In February of 1991 I wrote an article that was eventually published in the Iowa Council of Teachers of English Newsletter. It was about research papers or rather, research poems. I was never a big fan of research papers and wasn’t sure why we were putting kids through the ordeal. It wasn’t clear to me what they were to gain from the process.
So many parts of the process seemed so unauthentic to me. Many teachers would spend an entire semester on it. Outside of the school setting how likely is it you would ever need or use those skills. I’m not saying they are totally without value but considering the amount of time put in by the teacher and the student I would say there is little practical yield from the whole experience. In a time of maximizing learning time and focusing on critical skills I just didn’t think we could afford to spend so much time on things of such small value.
Another thing that annoyed me about research papers was that teachers asked students to write them but never had students read papers written by others. I am a big believer in showing, modeling what you want or expect students to do. They should have had the students read at least two or three of them before they tried to write one.
What I proposed in the piece was that teachers substitute a research poem in place of the research paper. The poem would require the same kind of research, be much shorter, and more manageable for the student and the teacher and the students could actually do several during the year about different topics.
The poem format was something I got from someone who got it from someone else and it had been passed around a lot. I used the format each year and had students write poems about themselves. I gathered them in a bio-poem booklet format for several years. This is the model:
Line 1 Your first name only
Line 2 For traits that describe you
Line 3 Sibling of (brother/sister or…or son/daughter of…)
Line 4 Lover of …(3 people or ideas)
Line 5 Who feels…(3 items)
Line 6 Who needs…(3 items)
Line 7 Who gives…(3 items)
Line 8 Who fears…(3 items)
Line 9 Who would like to see…(3 items)
Line 10 Resident of (you city); (your street name)
Line 11 Your last name only
Students could write a bio-poem about themselves, a friend or member of their family, or a book character. To extend it further a student could write a research poem like this about a historical character or place or thing.
I modified it slightly and wrote this one about something. See if you can figure it out before you get to the end.
Acer Saccharum Marsh
Large, rounded, dense, hard,
Family of Florida, Chalk, Boxelder, Black, Striped, Norway, Planetree, Red, Silver,
Mountain
Lover of the warm sun, spring rains, and black earth,
Who feels sleepy in the winter, invigorated in the spring, and colorful in the fall,
Who needs moisture, sunlight, and room to grow,
Who gives sweet syrup, fine lumber, and shade on a sunny day,
Who fears the sound of chain saws, windstorms, and long droughts,
Who would like to see more birds in my branches, more recycling, and soil conservation,
Resident of extreme southeast Manitoba, east to Nova Scotia, south to North Carolina, and west to east Kansas,
Sugar Maple
It explained how I used the poem and how it could be used in place of a research paper. That was the gist of the article. I got lots of positive feedback from friends and colleagues.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
90s09 Pinpoint Accuracy
Lyrical Iowa is published annually and includes submissions from Iowans all over the state. My Mother has been published in it several times. I submitted pieces several times with no luck. I submitted my students’ writing a few times, too, with limited success. It was one of those things that I really wanted but didn’t think it would happen. I began to think it was way out of my league as a writer.
Four incredible things happened to me in 1991. Being selected for Lyrical Iowa was the first. I’ll tell you about the others later.
Most of the time my poems are just dumb but every once in awhile I hit on something that resonates a little. I seem to be better at humorous ones. I just couldn’t come up with something really good for publication. Eventually, fate took over.
On January 16, 1991, we were stunned with the outbreak of war with Iraq. I wrote that I thought the loss of human lives could be tremendous. I described it all as being very disturbing and that it had captured the world’s attention day and night ever since it started.
Every night on the evening news we were given a rundown of the awesome power of our armed forces and the pinpoint accuracy of the deadly weapons. We watched as shells literally went through the front door of buildings and homes. We seemed so dazzled by the power and technology that we forgot about the people. I was sickened by the spectacle.
After a little research and a lot of thought on the 21st of January I wrote:
Pinpoint Accuracy
Pinpoint accuracy
Abraham’s Ur
The futile crescent
Disappears in a flash
Pinpoint accuracy
Mesopotamia,
The Garden of Eden
Are cratered with bombs
Pinpoint accuracy
The Tower of Babel
Jonah’s Nineveh
Under missile attack
Pinpoint accuracy
Shadrack, Meshach
And Abednego dance
In a napalm fire.
The industrialized fury
Of civilization is turned
On the very land that gave
Civilization birth.
I submitted this to Lyrical Iowa and eventually heard from them. They accepted it and were publishing it in the next edition. The editor wrote me a nice note and mentioned my mother’s extraordinary work. I was elated!
After several tries I had finally gotten in. My Mom told her Scribblers group. Nothing else really happens after you are published except maybe you change a little internally. I don’t know if it was actually there but I felt new credibility as a writer and a teacher. Believing in yourself as a writer can make all of the difference in the world. Perfect timing for a guy getting ready to write his dissertation.
I am not a great poet like other members of my family but I had cracked one of the barriers that at least gave me some credibility. Someday, maybe when I retire and have more time, I’ll work on trying to be a better poet. I work on trying to be a better writer every week when I write these pieces.
Four incredible things happened to me in 1991. Being selected for Lyrical Iowa was the first. I’ll tell you about the others later.
Most of the time my poems are just dumb but every once in awhile I hit on something that resonates a little. I seem to be better at humorous ones. I just couldn’t come up with something really good for publication. Eventually, fate took over.
On January 16, 1991, we were stunned with the outbreak of war with Iraq. I wrote that I thought the loss of human lives could be tremendous. I described it all as being very disturbing and that it had captured the world’s attention day and night ever since it started.
Every night on the evening news we were given a rundown of the awesome power of our armed forces and the pinpoint accuracy of the deadly weapons. We watched as shells literally went through the front door of buildings and homes. We seemed so dazzled by the power and technology that we forgot about the people. I was sickened by the spectacle.
After a little research and a lot of thought on the 21st of January I wrote:
Pinpoint Accuracy
Pinpoint accuracy
Abraham’s Ur
The futile crescent
Disappears in a flash
Pinpoint accuracy
Mesopotamia,
The Garden of Eden
Are cratered with bombs
Pinpoint accuracy
The Tower of Babel
Jonah’s Nineveh
Under missile attack
Pinpoint accuracy
Shadrack, Meshach
And Abednego dance
In a napalm fire.
The industrialized fury
Of civilization is turned
On the very land that gave
Civilization birth.
I submitted this to Lyrical Iowa and eventually heard from them. They accepted it and were publishing it in the next edition. The editor wrote me a nice note and mentioned my mother’s extraordinary work. I was elated!
After several tries I had finally gotten in. My Mom told her Scribblers group. Nothing else really happens after you are published except maybe you change a little internally. I don’t know if it was actually there but I felt new credibility as a writer and a teacher. Believing in yourself as a writer can make all of the difference in the world. Perfect timing for a guy getting ready to write his dissertation.
I am not a great poet like other members of my family but I had cracked one of the barriers that at least gave me some credibility. Someday, maybe when I retire and have more time, I’ll work on trying to be a better poet. I work on trying to be a better writer every week when I write these pieces.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
90s08 Hurdles
In the fall and winter of 1990-91, I began to work in earnest on my dissertation. Getting a Ph. D. is a series of hurdles. Taking all of the courses is part of the series. Each can be a major ordeal. If you survive all of the courses and are still going then you can take the comprehensive exams, which are followed by a meeting to defend your answers. And then there’s the dissertation! The single greatest stumbling block for most.
Many get to the dissertation and never get any further. There are a lot of folks that never got beyond the All But Dissertation (ABD) status. I couldn’t stand the thought of getting that close and not finishing up. For many, though, the thought of writing a dissertation is so daunting that they never really get started on it.
The process begins with an idea. My advisor asked me to write my idea about what I wanted to research on a single sheet of paper. I must have tried that twenty times and tuned at least ten of the efforts over to him. He would cut it to pieces and hand it back to me and I would start all over again. Finally, I realized that I needed to research something he was interested in and if I was interested in it that was fine, too, but not necessary.
Finally, in the fall of 1990 I got his approval. On January 11, 1991 I wrote: I have a busy weekend planned working on my dissertation. It is very frustrating because every time I send something in to Dr. Shepardson he cuts it to pieces with the red pencil. He forgets what he says or recommends from one time to the next. I do what he recommends one time and he recommends the opposite the next time. Oh well! I guess it is part of the process. It gives new meaning to the word “revision.”
On January 24, I was scheduled to present the first three chapters to my committee. I wrote that the prospect of five people doing what Sheperdson was doing sounded awful, but I knew it would put me one step closer to completion. I just had to keep my eye on the goal and work to get there. I sent the three chapters ten days before the meeting.
When the 24th arrived I went to Iowa City with much trepidation. I expected the worse! I was in for a big surprise. The committee was not only supportive they were enthusiastic! That was when I first got the sense that they were going to make sure I got through this ordeal. I felt relieved and encouraged!
The plan was that I was going to co-teach a cooperative learning graduate course with Dr. Shepardson and then study the implementation of the method with some of the participants. I would follow all of the participants in general and couple in great detail. I would specifically look at the things that were roadblocks to the implementation, the roadblocks to teacher change. The more I thought about it the more intrigued I became.
Many get to the dissertation and never get any further. There are a lot of folks that never got beyond the All But Dissertation (ABD) status. I couldn’t stand the thought of getting that close and not finishing up. For many, though, the thought of writing a dissertation is so daunting that they never really get started on it.
The process begins with an idea. My advisor asked me to write my idea about what I wanted to research on a single sheet of paper. I must have tried that twenty times and tuned at least ten of the efforts over to him. He would cut it to pieces and hand it back to me and I would start all over again. Finally, I realized that I needed to research something he was interested in and if I was interested in it that was fine, too, but not necessary.
Finally, in the fall of 1990 I got his approval. On January 11, 1991 I wrote: I have a busy weekend planned working on my dissertation. It is very frustrating because every time I send something in to Dr. Shepardson he cuts it to pieces with the red pencil. He forgets what he says or recommends from one time to the next. I do what he recommends one time and he recommends the opposite the next time. Oh well! I guess it is part of the process. It gives new meaning to the word “revision.”
On January 24, I was scheduled to present the first three chapters to my committee. I wrote that the prospect of five people doing what Sheperdson was doing sounded awful, but I knew it would put me one step closer to completion. I just had to keep my eye on the goal and work to get there. I sent the three chapters ten days before the meeting.
When the 24th arrived I went to Iowa City with much trepidation. I expected the worse! I was in for a big surprise. The committee was not only supportive they were enthusiastic! That was when I first got the sense that they were going to make sure I got through this ordeal. I felt relieved and encouraged!
The plan was that I was going to co-teach a cooperative learning graduate course with Dr. Shepardson and then study the implementation of the method with some of the participants. I would follow all of the participants in general and couple in great detail. I would specifically look at the things that were roadblocks to the implementation, the roadblocks to teacher change. The more I thought about it the more intrigued I became.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
90s07 Contradictions
In June of 1990 I wrote in my journal about some contradictions in education. Many are as true now as they were then. I don’t recall what prompted this writing but think the Iowa Writing Project, the work I had done at the University of Iowa, and my experience as an educator, heavily influenced me. Each of the bulleted items deserves some explanation but for now I will let them speak for themselves.
• We teach by lecture yet we know the lecture method is the least effective method.
• We demand silence yet we know that articulation fosters learning.
• We use standardized tests yet we know student achievement can’t be measured in simple terms.
• We teach skills yet we know that to learn to write you must write.
• We teach skills yet we know that to learn to read you must read.
• We have teacher centered classrooms yet we know learner centered classrooms are more effective.
• We demand regurgitation of information but we know processing is the ultimate goal of education.
• We stick to content at the learners expense even though we know the learner is far more important than the content.
• We demand attention yet we don’t attend to learners.
• We tell students to value writing yet we seldom write.
• We tell students to value reading yet we seldom read.
• We know modeling is an effective teaching strategy yet we seldom show the learner how to do what we want.
• We know the learner will do better if he/she is interested yet we don’t care about his/her interests.
• We know learning is infinite yet act like it is finite.
• We know to learn students must make connections between what they already know and the new information yet we provide no opportunity to make the connections.
• We know many of the things we want kids to lean are broad, general concepts yet we insist on putting objectives in measurable terms.
• We know teachers are the experts yet we treat them like they know the least.
• We know the first years of school are the most critical yet we spend the least amount of money on them.
• We tell teachers “time on task” is important but we fill their time with trivial tasks.
• We know kids aren’t products yet we insist on using the factory model.
• We know comparing our schools, where we try to educate all, to foreign schools, where they educate the elite is unfair yet we constantly let it go unchallenged.
Around this time I was fascinated by the notion that people seldom articulate what they know or believe and when they do they sometimes are surprised at where it leads them. For me it was making sense out of experiences and all of the influences in my life. As a read these again for this blog I was amazed at how true they still are and how much I still believe much of what I did when I first wrote them back then.
• We teach by lecture yet we know the lecture method is the least effective method.
• We demand silence yet we know that articulation fosters learning.
• We use standardized tests yet we know student achievement can’t be measured in simple terms.
• We teach skills yet we know that to learn to write you must write.
• We teach skills yet we know that to learn to read you must read.
• We have teacher centered classrooms yet we know learner centered classrooms are more effective.
• We demand regurgitation of information but we know processing is the ultimate goal of education.
• We stick to content at the learners expense even though we know the learner is far more important than the content.
• We demand attention yet we don’t attend to learners.
• We tell students to value writing yet we seldom write.
• We tell students to value reading yet we seldom read.
• We know modeling is an effective teaching strategy yet we seldom show the learner how to do what we want.
• We know the learner will do better if he/she is interested yet we don’t care about his/her interests.
• We know learning is infinite yet act like it is finite.
• We know to learn students must make connections between what they already know and the new information yet we provide no opportunity to make the connections.
• We know many of the things we want kids to lean are broad, general concepts yet we insist on putting objectives in measurable terms.
• We know teachers are the experts yet we treat them like they know the least.
• We know the first years of school are the most critical yet we spend the least amount of money on them.
• We tell teachers “time on task” is important but we fill their time with trivial tasks.
• We know kids aren’t products yet we insist on using the factory model.
• We know comparing our schools, where we try to educate all, to foreign schools, where they educate the elite is unfair yet we constantly let it go unchallenged.
Around this time I was fascinated by the notion that people seldom articulate what they know or believe and when they do they sometimes are surprised at where it leads them. For me it was making sense out of experiences and all of the influences in my life. As a read these again for this blog I was amazed at how true they still are and how much I still believe much of what I did when I first wrote them back then.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
90s06 The Jon Boat
Near the end of April of 1990, we bought a Jon boat from the elementary principal at WACO. It was a 14’ aluminum boat with a trailer. The deal included an ancient 3-horse motor, a trolling motor, anchor and paddles. I think he even threw in a couple life jackets.
I was thrilled! We had owned a kayak and used it when we were younger but I had always wanted a boat and motor. Terry and I briefly owned a boat but we didn’t use it much and it didn’t have a motor or trailer. You had to strap it to the top of your car. This was much better. I could just hook it up to my pickup truck and we could take off.
The first weekend we had it we took it out on Lake Geode twice. Once I figured out how to start the motor we had a great time. I was so happy I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face.
I fished in the boat a lot and Becky did, too, at first. After awhile she decided the reading and reclining life was better suited for her. She arranged a foam cushion so she could lie down, get some sun and read a book. She loved to sit on the front of the boat when we were moving and hang her feet over and just touch the surface of the water.
My Dad was thrilled that we had the boat. We went on some major trips on the river with it. It was easier to maneuver than the kayak and we could travel faster and effortless. Like the kayak though, the boat was small and you couldn’t safely stand up in it. We were always careful and never had an accident or an unplanned swim.
Our favorite place to go was Geode but we did take it on the Skunk River and the Des Moines River once. The Des Moines River trip was as an escort for our church youth group that was canoeing down from Keosauqua. That day the river was up and swift and we probably shouldn’t have gone.
It turned out ok but the trip was shortened somewhat. The little 3-horse motor didn’t have enough power to go straight up stream in the swift current and so I had to zigzag back and forth to make any progress. It was risky and I was glad when it was over.
I went fishing with a friend several times, too. Sometimes it was Tom Ellsworth and other times it was my cousin, Terry. The boat was so light and easy to handle that one person could easily get it in and out of the water.
Because of its size it had a limited capacity and many times Becky and I dreamed of a larger boat so we could bring others along with us. When we moved to Iowa City we brought the boat along with us and used it on Lake McBride for ten years. When we bought a pontoon boat we sold the Jon boat. I regretted letting it go almost from the moment we sold it.
I was thrilled! We had owned a kayak and used it when we were younger but I had always wanted a boat and motor. Terry and I briefly owned a boat but we didn’t use it much and it didn’t have a motor or trailer. You had to strap it to the top of your car. This was much better. I could just hook it up to my pickup truck and we could take off.
The first weekend we had it we took it out on Lake Geode twice. Once I figured out how to start the motor we had a great time. I was so happy I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face.
I fished in the boat a lot and Becky did, too, at first. After awhile she decided the reading and reclining life was better suited for her. She arranged a foam cushion so she could lie down, get some sun and read a book. She loved to sit on the front of the boat when we were moving and hang her feet over and just touch the surface of the water.
My Dad was thrilled that we had the boat. We went on some major trips on the river with it. It was easier to maneuver than the kayak and we could travel faster and effortless. Like the kayak though, the boat was small and you couldn’t safely stand up in it. We were always careful and never had an accident or an unplanned swim.
Our favorite place to go was Geode but we did take it on the Skunk River and the Des Moines River once. The Des Moines River trip was as an escort for our church youth group that was canoeing down from Keosauqua. That day the river was up and swift and we probably shouldn’t have gone.
It turned out ok but the trip was shortened somewhat. The little 3-horse motor didn’t have enough power to go straight up stream in the swift current and so I had to zigzag back and forth to make any progress. It was risky and I was glad when it was over.
I went fishing with a friend several times, too. Sometimes it was Tom Ellsworth and other times it was my cousin, Terry. The boat was so light and easy to handle that one person could easily get it in and out of the water.
Because of its size it had a limited capacity and many times Becky and I dreamed of a larger boat so we could bring others along with us. When we moved to Iowa City we brought the boat along with us and used it on Lake McBride for ten years. When we bought a pontoon boat we sold the Jon boat. I regretted letting it go almost from the moment we sold it.
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