears to keep up with  
his investigation. Chris does solve the mystery of who killed  
Wellington, but he also uncovers a family skeleton in the closet that  
he has a hard time dealing with because of his autism.

Haddon uses a repetitive narrative style that evokes the speaking  
patterns of many person with autism, but the repetition doesn't  
distract from the story. Through Chris's viewpoint, we get a glimpse  
at the different mechanisms that might take place within an autistic  
mind. I think that the best fiction opens up our minds to a viewpoint  
that we otherwise would find foreign or complicated. In The Curious  
Incident, Haddon provides a view of autism in a engaging way that we  
want to read for the mystery and enjoy because we like Chris as a  
person -- something that we might not have understood if we bumped  
into him on the street and heard him bark like a dog. "  http://www.i- 
reports.info/b/B200629.html

David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net



On Dec 15, 2006, at 3:24 PM, Angela Childers wrote:


> The Ron Clark story is inspirational. Wow, he has

> turns education on it head and really makes learning

> fun for his students. Matthew Perry does not have the

> energy that Ron has so make sure you get the DVD and

> watch the specials that Ron does after the movie.

>

> I know that Mr. Clark teaches Middle school but I

> think we can have the same effect on Adults if we love

> what we do and find a way to connect like Mr Clark

> does.

>

> http://www.ronclark.info/story/

>

>

> Thanks,

>

> Angela Childers

> Literacy Council of Tyler

> (903) 533-0330

>

>

> --- ejonline at comcast.net wrote:

>

>> I just want to second the shout-out to the Wire. I

>> have watched the show from the first season, and I

>> think it is the greatest show in the history of

>> television. Hands-down.

>>

>> What is so great about this season is that the

>> portrayal of the school system takes the time to

>> really work through the implications of many issues

>> educators are grappling with. One on-going

>> discussion involves whether or not pull-out programs

>> targeted to help "at risk" youth constitutes

>> tracking. Another on-going issue is making the

>> material relevant to the students'. There are no

>> quick and easy answers - the show is realistic in

>> its complexity. Watching it makes me want to work

>> harder.

>>

>> There's plenty of graphic violence (physical,

>> emotional and social) and language so, as they say,

>> viewer discretion is advised.

>>

>> Erik Jacobson

>>

>>

>>  -------------- Original message

>> ----------------------

>> From: "Laurie Sheridan"

>> <laurie_sheridan at worlded.org>

>>> This is a TV show, not a book or film, but it's

>> worth checking out.

>>>

>>> I have recently been watching the current season

>> of "The Wire," a

>>> fictional but grittily real series about

>> inner-city life in Baltimore,

>>> including in the schools, on the streets, in

>> police headquarters, and in

>>> city politics.  The interplay among the characters

>> and their constant

>>> butting of their heads against an intractable

>> bureaucracy is deeply

>>> compelling though often quite bleak, and I can't

>> think of a better

>>> portrayal of the lives and backgrounds of some of

>> our learners.  It

>>> principally follows a group of young

>> African-American boys as they

>>> thread their way among unsupportive school system,

>> police who sometimes

>>> abuse and sometimes nurture them, harsh family

>> situations, and the pull

>>> of the street, gangs, and extreme violence.  It's

>> riveting, and the kids

>>> who are in their early to late teens are

>> brilliantly acted.    "The

>>> Wire," a bad name for a good show,  refers to a

>> wiretap the police use

>>> to try to trap the most brutal gangleaders, who

>> are constantly luring

>>> the young students into the world of the street,

>> murder and deals gone

>>> bad.

>>>

>>> The scenes in the current season focus on the

>> classroom and a new

>>> teacher (and former cop) who works with others in

>> the school to find

>>> ways to reach, retain and educate the most at-risk

>> among the youth.  You

>>> get a close look at the barriers to his doing

>> this, to the kids'

>>> learning and continuing in school at all--and

>> their constant pressure to

>>> fall back into "the life" on the street in gangs

>> and dealing.

>>>

>>> It's on HBO, so you have to have cable, on

>> Thursday nights, at least in

>>> Boston.   You can also get it from Netflicks or

>> from the video store.

>>> Previous years are nearly as rewarding, but this

>> year focuses on the

>>> classroom so it's especially good.  For any of you

>> who saw "Boys of

>>> Baraka" this year--this is like a continuation,

>> and in a very similar

>>> setting with similar characters, and it's even

>> better.

>>>

>>> Laurie Sheridan

>>>

>>>>>> David Rosen <djrosen at comcast.net> 12/14/2006

>> 3:01 PM >>>

>>> Andrea and others,

>>>

>>> By "challenging" young adults I meant, school

>> dropouts, returning to

>>> an alternative education program who have relative

>> little time (for

>>> example one year) and who may be reading or doing

>> math at an upper

>>> elementary school level, who may be skeptical

>> about what education

>>> can do for them but who are willing to give it a

>> second try.  Also,

>>> because they are still young, they may bring with

>> them some

>>> adolescent street behavior not appropriate to the

>> learning

>>> environment.  So films or books about inspiring

>> high school teaching

>>> might fit the bill, too.

>>>

>>> Any suggestions?

>>>

>>>

>>> David

>>>

>>> David J. Rosen

>>> djrosen at comcast.net

>>>

>>>

>>> On Dec 14, 2006, at 8:40 AM, Andrea Wilder wrote:

>>>

>>>> David, Please define "challenging young adults."

>>>> On Dec 13, 2006, at 9:00 PM, David Rosen wrote:

>>>>

>>>>> Hi Wendy and others,

>>>>>

>>>>> Just to clarify, the book is to inspire the

>> _teachers_ of classes

>>> of

>>>>> challenging young adults.

>>>>>

>>>>> David J. Rosen

>>>>>

>>>>> On Dec 13, 2006, at 8:22 PM, Wendy Quinones

>> wrote:

>>>>>

>>>>>> Two come to mind -- "Dangerous Minds," which

>> is more for high

>>>>>> school age,

>>>>>> and "Educating Rita" which is maybe for older

>> folks.  Both are

>>>>>> really

>>>>>> inspiring.

>>>>>>

>>>>>> Wendy

>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----

>>>>>> From: "David Rosen" <djrosen1 at comcast.net>

>>>>>> To: "The Adult Literacy Professional

>> Development Discussion List"

>>>>>> <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>

>>>>>> Cc: "The Women and Literacy Discussion List"

>>>>>> <womenliteracy at nifl.gov>

>>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 6:28 PM

>>>>>> Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 682] A book

>> or movie to inspire

>>>>>> teachers

>>>>>>

>>>>>>

>>>>>>> Colleagues,

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> I was asked today for a recommendation of a

>> movie or book (such

>>> as

>>>>>>> "Stand and Deliver") which would inspire

>> teachers to have high

>>>>>>> expectations for their young adult students,

>> to give each day

>>>>>>> 100% to

>>>>>>> their teaching.  What would you recommend?

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> David J. Rosen

>>>>>>> djrosen at comcast.net

>>>>>>>

>> ----------------------------------------------------

>>>>>>> National Institute for Literacy

>>>>>>> Adult Literacy Professional Development

>> mailing list

>>>>>>> ProfessionalDevelopment at nifl.gov

>>>>>>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription

>> settings, please go to

>>>>>>>

>>

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

>>

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> Professional Development section of the Adult

>> Literacy Education

>>>

>>>>>>> Wiki

>>>>>>> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/

>>>>>>> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>

>>>>>>

>>>>>>

>> ----------------------------------------------------

>>>>>> National Institute for Literacy

>>>>>> Adult Literacy Professional Development

>> mailing

> === message truncated ===

>

>

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David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net