Write - Write - Write

The Bark Side: 2012 Volkswagen Game Day Commercial Teaser

2012-01-19T23:13:00.000-05:00

I will have to watch The Super Bowl just to see this commercial.

A snowy Worcester commute.

2012-01-12T12:00:00.002-05:00

A messy commute from New Braintree this morning. Stop and go all the way from the center of Rutland. I'm very glad to have my new Yokohama Geo something tires on my car. Also a great surprise was getting a Patriotsproshop giftcard that came with my purchase. Soon I'll be getting a Patriots jersey and hopefully will have it in time to see the Patriots make it to the Superbowl.
We'll be getting our special snacks ready for Saturdays game. Dad says Go Pats! I'll have to post one of our old Patriots party pictures next time.

Dad would like some interesting stories to see on the blog. Karen has just arrived and now it's time for lunch.
Bye Bye

Finally a little snow!

2012-01-06T09:59:00.002-05:00

Lynda and Dad here. Finally we got a little snow. Just a dusting, but at least it looks like winter. Me and dad having a Dunkin D coffee at the moment. Dad says happy new year! Also Karen will be driving my old car this week after hitting a deer last week with her own car. Say a little prayer for her and her driving. (lots of prayers says Lynda and tell the animals to watch out, lol) The car has a lot of miles, but he would like it to get him over to the bookstore soon.

Lynda finally figured out how this blog works. If you are new to blogging and would like to create your own posts on this blog, send an email to leocoleman@rocketmail.com and we can add you to the author list. After that you'll receive an email back with an invitation to join. The only catch is you have to set up a gmail account, but that's free and easy to do. Of course at any time you can comment on our posts just by clicking the comment button.

My Life as a Snowflake by Rebecca Chilton

2012-01-05T20:35:00.003-05:00

"My Life as a Snowflake"

I was in a gray frosty cloud as a little drop of water. Then I grew six arms and dropped right out of the cloud and watched as I landed on a beautiful gingerbread house. But then I melted on a gumdrop. I had a short, but sweet life!

From Rebecca, a true optimist!

Coleman Christmas

2011-12-28T17:30:00.004-05:00

Christmas came to the Coleman household. Cathy, Lynda, and Karen, and Lynda's kids, Jessica and Rebecca, joined Leo and Shirley in some Christmas music. Leo played harmonica. Jessica played the bass clarinet. Rebecca, the newest member of the band, is now learning how to play the flute like Auntie Karen.

Leo's most intriguing present was the digital clock about 6 inches wide that tells the time and the date and day which he got from his daughter and her husband. It also has a special place for a pad and pen in it. He is telling me the day and time as we speak. It's very nice. He says he is now never at a loss for what day or time it is and he thanks Lynda & Rich very much.

In other exciting presents was a present to Shirley from the 3 kids of a weekend away to visit her sister and her aunt in NH and have a great dinner at the Olive Garden. Also a special Coleman Music Night to be held at a later date. More info to come on this. Leo also got a special hat that says "Captain Leo." Cathy had to be a little crafty to put this together. (only using iron on letters though -- not too crafty. She is not very crafty!) Any of you who have been to Disney World may know the exhibit known as "Captain EO." The hat came from there and was only missing an L.

Callie, the cat is enjoying most the small red box that Karen had a present in. Though she barely fits herself in it, she loves to sit in it!

Write a comment and tell us about your holidays!

Cathy & Leo

Speaking with friends

2011-11-08T21:54:00.002-05:00

It has been some time since I've been able to talk with my friends because my daughters have been very busy. I was very impressed with Homer Chalifoux, my childhood neighborhood friend, who was able to drive all the way from Concord, NH to visit me. That was quite a long drive and I thank him for doing that. Isn't often that you get a friend to drive that distance. That's a 140 mile round trip!

I was sorry to hear of the demise of the fighter Joe Frasier. He had a distinct style of speaking. Write back and tell me what is going on in your lives. I look forward to hearing from all of you. I'm really anxious to hear what is going on in YOUR lives. I don't get a chance to write on this very often, but you can look at the latest one that I wrote to check in.

The Story of George Fisher, Espionage Agent Part 1

2011-07-29T16:39:00.002-04:00

Most people never heard of George Fisher, but he has been a part of my life for some time now. I first heard of George Fisher a long time ago in a Colonel's office at Fort Holabird, Baltimore Maryland. I was assigned to watch George Fisher because he was a civilian espionage agent whom we in Military Intelligence had been watching for a few years. The Colonel questioned me as to why I did not tell anyone about my connection to George Fisher. He wanted to know why my papers made no mention of George Fisher, John Foster Dulles, or any connection to Ford Holabird which was Military Intelligence Headquarters.

The first time I was called to his office, I was scared because people who had gone there did not return but at this point, I didn't care. I went back to what I was doing but now there was a signifcant difference. Now George Fisher was no longer silent! He was very verbal! He made it clear that he knew he was being watched and kept up a constant stream of chatter. I can only describe it as "nonsense talk." I tried to keep track of what he was saying, which was all nonsense. He made no mention of John Foster Dulles. He just kept talking faster and faster until finally - silence.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

A tribute to Paul LeFebvre

2011-03-16T20:07:00.003-04:00

I am writing this blog reluctantly. It must be written. The original report entitled "No Intelligence Failure" was a thirteen page speech written by one of our most distinguished members who passed away on Wednesday, February 3, 2011. His name was Paul LeFebvre and I have the thirteen page report that he used as his speech to the National Convention of Military Intelligence three years previously.

The story I want for this blog from Paul LeFebvre that demands to be told is the tale of what happened to him as a young CIA agent in Vietnam. He was undercover for the Eisenhower administration. The goal: Should the U.S. support the French in Dien Bien Phu? While there, Paul ran up against a Viet Cong person who had a rifle and a religious medal around his neck. The Viet Cong pointed the rifle at Paul and Paul said, "Dominus Vobiscum" which translates to "the Lord be with you." The rifle was lowered. Paul was put in a crate, and shipped in a C-47 to the United States.

The Lord be with you, Paul LeFebvre.

Romeo & Leo - Harmoniguys Singing

2011-02-21T17:44:00.006-05:00

This is a link to a website where there are several songs performed by Romeo Marquis and me.

http://romeomarquis.com/hguys/

St. Anne's Orpphanage and the Orange Story

2010-11-08T14:47:00.008-05:00

My brother in South Carolina has been after me to write this story for some time now and it will take some time to complete so please be patientI It goes way back to I would say the summer of 1943 during the heart of World War 11. I was a little kid going to Middlesex Ave School and it was summer vacation. I lived on Gordon St. off Hamilton St. and there was a girl who lived up the end of the street who would disappear each summer. ((She later became a nun.) She came from a French Canadian family.Her name was Jeanny Benoit. One day I stopped her as she was walking up the street and asked her where she went every summer, " Oh, I go up to St. Anne's.Orphanage. You play baseball and they even give you oranges!" Well, getting fresh fruit during the war was a real luxury and made me sit up and listen. The first thing I did was tell this story to my mother. I teased my mother to send me to the orphanage for a vacation, Whatever prompted my mother to do so I do not know, but she telephoned St. Anne's Orphanage and told them she had to go into the hospital and needed someone to take care of her little boy (me). The nuns agreed to take care of me for the next two week for %7 a week and that is what happened--and we did get oranges and played baseball. We kids also slept in dorms and were handed two pieces of felt each morning to put on the bottom of our pajama feet and we padded around a parquet floor which had a statue of the Virgin Mary in it and a polihed floor so shiny it would almost blind you. It was a playroom that nobody played in, but the floor was the shiniest floor I have ever seen. My mother came to see ma at the end of the first week and I begged her to get me out of there, but a bargain was a bargain and I wasn't getting out until the two weeks were up.I never saw Jeanny during that two weeks, but I learned how to stuff and sew mattresses (and cut my fingers). became friends with a set of triplets whom I had to leave behind as real orphans, and find out what it was like to march with nuns and clackers everywhere we went and also to have corn flakes for breakfast each morning with the sugar already mixed in the milk.My mother showed a lot of wisdom in teaching a young child such a lesson about having a family. Years later I had occasion to return to St,Anne's as a teacher (GED) and that parquet floor looked pretty much as it did years before. (I didn't see anyone with oranges though.)

A Long Road Back---and It Continues

2010-07-13T12:58:00.012-04:00

It has been a long time since I have been able to write a blog. I woke up on Friday, April 2 and asked my wife to drive me to the emergency room of UMass\Memorial Hospital on Belmont Street because I was coughing up blood. I had previously had an x-ray of my chest in January which showed clear lungs. I had asked my doctor for this because of a persistent cough. The shortness of breath and the fact that I could not do ten laps around the Atrium at St. Vincent"s Hospital without great difficulty convinced me that I had more wrong with me than my doctor's diagnosis
of post nasal drip. This time a chest x-ray showed a cancerous tumor in my right lung which was the size of my fist and was pressing on my esophagus causing me breathing difficulties. I was admitted to the hospital and have been fighting cancer ever since. My oncologist told me that a tumor that grows that fast (the x-ray showed nothing in January)many times can be cured just as successfully with proper treatment. I was blessed with excellent treatment at UMass/Memorial and my wife at home for the past three months. The tumor has now disappeared. All of my chemotherapy sessions are over. Those are what killed the tumor. Now I will have a break of about a month to recover some strength and then I will have to visit UMass's new facility on Plantation Street for a series of 14 radiation treatments on my brain. The brain blocks chemotherapy for some reason, and if cancer is going to spread anywhere, the brain is where it will go. I asked the radiologist if radiation of the brain would affect cognitive thinking and he said no. I hope he is right. So far, all of the catscans have shown that the cancer has spread nowhere.
When all this hit me in April I was meeting infrequently with a second year Fellow nephrologist from Iran at UMass to help her a little in advanced English. I believe she will be all finished next month and I wish her the best. I also presided over my last meeting of the Military Intelligence Association of New England's monthly meeting in Woburn that first Wednesday of April. (Our speaker that month was Al LeFebvre, one of our own members, whose topic was "The CIA versus the KGB---Who Won?" A few days ago I received the national Military Intelligence Association magazine through the mail. This magazine is entitled THE GOLDEN SPHINX. Under New England News they mentioned my illness, but also surprisingly gave a positive prognosis. Now that my name has made it into the national magazine, I am hopeful that some of the agents that I knew years ago who I knew in Baltimore, Washington, and New Hampshire, might make an effort to contact me.

Comment on "Comments"

2010-03-05T14:32:00.004-05:00

I have had to change my "settngs" on my blog with regard to COMMENTS on posts. Previously, only members of this blog could write a post for the blog and publish it, but I allowed "ANYONE" to comment on a post. All you had to do was click on the word "comment" and type what you wanted to say. I, as the administrator of the blog, would have to "accept" or "reject" the comment. It was rare that I would not publish a person's comment. It was possible to comment uncer your own name or as "ANONYMOUS". Well, unfortunately, I have had some nasty hacker try to do harm to my blog which as been running now for five years, so to protect it, I have had to restrict comments to MEMBERS ONLY. I am sorry about that, but I cannot risk my blog for this kind of person.

Comment on "Comments"

2010-03-05T14:32:00.001-05:00

Mystery of the Missing Emerald by Reademtheirwrites.com

2010-02-07T21:37:00.003-05:00

2010-02-07T21:22:00.004-05:00

Odds and Ends------in Mid-Winter 2010

2010-02-04T14:47:00.003-05:00

It is midwinter 2010 and we haven't had a blockbuster storm yet. I am in the beautiful Lamar Souter Library on the campus of UMass in Worcester, Ma. waiting for my new student a nephrologist) to get out of her seminar and come for her second lesson with me. This is a magnificent library. I am sitting in a glassed in booth with a large screen which I can attach my laptop computer to. It is a perfect setting in which to work with someone one on one. Of course, the Atrium at St Vincents was fine also, but I think this is better. (However, the salad bar at St. Vincent's is better so.....take your pick!!)........
Yesterday I presided over my second veterans' meeting of MIANE (Military Intelligence Association of New England in Woburn, Ma. Our guest speaker had been a sergeant in the U.S. Army Rangers and had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He received both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He brought photographs with him. It was his unit that captured Saddam Hussein and it was he personally that arrested "Chemical Ali" the person who gassed so many Kurds. He was very humble though and did not want to take much credit for that because he said Chemical Ali simply walked in and surrendered. He said they had been searching for him for a long time. His photographs showed a landscape that looks very dry, barren, and not unlike the moon! This gentleman now works in security for a biotech company. What kind of security? He protects the company against animal advocates who may resort to violence in their zeal to protect animals used in science research. This young man was very impressive indeed.
.........A new senator will be sworn in in Washington in a few hours..........I wonder what Ted would say........They say the "independent" vote put him in office....we shall have to count his votes to see how independent he remains......The Health Bill remains a national problem waiting to be solved.......The huge unemployment situation along with high medical costs makes it a staggering problem......A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND......Let's hope Abraham Lincoln was wrong, but unless we can stop the bickering between the left and the right, and the political types stop thinking about POWER as the only goal in life, we are finished.......
Enough of the "gloom and doom"......Fairouz, that marvelous student of immunology in New York is going to France for a short vacation soon......Don't let anyone tell you scientists don't work hard!...They work long hours and when they get some time off, it is well deserved.....have a nice trip, Fairouz,,,,,,,,,A bientot!.......I hope you have all seen Marisa Fusaro's play up in Canada......It was great!..the website is www.reademtheirwrites.com ......Well, I better go now........Au revoir.......

Marisa Fusaro Turns the Clock Back

2010-01-28T22:18:00.002-05:00

It has been fun getting reacquainted with one of that special group that were part of an educational experiment that the teacher (me) was part of also at Adams Street School back in the late 70's. The leader of that experiment was a lady by the name of Carol Baldassari who came from Leslie College and approached me at the school where I was teaching a split 5th and 6th grade class. Under her leadership we turned a traditional "egg crate" classroom into one with a loft in the middle surrounded by "learning centers" for various subjects. The classroom operated on a very liberal philosophy of "TRUST with RESPONSIBILITY". Kids moved about rather freely with only "Mr. Jogger" keeping an eye on them and he never squealed on anyone and if he did he would get his mouth taped shut! The loft had an upper floor which was carpeted and was used for "20 Minute Reading", a time during the day when EVERYONE including the teacher read a book or magazine. The lower part of the loft had a mimeograph machine where we printed our class newspaper. This was truly a revolution in classroom management abd there is no way that I could have done it without the assistance of that marvelous "lady carpenter", Carol Baldasarri. (I found her on Google and see that she is still connected to Leslie College. I wish I had her e-mail address.) She put all the kids on "committees" that Marisa reminded of in her recent e-mail from Ottawa. I don't remember all of them. but there was the "Measuring Committee" to measure and cut the plywood, and the "Assembly Commmittee", and the "Detailing Committee", and the "Painting Committee",etc. What happened in this classroom was this: WE RISKED A LITTLE CONTROL, BUT GAINED A LOT OF CREATIVITY WITH THE FREEDOM. There was not another class like it in the school and I don't know where there was one like it anywhere else. It was this class that Corrine Bostic came into to work with,but it was only half the class. Marisa Fusaro was able to work with Corrine Bostic,the author, and write her wonderful play "The Case of he Missing Emeralds" and then the next year work with the "lady carpenter" from Leslie College, Carol Baldassari. Those kids and their teacher (me) in those two years had an education that was rare and never matched. You were beautiful on that stage Marisa as were all of the Canadian actors and actresses, and I thought it was particularly good when you corrected that guy's pronunciation of WORCESTER!!! Now I hope the readers of this blog will go to www.reademtheirwrites.com and see what I am talking about.

The Brainteaser---Two Winners

2010-01-21T15:08:00.002-05:00

I think you have had enough time with Mr.Leo's Brainteaser, and it is time for me to tell you that there has been two people who have gotten it pretty close to correct. However, they live worlds apart! One lives in southern France and the other lives in New York City. First of all, the type of sentence was a CONDITIONAL SENTENCE USING THE PAST PERFECT AND PRESENT PERFECT TENSES. The Past Perfect Tense (had known) was used in the DEPENDENT CLAUSE: "If I had known you were going to Paris,". The present perfect tense was used in the INDEPENDENT CLAUSE: " I would have bought you a new winter coat.".......The whole complete sentence looks like this: If I had known you were going to Paris, I would have bought you a new winter coat. Notice the comma after the dependent clause. If you turn the sentence around and write it this way: " I would have bought you a new winter coat if I had known you were going to Paris." the comma is not necessary. The comma is only necessary if the dependent clause comes FIRST in the sentence. If you find these "brainteasers" helpful in your writing let me know in an e-mail (leocoleman@rocketmail.com) and I will dream up some others. What I need to know is the kind of help you need and sometimes I find that out from how you word your e-mails to me...........Au revoir Mes amis!

Mr Leo's Advanced Braintest---Continued

2010-01-19T15:48:00.002-05:00

If you click on the word "COMMENT" on the last post, you will be able to read an attempt by "ANONYMOUS" to answer Mr.Leo's Braintest. "ANONYMOUS" did very very well and almost got the answer correct. She got the second half of the sentence correct. Now, that hint should help the rest of you get the sentence correct, shouldn't it? Sooner or later I will just tell you, but also give you an explanation as well.
Now I want to tell you something about "ANONYMOUS" without telling you her name. She was a student in my class at the Worcester Adult Learning Center about six or maybe seven years ago. (That is a guess.) She was a nurse by profession and was born in France. She was single when she lived here in Worcester. She married a man from Morocco and moved to the French Riviera where she lives now with her husband and two lovely daughters......and I think.....a pet parrot of some kind. She lets the parrot fly around the house because I have seen pictures of that bird outside its cage in the house! When she was in my class, she was part of my "health team" and we made a video entitled "Your Mother was Right". The video was about the importance of handwashing. The video itself is short, but the value for ESOL students of course was in the planning, the conversation practice, and the actual writing and performing in public. I have the original video and hope sometime to get it onto YOUTUBE if I can get my daughter or someone who knows how to put it in the form that it has to be in. Thank you, "ANONYMOUS" for trying my braintest and doing so well. I will give it a few more days and then publish the complete answer, but it should be a lot easier now thanks to you, "ANONYMOUS"

Mr. Leo's Advanced Grammar Brain Teaser

2010-01-15T13:42:00.002-05:00

I am at the present time giving a former student a mini-brain test by e-mail just for fun. (Also, I determined by a test that I gave him that he NEEDS this kind of practice!. I thought I would open it up to others as well. This will be a little tricky because I have to set up the situation without giving you the answer completely, yet not making it impossible to do!.......Well, let me try. You may recognise yourself in the example: Here is the situation. I will give you all that is necessary for you to answer me, but you must answer me in ONE SENTENCE to be correct. Do you understand?.....ONLY ONE SENTENCE....THAT IS ALL YOU ARE ALLOWED.
Okay, here are the facts:
1. Madamemoiselle X planned a trip to France in January 2010
2. She did not tell me she was going to go. She kept it a secret.
3. She needed to buy a warm coat for Paris in the winter.
4. She had to buy her own coat for the Paris winter----so sad!
5. Leo LOVES to buy coats for Madmeoiselle X, but she did not tell him
she was going, so how could he buy her a new coat?......Too bad!
Now, you have the major facts that you need. NOW for the GRAMMAR FACTS:
1. Your sentence must begin with the word "IF"
2. Your sentence must use the PAST PEFECT TENSE of the verb "To know"
3. Your sentence must use the PRESENT PERFECT TENSE of the verb "to buy"
Also, if you can name the kind of sentence it is and put the comma in the right place, you get THREE BOWS from me, an admission that "You are the master," and I buy the coffee at the Atrium of St. V's..............(unless you are Sikandar in which case I could NEVER say, "You are the master!").......(Answer next week.)

A Visitor from China---Shen Hao Chu

2010-01-12T15:17:00.006-05:00

My brother Ray who is a professor of psychology and lives in West Boylston,Ma. recently had a visitor from China at his house. Ray is our family's world traveler and has been to China four times. (By comparison, I have been to California once!) His visitor's first name was "Hao Chu",but in China they put the last name first. Ray and HaoChu simplified things by calling him "Jack" the three weeks of his visit.
Jack graduated from Zhejiang University in 1996. This large university is located in the city of Hangzhou which is on the Southeast Coast of China. (If you look it up on Google, you will see what a beautiful area it is!) Jack works for a company by the name of Haining Xinhua and is in the publishing business.
Ray planned Jack's visit very well. He showed him all parts of Worcester: rich, middle class, and poor. He showed him our industrial past and our biotech present. Interspersed were a number of "minitrips" which he told me about and I will summarize as best I can here. It seems to me in retrospect that Ray's purpose was to show Jack as much of a picture of this area as he could.
Ray and Jack went to Boston and walked the historic Freedom Trail. They visited the State House and then had lunch at the fabulous Black Rose Restaurant. On the way home they stopped at Walden's Pond and explored the 10'by 10' replica of Henry David Thoreau's cabin where he wrote his famous "Walden" in Concord, Massachusetts (1848?) Later, they made a return visit to Concord, Ma. and visited the famous Concord Bridge and also stopped at Lexington, Ma. where the American Revolution began. On another of their "mini-trips", Ray and Jack traveled to Cambridge, Massacusetts to visit America's famous college: Harvard University.
(I think this pretty much covers historic Massachusetts although I told Jack that when he comes again a trip to this area is not complete without knowing how people lived in the 1830's and that I would be their guide for that. That would be Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.) Their next place to visit was New York City which is 180 miles away from Worcester and about a four hour drive. Ray doesn't mind driving anywhere. In New York they stayed overnight in a moderately priced hotel and NOT the YMCA!(as Ray did with me!) That was a break for Jack.) In New York they visited Chinatown. They went to the Stock Exchange on Wall Street but the public is not allowed in since the tragedy of 9/11. They visited the historic Trinity Church. They also visited Ground Zero where the Trade Center stood. Then it was on to Times Square, the Staten Island Ferry (which is FREE) and the Statue of Liberty. They also visited the Natural History Museum and took in the musical "Finian's Rainbow". On the way home they stopped to see President Ulysses S.Grant's Tomb along the highway. This is one of the most elaborate of all the Presidential burial tombs. Whew!.............What a trip! That is the way Ray is. Be prepared to see EVERYTHING! I have no idea what kind of professor he is, but he is one helluva tour guide!! When I went with him once on the Freedom Trail in Boston some years ago, he showed me where the Brinks robbery had taken place. How many tours show you that. (That is probably on Google too.) We enjoyed your visit, Jack.

Farewell to Frank Norvish

2010-01-07T14:57:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I assumed the role of president of the Military Intelligence Association of New England (MIANE) and took over the gavel from outgoing president Henry Bagley of Melrose,Ma. Jim Ryan, our chaplain who comes from Springfield was unable to attend yesterday so I had to do double duty and do the invocation as well. Part of the invocation was a tribute to Frank Norvish, a former president of MIANE who passed away at the age of 98. Frank served as a Counterintelligence Corps(CIC) Special Agent in World War II from 1943 to 1945 in the European Theater of Operations. He landed at Utah Beach on D Day (June 6,1944) and was awarded the Bronze Star. He received orders to join General Charles DeGaulle's entourage for the liberation of Paris and in the two weeks following that event he assisted the Free French in apprehending more than 40 collaborators, saboteurs, defectors, and infiltrators. Frank was attached to units commanded by General "Lightning Joe" Collins of the VII Corps. He was also involved in the infamous "Battle of the Bulge". Like so many agents who distnguished themselves for their country over the years, Frank was proficient in several languages.
All of this by itself would have made Frank Norvish one of CIC's most outstanding heroes of World War II. However, what Frank was most proud of occurred as the war was drawing to a close. Both the allied forces and the Russians were interested in locating the German rocket and nuclear scientists and the race was on to find them. Frank was very proud of the fact that he was able to locate six of these important scientists along with their notes and send them back to London on the next plane available.
In civilian life Frank went on to a distinguished career as a professor of English at Northeastern University. He was also a past president of MIANE and vice president of the National Counterintelligence Association. He also served on its Board of Directors.
We will all remember Franklin Norvish in our prayers....a very special American...a very special man.

A New Mayor--a New Promise

2010-01-05T16:18:00.005-05:00

It was a cold night to go out, but I wanted to see the new school and especially my former student from Adams Street School take her place on the Worcester School Committee. I thought about taking Mayor O'Brien's suggestion of taking the bus to the festivities, but that still left the long trek home later. When I saw the problem it was finding a parking spot at the school, I soon regretted not taking the bus! However, I eventually found a spot for my old jalopy (1989 Olds!) and a seat in the beautiful auditorium of this magnificent Worcester Technical High School. The choice of location could not have been better if one wanted to showcase what is tops in Worcester. It was perfect and the show was first class from beginning to end.
I spoke with Diane briefly after the ceremony. I had not seen her since grade six and it did my ego no good at all when she thought that I was MR. BOTTOM! Good Heavens! Dave Bottom and I were complete opposites! Dave was a strict disciplinarian with a soft heart. He also had a good sized tummy. When a kid got out of line, he would back him against the blackboard with his tummy and hold him there (with his tummy) and chew him out as good as any Marine Corps drill instructor.(It was always a "him".) I had the soft heart, but not the tummy to use Mr. Bottom's tactics. Nobody had to use those tactics with Diane though. She was a bright, but really SPUNKY LITTLE KID. She was definitely no wallflower and I would not expect her to be like that today either.
I listened with interest to what Mr. O'Brien had to say about the makings of a school system. I agree that a community's future is directly tied to the quality of its schools and I also agree that people have to work together for progress. The part I liked the best however is Mr. O'Brien's talking about people speaking up and leaders listening. I hope he meant what he said and was not just blowing smoke. That can be most uncomfortable sometimes.
Diane's ascendancy to the school committee upholds a long and honored tradition at Adams Street School. Vincent Pedone (another former student) became and still is a state representative in the Massachusetts State legislature. In 1983 I entered a group of five students from Adams Street School in the Massachusetts History Day contest. We competed aboard the USS Massachusetts battleship in Fall River and won. We went on to compete at the University of Maryland. In 1984, a group of ten children competed in two categories of the Massachusetts History Day contest from Adams Street School, won again, and competed again at the University of Maryland a second year. The children and teacher were supported financially both years by the neighborhood. Marisa Fusaro, another famous graduate found me on Google recently. When she was in my class we published a book entitled "Togetherness" which you can read about extensively elsewhere in this blog. Adams Street School had famous graduates before I ever taught there and after I left there I am sure. I wrote about the place and about the history of Shrewsbury Street. Someone told me that they saw it in the Worcester Historical Museum. One of these days I will have to take a trip over there to see just what they have of mine. I know I never put anything in there. Someone else must have. That is a mystery that remains to be solved. Well, enough is enough. If you know anymore about Adams Street School graduates, you can add it under this post as a "COMMENT". You have to be a member of the blog to write for the blog, but you DO NOT have to be a member in order to "COMMENT". Anyone can comment. Just "click" on the word comment and type what you want.

Some Thoughts on Immigration--Government Agents and The U.S. Constitution

2009-12-21T13:05:00.007-05:00

I attended the showing of a film last Friday night (December 18,2009) at St. Bernard's Church on Lincoln Street. When the film was over I made the comment that I thought it was something that should be shown on "60 Minutes" or "20/20". Unfortunately it is a film that relatively few people will see. The film was about the government raid of a factory in New Bedford, Massachusetts two years ago where 31 people from Guatemala(?) and other countries were arrested by federal immigration agents. (They are called ICE Agents.) The film goes on to document the poor treatment with regard to verbal abuse and the plight of these undocumented immigrants in general. These particular people were taken to Fort Devens in Shirley, Ma. Families were separated. In some cases, fathers were at home with a baby not knowing where the mother had been taken. The mother ended up on a plane in handcuffs headed back home to Guatemala or wherever she came from without her husband or baby! These issues are not so simple as I so often hear as "Ship them out!"
The discussion that followed the film brought up various scenes in the film. All agreed that EVERYBODY IS ENTITLED TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY, AND THAT WE AS A NATION SHOULD RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS. Apparently these people caught in this raid were sworn at, called names, and otherwise insulted in ways that I am embarassed to write down here as an American! As I sat there, I was being brought back to when I was a young man and spent three years as a U.S. government agent. I was not an immigration agent, but I was a special agent for the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps. I worked in civillian clothes, had a set of credentials, a badge, a 38 caliber Colt revolver with a 2" barrel with a shoulder holster, and a plain colored new Chevrolet sedan to drive around in. I worked out of a field office with a SAIC(Special Agent in Charge) and other agents with specialty training. We had a "cover title" which was "First U.S. Army Research Group". Our "research" was supposed to be cold weather equipment in the White Mountains of New Hampshire especially Mt. Washington, one of the coldest places anywhere. In reality, we had nothing to do with any cold weather equipment and everything to do with the cold war at the time and trying to keep America's secrets from falling into the wrong hands. My training took place at Fort Holabird, Dundalk, Maryland. (Incidentally, this is the same place Ted Kennedy talks about in his book, "True Compass" but I have issues with what he says. But that is for another post.) I bring up my training at Fort Holabird because I was reminded again on Friday night of one fact that people pay lip service to but is something I thought very seriously about as a young man years ago and it is this: " We should always respect the U.S. Constitution and never take it for granted ." Please pay attention to what I am saying: In my training, I had a Captain Ballou. I will never forget that guy. He taught the subject called "Report Writing", and he was a stickler. I had good English teachers in high school and college who taught me grammar and writing skills, but nobody could match this guy. He beat them all. He, like all great teachers, would go beyond what he had to do. I remember him stressing with us that he wanted us to remember that we still lived in a democratic republic and were a country that would not tolerate a gestapo-type organization. He cautioned us against letting ego get in our way and to always remember that the United States Constitution was our real boss. Later when I was working as a special agent in military intelligence I was in a position to see the big picture. I knew the Table of Organization, so to speak, which included field offices in every major city in the United States and many minor cities had resident agents (including Worcester---I met him.) Here we were an "army" in civilian clothes going to work every day in shirt and tie but unknown to the civilian population. The thought occured to me several times back then how important the protections of that U.S. Constitution really were for the citizenry. I thought what a great help an organization such as the one I was in would be to a dictator!
We were not trained to swear at civilians or treat them with disrespect. There were times we had to put people under oath the same as in a court of law. Instead of us acting in a bad way, I can recall one time when a state governor wanted to charge our agents the tolls for riding on the toll road. Our SAIC, who also happened to be a West Point captain,went to the governor's office (in civilian clothes) and showed him his credentials. he then proceeded to explain that the federal government provided 90% of the funds to build the toll road and our agents were representatives of the federal government and should not have to pay the toll to ride on that road! The governor agreed, and we never again had to pay a toll anywhere in that state.
My life during those three cold war years was a fascinating experience. I was a military person in civilian clothes except for once a year when I had to qualify with the M-1 rifle at a military post. In all that time I dealt with hundreds of people in all walks of life: military,medical people, business people, college professors, police, scientists, ordinary citizens, bankers, and politicians. I never treated any of these people with anything but respect. Their station in life was not important to me. I was not trained to treat people according to their station in life. I would doubt that immigration agents are trained to swear at immigrants or to treat them with disrespect. Agents who do that are abusing their job.
Another issue that was brought up in the discussion was the plight of the young person who might have been born say in the Philippine Islands and come here at age two years with undocumented parents. Then at say age 19 he is "discovered" and deported. His whole life he has been an American but now overnight he has been put on a plane and transported to what to him is a foreign country. The poor fellow finds himself in a new country knowing nothing about the new place and probably in culture shock.
Now if you are a regular reader of this blog, you may have read the first episode of Adult Education in the Kingdom Of Blubarbaria--a fictitious place. If someone were unlucky enough to find himself deported as a bar--Blubararian to this place and having to learn the language he might end up at that learning center and need guidance services....and if that ex-politico still is there---He once told the level 4 ESOL guy, "We should never have let them in.".....I hope it wasn't YOU he was talking about......That would be bad news for you most likely don't you think??

Teaching English to Japanese Students...etc...etc..

2009-12-17T15:48:00.005-05:00

I was thinking the other day of a student I had a few years ago by the name of Megumi Iwasaki and wondering whatever happened to her because I have not heard from her for some time now. She went to graduate school here and I assume that she has probably returned to Japan. You might wonder with all the many students that I have had why Megumi was one that stood out. Well, normally Megumi would be one who would NOT stand out in my memory because she, like so many Japanese students, was very SHY, but Megumi wanted to make an impression on her teacher because she knew the teacher would probably be teaching other Japanese students and she wanted to help the students that came after her. Maybe some ESOL teacher may read this blog and it will help if he/she has Japanese students to teach now and in the future.
Megumi told me that students in Japan have English taught to them for six years beginning in junior high school. She said that the problem was in her opinion that there was an over emphasis on GRAMMAR TEACHING and not enough on PRONUNCIATION. Also, the pronunciation that was taught was the wrong pronunciation so that when she came to the United States she had to relearn English pronunciation. She said that ESOL teachers should encourage Japanese students to speak SLOWLY and when you teach them stress the teaching of the letters "r" "v" "w" and (like most languages) "th". I think also that in Japanese the vowels have only ONE sound for each of them. (I am not quite sure about that.)
And now for the "etc etc" in the title: Sometimes I wish I could speak everyone's language, especially French, Spanish, and Urdu. Why French lately?..because I have received Facebook messages in French from Nancy,France; Spanish?...because I want to read the e-mail I received from Ines about those kids in Uruguay all taking laptop computers home from school everyday!!! Is that impressive or what!! and Urdu?...well, that exotic language is the language of Pakistan and my friend Sikandar the nephrologist, who is in Florida right now and traveling around so much that it is hard to keep up with him !! I envy Sikandar in Florida right now. It is freezing out today!

Welcome to my blog, Maddie Coleman!

2009-12-15T13:31:00.002-05:00

I want to give a hearty welcome to Maddie Coleman who is 9 years old and lives in far off Harleyville, Pennsylvania. Her father's name is Paul and his father's name is Donald. Donald lives in Charleston, South Carolina and is MY brother. I couldn't have been much older than you, Maddie when my mother put me in St. Anne's Orphanage for a two week "vacation". Maybe if you are very good, your mother might do the same thing to you and maybe you could take your 7 year old brother Andrew with you. I'll bet they give oranges in Pennsylvania too!....But that is not why I am writing this post. Maddie wrote to me and asked if I would publish a poem that she wrote in the 4th grade. You are not an immigrant Maddie, but I am THRILLED to do it. You have the honor of being the first Pennsylvanian on Mr.Leo's Blog. I hope that your brother Andrew will write something and be the second.So here is your poem,Maddie. I hope someone will write a "COMMENT" about it:
STARS
A million lanterns
Drops from the sun
Golden flames on matches
Not a single flame the same
But they all light my way
written by Maddie May Coleman
Grade 4
Harleyville, Pennsylvania

Adult Education in the Kingdom of Blubarbaria

2009-12-01T16:17:00.008-05:00

This is the story of a series of dreams that turned into a nightmare. Dreams sometimes have a way of repeating themselves until positive steps are taken to analyze them and then do something about them. Sweeping them under the rug only makes them worse. But that is talk for the future...
The setting for these dreams were all the same: two old school buildings in the kingdom of Blubarbaria. One is a castle-like structure and houses all the school administrative offices of Blubarbaria. The other is somewhat newer and is the home of the Blubarbarian Adult Learning Center. There is an invisible moat around this building with menacing sharks in it. There are two bridges leading to the school. One bridge allows students and teachers to enter the building. The other bridge enters from the castle. IT IS OBVIOUS FROM JUST A CURSORY INSPECTION THAT THIS BRIDGE HAS BEEN RARELY IF EVER USED! This is the main reason that the dream turned into a nightmare. A statement kept repeating in my head just before I would wake up and it was this, "We don't have any jurisdiction over there." That statement was coming from the castle and being directed toward the school. Hmmmn. Trouble, right here in Blubarbaria Kingdom!
The calendar flips back in Blubarbaria and a prominent Blubarbarian by the name of Milton Higgins (middle initial "P") teaches Mechanical Drawing at a place called Belmont School in the evening for money. Gee, the beginning of what is now called "Night Life". Too far back! I will be writing forever. (My nephew in Oregon is waiting for my next episode of my life in St. Anne's Orphanage, so I cannot go forward from the 1890's!!!) I MUST flip forward to let's say the mid-1960's and take another look: Here we find a tall gangling Jimmy Murphy who later became Principal of Roosevelt School. He is the founder of the modern Night Life era as he teaches "Television Set Repair" at the old Commerce High School on Walnut Street, another prominent place in Blubarbaria; Jimmy was a really good Blubarbarian citizen too!
"Night Life", the name given to a wide variety of community based practical courses from Bartending to Palm Reading really became popular under the leadership of a Horatio Alger type character by the name of Mr. Gerry Sleightofhand (fictitious). Mr.Gerry could have been a top executive in Barnum and Bailey's Circus I am sure or a top CEO in some other business, but he chose to run the Blubarbarian Night Life program AND the adult education program for the Kingdom of Blubarbaria through the rest of the 1960's and through the next two decades and beyond. During some of this time, I left adult education for a time to become involved in a most controversial National Teacher Corps program with 25 people who were not Blubarbarians and as such were naturally suspicious. They came into the kingdom to develop a curriculum in African Studies but also had a "hidden agenda" of teaching children about something known as.....shhh.....racial tolerance....shhh...more than THAT!.....shhh...."acceptance".....There is a lot that I am leaving out, but after teacher Corps with UMass Amherst, I came back to working teaching immigrants English at the Blubarbarian
Learning Center. Now, Mr. Sleightofhand was very proud that his "school system was larger than what he would say was the entire school system of Blubarbaria!! Can you imagine THAT! By this time he had a person that he had to hire to do testing for him. This fellow was a graduate of Holy Cross and was a nice enough fellow but he had not been picked by Mr Sleightofhand and that meant trouble for the Holy Cross grad. Mr. Sleightofhand harassed him in every way that he could. He would refer to him as "the total loss from Holy Cross." Wasn't that awful! The one picture that I have in my mind from this era is "Mr Holy Cross" having his desk moved into a narrow back room where ESL Cambridge textbooks were piled to the ceiling along with copypaper (how ironic!)Mr. Sleightofhand did spend some of his extra money that he had left over from a booming "Night Life" culture to buy books and teaching materials for the immigrant program. He told me once that he planned to have the Cambridge Book Company salesperson always visit during lunch time. "Mr. Holy Cross" had the awful misfortune to have his desk deliberately placed at the back of this narrow supply room...a terrible indignity. When I asked him how he put up with such treatment, he said to me, "I have a wife and child to support." I felt so bad for him. It is too bad that years later Mr. Holy Cross seemed to forget what it felt like to be discriminated against. I cite this example to explain why CONTROLS MUST BE PUT ON INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE NOT COVERED BY TRADE UNIONS IN ORDER TO PREVENT THIS KIND OF TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES. YES, it can happen in a school of learning and CONTROLS are even more crucial in a school that has IMMIGRANT STUDENTS IN IT. THEY HAVE NO VOICE AT ALL!!!....If these controls are not instituted and the offending people are simply removed, then the danger that history will repeat itself still will always be there. Unfortunately, history did repeat itself at the Blubarbarian Adult Learning Center, but the explanation of how that happened will have to wait for awhile. I have an Oregonian waiting for my St Anne's Orphanage story. (To be continued...)

My Life in St. Anne's Orphanage--Part Four

2009-11-30T17:55:00.004-05:00

(This is the fourth part of a continuing story of my two week interruption of childhood at St. Anne's Orphanage, Worcester, Massachusetts.) It wasn't all " life by the numbers" so to speak;that is, corn flakes, march, march, "the catatonic shuffle", sew the mattresses, "clack clack, the sea of bunk beds. If I had to go to the bathroom at night, I would look over to the lady in black sitting under the dim light and think, "Well, I could get up. But, what would she do then?" "I could walk over to her, but I would never be able to find my way back to my bed in the dark, so I better just forget about it and go to sleep." Also, she might start waving her arms at me again! I also used to lie awake and wonder what they ever did with Jeanny Benoit and all the other girls. It couldn't be that there were only boy orphans, could there? I NEVER saw Jeanny nor ANY girl the entire two weeks that I was there. Where they hid the girls I will never know.
However, by midweek I did get my one and only ORANGE! Jeanny, if you ever became a nun and you read this, I know you did not lie to me. They really did give oranges to kids at St. Anne's Orphanage. (It's a long time ago now, but I think they had seeds in them. ( In fact, I don't think the seedless orange was invented yet.) This is how I got my orange: It was about midweek. We had finished sewing some mattresses and they probably ran out of rags or something because we were lined up and marched out to a field with what I could recognize as a baseball diamond carved into it. I remember playing the outfield and if one of the kids hit a flyball you had to keep your eye carefully on the ball if it fell on the ground because the grass was rather high and it was easy to lose the ball, but I didn't care one bit. It sure beat sewing mattresses....and when I came in from my stint in the outfield..there it was...THAT BEAUTIFUL ORANGE, Jeanny or Sister Jeanny, probably of the Sisters of Saint Josephs! I savored every segment and spit out the seeds, but what a PRICE! That was the most expensive orange of all time. A price can not be put on it. I wish now that I could have waxed it or put it in a glass case and preserved it. It is possible that at the time I might have wanted to stuff Jeanny....and my mother...with a few of those oranges but the moment passed.... I don't remember who won the game.
I do remember one other athletic contest at St Anne's very well though because I won the contest. It was also outdoors and it was a swimming contest. It is strange but after all these years I still remember the names of three boys that I competed against in a swimming race. These boys were REAL orphans and their last name was BULLARD. The thing that made them stand out was the fact that they were triplets. After I won the race, we became friends for the rest of the few days that I stayed at the orphanage. I was not sad to leave that place, far from it, but I was sad to leave my three new friends. I thought that I was leaving there but they would be there until they were adopted or grew into adulthood. Years later as a teacher teaching GED preparation (I was not always teaching English as a Second Language) I had a young lady in class whose last name was BULLARD. I asked her if her father had two brothers and was a triplet. I did not tell her why I was asking, but she apparently did not know the answer. She went home and asked. She came back and told me, "Yes." I simply said that I knew someone one time by that name. I did not pursue it with the young lady nor did that one brother. I think I did the right thing to just leave it there.
I am almost at the end of the week. I had almost forgotten what it was like to sleep in my own bed. I didn't know it at the time, but the training I was getting was excellent introductory training for the Army. The last adventure I can recall was the one with those hogs! You know, everybody thinks nuns are delicate creatures. Forget it. They can raise the biggest HOGS you ever saw! As a city kid, I had never seen a HOG. I don't know what they did with these hogs. You cannot milk a hog, but they kept them in a pen with a fence around it. Well, let me tell you what happened: late in the week, probably Friday or Saturday,(I was scheduled to go home on Sunday and I was counting the hours!) somehow these HUGE HOGS ESCAPED INTO THE WOODS AROUND THE ORPHANAGE. Well, the nuns were in a panic. They got all the kids out and handed each of us a two by four piece of wood that was about as big as I was. Now you must remember that I was a litle skinny kid weighing about 75 pounds soaking wet; it was about 7:30P.M on a July summer evening and just starting to get dark and here I was out in the woods with a two by four listening to the God awful "OINK OINK" of these HUGE HOGS roaming the woods and the nuns screaming. Suddenly there he was right in front of me about 30 yard.....the BIGGEST HOG YOU EVER SAW! He came crashing through the trees straight at me!! I was scared out of my mind as I looked into those mean eyes. I can see him right now....Just as he was going to trample me into human sausage, I stepped aside a WHACKED HIM ON THE DERRIERE as he crashed by. This sort of gave me courage and I chased along after him. One way or another the nuns and all the kids corraled those hogs back into the pen and our work was done for the night. When my own children were small and we went to visit an animal farm, I think back with fondness about the hogs of St. Anne's Orphanage.
Sunday night FINALLY came. I finally came together again with that little cardboard suitcase my mother had given me two weeks previous when she faked her trip to the hospital. Now I anxiously awaited her arrival to take me home. I had secretly made my goodbyes already. I had said goodbye to the Blessed Virgin in the "catatonic shuffle" room on Saturday morning (No shuffle on Sundays), a secret goodbye to that lovely nun who poured the sugared milk each morning, another one to "clack clack", and to the lady in the chair at night who gave hand signals, another goodbye to the three Bullard boys, and good riddance to the tasks of sewing mattresses,and chasing hogs. I thought of all those things as I waited for my mother and then there she was. After a few formalities she took me by the hand and we started out the door. I turned around and took one last look and there was that nun, the one in charge whom I met the first night, with that "Mona Lisa look" on her face. It seemed as though she might be thinking, "WHAT DO YOU THINK, YOU'RE GOING TO GET AN ORANGE FOR NOTHING? DON'T YOU KNOW THERE'S A WAR ON?

My Life in St. Anne's Orphanage Part Three

2009-11-30T11:54:00.007-05:00

(This is Part Three of a continuing story of my two weeks in an orphanage) I used to love the smell of bacon and eggs or griddle cakes cooking in that ageless black frying pan and that even older black Glenwood stove with the crack in it at home, BUT THERE WERE NO SUCH SMELLS IN THIS PLACE! It was corn flakes and with milk from the steel pot with the sugar mixed in and passed down from a silent nameless kid sitting in a long line of nameless kids....every day! Oh, it was nutritious enough, but I still had not seen that ORANGE that Jeanny had talked about!
It was now the second day. After breakfast at that long long table we marched to the Blessed Virgin Room and got our two pieces of felt. Then the "catatonic shuffle"....around and around and around....under the watchful eye of the unsmiling plaster Madonna. (I have often wondered in later years whether this "playroom" could ever have been used for what it was intended for. It would have been such a shame to make any marks with toys on that magnificently polished floor.)
How long did we spend each morning on the "catatonic shuffle"? It has been so many years that I cannot recall now, but I am sure we were not overworked, but I do know that every minute was taken up doing something. As they said then, "Idle hands made work for the devil." We did not go to Mass every day as some people might think, but we did go and when we did, we naturally MARCHED there. Our lovely Sister in black used her "clackers" as signals for all us children to signal us as to when to move: "CLACK": Kneel down....."CLACK, CLACKCLACK"...stand up...These "claps" of these black pieces of wood held by the nun in charge were all that we children needed to act in unison: "kneel", "Stand", "sit". However, Mass was not a daily function as I recall. One other thing that was a daily function at this time at least, was SEWING MATTRESSES. Why we did this I have no idea even now. Perhaps it had something to do with the war effort. Perhaps someone will read this and tell me now. But, here I was as a little boy knowing nothing about sewing and being handed a needle and thread and a bunch of rags to stuff mattresses! We children had a regular mattress stuffing assembly line. After awhile my fingers were full of holes from sticking myself with the needle. You can imagine! Half of the rags were sticking out the end, but somehow the darned mattress got stuffed. Whoever slept on the bed I will never know. We did this every day for two weeks. I didn't care if I ever saw another needle and thread after I got out of there for the rest of my life!
My mother came to see me on the Saturday night of the first week that I was there. I was surprised that nobody asked her about her hospital stay. I begged her desperately to get me out of this Godforsaken place but she would not relent. She said she had made a bargain with me that I would stay for TWO weeks. Besides, she had already PAID for the TWO weeks and I was going to stay come hell or highwater! That was that--end of discussion! (Hail holy queen Mother of Mercy our life our sweetness....I stood there as I watched my mother depart the premises. My mother was teaching one heck of a lesson to a little boy. Half of the time was up but it felt like an eternity to me at that age. I had not set eyes on Jeanny Benoit nor an ORANGE and I still faced another week of "the catatonic shuffle",sewing mattresses, marching, "clack, clack", and God knows what other adventures the ladies in black could dream up for me.... TO BE CONTINUED

My Life In St. Anne's Orphanage--Part Two

2009-11-25T15:37:00.008-05:00

(Continued from a previous post) The die was cast. My mother packed my little suitcase and I was off to St. Anne's. I can't recall now but we must have gotten there by trolley because we had no car during the war with the gas rationing and all. We would have had to take two trolleys: one down to City Hall and the second one down through Kelly Square and up Vernon Hill to St Anne's Orphanage which was off in a field at that time. I recall seeing all these stern looking ladies dressed all in black with "white bibs" and rosary beads (I knew what they were) dangling from their sides walking around the place. After my mother left, I was assigned a bed amidst a sea of beds in a dormitory. I had never seen a dormitory in my life and was scared to death that I wouldn't find it again. I can't recall now what happened to my suitcase of clothing, but my first memory after the dorm is being in a formation of children and marching off to supper. For the next two weeks, we MARCHED everywhere! I did not do anymore marching like this until I entered the United States Army 13 years later. We ate as I recall at rather long wooden tables with benches. The tables were covered with what we called "oilcloth" The nuns dished out the food to you. I do recall breakfast vividly because it was so different from what I was used to at home. We had corn flakes or something like that every day that I was there. There was no sugar bowl on the table. I thought that very odd at the time because I always put my own sugar in my cereal. However, I am sure the nuns did not want a bunch of kids spilling sugar all over the floor so they mixed the sugar in with the milk and put it in pitchers. As a kid it took me a while to figure this out. There may have been another explanation for no sugar on the table. We had "ration books" at home and you needed a ration book with a stamp to buy sugar when you could get sugar. It was very scarce. The nuns probably put Caro syrup into those pitchers.
After breakfast, a group of us all still dressed in pajamas were MARCHED with a lovely nun in front to a room that was quite large. The room had two prominent features that I can picture in my mind to this day: It had a highly polished parquet floor and a lovely statue of the Blessed Virgin at one end. The nun at the head of the line blocked the door and as each of us squeezed by her she handed us two small pieces of felt. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with these pieces of felt until I watched the other children who were well schooled in the routine. I soon found out why the parquet floor was so highly polished. It was because these children took these two pieces of felt and put them under their two feet and shuffled in a circular pattern around and around that room all the time polishing that floor!! This routine was done EVERY MORNING for the two weeks that I spent in the orphanage under the watchful eye of the Blessed Virgin!
I went to bed that first night in that gigantic room full of boys with that nun sitting in a chair under that dim light at the end of the room. I remember how strange it felt to sleep in a bed by myself because at home I had to sleep with one of my brothers. This was indeed scary--too many people,and all strangers. I remember thinking that I had not seen hide nor hair of Jeanny Benoit or an ORANGE. I was also hoping that my mother would come and get me out of this place. I finally fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up before anyone else. I got out of bed and the lady in black way across the room motioned to me with her arm. I thought she was telling me TO KNEEL DOWN AND SAY MY PRAYERS!, so I kneeled down beside the bed and started to pray! The lady in black made a beeline for me! I could see her coming! I prayed faster! When she got to me, she told me to get back in bed; it was too early to get up. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as my mother used to say, this was only one day into my ordeal and how in the world was I going to make two weeks!! The hell with the oranges. Right now, I didn't care if I ever saw another orange. I just wanted OUT. (The next time I felt like this was my first day in the Army so this was great training at age 9.) I felt a little better once I was into the routine: the MARCH to breakfast with the other boys, the cereal with no sugar except mixed in the milk, the pieces of felt and the catatonic shuffle under the stare of the Blessed Virgin....and then a change. Do you know what? The ladies in black took us to Mass....but not without a little instruction for me first....(Hail Holy Queen Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope... (TO BE CONTINUED)

My Life in St. Anne's Orphanage

2009-11-24T15:50:00.004-05:00

I was a little boy in the 4th grade. I went to Middlesex Avenue School and lived on Gordon Street which was half way between Lake Quinsigamond and what we think of as "Grafton Hill". In the summer we would wrap our bathing suit in a towel and walk to the lake with our friends to swim or go to Lake Park to play baseball. This was the year before I had a paper route;that is, made money delivering the Worcester Evening Gazette. That had to wait until grade 5.
There was a young girl who lived at the top of Gordon Street by the name of Jeanny Benoit. Jeanny was from what we thought of as a very strict French-Canadian family. She went to Saint Joseph's parochial school and did not associate with the other kids although she was friendly enough. (The school she went to said, "Fils" on one side and "Garcons" on the other.) One day as Jeanny was walking up the hill I asked her where she disappeared to each summer because from June to September she was nowhere to be seen around the neighborhood. She stopped and replied, "Oh, I go up to St. Anne's Orphanage. It is great up there. You can play baseball, AND THEY GIVE YOU ORANGES!"....."They give you ORANGES!!!" I was astounded. This was something I just had to tell my mother about. I could not remember when I had seen an ORANGE for some time.... You must remember, there was a war on and fresh fruit was very hard to come by. Most of it was going to the troops, and we got what was left over. Rationing, ration books, and shortages were part of the culture. To a child, an ORANGE was pure joy. At this time, my mother was working in a war factory named Cornell Dubilier making radio condensers for the war effort. I counted the minutes until she got home to tell her what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go.
When she got home, I related the story to my mother and she had a good laugh, but I would not relent. I teased and teased. Finally she relented. Why in the world she ever did I will never know! I am glad she did because it turned out to be one of the great lessons of life. She sat me down at the kitchen table and explained the plot to me. She said she would try to get me into the orphanage for a period of two weeks and that she would come to visit me at the end of a week but I could not come home until the two weeks were up. I agreed immediately. My mother telephoned St. Anne's Orphanage and cooked up a story. She told them she was going into the hospital and had nobody to watch her little boy!!. They said they would do it for $7.00 a week and a total of $14.00. Good Lord. They took that $14.00 back out of my hide. What an experience I had in front of me...TO BE CONTINUED

The 12th Interview that Never Happened

2009-11-22T14:35:00.005-05:00

There was an article in the Worcester Telegram last Friday November 20) concerning the conclusion arrived at by a special committee appointed by the Worcester School Committee some months ago. This citizen's committee was charged with the responsibility of investigating the way school personnel are hired. This came about in the wake of an uproar last year after the hiring of Superintendent Caradonio's secretary as a teacher for special education children. It was felt that she did not have the qualifications for the job.
Now this special committee after some investigation gives the Human relations Department of the Worcester School Department compliments and after interviewing 11 PEOPLE(!) THE GRADE GIVEN WAS AN "A"! I would have to interpret this to mean that the hiring practices are excellent....Bob Bogigian, who was my boss for a time at the Worcester Adult Learning Center, is quoted in the article as saying,"...sometimes we slip, but it was corrected."
SOMETIMES WE SLIP, INDEED!! In my case as an ESOL Level 4 teacher at the Worcester Adult Learning Center until I quit under duress in the summer of 2007, I should have been the 12th interviewee of that commmittee and they would have received an earful from me. I will not relate my story here except to ask this question: DID THIS COMMITTEE MAKE ANY INDEPENDENT EFFORT TO LOCATE PEOPLE ON THEIR OWN WHO MIGHT COUNTERBALANCE THAT "A" GRADE?

Goodbye to Bob Bogigian

2009-11-18T13:50:00.002-05:00

I want to say goodbye to Bob who will be leaving the Worcester School Committee at the end of this year. Bob was my boss when I taught Level 3 and later Level 4 ESOL at the Worcester Adult Learning Center. I can say that he always treated me fairly which I cannot say about others after he left. Whenever there was a new venture to try out, Bob would look to me and I would always welcome it. I never told Bob about the Tufts University adventure though because he had just retired when that came up and I didn't get the chance to relate it to him. This is what happened: It was right at the end of the school year in June. Bob's assistant called me into the office and asked if I could do him a big favor and go down to Tufts University that weekend to a conference. He said I would have to stay over in one of their dormitories and apologised for not having any money to compensate me for my time. I was somewhat skeptical as you might imagine, but consented to go.
Well, when I arrived at Tufts, I met a lady who was in charge of this project that disseminated television equipment to learning centers around the state with the idea that it would be used by adult classes to communicate with each other from center to center. The project had begun the previous summer and this lady was looking for THE TWO YOUNG LADIES from the Worcester Adult Learning Center who had been there the year before?????......I, of course, had no idea what the lady was talking about but said I was there to represent the center and would carry on the project. Apparently the equipment was already delivered and this lady was thinking of taking it back!! In the end, all was smoothed over and everything was fine at the end of the weekend. I recall using that television equipment the next year for the purpose for which it was intended and taking an ESOL class over to Sullivan Middle School one night and with the permission of the Principal communicating with another ESOL class up in Lowell, Massachusetts. It was an interesting experience, Bob, but who the "two young ladies" were that that lady from Tufts was talking about remains a mystery to this day.

The Fort Hood Tragedy--could it have been stopped?

2009-11-13T15:33:00.002-05:00

I received a welcome e-mail from my New York City online English as a Second Language science researcher student yesterday wishing me a happy Veterans'Day. Actually, the truth was I had forgotten that it was Veterans' Day. However, it got me thinking back to my time in the service and what I might be doing now if I were in the Army and stationed in Texas. I am sure that I would be right in the middle of this Fort Hood disaster because I was an Army investigator with the Counter Intelligence Corps. I have been reading about this Major Hasan and wondering how in the world he got as far as he did! It made me think back to the World Trade Center disaster and in that case it was an agent in the field who practically SCREAMED at her superiors that there was something wrong. Those that eventually flew those two planes into the two towers of the World Trade Center were taking flying lessons but they made it clear that THEY WERE NOT INTERESTED IN KNOWING HOW TO LAND AN AIRPLANE!. I believe this was an agent in the Minneapolis FBI Field Office. The agent's report must have gone up the line to an analyst somewhere (perhaps in Washington) where it was deemed unimportant or simply ignored. The results were catastrophic. In the Fort Hood case, it was known that Major Hasan was in communication with a radical cleric in Yemen for some time. The FBI most likely had all of his external communication under watch. This would mean a mail cover, phone tap,etc.
There is that old cliche that fits in this case perfectly: "Hindsight is always 20/20. This major should have been taken into custody as soon as he purchased the gun in the civilian gunshop. How were authorities to know that? They had enough knowledge about him to put him under surveillance. Surreptitious surrveillance on a military post would be very difficult to maintain. However, a "controlled surveillance" where the subject knows he is being watched was in order. This man was not acting rationally and it is possible that he just might have tried to buy a gun even under surveillance. It is too late now. What we have to be careful of now are the haters and those who would stereotype ALL muslims as terrorists. That makes it even worse. We have to be careful, yes, but I will still think about that wonderful student, KHADIDJA, who taught a whole class of ESL students the meaning of DIGNITY when it comes to the Moslem religion, before I listen to those screamers of hate.

A Visit with Emajeana Cambra at Autumn Village

2009-11-11T14:12:00.004-05:00

I took some time today to take some books over to Emajeana Cambra who ia a patient at the Autumn Village Nursing Home on Oriol Drive off Lincoln Street in Worcester. Emajeana was a guidance counselor at the Worcester Adult Learning Center which is located in the Fanning Building on Chatham Street in Worcester. My job at the center ended in the summer of 2007 when I quit. Emajeana's job ended in Sepember 2008 when she had a stroke. She has been at Autumn Village since then. She is paralyzed on her left side but her right side is alright. Her mind is good. (I did get Emajeana's permission to write this.)Her spirits for someone who has gone through an ordeal like this seem quite good. She always was a tough lady!
Those who knew Emajeana may be interested to know about her son whose name is Pharoah. He has completed his courses and is now a CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANT at 20 years old. Not only that, Pharoah works at Autumn Village, so he is close to his mother. That is a real plus for this lady. I tried to see Pharoah before I left, but he was busy in another part of the nursing home so that will have to wait for another time. Before I left I told Emajeana I would write this post and asked her if there was any messages she wanted to give to people. She said, "Just say don't hold grudges, and if you know people who are shut in to go visit them."
I will talk more about my association with Emajeana in future posts.

Marisa Fusaro's Canadian Television Production

2009-11-08T21:00:00.002-05:00

If you look at my previous blog, you will see a LONG, LONG, web address! That is the web address that Marisa Fusaro, my former student at Adams Street School (see former blogs) sent me last week to my e-mail address. I tried to copy and paste it to my blog but it will not turn blue, However, if you copy and paste it to your address bar you will see a delightful rehearsal of Marisa's childhood writing of "THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING EMERALD. What really comes through with these wonderful Canadian actors and actresses is their cameraderie and enthusiasm for their craft. They are a lot of fun to watch. Marisa tells me that the production will take place sometime in December. This is all taking place in Ottawa, Canada. Many of you who regularly read my blog know about this already, but if you are new, let me fill you in. Marisa grew up on Shrewsbury Street here in Worcester (Ma.) and went to Adams Street School through the sixth Grade. You can read about our writing and publishing the book "Togetherness" in previous blogs. When she and her group decided to produce the works of children, Marisa recalled her work as a child and looked me up on Google. That's how it all got started.
Another kid in that class was Vinny Pedone who is now a state representative from Worcester serving in the state legislature. Vinny didn't write a play but that troup up in Canada should consider his contribution for production also. Let me summarize it for you: He wrote a story about a dream he had that he was in Antarctica and he found a blueberry bush that was 7centimeters high! (How this blueberry bush was growing in Antarctica I will never know!) Anyway, Vinny and his friends dig up the bush and bring it back to town (wherever that is.) They watch it grow. They contact the President of the United States and are invited to the White House! (Leave it to a future politician to wrangle an invite to Washington!) He gets to Washington only to be rebuffed by the guard at the door because the guard does not believe that this kid could possibly get an invitation to visit the president with his foolish blueberry bush. The story unfortunately ends abruptly as dreams do naturally when Vinny wakes up with his mother asking him, "WOULD YOU LIKE SOME BLUEBERRIES WITH YOUR CORN FLAKES".....(Marisa said she is going to send me the link when the television production takes place in Canada. I can hardly wait!!!!
Postscript: Marisa, if you are reading this: You know, besides the African-American author, Corrine Bostic who has since passed away, there was another lady who was in that project. Do you remember who she was? Her name was Princess White Flower and she was a Nipmuc Indian who came from Grafton, Massachusetts. The ONLY reason I know that is Anthony Petrone wrote a story about her coming to visit the class and teaching the class about Indian celebrations called "POWWOWS". She told the class about a weaved basket that held water and also taught them how to count to five. I can remember Corrine very well, but I have no recollection of Princess White Flower at all. I think she came to the class that one time only. I also remember asking Corrine, who as I recall was an excellent author, whether I had any promise as a writer. Her reply?....."Well, maybe as a newspaper reporter." Hmmm.When I look at that poem I put in "Togetherness", I couldn't agree with her more!......Newspaper reporters are okay though.

2009-11-08T20:23:00.002-05:00

http://www.reademtheirwrites.com/Read_Em_Their_Writes/Stories/Entries/2009/8/28_THE_MYSTERY_OF_THE_MISSING_EMERALD.html

Congratulations to Dianna Biancheria

2009-11-04T10:13:00.004-05:00

Another alumnus of Adams Street School has made the news in a positive way and made all of her former teachers proud of her I am sure. She is Dianna Biancheria and she was one of my students when I taught at that school. I taught everything there from Grade 6 through Grade 8 and was also the Assistant Principal. Dianna was just elected to the Worcester,Massachusetts School Committee in her first attempt at public office. I am absolutely thrilled for her! Another distinguished graduate of Adams Street School, Vincent Pedone (who was also in one of my classes) currently serves as a STATE REPRESENTATIVE in the state legislature. (I put that in capital letters because the last time I wrote about Vinny I called him a senator.
Adams Street School has had many graduates to be proud of I am sure. I am going to brag here a little about some in my era. In 1983 and 1984 I took two groups of students from the school through the rigors of the Massachusetts History Day contest and won it both years and through the generosity of the neighborhood groups was able to take them on to the National History Day Contest which was held at the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland. I attribute the success of those two teaching years to a philosophy of teaching and a teaching experiment that I tried. A woman came to Adams Street School one day. Her name was Carol Baldassarri and she was both a lady carpenter and classroom management expert. She was connected with Leslie College and sold me (after long discussions!!) on the idea of a new teaching philosophy. The idea was to do away with the "egg crate" classroom where the children were lined up in rows looking at the child in front of him. We changed everything and included the children in the makeover. We built a loft in the middle of the room. We built "Learning Centers" around the room. We had a math center, a social studies center, a science center, a reading center, an art center. The Loft was the central place and had a ladder to get to the place to do quiet reading. Every day we had a "20 minute reading time" at which time everybody including the teacher read a book.....However, the most important part of the whole concept was it operated on the idea of TRUST WITH RESPONSIBILITY! In other words, those kids got it thorugh their head that I as their teacher was not going to stand over them like a drill sergeant. I was going to TRUST that they would do the right thing, but they had to be RESPONSIBLE. If they had to go to the bathroom, they did not raise their hand and interrupt me while I might be working with another group, they just signed their name on the board and walked out....TRUST.. After awhile it works, but it takes time. After awhile kids respect that trust and will take responsibility.
I think it is this work I did that got me that SIRS/NERC Award at the Boston Sheraton Hotel in 1984. I am really bragging now, but what the hell, the next person to get it from Worcester was Superintendent Caradonio in 1999 and that was it. Nobody else from around here as far as I know.....Well, back to Adams Street School and enough of that....So we Have Vinny, Dianna, ...as famous now...and oh we can't forget Marisa Fusaro up in Canada...read about her in some previous blogs...I hope she gets her play she wrote in my class on television.....Now lets see...who else????....There must be some more famous people.....I can't think right now, but there must be more and I apologize to them for forgetting, but when I remember, I will write about them........Oh, one more thing: Back when I taught at Adams Street School, I wrote a History of the school. Someone told me that that history is now in the Worcester Historical Society Library. I know I don't have a copy of it here at home. I have one copy of "Togetherness", the book we published with Vinny Pedone and Marisa Fusaro's class, but the history of Adams Street School????....I will have to go find it myself..........I didn't intend for this to be so long!...I hope Dianna sees this........

Goodbye to Sikandar

2009-10-20T15:17:00.003-04:00

I feel a little sad today because I have to say goodbye to my good friend Sikandar who is moving to Woburn, Massachusetts. Sikandar was a second year fellow in the Department of Renal Medicine of The University of Massachusetts. Sikandar is a nephrologist (kidney doctor). His hometown is Lahore, Pakistan and during the time that I have known him he returned there twice to visit his parents. Sikandar's first language is "Irdu" which my wife calls a "crossword puzzle language" because the word appears so often in various crossword puzzles. Sikandar and I would meet to work on English and he always carried this Blackberry communication device with him that does just about everything including sending and receiving e-mails, telephone calls, etc. Many times I listened to him use this "blackberry" in his native language and at times switch from one version of Irdu to another version of the same language! Try that sometime. Sikandar gave me a blue satchel with the name NEPHROLOGY printed on the side of it. I carry a bunch of myy ESL materials in this with me wherever I go and it will be a reminder of one of the busiest and hard-working people I have ever met. Good luck, Sikandar and I hope our paths will cross again. You were great to work with.

A Busy Week

2009-10-16T14:57:00.003-04:00

I thought it would be a busy week and it certainly was. My online Moodle English as a Second Language student from New York City came back to Worcester for a brief weekend visit. She kindly invited me to go apple picking with her church group out to Tougas Farms in Northboro and that was lots of fun. They were a very fun-loving yet serious minded group of people as well. I met one lady from Lebanon and her teenaged daughter who live in Boston. She was very proud of the fact that her daughter goes to Boston Latin School. I would be too. It is probably the best high school in America! This particular lady gave me a small cup of what I call 'Turkish coffee". Have you ever drunk that? You have to acquire a taste for it.... I don't know how much "my lady scientist" will appreciate my blabbing about her on my blog, but, I will tell you something: My experiences over the past year and a half have convinced me that there are certain people in this world who desrve the label DEDICATED TO THEIR JOB. Here they are: Research Scientists, Doctors, Priests, Teachers. I am sure there are others, but those are the ones that I can give examples for. Research scientists? They work all kinds of hours. The same is true for the medical doctor.(try tutoring one when they have a million lectures to attend!) A priest? They have weddings and funerals and still I know one who has a parish out of town who STILL finds time to say Mass at a local nursing home for about 25 elderly patients every Thursday morning. Teachers? I have been a teacher all my life and I have seen very few of my colleagues that I would not be proud of. There is one thing for sure for all four professions. You cannot fool people. If you believe in what you do and you are dedicated to it, it will show through to everybody after awhile. The same is also true if you are a "phony baloney" so to speak.
Well, enough of the lectures. I also had fun last week helping Quinsigamond Community College enroll ESL students in their day and evening programs. They will have a huge waiting list, but the state finds itself in difficult financial circumstances and not much can be done about it.

Next Week

2009-10-03T14:52:00.003-04:00

I am going to be busier than usual next week. On Monday I have to pick up my lawn mower which has been in the repair shop for the past month. (I have been borrowing my nice neighbor's.) On Wednesday the 7th I will be traveling down to Woburn, Massachusetts for my once a month meeting of my veterans' organization (Military Intelligence Association of New England). This meeting is our annual "lobster meeting".(I am the Vice President this year.) On Thursday, I will travel to Hopkinton, Massachusetts to attend the second Moodle Conference which will be held from 4:00 P.M.until 7:00P.M. at Hopkinton High School. You can read more about this at http://imoodle.imgsoftware.com/img. I am also hoping for a special visitor from New York next weekend. This fabulous lady scientist has done some work in English on my distance learning Moodle site and I am anxious to talk with her about it. Moodle has been very sucessful in the k-12 program across the country. I think it has potential for ESL as well, but it is going to take work and some modifications. I love the challenge. In the meantime, I await my audience with the new superintendent of schools, but that has been over two years now and I am a patient man. (Guest access to my Moodle site ccan be obtained by using the web address above and the password----"scallops".

The Hole in the Letter

2009-09-16T19:34:00.002-04:00

Both of my parents were immigrants to the United States. They both came to this country prior to World War I. My father worked in a wire mill and my mother was a domestic housekeeper for a doctor on Harvard Street in Worcester. My father was drafted into the United States Army BEFORE he was a citizen of this country and very nearly gave his life for this country in the Argonne Forest of northern France where he fought in some of the bloodiest fighting. He was a soldier with the 77th Division.
There were five boys in my family. My father kept his war memorabilia in an old steamer trunk and sometimes when we had a snow day in the winter, we would explore that trunk. We would look at and try on the old gas mask. (It had an awful musty odor!) There was a picture with an angel with a sword and a soldier on one knee. The angel appears to be knighting the soldier. Other papers were yellowed and crumbling with age. The one prize that stands out in all our minds was a small envelope addressed to my father containing a letter. Both envelope and letter had a hole through the middle of it. It was a BULLET hole. We all know the story by heart...
The 77th Division was fighting in the Argonne Forest of Northern France. It was 1918. My mother wrote my father and told him about the terrible deaths happening in the United States (The Flu Epidemic of 1918) My father wondered what in the world she was complaining about when he was seeing such terrible death all around him every day in the Argoone Forest.(He did not realize just how bad the epidenic was at home.) The American division was advancing against the Kaiser's German soldiers just outside the town of Saint Juvin (France). The fighting was fierce. My father felt something go between his pack and his back. He asked a comrade to check him to see if he had been hit. He thought the bullet went between his back and his pack. After it was determined that he was okay, he continued to advance with his unit. A few minutes later he was hit by a sniper's bullet and the bullet pierced the letter from his mother which was in his rear pants pocket. Two medics placed him on a stretcher and started to carry him back from the frontlines. When the firing became too intense, the two soldiers dropped the stretcher and ran! My father was left there on the battlefield and had to crawl back under fire to a church on the edge of town. Growing up we listened to this story many times and we told my father (kiddingly) that the fact that the letter was in his BACK pocket proved that he must have been running away! Of course, he would always defend himself by saying that we did not understand combat!! We had to understand that the enemy was not always just in front, but could be all around you. Of course we knew this, but we enjoyed getting my father to react the way we could predict that he would every time!
When the war ended, a group of soldiers who were immigrants were taken from Fort Devens, Massachusetts down to Boston, Massachusetts and sworn in as citizens of the United States. That is how my father became a citizen. Perhaps this is why today I look with some suspicion upon these characters who look with disdain upon the word MULTICULTURALISM. I wish they had known my father and the soldiers who stood beside him in that room in Boston and became citizens that day. They might not be so narrowminded.

Safe Bets at Every Restaurant

2009-08-24T13:18:00.003-04:00

Although some restaurants list nutrition info on their menus or websites, most of the time it’s a guessing game. These are usually the healthiest picks.

At a Chinese restaurant Egg drop or wonton soup to start, anything steamed with sauce on the side (shrimps, vegetables or chicken with broccoli and garlic) and brown rice.

At a diner Egg-white omelet with spinach, tomatoes and feta (or turkey bacon) with whole-wheat toast, or open-face (leave half the bun) veggie or turkey burger with Cheddar: fruit salad or side salad with vinaigrette.

At an Indian restaurant Tandoori chicken or shrimp with raita yogurt sauce; whole-wheat roti bread.

At an Italian restaurant Tricolore salad, insalata mista or minestone soup to start: baked, broiled or grilled fish or chicken entrée (like Chicken Scarpariello or Marsala).

At a Mexican restaurant Fajitas ( steak, chicken, shrimp, veggie) with 1-2 tortillas and a dab of sour cream, or grilled fish soft tacos with salsa.

At a pizzeria 1-2 pieces of thin crust pizza piled with veggie toppings: salad on the side.

An Open Blog to Marisa Fusaro

2009-08-15T22:26:00.004-04:00

Marisa, I have to tell you first that you now hold the all time record for "comments" on my blog without being a listed contributor: FOUR! That is fine though. Each one was necessary. I want to tell you that I really wish I had an extra copy of the book "Togetherness". They really do become precious with time, don't they? However, the last extra one I had I mailed to REPRESENTATIVE Pedone and that was a few years ago. (You see how much attention I pay to politics. I thought Vimmy was a senator. I think it was last year that another teacher and myself went to the statehouse to lobby for the cost of living increase for the retired teachers. I saw Vinny's aide and he gave me a tour of the state house. (I met his mother a few months ago.) In fact Vinny voted for it, but I think the governor vetoed it. Anyway,that's not why I am writing this. My daughter Cathy told me she would scan your play, "The Missing Emeralds" and send it to you. She lives out of town and if she doesn't do it fast enough, i will get a copy of it to your mother on Daniels St.
Maybe you should consider producing Vinny
Pedone's letter "The Dream" in which he dreams about visiting the President in Washington!! No kidding. It is really something. You should see the handwriting! What a class that was! Phenomenal. Now, when you produce this play and have the red carpet and the search lights shining back and forth across the night sky and you are prancing around with your REAL emeralds around your neck, I hope when the TV reporter thrusts that microphone in your face you won't forget how to spell my name!!! .....Was Judy Warren around during your time? She televises the Worcester School Committee meetings now. Those classes melt together with time. I remember that we had some old (new then) television equipment that we took out on the street and took to D"Amico's Bakery on Shrewsbury Street and videoed the bread baking in the oven. Was that your class? Did you join the blog yet?...I will bug you until you do......I will send you my enrollment key so that you can look in on my Moodle online ESL class ) (one student--a scientist in New York) if you want.....Bye for now..

The Story of "Togetherness"

2009-08-12T13:14:00.010-04:00

The year was 1977. I was teaching a split fifth and sixth grade class at Adams Street School in Worcester, Massachusetts. One day I received a visit from an African-American lady by the name of Corrine Bostic. Corrine was a local author and had spoken with school administrators in the central office (Dr. John Durkin, Eugene Applebaum,) and she in turn spoke with Mr. Carroll, the school principal. Corrine was interested in working with children to get them doing creative writing. Corrine and I met together and planned what to do with the children and I carried it out in the classroom. The culminating activity was the publication of a small red-covered book entitled "Togetherness". I originally had THREE copies of this book, but I mailed one to Vincent Pedone our state senator, who was in that class and is published in the book. Another copy of the book I brought to the Greendale School library, but I took that home when the school closed and I have that at home and the other copy is my own personal copy.
Why now after 32 years am I suddenly bringing up this subject? Well, if you click on the word "COMMENT" under the last post about Walter Rodriguez, you will find out. I was sitting at my computer this morning working on my English as a Second Language Moodle coursesite when I switched to my e-mail and saw an email from a former student named Marisa Fusaro who was in this grammar school class that published this book back in 1977 at Adams Street School! I nearly fell off my chair! Marisa wrote this fabulous play entitled"The Mystery of the Missing Emerald". It runs for three pages and unless I can figure some other way, I will type it as a blog!(Maybe I can talk my daughter into doing it for me.) The next thing I am going to do here is type in the names of Marisa's classmates. I know she will look in on this (I think she is in California now.) and maybe know where some of them are living and let them know> Here it is Marisa:
Grade 5:Jean-Paul Brouillette, Anthony DiPilla,Mary Flaminio,Marisa Fusaro, Michael Hayes, Vincent Pedone,Michele Scricco,Christina Simone, ...Grade 6: joseph Ambrosino, Thomas Casilo, Christie Daboul, Joseph D'Olimpio, Maria Del Pilar Fernandez, Christine Forget, Anthony Locontore, maria Prizio, lawrence Sasso, marie Simone, Richard Simone, Jean Weldon,Teresa DiRodi, Marie MacArthur, Anthony Petrone.
If you remember, Mrs. Martello sent three kids into us for this project and her names were Daniel Suarez, David Surrette, and Joseph Tolson......That is enough for now Marisa. My fingers are falling off! I will send you an invitation to join the blog. You need a six letter password. By the way, I got your classmates names from the Table of Contents of the book. (Marisa, I edited the blog and now have the kids in the grades they were in at the time. Thank you for the correction.)(i edited it AGAIN !)

The Story of "Togetherness"

2009-08-12T13:13:00.002-04:00

A Message for Walter Rodriguez and Other English Writers

2009-07-31T15:32:00.003-04:00

Well, Walter now that I know that you are the husband of that famous lady from Uruguay by the name of Lakale, perhaps we can make a bargain. You see, in all these years that I have been teaching English as a Second Language I am ashamed to say that I can only say a few words in Spanish. They are "Keep quiet!" and "Caution, wet floor." Isn't that awful! Now that you have written a blog (more properly called a "post") and told us all about the ghost of your mother becoming a chicken (!), I am going to make a deal with you, and this is it: (the colon means "stop and pay attention to the information that follows.) The deal is this: I will correct your next post if you write a COMMENT to this post at the bottom and teach me the Spanish word for "Chicken coop", not chicken SHED---that's in Uruguay! This is the United States. We call them Chicken COOPS here, okay?......So, write in a COMMENT at the bottom the Spanish word for .........Chicken COOP........Bye......Leo

P.S I hope you get a chance to write a post on my Moodle site and that is really something you should see someday. UNBELIEVABLE 21st Century stuff!

A Look Back at the Teacher Corps

2009-07-27T12:17:00.002-04:00

Facebook on the internet certainly brngs people long forgotten back to the forefront! In my case, people whom I have not heard from for almost forty years are suddenly poking back. Cathy Hannowell, who was a teacher intern in the UMass African Studies Curriculum Development Project in Worcester that I spoke of in the blog before last has contacted me from Washington State. I also heard from or about others in that project. Some are just names so far such as Mary Lea and Pat Corey, but maybe I will hear more from them if they read this!
Facebook has brought back memories. Some not so pleasant. My job after pre-training at Temple and UMass, (Amherst) which ended in August of that moonwalk year, was to find housing here in Worcester for the teacher/trainers in the Teacher Corps who had recently returned from 16 different African ccountries. I had help with this job from Dick Donohue, a Worcester teacher and fellow team leader.
Finding housing for the interns was not easy for several reasons, but one inescapable one was because they were of mixed racial makeup. In one instance, I had two female team leaders staying at my house wit my family for a time: one white and one black. (Marianne was white and Marcia was black.) One morning, one of the neighbors came and rang my front doorbell. I answered the door. The neighbor whom I had known for a number of years demanded to know if I had a black woman living in my house. I explained the situation to her instead of simply closing the door. Marcia was standing in her housecoat behind the door! i was totally embarassed! When I closed the door finally, I averted my eyes from embarrassment. That is what life was like then in that job. But it got better from that point and here we are today....

Once a time there was a farm...

2009-07-24T20:45:00.004-04:00

I lived my young age on my father's farm WHICH WAS my home. From this time, I have tales and feelings. THESE feelings are still CLEAR IN MY MIND. THEY ARE not tales that appear like shadows. THEY ARE Tales of
my family and neighbors.
Close TO our farm, there was another farms. ON one of them lived a woman, the owner, with her young brother. SHE HAD no more family. no one else lived with them.
This womanWAS named Barbara. SHE WAS serious and noT tolerant OF ANYONE. SHE told her brother, " Hens are UNTOUCHABLE". SHE HAD A REASON FOR SAYING THIS. Jonas, the boy, liked EATING CHICKEN BETTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE. It was A passion.
Jonas, trIED TO forget hens. HE walkED by the farm, but in his mind, slopes on the ground appearED TO BE chicken breast! If he looked to the sky, clouds seemED like
chickenS running and jumping. IT WAS HIS CRAZY PASSION.
One day IN January ( THIS IS summer there which is like July here) he got up AND MADE A DECISION. He went directly to the CHICKEN COOP. (I dont'know this name), and when he WENT to the kitchen with one hen in his hand, Barbara appeared, her face absolutely red, FOLDED HER hands, and walkED fast to Jonas.
The boy stopped, looked at his sister and saID, "Hold on, Barbara, I'M gonna explain TO you !! Looking for a GHOST, I went to the COOP and A RED HEN APPEARED. I brought her corn grains. She ate and gave me thanks. After her,A WHITE HEN APPEARED, and I brought corn grains again. She SAID thanKS ALSO and left. At the end THIS HEN APPEARED. JUST like the others, I brought her corn grains, but she didn't move, so I asked her: "Dont' you eat, dear?" and this hen lift the head,
moved her eyes, and told me: "GO TO HELL! !!!. YOU SEE, BARBARA!!!
THIS HEN WAS...OUR MOTHER !!!

A New Superintendent--A Historic Occasion

2009-06-05T17:05:00.006-04:00

I read a statement somewhere recently that I agree with and bears repeating at the beginning of this essay: " It is okay to look back...but don't stare!" Now with just three weeks to go before Worcester appoints its first African American school superintendent, let me take you back to the spring of 1970 when it seemed as if the country was on the verge of civil revolution. At the time, I was a team leader in the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) Teacher Corps African Studies Curriculum Development Project. I had spent the previous July at Temple University in North Philadelphia in an intensive racial sensitivity training program in preparation for working with a group of 32 people, 28 of whom would be returned Peace Corps Volunteers from many African countries. By May 1970, my team consisted of 3 black women teacher interns who were teaching at Chandler Street and Lamartine Street Schools. It would have helped if there had been some other black teachers in either of those schools, but that was not the case. Indeed, there were very few black teachers in the entire system. However, we were surviving and even adding lessons to the developing curriculum guide.....THEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!!
By "hell" I mean "Kent State"happened. If you are too young to remember what "Kent State" means, then "Google it." It was just an awful time in the United States. President Nixon sent the troops into Cambodia and the youth of America erupted! The National Teacher Corps in Worcester, Ma. under the auspices of the University of Massachusetts was no exception. A meeting was called and it was decided that some action needed to be taken by the group to show its displeasure against the Nixon Administration and since the school department was seen as an arm of the government, the action would be taken there. As strange as that thinking may seem today in 2009, that is what it was in 1970, and campuses all over the nation were being taken over by students and in some cases wrecked! What should be done? One option discussed was to picket the school department's central office. This was not a joke, and I thought I was about to faint! I think if the material had been there to make and print the signs, the work would have begun right then and there. Cooler heads prevailed. Someone suggested using a day to teach about PEACE. I breathed a sigh of relief (somewhat)and suggested using a day that they plan carefully. I suggested making them reading lessons with carefully contrived questions eliciting main ideas, specific details, vocabulary, and inference. I thought that it was very important that the lessons be extra good because they would be under the magnifying glass of controversy so to speak. Don't leave any openings for criticism if possible. I planned for and did a video of one of my intern's lessons. Later, I invited the elementary supervisor to view the video. Her comment?---"A born teacher." (I am not sure how sincere this comment was however.)...(Back to the dialogue)...
We now had the unenviable task of going to the Central Administration Building (It wasn't the Durkin Administration Building then) and telling the school administration what would happen the next day. Would they approve? Would they throw the whole program out? Is this bringing national politics into the lives of children? (That is what I really thought.) We had 7 team leaders. However, in this case, looking back, everybody scattered, and it was left to the Assistant Director of the project, Joe Blackman(Stanford University) and me to face a rather cool administration alone. I was the ONLY homegrown product in that first floor conference room with all that brass that morning. My other colleagues were nowhere in sight! You could cut the tension with a knife! Joe and I sat on one side, and a host of other people on the other. The one person I remember most vividly was our assistant superintendent, Mr. James McKenna.
Joe broke the ice by saying that the Teacher Corps people were responsible people. There was talk about "using young people" for "political ends". In the end, I can remember Mr. McKenna turning to me and saying, "Let me turn to ONE OF OUR OWN and ask him what he thinks." I looked right at him and said, "I WOULD LET THEM TEACH." That was the end of the meeting.
Mr. McKenna approached me out in the hall after the meeting and said, "Mr. Coleman, we do get involved,don't we?" .....When I READ those words, I regret that you cannot HEAR them, because print does not convey the meaning that was conveyed to me at the time. There are times in life when you have to grin and bear it. This was one of those times.
The two years of that African Studies Project were difficult but also exciting years for me in education. That summer UMass wanted to send me to their school in Uganda in Africa so that I could gain the African experience, but my wife was having a baby (my daughter Karen) and I was not about to leave her.) Marcia Perkins, one of the other team leaders went in my place. She brought me back two beautifully carved ebony wooden African heads which I treasure to this day. Instead of going to Africa that summer, I took a group of children from the Chandler Street neighborhood and with the cooperation of the Appalachian Mountain Club of Paxton, Ma. gave them a camping experience at their camp in the woods. Polaroid Corporation of Cambridge, Ma. also gave us 50 of their instant cameras and later helped us in their lab to develop the photos in such a way that we were able to produce a book for the children entitled, "Our Neighborhood and Camp Bananas".
The School of Education at UMass Amherst published and sold the African Studies Curriculum which was developed in Worcester by these returned Peace Corps Volunteers. My intern, Sharon Carter married Roosevelt Thomas in Passaic, New Jersey at the end of the Teacher Corps program. My wife and I drove down to the wedding and were the only white people at the wedding. Despite all the sensitivity training, it still was an odd feeling to be in the minority. Sharon and her husband went on to fine careers at the University of Miami. The other two interns went on to teaching careers in Mississippi and Texas. Our director, Cynthia Shepard married and became Cynthia Shepard Perry. She became ambassador to Sierra Leone during the first George Bush Administration and then head of the World Bank in Africa during the second George Bush Administration. A few years ago I received an invitation to a dinner at the State House in Boston which was given in the Hall of Flags. It was given in Cynthia's honor by UMass for distinguished graduates of that institution.
Of course it should never have taken until the year 2009 to appoint the first African American school superintendent in the city of Worcester. Back in 1970, my thoughts were directed toward destroying kids stereotypes about Africa being the land of Tarzan and jungle while only one sixth of it was anything like that! Our group was also dealing with racism on a daily basis which was par for the course for my team members but brand new for me! Temple University helped a lot but not totally. I will tell you what happens to a white person in a situation like I was in and it is this: You get mad as hell when you see racism directed at any member of the group and you can't do anything about it. But time doesn't change that.
I am going to get off this kick pretty quick, but I do recommend sensitivity training for everyone although it is PAINFUL. I don't know if you can find it on Google or not. I will try after I finish, but I recall one exercise that I use to do with teachers to give them a taste of sensitivity training. It was called "BODY RITUAL AMONG THE NACIREMA". With this exercise, I describe the strange daily rituals of a culture that still exists and and then ask the audience to make judgments about that culture's strange habits. The surprise ending always shocks people into looking at their own attitudes.
I said at the beginning that it is okay to look back...but don't stare. I am afraid that I have been staring very hard! I will end here. Congratulations Mrs. Boone, I hope I get the opportunity to speak with you.

The Share Fair Conference--A Look at the Future Now

2009-05-30T21:15:00.014-04:00

On Thursday, May 28th, I traveled to Millis High School in Millis, Ma. to attend an educational conference sponsored by Img Information Marketing Group, a company based in Framingham, Ma. who work with school systems in a variety of ways dealing with using computer systems for data management and curriculum improvement for the 21st Century. If you are in education and you have not heard of this company yet, you probably will before long. I listened to their management team speak and if I had to use one word to describe them it would be "visionaries." They look to the future and their business, in a nutshell, is improving education in cost effective ways using modern technology. Their address is www.imgsoftware.com. ImgSoftware manages the "Moodle course site" where, as a novice "moodler", I am attempting to develop a course for Adult ESL students. http://imoodle.imgsoftware.com/worcester

Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) was also represented at the Share Fair and two gentlemen made presentations. They spoke about "open courseware" (OCW) available through the MIT website to high school students (or anybody). An example of this is where MIT collaborated with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to help teach U.S. History through the use of Art. Please look at www.visualizingcultures.com and http://web.mit.edu/star. While one of the gentlemen from MIT was speaking about the collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, I was thinking back of what two of my brothers (Don and Ray) had told me about coming in SECOND for the History prize when they were in high school. Perhaps if they had had the advantage of this kind of technology then, they might have come in FIRST! (Of course, the winners would have had the same advantage, wouldn't they?) Oh well, back to the topic.
The major theme of the Share Fair was a sharing of "moodle" course sites. I attended one that showed how a teacher in Casablanca, Morocco (Grade2) was using Moodle, and I attended another where I listened to a most enthusiastic teacher demonstrate her Moodle site of podcasts of 7th and 8th graders in Chatham exchanging podcasts with Dutch children in the Netherlands who were learning English. It reminded me of my wife's penpal of years ago from her schooldays whose wedding we attended in the town of Forfar, Scotland. That was done with pen and ink, stamps, and lots of time between letters. This was done on a keyboard and in an instant. The time in between?....about 50 years!!.....at least....
I will conclude my brief post with two "firsts" that I experienced at this conference: I have attended many conferences, but this one holds the record for being held in the SMALLEST town....My second "first" is this is the first conference I have attended that was telecast LIVE internationally. When I walked in, there was a videocamera all set to go and as soon as the conference started was sent live to Casablanca. It was also telecast to Texas, Minnesota, and California. I understand also that there were 120 teachers in attendance and five superintendents. My only regret was that there were nine sharing sessions, but I only had a chance to see two of them. However, I am sure there will be other sharing sessions. Teachers are creative people, and they are willing to share with other teachers. At least that has been my experience.

Introducing a Special Lady--Ines Beron

2009-05-26T14:19:00.002-04:00

A few days ago I received an e-mail that warmed my heart. It was from the lady whose name appears in the title of this post. She was informing me that she had just been appointed to a position on the Board of Human Rights for the City of Worcester. She was thanking me for having been her English as a Second Language teacher and having encouraged her to believe in herself. Ines couldn't have known it, but her e-mail came at a very good time for me which may become clear as time goes on. I gave a copy of that e-mail to another person whom I think of as sort of special in this community. But let me tell you about Ines...
I first met Ines when I was teaching Level 3 ESOL(English for Speakers of Other Languages) at the Worcester Adult Learning Center back in 2004. Ines is from Montevideo, Uruguay. At the time I was just beginning to experiment with what is known as "blogging" with adult students. My idea was simple. I felt if I could get the student to write on the computer, I could learn a lot. First I could learn what grammar I had to teach. Secondly, I could correct their writing using capital letters for corrections, Then I would give the corrected version back to the student along with the original. Comparisons could be made, and that is how learning takes place: Trial and error, write and rewrite. It wasn't easy, but it was rewarding when it worked. What I say today (2009)is, give me some laptops, a wifi room, a bunch of students, and get out of my way!
Ines was a great student and took to blogging really well. If I remember right, she taught me things about the computer! I remember one day that she wanted to teach the class something about Uruguayan culture. Well, she brought in a drink similar to coffee that everyone drinks in her country that is called EL MATE. Well, if you are a man, and you don't have any hair on your chest and you want to grow some, just take a few drinks of this stuff! Wow, is it strong!!! I drank it, but you have to get used to it. It is hard to describe except to say it is stronger than any coffee you have EVER tasted.
Ines Beron has been involved very much in the Worcester community. She belongs to a group called Women Together. This group formed when one of its members sons was killed in gang violence. They work to improve neighborhoods. Through hard work and sheer determination they took the empty lot on which stood the old Winslow Street School and caused the Peace Park to stand there today. I was told that on another day this group cleaned Pleasant Street from Harrington Corner to Park Avenue! Now, with that kind of record of community service, is it any wonder this lady was chosen to be a member of the Human Rights Commission??
But how did our relationship continue for five years? After all, I had not yet become the Level 4 teacher then and Level 3 was the end of the line. Well, after Ines left the school, she continued to communicate with me by e-mail and became a blogger with a penname in 2005. Most students chose to write as "bloggers" using a penname and that was fine with me as long as I could keep them straight. Ines would write, I would correct it, and that would be it. Then she dropped off for quite a few months.
Now I am going to skip ahead to the fall of 2007. I had already left (under circumstances that were less than desirable) the Adult Learning Center and I had a commitment to make a presentation at the Network 2007 Adult Education Conference sponsored by the Massachusetts Coalition of Adult Educators (MCAE) of which I am a member which was being held at a hotel in Marlboro. The title of my presentation was "Blogging with ESOL Student". My problem was, I was an unemployed teacher without a class and I desperately needed an up to date blog from a student to demonstrate to the audience of administrators and teachers. I put the word out to former students of my plight and who but Ines answered my need. She wrote a story for me so that I could demonstrate the technique to the assembled audience. Ines wrote under her penname and I let on to nobody that the badge that I wore telling where I worked was a FAKE. (I wrote a blog about this which is in the archives.)
Later I wrote an e-mail to Ines and told her how she saved me because I had no posts at all to demonstrate until she came through for me. Whew! In appreciation, I told her that she could write on my blog FOREVER, and I would correct whatever she wrote as long as she wished.
Ines Beron is uniquely qualified for a position such as being a member of a board for Human Rights. She is extremely sensitive on that subject. Just mention Cinco De Mayo to her and you will soon know what I mean. Her country and those nearby suffered terribly at the hands of very bad dictatorships and the ladies in white kerchiefs have become famous.
I could write on forever about this gem of a lady but I hope I have said enough so that those who may read this will know that our city has a fine citizen serving on one of its boards!

Some Thought about Immigrants,Teaching, Etc.

2009-05-12T12:47:00.002-04:00

My brother Donald lives in Charleston, South Carolina. He is currently in the process of writing our family's history. Yesterday I received Chapter 3. He is doing a beautiful job and I am anxiously awaiting Chapter 4.
Chapter 3 dealt with my parents' immigration to America. Both left their native land seeking a bettter life in America. My father was discriminated against before the tender he was on was out of sight of his native Ireland and headed for the ocean liner waiting in the open Atlantic. (Ireland did not have a harbor deep enough to accomodate the larger ship.) As my father watched his native land recede in the background, a British sailor shouted at him, " GET BELOW BEFORE I THROW YOU OVERBOARD!" My father never forgot those stinging words. (I guess I get my sensitivity to insults from my father.) I won't relate here the history of the Irish in America with the "Irish need not apply" signs and all. Most, if not all, ethnic groups have experienced the same thing, and it has been a very sad and costly part of the human experience.
The United States as it is today was built by hard-working people like my father and mother. They were fortunate in that when they stepped off the boat in Boston, they already knew English. Countless others did not. and had to go to evening classes to learn English after working in a factory all day.
But enough of all this. This is all well known. With all this as a background, here, in writing is what I believe about immigrant students and teaching them:
1. They deserve the full respect of the teacher in front of them.
2. They deserve a teacher who knows the students' needs and is intellectually prepared to meet them.
3. They deserve a teacher who has adequate materials to meet minimum teaching standards.
4. They deserve to be taught in a school that not unlike a computer with the Norton Anti-virus protection, also has adequate outside supervision to guard against exploitation of the immigrant student. (This supervision need not be stifling.)
Tomorrow morning I will be saying goodbye temporarily to a student whom I have been tutoring in advanced English recently. He is a doctor, speaks three languages, and will be returning to his native Pakistan for two weeks. His story is different as is all the other immigrant stories, BUT the same in that he is contributing to this wonderful nation, and what a pleasure it has been for me to have been a small part of his life.

My David Souter Story

2009-05-01T09:37:00.004-04:00

It has just been announced that David Souter, a Supreme Court Justice, has announced his retirement. He is 69 years old. David Souter lives in Concord, New Hampshire and went to high school with my brother-in-law. They both went to Concord High School. My wife and I were married in Concord, New Hampshire and we had our reception at the New Hampshire Highway Motel. Outside on the veranda sat an old stagecoach as sort of a decoration. It was an authentic stagecoach and dated back to the mid eighteen hundreds when Concord had a thriving Coach-producing industry.
My brother-in-law loved to tell this story: On the night of high school graduation, some high school lads (David Souter among them as the story is told) decided to remove the rickety old stage coach from its accustomed spot in front of the motel and take it for a ride around the large field which separated the motel from the highway. Well, I guess eventually the gendarmes were called and everybody "almost" got in trouble, but in the end it was all chalked up to teenage mischief.
Little did anyone know that the "Pretend Lawman of the Western Plain" that night would become a famous lawman for the United States Constitution in later years.I don't know where the stagecoach is now. Probably in a museum someplace. The motel? Well, that was torn down and is now the spot for the Christa McAuliffe Museum in Concord, New Hampshire just off the Everett Turnpike. It is a very interesting place to visit. You should stop there sometime.

Visit

2009-04-19T19:20:00.006-04:00

Hi Leo, I want to apologize because I have been far from your blog so long. All of a sudden my life has become busy. I didn't know that four courses were going to take me so much time. I am hopefully finishing the semester in May. It gave me the opportunity to know excellent teachers who made me love to write in English.
Did you notice that our President Obama is going to learn about Latin America reading a writer from my country? Venezuela's president gave him "The Open Veins of Latin America", whose author is the Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano. You should read this book.
I want also to tell you that Stone Soup had a fire at the end of March. It is very sad. There was a lot of damage inside the building. Many people are raising funds now to bring it back.
In other issues, the Immigrant Coalition is organizing a demonstration on May 1st in front of City Hall. Three unions are sharing the event with us. It will be Friday at 5 pm. You and everybody are invited to attend. We are going to have speakers, music, performances, and much more.
I am glad to see that you have more ESL students. I am now teaching Spanish as a way to survive because my job at the little office died. The state cut the funds that we received and we don't have money for wages.

Two Algerian Ladies

2009-04-16T22:08:00.002-04:00

The best thing about teaching English as a Second Language is meeting people from different cultures. This provides an excellent opportunity to learn by listening to others once in awhile. A case in point: Recently I had a very humbling experience. I had some material which was written in English that needed correction. Well, I corrected the English, and I was comfortable with that, but the CONTENT was Science which is not my field. I decided to ask my friend, an Algerian research scientist at UMass to look at it from a scientific point of view. This beautiful, gentle, and quiet lady proceeded to demolish the scientific content of the report line by line. When she finished, she was still smiling, but I felt like I had been run over by a truck. After all is said and done though, I will pass on her valuable advice. Oh, and I will always remember the best advice of all: " Remember to peel the orange before you eat it.".... Thank you, Miss Algeria, and I hope you can go on Michelle's Maine trip in June.

I can name the second Algerian lady. Her name is Khadidja and she was a student of mine at the Adult Learning Center a few years ago. I call her the "cock-a doodle-doo lady" because of the unique lesson that she generated. She asked me one day, "Mr. Leo, what does an American rooster sound like?" I proceeded to demonstrate. She said that Algerian roosters sounded differently and she demonstrated also. She was right. The rest of the class was amused and decided to follow her lead. Soon I was listening to Korean roosters, a Chinese rooster, a Kuwaiti rooster, a Puerto Rican rooster, etc. We then did them all at once. It was riotous! We learned a new word---CACAPHONY. We ended up with the best conversation and vocabulary building lesson I ever had before or since. This is what is known in those teacher education courses as the "teachable moment". I wish I had a video of that lesson. I would put it on this moodle site that I am getting one of these days soon. Boy, would that be neat. Sometimes in teaching you know, you just have to let it flow...
Algeria's loss is America's gain. By the way, I never saw Khadidja's CV, but you should see Miss Algeria's! Yikes, when UMass recuits scientists, they really recruit scientists!

Thanks, Dad

2009-04-11T19:02:00.002-04:00

It has been a year since my Dad passed away. Leo commented on it yesterday, and I'd like to add a few words of my own today.

We normally greet the approaching death of a loved one with a mixture of fear and sadness. My Dad alleviated much of that for my family. Here is what I wrote in my journal at the time:

My father inspires me
with the calm acceptance
of the coming end
of his worldly life.

He will be here no more
to laugh
to smile
to balance a drink on his knee.

But he will live on
in our hearts
in our memory
in our love.

And I hope that when my time comes,
I can face it with the same grace,
the same good humor,
and the same acceptance that he has shown.

I can still feel that inspiration now, a year later. It was one of the many gifts provided by Dad. He had lived 81 full and active years. Through his words and actions he told us that he had enjoyed those years, but was ready to take the next step, a step we must all take eventually.

Soothing Morphos, comfort me
I welcome your embrace
My days here, they are numbered
I soon must leave this place

I travel to a higher plane
The Kingdom of our Lord
To live among the angels
The ultimate reward

To my family - do not worry
A better life awaits
As I go to see Saint Peter
On through the pearly gates

Those last words reflect Dad's faith. I'd like to close with something that reflects the humor that he passed on.

I look at the face in the mirror
and see my Dad's features stare back.
Should I be happy to see the resemblance?
Or cover my head with a sack?

Of course, that's not a fair question.
My looks are his gift to me
(but why a part of the body
for all the world to see?)

To be frank, I like the resemblance.
Its a daily reminder of Dad.
Of all the life lessons he taught me,
And all the good times that we had

But I'm Steve and not Frank, so continue...
On this point we all must agree
My Dad was really quite handsome
(...and the apple falls close to the tree...)

It has been a Year--How Time Flies!

2009-04-10T16:53:00.002-04:00

It has been one year since my brother Billy passed away quietly at home in Grafton,Massachusetts. It doesn't seem possible. How time flies! It seems like only yesterday that I was visiting him in the hospital about a week before he died. His daughter Patty was there receiving instructions from the doctor about hospice and medications to administer at home because everything that could have been done for Bill had been done and he would soon be discharged from the St Vincent's Hospital. I took the opportunity to speak with my brother and I went up close to him as his voice was weak. He told me that it was important for him to die with dignity, and I tried to assure him that he was doing very well.
My brother Ray and I made the drive down to Grafton the day my brother died. I will never forget that scene as long as I live. His son David was at the foot of the bed slightly to the right playing songs beautifully on his violin. You could tell that his father was listening. Cousin Bob Ford came in and made a nice impromptu narration to Bill about what a great job he did as a father. After Bob left, it was time for Ray and I to leave. I knew it would be the last time. What happened next had to have been planned by Bill just as he planned the whole thing---funeral and all!!! As I started to leave I heard his voice stronger than I expected call me back, and this is what he said, "Leo, I'm leaving NO FORWARDING ADDRESS."... Billy had a certain look like someone who stole the last cookie from the cookie jar. He had that look at that moment. Only someone who worked in special delivery in the post office for all those years could think of a perfect ending line like that! Perfect, but too emotional for me. It was tough going home. The music of David, the poetry of Steven, the sensitivity of his daughters, and the strength of his wife
said to everybody, This is what FAMILY means, and I noticed that at the wake it seemed that most of the people there were "neighbors".
My brother Billy planned everything including the music at his funeral. The one song that he wanted but was not sung was "DANNY BOY" and if sometime if his son David will accompany me on one of my nursing home jaunts, I will sing DANNY BOY for Billy accompanied by David Coleman on the guitar or the violin or that third instrument you play, the name of which escapes me at the moment, but you can add as a COMMENT......I would say more, but I have to go....It is Good Friday and Shirley and I are singing in church tonight in about an hour.......

Two Acts of Kindness

2009-03-25T20:04:00.003-04:00

My day started out ordinarily enough. I drove down to St. Vincent's Hospital, picked up my ticket, and parked on the roof. Then I walked ten laps on the second level of the Atrium for my morning exercise. Next on the agenda was some planning for my English as a Second Language tutoring session one on one which I will have on Friday morning. Most of that I had already finished; there was some more I wanted to do, and I can use my laptop in the Atrium because St. V's has wifi service available which is very nice.
Now it was about 10:45 and I thought I should take a walk over to City Hall and a return visit to the City Manager's Office. I didn't want to go there, but felt that I should. I had been there last week. You see my street has been sinking very slowly for the past four year due to water undermining it from a leaking sewer pipe. (This is what we think.) The pipe from my house to the main pipe in the street broke four years ago and I had to pay about $7,000 to a private contractor to reconnect it. We are afraid that it might happen again. I thought I might find out something in the City Manager's Office this morning, but I got no information.
When I came back to the hospital,it was time for lunch and the hospital has an excellent cafeteria which I have eaten at several times. I went to the cafeteria and bought the following:
l. soup---(lentil)
2. bread and butter
3. a 14 0z bottle of white milk
4. a pear
5. a fresh green salad
I know the routine. When you get to the cashier, you put the salad on the scale and you pay a certain price per ounce. I PUT MY SALAD ON THE SCALE. That was a mistake because there was a man in front of me who also had a salad and I did not realize that he had not yet put HIS salad on the scale! The cashier told me to take my salad off the scale because it was not my turn. I apologized. (My mind was still in the City Manager's Office, you see.) However, the man in front of me said, "Oh, that is all right. I know the routine" Then the cashier proceeded to cash me out AHEAD of this man. My cost was $8.01. I thanked both the man and the cashier and proceeded to carry my tray into the cafeteria. A few minutes later when I was seated at a table, the cashier came over to me and looked over my food. I thought something was wrong. She said that the customer was a doctor and thought that I had PAID TOO MUCH MONEY FOR MY FOOD! The cashier came over to me to doublecheck to make sure that I had paid the correct amount of money. As it turned out , I had.
I thought, "How often does something like that happen these days?" It kind of restores your faith in people. When I got through eating, I went to find out who these two people were. One is SANDY BRYTOWSKI and St. Vincent's Hospital's cafeteria is fortunate to have such an honest employee working for them. The other person is Doctor CHARANJIT RAO, a general surgeon, and if he cared about a stranger's pocketbook, I am sure he probably is a man of compassion also-----just perfect as a surgeon! You both made my day!

A Message for Myoung Heon

2009-03-24T13:46:00.003-04:00

Hello Myoung wherever you are! I thought it was very nice of you to read and respond to my English grammar post on my Write--Write--Write blog. Most people think that they have to be members of the blog to make a "COMMENT" on a post, but that is not true. ANYONE can COMMENT simply by clicking on COMMENT and typing whatever they want to say.
Now, with regard to your comment: Your sentence was like this: The doctor,who flew to Pakistan, helped four people on the flight with medical emergencies.

It should have been like this: The doctor who flew to Pakistan helped four people on the flight with medical emergencies.------The clause "who flew to Pakistan" is essential to the meaning of the sentence and therefore would not be set off with commas.
You may notice,Myoung, that I have changed my original post to make a difficult concept a little clearer.
Myoung, if you would like to join my blog, send me an e-mail and I will send you an invitation by return mail. My e-mail address is leocoleman@rocketmail.com
Again,thank you and I hope I was of some help.

A Mini-Lesson on Identifying and Non-identifying Adjective Clauses

2009-03-21T23:31:00.005-04:00

I am writing this mini-lesson for a particular student and anyone else who cares to learn a little English grammar. When I finish, you should know the difference between a PHRASE and a CLAUSE. You should also know the difference between an identifying Adjective Clause and a Non-identifying Adjective Clause.
Let's learn what a PHRASE is first(just in case you might not know.) Here's a sentence with a PHRASE in it: " I went to the movies." "To the movies" is a PHRASE. "To" is a preposition and "movies" is a noun and the object of the preposition "to". "To the movies" is a prepositional phrase. It cannot be a "CLAUSE" because it only has three words(to the movies) and has no subject and no verb. A CLAUSE must have a subject and a verb.
An adjective as a single word is a word that describes a noun and answers the question which? what kind?or how many? about the noun. Examples: RED wine(what kind?) TEN dollars(how many?) the FOURTH house(which one?)
An Identifying Adjective Clause must have a subject and a verb just as all clauses do. It also must answer one of the three questions (which, what kind or how many) about the main subject of the sentence. If all of this is true, THE CLAUSE IS NOT SET OFF IN COMMAS. THAT IS MOST IMPORTANT ABOUT IDENTIFYING ADJECTIVE CLAUSES. This is what you have to get in your head and learn the difference between the two kinds of adjective clauses. One uses commas to set iself off and the other does not!
Here is an example: People who are unwilling to risk failure will never succeed. The clause "WHO ARE UNWILLING TO RISK FAILURE" is an adjective clause describing the subject "People". It answers the question What kind? about the noun, "People". It is an "Identifying Adjective Clause(no commas) because it cannot be left out of the sentence without drastically changing the meaning of the sentence. Leave it out and look what the sentence says: " People will never succeed." Do you see how the clause is necessary to the meaning of the sentence? If the clause is necessary to the meaning of the sentence, do not set put commas around the clause. Here is another example: Food that has turned green in the refrgerator should be thrown away. Can you see if you put commas around the adjective phrase the sentence would read, "FOOD SHOULD BE THROWN AWAY." ? This is the Identifying Adjective Clause with some examples. The next section will explain the Non-identifying Adjective Clause.

A Non-Identifying Adjective Clause in a sentence IS set off with commas and is NOT essential to the meaning of the sentence. Here are some examples: Dr. Smith, who comes from Kansas, is a Nephrologist. "who comes from Kansas" is not esential to the meaning of the sentence and therefore is set off with commas. The important part of the sentence is: Dr. Smith is a nephrologist. The fact that he comes from Kansas is incidental, and just adds a little more information about the doctor. Here is one more: Babe Ruth, a baseball player, hit 60 homeruns. (The important part is "Babe Ruth hit 60 homeruns.")
Now here is one for you to decide whether it is a sentence with an Identifying Adjective Clause(no commas) or a Non-identifying Adjective Clause(commas). I will just write the sentence and you decide if it needs commas around the clause or not.
You can write it as a "COMMENT" if you wish or e-mail me leocoleman@rocketmail.com. Here is the sentence: "THE DOCTOR WHO FLEW TO PAKISTAN HELPED FOUR PEOPLE WITH MEDICAL EMERGENCIES ON THE FLIGHT. Answer in a "COMMENT" or e-mail to me (leocoleman@rocketmail.com) .......and I will see you for further instruction.

Dancing within the stars: A poem by queenofcats

2009-03-21T16:35:00.002-04:00

At night when I close my eyes,

I am flying within the stars.

I soar higher and don't stop,

I skip, I jump, and I hop.

Soon I am there dancing,

And even romancing.

The stars shine bright,

I bask in their light.

Bells and voices bring me back,

I wake and my dreams I pack.

I put them where none can see,

No one that is except for me.

But if you are lost or things are stolen,

Look to the night sky with cried eyes swollen.

That's where I'll be seen,

I won't be too cross or mean.

I'm dancing within the stars,

Yet I never get scars.

When time comes to wake,

My eyes open while I shake.

I yawn, I stretch, and I greet the day,

"This is the time!" I hear someone say.

As if driven by race cars,

I must return to the stars.

This night I'll return there,

This trip I'd like to share.

Take my hand and to you I'll show,

Just how fast and how far we'll go.

Then you'll be dancing within the stars,

And you won't get any scars.

Odds and Ends

2009-03-18T20:50:00.008-04:00

First I would like to welcome some new bloggers to my blog (WRITE,WRITE,WRITE). Let me introduce them: Steve Coleman is a nephew of mine. He works as an actuary for an insurance company in Portand, Oregon. I am guessing, but I think Steve might live in the town of Wilsonville, Oregon. (You would think I would know where my nephew lives, wouldn't you!) Well, the reason I say Wilsonville, Oregon is that when I check the map with the red dots on the right hand side of my blog which shows who is looking in on my blog, and I click on a red dot up near Oregon, the name WILSONVILLE, OREGON comes up. I think that is Steve. (Watch Steve write a blog now and tell me that I am wrong----He would be delighted to do just that!!) Steve is the best poetry writer in the family although there is an eight year old girl by the name of Maddie who lives down South someplace who wrote a poem about a horse which you can read here who is very good also. Steve is coming for a visit on April 1st and will have breakfast with us in Grafton and that will be nice.
The next new blogger is my brother Donald Coleman. Donald lives in Charleston, South Carolina. We think of him as an historian, but he was also a businessman. He is a great speaker and can write well too. I look forward to more contributions from him. Did you read the poem about his wife? It is short but full of feeling.
Zorro is a current student of mine that I am tutoring. He is in medicine and speaks Irdu,Punjabi,Saraiki,and English.That's FOUR languages (count them!)His job keeps him from writing a lot on the blog, but you can read the interesting stories he has written by checking back using the "ARCHIVES" tab.
If you look on the list of contributors, you see the name "GABA". I have no idea who gaba is. I have gaba's e-mail address and sent an e-mail to him/her so stay tuned....My last new blogger has the name "QUEENOFCATS. This person is a female patient at the Beaumont Nursing Home and I hope she will contribute some writing to the blog.
Now for some other news.....I had the distinct pleasure this evening of attending a one hour lecture at the Lazare Research Building of UMass. The subject of the lecture was Taking Care of Your Heart. I learned a lot in that one hour, but to put it in a nutshell here it is: Do you want a healthy heart? Do this: EXERCISE! EAT FRESH FRUITS and VEGETABLES! CHECK YOUR CHOLESTEROL! WATCH YOUR WEIGHT! I learned that UMASS is the #1 Heart hospital in Massachusetts and (get this) the #2 Heart hospital in the United States. This UMass is becoming something special indeed!

Church Bloopers---Part Two

2009-03-16T20:43:00.006-04:00

Here is a continuation of "bloopers" that I understand actually appeared in church bulletins around the country:

>> IRVING BENSON AND JESSIE CARTER WERE MARRIED ON OCTOBER 24 IN THE CHURCH. SO ENDS A FRIENDSHIP THAT BEGAN IN THEIR SCHOOLDAYS.

>> SCOUTS ARE SAVING ALUMINUM CANS , BOTTLES, AND OTHER ITEMS TO BE RECYCLED. PROCEEDS WILL BE USED TO CRIPPLE CHILDREN.

>> PLEASE PLACE YOUR DONATION IN THE ENVELOPE ALONG WITH THE DECEASED PERSON YOU WANT REMEMBERED.

>> POTLUCK SUPPER SUNDAY AT 5:30 P.M. PRAYER AND MEDICATION TO FOLLOW.

>> THE LADIES OF THE CHURCH HAVE CAST OFF CLOTHING OF EVERY KIND. THEY MAY BE SEEN IN THE BASEMENT ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

>> THIS EVENING AT 7 PM THERE WILL BE A HYMN SINGING IN THE PARK ACROSS FROM THE CHURCH. BRING A BLANKET AND COME PREPARED TO SIN.

>> LADIES BIBLE STUDY WILL BE HELD THURSDAY MORNING AT 10 AM. ALL LADIES ARE INVITED TO LUNCH IN THE FELLOWSHIP HALL AFTER THE BS IS DONE.

>> THE PASTOR OF THE CONGREGATION WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF THE LADIES OF THE CONGREGATION WOULD LEND HIM THEIR ELECTRIC GIRDLES FOR THE PANCAKE BREAKFAST NEXT SUNDAY.

>> LOW SELF ESTEEM SUPPORT GROUP WILL MEET THURSDAY AT 7P.M. PLEASE USE THE BACK DOOR.

>> THE EIGHTH GRADERS WILL BE PRESENTING SHAKESPEARE'S HAMLET IN THE CHURCH BASEMENT FRIDAY AT 7 PM. THE CONGREGATION IS INVITED TO ATTEND THIS TRAGEDY.

>> WEIGHT WATCHERS WILL MEET AT 7PM AT THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. PLEASE USE LARGE DOUBLE DOORS AT THE SIDE ENTRANCE.

>> THE ASSOCIATE MINISTER UNVEILED THE CHURCH'S NEW CAMPAIGN SLOGAN LAST SUNDAY; I UPPED MY PLEDGE--UP YOURS.

Church Bloopers

2009-03-15T21:44:00.004-04:00

Last week I had occasion to sing at Beaumont Nursing Home on Plantation Street in Worcester, Ma. and one of the workers there handed me a few sheets of paper with jokes on them entitled "Church Bloopers". I thought they were really funny, and I would like to share them with you now. I understand that these are REAL and were really printed in church bulletins:
>>LADIES ,DON'T FORGET THE RUMMAGE SALE. IT'S A CHANCE TO GET RID OF THOSE THINGS NOT WORTH KEEPING AROUND THE HOUSE. BRING YOUR HUSBANDS.

>>REMEMBER IN PRAYER THE MANY WHO ARE SICK OF OUR COMMUNITY. SMILE AT SOMEONE WHO IS HARD TO LOVE. SAY "HELL" TO SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T CARE MUCH ABOUT YOU.
>> THE SERMON THIS MORNING: JESUS WALKS ON WATER. THE SERMON TONIGHT; SEARCHING FOR JESUS.
>> THE FASTING AND PRAYER CONFERENCE INCLUDES MEALS.
>> DON'T LET WORRY KILL YOU OFF. LET THE CHURCH HELP.
>> MISS CHARLENE MASON SANG "I WILL NOT PASS THIS WAY AGAIN" GIVING OBVIOUS PLEASURE TO THE CONGREGATION.
>> FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE CHILDREN AND DON'T KNOW IT, WE HAVE A NURSERY DOWNSTAIRS.
>> NEXT THURSDAY THERE WILL BE TRYOUTS FOR THE CHOIR. THEY NEED ALL THE HELP THEY CAN GET.
>> AT THE EVENING SERVICE TONIGHT, THE SERMON TOPIC WILL BE "WHAT IS HELL?" COME EARLY AND LISTEN TO OUR CHOIR PRACTICE.
..........................TO BE CONTINUED.........................

2009-03-14T17:44:00.002-04:00

Here are two quick items written nearly a year ago at Denver's airport...

Pluck of the Irish

My brother had told me, years ago,
And this I know to be fact
The diff’rence ‘tween Irish wedding and wake
Is the Irishman not coming back

Both should always be joyous affairs
Where laughter and stories abound
We can toast to the happy couple to be
Or remember the one not around

~~~~~~~~~~

Denver Dusk

Nightfall settles
Over city of light
Like a shimmering blanket
To be folded in the morn’

A PROMISE TO MY LOVE

2009-03-07T11:56:00.002-05:00

Across the years I will walk with you
In deep green forests, on shores of sand
And when our time on earth is Through
In Heaven too, you will have my hand.

Listening to the Silence

2009-03-07T11:45:00.003-05:00

And then there was the other One
Walking by her side,
And the Cries of Despair and Turmoil
Echoed across the Land
While here by the Sea
There was only the Eternal
Silence of Truth.

A POEM BY MADDIE COLEMAN 8 YRS OLD

2009-03-07T10:44:00.002-05:00

The saddle is on my back
I feel great joy
I dash across the race field
As an autumn tint of gold
Wind blows my mane
The wind shapes my mane into a crown
Then the crown disappears
I keep running to meet the moon
I win in my tournament
The other team sends a letter of anger in the wind
I feel like a star shooting across a sky of people yelling
All of them yelling
Yelling just my name
I vanish and then appear out of the pine trees
The pine trees bow to me in the wind
They bow showing how happy they are for me winning
My owner puts me back in the barn filled with total darkness
It's soundless
A whine escapes my mouth
I feel like the barn cat had wacked the fun out of my body
Now I feel blacked out with sadness

A Fond Farewell to a Dear Friend

2009-03-05T17:08:00.003-05:00

Jean Bolz died yesterday. Jean was the kindest, gentlest, person I ever knew. She was a HUMANIST in every way that one can define that word. The newspaper said that Jean lived in Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota. I hadn't known that, but when I read that, I said to myself, "Yes, that is where I would expect a person like Jean to come from." She possessed a purity that a blind man could hear and a deaf man could see. She was soft in voice, but firm in values. If you crossed her principles, you would be told about it, but you would be allowed up for air! That was Jean's personality as best as I can describe her.
I knew Jean as a fellow teacher at the Worcester Adult Learning Center. Jean taught Pre-GED, GED, Adult Basic Education, and may have substituted at times in the English for Speakers of Other Languages Program. Whatever program Jean taught in, the student was always FIRST and she dealt with them in a HUMAN and PROFESSIONAL way (both) in the same manner as the other teachers who worked with Jean at the time: Mary Jane Howard, Margaret Farrey, Ann O'Leary, Ann Doyle,Cathy Coleman, Pat Dumphy, Ellen Sweeney, and others whom I have forgotten. It was an era of excellent, compassionate teaching and Jean had much to do with it.
Jean was married to the late Ray Bolz who was the Dean of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Both Jean and Ray were of the Unitarian religion which stresses PEACE and HARMONY and both of these individuals were the pictures of both. I can recall being at social gatherings at Worcester Tech and at Jean and Ray's house and what gracious host and hostess they were. I can recall how proud Ray was when he moved into his new house after he retired from Worcester Tech. This must be over ten years ago now when I visited and he was very energy conscious then. He was very proud of the extra insulation that he put into his house and the solar panels that had been installed on the roof. He also loved his state of the art workshop (he was an engineer) that he showed me in his cellar. Unfortunately, he had little time to use it because Ray passed away shortly after that.
What is Jean's legacy? I would say it is the values that must live on in the lovely family that she leaves behind. I saw how strong those values were, so they have to be strong in them. She also has left a part of herself in me and and I am sure all the lives of all the students she met. What better legacy could there be,Jean?

Private Paradise: A Parable on Simplicity

2009-02-27T17:36:00.000-05:00

When I was a young boy growing up, there was a special field near my house. It had high grasses, a few trees, a shallow brook. It was perfect for a young boy and his friends, with places to explore, trees to climb, bugs to find, rocks to throw..…a place to relax and have fun……a private paradise….

One day, an adult stepped forward to do us kids a favor. He owned the land, and loved seeing us have fun, but he knew that we'd really love our very own baseball field.

So he brought in some heavy equipment, leveled the land, removed a few trees, and laid out a baseball diamond. After a couple years, he even added a backstop behind home plate.

With the improvements, more kids were attracted to the field. We'd play baseball in the summer and football in the fall. If you were playing the outfield, sometimes you'd get to run out to the edge of the brook to fetch a ball - over the brook was a home run. We no longer had trees to climb, and we had to share the field with more kids, but at least we had a ball field!

As the field became more popular, it started to get a little messy – at times you'd see candy wrappers floating down the brook, and it was hard to miss the empty Coke cans. But we had fun.
After a few years the field had become so popular that the town decided to buy the property and use it for Little League games. Of course, the ball field was again improved. Fences were added, along with seating for spectators.

Now that the park was fenced in, we could use it only for league games or team practices, but I was in the league so that was okay. The younger kids couldn't use the field, but I'm sure that they'd rather watch TV at home (maybe “Wild Kingdom”).

To accommodate the Little League crowds, space was needed for parking. At first, cars simply parked in a dirt lot (...a few more trees had to be removed...), but after a couple more years that area was expanded and paved over. It was looking like a pretty impressive facility.

Somewhere along the way we'd lost track of the brook - I think it was covered over when the stands and fences were added. By then I'd grown too old for Little League, so I'd go to the field only occasionally to watch my younger brother play.

Now I'm older, with children of my own. In a few years they'll be able to play ball at the field. For now, though, we like to get in the car and drive about an hour from town to a special place. It has fields with high grasses, a shallow brook…...places to explore, trees to climb, bugs to find, rocks to throw..…a place to relax and have fun……a private paradise!

A Visit to the Notre Dame Education Center

2009-02-19T13:17:00.008-05:00

Recently I had the distinct privilege and pleasure of visiting the NOTRE DAME EDUCATION CENTER which is located in South Boston, Massachusetts. I was given a tour of the facility by Sister Margaret Lanen of the Sisters of Notre Dame. (Sister Margaret belongs to the same order of nuns that operates the marvelous nursing home facility on Plantation Street where our chorus from Saint Joan of Arc Church sings each Christmas and 4th of July.) I have been in the business of teaching adults all aspects of the English language for a long time now in many different environments. It is difficult to explain, but I don't have to be in a school very long to get a"FEEL" for the place. (I wish that I had a better way to describe it.) Notre Dame Education Center was operating full blast when I got there. There were ESL classes in session everywhere. It was a happy, active, place. I got that same "FEEL" here as I did the year before when I visited Framingham, Massachusett's Adult Learning Center. I saw no evidence of politicians with their fingers in the pie here--no wheeling and dealing---no scheming---students with books and supplies---proper ratios of teachers to administrators---evidence of respect for immigrant population-----no evidence of censorship of websites for blogs: in other words, a beautifully operated center for learning.
After taking a walking tour around the facility, Sister Margaret sat me down next to a computer and proceeded to explain PROJECT L.E.A.D. to me. This was one of the main reasons for my visit. Project L.E.A.D. which stands for LEARNING ENGLISH AT A DISTANCE is a computer-based program for foreign-born persons to learn English at home from lessons provided from the Notre Dame Education Center. This is what "distance learning" is. Sister Margaret operates this project (with help) using her center as the "HUB" (as she calls it) for students from Jamaica Plain Learning Center, Somerville Center(Project SCALE) and the Community Learning Center in Cambridge. If I remember correctly, there are over 165 students enrolled and learning English "AT HOME". However, it is not entirely at home without a teacher. The teacher is a vital part of the whole project. Sr. Margaret showed me how she corrects the writing from her students. She does it somewhat differently than I do. While I use capital letters to make corrections and e-mails, Margaret numbers her corrections and is very detailed. She is terrific!!
How does the teacher know what work to give the student who is working at Home? For the ESL teacher who may be reading this blog, Sr. Margaret told me that they use the REEP Test and that Project LEARN is for intermediate level ESL students. There are also some basic computer skills that the student needs to know in advance in order to participate. Among these are to send an attachment along with an e-mail. Each student is given a well-organized booklet that explains all that is necessary to participate.
The whole system operates on the MOODLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM and requires a good deal of self discipline on the part of the learner.
From what I have been able to observe, I would say that the SCREENING PROCESS is crucial when it comes to retention of students. If the ESL student's computer skills do not match what is needed to operate the MOODLE SYSTEM, or to read well enough to be self-directing enough at home, then that student will quickly drop out. Therefore, the REEP Test has got to be accurate! The challenge for the future of distance learning is to devise a system for BEGINNERS for English as a Second Language. How about that, Sister Margaret? (and anybody else?) I think you would need to have to use SKYPE or some such system of face to face action with beginners to keep the dropout rate within reasonable levels.
I mentioned the MOODLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. The absolute expert on that system is a fellow by the name of Romeo Marquis and his business is teaching this system to teachers everywhere---and I mean EVERYWHERE!! He teaches MOODLE to American teachers, but he also goes overseas. He just came back from Costa Rica, and he tells me that he will be going to Honduras sometime next month for the fifth time. Romeo takes some time to play the guitar, and he and I enjoy singing together....I think I should write a blog about him soon.
I stayed with Sr. Margaret much longer than I thought I would because it was such a great place to visit. I can assure Governor Patrick that the Commonwealth is getting its moneys worth from this wonderful facility. It truly deserves the adjective "educational" beside its name.
I caught the 5:00P.M. train out of Back Bay Station for Worcester and a modern train it was! I rode home on the upper deck for $3.85 senior citizen rate. I hate to tell you the last time I rode the train to Boston. I was working for the government then and used to take the "Montreal Express" on Sunday night out of North Station for Concord, New Hampshire. (This was ages ago!!) At that time, the Boston Bruin hockey team used to take the same train north to play the Montreal Canadians. I used to wear what was then called a "trench coat" that looked like what is now a "London Fog" coat (white) I carried a brown leather overnight bag with the initials "WPC" on the side. These initials stood for,"WILLIAM PAUL COLEMAN",my brother's bag that I had borrowed. Every Sunday night when I walked into the station, a large group of boys between the ages of 12 to 15 years of age would come running across the concourse with autograph books and surround me. They would thrust their books and pens in my face demanding my autograph! It took me a while to figure out that they were confusing me with one of the Bruins hockey players! When I explained who I was, they would leave, but the next week, the scene would be repeated. One Sunday night I decided to have some fun. I signed their books, but I signed, "DONALD DUCK", "MICKEY MOUSE", "ANDY GUMP" until finally....one of the boys actually looked at the signature and in a loud voice announced, "HE'S NO HOCKEY PLAYER!" With that, they all scattered like a flock of birds that suddenly changes direction. However. it was not until that boy made his announcement that I understood why those kids were attacking me every Sunday night!
I arrived back at beautiful Union Station a little after 6:00 P.M. and wondered whatever happened to that nice overnight bag of my brother Billy's(?) and thoughts of what a nice place the Notre Dame Education Center is. Then I saw my wife, Shirley out front waiting to pick me up. I couldn't wait to tell her what a nice day it had been! Thank you Sr. Margaret, Lisa, and Cathy!

Amy and the "UP" E-Mail

2009-02-09T22:08:00.002-05:00

Amy is an interesting peson. She works in a local nursing home where I volunteer on Saturday mornings. My routine every Saturday has been to drive down to Grafton, Ma., have breakfast with my brother Ray, my nephews David, and Phil and then drive to the Beaumont Nursing Home on Plantation Street (formerly known as University Commons) and sing songs for the patients in the lounge o the first floor there. Eddie Lennon has been volunteering there for 15 years, and I meet him there in the lounge. He always has the doughnuts or homemade brownies or cake for the patients. He also makes the coffee. "Polish Eddie", whom you may have read about in this blog, used to print up the music in large enough print for all the patients to read. His name was Eddie Symonywicz and we sure miss him. Anyway, Amy has taken Eddie's job of printing up the music, and I have the job of finding new music. Occasionally, my nephew, David, who plays a mean guitar,violin, and mandolin comes to help out, but right now he is coaching basketball and has to stay in Grafton.
So much for my introduction and explanation as to who Amy is. Now for the "up" email. I received it from Amy today, and since I teach ESL, and this blog is mostly about ESL, I thought you might like it, so here it is repeated and thank you, Amy.

It's easy to understand Up meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but we awaken in the morning , why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP? and why are the officers UP for reelection? and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
We call UP our friends, and we use something to brighten UP a room , polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has special meaning. People stir UP trouble , line UP for tickets, work UP an appetitie, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
This next UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP . We open UP a store in the morning, but we close it UP at night.
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP. TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE PROPER USES OF UP look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk -sized dictionary, it takes UP almost one fourth of a page and can add UP to about 30 definitions! If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we may say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out, we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP. ONE COULD GO ON AND ON BUT I'LL WRAP IT ALL UP, for now and say my time is UP so................it is time
to shut UP!

Oh..........one more thing
What is the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night?
........U-P.....................Thank you, Amy!

A Mixed-Up Paragraph About Japan

2009-02-03T12:04:00.005-05:00

This is an academic exercise. I am going to type a paragraph about Japan. It will be out of order. Your job will be to retype it in the correct order so that it follows the PARAGRAPH PATTERN of TOPIC SENTENCE followed by DETAILS and a last sentence as a CONCLUDING STATEMENT SENTENCE. This is a challenge. If you accept it, send it to me in an e-mail, and I will answer you. My e-mail address is leocoleman@rocketmail.com Here is the mixed-up paragraph:

It consists of four main islands: Hokkaido,Honsyu,Shikoku, and Kyusu and over 3,900 smaller islands some of which are uninhabitable. Japan has a varied topography that helps make it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Japan ranks 42nd in the world in terms of its geographic size, but 7th in terms of its population. This results in a population density of 316 people for every square kilometre. Mountains cover about 72 percent of the land, leaving little of its surface area of 377,728 square kilometres for its population of just over 120 million people.

A Message for Mr. Zorro

2009-02-02T14:05:00.005-05:00

As I understand it from my brother Ray who is a teacher of Psychology, one has to stimulate the neurons in the brain to keep sharp, so I am presenting this minor challenge to Mr. Zorro and any other reader of this blog who wishes to participate. The following paragraph is about THE TOPOGRAPHY OF JAPAN. What do you MEAN you don't care about the topography of Japan?? That is not the point. The subject matter of the paragraph is not important. It is the STYLE of the writing that you should be learning about. There are THREE different ways to write a paragraph. They are as follows:
1. A Topic sentence supported by DETAILS
2. A Topic sentence supported by POINTS
3. A Topic sentence supported by EXAMPLES
Here is the paragraph----Good luck.

The Topography of Japan

Two aspects of Japan's topography have a significant effect on its population density . First, Japan consists of four main islands and over 3900 smaller islands. Many of these smaller islands are uninhabitable. A second aspect of topography that has contributed to the high population density is that 72% of Japan is covered by mountains. This leaves only 377,728 square kilometres of its surface for its over 120 million people to live. The result is that Japan has been left with a population density of 316 people for every square kilometre, one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

There you have it. Now which category of paragraph style does this paragraph about Japan fall into. #1,#2,#3) If you had the book Writing For Results, I would now ask you to do the next exercise which is to take a paragraph about Japan and rewrite it. The only problem is, this paragraph is all mixed up and your job is to put the sentences in the right order! Since you do not have the book, I will write the paragraph for you in my next blog and you can send me an e-mail with the paragraph written correctly. THEN, your next job AFTER THAT>.......Are you ready for this.....You then have to write a paragraph (just one----only one little paragraph about your OWN country using a topic sentence and one of the patterns(details, points, or examples) and E_MAIL YOUR PARAGRAPH TO ME (leocoleman@rocketmail.com) Now, if after all of this, you simply ignore the whole thing, I will not go and do this much work EVER AGAIN. You do not have to be Mr. Zorro only to e-mail me your answer or your paragraph. I WILL answer. Remember my motto: There is no hope for a __ __ __ __ !!

The P.A.T. Principle--A Guide to Preparing a Piece of Writing for Publication or Presentation

2009-01-31T15:56:00.005-05:00

The following is a summary and my thoughts on the first chapter in the book entitled WRITING FOR RESULTS, ACADEMIC AND PROFESSSIONAL WRITING TASKS.
The three elements of the P.A.T. Principle are purpose, audience, and topic. When you prepare to write, you decide first what is your PURPOSE? Is it to instruct? Is it to inform? Is it to entertain? Is it to give directions?
Next, you need to consider your AUDIENCE? Who will you be writing (or speaking) to? What is their professional background? How big an audience will it be? Will your writing match their interests? This is where you need to pay attention to the vocabulary that you use.
Finally, you need to consider the topic of your writing (or presentation) Do you define your topic clearly, limiting it to a central issue and narrowing it enough so that you can cover it well. If you make your topic too broad, you can never cover it adequately without writing a book!
Now you know the "P.A.T. Principle" for preparation for writing: PURPOSE,AUDIENCE,TOPIC.
The author of this chapter also discusses having someone else read what you have written before you submit the writing for publication or make your lecture or presentation. This is called PEER FEEDBACK. Well, if you are in a class, this is excellent advice. Two heads are better than one. Even if you are not in a class, find someone who is willing to read and comment on your writing.
The author also strongly recommends editing your writing which we also call PROOFREADING. This is very imporant in all writing although I must admit I do not always follow my own advice when I write a blog.
Another recommendation of the author is keeping an EDITING CHECKLIST. I recommend this only if you have a lot of trouble with English grammar and you are a very organized person with a lot of time. Frankly this would drive me crazy! He recommends that you keep a notebook and write down the mistakes you make in grammar in a list(like a grocery list). By writing down your mistakes, you may remember not to repeat them. Maybe.
Finally, the author recommends this sequence of steps when writing:
1. The P.A.T. Principle (thinking about it)
2. Rough Draft (the first copy)
3. Edit (Proofread)--Peer Feedback
4. Final Copy
5. Publish or Deliver your lecture or presentation
Chapter Two deals with the various types of paragraphs and their structure. One other note. This book is published in Canada, so it uses British spelling rather than American spelling, but that is only a minor irritant. (Example: "practise" instead of "practice", "cancelled" instead of "canceled"

Student Blogging in Colorado

2009-01-28T10:27:00.003-05:00

I heard recently about a teacher in Colorado who is interested in having her students exchange blogs with students in other states. I know from experience that this is an excellent way for ESOL students to improve their English grammar. I am also sure that it would be good for GED and Pre-GED students as well.
If you teach in a center that allows blogging, then you might want to consider contacting this teacher. I am not sure if she is an ESL teacher or a GED teacher, but here are the details:
Her Name: LEECY WISE
FOUR CORNERS RESOURCE CENTER
P.O. BOX 347
PLEASANT VIEW, COLORADO 81331

E-MAIL ADDRESS; leecy@coloradoadulted.org

Wilson Kiriungi's Story

2009-01-22T15:10:00.004-05:00

WILSON WAHOME KIRIUNGI is from Kenya, East Africa. That country has been in the news a lot lately because our new president's father was born there and he has relatives who live there now. Wilson lives here in Worcester and is a student at Worcester State College. Wilson delivered a wonderful speech in the Worcester City Council Chambers last evening. When he finished, I followed him out into the hall and he very kindly gave me a copy of his speech. I am going to type it here in its entirety. The parts that he stressed I will put in capital letters. After you read it, I hope you agree with me that we all should be proud of this special young man!
This was his speech:
TELLING OUR STORY
My name is Wilson wahome Kiriungi. I was born and raised in a country called Kenya. A country known for PRODUCING EXCELLENT LONG DISTANCE RUNNERS and very recently, a country PROUD TO HAVE PROVIDED GENETIC MATERIAL FOR THE NEW US PRESIDENT. Yesterday, the first black president was inaugurated . The day before, we honored a man who marched to make that dream possible. A poet from Brooklyn summed up the historical journey of the black civil rights movement by saying quote, "ROSA PARKS SAT so that Martin Luther King could walk. MARTIN LUTHER KING WALKED so that Barack Obama could run. And BARACK OBAMA RAN, SO THAT OUR CHILDREN COULD FLY. I don't know if Barack Obama by virtue of HAVING KENYAN BLOOD in him, had any other choice but to run. But I know this, I KNOW THAT I WANT MY 6 MONTH OLD DAUGHTER TO ONE DAY FLY.

America has undoubtedly made strides towards ensuring racial equality and civil rights for her citizens. But speaking to you as an immigrant from an African country, I can tell you that much more remains to be done in order to make America see the need to treat immigrant workers with respect and dignity. Those of us who labor day in and day out , night in and night out, taking care of their sick and elderly in nursing homes, IN FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS AND CONVENIENT STORES, in factories, IN VEGETABLE AND FRUIT FARMS IN SANTA MARIA VALLEY IN CALIFORNIA ...We have had enough of negative rhetoric about immigrants stealing American jobs, crowding hospitals and schools, increasing crime rates in cities, bringing strange diseases to the shores of America....we have had enough OF THOSE XENOPHOBIC LIES FROM THE O'REILLY'S AND LOU DOBB'S OF AMERICA...

Now it is time for us to tell our story. it is time for us to tell them how immigration has always been a part of the American fabric. How immigration benefits the economy. It is time for us to tell them as Professor Alan Krueger , a professor of economics at Princeton University found out that there is no evidence from past immigration patterns to suggest that immigrants take jobs away from Americans. Let the people know that unlike what they hear on FOX NEWS and Talk Radio, immigrants do not lower the wages of American born workers but rather , as shown by a study done in 2005 by the National Bureau of Economic Research, immigrants actually raised the average wage of the American worker by 1.1% during the 1990's.

Speak up! Be heard! TELL THEM THAT NO HUMAN BEING IS ILLEGAL! Tell them we do not come here so that we can take advantage of free government services, tell them a woman does not risk her life crossing the Rio Grande or the desert of Arizona hoping for a piece of free government cheese...

If we wanted a piece of anything, it would be a piece of the American dream. tell them we do not come here for free stuff, we come here to work. In fact the so called illegal immigrants are the only people who pay taxes in but never collect their benefits later. ABOUT $600 BILLION DOLLARS(ENOUGH TO BAIL OUT A FEW BANKS) of unclaimed benefits are being held by the Social Security Administration in what they call the EARNING SUSPENSE FILE. If we were to ask for anything in exchangefor the $600 billion dollars ASIDE FROM THE SILENCE OF HANNITY, LOU DOBBS, AND O'REILLY, it would be for the HARD WORKING IMMIGRANT TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY AND RESPECT and for America to acknowldge the crucial role played by the immigrant in propping up the economy and in enriching the culture.

THE PROBLEM IS NOT PEOPLE REFUSING TO "WAIT IN LINE".for their turn to be welcomed into America. The problem is there is no line. THE PROBLEM IS NOT HOW MANY PEOPLE are coming to America today. The problem is WHO IS coming to America today. For instance, by 1920, nearly 72% OF ALL WORCESTER RESIDENTS were either foreign born or had foreign parents....72%...What about today? Only 14.5% of the population of Worcester today is foreign born. Yet the anti-immigration noise has even been louder. that is why we must INSIST on being heard. That is why we must insist on the truth about who we are and why we are here. We must insist on letting America know the value of NOT JUST IMMIGRANT LABOR but also THE DIVERSITY OF CULTURE IN AN INCREASING GLOBAL WORLD. There cannot be a global economy without free movement of labor. The debate thus far has been one sided. our voice has not been heard. We must insist on telling our story.

Minorities Speak Out!!--but only to each other

2009-01-21T22:52:00.002-05:00

I tried to time it so that I would be there at 5:30 P.M. Where? The City Council Chambers, Third Floor, City Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts. Why? I was asked to go there by a dear friend and former student (Lakale) to support a demonstration by the Spanish community who wanted to make a statement that the immigrant community is an important part of Worcester,contributes much to its progress, and has a number of issues that need to be addressed.

I parked in the library parking lot on Salem Street around 5:00. I put $2.00 in the meter(enough to last until 7:00P.M. and froze while I walked the few blocks to City Hall. I was not surprised at the good crowd in the Council Chambers, but I was surprised that THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WERE NOT THERE. I listened to a beautifully organised meeting composed of speakers from every minority group that one could possibly think of (Spanish,Albanians,Muslims,Gay Community,American Civil Liberties Union, a Brazilian lady professor with a translator, a young lady championing the rights of poor people who have been cheated by unscrupulous investors with foreclosures,another young lady from Holy Cross College wh omade an inspiring speech for togetherness with the new administration, etc.etc. I say "etc" because I did not write anything down and it was one speaker right after another, but anything but boring! In between we had a wonderful Spanish guitarist and four Mexican young ladies who did some traditional Mexican dances.....BUT NOT ONE CITY COUNCIL PERSON, JUST EMPTY CHAIRS. WHAT A SHAME. Of course, in all fairness, I have to ask the question, DID ANYONE INVITE THEM? If they were invited and not even a representative chose to show up, then that is really BAD. hOWEVER, I will have to reserve judgment until I know more of the facts.

All of the speakers were great, but there was one who was an absolute standout. I spoke to him in the hall as I was leaving (to avoid getting a parking ticket) and he told me that he was a student at Worcester State College. He also is from Kenya, the same country that Barak Obama's relatives come from. He kindly gave me his speech and when I have time tomorrow I will print it in its entirety here on my blog. It was that good! His name is WILSON WAHOME KIRIUNGI. I would say that Worcester State College should be very proud to have a student of this caliber. I think if Wilson decides to become a citizen of the United States, he will be heard from. Look for his speech on my blog tomorrow or the next day at the latest....Goodnight...(Oh, I did not get a ticket. I had 35 mimutes to go.)

2009-01-01T10:26:00.002-05:00

Have a very HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I AM sorry THAT I HAVE NOT WRITTEN for so long. I have been busy.
I want to tell you that I am going to start learning English at Quinsigamond next January. I hope to be able to talk and write everything that I need to say.

On January 21ST. at 5:30 we are making a demostration at City Hall (City Coucil Chambers on the third floor)to welcome the new administration and let them know that we, the immigrants, are here as part of the American communitY.You all are invited to participate and support us.

2008-12-29T21:11:00.003-05:00

Midnight Shopping - Black Friday

2008-12-08T20:37:00.004-05:00

I have been in United States since 1999. It HAS BEEN almost ten years and I have never been to a Black Friday sale. I am not sure what Black Friday stands for, but one thing I can say is that it is associated with great discounted prices. Usually I went SHOPPING on Fridays around 11 AM or sometime in the afternoon. Most of the sale items were vanished by the time I went So this year I decided to DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

I planned to accompany a friend of mine this time. Kash has been in THE states for ages. He knew ALL THE ins and outs of THE Black Friday deals. He always went to these events at timeS to shop and at timeS to have fun, so we decided to DO SOME shopping but mostly FOR fun. Instead of going at midnight, this time we left the house around 3 AM. We decided to go to NEW HAMPSHIRE BECAUSE most MASSACHUSETTS residents shop in Salem,NEW HAMPSHIRE. We reached there around 4:00 A.M. We drove around to see the impact of THE worsening economy. There were lots of people in front of Circuit City and Best Buy. The lines were long, but to Kash's surprise this time the length of line was no match to previous years. It was evident how bad THE economy made people stay at home. The longest line was at a Kohl's. Clothes were cheaper to begin with and this Black Friday bargain made THEM even more affordable I guess. After driving around, we went to Walmart. I am glad it was open 24 hours so we didn't have to stand in line in the cold. There were various stations in the Walmart where all the Black Friday Bargain items were stocked. Some of the electronics SUCH AS plasma TELEVISION SETS, DVD, and LCD TV's were placed at a separate location. We scouted the lines and items, and finally decided to GET in line for A Laptop. The Black Friday Shopping was supposeD to staRt at 5:00 A.M. At 4:50 AM they allowed the people in THE electronics section to choose the items they wantED. That was it! I heard a roar, thump AND thunder! pEOple STARTED running, and screaming. ThIS is a typical scene that you can imagine when a food distribution line opens up in SubSaharan Africa. You can see the chaos as hungry people are fighting for food. But this is America, and it was just electronic stuff not food. I WAS IN Pakistan in 2005 after the earthquake that killed about 85,000 people. Our medical relief camp was next to a distribution center. At THE time, THE police had to charge with batONS to keep order. There was chaos everywhere. It was the same picture either in Walmart, USA or in School Soccer playground in Gahri Dupta, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.

Realizing the situation, we moved out of the line and walked around and away from the crowd. We CHANGED our strategy from shopping to having fun in watching people. Kash's mom WAS with us. We had her stand next to A pole which was supporting the roof. This WOULD protect her in case the crowd was to GET out of control. Kash picked up some stuff here and there. At 6:00 A.M. we decided to try other outlets. We went to Best Buy. There were still many "steals", but we did not need anyTHING. Later we visited Circuit City, checked stuff around and inquired about the laptop if it WAS still available. Lucky FOR us IT WAS. The laptop we got was the last one. Not bad for somebody who walked into Circuit City at 7:00 A.M. Friend's DVD's were also on sale and we picked up six out of ten season. Why did we not buy the remaining four seasons? Simply because they were not available. After Circuity City we were tired and drove home.

So you think OUR shopping spree WAS over? Well not yet, remember we only had six seasons out of ten of Friend's DVD's. We went home, had breakfast, and relaxed. We all were so sleepy but the spirit of shopping was still alive. Finally around 12:30 PM, I gathered the courage and called my favorite teacher - Mr. Coleman. At timeS I call him Dr. Coleman. He sounded disappointed but I guess he had NO choice. He was nice to allow me to skip my English lesson for the day. I promised him that I WOULD write a blog.

So the shopping continued. Half of the crew was left behind. Kash and his Mom were tired. His sister HAD to get the DVD's and I had to enjoy the shopping spree, so we went to another Circuit City, this time in Burlington, MA. After digging through the piles of DVD's finally we were able to find our remaining four seasons of "Friends". If you don't know what "Friends" is - well google it and you will know. It was a comady TV show that was on air for ten years. At around 3:30 PM we went home. I took A 30 minute power nap, had dinner, and drove back to Worcester. So you are thinking the Black Friday experience is over? Hmmm, not yet. On my way home I dropped by Best Buy. They still had another laptop and one of my friendS wanted to buy one. I went ahead and bought it for him. He still HAS to come to my place and GET it or I will drop by his place sometime next week and drop it off.

WELL, this was my experience on Black Friday!THE LESSON LEARNED FOR ME IS not to go out again at that WEIRD time. It's not worth it. You can save some money but THE effort involved is too much. Instead I WOULD rather work that night and buy the stuff the following day in A more relaxed environment. If you never experienced Black Friday madness, at least give it a try. After writing this bloG, a long one, I am assuming I will be getting a large regular coffee with cream and sugar. I think A large coffee will be too much so A mediUum coffee is fine for me.

MIANE--A Unique Organization

2008-11-25T14:32:00.005-05:00

MIANE is an acronym which stands for Military Intelligence Association of New England. It is a veterans' organization that I belong to which meets monthly in a restaurant in Woburn, Massachusetts. The members of this group share certain common experiences: They all at one time in their lives were special agents in military intelllgence units of the armed forces. Most were in the Counterintelligence Corps(CIC) of the United States Army. One man, Paul Giguerre, who lives in Springfield, Ma.,goes all the way back to membership in the prestigious Office of Strategic Services(OSS) of World War II. Paul at the age of 19 was inserted behind enemy lines into Occupied France before the Normandy Invasion to work with the French Underground and barely escaped with his life, but that is a story for another blog. It is too long to tell here.
I decided to write about MIANE now because it is November, the month of Veterans'Day, and I have put it off long enough. Also, this is the first Veterans' Day without my dear friend, Eddie Symonywicz, or as we knew him: "Polish Eddie." He died this year and I wrote about him at that time. Although Eddie is no longer with us, I am very happy that I was able to take him to one of MIANE's meetings. You see, "Polish Eddie" was the most Patriotic American I ever knew, and MIANE is the most patriotic organization I have ever known, so the two made a perfect match.
I remember that day very well. Eddie and I rode down to Woburn to the meeting at the restaurant with Dave Bianchi. (Dave had been a CIC agent in the Buffalo, N.Y. Field Office during his time in the Army and now lives in Princeton. At the meeting I introduced Eddie Symonywicz to the group by describing his record of World War II service in the Pacific. I told how Eddie continued his patriotic ways by flying the American flag in his front yard every day and the Marine Corps flag from his front porch! One never needed to know what number Bristol Street Eddie lived at; you just had to look for the flag! When I finished speaking, Eddie was embarrassed, but I didn't care. He deserved more praise than I could ever give a man like that.
At this restaurant, we serve ourselves buffet style. While we were standing in line to get our clam chowder, I overheard Eddie speaking to another member whose name is Al LeFavbre. They were speaking about an airbase on the island of Okinawa in the Pacific. I thought what an interesting story it was how these two heroes in two separate wars(World WarII and Vietnam) ended up at the same airbase under such different circumstances. Eddie came to the Okinawa airbase in 1945 with a rifle and Al came to the same place hiding inside a crate!.......This is how it happened: Eddie came to Okinawa with his Marine Corps Division in the normal course of events fighting from island to island across the Pacific Ocean toward Japan in World War II. Al LeFebvre's adventure came nine years later at the beginning of the Vietnam War. It was during the Eisenhower Administration. President Eisenhower was trying to answer these questions: HOW STRONG IS THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE ARMY? WILL THEY FIGHT? WHAT SHOULD AMERICA'S INVOLVEMENT BE? President Eisenhower did not trust the intelligence he was receiving from French sources within Vietnam. He had had negative experiences with Charles DeGaulle, the French leader, during the war and did not get along well with him. I think the fact that President Eisenhower had been an Army general influenced his thinking greatly. Army generals like to have their own sources of military intelligence! This is where Al had a role to play. Al was already an agent in counterintelligence, but the most important point was he spoke French fluently! He was recruited and given what is called "a cover story". His cover story was that he was to play the part of a newspaper correspondent from Montreal, Canada. With fake credentials, Al was smuggled into Indochina to help answer President Eisenhower's questions. He survived, but just barely! The story is too long to tell here, but at the end of it a Vietcong guerilla held a gun to Al's head and was about to pull the trigger when a religious medal around Al's neck was noticed. Al said to the man, "Dominus Vobiscum" (Latin for "The Lord be with You.)...The man took his finger off the trigger and lowered the gun. (He may have been a Catholic as Al was.)
Al LeFebvre was ultimately smuggled back out of Vietnam aboard a cargo plane in a large crate and landed at that same airbase in Okinawa that Eddie Symonywicz visited with an MI carbine years before. We all know what happened in the time since Al's lucky escape. The French were defeated at Diem Bien Phu. America did get involved and the war to keep Southeast Asia free from communism was on.
As a reward for his service, Al had the opportunity to go to Columbia Law School in New York City. This was arranged for him by Milton Eisenhower, the brother of the President.
Two men visit an airbase on the island of Okinawa ten years apart under very different circumstances and both serving their country. They meet years later in a restaurant and exchange stories over clam chowder. I had the distinct honor to sit and listen to these two gentlemen and listen to their stories. Al LeFebvre and Edward Symonywicz won't be in the history books of World War II and the Vietnam War, but the puzzle would look so awful without their two pieces filling it in so beautifully.

My Trip to My Homeland- Part III

2008-11-19T18:44:00.007-05:00

A young gentleman had a syncopal event. A syncopal event is defined as A loss of consciousness. There coUld be any number of reasons for a sYncopal event. By the time I arrived in the front cabin this gentleman was responsive. There were a number of other passengers surrounding him. It appeared that some of them were health care professionals. I guess two of them were doctors. (This is totally my guess.) One of them mentioned that she was a nurse. The gentleman was still sitting on tHe floor. I approached him from THE side and sat next to him while supporting his weight. I asked A few questions. This gentleman was prediabetic. He never had a low sugar, but his primary care physician had been monitoring his blood sugar. HE had a very strong family history of diabetes. His major complaint THAT HE VOICED WAS, "I don't feel good." I am not sure what precipitated his syncopal event. One of the doctors asked for a medical equipment bag. While the chaos wAs still going on, I asked a few more questions regarding his medical condition. He had no significant medical condition. He felt lightheaded and was sweating also. BECAUSE he had a history of diabetes and now had signs of hypoglycemia, I asked one of the flight attendAnts for a packEt of sugar. I wanted the man to sit back in his seat, but the other three health providers didn't agree BECAUSE they wantED his blood pressure checked before THEIR next move. He was feeling much better without any intervention. He was given a packet of sugar and his blood pressure was normal.
Finally this gentleman walked to his seat without any problem. His seat was a few steps away. Once settled in his seat, I asked this gentleman, who had friends accompanying him, to BE SURE to visit his primary care physician once he GOT back to the United States. I headed back to my seat.

I was sleeping in my seat and somebody TAPPED me on the shoulder. This was almost TWO hours into the flight. A flight attendAnt wanted me to see another patient! It appeared nothing urgent to me. This gentleman haD some profuse watery nasal discharge and he was bothered by it. I had NO IDEA what his problem was. Allergy was my FIRST CHOICE. The flight attendant had some personal allergy medication. I gave a green signal for the medication. I requested that this gentleman keep himself hydrated and while we WERE at Manchester Airport he COULD buy some anti allergy medication there. ANOTHER option was to see the doctor at the airport.

Finally I went to sleep hoping and praying THAT nothing WOULD HAPPEN FOR THE REST OF THE FLIGHT. About FOUR hours into the flight, I RECEIVED another tap on my shoulder. I opened my eyes in disbelief! Another flight attendant was standing next to my seat! He requested THAT I see another lady who was not feeling well. She was SITTING in the back cabin. She was in her late 40's,sweating,and feeling lightheaded. She had a history of heart disease, diabetes, and thyroid disease. She had no kidney disease. She was sitting in one of the crew member's seats. Her medical history revealed that she had been taking her diabetes medication whIle skippping all other medications including her heart and thyroid medications. She continued her diabetic pills without caring for her meals. She didn't HAVE anything to eat all day long! Once again I requested plain sugar and orange juice. I grabbed my stehoscope from my bag. This lady did not want me to leave her. I had to reassure her that I would come back. I requested that the crew members please FETCH the medical equipment bag. I quickly grabbed my stethoscope and returned to the scene. Her exam was benign(mormal). Once the medical equipment set arrived, I was surprised to see THAT it was a SUITCASE, It had almost all the medications necessary FOR AN emergency situation. I attempted to take her blood pressre but it was hard to obtain BECAUSE she was sitting in the back cabin with lots of ENGINE noise. I had to rely on blood pressure by palpitation. She felt better with sugar followed by orange juice and tea with extra sugar. This lady wanted to lie down in HER SEAT. She was sitting in a ROW OF THREE SEATS. She had only one passenger seated next to her. A crewmember told me that her seatmate was not a pleasant lady and that this passenger HAD HAD some heated arguments with her. I DECIDED TO ASK THE SEATMATE TO MOVE. She agreed! I ASKED THE CREWMEMBER TO FIND THE LADY A NEW SEAT AND THE CREWMEMBER RELUCTANTLY AGREED. There were other open seats around but the lady was FUSSY! She didn't want to sit next to children! (There had been a great deal of animosity between this crewmember and this passenger at the beginning of the flight and it was continuing now!)This passenger was extremely sarcastic and the crewmember had yelled at her previously when she requested extra meat! Caught between estogen surges, I decided to check on my other two patients who had had fainting spells! Both of them were NOW doing fine.
When I got back to the back cabin, the passenger who had vacated her seat was still without A seat. The crewmember offered us special tea. After taking a SHORT TEA BREAK, I returned to my last patient. She was normal and lying down. I updated her on the seat situation and informed her that she might have to give up the third seat. She didn't like the idea at all! She started showing me which seats wee vacant! She appeared good and she felt better too. I told her that a crewmember would try to arrange for a seat, but if they could not, she would have to give up the third seat. I was REALLY tired of this game and went back to my seat.

The stewardess who was SERVING our segment of the flight was really pleasant. She said,"IF YOU HAD CHARGED THESE PATIENTS, YOU WOULD HAVE HAD A FREE FLIGHT BY NOW." I simply smiled. She asked my specialty. WHEN SHE REALIZED THAT I WAS A KIDNEY DOCTOR, she went on TO TELL me about her sister who had nephrolithiasis(kidney stones). She did not have any details of what workup was done or other details. I asked her to e-mail me the details so that I could give HER my opinion. After this, I went back to sleep. The rest of the flight was peaceful.

We arrived at Machester Airport safely. I was not surprised to see strict security measures deployed at the airport. Even though we came off the plane, we still had to have full screening prior to entering the airport premises. It was a two hour STOPOVER and the two hours were spent in the security clearance AREA. After we went through clearace, we boarded the plane again. The second segment of the flight was uneventful. We landed safely in Lahore in Allama lqbal International Airport.

Some Photos from Clea Tricot's Collection

2008-11-17T15:04:00.005-05:00

The blog, "A LOOK BACK" told about Clea Tricot, a former student of mine who came from France and has since returned to France. I am going to try to publish some of the photos that Clea sent me for the benefit of those teachers who remember Clea when she was at the Worcester Adult Learning Center. I remember back then Clea showing me a photo of her hometown's main street which had a cobblestone street with quaint shops along its edges. I remember thinking, "Why would anyone want to leave such an idyllic setting such as this?" If I can publish some of Clea's pictures that she sent me, you will see that she returned to a setting that rivals the one that she left! She tells me that Vence is a community of about 18,000 people and is located near Nice.
EUREKA!! (I am getting good at adding photos to blogs.) The photo on the left is Clea and her husband in their kitchen. The photo in the center is their house. The photo on the right is the view from the back (I think.)...(I wish you could see this enlarged. It is really beautiful!)

A Look Back

2008-11-11T17:22:00.005-05:00

The two children pictured here in their Halloween costumes of 2008 are Lauriane and Roxane. (Lauriane is wearing the hat and is a spitting image of her mother!) They didn't do any trick or treating here in the United States because they live across the Atlantic Ocean on the French Riviera. A few former teachers from the Worcester Adult Learning Center may remember their mother as a former English as a Second language student by the name of Clea Tricot. Clea was from France and was in my Level 4 class. She was one of those special students who come along whom teachers don't forget. Clea was in my class at a time when we were forming student health teams, and her nursing background was invaluable in our efforts. While she was in the class, we invented a health game which we distributed to all six SABES regions. We also wrote a short play (in which Clea starred) entitled,"Your Mother Was Right!" The play was about the importance of the simple act of handwashing.There was another French lady in the class by the name of Martine. Martine and Clea made a team that made what might have been an ordinary class into something special.
I still remember the afternoon that Clea and I walked over to our congressman's office to see if there were some way that she could extend her stay in the United States. The congressman was in Washington at the time, so we spoke with one of his aides. We found out that unfortunately there was no way that her time in this country could be lengthened. Unfortunately? As things worked out, if I were Clea and were clairvoyant, I would have said, "Au revoir, Etats Unis!", because Clea ended up marrying a very nice gentleman from Morocco. They now have these two beautiful children and a parrot (I think.) She also lives in a gorgeous house on the French Riviera with orange trees growing in her front yard and a magnificent view which I will try to show you in another blog if I can get some of her pictures transferred to my blog. Clea sent me a ton of pictures! Stay tuned.
P.S. Clea and her family live in the town of Vence which is in the southeastern part of France near the border of Italy. (She sent me another e-mail.)

Learning English Pronunciation---Not an Easy Task!

2008-11-06T21:14:00.007-05:00

We should all have patience and sympathy for anyone who has the courage and fortitude to embark on the adventure of learning a new language. This is especially true if the language is English! Why is this so? It can be argued that if one wanted to learn Polish, or Russian, or Ukranian, or any of the so called "Slavic languages", the task would be much easier. The student of any one of these languages would be pronouncing words well in a relatively short time. The reason for this is simple: THE SLAVIC LANGUAGES ARE PHONETIC; ENGLISH IS NOT. If you doubt this, read this poem which follows and the next time you hear someone from another culture struggling with English pronunciation, put yourself in that person's culture and imagine what it would be like for YOU! (I hope you enjoy the poem---AND learn from it also...
SOUNDS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH
When its English that we speak
Why is "Break" not rhymed with "weak"?
(Because they rhyme with "steak" and "seek")

Will you tell me why its true
That "sew" does not rhyme with "few"?
(Because they rhyme with "oh" and "you".

We say "cow" and that rhymes with "how"
But "low" doesn't rhyme with "now",
(Because they rhyme with "owe" and "bough")

And since "pay" is rhymed with "may",
Why not "said" with "paid"?
(Because they rhyme with "bed" and "made".)

Now here's another one for you.
"Beard" does not sound the same as "heard".
(Because they rhyme with "weird" and "bird")

We have "blood" that rhymes with "mud",
"Food" that rhymes with "rude".
And "good" that rhymes with "could".

"Shoes" is never rhymed with "toes"
But is with "whose" and "blues";
And I can also think of "zoos" and "chews"

Are you surprised to know
That "toes" rhymes with "hose"
And "beaus" and "foes" and "loaves"?

And what's more,
"Horse" sounds like "course"
And "worse" sounds like "curse"?

I've hardly made a start, gee,
I'm sure you will agree
In the way that sounds and letters disagree.

Now that you have read this poem, is there anyone out there who would like to argue with me when I say, "English is NOT a phonetic language!" ?
P.S. Urdu is the name of the official language of Pakistan. If you know someone who speaks that language, ask him/her to teach you the word for "two". It will take you FOREVER to learn it! Then you will have some sympathy for others who have to learn a new language. I guarantee it!

My Trip to My Homeland - Part II

2008-10-26T22:45:00.005-04:00

While getting MY boarding pass at the Pakistan International Airline counter, I requested AN exit row seat. As always, nothing comes EASILY, so I had to USE MY GUILE. I noticed a picture of an infant next to the lady behind the counter. The infant, a boy, had a very cute smile. He, no doubt, was adorable and that was, I guess, the magic words TO USE AND she called the shift manager and asked for AN exit row seat for me. I guess exit row seats were blocked in the computer system and were assigned to specific people. The "specific" people are usually related to airline officials or somebody like me who requests THEM with a smile.

I wandered around at JFK observing people. I NOTICED a blend of culture, race, color and MANY languages. Some people were crying and others were happy. I am not sure what my emotions were. I was happy to go home and YET I was sad to leave my friends behind. Anyway, I safely boarded Pakistan International Airlines at 9:15 PM.

I had the ideal seat. It was an AISLE seat. The lady who was supposeD to sit next to me moved to the window seat. I didn't mind BECAUSE people from Muslim countries ESPECIALLY the women tend not to sit next to males outside the family. I had about 6TO 8 feet of leg ROOM. The aircraft crew seat was facing me. That crew seat is usually used only while landing or taking off. The toilet was behind THIS seat. The refreshment area, or so called kitchen, was next TO THIS. A WOMAN ATTENDANT SAT IN THE CREW SEAT. After all the announcements, we were in our seats, seat belts fastened, and taxiIng on the run way.

While taxiIng A couple of minutes before take off, I noticed a man in the refreshment area who was either looking for something or for someone. It was very unusual for someone to be out of HIS seat minutes before take off. I was puzzled with the situation as the worst case sCenario was "hijack!" But why this early? The stewardess appearED puzzled too, and she addressed the man, "Get back to your seat." The gentleman, with his arms extended, was trying to support himself. It appearED that the gentleman didn't hear what THE stewardess HAD said. Before she COULD say anything else, the gentleman fell forward. His arms were extended sideWAYS in an effort to avoid fallING. His efforts to support his weight failed. He landed on his face, hitting his nose and forEhead on the FLOOR. I was shocked, but at the same time, I unbuckled myself, got off my seat, and apprOAched the gentleman. I witnessed the fall and he was lying about FIVE feet from me. I asked him, "Are you ok?". I noticed he was sWeating profusely, appearEd confused,and WAS shakING. After a brieF moment, he replied, "I am." I was happy to hear that as it ruled out some other life threatening stuff that I face on a daily basIs. I didn't have to initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). I asked him A few more questions which he answered appropriately. During this time, A few crewMEMBERS also came to help. One of them asked him, "Are you diabetic?" He replied, "Yes I am." We sat him up. I asked some more medical questions while crew members got some sugar packets. We gave him, TWO packets of pure sugar under his tongue AND A few sips of orange juice. THIS IS not an accurate way to administer sugar, but in such a situation, I believe this was the best apprOach BECAUSE we administer nitroglycerine tablets sublingually (under the tongue) for people with chest pain. Nitroglycerine, a blood vessel dilatOr,IS usually given to people with chest pain all around the world.

NoBODY informed the captain about the situation and the plane continued to taxi. One of the crewMEMBERS said, "Lets put him back IN his seat as the plane will take off any moment." I didn't think the gentleman was strong enough to support himself to stand. He attempted to get up but wasn't able to. I offered him my seat BECAUSE that was the nearest seat TO HIM. WHILE HE WAS HALFWAY UP AND struggling to stand, the engineS SUDDENLY roared AND THE speed of the plane increased dramatically. I knew the plane WOULD take off in 15-20 seconds. AN Instant decisionWAS made: let the patient sit on the floor with his back toward the kitchen counter. This way, while taking off, he WOULD have complete back support but without A seatbelt. Totally unsafe and probably against the law, the plane took off. I was hardly able to get back to my seat. I was not able to buckle my seat belt. I guess, one of the crew memberS was partly in her seat or she might have sat next to the patient.

Once the plane achieved some height, I had to get back to the patient. SOme crew members gathered around the patient and wanted him to get back to his seat. I am glad that they listened to me knowing my medical background. I let the patient sit on the FLOOR for AN additional 15 minutes. He was able to consume ONE more packet of sugar and a glass of orange juice. HIS Medical history revealed that this gentleman was diabetic. He was on insulin and useD to eat frequently at home. HE never HAD had ANYTHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN TO HIM BEFORE. HE ALWAYS had excellent control of his diabetes. He TOOK his daily insulin BEFORE COMING, but didn't have access to food while coming to the airport and prior to TAKEOFF. He became hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) just prior to take off. Hypoglycemic is dangerous and can be fatal. Confusion, agitation, sweating and shaking are A few OF ITS manifestations. This gentleman, never had such an episode before, so HE was unable to recognise THE symptoms. After 15 minutes, he was able to get off the floor safely and I escorted him to his seat.

I was surprised with the comment of one of the crewMEMBERS, a lady who actually asked the question about diabetes. We were struggling to get back to our seats just before take off. She looked at me and said, "You should have asked those questions later?" I guess she might have MADE such A comment BECAUSE SHE WAS THINKING ABOUT THE patient's safety BECAUSE he was not in his seat, and most of us were struggling to get BUCKLED UP FOR TAKEOFF. If I HAD NOT asked any medical questions, we might have been in our seats, but I am sure that gentleman wouldn't have been. BesideS, if it WERE SOMETHING OTHER THAN A DIABETIC EPISODE, we may not have taken off at all!

I SAT back in my seat, relaxed, and analysED what had happened and what I WOULD have done differently. I was CONTENT knowing what I did was right. At the same time, if it was a hospital setup, the situation and mode of treatment would have been completely different. I took a deep breath AND closed my eyes. I THINK I was hallucinating, I COULDN'T believe what I was hearing, "If there is a doctor on board, we need you urgently in the front cabin." The announcement was repeated. The passanger next to me looked at me and said, " I guess they need you again."

A Confusing Spelling Rule

2008-10-25T15:31:00.005-04:00

This is a confusing spelling rule only if you let it be. Learn the rule once and for all time here and now! First the preliminaries. The English alphabet has 26 letters from a to z. It has five vvowels: a, e, i, o, and u. The letter "y" is a vowel when it sounds like an "i" or an "e", so that is why we sometimes say we have six vowels. All of the other letters are called "consonants."
Now for the confusing spelling rule: If a word ends with ONE vowel and ONE consonant and you are adding "ing" or "ed" to it,DOUBLE the consonant and then add the ending. Thus, PLAN becomes PLANNING not PLANING. Okay?.....or....PLAN becomes PLANNED ...not PLANED.......
Now a word like meet simply becomes meeting because meet has TWO vowels and one consonant at the end. It has to be one vowel and one consonant.
The tricky part comes with TWO syllable words. Now you really have to pay attention. Here is the rule for two syllable words: IF YOU HAVE A TWO SYLLABLE WORD THAT ENDS WITH ONE VOWEL AND ONE CONSONANT AND THE ACCENT IS ON THE LAST SYLLABLE, THEN DOUBLE THE LAST CONSONANT BEFORE ADDING YOUR ENDING. (That is a mouthful!)You need to have the same situation as with one syllable words except that the accent must be on the SECOND syllable. Let's look at an example: Let's take the verb "deter". Deter has two syllables: de-ter. The word ends with one vowel (e) and one consonant (r). Also, the accent is on the second syllable. Therefore when we add "ed" we spell the word "deterred. (We put in two r's.) Here is the word in a sentence: "The teacher DETERRED the student from his goal."
I have a favorite word to illustrate this rule and once you understand my example, you will NEVER forget the rule. Trust me. The root word is "REFER". It has two syllables: They are "re" and "fer". The accent is on the second syllable. It ends with one vowel and one consonant. Here are some sentences using various forms of this word:
l. You have kidney trouble. I REFER you to a nephrologist.
2. The REFERRAL was to the Nephrology Department.
3. The doctor REFERRED him to a clinic in Boston.
4. The patient made REFERENCE to his family history.
In sentence #2 and #3, the letter "r" is doubled to follow the spelling rule. However, I want you to notice very carefully that I did NOT double the "r" in the word "reference" in sentence #4. (If you learn why, you will NEVER forget the rule. THE REASON WHY is there is an ACCENT SHIFT in the word "reference". The accent shifts back from the seecond syllable to the first syllable and therefore you cannot double that final consonant. Look, say the word REFERRAL. Now say the word REFERENCE. Can you hear how the accent shifts? Mr. Zorro, I am mostly speaking to you, so when I see you, I will listen to you say these words and see if you understand the rule. Anyone else can send me an e-mail and I will talk to you some more if you wish. (leocoleman@rocketmail.com)

Some Messages for Mr. Zorro

2008-10-24T21:18:00.002-04:00

There are some words and phrases that I want a bell to go off in your head (ding, ding, ding,) whenever you think about using them. You use them okay sometimes, but sometimes you should be using other words instead. Right now I am thinking of the following:
l. SECONDARY
2. ASIDE FROM
Let's take them one at a time. First the word "secondary": The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States are two important documents in United States history. However, The Declaration of Independence is SECONDARY in importance to the Constitution of the United States because the Constitution is the body of laws that governs all of us, while the Declaration was a document saying that we should be independent of the rule of Great Britain. Thus, we use "SECONDARY" wnen we can point to something else being "PRIMARY". ("PRIMARY"=First)The Constitution is the primary document, and the Declaration is the secondary document in importance. (Usually the words "secondary" and "importance" are close to each other in the sentence.)
.....Next..."Aside from" There really isn't anything wrong with it. I just don't like it. That's not a very good explanation, is it. Well, what can I say. Use the word BESIDES instead of "aside from" if you have a choice. Aside from that Mr. Zorro, you are doing fine! Write a blog and give me something to correct. (When you can do it well, I will stand aside.)

Punctuating A Complex Sentence

2008-10-12T14:42:00.004-04:00

This is such a simple matter that it hardly deserves a post in this blog by itself, but since we talked about it, I will tell you how to do it. First a few statements about punctuation in general: Marks of punctuation are like traffic signals and street and traffic signs along our roads and highways. They tell us when to slow down, or stop; they give us direction. Without them we would simply CRASH! They are important as innocuous as they seem. You have to know when and how to use them. THERE ARE FOURTEEN MARKS OF PUNCTUATION IN ENGLISH. You need to know how to use them all. (Oh, I wouldn't go jump off a bridge if I didn't know how to use brackets(They are not the same as parentheses), but learn how to use EVERYTHING anyway.
Let's get back to punctuating a complex sentence. There is nothing to it. The rule is if the DEPENDENT CLAUSE comes first in the sentence,put a comma after the dependent clause. If the dependent clause comes LAST, don't do anything. Simply put a period at the end of the sentence. Here are two examples illustrating what I mean:

Because the television set was broken, we could not watch the debate.
We could not watch the debate because the television set was broken.
The Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education (MCAE) is holding its annual meeting on October 22 and 23 in Marlboro, Massachusetts and I hope to attend. Last year I made a presentation about Blogging with ESOL Students. This year it is happening (from Pakistan) as I write this post! In the past, sample materials from publishers at this conference helped greatly to keep my classes afloat! Now I will be looking for what may be of help to INDIVIDUAL students. ( You have my e-mail address for any questions you may wish to ask privately.)

MY Trip to MY Homeland

2008-10-10T09:05:00.003-04:00

Recently I planned a vacation to MY homeland WHICH IS Pakistan. The purpose of the trip was to visit my family. I was supposeD to fly British Airways, but they cancelled their flights to Pakistan BECAUSE OF security reasons,so I ended up flying PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES(PIA). IT WAS A bit OF A HASSLE to fly PIA as I HAD to fly to JFK to fly home. British AIRWAYS was a better choice as it flew from Boston to HeathrOW and onward to Lahore (Pakistan),BUT I HAD TO TAKE WHAT I COULD GET.

I flew out of Logan via Delta. As always,A SECURITY PERSON STOPPED ME AND SAID, "Sir, you have been randomly selected for special screeNing." IT SEEMS 90% of the time I am always "randomly" selected for special screeNing. It wasn't a suRprise to me to be sorted out and specialLY screeNED. I don't mind special screening - if it MAKES EVERYBODY feel comfortable. Please go ahead and search me! BUT please be honest and EXPLAIN. MY name starts with so and so or MY ethnicity is such and such so I have to BE SUBJECT TO special screeNing rules. I will accept such AN explanation, rather thAn BEING TOLD THAT I am BEING "randomly" selected for special screeNing. ( By the way, if you have "ssss" - four s at the right lower corner of your boarding pass, that means you HAVE BEEN selected for special screening.) Finally I boArded the plane and landed AT JFK safely.

Punctuating Compound and Complex Sentences

2008-10-08T15:30:00.002-04:00

The Boston Red Sox are in the finals of the American League pennant, and I am going to talk to you about punctuating compound sentences! The Congress of The United States has just borrowed $700 billion; however, none of us can count that high. America will hold its Presidential election on November 4th as it does every four years;the decision it makes this time is crucial.
YOU HAVE JUST READ THREE COMPOUND SENTENCES: One about the Boston Red Sox, one about the U.S. Congress, and one about America's forthcoming election. They are compound sentences because each of them have two INDEPENDENT CLAUSES each......Huh? (Review what an independent clause is before going on.)......Notice now that each of these sentences is punctuated differently. If you can figure it out on your own, or already know why, let me know in an e-mail: leocoleman@rocketmail.com. If you are silent, I will assume that you don't know or don't care. However, since the odds are that there will be at least ONE person who might want to know, I will explain it to that one person who might be here in the United States or half way around the world! One never knows. (I will wait until tomorrow and see what happens.)
On another subject: Do you remember that 1989 Oldsmobile I told you about. It passed inspection with flying colors.....$29.00.....84,000miles....Where have you seen a 20 year old car with 84,000 miles on it?...STUDY THOSE THREE SENTENCES. Remember the motto of this blog: "There is no hope for a dope!" (I will talk about punctuating complex sentences another time.)

A Review of Some Basic English Grammar

2008-10-06T12:58:00.005-04:00

When I first came out of the military years ago and started teaching, I was given some sage advice from a veteran teacher who said to me, " Assume that the student knows nothing and you will never go wrong." That is what I thought of as I prepared my thoughts for this report.
We convey our thoughts in written English through what is called the SENTENCE. I define a sentence as a group of words containing THREE things:
1. a VERB
2. a SUBJECT
3. a a COMPLETE THOUGHT
When you analyze a group of words to see whether or not it is a sentence, first look to see if it has a verb. The verb is the action word. Next, look to see who or what is doing that action. The answer to that question is the subject. Lastly, look to see if the group of words is a complete thought. Does it make sense? Can it stand by itself? Let us now look at a group of words and analyze them in the way I just described:........JOHN WALKED DOWN THE STREET. Find the verb first.......The verb is the action word and that is "WALKED"......Now look for who or what is doing that action.......The answer to that question is "John". Then John is the subject.....John=subject...walked=verb....Do we have a complete thought? Yes....John walked down the street......Then we have all the elements of a sentence: verb,subject, and complete thought. If one were missing, we would call it a SENTENCE FRAGMENT.
The next thing we talked about were the Three kinds of sentences. They are as follows;
l. the SIMPLE SENTENCE; John walked down the street.
2. the COMPLEX SENTENCE; As I was walking down the street, I met my friend.
3. the COMPOUND SENTENCE: I walked down that street;however, I didn't
meet my friend.
I want you to notice how these sentences are punctuated because I will come back to this in a later post. Of course we talked about other basic principles, but my battery is running low so I will have to sign off. Say a little prayer that my 89 Olds passes inspection this afternoon........Bye for now....Oh,by the way, if you would like to "COMMENT" on a blog, just click on "COMMENT" and type what you want. You don't have to be a member of the blog to comment....

Odds and Ends and Rambling Thoughts

2008-09-25T16:32:00.003-04:00

Yesterday began routinely enough. I was up at 7:00, checked my e-mail, and went out for the newspaper and coffee. I came back home and reviewed some written material and prepared some other materials. Then I headed downtown to Saint Vincent's Hospital around 11;00. No sooner did I get there than I received a cellphone call from my wife telling me that her car blew a radiator hose and antifreeze was spilled all over the place! Right after that call I visited a friend who was a patient in the hospital. I also had a brief conversation with a doctor over the phone and when I got off the phone with him, I thought about something that he said. He said that he thought there was too much "FILL IN THE BLANK" kind of teaching of English or "MULTIPLE CHOICE" type of teaching. That statement hit me right between the eyes. I said to myself, "I think the man is absolutely right." I have been asking this question of myself for a long time: Why is it that there is such a lag between a person from another countrys ability to speak English compared to his ability to write English? So, what is the answer to close the gap? We still need the English workbooks, that is for sure. But, we also need to supplement that kind of work with writing exercises of all kinds: dsily journals, notetaking, the term paper that is checked against google for plagiarism, and anything else that the teacher can dream up. The idea is this: GRAMMAR EXERCISES WITHOUT PRACTICAL PRACTICE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. It is like taking an illustrated book on how to ride a bicycle, reading it, but then not getting on the bike!..............
AND NOW FOR A GRAMMAR TIP; The words "SINCE" and "FOR" are usually dead giveaways that you need the Present Perfect Tense in your sentence. Use "since" when you mean a period of time from a certain point of time in the past up to the present. Example: I HAVE BEEN in the United States SINCE January 23, 1999. (Notice that I cannot use the simple past tense form "was". The word "FOR" is used when you want to tell the TOTAL time. Example: I have been in the United States FOR nine years. Whoever named the PRESENT perfect tense did a bad job!! It should be called something else because it describes an action that began in the past and continues up to the present. It may end today or continue into the future. You now should practice exercises that distinguish between the PAST TENSE and the PRESENT PERFECT TENSE. I will be telling you where you can find that kind of work....Bye for now.

Subbing for "Quinsig"

2008-09-17T21:17:00.004-04:00

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of substitute teaching in Jackie Lynch's English as A Second Language Class Level 4 class at Quinsigamond Community College's Outreach Program. It was wonderful to have everything that I needed to teach with right there at my fingertips! I more than any other teacher that I know can appreciate what it really means to be adequately supplied with the tools necessary to teach. I walked away from a teaching position when I found conditions intolerable to maintain my professional standards for teaching. That was not the case last night. The opposite was true. I had a stack of mimeographed papers about 4 inches high...all of them relevant to the level of where the class was.
The best part was the way Jackie uses MUSIC to teach ENGLISH! It is hard to explain in a blog, but Jackie put on a workshop which I attended a few years ago in which she showed how she used popular songs (such as the Alphabet Song) to teach English. I used the cassette and her ideas in my teaching after that workshop and last night had a chance to use them again. We had a great class, and it was a full house as I am sure it is every night when a teacher of the caliber of Jackie Lynch
is their teacher.
I also had the chance last night to meet Claudio DaSilva. Claudio is a new student in Level One. he is the husband of Patricia Pachecho DaSilva,Phd Biologist scientist in the Department of Immunology at the University of Massachusetts. Patricia is doing research on a grant from the government of Brazil and I had the pleasure of tutoring Patricia in English. They have a lovely 3 year old daughter named Rebecca. I am happy that Claudio was able to find a spot in a class.

Our Neighborhood Peace Park

2008-08-31T22:07:00.000-04:00

WOMEN TOGETHER/MUJERES UNIDAS
INVITES YOU TO OUR PARK OPENING
SEPTEMBER 9TH
LOS INVITA A LA INAUGURACION DE NUESTRO PARQUE

Our Neighborhood Peace Park

We are proud to invite you to share and celebrate in the opening of our park with
our neighbors.
Tenemos el orgullo de invitarlos a compartir y celebrar la
inauguracion de “nuestro” parque con los vecinos.

9:30 am opening with City and State officials and
5:30-7:30 pm celebration with neighbors

A las 9 y media evento con las autoridades y a las 5 y media
celebramos con la comunidad.

Me Kenagesi e deshire ju Jtojme
ne inaugurimin e Parkut te Ri,
ge Cehet me G Shtator ora 5.30 deri 7.30
Please join us and be a part of Women Together
301 Pleasant Street
Worcester, Ma 01609
508 754 7793
womentogether@gmail.com

Our Neighborhood Peace Park

2008-08-31T21:57:00.000-04:00

LT. GOVERNOR TIMOTHY P. MURRAY,

CITY MANAGER MICHAEL V. O’BRIEN AND

THE WORCESTER CITY COUNCIL

in partnership with

WOMEN TOGETHER AND THE PLEASANT STREET
NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORK CENTER

cordially invite you to attend a

RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY

FOR

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 AT 9:30 A.M.

WINSLOW PARK, CORNER OF WINSLOW AND

PLEASANT STREETS, WORCESTER, MA

This ribbon-cutting ceremony will mark the culmination of a huge community effort to transform a vacant lot into a magnificent park and gathering space for the residents of the Pleasant Street neighborhood. The new public park includes a play area, space for community art, gardens and a location for a memorial to remember neighborhood victims of violence. There were many partners in this effort, including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the City of Worcester Department of Public Works & Parks, the Greater Worcester Land Trust, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Conway School of Landscape Design,
as well as several community foundations, and many, many generous neighbors. It is a true example of the power of partnership to create positive change in our community. Please join us as we celebrate this important day. All are encouraged to attend. For more information, call PSNNC at 508-754-7793.

Improving Writing Skills for ESL Students

2008-08-28T16:20:00.003-04:00

My experience as an ESL teacher has taught me that students learn to SPEAK English well long before they learn to WRITE it well. In other words, there is a lag between good speaking and good writing. Why is this? The reason, of course, is a person can avoid writing in a language for a long time, but unless you hide away in a room somewhere, it is impossible not to have to SPEAK the language. We have an expression which every American knows: "PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT." In other words, the more you speak, the better your English becomes. I know that Patricia, my brilliant Phd scientist student whom I finished tutoring the beginning of August will continue to improve her ability to speak English as she gradually becomes more immersed in American culture. However, I would suspect that the gap between speaking English well and writing English well will widen because she is much too busy at the moment doing important scientific research.
Then there is "Lakale". That is not her real name. Lakale was a student of mine three years ago and has been writing posts on my blog from time to time ever since. She was a medical doctor in her own country. In the United States she teaches her native language and does important community work. Lakale writes when she feels like it, and there is no pressure on her as there would be if she were a college student.
There is no sense of urgency for Patricia or Lakale to improve their writing skills immediately. Patricia's science work will go on tomorrow just as it did today. Lakale's teaching and community work will do the same. But what if you are an international student here in North America and writing in English is absolutely essential NOW. In this case there is a real sense of urgency! WHAT ADVICE CAN I GIVE?
This is difficult without knowing the student and the individual circumstances. One solution might be to take a course at a local college such as Quinsigamond Community College. I believe they do offer a writing course that meets 14 times and costs about $400.00. Clark University might have something similar, but the cost would be higher. However, under no circumstances would I suggest you take any writing course unless your GRAMMAR SKILLS ARE EXCELLENT. There are many grammar tests you can take on "Google" or you can take my unofficial grammar quiz. (I don't know where it is right now, but I will find it. I will tell you where to find it. If you want to, you can take the quiz, send it to my e-mail address: leocoleman@rocketmail.com and I will send you back your score.
I have not said all there is to say about improving writing skills. In another post I will talk about BRAINSTORMING, PARAGRAPHING, WRITING FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES, THE FIVE PARAGRAPH STANDARD, etc. etc........Stay tuned.......Bye for now. Any questions? Write to me at my e-mail: leocoleman@rocketmail.com
P.S. I found my grammar test. It is called MR. LEO'S GRAMMAR CHALLENGE. I posted it on Saturday, March 22, 2008. You can find it by following these steps:
l. Scroll down the right side of my blog and click on the word "ARCHIVES"
2. Go to March 22, 2008----You will find "MR. LEO'S GRAMMAR CHALLENGE
3. Follow the directions and send it to me as an e-mail attachment.

The Music Of "Polish Eddie"

2008-08-21T17:21:00.004-04:00

We used to call him "Polish Eddie". His real name was Edward Symonywicz. He was a proud United States Marine veteran of World War II who lived a full life and died a few weeks ago. I never met a man more willing to help other people than Eddie. He did not fit the typical stereotype of the "tough -talking Marine" No, Eddie was gentle and soft-spoken and one who would look sternly at you if you used a bad word.
I first met Eddie two and a half years ago at the University Commons Nursing Home on Plantation Street. I would go there on Saturday mornings to volunteer and help my friend (Ed Lennon)who runs "The Pub", a lounge for patients of the nursing home. The patients would look forward to coming down on Saturday mornings for conversation and to sing and have coffee and doughnuts. When Eddie Symonowicz saw what went on there, and how the patients were having difficulty seeing the words on the music, he decided to do something about it. He decided that he would become the guy who would provide the music each week. He would print out the music on his computer at home in large enough print for all to see and then bring it in each Saturday morning. He also found jokes on the internet and provided those. Last week Eddie Symonowicz's son-in-law kindly brought in to the nursing home a whle stack of envelopes with loads of music left over from "Polish Eddie"'s files at home. We are very happy to get them and will treasure them as part of the legacy of our dear friend Eddie. God bless him.