I am a HUGE fan of poetry. And I love the way that Spoken Word Poetry has literally breathed new life into a beautiful art form.

Let’s face it, there was a time there when “the powers that be in our schools” tried to kill poetry.

Tried to bludgeon it.

Tried beat the joy of reading or writing poetry out of every student who dared to cross through their halls.

And yet, poetry survived in spite of school, not because of it. (Trust me, I was there when all this happened. It was hurtful and it was ugly… and I am still scarred.)

Yet today I come with GREAT NEWS. My good friend and fellow co-writer for two of my book projects, Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics for the Classroom as well as The Poetry Jam, just… well… I’ll just paste the news release down below.

I mean it’s not like you don’t stand a good chance of hearing about it anyway. After all, HBO is going to show it in prime time in the fall.

If you don’t know the work of Michael Cirelli, poet, author, executive director of Urban Word New York City, you ought to.

He is bringing poetry into American classrooms in a way that that is fresh, dynamic, rigorous, phenomenally exciting and deep. These kids are simply awesome.

Congrats on the victory, Michael… you really are blazing new territory.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Mikal Amin Lee (212.352.3495)

URBAN WORD NYC WINS

Brave New Voices International Teen Poetry Slam

Featured on HBO this Fall

Los Angeles, CA – The six young poets from the award-winning literary arts organization, Urban Word NYC, took the crown this weekend at the Brave New Voices International Teen Poetry Slam. Over the course of the week-long festival, the New York City teen poets bested 51 teams from across the U.S. and abroad, were undefeated in all preliminary and semifinal competition bouts, and went on to win the Grand Slam Final at Los Angeles’ historic Saban Theater. The finals were hosted by rapper/actor Common and actress Rosario Dawson, and documented by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons’ production company for an HBO special to be aired this fall. The teens representing Urban Word NYC were Justin Long, 17; Jesica Blandon, 17; Jay Davis, 17; Ishmael Islam, 18; and Sean B, 18. They were mentored and coached by award-winning poet and mentor Mahogany Browne and youth alum Carvens Lissaint.

“This year’s team made us proud because they authentically represented the values of our organization. The poets were humble, honest, brave, and exhibited a commitment to writing, performance and community that was unmatched,” commented Urban Word NYC’s Executive Director, Michael Cirelli. Winning teen poet Ka’Mone Felix reflected, “It was such a blessing to bring our voices and integrity to the stage, and
represent our home, our city.”

Back in NYC, the team will be engaged in various readings and public service projects to give back to their communities. They will also be performing at a welcome back celebration and showcase on Wednesday, August 11th at The Point in the Bronx to raise funds for Urban Word’s after school writing workshops and college prep courses for teens.

For more information and opportunities to book these poets visit www.urbanwordnyc.org

All poets, coaches, mentors and staff are available for interviews.

“Who knows the answer to _________________ ?”

Well, as a teacher, whenever I ask that question, don’t I already know who knows the answer to ____________ ? I mean, isn’t it all too often the same kid who knew the answer to ______________ yesterday and the answer to __________________ the day before that?

There’s a better way.

Who knows the answer?

The eBook platform is coming to schools. For sure.

When is another story; if is not.

Like most forms of great change, there are those who will embrace it with open arms, those that will bounce back and forth between liking what is new and missing what’s old, and those that will poo-poo the new and hold on to the old for all sorts of reasons which they believe are quite well-justified.

All I can say about that is, if you think schools are in the midst of a doo-doo storm now, just wait til the inevitable migration to digital text knocks on your classroom door.

A breath of fresh air for some. A moment of great change (and challenge) for others. A discombobulating nightmare for some really, really good teachers, too.

I guess that is why I am gearing up now to bring folks PD. Cause schools are gonna need it for, if the teacher who is expected to make the jump to digital text does not have the skill set to work with and navigate digital text, pain will ensue… and the kids will suffer.

In some cases it will even render the capable incapable. (In war, I think they call that term collateral damage.)

Me, I am excited to see America re-invent our schools. We need it. But pie-in-the-sky visions of this being easy are my Achille’s heel. Theoretically, it will all be sold to us as seamless. In reality, there are gonna be lumps.

I feel guilty.

It’s like I am a teenager who swore their undying love to a prom date and now a new hottie has come along that has caught my eye and I am thinking, “Well, I don’t recall actually getting officially married. And, okay, officially, we’re still going to the prom together but a fella can date in the interim, can’t he? Especially, if he’s willing to allow her to date as well?”

Are you confused yet about the pangs of my heart and lust in my soul ? Well, join the club because so am I.

See, in the scenario above, I am a reader, printed books are the steadfast, well-seasoned girlfriend, and eBooks are the new hottie on the block which have my head spinning – as well as the entire school’s.

Now, of course, printed books will always remain constant and steady and dependable. How can you knock that?

Yet me, as a reader, I am allowed to flirt with eBooks aren’t I? Maybe even have a few serious affairs with them?

Can I have my cake and eat it too or am I a Book Chauvinist oppressing the beautiful feminine spirit of printed books like some middle age reader having a mid-life crisis right now?

The hot and sexy thing who is fun and interesting and filled with limitless possibilities is seducing me and I, Mister Reader, feel akin to a weak male with weaker flesh… and I am succumbing to these tantalizing flings, all the while promising in my heart that I will never really l leave my first and purest love.

Printed book, I do love you! But right now, I want to scoot off to Tahiti with an eBook that resembles more Brazilian bikini than she does one-piece moo-moo.

I mean, WOW… check out that body and those moves on that eBook!

(And do you know what she can do in bed? Let’s face it… you just kind of lay there.)

Oh my goodness, am I losing my mind?

And if I do go off the deep end, does that mean that I can’t ever come to you, my original love?

Will printed books hold a grudge?

Will eBooks prove vacuous and empty and meaningless and shallow?

Am I just a dirty, scorn-deserving old man or has a new young love bloomed?

My heart is torn asunder.

I adore bookstores. The brick-n-mortar kind. Just went into one yesterday, matter of fact. Loved being hit by the waft of “pages” in the air as soon as I was in the door. I don’t know if they pump that smell in or if I am just a junkie, but really, the scent of a bookstore is something I find soul-soothing.

Truly, I dig bookstores.

But yesterday, I didn’t buy anything. As it turns out, that’s exceptionally unusual.

Now, the people I was hanging out with bought some stuff but me, I didn’t lay down one red cent. I did sign 5 copies of one of my own books they had on the shelves (I still get a kick out of walking into bookstores, seeing my stuff on the shelves and signing the stock – that never gets old) but I didn’t grab one title and make a purchase.

It’s for not having seen anything I want to read. Matter of fact, there are a variety of things I want to read. However, the stack by my bed is tipping over right now so that played a role.

But that had never stopped me before. Ya know what stopped me this time?

eReading.

I am not sure if I should be buying my future books electronically so I can “always have them” in a digital way.

I mean when I look at my library of books now, my shelves are overflowing. There are books on the floor, books in the garage, books up the yin-yang back in my classroom and so on. And I am not one who does all that great a job of keeping track of my books. You want to borrow a title, here… please give it back.

But I rarely remember to ask for it. I guess I do that too often. I’ve given out, lost track of, let people borrow, and so on more books than I can remember.

Also, in addition to the books I buy, I get free books now and then from publishers so there’s the whole, “give a book and you shall get a book” karma thing going on for me, too. Kind of an ” industry perk” of being an author in a way. (BTW, my wife greatly regrets that I didn’t go into diamonds whenever she thinks too much about the perks that could have been instead of the perks that are. C’est la vie, right?)

But yesterday, for the first time, I just browsed the bookstore with an eye towards, “Well, maybe I’ll but that book for my iPad” mentality as opposed to “I’ll buy that book for my library” mentality.

It wasn’t conscious. I am not really thinking this out very much. Or, thinking it through. (I mean, what if the people who buy my books all felt the same way? Then there would be no brick-n-mortar stores that would carry my books. YIKES! I hate that thought.)

Now I do not know if this was a one-time thing or it’s a trend about to occur in my life or what or what. People who have owned a Kindle awhile might be better equipped to address that. However, I do see my life molding a bit into a “print book co-existing with eBook” world… but I gotta admit, I think print books hold the advantage.

Except when I travel, I can take 150 books with my in an eReader and only a few in dead tree format.

Clearly, the more books I have around me the more comfortable I feel but am I willing to sacrifice having more books for the ability to have printed books?

Nope. Or rather, maybe the answer is… not yet.

Gulp. What’s happening to me?

With reading on my iPad, I am really digging it for non-fiction texts because often when I read NF, thoughts bubble up of people with whom I would like to share a thought, idea and so on.

The iPad makes it a one device “bounce over, shoot a quick email, copy and paste passages if I’d like, and then right back to my book” experience.

I love that.( Cause, like I said, when I read NF, I seem to think of other people to whom I’d like to share/connect these ideas to which I am being exposed.)

That’s an unexpected treat for me.

With fiction reading I rarely do that. I am far too immersed in the characters, story, narrative and so on.

NF though is about ideas – and since it taps a different part of my brain, I guess it also taps a different way that I process the information… and want – or do not want – to share it.

More and more ereading and print book reading are becoming apples and oranges.

eReading provides things like video embedded text, hyperlinking, ADD style reading (whereby, I read, check my email, read some more, check a sports score, read some more, buzz in on the news, read some more and so on.)

Print book reading is singular and if I want to multi-task, I need to put my book down.

Fiction doesn’t seem to trigger in me the desire to put my book down to do other things nearly as much as NF does.

Hmm… it’s interesting now that I think about it.

Either way, to remove judgement about either of these two means of reading seems like the best approach to me. One is not necessarily better than the other. (For a skilled reader, that is. For a kid with low literacy skills, learning to concentrate and focus and hold one’s attention for long stretches of time appears very critical to me… I am not willing to throw that skill under the bus for young adults at all! But does it have to be a printed book? Well, it certainly removes the temptation to use the “device” to bounce on over to something else if the device – by that I mean, the book – doesn’t offer any “bounce on over to” function. )

The world is changing right under our eyeballs. Of that there is no doubt.

I don’t think it’s any kind of secret that I love books. Without a doubt, some of my favorite books are produced by Taschen.

I’d send you their website but the beauty of Taschen books is their physical presence.

Actually, I will send you to their website but it just doesn’t hold a candle to holding one of their productions in real life. Just click here.

And that is the point herein. While there is no doubt in my mind that eBooks are going to explode over the course of the next decade – between all the great eReading devices available (and still to come out ) and the fact that every Tom, Dick, Jane, Joanna and Harry can now easily self-publish their own work – it’s inevitable that the realm of digital publishing will grow, grow, grow.

But are printed books, by default, then going to disappear? Au contraire mon frere! I prognosticate that printed books are about to elevate their game!

Taschen represents this to me. If physical books are going to make it in their next iteration, they are going to have to offer something more than what can be offered with “mere” digital text.

I mean really, am I the only one who is sick and tired of pathetically crafted books that use low quality paper, unimaginative layouts, undersized fonts, ink that screams “rub me too hard and you know I’ll smudge” and so and so on? Far too many books today have a production value one would imagine occurs inside of a windowless room governed by heartless, artless bean counters. It’s as if publishers have gotten so sloppy they have forgotten one of the golden rules every great chef never forgets.

Presentation matters!

Don’t believe me. Ask the guy who sells parsley for a living. Take away the value of presentation to a fine meal and parsley sales drop through the floor.

But here comes Taschen. Digital text will never be able to replicate what they do. I realized this as I was reading a story about the creation of SUMO, a literary landmark that billed itself as the most expensive book ever produced.

$15,000 per copy. Only 10,200 made. Each signed by the author, 464 pages, 66 pounds, a piece of genuine engineering. (Note: if anyone has ever seen or touched one, please write… I love books, I love art and this book is a piece of art… eager to hear!)

Reading the tale of how a passionate photographer (Helmut Newton) teamed up with a passionate publisher (Benedikt Taschen) to break new ground in terms of what a book could be, well… they really brought some heat. A great story.

And in a world of increasing eBooks, that’s a printed book that’s gonna survive.

So maybe, what we’re about to see is a renaissance of printed book creation whereby publishers actually craft each text in a way that speaks to the unique art that is printed book publishing.

Trashy mysteries with spines that fall apart after one pass… eBooks.
The Complete Works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez… smothered in leather, sepia tone pages on aged paper that smells like a century characterized by horse-drawn carriages.

Nice, huh?

Books are about to become more beautiful… by necessity. Because the market will pay for it. (SUMO is sold out on the Taschen website.)

eBooks will cannibalize, to some extent, the rest.

I’m participating in a Web Institute for Teachers today over at the English Companion Ning. Almost 600 folks signed up already.

It’s free. It’s cutting edge. It’s our first time for this but we are working on a way to reinvent professional development for educators everywhere.

As for my part, it should be fun, energized, a bit goofy but filled with a coupla gems.

Or at least a few lumps of coal.

True to form though, I will be bashing the bubble tests a wee bit and lobbying for more Project Based Learning in our classrooms with ideas as to how and why this can and should be done.

Click here to join in… hope to see you there!

Just check the web… isn’t that the mantra of us all now?

I mean if I go to Best Buy and see a digital camera or big screen tv and Best Buy is having a SALE!… a huge SALE!! that used to tempt me a lot more than it does nowadays.

Why? Because I don’t trust that Best Buy will really be the “best buy” so even though I get to touch and hold and see and feel the camera/tv in their store, I check the web for the best price.
And then it often turns out that Newegg or Amazon or eBay or someone has the same camera/tv for $75-$150 bucks cheaper… and it’ll be at my door in 2 days. Free shipping.

And no tax! (Which I am, btw, not a fan of. We gotta start charging tax for internet buys… as a school teacher I clearly see where the money folks are not paying on sales tax could – and shoul – go.) So see ya, Best Buy. But thanks for allowing me to check out the goods. If only your prices were better and you didn’t have to charge me that stinky little thing called tax (which, in Southern California is 9.75% (Think about that… I pay virtually 10% extra on every purchase I make near my home. That means the internet is an automatic 10% savings. Uhm… hello!)
Yes, this stinks for Best Buy… and it feels unsustainable for American business/society on the whole… and yet, this is how I shop for “big ticket items”.

Just check the web… that’s my mantra nowadays. Isn’t it yours?

A few days ago, I kind of bashed the Kindle for all the things it can’t do. And all the ways in which kids will mock the device for being given somewhat of an 8 track handheld in a world of streaming digital listen/play/write/compose/construct your own music, visuals, words, ideas, graphs and so on device.

But that is not to say buying every kid in a school a Kindle wouldn’t be a leap forward. Indeed, it would be. My point that is that it would not be a big enough leap – especially knowing how hard and arduous it is to get schools to make any sort of leap at all in the first place.

I mean if schools are going to leap, let’s get them to do it FAR. Settling for a small leap when we know already they are going to need to take a second, bigger leap immediately thereafter doesn’t strike me as a best play.

However, the Kindle does offer a lot of things on the positive side. Especially when I see how our schools currently function. (Author’s Note: Subconsciously, I am not sure whether or not I am writing this so that Jeff Bezos and Amazon don’t banish me entirely from their marketplace so that when you type the name SITOMER in to try and purchase one of my books in earth’s biggest bookstore (Amazon), you don’t get a “Sorry, no titles seem to exist by that author, we have blackballed him into permanent obscurity” type of note. Let’s face it, critics of Mao didn’t last too long. Kidding, Mr. Bezos. Kidding!)

Now, back to our main point… the upside of Kindles – of which there certainly are many.

Let’s look at Lynwood High, the place where I teach. My school must own 1,100 copies of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN in hardback format. I mean somebody must have loved that title so much they just kept ordering it and ordering it and yet, I don’t think that 1,100 copies of HUCK have ever been checked out from the school library at the same time.

From a financial point of view, owning physical books requires guesstimates as to how many copies a school should order/spend money upon. BTW, this is not really a finger pointing escapade; this is a “somebody was forced to guesstimate our literary needs” exploration. It’s just how our world has always worked.

But buying Kindles for all the kids, eliminates the guestimating of how much cash should cash we spend question (which always leads to either over or under-spending) because the ebook of HUCK is free. (Public domain).

And so are the complete works of Shakespeare.
And so are all the works by Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens and on and on and on and on.

So not only is a school buying a Kindle, they are buying an unlimited supply of the canon. (Not all of it, but certainly more great books than a school curriculum could work through before the kids graduate from high school.)

Hello, I am an English teacher. Why in the world would I argue with that?

The Kindle gives me more literature than my school could ever hope to buy or house absolutely free with its purchase. To that end, the Kindle is amazing.

So yes, buying every kid in a school a Kindle would indeed be a leap forward. Just not a big enough leap because the device doesn’t do as much as our kids are capable of doing if they have more sophisticated tools placed in their hands.

(And one search of my books here reveals that I seem to have not shattered my relationship entirely with Amazon… happy to say.)