Summer of Writing

One of my 2013 UIWP goals was to submit a piece of writing to an English journal during the Summer Institute. I’ve been through the publication/working with editors thing enough in the past that I don’t feel in need of an acceptance at this point. Submission itself was the goal.

Based on the nudging of colleague Elizabeth Majerus, I decided I would submit a poem to English Journal (EJ). I closely read the “Call for Manuscripts” at the front of the journal, though I didn’t initially read deeply enough to realize that the poem submission process was significantly different than the general manuscript submission process.

That error led me on a particularly enjoyable romp through the National Council of Teachers of English’s “Guidelines for Gender-fair Use of Language”. The document begins with:

“Language plays a central role in the way human beings behave and think. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is concerned about the critical role language plays in promoting fair treatment of women and girls, men and boys. Through careful selection of gender-fair language, NCTE members have the opportunity to influence thought and behavior both directly and indirectly. These guidelines offer suggestions for language use that will open rather than close possibilities and that speakers and writers should consider when engaged in communication activities…”

That’s reasonable, though I’ve never encountered anything like that in the apparently gender-free, race-free world of science and science teaching publications. NCTE’s document clearly outlined exclusionary words and phrases and their more inclusive alternatives. For example, I should avoid using words and phrases such as mankind, man’s achievements, man the controls, or man the ticket booth when writing my MANuscript.

I encountered the poetry submission guidelines three pages deep into the “Call for Manuscripts.” EJ is looking for well crafted poems of any style… written by teachers, students, or those who love them. Those who love them… Again, something I haven’t encountered in the science and science education journals I’ve written for in the past.

Authors are encourages to submit up to five poems for blind review, with only our initials and phone number on the page. Additionally authors are required to submit an e-mail message with brief biographical information. This took me off on my second adventure of the day. Science and science education journals author information is typically limited to author’s name, title and institution. A quick browse of EJ’s author information includes statements such as poet, silversmith, rustic woodworker, creates with silver, stone, and wood as well as words, and working to improve her skills as a teacher and a parent. Initially these seemed awfully self-focused, self-indulgent and excessive, but I was entering someone else’s world and someone else’s culture, so I accepted that as part of my journey.

I plunged forward, crafting my biographical information with the guidance and cleverness of Adam, Ellen, Libbie, Kaia and Wendy, submitted my poem and biographical information, and promptly received an e-mail informing me that the general editor “has asked that poems reflect in some way the thematic concerns announced for each issue. The poetry editor is free to interpret these themes broadly. Upcoming themes, deadlines and details appear in each issue of EJ and at the NCTE website.  General Interest poems are not considered.  We are currently considering work for the following theme:

PREVENTING BULLYING BEHAVIORS:  Deadline November 15, 2011.”

Yes, November 15, 2011.

“Indicate the theme you are addressing in the email subject line.  If you have already submitted without indicating a theme, it’s okay to resubmit.  Type “Resubmit” in the subject line along with the theme. You may expect a response within two to four months, sooner if possible. Thank you for thinking of the English Journal.”

I resubmitted as they requested, noticing the deadline was well past. In the end I really don’t have any sense of what the fate of my poem will be. And that’s OK.

On the positive side, I enjoyed the poem submission process much more than I ever imagined and can now share with the world my fifty-seven word EJ biography:

David M. Stone teaches Introductory Biology, Field Biology, and Genetics and Society at University Laboratory High School in Urbana, IL. He is also a Teacher Leader with the University of Illinois Writing Project. An avid macrophotographer, his insect portraiture blog, Things Biological (https://thingsbiological.wordpress.com/), was created during the 2010 UIWP Invitational Summer Institute. Email him at stone2@illinois.edu.

I purchased this book in May with high hopes regarding its application to my inclusion of blogging into next year’s Introductory Biology curriculum. The book is good, though it is much more focused on new math and science standards than I would have liked.

Blogging as Change… is divided into three sections. The first section is an excellent introduction to blogging. The second section deals with blogging in the classroom. The third section deals with individual teacher professional blogging.

Our school is moving to a 1:1 student laptop environment, which means my students will now have daily access to computers. Because I blog (I write a blog entitled “Things Biological”) moving toward inclusion of blogging into the classroom is a logical extension.

Incorporation of blogging into my classroom will increase frequency of student writing. I anticipate blogging will accelerate development of community and support topics discussed in class. I clearly can take advantage of the experiences of others offered throughout the book. The book has really been particularly invaluable in helping establish blog introduction and our focus, which will be current events relating to biology.

I anticipate the chronological structuring intrinsic in blogs will allow students to see how early events impact later events. The ability to link to various online resources will allow all of us to share a myriad of online resources. Flexibility in student topic selection will accelerate student identity development as educated individuals regarding the sciences and important contributors to our classroom community.

Because the blogs will be structured based on current events and controversies, I don’t know what the topics will be ahead of time, which will make me more a part of the learning community. I like that. Postings early in the year will allow for later reflection by all of us.

Chapter seven, “A Search for Best Practices in Classroom Blogging,” uses the findings from eight teachers in developing an organized structure for introducing blogging into science/math classrooms. Divided into three design phases, the authors focus on 1) defining the goals for classroom blogging, 2) creating specific activity structures, and 3) roll-out as articulated by teachers for the students.

I was able to learn from many of the challenges experienced by others. Reading various accounts made clear the need to establish particular focus (in my case, current events) from the outset. It is essential that teachers be explicit and clear with themselves, as well as their students, regarding the goals we hope to achieve with the blogging. The importance of NOT overstructuring became clear. Teachers who overstructured saw less student self-direction and risk taking.

Blogging will serve as an excellent way to foster knowledge brokering among students, as well as introduce various specialized science resources in a meaningful way. I still need to delve into some resources (e.g. delicious.com) that will help organize shared web-based resources. To make this successful, I will need to commit regular classroom time to blogging work.

I look forward to designing my own guidelines and instruction materials regarding blog purpose, structure, and introduction over the next month. The book is certainly invaluable to me in that regard.

The immediate aftermath. It got worse over the next several days. Click to enlarge.

Today is the five year anniversary of what has become my wife’s favorite “My Husband’s So Dumb” story. Though she wouldn’t refer to it that way, she has gotten a lot of mileage out of this story.

We have a large number of trees on our property. We had neglected pruning, as well as removal of the larger weeds and volunteer trees, for several years. Prior to this incident, we spent several months pruning and trimming. Our burn pile became taller, and taller, and taller.

In late June the vegetation had dried sufficiently. The grass around our burn pit was thick and lush, reducing likelihood of spread of fire to virtually nothing. Finally we had a cool evening with virtually no wind. Conditions for burning the vegetation in the burn pit were perfect! I lit some of the dry grass near the bottom of the pile, but was unable to get the fire to take hold. Crumpled newspaper lit and burned quickly, but the vegetation around it remained unburnt. Evening was coming, and I wanted to complete the burning before nightfall.

I thought about adding a slow burning bag of charcoal to the pile, but didn’t want to take the time to drive into town and purchase one. The red plastic gas can caught my eye. A little bit of gasoline, introduced correctly, should do the job. After all, nightfall was coming.

I carried the gas can about 40’ to the burn pile. I poured a small amount of gas into an area of dry vegetation, and then walked about 40’ at a right angle from my path of entry, restopping the gas can along the way. I walked back to the fire pit, lit a match , and tossed it several feet away, onto the pile of gas-soaked dry vegetation.

At that point, everything occurred in slow motion. Gas fumes had pooled along my paths both to and from the burn pile, and subsequently merged. The entire area around the pile erupted in flames. It was beautiful! Orange-blue flames enveloped the area around me. As I looked down, I could see the dark green grass through the flames. The hairs on my legs simultaneously stood out, singed and disappeared. My wife says there was an explosion, but I did not hear it. The flames were gone as quickly as they came. I ran into the bathroom, jumped into the shower, and turned on the cold water. I still felt nothing.

A few minutes later, the pain came. As long as I kept my legs in a bucket of cold water, all was fine. Remove the cold water, and everything again was excruciating.

A week later, the skin came off. Underneath it was a nice, new shiny layer of hairless skin. Except for a small area about half the diameter of a dime, for which I had to go through the skin scraping process you hear about on the news. The hair on the outside and back of each leg is gone and has never grown back.

Looking back on it, I’m actually quite glad I had the opportunity to see, hear, and feel what fire really can do. Just as importantly, I have a greater appreciation for what REAL burn victims go through.

I’m a little smarter, and a lot more careful, than I was five years ago.

My wife, Marian, and I met Linnea’s parents in the late 1980s. Pete, Sue, Marian and I ran our dogs on our local flyball team for several years prior to their move to Chicago. We had a child, they had a child, and we continued running flyball together for several years. Our kids grew up with flyball as part of their world.

Linnea, Josh and Sophia continue to run flyball, so I borrowed part of another poem and modified it for today. The original poem is called

“Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog” by Taylor Mali.

Falling in love is a big responsibility,

So think long and hard before deciding on love.

But once you’ve made the decision,

you’ll never go back.

On cold winter nights, Love is warm.

It lies between you and lives and breathes

and makes funny noises.

Love wakes you up at all hours of the night with its needs.

It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn’t like being left alone for long.

When you come home, Love is always happy to see you.

It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,

But you can never be mad at Love for long.

At times Love can be difficult. Love makes messes.

Love leaves you little surprises here and there.

Love needs lots of cleaning up after.

Sometimes you just want to get Love fixed.

Sometimes Love just wants to go for a nice long walk

Because Love loves exercise.

It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.

It pulls you in several different directions at once,

Or winds around and around you

Until you’re all wound up and can’t move.

Throw things away and Love will bring them back,

again, and again, and again.

Throw things away after teaching Love flyball,

and Love brings them back even faster!

But most of all, Love needs love, lots of it.

And in return, Love loves you and never stops.

Congratulations on your wedding day, Josh and Linnea!

Please keep in mind that there is flexibility in the order of the presentation components. Be certain to address each component somewhere in your presentation.

1. Begin with an appropriate title slide
2. Introduce your activity/classroom practice/proposed classroom practice
3. Provide background (who, what, when, where, why)
4. State your goals/beliefs/challenges (your contentions)
5. Literature-based support (supporting contentions of others)
6. Standards (provide a slide dealing with selected standards, discuss as time allows)
7. Delve more deeply into your topic
8. Activity (provide sufficient time to complete the activity)
9. Explicitly state the anticipated future direction of your activity/classroom practice/proposed classroom practice
10. End with a bibliography of references used in your presentation

During the second day of the University of Illinois Writing Project 2013’s Summer Invitational Institute I anticipate showing Episode #9  of the Failed Writer series, Non-Crappy Writing Groups. The author, Yuvi Zaikow, has posted all twelve episodes of the Failed Writer series at https://yuvizalkow.com/tag/im-a-failed-writer/.

No matter what you do for a living or your avocation, I think you’ll be able to relate to Zaikow’s angst-ridden presentation of the many things those involved in long-term initiatives so often experience.

Echolalia

We sit in rows

Second graders, avoiding the wrath of a malicious overseer

Bobby, be quiet

Bobby, be quiet, repeats Bobby

I mean it, states the overseer

I mean it, repeats Bobby

We tremble, knowing what is to come

Grab, drag, slam

We hear Bobby’s screams behind the door

The overseer returns

It has a name today, Tourette

It had a name then too, Misbehavior

_____________________________________________________

The situation appearing in this poem took place in my second grade classroom in 1966. Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by physical, jerky movements (tics) and involuntary utterances. Echolalia, involuntary repetition of vocalizations made by another person, is a third symptom experienced by some individuals with Tourette Syndrome. Bobby never returned to school after this incident. None of us, his classmates, had the courage to ask why…

I read the first edition of Fletcher’s What a Writer Needs prior to my participation as a UIWP Fellow in 2010.  I enjoyed the book at that time. The chapter that really spoke to me at that time was the first chapter, Mentors. Interestingly, the chapters I find most valuable in the second edition are the first chapter, as well as both new chapters and the culminating thoughts.

Chapter 1, Mentors. Fletcher continues to hit the nail on the head with a few significant statements.

1. Too often we minimize the essential role mentors play in development of passions, interests, and habits of thinking.
2. Predictability and consistency are essential.
3. Social interaction is often pivotal in mentoring relationships.
4. Mentors hold themselves to high standards, thus setting an example for those they mentor.
5. Mentors build on students’ strengths.
6. Experimentation is key in the development of everyone.
7. Passion remains the most important quality the mentor has to offer.
8. Mentors need to be gentle. Those they mentor are deeply vulnerable to their appraisals.
9. Those of us who have been mentored have some responsibility to do likewise for the next generation.

Chapter 13, Writing Fiction, is the first of the new chapters. Fletcher makes a view obvious points that are essential for those of us who write nonfiction.

1. The writer must have something to say. Pretty obvious, but not always the case!
2. Quality nonfiction often includes an arresting lead, strategic quotes, precise details, vivid descriptions, plus a striking use of verbs.
3. Fletcher’s best subjects seem to be those that anger, appall, baffle or exasperate him.
4. Too much knowledge of a particular subject typically produces the worst writing in technological subjects (e.g. manuals for cameras, computers, or insurance).
5. Ignorance of a subject keeps you honest and humble.

Chapter 14, Revisions, is the second of the two chapters. A few significant points from the chapter follow.

1. The decision about whether or not to revise is one of the choices every writer must make. If not invested in a piece of writing, revision is a waste of time.
2. Revision is not about fixing a broken piece – it’s a way to honor a strong piece that has real potential.
3. Writing is very personal. Don’t take suggestions from just anyone.
4. Editors wield greater power than an author.

The final chapter, Un-final Thoughts, closes the second edition beautifully.

1. Don’t be afraid to live like a writer. Writers explore.
2. Writers don’t shy away from new experiences.
3. There are poems, plays, stories, articles, novels, everywhere, right under your feet. Open your eyes and the rest of your senses.
4. The best things to write about are often the tiniest things.
5. Listen to people. Listen to their stories.
6. Have courage. Speak up. Let the voice in your writing be heard.

I think the 2012 UIWP Summer Invitational Institute has gone very well.

It has become clear to me that the selection of our first book really sets a tone for the next four weeks.

In 2010 we read Ralph Fletcher’s “What a Writer Needs.” It really set the tone for the teacher as a writer. The daily “I am a writer” mantra, trite as it was, reinforced our primary focus. Books two and three dealt with different aspects of writing and writing instruction. I liked being able to select my own focus within the holdings of the UIWP library. Our book discussions centered around book information and our experiences from the perspective of a teacher, as well as a writer.

In 2011 we read “Teaching the New Writing.” The focus of last year’s participants was exploration of various technologies and integration of those technologies into our teaching. The daily “I am a writer” mantra disappeared. We had a great deal of teaching level and subject diversity in our audience, which gave us a broader view of how others worked with various ways of writing in their classrooms.

This year we read “The 9 Rights of Every Writer: A Guide for Teachers.” The participant pool was more homogeneous, being comprised largely of elementary school teachers and writing studies doctoral students. The focus moved more toward a singular writing instruction focus than was the case during the previous two years. Many of the teachers came to us with a broad background in writing instruction already. They tend to pursue writing instruction in their professional development. I wonder if we replicated some of their experiences during the four weeks…

My inclination would be to see us move next year’s initial focus back to the teacher as writer. We could bring in a local author like Alice McGinty, whose experience as an author who has successfully broken into the world of publishing would be broadly applicable to all. I suggest we scale back the number of reading days to set aside designated time for the writing groups to meet each week for an hour during the early afternoon. We may want to consider reducing the stipend to partially cover the cost of attending the All Write 2013 conference. Wendy attended the All Write 2012 conference this year. A quick read through her blog will give you a pretty good sense of the breadth and structure of the conference.

Aside from that, I think all went very well. In spite of the fact that we all had expected and unexpected occurrences, we were consistent in our presentation and the fellows did have a number of opportunities to write using a number of different media forms, and to gain ideas they can use in their own instruction.

In addition to the value gained in moving toward each participant using their own computers, it would be equally valuable to move toward having each fellow use a personal or school video camera for all of their videotaping. Uni High will be glad to again supply the Flip cameras used this year, but the audio and visual quality of the Flip output is mediocre at best. I hate to see access to convenient technology override the opportunity to produce good quality work.

Thanks for reading if you’ve made it this far. It certainly has been a lot of fun!

Dave

 Field Notes on Nature and Science, written by Michael R. Canfield is an extraordinary work that introduces readers to the wide variety of different field notebook-keeping approaches used by prominent individuals whose academic discipline requires a considerable amount of fieldwork.

Each of the twelve chapters, written by a single individual, provides insight into that scientist’s thinking and how they came to use their current field note-taking methodology. Though focused on field biology, the book includes chapters dealing with paleontology and anthropology.

The book begins with an excellent overview of the history of scientific field notes and provides a variety of figure showing actual pages from a number of historical works.

Noteworthy points from various introductory sections and chapters follow:

Forward/Introduction

• Pirate-naturalist William Dampier, late 1600s, traveled with a pirate band that ransacked villages and plundered merchant ships.
• Excellent notes in plants, animals, meteorological observations, published “A New Voyage Around the World.”
• The value of taking field notes lies both in the actual information that is recorded as well as what is gained in the process of recording itself.
• Meticulous and organized records form the foundation science, and, like laboratory notebooks for our indoor relatives, are the most basic tool for the study of nature.
• Although the content of field notes has incredible value, the act of recording field notes has benefits that are less apparent and often underestimated.

The Pleasure of Observing  (George Schaller)

• Schaller focuses on the value of meticulous note-taking, including time of activities and drawing, that has contributed to a better understanding of behaviors and interspecific interactions
• Schaller maintains a personal journal as well as a scientific journal.
• The personal journal contributes to later popular writing and provides empathy between the reader and the animal, something that is key in his work as a conservation biologist and one whose work provides funding for initiatives involving charismatic megafauna.
• Notetaking is done in longhand, though he does rely on technologies including GPS and radio-telemetry.

Untangling the Bank (Bernd Heinrich)

• Heinrich’s notes are less structured than those of many others.
• Notes range from ideas to quantitative data. This helps him identify themes and patterns.
• His journals are not meant to be seen or read by others.

One and a Half Cheers for Listkeeping (Kenn Kaufman)

I went into this chapter with an extraordinarily strong positive bias. One of his books, co-authored with Eric Eaton, is certainly one of the three books that I use most regularly.

• Kaufman introduces the opposing ideas of the scientific act of keeping field notes and the game of list-chasing, a common birding practice made public in The Big Year.
• He nicely contrasts the focused Breeding Bird Survey with the frenetic Big Day.
• He clearly has a bias against list counting, though he does see it as something that draws people into nature and field biology.
• He ends with discussion of eBird, a massive database compiled by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society and its use of ‘birder psychology.’ The Welcome screen includes a “life list.” Participation in eBird has increased significantly since the inclusion of this feature…

Why Sketch? (Jenny Keller)

• Drawing makes you look more closely at your subject. The simple act of drawing makes you focus on each and every part of your subject (e.g. toes).
• Colors in photography are often distorted, proportions are distorted, and key features may not be recorded clearly.
• Certain parts are often missed in photography (e.g. the underside of a leaf or a tail).
• Sketching makes you think visually about the publishing stage of your research. The time you take to think about how you want to portray your research in the early stages is critical.
• The act of making sketches makes one better at interpreting and understanding other visual references such as photographs.
• The chapter includes lots of good instruction regarding drawing, color and shading, and drawing shortcuts (e.g leave the drawing unfinished, don’t draw forms, details or colors that are repetitive, trace outlines, and just draw one side of bilaterally symmetric organisms).

Note-Taking for Pencilphobes (Piotr Naskrecki)

I went into this chapter with an extraordinarily strong positive bias. Two of my favorite nature macrophotography books (‘The Smaller Majority’ and ‘Relics’ https://www.amazon.com/Relics-Travels-Natures-Time-Machine/dp/0226568709/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_4) are written by Naskrecki.

• Naskrecki developed a single, centralized system for his behavioral observations, taxonomic information, references, measurements, photographs and sound recordings.
• Mantis, free!
• This database stores essentially a roomful of resources on a single thumb drive.

Why Keep a Field Notebook? (Erick Greene)

• Field notebooks allow you to record and organize your data.
• They also serve as an incredible incubator for ideas and observations.
• Allow you to relive special experiences.
• Considered absolutely essential during the 18^th and 19^th century. These field journals were often published.
• Has a great assignment for his upper level ecology class. I need to check this out prior to the start of the school year.
• Laboratory scientists are better notebook keepers than field biologists.
• Field notebooks range from personal journals that document observations and experiences to formal notebooks that use the Grinnell System (lack  personal observations, musings and peregrinations of the author).
• Gives you a chance to revisit corners of nature and remind you of the sorts of events that are meaningful to you.
• They allow you to document change. Dave Bertelsen has noted that 15% of plant secies in the Catalina Mountains have moved up 1000’ in elevation over the past 20 years.
• Will Kerling’s notebooks led to Missoula, Montana buying private land on Mount Jumbo because of it biodiversity. Mount Jumbo is now a cherished crown jewel of Missoula’s open spaces.
• Summary of the two greatest benefits: 1) Allows you to go back and remember details of observations and studies and 2) if you record more information than you think is important, it will allow you to go back and study them later.

Best practices

1. Use a hardbound notebook.
2. Keep your contact information in the front.
3. Write for yourself and posterity.
4. Write pertinent information with every new entry.
5. Add information on your location.
6. Record your methods.
7. Make backup copies.
8. Make sure abbreviations are in a key in your field notebook.
9. Don’t leave home without it.
10.  Form a writing habit.
11. Set up a structure to your field notebook.
12. Create an index.
13. Treat your field notebook like a scrapbook. Include everything.