Archive for January 2019

Middle School: Still the Neglected Middle Child of Education

Middle School: Still the Neglected Middle Child of Education
They passed notes, threw spit balls, popped their gum, and seemed far more interested in their hair than in the hair-raising poem I was trying to teach them. It was 1967 and student teaching sixth grade English was my first encounter with middle school. Luckily for me, there was no such institution when I was... Read more »
By Laurie Levy,
January 30, 2019 at 12:26 pm • 

The Mister Rogers Movie Deserved to Win an Oscar

The Mister Rogers Movie Deserved to Win an Oscar
Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the best and most popular documentary film of 2018, was snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. While the film was a huge box office success for a documentary, it was not even nominated for an Academy Award. That’s a shame because director Morgan Neville’s portrait of the... Read more »
By Laurie Levy,
January 25, 2019 at 7:01 am • 

Kids with Special Needs Still Love to Dance

Kids with Special Needs Still Love to Dance
My granddaughter with special needs has sat through countless dance performances for her neurotypical little sister. Don’t get me wrong. She loves them. But when her sister’s dance studio, Dance Center Evanston, offered an adaptive dance class for movers ages 11-20 who have special needs, she enthusiastically wanted to be a dancer rather than a... Read more »
By Laurie Levy,
January 22, 2019 at 4:27 pm • 
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Y2K and Today: Some Belated Thoughts for the New Year

Y2K and Today: Some Belated Thoughts for the New Year
The start of the new millennium was so frightening it had a special name: Y2K (Year 2000). In 1982, Prince’s song 1999 reflected worries of a nuclear apocalypse back then, as the cold war with Russia led many to believe the world would end by the turn of the century. Instead of being depressed, Prince... Read more »
By Laurie Levy,
January 14, 2019 at 11:11 am • 

Why I Love My Computer but Hate Technology

Why I Love My Computer but Hate Technology
On Sunday, I cried in the Apple Store. I’m sure I was not the first or last person reduced to tears there, and, in my defense, I was still sick from a trifecta of bronchitis, asthma, and a sinus infection. I had also just learned that, after a week in the computer hospital, my beloved... Read more »
By Laurie Levy,
January 10, 2019 at 8:21 am •