ACE Spectrum
ACE Spectrum
Ace Spectrum is about you — the ACE Learning Centers.
It’s a quick sharing of ideas, inspiration, opinions and best practices among our continuing education organizations.
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National Poetry Month Ends, but Poetry Treats Are Forever
By Guest Blogger Riley, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, Hanging Out at Alpha Public Schools
Are those poetry books behind me? Looking for that treat in front of me!
National Poetry Month zoomed by, just like the time zooms when my best bud John* is tossing balls with me. But poetry is forever.
The ACE Poetry Contest poems have been written and the judges are judging. Stay tuned for the announcements of the winners from all the schools and ACE Learning Centers that participated this year.
Wanna sample of the quality poetry being written? It’s great stuff. Amazing stuff. Treats to the ear, and tasty treats too. (Not quite as good as yummy Nutella that I have to sneak when no one is looking, but almost.)
Warning!
By Andrea Gonzales, Alpha: Cindy Avitia High School
WARNING!
TAKE CAUTION
AND BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU READ
FOR IF YOU CHOOSE TO PROCEED
HOLD NO BLAME IF YOUR SOUL IS FREED
The Bad
Technology, isn’t it funny?
How we think it’s all games, but they’re in it for the money.
Made to trick us, fool us to believe their lie
They cover it up, “It’s not on you who we spy!”
It injures people, like you and like me
Yet while that tiny rush of dopamine
Doesn’t seem worthwhile when you realize
That you’re slowly, but surely becoming hypnotized.
You wake up, check your phone
It’s inevitable we’re all prone.
I’m pretty sure if we asked anyone
The direction from where came the sun
We would get a total correct answer of none
It’s too late to stop
Technology has made it, on our prioritizes its top.
&
The Good:
Technology, isn’t it funny?
That it makes our days just a bit more sunny
We can talk to people all over the world
And makes us feel just a bit more whole
Socially awkward people now have someone to talk to
And it gives us the courage to say the words “I love you”
It’s gotten so many people together
It seems to have given nothing but pleasure!
It makes it easier for children to learn
And as it becomes cheaper, the greater the earn
It helps with fundraisers, the good causes get money
And we can do things from home when the weather is runny.
OVERALL:
Technology is good, but of course in moderation
Because too much power online can destroy more than one nation.
Yip! I must say, when I wake up, I look for a treat, not at my phone. Here’s another great poem.
Take the key to Success
By Amber Urbina, Alpha: Cindy Avitia High School
The universe evolves like a spinning top.
But what holds in it?
Look through the windows
The keys that our fingers touch,
To create our the output of what the input is
Got any tech you might say?
Will it blow your mind away,
How we use it for purposes that have different meanings.
It’s a choice that we have to pick from
It’s a possibility we might prohibit but..
It’s impossible
An addiction that lives through us
Like the time we keep our eyes on them
But is there a change?
No water being clear
Like the atmosphere sheet
We might not see but still yet realize
How the number of texts,emails,posts
Are counted as the number of beats in our hearts.
Thanks for these great poems Amber and Andrea. Stay tuned for the winners of the ACE Poetry Contest!
Treat yourself to a poem!
*John Glover, Founder, CEO Alpha Public Schools
Students at SF International High School Carried Poems in their Pockets
By Guest Columnist Cronos, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, San Francisco International School
Happy Poetry Month! Hi, Cronos here.
San Francisco International High School (SFIHS) celebrated national Poem in Your Pocket Day on Thursday. Here’s a quick update from two students, Ibrahim and Pamela:
Ibrahim takes poems in his pocket seriously.
Ibrahim: To celebrate Poem in your Pocket day I’m carrying Billy Collins‘ The Art of Drowning. Honestly, I took it from my teacher’s bookshelf because it was small but then I read one of the poems and it’s really funny. My favorite one is called, “On Turning 10” because it’s about a kid who doesn’t want to grow up. Every day in 9th and 10th and 11th grade I wanted to graduate and leave high school. Now I’m about to graduate in a month and I don’t want to leave!
Pamela learns new words from poetry that reminds her of family.
Pamela: Today I have Federico Garcia Lorca‘s Libro de Poemas. I chose this book because it has poems in Spanish and English and I learn new words in both languages. I didn’t know that there were still so many words in Spanish that I don’t already know. The poems are old and sometimes the way they sound makes me think about my grandma and how she used to talk to me in my country.
Poems are the best treats!
Cool stuff. Makes me wish I had a pocket.
As Riley says, treat yourself to a poem, dude. I add dude, ‘cause I’m a serious poet.
It’s Poem in Your Pocket Day, So I’m Treating You to My Doggerel Poem
By Guest Blogger Riley, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot Who Hangs Out at Alpha Public Schools
Hi poetry lovers! My tongue’s hanging out for a poem. Or is that a treat I want? Probably both. Arf! Arf!
Hi all you poets and poetry teachers and poetry lovers. I love this month. April. National Poetry Month. I always get more treats than usual this month.
Guess what? Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day. That means you should have a poem to share with friends, family, even strangers if they look okay. You can keep it in your pocket and pull it out to read. Or make copies and hand them out. (That’s what Martha’s doing at the ACE office.)
Of course, you know what I’m gonna say – make it Treat in Your Pocket Day, so you can give me a treat! Or any other dog or cat you run into.
But today I have a treat for you! I wrote a poem about learning on the Internet, just like the ACE Poetry Contest students are writing. I’m not eligible to win ‘cause I’m the MASCOT. But I can write doggerel with the best of them. Here ya go!
The Dog On the Internet
By Riley, a tech-savvy dog
They say nobody knows
If you’re a dog
Out on the Internet
From backdoors to cache
Software can hide
Whether you’re dog or cat
But I’d rather be known
As the dog who stands by
Our kids on the Internet
The way I learn
To come, stay n sit
Is a combo of treats and pets
(I have to admit
The treats are the best
I’m cute n get lots of pets)
It’s the kids who are learning
Helped by tablets that turn
Using software and apps
They learn how to create
Put Art into STEM
Add numbers, calculate
Review, review
That’s all they do
Repeat ‘till they get it right
Then it’s stuck like glue
But there’s context too!
Learning in double time
And as they learn
Taking their turns
Learning and taking tests
I find it’s best to be
The fuzzy coach they see
Whose tail wags at their touch
And I’m here everyday
A dog standing by
His friends on the Internet
That’s the poem in my pocket. Or paw.
Happy poetry writing, and good luck to all the ACE Poetry Contest contestants. Arf arf!
Treat yourself to a poem.