Drums and Wires

Here's Aloysius, age one.

Cara and Llewellyn made a drum kit. He turns four on the 11th.

Llewxyz

Llew entertains his brother Wish.

Still No Words

another workshop

Substitute's Report - December 7

Hi X,

A rather uneventful afternoon.

Period 4 English

I administered the reading tests and you will find the marked papers under this note. I took up all the tests and distributed them randomly for marking. The complained that they should get to decide who marks their tests but I said that they have to learn to trust each other. We started with a little discussion of symbolism and I assigned the subsets which are noted on the blank sheet that contains the tests. A good group.

Period 5 English

I went around and checked their work and all of them who were there had it done except X who didn't have his booklet with him. They read for a while and for a Friday afternoon treat I beat them at Hangman with the word 'aglet'. There were no problems and, for a Friday the day before the Semi, they were surprisingly on-task.

Thanks X for the chance to get a few hours. I have enjoyed teaching your classes and I'm sure I'll see you soon.

Substitute's Report - December 6

Hi X,

I had a great day and I appreciate the thorough notes you left me. I recorded attendance in the book and on Winschool as you asked but when a student was absent I just left it blank in the book so you could enter the number of the absence. I see that you are keeping a running total for each student. Here's how the day went:

Period 1: English

What a great class. We worked through the questions on the last page of the Study Guide as a class. We had a great discussion and I think that they have a better understanding of some of the terms (rhetoric, satire, juxtaposition, irony...), as we discussed examples from the book and from the 'real world'. Also to note that Allison copied and returned the notes you left for that purpose.

Period 2: Theory of Knowledge

Started with a discussion of Kuhn and made some connections to the History class I taught them yesterday. Essentially how the Enlightenment was a major paradigm shift and how this idea of linear progress still holds for many. The students took down the first page of notes and then we discussed each point. Sorry to not have gotten further into your notes but the discussion was good and I think that you will have a good base on which to develop the concept further as the kids seem to get it.

Period 3: Religion

You were right about this class not minding to take notes. After the first board of notes, which was the first two headings from your sheet, we discussed whether 'man' was essentially good or evil. The discussion was really good with a lot of students contributing. We never got back to the notes but I think that the class was well spent as we talked about the morality or responsibility we have to one another. So what is it that would lead one person to jump under a subway to save a stranger and another to take a picture with their phone as someone bleeds to death in the street. That kind of thing.

Lunch

- Duty . Done.

Period 4: Prep

Period 5: English

This class is a handful. I sent X out as he wouldn't shut up and was getting out of his desk. It was obvious that he was frustrating the other students. I let him after about 10 minutes but there was no repentance and I probably should have just kept him out there. Surprisingly we were able to go through all four themes on page 7 and I think that they students will do OK on their test. It's a weird mix as some of the students were really engaged and had good examples while others acted like five year olds. I have a 2.5 year old boy at home so I have lots of patience. So, in spite of the pockets of chaos we had a good review period. Also, X needed a copy of A Christmas Carol so I gave her one. The book number is 11692.

So, a good day with a fair bit of learning happening. I apologize that I didn't administer as many notes as you might have liked but I think that the discussion was valuable in both cases.

If you have any questions about my work with your classes please contact me at the coordinates below.

Cheers,

Kevin

Substitute's Report - December 5

Substitute's Report for Kevin Hehir

December 5, 2007

Hi X,

The day went well and your notes were helpful. You've got some great classes and I had a good day. Attendance was taken and submitted for all your classes. Here's a rundown:

World History

The class settled down and got done the quiz pretty a quickly so I was able to start the DVD before 9:30. I believe that we stopped at around the 34 minute mark. Uneventful and the quizzes are clipped together and will be the first bundle after this note. What was impressive was how quiet the students were when they were done. I always expect the last few writers to be finishing amid hubub but that wasn't the case. You can tell them that.

Prep

French

This class went off well too. I administered the freshly copied quiz and the class worked quietly on it. It seemed that the phrase acceuille-t-il caused some problems so you might want to review it. No problems here and the class was engaged while doing the worksheets. Nice bunch.

History

I had a good time teaching part of this group Macbeth for X last week so They were comfortable with me right away. They told me that they were on slide #109 and not #107 so we finished the unit from there. For review we just had an open jam session where I directed the students along the time-line of the Revolution and made some connections for them. I thought it would be a better way to harness their obvious verbal energy. Using their 'chattiness' for good not evil. This is a really bright group and I enjoyed teaching them once again.

Canadian History

This class was a bit harder to control. Since they weren't going to listen to the video I told them that they would have to sign and hand in their worksheets. Of course then I had to stop the keen from giving their completed sheets to the talkative. Anyway, we watched the first 20 minutes of the video twice as you asked me. I also just want to say that I had to have a little talk with X but after that he was best kind, however X's attitude threw me off and if it wasn't the last class of day I might have made more of an issue.

All in all a great day. As I mentioned above, you have some really good classes. I should also mention that even though my teachable areas are English and Tech I am very comfortable teaching History. My undergraduate degree is in Comparative Lit and Culture which is the history of ideas from Plato to NATO. I also have done straight History courses on Totalitarianism, 20 ^th C History and American History (with a tilt towards the antebellum era). I also have an interdisciplinary Masters Degree in the Humanities where I took two History courses at the graduate level.

Thanks again, if you have any questions about my work with your students you can contact me at the coordinates below.

Humanities Seminar

Every term I lead a lecture in the Humanities Program at MUN. This is the program that brought me to St. John's in the first place and it gives me a chance to talk about whatever I happen to be into at the moment. I've done up a little website for the talk and I hope to make this a little more of a resource as it looks like I'll be doing more of these.

Substitute's Report - November 29

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Hi X,

I had a great day and your detailed lesson plans made things go smoothly, so thanks for that.

English

I administered the inclass essay and there were no problems aside from the expected whining about the idea that they may actually expected to demonstrate that they have read the material. There was a general unfamiliarity with the word 'secular' so I defined it for them. Also, as you predicted, I had to explain the questions to X. Once the tests were passed out the class worked silently and when students were finished they respected the others who were still writing.

English

As with the class above there was a group kvetch about having to do the test. But, once I passed out the tests they got down to business. I gave out copies of A Christmas Carol and recorded the numbers on the sheet provided. There wasn't much time left in class so I introduced who Dickens was and the rise of 'people's art' in the 19thC. We had a very good discussion about the role of art in our common lives – empathy & escapism ... You can tell the class that I enjoyed our little discussion and I appreciated that they were able to listen to their classmates.

English

I just followed your game plan and we had a good class. I filled in a few blanks and suggested where a certain term might be helpful on a test. The presentations were very thorough and the reception was positive. We got through questions #5, 7, and 9. So, #10 is still left to do. FYI – they picked their Secret Santa at the beginning of class.

English

Uneventful as I just passed out the tests and the students set to it. Again, I had to define 'secular' for them but they worked well and quietly once things got going. X told me that you gave here the option of writing today as she has missed some classes. I believed here and she just worked quietly on other homework while the rest of the class expounded on Dracula. I hope this was OK.

English

A very energetic group and I remembered some of the students from last year (and them, me, which was nice). After reminding them of the upcoming assignments we just got into a circle and the pairs gave their presentations. We stopped along the way to discuss and clarify points. A really good group.

Eastern Edge Gallery

I've got a contract with the Eastern Edge Gallery, an artist run centre that I think is the creative heart of the city. Here is a photo from the first of what will be a series of workshops where high school students will come down the gallery to meet a professional artist and make some art.

The photo shows me interviewing local artist Kym Greeley about her work.

Photos

Here are some photos from the Rock Can Read event.
Photos by Jessica Butler

The Telegram says

Rock Can Read

Press Release

Contact Kevin Hehir kevin.hehir@gmail.com or Liz Solo ­ lizsolo@nl.rogers.com

Rock Can Read

The Ship Sunday July 22, 2007 8:30 PM $8

Dave Bidini, Anthony Brenton, Sean Panting, Andreae Prozesky, Liz Solo, Sara Tilley.

Tickets on sale at Fred's Records and The Ship

Rock Can Roll Records and A Brace of Hehirs Productions present Rock Can Read - a night of words and music from the writers who are rocking our world. Hosted by Kevin Hehir.

FEATURING:

Dave Bidini - a member of the prestigious and prolific Canadian independent band the Rheostatics. He is also the author of six books ­ including "On a Cold Road" - tales of the Rheos on tour with interviews of Canadian rock'n'roll personalities. His last book "The Five Hole Stories" was longlisted for the 2007 ReLit Award. Dave Bidini will be reading from his new work "Around the World in 57 and Half Gigs" as well as performing a set of music.

http://www.davebidini.ca/

Anthony Brenton ­ a writer and musician well known to St. John¹s audiences as the vocalist in Local Tough and the seminal bass player for the band Trailercamp. Anthony has self-published two novels and regularly presents live readings of his work, frequently at the Old Book Shop in C.B.S., Manuels. He is currently working on a new spoken word recording, to be released by Rock Can Roll Records this year. Anthony will be reading from new work. http://www.myspace.com/localtough

Sean Panting - an accomplished musician and recording artist renowned for his sharp lyrics, unique guitar playing, hilarious storytelling, and brilliant three minute rock and roll songs. His first two solo albums - Lotus Land (2000) and Pop Disaster (2002) - were both MIANL award winners, and in 2005 he doubled his output with his rock and roll opus, Receiver, and the all-acoustic solo Victrola.

http://www.seanpanting.com/http://www.myspace.com/seanpanting

Andreae Prozesky ­ a poet, she lives and writes in St. John's. Her poetry has been published in several Montreal-based journals and online. She has written radio commentary for CBC North and currently writes the Food Nerd column for St. John's fortnightly The Scope. http://thescope.ca/?cat=16

Liz Solo - a performance artist, writer and musician now working on her first full length solo release - coming this Fall from Rock Can Roll Records. She continues to perform with her long-standing band the Lizband and side-project The Black Bags. Liz will be presenting new songs from her upcoming release and reading short excerpts from performance work. http://www.lizsolo.com/

Sara Tilley ­ a writer, theatre maker, clown and Artistic Director of She Said Yes! Theatre Company. Her playThe (In)complete Herstory of Women in Newfoundland (and Labrador!) was chosen as part of the National Arts Centre's prestigious On the Verge Festival of New Works in 2006, Sara won both the 2004 Percy Janes First Novel Award and the inaugural Fresh Fish Award in 2006 for her first novel, Skin Room, which will be published by Pedlar Press in the spring of 2008. She is currently working on a second novel, DUKE.

http://www.rockcanrollrecords.com/

The ATC and Writing

I've been inspired by this site by Toronto poetry writer and teacher and advocate and all around inspiring person Katherine Parrish called Imperfect Offering.

So, I'm going to post some stuff from a writing workshop I did with Anita Singh. Well, it's still going on but my three weeks are up. It's called Words and Imagery and this is the third time we've done it at the Anna Templeton Centre for Craft, Art and Design.

Welcome to the
Words & Imagery Workshop

What is Writing?
Week 1- (Feb. 3)

WORD GAMES, WRITING EXPERIMENTS,
IDEAS FOR STORIES, FOUND SOUNDS AND OTHER RHYMES

What are Books?
Week 2 – (Feb. 10)

TYPES OF BOOKS, MORE WRITING GAMES AND EXPERIMENTS, PLAYING WITH POETRY, PLANNING FOR YOUR BOOKS

My Book (or Books) will be…
Week 3 – (Feb. 17)

WRITING STORIES, WILL I USE PICTURES? CHECKING SPELLING AND GRAMMAR, EVEN MORE EXPERIMENTS

For the next three Saturdays, book artist Anita Singh will continue the workshop as you will create amazing books!!!

Brought to you by the Anna Templeton Centre for Craft, Art & Design, the number 2 and the letter L.

Llewstar

I see a city that is illuminated by pure creative energy.
The beams of a thousand children
Reaching over the city like Cabot Tower’s star.

Intern Journal

I have always wanted to be a teacher. I used to joke that after being told all my life to sit down and be quiet, becoming a teacher would allow me to stand up and talk. I never really knew what grades I waned to teach I just knew that if I had any gift at all it was the ability to explain things to people. A few years ago I lead a poetry workshop at Holy Heart for World Poetry Day on a Friday and then taught in a graduate seminar the next Monday. The interesting thing was that I was essentially teaching the same thing (the materiality of language as revealed through concrete and sound poetry) but at wildly different levels. To put it another way, teaching isn’t about a canon of information but rather a canon of methods.

To think back to the seven week mark of this internship I can use my personal online journal and discussions I had with other teachers that are archived in my Googlechat. By the middle of the internship things weren’t going well. I had received a good evaluation form my main cooperating teacher and my second cooperating teacher was already asking me for resources that I had developed but I still felt a bit lost in the school. I was, in fact, intimidated. Now, I am 6’4” and nearly 200 pounds but I still felt apprehensive in trying to discipline the students. I felt that I was having no effect on any of them. I had trouble remembering all of the names of one of my classes and I have to say that I was not feeling all that successful. I was just blown away by how rude the students were. The casualness of the profanity was startling. My wife says that I overestimated the students and I guess I was lucky in that in all of my previous classroom experience I was a guest so would be afforded some sort of courtesy. In my classes at Bishops it seemed that my inexperience with some of the course material provided the students with a license to be disruptive. I’m not a loud person. I told my cooperating teacher that in order for me to be aggressive I have to go some place outside of myself; much the same way an actor does.
I wasn’t sure that I had the temperament for the daily abuse that teachers seem to get. The teachers talked about having to get students removed from their classrooms as if it were nothing. This was totally different from my own high school experience where even though there were 1600 students in a building built for 1200 and a mix of social classes and languages, I always felt safe. I just didn’t feel at ease in the first part of my internship.

I was also under a lot of personal stress as the decision to go back to school was a huge risk for my family and had created very serious financial hardship. If the decision to get my teaching license turned out to be a bad one then what had I put my family through for the past 20 months? I don’t know what I was expecting but after seven weeks I definitely had serious reservations about spending the rest of my working life in a Newfoundland high school. What compounded the frustration was that I had always prided myself on being able to get through to the marginalized kids. I volunteer with ‘at risk’ youth and have been able to engage some pretty hard young people in educational pursuits. I was also feeling frustrated by the material I was expected to teach. There were no curricular resources for one course as the teacher had just “taught it from [his] head for the last seven years”. So I had to develop materials as I went along. I know that it wasn’t supposed to be an enjoyable experience but I had no idea how depressing the whole thing was going to be.

But, there was a light on the horizon. Unlike Paul whose epiphany occurred on the road to Damascus mine happened at a farmhouse near St. Marys, Ontario. This will all be discussed in my final journal entry.

Planet Chaos Theory

(An exerpt of this interview was published in Thursday, November 2,2006 issue of The Current. I highly recommend this amazing article by Greg Locke, I think that local media has been giving His Danness a free ride and Greg clouds the matter with a few facts.)

I miss Spur tokens. I also miss Danny Keating when he hosts Planet Chaos every Sunday night at The Spur. The former due to nostalgia (which is reportedly the way of the future), the latter because it’s a school night for me. Planet Chaos has been on the go since November, 2002. I asked Danny a few questions about this Open Mic that is definitely not the Folk Club.

1. How long has it been going on?

missed a few weeks but it has been pretty steady since november 2002

2. How is it different from the other million open mics in the city?

an open mic is only as good as its performers... we have regulars that show up and bring solid sets of original music as well as finely chosen covers..staying away from the standard open mic fare the other open mics at the spur can boast this as well...

3. Some times you record them. Why and are they available?

i like to document things. archive them...i don't do it nearly as much as i would like to. i have released one cd of an open mic night at planet chaos i felt weirdabout releasing other peoples performances so i just included my set its more a live cd than an open mic cd. im in the process of rereleasing some of my cds (all r very limited runs) the live at planet chaos cd came with a release i did called "the boy who shouts" which will be available real soon maybe by the time this is printed..will be at freds..open mics and available dannykeating@hotmail.com www.myspace.com/dankeating www.myspace.com/theoriginofthesoundband search for live clips of me at open mic on youtube..search dank eating"

4. Have you ever thought about broadcasttng them live on the interweb?

i have though about doing live casts however i do not have the technology at my fingertips as of now...if anyone has the knowledge and tools to do this please contact me that wouldd be great

5. Do you where special clothes when you perform

i dress up like barney the dinosaur sometimes (uhmm no)

6. When i came to one you were reading lyrics from a song. Do you always work out new stuff?"

if i have new material i find its a good way to allow the song to get its stage legs..people are more forgiving in this kind of environment than say ashow with cover..i'd prefer if everyone who played brought the same mentality and this is often the case..some gems have debuted at planetchaos..over the years.

7. How do you keep drunken assholes away?

i tell my friends to stay at home...just kidding..drunken idiots are just looking for attention most of the time..when you have musicians up there giving a great performance and debuting material a drunk is less likely to stick around to make a fool of him/herself ..that and i have a rather loud voice if i want to..and when i see them stumbling round ready to make themselves comfy the guitar volume goes up and the veins in my neck swell with scream

8. Why do you do it

i do it because i like it...we dont get huge crowds there isnt great deals of money involved.. the people who come out sing along and they play interesting music..its a good form of practice..and its a great way to meet and interact with different musicans..impromptu jams are fairly regular abeit for better or worse of the over all night it adds an element of improv that i really enjoy.

9. How do you keep people from playing Neil Young all night? Are there rules?

there are no rules...and i have no control over what someone plays....I have had some Dick-tators of open mic hosts bash what i do and even remove the guitar from my hand cause i wouldnt play american pie or something..so i dont mind..however someone wants to express themselves..its ok with me...im just some guy with a guitar afterall..i happen to like neil young

10. Poets and other writer types always complain that there are no venues for people to read their work. Is Planet Chaos open to that sort of thing?

planet chaos is an open mic...that , means the mic is open..generally its an audience decision what happens what doesnt..we will try anything...if it drives out performers or audience members then its obviously not a good mix....but i wont say anything...the artist will be able to figure out for themselves if they should continue in following weeks..bring on the poets..we have had them in the past we have had magicians, clowns tapdancing guitar players, metal/punk/rock/traditional/folk/hiphop/pop bands play so its open to just about anything. sometimes we have full band set ups available for people other times its stripped down and intimate one guitar and mics..people are more than welcome to bring there own gear and set it up.

The last time I went, I was treated to the whistle blowing stadium anthems of the alt-jock rockers Sports. It was awesome. You should go to Planet Chaos.

(Sports on the water photo courtesy of Rachel Jean Harding)

planet chaos sundays the spur

patrick canning open mic tuesdays the spur

dan galway open mic wednesdays the spur

Vast Uplifters

I'm not sure if anyone looks here but if you are reading this, let me suggest that you go and have a look at Cara's new show Vast Uplifters. You can go down to the Rogue Gallery in the Eastern Edge Artist Run Centre and see the work live until Friday, October 6. Or, you can see the show on her blog until, like, forever.

The work is quite stunning. There are pieces inpsired by a cartoon by B. Kliban. A cartoonist who can best be described as on the far side of the Far Side. In fact Kliban was a big influence on Gary Larsen. There is also a great piece inspired by a poem by Lucille Clifton. Cara has a link to Clifton reading the poem too.

The woman is talented that wife of mine!!

On the third day...

(This article was published in St. John's newest entertainment weekly The Scope. To read this in all of its webtacular glory go here. You can also see the fine illustration by Jonathan Adams that accompanies the piece. I should note that the original version wasn't so journalistic as I fully realize that I have no authority to give advice on writers' block because I'm not sure there is any way to overcome it. The byline published at the head of the piece also strongly implies that I actually did this. I did not. I spent the weekend at home with my family. )

This Labour Day week- end is the 29th running of the 3 Day Novel Contest. From midnight Friday to midnight Monday writers are challenged to sit down and attempt to complete a novel using, according to their website, “any method, and in any location, anywhere in the world”. They do allow you to have some notes but all the actual writing must occur between the parentheses of those 72 hours.

You may think that staying alert is the prime task when doing this sort of thing. So, I'll just lay down a couple of suggestions I learned from working nights at a grocery store stocking shelves. The head of the night crew was known as Pharmacy Frank. He probably didn't have his grade ten but he could regulate uppers and downers as well as any Tour de France team doctor. He also counseled me to avoid using coffee and cigarettes as stimulants. THEY WILL ROT YOUR GUT LIKE BIKER ACID! Fruit juice and yogurt are much easier on the system so save the other stuff for the bender you go on after 72 hours of writing.

To make a literary connection, the company I worked for was made famous in John Updike's story "A & P". That may seem like a bit of a dodgy segue but dodgy segues will become your best friend if you want to avoid writer's block. That is your main task really. You must keep that white screen from rolling out of your monitor and snowballing you out of your chair. You only have 72 hours remember.

French writer Stendhal suggests that one way to overcome writers’ block is to write “twenty lines a day, genius or not”. American Harry Mathews used this method to overcome his own block when he composed his fantastic novel 20 Lines a Day. Since you only have three days and will certainly want to produce more that a three page novel you might want to accelerate the process and set a goal of 20 lines an hour. This is reasonable and ensures a submission of decent heft.

I also imagine there are those of you who really have no idea what they are going to write about but just want to try it because it is there to be tried. Very well then, I would suggest Googling the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. There, you will find Bernadette Mayer's legendary list of Writing Experiments. Two of my favourites are, “write a work that intersperses love with landlords” and this exercise in style: Write twenty-five or more different versions of one event. If these don't help then you will have to adjust your medication (see note on pharmaceuticals above). Good luck.

Weapons of Mass Distraction

Weapons of Mass Distraction. 9:00pm Thursday, August 17, 24. Rabbittown Theatre at the corner of Merrymeeting Rd. & Linscott St. / 709 739 8220. $5.

Improv is risky business for an actor. Take Colin Mochrie. Whose Line is it Anyway?- good. CBC’s Carol Burnett Show spoof - bad. Improv comedy troupe, The Weapons of Mass Distraction’s show is a series of improvisational theatre games. Here’s the deal. Suggestions for settings, situations, famous people or whatnot are solicited from the audience. The boys then improvise a scene based on a set different rules or constraints for each game. Hilarity ensures. No, really, it does. Marc Nicolson has a voicebox full of accents. You’ll need a baseball glove to catch all Tim Ronan’s lines. Pat Demsey should be wearing a helmet and Andrew Halliday is a rubberface (in a good way). Ronan also acts as host and central scrutinizer for crowd suggestions. The only thing I’d like to see them try is something that Calgary improv pioneers Loose Moose Theatre do; there, the audience is given sponge Boo Bricks that be can chucked on stage to stop the scene and put everyone out of their misery if the sketch happens to take the offramp to Suck. Of the nine games last Thursday I would have only tossed one, but it would have landed in St. Lawrence.

(Submitted Photo of Pat Dempsey and Tim Ronan of Weapons of Mass Distraction.)

Published in The Current on August 17, 2006.

Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador Annual Members Exhibit 2006

The Craft Council Gallery presents an eclectic exhibition of member's work featuring a variety of mediums and techniques, celebrating excellence in contemporary craft.


Craft is often regarded as the poor cousin to fine art. But, if you think that a bowl is a bowl is a bowl then also think about the possibilities of reimagining the bowl with that conceptual constant as the starting point. The artists in the Craft Councils’ Annual Members Exhibit push the limits of design while using some accepted characteristics of craft (material, tool, making, function, tradition and skill) as a common referent.

Of course, group shows are a bit like zoos. No particular piece is in its natural habitat but you get a pretty good idea of who’s interesting and who’s not. I was particularly taken by the felt sculptured vessels of Trine Schioldan. They’re like alien pods dipped in fuzzy jam. The collaborative piece by Jason Holley and Jay Kimball, “Up From the Pit, Down in Bay D’espoir” is also worth mentioning. The slow fade of the rings' colour combined with the more defined cast of the sun’s shadow (which is itself ephemeral) problematizes the received notion of chiascuro as only pertaining to painting and is just plain cool. You’ll be surprised and inspired. Craft is can be powerful. Google Madame Defarge, then go see this show.

(Submitted Photo of “Up From the Pit, Down in Bay D’espoir” by Jay Kimball and Jason Holley. Pit fired thrown bowl and hand built ceramics.)

Published in The Current on August 17, 2006.

The Telegram says

The Telegram continues

The Current says

The Express says

The Scope says

It was late when I scanned these and I only hve dial up so the whole process took forever so please excuse the angle.

Crossing the Rubricon

Here's how this works.

If you follow the hyperlinks in each Section you will land at the page in this blog that satisfies the rubric's requirement. Another feature to be aware of is how each of the particular entries in Section C link to literacy tenets as discussed in the course text book (Literacy in the Secondary English Classroom: Strategies for Teaching the Way Kids Learn), or during class. What you will see preceding each entry is a section in square brackets ([]) titled Making Connections hopefully that's what it will do.


Section A: Philosophy of Literacy Teaching and Learning (Value 10%)

Students will provide an articulation of their philosophy of literacy teaching and learning in an essay of approximately 300 - 500 words. This project will grow out of a reflective journal entry.

Section B: Reflective Journal (Value 20%)

Students will keep a journal in which they will reflect on teaching experiences, lessons and / or units they prepared and taught, and issues raised in the course. A minimum of four (4) entries will be expected. Sometimes topics will be assigned; other times students will choose their own topics. Generally, there will be an entry assigned in each week or as preparation for the next week. Student suggested topics are welcome.

Section C: Journal/Web search, Teaching and Learning Plans and Activities, Other (20%)

A minimum of four (4) entries will be expected. Some examples include:

· Two sample lesson plans which coordinate with topics discussed, with commentary, integrating technology an option
· One critique of an article from a professional journal plus annotations
· Other information deemed relevant by the student such as current and original rubrics and other instruments.
· Collection of teacher generated exemplars for students.
· Bibliographies and Web links to resources for English language arts teachers and students, with introductions/annotations.
· A video clip of your teaching, with commentary
Other

My literacy philosophy

this post wants to be an astronaut.
currently it is taking up space.

Effective Literacy (remix)

i have always been interested in parataxis and how we read.

I took a list of, i guess, outcomes for effective litaracy and scrambled it. The original source follows the detournment. What is detournment?

The two fundamental laws of detournment are the loss of importance of each autonomous element – which may go so far as to lose its original sense completely – and at the same time the organisation of another meaningful ensemble that confers on each element its new scope and effect.

So here is the new text:

Effective literacy draws on a repertoire of practices that allow learners, as they engage in reading and writing activities, to:

activities, to: meaningful features and a architecture of written texts including: alphabet, so draws on repertoire of practices that allow learners, as they, communities, nation writing and unds in words, and c e, of view, engage in reading and: reco gnising and using the visual spoken texts break the shape and conventions;: traversith of,; and that cultures, institutions families influence Effective l s: that meaning systems of the code of texts -states and sostructured, their tone, degree, that they represent different cultural and social fundamental structure from within particular that various omposing; knowing about and acting on th texts perform writtenparticular views ngand use and iteracy inside and outside acting school spelling, of formality and their sequence functions boforth texts functionally silence their and transform text patterns of text: unders ng the social relations around texts neutral funcanalyse of sentence other points people's components; their designs ideasunderstanding and disctions texts are not the way texts are tandi and knowing that these on the knowledge and text participate in the meanings critically ourses can be critiqued and redesigned, in novel and hybrid ways.

Luke, A. and Freebody, P. Practically Primary Volume 4 Number 2 June 1999

Reflection: All subjects should correct spelling and grammar.

Of course. I could end it there but I have had some conversations with colleagues about this and I seem to come across some pretty bad writing in my travails. First off, in the spirit of disclosure, I don't spell very well. For instance, I will need the spell checker to spell necessary correctly. But, I have never let not knowing how to spell a word stop me from using it. And, I certainly haven't let not knowing what it means stop me either. But that's a vanity thing. Anyway, when I'm writing a test (which I'm doing a fair bit of for this program and I hadn't done in six years) I will always have a crack at it and put (sp?) next to it. Now for a test, I don't expect to be marked down but I would expect it to be noted as well as any other mistakes in spelling. But, tests are a bit different. There are other anxieties at play there.

But should they be corrected in anything that a student has the time to proofread and actually prepare? Sure. For all subjects? You bet. For me, I solve the spelling problem by always having m-w.com running. Unfortunately that usually sends me off trying to find a way to use words like prolegomena. Anyway, I do try to spell every word correctly and I would expect my students to do the same. To limit your written lexicon to what you can spell would be a pretty short leash. This is why I think that you have to be clear why something is wrong. I got a paper back this year that got docked marks for grammar but the prof didn't signify to me where the transgressions had occurred. Also, I think that sometimes grammar is confused with register or style. I also think that you can use spelling and grammar mistakes to gauge where a student is weak. (parenthetically, is a difficulty with homonyms a spelling or a diction error?) But the remediation has to be delivered with a velvet glove. You still have to encourage risk taking with the writing. And reading. I'm sure there are mountains of work on the correlation between how much a person reads and their grammar proficiency (and I'm sure they have a sexier term than grammar proficiency). Modeling too. Challenge with interesting vocabulary.

That's the easy bit. Now the 'for all subjects' part. Still yes. All disciplines have a body of texts around it. Literacy skills are just as important for those too. The Bristol board science fair projects should be held to the same technical standards for language too. I don't know what the grading is like for lab reports in university science courses but if a kid gets there and has never had an honest evaluation about his writing skill, his teachers have done him a great disservice. And that's what I think it is, being honest. If you don't correct spelling and grammar you are colluding with the enemies of discourse.

[Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches]

Some Handy Links for Young Writers

Bob's Poetic Byway

http://www.poeticbyway.com/

This site features a unique Glossary of Poetic Terms, plus Examples of Poetic Terms from the works of prominent poets, Tips for the Enjoyment of Poetry and A selection of Bob's Poems. Also, you will find helpful links to relevant poetic, literary, and reference websites.

Writenet

http://www.twc.org/forums/index.html

WriteNet: an unbelievably valuable resource for writers and teachers interested in teaching imaginative writing. Spend some time looking at this web-site -- enjoy our exclusive interview series, learn how real-life artists-in-residence teach imaginative writing, and more!

Canadian Student Writing Contests and Resources

http://www3.sympatico.ca/susanio/WWCcomp.html

The Claremont Review: The International Journal of Young Adult Writers

http://www.theclaremontreview.com/

Young Poets is sponsored by the League of Canadian Poets

http://www.youngpoets.ca/

How to Sew a Chapbook

http://www.wildhoneypress.com/BOOKS/Stitching%20Brochure.pdf

Poetry Experiments

http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/bernstein/experiments.html

Compiled by Charles Bernstein from Bernadette by Poets' Ludicrously Aimless Yearning (PLAY). Dispense only as appropriate and under the supervision of an attending reader. Individual experiments are not liable for injury or failure resulting from improper use of appliance. Any profits accrued as a direct or indirect result of the use of these formulas shall be redistributed to the language at large. Management assumes no responsibility for damages that may result consequent to the use of this material in educational institutions or individual writing projects.

Lost in Translation

http://www.tashian.com/multibabel/

What happens when an English phrase is translated (by computer) back and forth between 5 different languages?

Tiger of luminous that is burned of the tiger

now, now, what's all this then?

So, I better get on this eh?

I have had a bit of misunderstanding with the person who will be evaluating this blog. This is because I had originally wanted to present "The Blog as Pedagogical Device" as an assignment. I have realized that I would have to do too much background work to make that work with my class.

So, for one class assignment I will be developing some curricular materials for the documentary My Ancestors Were Rogues and Murderers.

This blog is my portfolio. I've posted the assignment (above).
This is mainly for me to keep it all in order and saves me from fishing through my book bag to find the assignment every time I want to add something to this.

Global Learning

Here are four fantastic photos taken by my brother Conor. Of course they could be used as writing prompts or for reminding students that the educational grass is a similar green wherever you go. Or is it?

What are the similarities and differences between the educational experiences in the pictures and in your classroom?

Jamaican Schoolgirl




Fez, Morocco




Rajasthan Province, India




China

Metaphors be with you!

Clever Manitoban poet Dennis Cooley calls a metaphor "a Greek taxi". I like that.

This is another old chestnut that lives on the interweb. Not only do students love this but they also come out of the exercise with a pretty good understanding of the difference between a metaphor and a simile. By taking some time to go through these you can introduce the concepts of a metaphors' tenor and vehicle and have the students identify them for each example. Each student could then make up their own.

Ok, here's a list that I use (like I typed above, there are variations of this all over the net).

• Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two other sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
• His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a tumble dryer.
• The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
• McMurphy fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a paper bag filled with vegetable soup.
• Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.
• Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the centre.
• Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
• He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
• The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
• Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left York at 6:36 p.m. travelling at 55 mph, the other from Peterborough at 4:19p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
• The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the full stop after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.
• John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
• The thunder was ominous sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.
• The red brick wall was the colour of a brick-red crayon.
• Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long it had rusted shut.
• Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
• The plan was simple, like my mate Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
• The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for while.
• "Oh, Jason, take me!" she panted, her breasts heaving like a student on 31p-a-pint night.
• He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a landmine or something.
• Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell butter from "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter."
• She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
• The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a lamppost.
• The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free cashpoint.
• The dandelion swayed in the gentle breeze like an oscillating electric fan set on medium.
• It was a working class tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with their power tools.
• He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a dustcart reversing.
• She was as easy as the Daily Star crossword.
• She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature British beef.
• She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
• Her voice had that tense, grating quality, like a first-generation thermal paper fax machine that needed a band tightened.
• It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.

Taken from student essays and found at

http://www.jardmail.co.uk/misc/studentessays.shtml

dunkle und stürmische Nächte

Every year this comes around and every year it's great.

This is a fine exercise for getting stories started. I suggest getting a couple of good ones . I like to have the students pretend that they are publishers who have decide whether to publish a book based on the opening line. We all know that publishers are busy and only have time to read one line. Have the class make up a bunch and put them in the hat with the "real" ones. Then read them out and have the class decide who gets a career as a writer and who doesn't.

Dear Mr. Melville,

Don't call us. We'll call you.

Sincerely,
Oprah

Have the class think about what makes a successful opening line. Not only is this fun but it reinscribes how constructed the texts are and opens the door into the craft of writing.

Favourite Poem from High School

A green lowland of pianos

Text by Czeslaw Milosz, after the Polish of Jerzy Harasymowicz
Set by Samuel Barber

in the evening
as far as the eye can see
herds
of black pianos

up to their knees
in the mire
they listen to the frogs

they gurgle in water
with chords of rapture

they are entranced
by froggish, moonish spontaneity

after the vacation
they cause scandals
in a concert hall
during the artistic milking
suddenly they lie down
like cows

looking with indifference
at the white flowers
of the audience

at the gesticulating
of the ushers

(comments forthcoming)

Reflection Topics

Here are a few of the things I might be reflecting on in the future:

What is the most important strand of the language process?

Agree/Disagree: Literacy teachers are the key to a successful school system.

My best/worst English Language Arts teacher.

All subjects should correct spelling and grammar.

I just wanted to get them down here so I can just 'plug and play', as it were.

Great resource site

My dad sent me this. Thanks Dad!

(parenthetically, the BBC is a great resource for all kinds of things musical too. I always listen to live show recordings on BBC Radio)

BBC Open News Archive

For the first time in its history BBC News is opening its archives to the UK
public for a trial period. You can download nearly 80 news reports covering
iconic events of the past 50 years including the fall of the Berlin Wall,
crowds ejecting soldiers from Beijing's Tiananmen Square and
behind-the-scenes footage of the England team prior to their victory over
West Germany in 1966.

Reflection: I Am

I am Kevin
I wonder I wander I wish
I hear my grandparents calling from graves over the ocean
I see thing I don't understand
I want to leave my doors unlocked
I am not Canadian
I feel therefore I am
I touch (sorry, this isn't that kind of poem)
I worry that I worry
I am in constant flux
I understand this
I say that I care
I hope still
I am open

Reflection: What is Knowledge?

To know is to utilize information. If thinking is a physical phenomenon then knowledge is the game ball. It is the basic building block for decision making. It is a commodity that can be given or kept. Sold or stolen. There are many metaphors to mix. We have different theories of knowledge. Different people will ask different questions. Foucault says that knowledge is power. I agree. In an age when we can’t beat our students, knowledge may be the only hope for classroom containment.

What distinguishes teachers from other professions?

Teachers are front line civil servants who have two masters. As part of the ideological state apparatus they are contracted to deliver services and information (knowledge) vetted and sanctioned by the provincial government. The other master is the collective expectation of parents and students. The two masters live miles apart, spatially and figuratively but manage to exert pressure on the teacher.

If you get paid to teach in the public system then you don’t get paid to be a social worker, a coach, a truant officer, a computer technician and a parent. I also think that teachers get a bad rap in the press. I saw in Ontario, during the late 90s, a provincial Tory government vilify teachers in the press in what was clearly a union busting move. I don’t think the profession ever recovered.

Changing provincial governments makes teaching prone to drastic shifts in social programming. The plumbing industry doesn’t just make all plumbers learn new tools and abandon old ones as some kind of expensive experiment. Plumbers also don’t find out about decisions that affect their livelihood on the NTV News. Even the poor fish plant workers are called to the plant for the bad news.

Every parent has had some schooling and has had experiences with teachers. Can you ever out live them? I’ll bet a lot of parents bring bad memories of teachers to parent-teacher night. That doesn’t happen with bus drivers.

I think society put a lot of pressure on teachers without fully understanding what they do. In fact I’m not even sure yet what they do exactly. Classroom teachers are really at the end of a very large and politicized bureaucracy. Kids bring complicated environments to school with them every morning and teachers work for a system that they are publicly at war with. And they should have a strong union. And be well paid.

Reflections of a Teacher Dad

My family has just moved. There is a subsidized housing project directly behind us called Buckmaster Circle. I know from my previous work experience as an educational researcher that completion of high school is rare for the young people of that neighbourhood.

Now, do I send my children to the neighbourhood school where the culture of finishing school isn’t supported in the students’ homes? Or, do abandon my own community and place my children in a school where I know the parents share the same socio-cultural values as me? By sending my children to another school I rob my own, local community of an involved parent and the school of children exposed to a much broader worldview.

As some one who claims to be committed to community development I know that this issue will present an ethical dilemma for my family. This reminds me of the sentiment of British singer Billy Bragg who sings, “Do I vote Green for my children or Red for my class?”

I will have to decide whether I will invest in my own community/school.

Annotated List of English Language Periodicals

Here are some resources that might be useful to the English teacher on the go. All comments are my own.


Teachers and Writers Collaborative

Quite simply the best organization for resources for teaching imaginative writing to K-12 students. While the major focus of T&W is putting poets in schools they have also published over 60 books on all aspects of teaching writing. The website offers lesson plans, interviews, book reviews and the opportunity to join writenet; an international, online community of over 800 language arts teachers. The site is well organized and easy to navigate.

SB&F (Science Books & Films)

Published bimonthly, six times a year by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This is a good guide to what kinds of resources are being produced in the world of science. It has a Features section with Best Books, Best Films and Best Software. The regular sections cover other trends and areas. For someone without a background in science this journal is valuable as its contributors are experts in the field. This is especially valuable when building a library of information books.

The Horn Book Magazine

Published bimonthly. This is a well laid out journal about the size of The Downhomer. Special issues cover particular areas of children’s literature so the back issues may be worth checking out if you have a particular interest. The latest issue is about the graphic novel so that tells me that they are current and believe that all literature is worth a critical going over. Organizationally, the large Review section compliments Columns and Features sections.

Canadian Children’s Book News

Published quarterly by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Janet McNaughton is on the Board of Directors and that’s cool. The largest section is We Recommend. This is good for keeping abreast of what’s going on in Canadian children’s letters.

Children’s Technology Review

Published quarterly. As a Tech Ed teacher I will become the defaultsoftware ‘recommender’ if I ever get to work in a school. What makes this journal valuable is the reviews from the students who test the software and hardware. I found the language very accessible and not too jargon heavy. It is also nice that free back-issues are available for the cost of shipping.

Appraisal: Science Books for Young People (wonky link)

This is a great journal that Wade from our class turned me onto. It is published quarterly by The Children’s Science Book Review Committee. What makes this journal unique and valuable is, what one might call, a parallel reviewing procedure. Every book is reviewed by a Librarian and a Specialist. The former evaluates the language and format of the book while the latter evaluates the science.

The ALAN Review

The Alan Review is published three times a year by The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents. It is a peer reviewed journal that covers every aspect of teaching literature to young adults. The website is a cluttered mess but the articles are archived and searchable, so there is some value to it.

Canadian Children’s Literature

This biannual journal is written for and by academics. I read a twenty page editorial about the future of theory in the field of literature for children. This is for teachers who miss graduate school. But, if you, like me, see literature as a social phenomenon then some of the stuff here may be of interest. You may find an article about the Disneyfication of children’s literature called “Hegemony Cricket”, but probably not.

Book Links: Connecting Books, Libraries, and Classrooms

This monthly magazine lists the grade level that the particular articles are intended for below each title. This is a great organizational feature. The magazine has a wide variety of very practical material which would be valuable to teachers, parents and librarians. The generalist nature of Book Links makes it good value for the price as it has many audiences.

youngpoets.ca

This website is maintained the League of Canadian Poets. There are two sections; one for teachers and one for students. There are a lot of resources and ideas for teaching poetry to your students. The archive of sound files is quite well organized too. The digital history of Canadian verse is the most concise and inclusive I’ve ever seen.

What is Curiosity and Joy?

I figured I better get at this thing as I have so much work to do and this blog is supposed to help me get at it.

The nicked the title for this blog from an article I read last summer.

The main purpose of this site is to collect and archive some of my thinking about education and my place in it. Most of the first posts will be 'required' by the MUN's Faculty of Education Course 4144.

There will be reflections, a list of journals and resources and other stuff as it occurs to me. Eventually I will be rollingout a lot of the material I collected when I worked researching alternative education.

this is a test