Kevin Patrick Kenealy's Blog, page 2

Be Salty! A first day of school message...

We had a fantastic guest speaker for our first day back at school. Dr. Manny Scott, whose story was represented in the 2007 movie Freedom Writers, returned to Crete-Monee High School to discuss the importance of being salty as educators.

Scott, who had a turbulent time growing up, to say the least, picked up where he left off in his rousing, heartfelt, and inspirational messages from last year’s opening day ceremony. Dr. Scott told of how when he spoke in East Texas, the ‘Be Salty’ phrase was born.

He said when he told the audience that you could “Lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him...” a man with a big cowboy hat interrupted him and said that while it’s true you can’t lead a horse to water, you can make him thirsty. You can put salt in his mouth and get him to drink. It’s called a salt lick. That man was a cattle rancher.

Scott also noted the famous phrase Jesus stated, as documented in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” There, Jesus told his disciples that if someone rejected Jesus, they would turn rotten.

In the education world, we need to make students thirsty to better themselves and strive to be their best. How can we expect students to be their best if we cannot bring our best? Dr. Scott talked about the importance of acceptance and trust.

We must accept students for who they are and what they deal with. We need to create a communication of trust to change society.

But there was more to Dr. Scott’s message than just this. He asked us to think about what we are grateful for and how we can think of ways to help others. He forced us to rethink our morning routines. He said that a lot of his strength comes from his ‘Be Salty’ morning routine, which consists of exercise, eating right, and a positive mentality.

The presentation lasted roughly two hours, but he was so funny, dramatic, candid, and inspirational that I could have listened longer. These are words, however, to listen to and put into action. We are all teachers in some respect. We must teach ourselves to be our best and bring out the best in others. As teachers, that need is paramount.

I’m glad we had him as our keynote because I am more than ready to start my school year. I hope all the other educators out there are too. And remember to be salty, my friends!

To search for Kevin Patrick Kenealy’s latest thriller, Neighborhood Watch, peruse either Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park, Barbara’s Bookstore in Orland Square Mall, Anderson’s Bookshop in Downers Grove, or The Book Dragon in Stockton-on-Tees, England. You can also buy direct from my website here: https://www.kevinpatrickkenealy.com/author

Happy Birthday to Me!

Here I am last year outside Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park where they displayed my book, Neighborhood Watch.

Thirty-seven years young. When I was born in 1986, the Montreal Expos had a baseball team, Bill Cosby was considered a family man, and gambling was only legal in two states. Thirty-seven may seem young to some and old to others, but I have seen some significant changes in those nearly forty years of my lifetime.

Prices

In 1986, the cost of gasoline was .86 cents a gallon. I waited to fill up in Will County yesterday just so I could save money and pay $4.11 for gas! Isn't that crazy?

In 1986, the average price of a new car was $9,255. Compare that to today's eye-popping $48.008, and it's a wonder that anyone can even afford a new car anymore.

In 1986, the average price of a home was $121,200. Today, it's $416,100. I still don't know how people live in some parts of the country where the average house cost is twice that...

If you're looking at inflationtool.com, $100 in 1986 is now worth $279.45. Inflation has skyrocketed 179.45%!

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Anyway, this isn't a statistical history lesson. You can look the facts and figures up for yourself. I remember going through high school, and no one had a single phone out. I didn't get a social media page until my junior or senior year, and it was Myspace. My first car, the Saturn SC1, had a tape deck, and my first tape? Pearl Jam's Yield album.

Yes, I've seen a lot of changes in my life. I still remember pay phones and Caller ID, and one of my first toys was a Teddy Ruxpin. I remember when people would pick up a newspaper and read. I remember when kids would play outside, and Nintendo and Sega battled it out in the video game wars.

Yet despite all the changes in the years, I still love every birthday. I may reminisce, but my present and future is pretty great. I have two wonderful boys, a beautiful wife, and a terrific family. I have friends who I am more than grateful for, the best co-workers, and a school that I'm proud to say that I'm going to start my ninth year teaching.

Despite my history of epilepsy, I accomplished a lot, and I am grateful for that. God wants me in this world for a reason, and I try to live my best life for Him.

So, even though the world is changing, sometimes it is for the better. We need to look around and be grateful for what we do have because unless we have a Delorean, we're not going back in time.

Today, I'm grateful for the chance to start another year, and I am excited to see what lies ahead. I hope to finish my sequel to Neighborhood Watch soon and continue to be my best self. Thank you to all those who take the time to read these posts. I hope you get something out of it!

To search for Kevin Patrick Kenealy's latest thriller, peruse either Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park, Barbara's Bookstore in Orland Square Mall, Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove, or The Book Dragon in Stockton-on-Tees, England. You can also buy directly from my website here: https://www.kevinpatrickkenealy.com/author

Good morning Sox fans!

Good morning White Sox fans! If there is a silver lining to this dumpster fire season, Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn got fired along with it.

For a man as loyal as Jerry Reinsdorf, I thought Rick and Kenny had jobs for life. And if it were any other team in baseball, those two probably would have been gone a while ago. Yet, he finally did the right thing and shook things up where they needed to be shaken up.

I grew up a die-hard Sox fan. There was a lot of pride in calling yourself a Sox fan for many years. It meant being attached to a blue-collar, hard-working South Side mentality. It meant feeling goosebumps every time you walked into the ballpark and watched the highlight reels just before the game as ACDC's "Thunderstruck" played across the scoreboard. It meant connecting to lovable players even in the worst seasons.

And then the last couple of years happened. I had never been more disappointed to call myself a Sox fan than this season. They have been a traveling clown show. I was at Progressive Field when Anderson got knocked out. As the Cleveland fans booed him, I booed along with them. I was so fed up with his on-the-field antics. I turned to my dad and said, "Just shut up and play baseball."

Then there was the Middleton report, in which former player Kenyon Middleton said there were cultural problems inside the White Sox clubhouse, which was confirmed by the resurrected Lance Lynn (and Jose Abreu's comments about not being a family if you go back to last year).

Then you have the stadium relocation talk and the possibility of relocating to Nashville. You will bring that up when you're a million games under .500 in a season you were expecting to win the division? What? Oh, and there have been no details in place yet for SoxFest—round of applause there.

And then...Kenny and Rick got fired. For now, things look like, hey, maybe all this losing could lead to something good. I hate to say that I'm going to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm hesitant that things are going to change all that much. We must remember that Jerry is a businessman. For as surprising as this move was, Jerry is the guy who voted to strike in 1994 when the Sox were poised to make the playoffs. He was the guy who threatened to move to Florida if the city did not come up with the money to build a stadium. He's the only guy who did not vote for Steve Cohen to be an owner. And he's the guy who has not forked over enough money for a single $100 million player. The only other two teams not to have a $100 million dollar player? The A's and the Royals.

Reinsdorf is 87 years old, and there were rumblings that he would sell the team to make a transition to move the Sox out of the stadium from a report this past week. There was an older report that Jerry would like to see at least the Sox play in their next all-star game at Guaranteed Rate before selling. Then there's something else: he would actually lose money if he sold because he'd have to pay a tax on his earnings. Whereas, if he just waited until he died, he could take that money to his grave.

So, for now, we are stuck with Jerry. We know Jerry is loyal, and one of the guys they are looking at is Chris Getz, the White Sox director of player development. They love to hire their own people, and my questions are, "How well have the Sox developed players?" How ready would Getz be for this huge promotion?"

Scott Podsednik said in the latest White Sox Talk Podcast that on this instinct, "As bad as this season went, they could learn a lot." They could. But will they? I won't hold my breath as long as Jerry steers the ship. They're supposed to have a GM by the end of the season, so we can only wait and hope for the best. If they bring in their first $100 million free agent soon, we might know that real change is coming. If they develop a stronger farm system, we might know that real change is coming.

But this is only the start of what the Sox must do to rebuild their connection with the fans. They need to bring back SoxFest. They need to remember that this is all about the fans. They forgot about the fans. They didn't care about the fans, and we have stopped caring about them. So, hopefully, this is the start of something good. We will just have to wait and see.

To search for Kevin Patrick Kenealy's latest thriller, peruse either Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park, Barbara's Bookstore in Orland Square Mall, Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove, or The Book Dragon in Stockton-on-Tees, England. You can also buy direct from my website here: https://www.kevinpatrickkenealy.com/author

School starts today...

This is my classroom, circa 2019. If you're going by the astrological calendar, Summer lasts from June 21 until September 23. If you go by the holiday or most community pool schedules, it lasts from Memorial Day until Labor Day. However, if you go by school schedules, it is much, much shorter and varies widely.

It is mostly somewhere in the ballpark of June to early to mid-August or roughly two to two and a half months. Metereolgoists divide seasons into three months. Psychologically, however, summer even seems to last shorter than that for teachers as it goes from the day school lets out to just after the Fourth of July when those pesky Back to School ads streak across social media, television and pop up in stores. If you're measuring summer from when a teacher gets out until Back to School ads come, that equates to about a month.

Then you have all those Summer haters. You know who you are, pumpkin spice latte people. "Bring on the Fall!" they scream. However, while September and the beginning of October may offer lovely breezes and beautiful colors, may I remind you of November's wicked winds and drab skies? When was the last time you remember liking the weather in November? Or early December? Some of you might, but I sure don't.

I digress. I turn my attention back to the length of summer. A lot of people say that teachers are lucky to have summers off. I will not refute that fact, but I will also say that unless you are a teacher, you only see a small part of what we do. I started planning for the school year somewhere right after the Fourth of July ended, right around that time Back to School ads began airing. Oh, and I had an AP Literature professional development for a week after school.

I spent countless hours typing away and staring at a computer screen this summer, planning, researching, and reading material to ensure this coming school year could be the best. Yet most people think all we do is whittle the days away. That isn't to say I didn't enjoy my summer. I spent a lot of time with my wonderful family, took lovely short-distance vacations, spent ample time on the golf course, and read amazing books. Yet, working in the summer is almost necessary for even the most seasoned teachers. I'll be entering my ninth year teaching English, and I still plan every year.

So while the weather says Summer, but the school year says Fall, I try my best to hold on to those memories while bracing myself for change. To everything, turn, turn, turn, I guess. Perhaps we could make Winter speed up. But that never seems to be the case in Chicagoland.

Yes, the first day of school. It brings a day of promise and excitement but, most of all, change. And while it is hard to return, I still love what I do. Yet, I encourage everyone to hold on to the freedom and independence that Summer brings. Don't let go of the easy-breezy days inside you as the doldrums of cold weather and grey skies take over. While Summer may be on its way out, we can always keep it in our hearts all year long.

To search for Kevin Patrick Kenealy's latest thriller, peruse either Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park, Barbara's Bookstore in Orland Square Mall, Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove, or The Book Dragon in Stockton-on-Tees, England. You can also buy direct from my website here: https://www.kevinpatrickkenealy.com/author

This or that?

I've asked a lot of this or that questions on Facebook over the last couple of years. They sparked a good amount of dialogue and, occasionally, some surprising heated debate.

I clearly remember some of the heated debate topics were Parks and Rec or The Office? And Lord of the Rings or Star Wars? Below I have compiled several more that I haven't posted on social media. Most recently, I cast a poll on social media users' favorite sports car, in which the Lamborghini Diablo came out on top. Feel free to take your survey and cast your votes!

Book or Movie? Apple or Samsung? Bathroom or Restroom? Eighties or Nineties? (What's the better decade)? Sixties or Seventies? Playstation or Xbox? Retail or Online? The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? Rap or Rock? Country or City? Hot Weather or Cold Weather? Staying In or Going Out? Beach or Mountains? Lightning Bugs or Fireflies? Pop or Soda? Movie or TV Show? Read Offline or Read Online? Baseball or Football? Michael or Lebron? Sweet or Salty?

*More will come! See if you can answer these to the best of your ability. The first answer that comes out is usually the right one.

To search for Kevin Patrick Kenealy's latest thriller, peruse either Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park, Barbara's Bookstore in Orland Square Mall, Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove, or The Book Dragon in Stockton-on-Tees, England. You can also buy direct from my website here: https://www.kevinpatrickkenealy.com/author

Memes that capture my summer reads

I read several books this summer, and if you're interested in some of them, I thought I could tease them using memes! Some I could not either find appropriate memes for or decided against using memes, as in Eli Wiesel's Night. While these should not give away the books totally, you may be aware that there are spoilers within the images.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

The Gunslinger

Billy Summers

Slaughterhouse Five

Fairy Tale (Stephen King) - This one is a bit general, as it was hard to find a meme about it.

The Old Man and the Sea - I couldn't exactly find a meme here, but this will do.

To purchase Author Kevin Patrick Kenealy's books, visit Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park, Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove, Barbara's Bookstore in Orland Square Mall, The Book Dragon in Stockton-on-Tees in the United Kingdom, or visit https://www.kevinpatrickkenealy.com/a....

Teaching Reading, a Writer's Perspective

Author Kevin Patrick Kenealy signing books at Chicago Ridge Library.

Being a teacher and a writer has given me a keen sense of the written word and an appreciation for the writing process that perhaps I wouldn't have had if I didn't write and read every day.

Things we teach in Literature revolve around the same topics: theme, tone, conflict, characterization, figurative language, and plot. The truth is, these are all important but only the means to an end. What teachers forget to teach when teaching reading is editing. We teach it when writing rather than when teaching reading.

And we never discuss the background of the authors. And we don't know their relationships with their editors. And we don't know what their original drafts looked like. And we don't stop asking our students if they liked a particular sentence and what words could be chosen to make it weaker.

What students are given before them is a finished product. When they read The Great Gatsby, they are not reading Among Ash Heaps and Millionaires or the book's first title. Gatsby rewrote the book three times to get it just right. The editor suggested the title The Great Gatsby, by the way.

An interesting exercise here would be to examine multiple drafts of texts side by side and notice the changes. From there, you can see the more robust perspectives in character or the shifts in tone. That all comes from a working relationship with an editor over multiple long nights and drafts.

High school students often turn in a paper after one copy and consider it done. If they realize how hard these writers worked to put together the short story or novel sitting in front of them, they may understand what it takes to put forth the effort in anything they need to do.

Writing isn't something that you can expect to improve upon naturally. It takes practice, just like anything else. It takes racking your brain and pushing your heart forward to limits you didn't think were there. It takes a lot of reading multiple authors to learn technique and style, another method not taught enough in schools.

Further, if you want students to respect the films they watch, have them analyze a script and an excerpt from a novel side-by-side. About a minute of a script equates to a page of writing. There is a reason that movies are often different from books, and it's because they have to be. Yet, you only get the full appreciation for films once you read a script.

Writing is more than just the elements that we find. It is the work behind the scenes that really matters. Because without that, there is no characterization. There is no theme. How does a writer write? What is that writer's experience? Edgar Allan Poe dug graves during gym class. Does that help you better understand his works? I'd like to think so.

Truth is stranger than fiction; in anything you read, there is at least some ounce of truth. So, we should teach our kids to analyze, create, evaluate, and question everything they know and think like writers as they read. To purchase Author Kevin Patrick Kenealy's books, visit Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park, Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove, Barbara's Bookstore in Orland Square Mall, The Book Dragon in Stockton-on-Tees in the United Kingdom, or visit https://www.kevinpatrickkenealy.com/a....

Things that annoy me as I age....

I'm going to be thirty-seven on August 24. Depending on how old you are, they could seem old or young. Even though I always look forward to birthdays, I feel like "the world got itself in a big hurry," to quote The Shawshank Redemption.

So, does that mean I feel old? I guess, maybe? I don't know. Here are some things that make me yearn for simpler times, though.

Chat GPT

This can just get a virus and go away and die already. I already felt behind the eight-ball because I didn't learn about this lovely little man versus machine program until an AP Lit PD in June. While everyone else prattled away, I nodded, pretending to be in the know. When I discovered what it was, I was appalled. I copied and pasted a retired AP Literature essay prompt into the Chat GPT box, and within seconds, it spewed out a full-length essay that was better than what some of my students would turn in.

First off, what are they doing to humanity? That may sound extreme, and maybe they asked the same question when they got rid of telephone and elevator operators, but this is another level. I emailed OpenAI and asked why they would install this function, but of course, I got no response. I was reminded of that quote from Dr. Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park, "Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."

Just because they were able to engineer this component of ChatGPT, why did they? It only forces those in education to work that much harder to crack down on cheaters and gives students all the more reason to skirt their responsibilities.

Smartphones

I'm over them. I wish we could return to calling cards and pay phones, or at least your 'dumb phones' that only texted, called, and set the alarm. Again, the almighty dollar won out here with the best advertising campaign that hypnotized everyone, "You'll need it in case of emergency." The ironic thing is you got by just fine without them.

It makes it near impossible to teach a generation of short-attention-span teenagers who are glued to their phones every few minutes in a country that cannot enforce phones in classrooms. Or how often do you notice drivers swerve all over the roads because they have to get out that one extra text message?

And when you really think about it, how many things are there to do on your phone? Why do we need to check our emails, social media, apps, etc., every x amount of minutes?

QR Codes

I know this is strange, but I miss restaurant menus. I like something you can hold in your hand and flip through. I don't like seeing a symbol that reminds me I'm in a futuristic world where I'm once again a slave to my cell.

Can't we just do anything without those pesky devices? I guess that's all I have to say about that, but I miss the old way of doing things.

Showboating in Professional Sports

Okay, this definitely makes me sound old. I know, I know. You see it in just about every sport, except maybe golf or hockey. A baseball player hits a home run and then puts on some ridiculous costume in the dugout. An entire football team poses for the camera after a touchdown. I mean, come on. Just play the game. You're not in the movies.

I remember watching sports in the nineties, and at least in baseball, these occurrences just didn't happen. Maybe in football, but I don't think even there. I get that it's for fun. I get it. I get sports changes, but that doesn't mean this soon-to-be thirty-seven-year-old has to like it.

Ads, Ads, and More Ads!

When YouTube first started, it was the Wild West. There were no ads. A lot of young ones probably don't realize that. Many times when you visit a site, you could use their services for...free! You didn't have to create an account or password.

When you went to US Cellular Field to watch a one-time respectable White Sox team, they actually had the great players pasted on the outfield fence instead of ads to annoying companies. And before that, companies didn't bother touching classic named fields like Comiskey Park.

Everything is about money and attention, and look at me! I know I am posting this on social media and whatnot, but I am also hoping to share my views with you for a purpose, not to sell to you.

What Else...

I know there are many other things, but I cannot think of them right now. I will always be young at heart. I play with Lego, for goodness sake! However, as the world continues to change, I have a hard time changing with the world. If you have anything that annoys you, feel free to share.

To search for Kevin Patrick Kenealy's latest thriller, peruse either Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park, Barbara's Bookstore in Orland Square Mall, Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove, or The Book Dragon in Stockton-on-Tees, England.

You can also buy direct from my website here: https://www.kevinpatrickkenealy.com/a...

Thank you all!

Thank you all for your support! I made a personal video giving my thanks.

https://youtu.be/yX6cNFlsmoU

How I teach outlining to students

I'll keep today's post short and sweet. I had to create a five-minute lesson for my grad school Seminar in Writing Instruction course. Although I applied this video to AP Literature students, it can be used for any prewriting prompts. With school quickly approaching, I thought about posting something that had to do with instruction, so I hope educators and students alike find this helpful.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/466d7f_46ae9770a89b46b5bbbd190360363eea/720p/mp4/file.mp4

To find my books, go to this link for myAmazon profile or go to the Author page of this website.

Kevin Kenealy received his journalism degree from Eastern Illinois University and his English secondary education certificate from Trinity Christian College. He is also currently pursuing a master's in English Literature from Southern New Hampshire University. He worked as a reporter and designer for several local newspapers before he started teaching English, AP Lit, and journalism at the high school level. He wrote his first book, 20 Something at age 23, a book of poetry about growing up in your 20s and trying to figure yourself out. The book was featured in a local newspaper and can be found in local libraries. He completed his first novel Life and Death at age 31, a horror/thriller book that received local attention and is also featured in suburban Chicago libraries. In his latest book, Neighborhood Watch, Kirkus Reviews calls it, "Superb characters headline this chilling, slow-burn crime tale."