Never Too Old (or Young) to Learn a New Word

Today I've just remembered an old vocabulary-building trick that I used years ago--using a 3x5 index card as a bookmark, and writing vocabulary words from the book on the card as I come across them. That's the gist of it.

I have several steps to choosing, recording, researching, and memorizing a word.

1. Choosing: Words can be either words that I simply do not know, or they can be words that I know but want a clearer definition for. As an example, in my current reading I have chosen the verb "cohere." I know the meaning but usually see the adjective or adverb derivative, not the verb form. Therefore, I have chosen the word in order to deepen my understanding, not to introduce myself to a new word.
2. Recording: On a 3x5 index card, I draw a line parallel to the left edge, about 1.5 inches to the right of the edge. In this space, I write words I choose and the page number where each word is used. That way, I can return to the author's usage of the word, both to increase my understanding of the text and to increase my familiarity of how the word is used.
3. Researching: I reference a dictionary, either an online source or my Webster's hard-bound, unabridged dictionary. All the familiar information is available: meaning, examples, variations, to name just a few. I write the definition to the right of the word in the remaining four inches of the index card.
4. Memorizing: Repetition over time is key to memorizing, so I refer to my list as I return to reading the book, looking over the words and definitions. Another powerful memorization tool is to use the word, so sometimes I'll create sentences that use the word. "The facts suddenly cohered into an understanding of what had taken place."

I'm glad I remembered this technique. When I taught, I used this as a means of vocabulary development for my students. It was more meaningful for them since their words were self-chosen and came from books and stories they had selected themselves. Words the students chose were a part of their lives, and this increased motivation. It was a bear to evaluate, though, because every student required individual evaluation time.

I've also just realized (or remembered) that I included this technique in my book about writing, I Write: Being and Writing. The book is divided into three sections on the writer, the process of writing, and the written word. I placed this little vocabulary building technique in the second section. I believe that the path to being a good writer includes being a good reader.

Right now, I'm reading Cheryl Strayed's Wild: from Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail, and I can't wait to find my next word.

When Classroom and Hospital Merge: a dream

I am beginning my day of teaching school, and I hope to hell I am dreaming.

Standing before the class, instead of desks I see a classroom filled with hospital beds, the kind that can be raised at the knees and head.

"Good morning, class," rrrrrrrrrr, "today we are," rrrrrrrrr  rrrrrrrrr rrrrr, "going to review punctuation," rrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrr  rrrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrrr, "in preparation for the Iowa Assessment Tests."

. . . rrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrrr . . . 

"Larry, I don't think you should be sharing Alice's bed. . . . Well, I appreciate you want to pair up as you work, and, yes, I know you're good at punctuation. . . . What's the problem, you say? . . . Well, I'm afraid you might start multi-tasking."

I turn to the chalkboard and write the assignment, then hand out photocopied worksheets. Yes, I have high-tech student desks and the students use computer tablets, but, lucky me, the teacher gets to keep the blackboard.

"Luis, what a dedicated student you are! You've brought your own black satin sheets and pillow cases. And it goes with your black eye shadow." I decide to ignore his earring, which is against school policy.

"We'll start with end punctuation," rrrrrrr rrr rrrrrr rrrrrrr, "the most fundamental," rrrr rrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrr, "the regulation of complete thoughts."

zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzz

I could grab my walker and check student progress, but, heck, there are thirty-seven minutes left in the class period. Maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a few minutes. Maybe I'll dream of next semester when I'll be getting my electric wheel chair. Ah, technology . . . 

zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzz

Copyright 2013 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Temple Grandin: a movie review

We each see the world in a unique manner because of our individual physiologies and experiences. 

It may appear that we all perceive the same world, but similarities in perception only mask our individual perception. Unless we were to perceive the world from that unified field of consciousness that is the alpha and omega of existence, then we are all living, breathing exponents of the one and only this-is-what-I-see.

Voice is that aspect of writing that attests the uniqueness of our vision and the need to find words to convey the utterly new and grand beauty of individual expression. The best cinematographic representation of the need to allow our individual vision of the world its voice is the 2010 movie Temple Grandin.

Temple Grandin was the winner of the 2011 Golden Globe award for the best performance by an actress in a mini-series or a motion picture made for television. (Claire Danes starred in the title role.) The movie also won another 25 awards and was nominated for an additional 21. The IMDb storyline is below.

Biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who overcame the limitations imposed on her by her condition to become a Ph.D. and expert in the field of animal husbandry. She developed an interest in cattle early in life while spending time at her aunt and uncle's ranch. She did not speak until age four and had difficulty right through high school, mostly in dealing with people. Her mother was very supportive as were some of her teachers. She is noted for creating her 'hug box,' widely recognized today as a way of relieving stress in autistic children, and her humane design for the treatment of cattle in processing plants, which have been the subject of several books and won an award from PETA. Today, she is a professor at Colorado State University and well-known speaker on autism and animal handling.

The true genius of this HBO production is how the film moves the viewer to see the world as Temple sees it and then moves the viewer to realize and embrace that vision. I also appreciated the opportunity the filmmakers gave me to discover Temple's world and its humanity. The movie is understated, not preachy; it leads us to the door but does not push us through.

The taglines for the film are "What made her different made her exceptional" and "Autism gave her a vision. She gave it a voice."

Those sentences are abstractions of the reality that the movie so compellingly presents. That reality, the actual Temple Grandin, interacted with the director and cast in the making of the movie. She is a noted scientist, author, education, and spokesperson for autism.

Temple Grandin

Ruth C. Sullivan, one of the founders of the Autism Society of America said that when "Temple first addressed an [ASA] audience... people were standing at least three deep... The audience couldn't get enough of her. Here, for the first time, was someone who could tell us from her own experience, what it was like to be extremely sound sensitive ('like being tied to the rail and the train's coming')... She was asked many questions: 'Why does my son do so much spinning?' 'Why does he hold his hands to his ears?' 'Why doesn't he look at me?' She spoke from her own experience, and her insight was impressive. There were tears in more than one set of eyes that day... Temple quickly became a much sought-after speaker in the autism community."  (from the foreward of The Way I See It, Temple Grandin)

My tagline for the movie Temple Grandin is "Autism is a real-life experience, not a medical label." Experience a flavor of that reality by watching the film. It will change how you see the world.

Copyright 2013 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Advice About Deer Crossing Road Safety: A Funny Story

Just a conversation to keep everything in perspective. After all, knowledge is structured in consciousness! (Found on Facebook)

Consciousness-Based Education and Teaching

A new school year is beginning, and I am reminded again just how important Consciousness-Based^SM education is.

Maharishi University of Management describes Consciousness-Based education in the following manner:

The purpose of Consciousness-Based education is to develop every student's total potential to the maximum — their creativity, intelligence, and happiness. This is the foundation for professional success and personal fulfillment as well as for creating positive change in society.

The university's webpage provides further detail, saying that there are four components of CBE:

1. Direct development of consciousness
2. A unifying framework for all human knowledge
3. Special teaching & learning techniques that develop holistic awareness
4. Stress-free routine and nourishing environment

The school where I teach, Maharishi School, is a Pre-K through grade 12 school that teaches Consciousness-Based education. Right now teachers are meeting and discussing points 2 and 3 on the list above.

We are reviewing and enriching our understanding of how the experience of enlivening our awareness through Transcendental Meditation can be used as an educational tool to connect the student to the teaching of the curriculum. Education knows that material presented must be meaningful and relevant in order for students to assimilate it. Pretty hard for assimilation to occur if no one's paying attention!

Consciousness or awareness is the factor that unifies all fields of study. Connecting the disciplines of study to each student's own self-awareness provides a unifying structure for learning. MUM lists four ways in which a student gains by studying at a CBE school.

• You understand each discipline down to its depth.
• You understand the relationships among all subjects of study.
• You connect what you are studying to your personal growth of consciousness — knowledge becomes more relevant.
• You increasingly experience and understand life as a whole. 

As a teacher, our pre-year inservice at Maharishi School includes studying the tools to use to implement Consciousness-Based education.

• The whole course on the first day — In each course you take, you’ll learn all the main principles of the course at the start. The remainder of the course then elaborates these themes.
• Unified field charts — These wall charts ensure that you never get “lost in the parts” — you always see the big picture no matter how fine the details you are studying.
• Main point charts — These wall charts show the main points of each lesson at a glance.
• Opportunities for working with and expressing and summarizing what you have learned — We learn best when we can do what we are learning about.

Teaching is the hardest work I've ever done, yet it is also the most rewarding. Beginning my 34th year in education, I feel that teaching in a Consciousness-Based school system gives me a fighting chance to truly make the connections that need to be made when learning: the connection between the learner and his or her own self, the connection between the learner and knowledge, the connection between knowledge and the world, and finally the connection between the learner and the world.

Who am I? 
How do I fit in? 
How can I be happy? 
What am I supposed to do with my life?

These are the basic questions of education, and in this sense, we are all life-long learners. As a teacher, having techniques, procedures, strategies, and materials to better answer the basic questions of learning provides me with the tools needed to better do my job, which is to develop the full potential of every student.

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

A Book on Writing: a CreateSpace Experiment

Using twenty essays taken from posts to this blog over the last three years, I Write: Being & Writing explores the nature of writing--focusing on the writer, the process of writing, and the written word.

I intend to use it in my classroom at Maharishi School and have added activities for writing and discussion that focus on educational psychologist's Robert Sternberg's different styles of learning: analytical, creative, and practical. Some of the essays in the first part of the book, "The Writer," focus on the relationship of consciousness and writing. I explore how Transcendental Meditation has helped me as a writer.

I'm seeing how easy it will be for students to do create their own book of writing with some guidance. It has taken about three weeks so far for me to compile the book. CreateSpace at Amazon has set up a pretty easy process (of course, I've published my other books using more advanced software). I'm not done yet but am getting close!

Here is the table of contents at this time:

• The Writer    
• 1    I Write: Being and Writing
• 2    Privacy and the Inner Writer: the Man from Porlock    
• 3    Thoughtful & Spontaneous Writing    
• 4    Writing Without Focus to Discover Ideas    
• 5    How Autobiographical Is Our Writing?    
• 6    Finding Your Voice as a Writer    
• 7    Voice and Vox Populi: a Divine Tension    
• 8    Writing That Is Progressive & Evolutionary     
• The Process of Writing    
• 9    The Writing Process    
• 10    Getting Ideas for Writing    
• 11    How Does a Fiction Writer Organize Writing?    
• 12    Choosing the Right Words    
• 13    Expand Your Vocabulary: an Easy, Effective Approach    
• 14    Sentence Fluency: the Flow of Consciousness    
• The Written Word   
• 15    Mechanics & Grammar: How Rough Is the Road?    
• 16    Presentation: the Final Step of Writing    
• 17    What to Learn from a Well-written, Effective E-mail    
• 18    Kindle as a Writing Tool    
• 19    Specific, Useful (and Positive) Comments    
• 20    What’s the Difference Between a Writer & a Publisher?

 I'm looking forward to teaching these 21st century skills to my students. I Write: Being & Writing should be published by mid-August. Then I'll have a clear idea of how to structure the learning process for my students.

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Ulysses S. Grant's Memoirs

from the Important Americans blog

Ulysses S. Grant's Personal Memoirs are easy to read, written in a plain yet insightful style. The subject matter, too, deals with such an important time in American history.

Here is what the Ulysses S. Grant Homepage tells about Grant's Memoirs (from The Saturday Review, July 9, 1955):

Grant's Personal Memoirs (1885) are considered a classic of American literature. There is no doubt that it is the greatest book ever written by a former U. S. President. As the primary first-person narrative of the Civil War, it has been scrutinized, celebrated and praised, but never damned. Grant's book has been spared the attacks that have been directed at him in other areas of his life. Even his most vocal critics find it hard to denigrate this simple, yet elegant document. Written while dying of throat cancer, the torturous creation of this work is a great human story, as inspiring as anything Grant ever did on the battlefield.

 Mark Twain commented that "General Grant's book is a great, unique and unapproachable literary masterpiece. There is no higher literature than these modest, simple Memoirs."

Gore Vidal wrote: "It is simply not possible to read Grant's Memoirs without realizing that the author is a man of first-rate intelligence."

Free e-book versions of the autobiography are available at Project Gutenberg. The Memoirs are in two volumes at Gutenberg.

I have just read part of the Memoirs so far--through Grant's youth, his West Point training, and the Mexican War. The style is thoroughly readable, and the objective tone, lacking any self-serving perspective, increases the power of the narrative.

I've also noticed, during this article's research, that there is a Ulysses S. Grant Historical Site, "White Haven," in St. Louis, Missouri, maintained by the National Park Service.

Here are a couple of excepts from what I've read so far:

"For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the [Mexican] war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation."

"These [American Texan] colonists [in Mexico] paid very little attention to the supreme government, and introduced slavery into the state almost from the start, though the constitution of Mexico did not, nor does it now, sanction that institution."

"No doubt the majority of duels fought have been for want of moral courage on the part of those engaged to decline."

"I would not have the anniversaries of our [Civil War] victories celebrated, nor those of our defeats made fast days and spent in humiliation and prayer; but I would like to see truthful history written."

"As time passes, people, even in the South, will begin to wonder how it was possible that their ancestors ever fought for or justified institutions which acknowledged the right of property in man."

I will be reading the Memoirs for quite some time. Teachers should consider assigning portions of the autobiography as enriching reading when studying history. Hearing an eye-witness account is always a strong foundation for meaningful discussion.

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Using a Blog as a Classroom Teaching Tool

Look at the layout of this blog. (If you're receiving this as an email, click on the title to go to the actual blog site.)

It's got a header or masthead. It's got static pages and the tab link buttons to access them. It's got the active, changing (home) blog page. Archives and labels are available on the sidebar.

It seems that such a site should be useful in teaching a class, especially if the teacher has access to a smartboard or data projector so that it can be used with actual daily teaching. I've been experimenting with using a blog in teaching for the last couple of years, using closed blogs (blogs accessible only to invited individuals).

Things I plan to use next school year:

• Have the main page a static page, providing an overview and links.
• Provide static pages for each of the eras taught. These static pages will provide main points for the era unit, links to teaching pages, and ancillary materials.
• Teaching pages and ancillary materials will be posted as daily blog pages. Links on an era's static page will make posts more easily accessible in future years of teaching.
• With 20 static pages and with the blog posts, student writing will be able to be posted.
• My YouTube channel will be integrated into the site with links to appropriate videos on eras, authors, and particular works.
• Using blog comments for student homework
• Using Goodreads (especially reviews) as another site to provide interactive authenticity for students.
• Finding ways for students to become active on the site by using student websites.
• Connecting to Common Core standards and anchor models.
• The blog will be an open site, available to all.

Things that did not work last year:

• Posts were hard to access when just posted as a daily blog article. A year later, I'd have to search to find them. This should be solved by having a static page for each era, and the teaching blog posts added and linked on this page. 
• Posts became too long and cumbersome because of embedded videos. I liked embedding videos on the actual blog post, but they took quite a bit of time to load and provided a lengthy post. This might be solved by adding videos to folders on my YouTube channel and then adding links to those videos to the teaching blog posts. 
• Student work, such as slide shows, can be linked via Google Documents. This way, the best of student work as models can be available but not necessarily added to the teaching page.

As a last note, the blog can be a great site for distance learning. Take those words "distance learning" and think about daily teaching. For students who are absent, the blog can provide access for them. They may be able to get most of the day's lesson, even though home in bed!

I'm excited about the possibilities.

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Specific, Useful (and Positive) Comments: All Writers Appreciate Them

As a teacher, whenever I comment and edit a student's writing, I always make sure I include at least one positive comment.

I also try to make sure that comments are specific and focused to the text. "The description of the setting in this paragraph is powerful" is much more enjoyable to read than "good description" tagged onto the end of the paper. At least that's my opinion.

Another interesting observation is that the comment "great writing!" is actually no more useful than "terrible writing!" Sure, there's some uplift from being told the writing is good--but no more direction is provided for improvement than the negative comment.

I've also noticed something else as a writing teacher: strong writing traits identified continue on with later writing assignments, much more than the diminishment of poor writing skills that are identified in student papers. If I praise the use of strong verbs, then the next piece zips off the paper! I like the dialogue in one piece, and the next is practically a skit. For non-fiction writing, the first praise usually is awarded to meaningful, clear structure--and that is usually what first becomes apparent in the essays of emerging writers: mechanical, "add component A; add component B" writing that click-clicks along, meaning intact but with little voice. But that's all right. Voice comes with experience.

Let me provide an example of a specific, critical comment from a reviewer that was useful for me. It was from her review of The Stone Dragon.

"There are events close to the end which come perilously close to deus ex machina."

Pauline Ross's Goodreads review gave The Stone Dragon "four stars," so it was a balanced review. Her words made me think. How does a fantasy writer create a tale about a magician "who simply gathers magic around him, without any intervention on his part," and not make that seem like the contrived hand of God?

In writing the short story "Who Listened to Dragons," I made that my challenge. One of the story's main characters is a six-year-old autistic boy who practices magic. How could I pull that off without creating some sense of "things just happen"?

I used a time-tested procedure--one that worked for (among many others) Arthur Conan Doyle: the story is told by the clueless sidekick. In my case, it was not the duo of Watson and Holmes but of two brothers. The short story is told first person by an older brother whose younger brother stops being so autistic and starts being more magic.

Without the balanced observations of an insightful reviewer, "Who Listened to Dragons" would never have been written. A recent comment by another reader about this story was the following: "The work is so dense in meaning and beauty and wisdom."

I don't know if I deserve such praise, but it certainly doesn't make me want to stop writing. Tell people what needs to be said for improvement. There's no law, though, that says you can't be tactful in the process.

Copy 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Finding Your Voice As a Writer

More than once over my teaching career, I've told student writers the following: “I like your ideas, but I don’t hear you saying them. You're the world’s foremost expert on yourself. Make sure you speak with your own voice. Use your own words.” In a very real way, the first step of writing is to find yourself; once you have tapped into the fountainhead of your creativity, you will naturally write with your own voice.

The 6-Traits + 1 writing program defines voice as speaking to the reader in an individual and powerful way that also respects the audience and the purpose for writing. Notice that the word “speaking” was used in the definition. Often, “voice” is described as writing like you talk—in a natural manner that reflects who you are. Writing with a powerful “voice” begins, in a manner of speaking, with looking into the mirror and “embracing” the image you see and then looking out the window and “embracing” the people you see outside. Voice implies audience because we speak with different voices to different listeners.

Finding your writing voice is really the task of finding yourself, for how can you speak in your own personal, natural voice if you don’t know who you are? Or, perhaps more accurately, if you are afraid to be yourself when you write, how can you possibly have a writing voice that is uniquely your own? I've been practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique for many years. This isn't a writing technique, but I would call it a preparation for the activity of writing. I guess one could say it cleans the slate prior to writing. To speak with your own voice, you must be willing to reveal personal details about yourself, to reveal the person behind the words. Our voice represents of--in a very real way, it is who we are.

Focusing on the person you are talking to is also important to finding your voice because we use different words and styles of speaking in different situations. If you write up your job application as if you’re writing to your eight-year-old cousin or nephew, your prospective boss might think you have issues and not hire you. You don’t ask your prospective boss how his hamster’s doing.

A professional writer from Ireland, Derbhile Dromey is a freelance writer with extensive experience in news and feature journalism, publicity-generation and broadcasting. She is the owner of WriteWords, a business that offers a range of editorial and copywriting services.

She has commented about writing in discussion groups and in an article on her blog “World of Writing,” saying that connecting to your true self inside is the basis of connecting with your actual audience outside.

“Reach inside yourself for ideas. You're bound to find an angle that's of interest to your readers. Advice given to me at the start of my career by a wise old journalist, who made me realise that tales about my visual impairment could give readers a fresh angle. Of course, the material is limited, but it's still bringing me income to this day.”

From the blog article “Good copy, Bad Copy” (July 10, 2009) about writing engaging advertising:

“So what makes good copy.

• It invites readers in. It will have an introductory paragraph that speaks directly to customers, asking them questions, or creating a vivid picture in their minds.

• It addresses customers directly. It shows an understanding of concerns customers may have and what they need and demonstrates how your business can meet that need.

• It reads like a standard editorial article. People should be informed and entertained by it and not realise they’re reading advertising copy until they see your ad cunningly placed beside it.

• It gets to the point. Good copy lays out points in an attractive format, with short simple sentences which make it easy to read.

“And finally, good copy sparkles. If you’ve got a unique product, or a product which you passionately believe will improve people’s lives, that enthusiasm will flow into your copy. If your copy is interesting enough, people will read on.”

Having your own writing voice is the most mysterious of the six traits of writing. It’s not the lyrics to the song or even the melody. It’s the revelation of the beautiful, unique, individual human who is singing the song. One might say “As we are, so is our writing.”

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Derbhile Dromey’s writing used with permission, copyrights retained by the author

How Does a Fiction Writer Organize Writing?

When I write fiction, sometimes I organize my thoughts as informal outlines of the plot--and sometimes I don't.

Six-Traits Writing says organization should enhance and showcase the writing subject in a compelling manner, effectively moving the reader through the material. Whatever structure used should match the purpose of the writing and its audience. The introduction should be inviting, the conclusion satisfying, the transitions thoughtful, and the pacing controlled—fast and slow in all the appropriate places. And don’t forget the true “introduction”: be sure to include a captivating title!

Sometimes the story is an exploration, and I find myself moving into new territory. Having been "exploring" my creativity for quite some time, I advance confidently, noting the newness. Sometimes the writing is a journey that requires a respectful attention to the new environment that I've entered. (I also keep different drafts of my "journey" when I save my files, such as story1, story1.1. This allows me to retrace my steps if I need to.)

Sometimes I have a clear idea of what the story is to be (or the chapter), and then I jot down the main elements so that I don't forget them. Sometimes I write down a scene as it comes to me, even though I'm not to that point in the story yet, just because the words are flowing so powerfully. Most often, though, I'll jot down dialogue because that has to be just right. (Yes, I hear people talking in my head.)

The last line of the current short story I'm revising, "Who Listened to Dragons," was jotted down in advance: "These are the words I speak, my wish and my magic."

Organization is a critical function of revision in fiction. How are events revealed and at what pace? How much do we reveal about a character, and where in the story is that information most important? Having "beta readers" is a good technique for determining how the story flows. Teenagers are excellent for this because they usually are comfortable with being bluntly honest--which, of course, is exactly what we want, an unfiltered response. For instance, I just added some detail to a fight scene in "Who Listened to Dragons," in response to a comment from a teenager who read the story. He even told me where to add the action. Organization is critical if the reader is to be motivated to continue reading. 

Most writers nowadays also have to maintain a blog as part of their writing presence online. The same general rules apply to writing non-fiction: ideas need to be organized. Whether we focus in the beginning on the flow, or whether we focus in the beginning on the direction really isn't important--as long as we make sure the piece has structure that lends itself to comprehension and the reader's pleasure.

I never let anyone else read a piece until I have revised it multiple times. I find holding a story close in its initial versions keeps me in good emotional health and also helps my relations with my family and friends. If no one else has read a story, then I can do anything I want to with it and nobody will ever know. It's a great feeling of empowerment and freedom. I can experiment, backtrack, be downright goofy, and then throw it all out or not. I said to a friend the other day (who now is looking at a short story for me), "Why should I let you look at something I've written when I still know myself there are things that need to be changed? Why should I put you through that?" At some point, though, the seed has to slip its sheath.

Line your ducks up in a row; it makes ‘em easier to count. Some readers will count by 1's, some by 2's, and some just do a rough estimate. If the story has clarity and coherence, everything will add up in the end, no matter what personal counting system the reader uses.

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler

Is Huck Finn an Archetypal Hero?

In a Goodreads discussion on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, one thread asks the question "Is Huck Finn a hero?"

I quickly realized that the comments were from students and that the question had been posed by a teacher. Wonderful assignment! Here are the assignment's specifics:

In your opinion, is Huck an Epic Hero (or Archetypal Hero) based on Joseph Campbell's definition? Use at least two citations (from the worksheet, movie, critical paper, or class discussion) in your answer.

In the thread, student Kristy mentions that Huck does not meet the archetype's guidelines of supernatural assistance or having a sacred marriage. Good points, although because Twain wrote in the realistic style popular in his time, one could place the river in that "supernatural assistance" category; it certainly is described as a timeless, powerful presence by Twain. As for a "sacred marriage," Twain, staying true to his contrary vision as a writer, could have ended the novel with a "sacred divorce" with his characterization of Tom Sawyer and the antebellum South. When Huck decides to not be "sivilized" and to "light off for the territory ahead of the rest," he is divorcing himself from the strictures of Southern slave-owning morality.

Stephanie, another student, mentions that Huck doesn't meet the guidelines for apotheosis, "which tells of how the hero is idealized in some way after completing a difficult challenge." She says the following: "In a sense that is true for Huck because it happens for him from the reader but not from the society that he rejects. Huck isn't worshiped in any way by his society." This is a scholarly insight. One might say, though, that Huck is "worshipped" as a negative example by his society. He is the ultimate prodigal son, destined to be eternally welcomed back into the fold of civilization. Twain, of course, is revealing there is nothing prodigal about Huck; he is the archetypal Green Man, not to be contained by the boundaries of society.

I found the assignment and the students' responses quite interesting and insightful, and I congratulate the teacher, "Kristin, of Reading MA," and her students.

Below are the thoughts I wrote for the discussion thread after reading the comments.

Of course, Twain wrote before Joseph Campbell, but since the archetypal hero is a manifestation of mankind's collective consciousness, it certainly doesn't need Campbell's articulation to be lively.

I think it's typical of Twain to find something true or universal and enduring and then tweak it so that the truth is seen in a unique and original way. That was his genius.

If Huck Finn doesn't meet all the "official" criteria of the archetypal hero, he certainly meets the spirit of the concept.

He chooses a journey (and if the river is not an archetypal presence in the novel, then what is?)

He has that stimulus to action--his father--accepts the challenge; he even has a second stimulus to action and guide--Jim--and accepts the greater challenge of freeing him.

He meets the challenges of his journey not only on the survival level but also on the moral level.

He gains gifts from his journey, the greatest being knowledge that allows him to see his world in a new light and gives him the strength to make better, more enlightened choices.

Coming back to the everyday world, his gift to humanity is the testimony of his growth--the first person narrative of his trip down the river. It is not the Father that speaks to him from the burning bush; it is the Mother that speaks to him through the eternal and omnipresent river.

Archetypal means transcending the specific limitations of any time or culture and being rooted in the universal psyche that makes us human. I think that Campbell would say that Huck Finn deserves to be one of those "faces" of the thousand heroes.

Actually, in many ways, the "Mark Twain" persona that Samuel Langhorne Clemens adopted is another "face" of the archetypal hero. Iconoclast, soothsayer, individualist--Mark Twain is the symbol of the human dream to be independent, self-sufficient, and to fully express one's inner bliss and potential.

May we all find ourselves on our journey down the river.

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

How Is Teaching Like Marriage?

Whether a successful teaching career or a successful marriage, it is all about the relationship.

Now, this is an interesting idea, taking the current political and social climate regarding education.

Educators need to research best educational practices, plan an educational strategy (a curriculum), meet the diverse needs of the students, and evaluate the success of the students and the curricular practices. Who can argue with that? I don't.

Let's compare education with marriage.

To have a successful marriage, each partner individually and the couple together should research and find out what constitutes a successful marriage. They should also form a comprehensive plan that is aligned with these practices--consider the changing needs in the marriage from season to season and year to year, consider children, parents and in-laws, retirement and health and recreation. I'm sure I've left a lot out. No one can argue that these are important aspects to consider in a marriage.

What if all these good ideas, practices, and material needs were required by the state's marriage licensing agency to be written up and then regularly evaluated as having been met--and those evaluations be sent to the state Department of Marriage?

Even if the ideas and practices professed or the means of evaluation suggested were sound (a big if), many would say that it was too much work--too time consuming. Sure, the ideas are good, but to document them and send them off? Some would even say that so much time was being spent ensuring that the marriage was good that there wasn't time to be married!

Lots would say, "Forget it! We'll just shack up."

I think that is the state of education in America today. So many well-meaning people have accumulated so much good information about what constitutes good teaching, so much information and direction on best teaching practices and curriculum development has been amassed, and so much demand has been placed on "Show us you're doing it right" that teachers no longer have the time to focus on the one most important element in education--maintaining a lively connection with the students in the classroom and having the time to practice good teaching.

Teachers are so busy preparing to teach and proving that they are teaching that they don't have time to teach.

I believe fully in using the best teaching practices in the classroom. So much pressure is being placed on teachers to write down everything they do--to write down their planning, to document their teaching, to provide assessments of their success--that there is little time left to stimulate the natural curiosity that children have.

That takes a good student/teacher relationship. And, unfortunately, the current social and political environment has forced the "couple" to call off the honeymoon--so much time was spent planning and documenting what the perfect marriage would be that no time or funds were left for the marriage.

Maybe that Department of Marriage should be called the Department of Divorce--marriage is way too complicated for bureaucracy.

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

English Grammar: has it gotten a bum rap on Facebook?

Here's something I commented on at Facebook the other day, and it gave rise to a number of possibilities.

• Does that mean English teachers work for the police or for the mob?
• I pull out a red pencil and say, "All right, give me all your split infinitives, dangling modifiers, and adjectives used as adverbs. And while you're at it, hand over your lack of verb agreement, too!"
• Mixed metaphors, the "easy grammar" that leads the unsuspecting on to cliche and punning.
• Certain herbal remedies are good for run-on sentences.
• "I'm just trying to be objective: this is a me, me, me society!" 
• "What! You've lost the antecedent of an indefinite pronoun? Round up the usual suspects!"
• "Johnny, if you are ever indulge in improper subordination again."
• He was arrested for scattering superfluous commas in a no-punctuation zone on Facebook.
• "Officer, you've got the wrong point of view! I'm not the person you're looking for."
• Did you hear about the anarchist who wired a bomb in the subjunctive tense? It never went off.
• "Neither a comma splice nor a fused sentence be." --Bill Shakespeare

Any you care to share? Leave a message below.

Copyright 2011 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

National Novel Writing Month: November 1-30

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month: 50,000 words
NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program: set your own goal

I've never seriously considered "going for it" because I have a life outside writing--but I'd like to. And maybe I will, and I'll keep it secret. I won't even tell you.

People will say, "Where's Tom? He's here at work, and then he just disappears. What's that all about?" Meanwhile, I'll be off somewhere with my mini netbook or with my flashdrive pouncing on available computers: guerrilla time management.

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

Last year more than 200,000 individuals signed up for the event, and more than 30,000 ended the month with a 50K draft of a novel. The spirit of the event seems to be to get the words on the page (or file), and then you can lean back and enjoy the moment--you've just completed the first draft of a really bad novel. That's where all novelists start, anyway, with a sloppy copy.

The Basic Information

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins 12:00:01 November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at 11:59:59. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

Still confused? Just visit the How NaNoWriMo Works page!

It's a nice idea. It's a wonderful dream. Is it a goal? I'm not telling!

Copyright 2011 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Expand Your Vocabulary: an easy, effective approach

Choice is good.

Choosing the words you want to learn is more effective than having someone else choose them for you.

• Choice provides motivation.
• Choice increases meaningfulness.

Choice can even be provided with required, necessary vocabulary; for instance, twenty words can be provided, of which twelve are chosen.

Here are the procedures I use at school for my individualized reading program.

1. I give each student a book mark, a 3x5 index card cut in half by its length.
2. Students, as they read, write down words they don't know (or wish to know better) on the card, including the page number.
3. Later, they look the word up.
4. I have them provide the following information on a 3x5: word, appropriate definition, sentence from book (may be shortened), word used in their own sentence. This allows me to provide feedback.

What if the book is easy and the reader finds no words? 

For the classroom, a student just offered a great solution yesterday: go to one of our recently-read stories we shared in class. Yesterday it was an excerpt from Frederick Douglass's My Bondage and My Freedom. The students felt this was a much better idea than using a vocabulary-builder textbook, where the words and exercises are all provided by the book.

Also, this is a great opportunity to suggest a more challenging book for the reader.

This method isn't new. I've used it for so long I've forgotten its source. Established, effective teaching practices should be shared, though, not hoarded.

Try it: you might find it efficacious.

Copyright 2011 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

3 Quick Tips for Parents (at the start of the school year)

If I had the opportunity to advise parents of my top three aids for the next school year (and it appears I do), these would be the suggestions:

1:  The bedroom is for sleeping. Remove all technology, such as computers, cellphones, ipods, TVs, etc. Your children will get more rest. If you do it, so will you.

2:  Establish a regular time in the family room for homework. If your child has no homework, work out a Plan B, such as read a book, extend the current area of study, or to "teach" you what was learned at school during the day. If students are engaged for a set time anyway, they will be more apt to put attention on a current school assignment.

3:  Establish easy communication with teachers (email, phone numbers) and open that communication. That will make it much easier to send or receive information or questions when it is necssary. A positive flow of communication is important.

Those are my three! They all focus around keeping the student in a restful, supportive routine and environment.

Anybody have other suggestions to add to the comments section below?

Copyright 2011 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Social Network Friends: Would You Die for Your Friends?

"How many friends do you have?" I remember Uncle Jim asking me when I was sixteen years old.

"Oh, I don't know. A couple hundred."

"That's dangerous."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, a friend is someone you'd die for. So you're willing to die for a couple hundred people? That sounds dangerous to me."

* 

That was the point in my life when I learned the difference between the words friend and acquaintance.

I used to teach a unit at school about circles of intimacy.

• Self
• Family
• Friends
• Acquaintances
• Strangers

These layers of intimacy were placed in concentric circles, with self placed at the center. Family and friends can be somewhat fluid--some family members not at all close to one, and some friends achieving that status of "family."


Many of those we may class as friends may actually be acquaintances--people we spend time with and whose company we appreciate and enjoy, but someone whose interactions with us only go so deep, that is to say, not very.


Some friends nowadays may even be strangers, especially with the internet.


Friends, people who like you, connections, followers: there are probably buzz words I'm missing, but these words all relate to individuals who have clicked an online icon, and who have created a link with you in the virtual world.


I am not saying that one cannot meet and get to know someone online. I even have a friend who first met his wife online, via a virtual game. (I wonder if once they were married, she continued to virtually "kill" him.) But if friendship derives from shared experience, then I believe face-to-face contact is an essential ingredient of a fully developed friendship.


My son, when still in his teens, said he had friends online that he had gotten to know by playing World of Warcraft. Our suggestion from home was to keep separate virtual friendships from face-to-face friendships--and that perhaps one day virtual friends could or would become actual friends. No dice, didn't scan.


I traded books with an online friend. Her book contained a variety of errors (such as heal instead of heel, and woe instead of whoa), and I was planning on sending her a private email, suggesting that she spend more time on the novel and then upload a new version of the ebook and paper version. Meanwhile, she read my novel, thought the realism was too gritty, too suggestive to young readers and might give them ideas--and posted a "one star" review. My wife reminded me of my conversation with my son. Yes, I had fallen for the idea that my online "friend" was really someone I knew. Naivete, thy name is social networker. 

Bloggers who regularly receive and review books, of course, have a professional obligation to honesty. They usually state that in their blog's "submission" section. Their relationship of reviewer and author/publisher is professional, not personal.

Does that differ from an individual that one is connected to? The answer is, I suppose, utimately yes and no. Poet Lyn Lifshin adds about 10-20 friends to her Facebook personal account each day. As of this writing, she had 3890 friends, one of them me. Local Poet Rustin Larson has 686 members in his radio show Facebook group Irving Toast, Poetry Ghost, and 506 members in his Facebook group named after his most recent poetry book, The Wine-Dark House. Those members probably contain individuals  in all those circles of intimacy.


My advice for myself is to use the word acquaintance instead of all the other words that the social networks use to market themselves. I'm comfortable with acquaintance. Let me say it again: acquaintance. Someone I've met and occasionally spend time with. Someone whom I sometimes help, and who sometimes helps me. Someone whom I might someday get to know better--who may, someday, call me friend--whom one day I might call friend. Or, to quote my uncle: be placed on that precious list of someone we'd be willing to die for.

Copyright 2011 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Student-based Education and Project-based Learning

How do you fit a round peg into a square hole?

For many teachers, that is the basic challenge of education.

The traditional classroom is the square peg--and I mean the classroom--the desks and the chalkboard/whiteboard at the front. Students don't want to sit and receive; they want to do-- to be actively engaged in their education.

Consciousness-Based Education lists five Fundamentals of Education:

• Receptivity
• Intelligence
• Knowledge
• Experience
• Expression

Note that the first is receptivity. If the student isn't ready or interested, good luck, teacher.

At Maharishi School, where students and faculty practice the Transcendental Meditation technique, there is the advantage of less student stress, more curiosity, and greater creativity.

Even with the TM advantage, a school still has to center education around the student. This is a continuing challenge and inspiration for all educators.

One educator who has addressed this challenge is Ron Berger in his book An Ethic of Excellence.

And how many of the students have a smart phone or iPod in their pockets or backpacks?

How many students are used to learning in a highly self-organized manner and then are asked in school to learn in a lock-step manner that differs from their learning by choice?

And then one more point: how many students, given their maturity level, simply say, "I don't want to learn that," even if the that is some essential component of learning.

Welcome to the life of an educator.

Dr. William Glasser said that if students don't want to learn, we can't teach them. They should be allowed to leave the classroom and come back with their friends when they are ready.

How does this fit in, though, with the pressures of standardized testing? Even when teachers are compelled to teach for the test, students are under no obligation to learn for the test, especially students in their early years. They're just kids, after all.

Below is a video that illustrates (literally) the dilemma faced by educators.



I keep coming back to the Fundamentals of Education and how Consciousness-Based Education is structured at Maharishi School and Maharishi University of Management.

• Enliven the mind through TM and by structuring a creative, rigorous class environment so that the child is receptive to learning something new. 
• Facilitate the interaction of the intelligence of the students . . .  
• . . . with the content knowledge. 
• Provide the experience of being actively engaged in the subject matter--that means creatively using the knowledge. 
• Complete the learning experience with an authentic expression of the students' learning, a demonstration of their mastery of the content and skills being learned.

Receptivity     Intelligence     Knowledge     Experience     Expression

Copyright 2011 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Maharishi School: Individualizing the Classroom

Teachers don't teach a curriculum or a lesson plan--they teach children.

This is something I heard a career teacher say a long time ago, and I remind myself of its wisdom and applicability regularly. Of course good teachers plan for teaching, and these plans consist of curricular strategies and lesson plan activities. Nonetheless, these teaching goals and objectives apply, ultimately, to individual children, not "classes."

This defines a dilemma in teaching. How do teachers instruct multiple classes during a day yet also reach individual students?

The answer lies in individualized instructional time that is included in classroom activities.

For some classes, one answer may lie in something as simple as student practice (or drill) time that allows the teacher to circulate through the classroom, attending to the needs of individual students.

For another classroom, a teacher may develop learning centers in which students choose and engage in activities of choice for part of the class, providing the teacher more time to circulate and interact individually with students.

Sustained, silent reading, writing workshop, and journaling are also activities that can open up time in the classroom for individual conferencing.

I remember that when I was a high school basketball player, the coach included the daily practice of shooting twenty-five free throws. As we practiced, the coach circulated and talked to individual players--and the discussion was usually not on free throws. The "evaluation" to keep us on task? A clipboard and running tally of the number of shots "sunk" each practice.

I have found the use of contracts for class assignments effective for structuring individual student contact time in the classroom. 

A simple contract for reading:

• 4 books read = A
• 3 books read = B
• 2 books read = C
• 1 book read  = D or NI

Something as simple as this contract, with good formative (or on-going) supportive evaluation provides an opportunity to individualize what level of book each student reads, provides a platform for individual and whole-classroom discussion of reading skills, and also provides time to quietly support and instruct to individual needs.

This is important for teachers who have students that change schools often, have English Language Learners, or have advanced (talented and gifted) students or students with remedial learning challenges--in other word, all teachers.

No two students are the same, and structuring activities in the classroom that provide individual time with students increases the opportunities to give students the right teaching at the right time. It's how we learn and teach. We just got away from that basic fact when budgets, demographics, and politics moved teaching and learning into more "efficient" factory models of mass instruction.

At the school where I teach, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment, not only is the individual instruction of students significant to our school mission--the faculty and student body also practice the Transcendental Meditation program, the ultimate instruction of the individual, providing teacher and student daily time to contact their inner "knower," the foundation of all teaching and learning for all skill areas and disciplines. This approach to education is called "Consciousness-Based Education."

Ever heard the old joke about Henry Ford's Model T's? You can have any color you want--as long as it's black. Our children are rainbows. They deserve more than a black and white education.

Copyright 2011 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved