The Indomitable Human Spirit

I didn't choose to read Night and Dawn by Elie Wiesel on my summer break. However, because I'm tutoring a student who does have to read these books for her summer English assignment, I'm reading them as well. As I re-read Night, the harrowing memoir of Wiesel's journey from his small Hungarian town to various concentration and labor camps, I couldn't help but connect his experiences with the recent tragedy of the Aurora, Colorado shooting. In both cases, some victims' lives were lost while others' were spared. Both invite us to grapple with the intense wickedness as well as the exceptional compassion of which humans are capable.

Using literature as a platform for discussing these complex themes with students, can help them make sense of the emotions that arise during times of tragedy. Some notable works about the resilience of humanity:

Memoir
Night by Elie Wiesel (@ElieWiesel)
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (@JeanetteWalls)

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (@IshmaelBeah)

A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer (@DavePelzer)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (@DrMayaAngelou)

Infidel by Aryaan Hirsi Ali

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston (@MaxineHong1)

Stitches by David Small

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara

Slave by Damien Lewis and Mende Nazer

Other Nonfiction

Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario

Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose

Fiction
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Little Bee by Chris Cleave (@ChrisCleave)

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (@Lisa_See)

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (@jesmimi)

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (@askLaurie)

No Safe Place by Deborah Ellis

Sold by Patricia McCormick (@McCormicWrites)

Speaking of Patricia McCormick, I'm off to read my next beach book club selection Never Fall Down, another tale of a young boy extirpated from his town, separated from his family, and forced to work in a labor camp. I have a feeling my summer of reflecting on the triumph of the human spirit isn't over yet.

Writing Nature

I've already fallen off the wagon. My goal to blog each day was thwarted by a spontaneous camping trip to Lums Pond State Park in Delaware. Since my laptop spent the weekend on my coffee table, all blogging ceased. As my yoga instructor said last week, "Sometimes it's good to get away for a bit.  Sometimes you just need to hug a tree."

Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure of participating in a course for teachers called VAST (Visual Arts as Sources for Teaching) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (@philamuseum). This year the course was titled "Nature through the Lens of Art and Science." As I enjoyed nature during my weekend of camping, I continuously thought back to discussions and lessons I learned in that course, several of which are recalled below. Since only one seminar was dedicated to exclusively to writing about nature, I must attribute all of these writing lesson ideas to the seminar instructor @BethKephart. (Much thanks!)




Quick Collaborative Poetry
-->Make several pieces of art available for students to view.  
-->Give students 2 minutes to jot down descriptors (words and/or phrases) of any or all of the art.  
-->Students then return to their seats, preferably in a circle, and pass their descriptors to the person on their right. (Don't tell them in advance that they'll be handing them off to another student!)
-->After taking the list of words from the person on their left, students have 3 minutes to create a poem using some or all of their classmate's words. 
-->Share! (Take volunteers or have everyone share.)


What I like about this activity: 1) The short time constraints instill a sense of urgency in students and force them to write on the spot. No time for writer's block! 2) Using art as inspiration for writing is often a more comfortable starting point than requiring students to write about a more personal topic. Before long, the personal topics will surface in their poetry! 3) I like the idea writing poetry using someone else's words-particularly when first starting out. It reminds me of 'Found Poetry.' Experimenting with word choice and arrangement can be less intimidating when the words do not 'belong' to you.

Nature Walk:
-->Read aloud poetry and prose by authors (including by you the teacher!) writing about nature. Potential authors include Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, William Carlos Williams, Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver, and Margaret Atwood.
-->Send students out into a natural space (gardens, fields, etc.) to collect words about their observations of the natural world.
-->Reconvene to create group and/or individual poems based on words collected during the nature walk.


Art/photography connection: Ask students to use their camera phones to take photos of objects they find intriguing. The objects in these photos can become inspiration for their poetry or prose.


A Change of Scenery:
-->Share excerpts from Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River 
-->Invite students to write from the perspective of an inanimate object (perhaps one they took a photo of during their nature walk--see previous activity)


Extension: A related lesson plan with a socially conscious emphasis by Bill Bigelow @RethinkSchools: The Human Lives behind the Labels


Love Hate Relationship:
-->Read this Kate Northrop Poem to students.
-->Ask students to write their own "Three Things Loved, Three Things Hated" poem using Northrop's as a model.


Extension: Students choose one "thing" from this poem to become a topic of a longer poem or writing piece.  

Garden Memory:
-->Display a piece of art depicting a garden or other natural scene.
-->Read 2-3 models of writing about nature. 
-->Ask students to recall a favorite memory of a garden or nature and write about it for 4 minutes.  
-->Share! (Volunteers or everyone)  Ask follow-up questions requiring students to reflect on their process of recalling their memories and composing their piece.


The Color of Your Life:
-->Read the following lines from Gerald Stern's poem Eggshell:
"The color of life is an almost pale white robin's green
that once was bluer when it was in the nest,
before the jay had arranged the straw and warm flesh
was in the shell."

-->Give students 4 minutes to answer the question "What is the color of your life?" and share. This would make an excellent icebreaker.

Here's mine:

Freckles and bronze skin on sand;

Crisp pizzelles, chocolate (milk and dark), espresso

Adorning oak, lace-covered tables;

Dirt from gardens, back yards, wooded paths.

Extension: Write about a color without ever naming the color.

The Essential Nature of Collaboration

Favorite quotation from VAST: "It's an illusion that we're ever working alone. We're always collaborating and the more aware of that we become, the better off we are."  -Landscape Sculptor and Artist, Winifred Lutz

Indian Literature for High School World Lit Course

I volunteered to research, read, and review literature from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal, etc.) for consideration in a new world literature course for 10th graders.


Reading Now: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Listening to Now: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga


My "To Read" List:
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
A Fine Balance or Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
Midnight's Children or The Moor's Last Sign by Salman Rushdie
Cracking India / 1947 by Bapsi Sidhwa
Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
In Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh
poetry by Vikram Seth
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
In Custody by Anita Desai
short stories by Tahira Naqvi
The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrel
The Ramayana: Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by R.K Narayan
Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand

Have Read:
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
     While this is a classic text and a superb example of allegory, I'm afraid that its focus on self-actualization and spirituality will cause it to miss the mark with most high school students. Perhaps this text  should be read by Honors students or those who may consider majoring in English, since this book is literally on the syllabus of every high school and college world literature course.

  Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
     As a contemporary Pulitzer Prize winning author, Lahiri should certainly be included in  secondary English curricula today. Both of the aforementioned short story collections  focus primarily on children or adults raised in the United States by Indian parents who adhere to Indian cultural traditions. The theme of identity and feeling caught between two cultures permeate her work.  I didn't find any of the stories to be "inappropriate" for high schoolers, although several had adult themes to which a teen might have trouble relating (ie. A character who has married an American man and embraced American culture must decide whether or not to participate in the traditional Indian custom of inviting her aging father to live with her, her husband, and young child.)   Which stories would be meaningful to high school students?  From Interpreter: "Interpreter of Maladies" and "Mrs. Sen's." From Unaccustomed: "Unaccustomed Earth" and "Hema and Kaushik."

“By Any Other Name” essay by Santha Rama Rau published in The New Yorker March 17, 1951.  http://static.dpsk12.org/gems/montbello/SB9IdentifyingCulturalDifferences.pdf

     This is a short, five-page essay that could easily be read in class or for homework.  In it, Rama Rau describes the prejudices and cultural misconceptions she faced when she was forced to attend a Anglo-Indian school.

Teachers: Travel Internationally and Earn Graduate Credits!

My best friend, also a teacher, is using her summer vacation to travel to Mexico, Russia, and California (the latter might not seem as exotic to west coast residents, but for us east coasters it is!).  Did I mention she is currently volunteering with her church group in New Orleans?

An avid traveler, the annual summertime trip my husband and I typically take did not come to fruition this year due to a decision to rent out our house and undertake a big move 30 miles closer to Philadelphia.

Now, thanks to my globetrotting best friend and the fact that I haven't traveled since June 2011, I've been bitten by the travel bug. While I can't afford a trip this year, I've already started looking into destinations for 2013. As a teacher who has a heck of a lot of graduate courses in her future, I've begun looking into opportunities to earn graduate credits while traveling abroad.

Here's what I've discovered so far:

Creativity Workshop  
(graduate credit from University of Arizona)
Upcoming Workshops
2013

• • Singapore February 14 - 17
  • New York March 1 - 4
  • Istanbul March 10 - 16
  • Prague March 24 - 30
  • New York June 7 - 10
  • Crete June 23 - 29
  • Barcelona July 4 - 10
  • Provence July 16 - 22
  • Florence July 25 - 31
  • New York August 16 - 19
  • New York October 18 - 21

Thom Stecher & Associates  
(graduate credit available from Neumann University)

EDU 526 - Costa Rica: A Multicultural, Geographic and Environmental Experience

Costa Rica is a unique Spanish/English speaking, democratic Latin American country that has gained international recognition for the preservation of their natural environment and educational system. This course is designed to be experiential for teachers and administrators levels K-12. Participants will interact and have discussions with local people learning about their language, food, culture, government, and educational system. We will explore varied ecosystems contained in mountainous areas, jungles, rivers, and Pacific coastline, as well as the flora and fauna that exists. We will study Costa Ricaʼs geography and philosophy of natural conservation. Time will be spent on development of the whole student, including trust, relationship development, and the need of physical activity for emotional, mental, and physical health. This will be accomplished experientially with guided hiking tours, a two day white water rafting trip, guided bus tours with site visitations, canopy tour one hundred feet in the trees, and horseback riding excursion. Readings will be provided, lecture and discussion time with local presenters is planned. Cost:$1500.00 plus air fare $698.55 plus $700.00 tuition includes: lodging, transportation, meals, and fees for guides, presenters, whitewater rafting trip (picture CD included), horseback riding trip, tips, and all entrance fees. Delaware County Christian School (July 14th for registration)

Global Exploration for Educators Organization
(graduate credit available from Indiana University-Bloomington distance education)

Berkeley Summer Sessions
Kenya, Ireland, Brazil and many other options! Not specifically for educators, but many of the courses offered would relate to secondary teachers' content areas.  
"UC Berkeley students, students from other colleges and universities, international students, and adults with an interest in studying abroad are encouraged to apply."  

Arcadia Graduate Study Abroad Program 

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Center for Global Education


Although not available for graduate credit, the exclusive Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Bilateral Projects would be an incredible opportunity for any educator.
 "The program provides short-term study and travel seminars abroad for U.S. educators in the social sciences and humanities for the purpose of improving their understanding and knowledge of the peoples and cultures of other countries." The website also emphasizes that travel is to non-western European countries."

HAPPY TRAVELS TEACHERS!

Why Grown-Ups Should (Re)Read Classics

After spending two tutoring sessions helping a rising 11th grader read and interpret The Great Gatsby, I decided to actually open the book on my own for the first time since I was a high school student myself. As I carried the book home from the library, memories of my first encounter with Gatsby flooded back to me. This is why I love literature. One story can conjure up the most vivid of memories even when other details which should have been more important have faded into oblivion.

The year I read The Great Gatsby was the year I had Mrs. Caffier (caf-ee-ay) for 10th grade English. Mrs. Caffier, who among other similarly bold outfits, proudly wore a skirt which depicted an entire farmscape--from bright red barn to rolling green hills complete with barnyard animals. Mrs. Caffier, who had an uncanny ability to never repeat an outfit. (I hope this is the only reason she ever wore that farm skirt.) Mrs. Caffier, who forewarned us that after she underwent nose surgery, she might return to class with a tampon sticking out of her nose. Mrs. Caffier, who cautioned us to never rely on spell check, recalling the time she had been listed in a school play program as a teacher of "pubic speaking." Mrs. Caffier, who assigned me The Great Gatsby and, regardless of all the study guide questions and projects she also distributed, left me with two enduring memories of the book: a blinking green light of colossal significance and a billboard with huge eye glasses, clearly a symbol of God.

Needless to say, when I reunited with the novel as a 28-year-old, I did so in a much different manner than when I was first introduced to it at the age of 15. (For starters, I was not distracted by a middle-aged woman in a farm skirt.)

As an adult reader of Gatsby, I found myself pausing and lingering over sentences, which I can't imagine had any impact on me as a teenager. I read and re-read one sentence in particular, in which the narrator summarizes Gatsby's disillusionment with the woman he has idolized for years:


"There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams--not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion."

Colossal vitality of his illusion. How I reacted to those words as a teen I can't recall. Most likely, they confused me, as they did my poor tutee, so I ignored them. However, as an adult, I read these words and recalled the people whom I have admired, even idolized at times, who were later revealed to be severely flawed-which only means they're human. Reflections such as these require lived experience and can hardly be realized by a person who can't yet drive a car or stay out past ten.

Another aspect of Gatsby which I could not appreciate as a teenager is Fitzgerald's luxurious, yet poingant language. His ability to not only depict images of opulence but to use words that convey the transience of that wealth:

"The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word. The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath..."

Words like these were so new to me as a teenager that I could barely fathom their meanings.  Reading them again has given me a new appreciation for Fitzgerald's eloquent precision with language.

So, I invite you to dust off a copy of a book you were forced to read as a student. One you loved or one you hardly remember. Embrace the memories it conjures up and the new perspectives you're able to bring to the story.

Authors Visit Philly!

Justin Torres, author of We the Animals, will be visiting Philadelphia on Tuesday, September 20, 2012 at 5:30pm at Giovanni's Room.


Beth Kephart, author of Small Damages 
July 28, 2012  Books A Million, Exton, PA  1 - 3 PM
August 25, 2012 PAYA Festival, West Chester, PA
September 12, 2012 Radnor Memorial Library, Radnor, PA 7:30 PM 
October 27, 2012 Writers House, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Homecoming Memoir Panel with Buzz Bissinger, Cynthia Kaplan, and James Martin 4:30 PM

On Daily Writing and Treasure Island(!!!)

Over the last six years I have cajoled, bribed, encouraged, pressured and inspired (ha, I wish) my students to read every single day for two reasons: 1) because I strongly believe that the more one reads the better he or she becomes at reading and writing, and 2) because I love to read. Writing, however, is not quite as near and dear to my heart. Although I remember a time long ago when I kept various "quote books," journals, and notebooks of poetry, these days I write only when required to do so.

As I gear up to teach a creative writing elective (for the first time) next year, I anticipate asking my students to write each day, and I'm feeling compelled to do the same. Hence, this blog, which will serve as an experiment to see if I actually can find time each day to write.


Creative Writing Lesson #1: Write about what you know.
What I know best is ___books____, so until I can come up with something else to write about, books it is!

My Reviews of Treasure Island!!! and Treasure Island 
(read 7/11/12-7/15/12)

A few months ago, one of my beach book club friends discovered a review of Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine (@levinehere), and we agreed it should be added to our summer book list. The reviewer accurately promised a hilarious read, but failed to warn the reader of the psychotic episodes that would emerge throughout the story. Fifty pages in, I found the book to be hysterical and imaginative. After all, the narrator is a 25-year old college graduate employed at a Pet Library, who aspires to something greater than cleaning up cat poo and shaving dogs. One hundred pages in, I started to deplore the increasingly insane actions of the protagonist whose obsession with Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island leads  to her being marooned on the island of insanity.

In hindsight, I can't say the author didn't drop some hints that her novel's protagonist was wacky bizarre crazy. I should have paid more attention to the three (not one or two) exclamation points in the title and the Holden Caulfield-like narration evident on the first page:

"In the aftermath of my adventure, I decided to write down the whole thing, starting with my discovery of Treasure Island and keeping nothing back, not even the names of the friends and family members whose problems plagued me; and so even though I'd love to go into the other room and stab someone with a kitchen knife, I take up my pen..."

In the end, it is because I had become so attached to the narrator, that her downward spiral affected me so greatly. From the start, I wanted her to reach for the stars!!! Find that dream job!!! Make a difference in the world!!! I was sure that the quotations and lessons she had excerpted from the classic novel would guide her to a fulfilling career, marital bliss, and a general zeal for life!!! When none of that happened, I found myself annoyed, distraught, and confused. So while I can't say that I enjoyed every moment of this book, it sure kept me reading, if only so that I could watch the train (ship?) wreck transpire. Any author who can make me initially connect with a character whom I eventually come to distrust and even disdain earns my vote of approval!

After the mania of Treasure Island!!! I thought I should read the more sedate Treasure Island, thinking that reading the latter would illuminate some hidden meaning that had eluded me in the former. As I read Stevenson's classic for the first time, I did experience a few "a-ha" moments. However, not having prior knowledge of the classic did not prohibit me from accessing Levine's work.

Overall, I found the classic to be a bore, perhaps because it could not live up to the Treasure Island!!! narrator's claims that it contained themes and characters that would change my life. And perhaps because I am not its intended audience. A typical boy's adventure tale, full of far-fetched, impossible feats of valor, Treasure Island's only treasure is its contribution of Long John Silver and his green parrot to the contemporary cannon of pirate imagery. Perhaps at one time, when television and the internet did not compete for a youngster's time, a boy would have been caught up in the action and adventure of this pirate's tale. However, 129 years after Stevenson penned this story, the esoteric language and writing style (think Dickens) and the myriad nautical terms would likely prevent the book from being enjoyed by modern day young male readers whose grandfathers and great-grandfathers devoured the tale in its prime.

Bottom line: If you're looking for a laugh and an opportunity to psychoanalyze a 20-something "boomerang" kid who's not living up to her potential, read Treasure Island!!! (I wouldn't recommend it to young teen readers).  If you want to (re)read a classic, 19th-century novel with no shortage of shipwrecks, marooned pirates, black spots, mutinies, buried treasure, and Jolly Rogers, assuming you have no opposition to ubiquitous maritime lingo, you'll enjoy Treasure Island minus the exclamation points.