Kelly Savino on sat 16 apr 11
Count me on the list of people who have been sick since NCECA. My voice ran=
ges from ribbet, to whisper, to squeak, which makes teaching 4 college clas=
ses, a guild class, and leading my girl scouts a real challenge. I sound li=
ke a chain smoking, aging drag queen imitating Carole Channing, and I don't=
dare leave my house without my inhaler. I don't know what it is about NCEC=
A -- the planes? Hotels? Lack of sleep? -- but I can go a solid year with n=
o problems and end up having colds/sinus/asthma trouble at (and after) NCEC=
A. I'd blame Florida's pollen but it happened in Indy, and Philly, etc.
I'm also adjusting to the culture shock of returning to the real world, aft=
er a decadent week of fountains, chandeliers, glass elevators, crisp beds m=
agically made, breakfasts with bacon and fresh fruit, glorious pots around =
every corner, flamenco dancers, sushi, grouper, and a handsome Cuban man cr=
ushing mint in a glass pitcher for mojitos...
Clayart fashion show: I just came across an old photo of Nan, Steph and I i=
n full wench/pirate/belly dancer regalia. My goal for seattle is to get mys=
elf back into shape to be laced into a bodice without swooning from lack of=
oxygen.
Montessori: I see Lili's point about the involvement of parents as a major =
factor in the success of kids, wherever they are schooled -- but want to ad=
d the further layer of priviledge to the equation. While our formerly-homes=
chooled youngest only attends a Montessori school thanks to financial aid a=
nd generous grandparents, a lot of her classmates come from homes where bot=
h parents have advanced degrees and sizable incomes, family vacations invol=
ve Italy and Paris, and expense will be no obstacle in the kid's choice of =
colleges. These kids also have excellent medical care, help with any learni=
ng issues, perfect nutrition and straight teeth.
Meanwhile, I am teaching a cohort writing class to parents of the students =
at Toledo's lowest performing public elementary school (rated Academic Emer=
gency for the last ten years.) They have felony convictions instead of PhDs=
, neighborhood gang wars instead of soccer games, rehab instead of fraterni=
ties. One was in the sex biz, one in a battered women's shelter, one is hom=
eless and has stopped attending. Their children struggle with lead paint co=
ntamination, fetal alcohol syndrome, have single parents with no income and=
dads with restraining orders. It's not a level playing field, and switchin=
g education methods wouldn't fix what's broken here. Just sayin'.
Anyway... It was good to see the clayarters who did make it to NCECA, and I=
swear I haven't laughed as much in months as I did in those few days with =
potter friends. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Here's hoping the economy will turn a corner, air fares will drop in price,=
department heads will open their purses, and the whole gang will make it t=
o Seattle for an NCECA just like the good old days.
For now, I'm just keeping myself focused on surviving overlapping responsib=
ilities until final exams the first week in May. Then I will take a deep br=
eath, unclench, plant my garden, enjoy my family, write my grandma, love up=
my husband, organize my life, pay my bills, establish world peace, and get=
classes in my new Hands-On community studio rolling full speed for summer.
hugs to all
Kelly in Ohio
http://www.primalpotter.com
Kathy Forer on sun 17 apr 11
Why are you teaching them then if you don't see the benefits of an enriched=
e=3D
nvironment?=3D20
We are all one human species here.=3D20
Benefits and responsibility accrue to all for whom we are accessible as a s=
o=3D
ciety and economy.=3D20
We'll end up with a clone of the movie Metropolis if we keep attenuating so=
c=3D
io-economic differences instead of embracing commonalities. That is a prove=
n=3D
way to attain a repressive and anemic Least Common Denominator. Far more o=
p=3D
timistic and balanced, celebrate each one of our unique qualities and abili=
t=3D
ies to share and contribute, provide possibility and potential will out.=3D=
20
Fragile children benefit as much from healthy and creative environments as =
t=3D
hose who are healthy and thriving. The metric of improvement needs to be in=
d=3D
ividual not standard.=3D20
It's not a level playing field but it's better than no playing field at all=
.=3D
Time provides the unifying factor. Each changing day adds an unmeasurable =
l=3D
ayer of experience to each child and the group. It can be bland, insipid or=
g=3D
rueling, or it can be healthy and fresh, seems obvious that one is a better=
g=3D
oal than the other.=3D20
Kathy Forer
www.foreverink.com
On Apr 16, 2011, at 8:05 PM, Kelly Savino wro=
t=3D
e:
> Montessori: I see Lili's point about the involvement of parents as a majo=
r=3D
factor in the success of kids, wherever they are schooled -- but want to a=
d=3D
d the further layer of priviledge to the equation. While our formerly-homes=
c=3D
hooled youngest only attends a Montessori school thanks to financial aid an=
d=3D
generous grandparents, a lot of her classmates come from homes where both =
p=3D
arents have advanced degrees and sizable incomes, family vacations involve =
I=3D
taly and Paris, and expense will be no obstacle in the kid's choice of coll=
e=3D
ges. These kids also have excellent medical care, help with any learning is=
s=3D
ues, perfect nutrition and straight teeth.
>=3D20
> Meanwhile, I am teaching a cohort writing class to parents of the student=
s=3D
at Toledo's lowest performing public elementary school (rated Academic Eme=
r=3D
gency for the last ten years.) They have felony convictions instead of PhDs=
,=3D
neighborhood gang wars instead of soccer games, rehab instead of fraternit=
i=3D
es. One was in the sex biz, one in a battered women's shelter, one is homel=
e=3D
ss and has stopped attending. Their children struggle with lead paint conta=
m=3D
ination, fetal alcohol syndrome, have single parents with no income and dad=
s=3D
with restraining orders. It's not a level playing field, and switching edu=
c=3D
ation methods wouldn't fix what's broken here. Just sayin'.
Kelly Savino on sun 17 apr 11
--- kef@kforer.com wrote:
Why are you teaching them then if you don't see the benefits of an enriched=
environment?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
--------------------------------------------
I was just adding a further musing to Lili's comment on the Montessori link=
, and her assertion that one teaching technique can't be regarded in isolat=
ion because we have to factor in the involvement level of parents.
My frustration is with a system that hands one school smartboards and lapto=
ps, while at another school teachers have to bring their own chalk for the =
chalkboards and paper to make copies. From prenatal nutrition to college tu=
ition, one set of students faces obstacles and the other has advantages. We=
'd like to think that anyone can grow up to be anything in this country, an=
d many blame the poor for their own poverty -- but it's not that simple.
Why any of that should interfere with my choice to teach, isn't clear to me=
. I'm a damn good teacher and they deserve me. Of course, education that va=
lues the individual, the critical thinker and the creative approach has a h=
igher value than teaching to the test by drill-and repeat in overcrowded, u=
nderfunded public school classrooms. I homeschooled my own kids to their te=
ens, using Montessori and Waldorf and Unschooling methods as it fit their p=
ersonalities and learning styles; I am using some of those approaches to em=
power my adult writing class "in the 'hood".
In the 80s I studied with poet Nikki Giovanni. She told me that the biggest=
disadvantage of students in college writing seminars is that they have not=
hing to write about except being college students in writing seminars. For =
all their disadvantages, my inner city adults have rich and interesting exp=
erience to draw upon -- and will be empowered by new skills, college credit=
s, and an edge in the job market.
I teach for the reason most people teach -- for the paycheck. The fact that=
this feels like work worth doing is the icing on the cake.
Yours
Kelly
Randall Moody on sun 17 apr 11
Interestingly my father did his PhD dissertation on the use of computers in
the classroom. The most difficult part for him was finding a school that di=
d
not use computers. The results were surprising in that initially the
students with access to computers jumped ahead but eventually the gap evene=
d
out to be of negligible benefit to overall learning.
Recently there have been opinions in higher ed journals that show that
subjects such as English, grammar and even mathematics are suffering from a=
n
over use of technology. There is a school system here in Georgia that has
stopped teaching cursive even though the benefits of teaching it are known.
--
Randall in Atlanta
http://wrandallmoody.com
James Freeman on mon 18 apr 11
On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 6:06 PM, Randall Moody wro=
te:
There is a school system here in Georgia that has
stopped teaching cursive even though the benefits of teaching it are known.
My kids were the victims of a horrid educational experiment called D'Nealia=
n
writing. It is a sort of proto-cursive style taught in place of block
printing, and it's added loops and monkey tails and forming some letters
from the bottom up are supposed to make the transition to cursive easier.
Their schools then unfortunately dropped cursive, leaving the kids in the
sorry position of knowing neither block printing nor cursive. Their
handwriting is now an atrocious and almost unreadable agglomeration of
improperly formed block letters, D'Nealian, and script. We talked to our
youngest son's third grade teacher about the unreadable writing. Her reply
was that they no longer work with the kids on handwriting, as they will do
everything on computers anyway! We are lost.
...James
James Freeman
"...outsider artists, caught in the bog of their own consciousness, too
preciously idiosyncratic to be taken seriously."
"All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should
not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed."
-Michel de Montaigne
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesfreemanstudio/
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com/resources
Jeanie Silver on mon 18 apr 11
Hi Kathy Forer
OT but not really
Thanks for your post. It had the feeling of a healthy and robust engagemen=
t
with reality...its hard to celebrate commonality when all around you are
cheerfully 'Balkanizing' the world in which we find ourselves into
irresolvable mosaic shards of unreconciable self interest....we're all
guilty of that too often
Jeanie in Pa.
John Post on wed 20 apr 11
On Apr 18, 2011, at 10:35 AM, James Freeman wrote:
> My kids were the victims of a horrid educational experiment called
> D'Nealian
> writing. ...Her reply was that they no longer work with the kids on
> handwriting, as they will do
> everything on computers anyway! We are lost.
This horrid experiment still lives on in my school district. After
the kids learn to make all their letters the wrong loopy way using
D'Nealian in grades K-2, they start to practice cursive in third
grade. Then no teacher accepts cursive writing on papers because it
is too sloppy, so they revert back to loopy printing. I say papers,
but kids rarely write, most of the time they are just answering
questions on worksheets.
Typing was eliminated at the high school and junior highs and was
pushed down into the elementary schools. Our media center teacher is
supposed to teach little kids how to type using a program called "type
to learn". The kids only go to the media center once a week. When my
son was in elementary school I asked him about this typing program. He
told me "Kids just keep pressing random keys trying to get a high
score, they aren't concerned with learning to type, they just want to
play the game."
Apparently the entire world is moving towards typing with two thumbs
anyways so maybe it is just me who is behind, as I refuse to text
message from a phone. I don't even know my own cell phone number. I
just pay $20 every three months for a Virgin Mobile phone so that if
my kid needs to get a hold of me during the day or after school he
can. Only two people know my cell number, my wife and son.
All of my son's friends have expensive iphones and Android phones. My
son found a free app for his ipod that lets him text me at my school
email address for free. He figured out how to get his ipod on the
school server so when his friends start bragging about how cool their
phones are, he points out that he sends all his texts for free. He
knows the value of a buck since he can purchase whatever he wants...
as long as he uses his own money. Paying your own way, what a concept.
John Post
Sterling Heights, Michigan
http://www.johnpost.us
Follow me on Twitter
https://twitter.com/UCSArtTeacher
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