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Ayana Mathis: How I Write

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Sat, 10 May 2014 01:53:00 +0000

"What is most important is psychological or soul understanding of characters. I’m not very concerned with what they look like so much as I am concerned with who they are on the deepest level."

Published: April 29, 2014
Article from http://www.writermag.com

Ayana Mathis’ national bestseller The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is so carefully and caringly crafted, it feels as if the story is being told for the first time even as it resonates with history, interiority and reflection. Mathis has a “gift for imbuing her characters’ stories with an epic dimension that recalls Toni Morrison’s writing, and her sense of time and place and family will remind some of Louise Erdrich, but her elastic voice is thoroughly her own – both lyrical and unsparing, meditative and visceral, and capable of giving the reader nearly complete access to her characters’ minds and hearts,” writes Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times. The story belongs to Hattie Shepherd, who is swept north from Georgia and also swept into a complicated family world. Consider these lines about her relationship to her man: “He didn’t understand her. Some nights she lay curled on her side like a fist, and other nights they were on each other until dawn.” Mathis is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and Hattie is her first book. We met up with her at the Miami Book Fair International.

Character: I’m not always entirely sure how characters arrive. It’s mysterious to me. The old thing that all writers say is that you’ve been having an overactive imagination forever. So I think I was probably in the habit as a little girl – I’m also an only child – of receiving visitations of some sort. I don’t mean that in a mystical way. I mean having an imagination that tended to invent people and hang out with them for a while. It’s a grown-up version of imaginary friends.

What is most important is psychological or soul understanding of characters. I’m not very concerned with what they look like so much as I am concerned with who they are on the deepest level. When I was writing this book, I had a notion of a character – say Floyd. I knew he had an odd closeness with his mother that no one else did. I knew he was gay, that he was a musician and he was in a moment of deep conflict. From there, I wrote it out.

Dialogue: I think that also comes from being an only child, among other things. Only children spend a lot of time listening to adults talk and spend a lot of time inventing conversations. As I have gotten older and have been more aware of myself as a writer, I do eavesdrop on conversations on trains and buses. The other thing I do – which is not just for dialogue but for prose in general – is read aloud. You can hear when a conversation is tinny or when it begins to sound like “transcripted” speech as opposed to compressed dramatic speech.

Plot: I can’t outline. I can’t map. Plot comes directly out of character. Plot is difficult for me. If I had my druthers, I would have characters sitting in a room thinking thoughts and occasionally they’d have a conversation with each other. I understand that’s not how things work. Something needs to happen. I generally know three or four things that are loose. Not the mechanics, but a broad outline. Floyd for example: I knew he was going to meet somebody and not be able to continue that relationship. I wrote into that. Plot and character are completely linked for me, and I think they should be.

Research: What I did more than researching is fact-checking. Often when you’re writing, you will find you know a great deal about something or you have a sensibility of an era that you weren’t necessarily aware you did. But these reserves are called upon when you’re doing work that requires them. They make themselves available to you. I would think: ’46 Buick. Write the scene. And then go back – Was there a ’46 Buick? – and check up on myself.

Sentences and revision: First drafts are longhand. Sometimes the sentences come as they are. For first drafts, I tend to just write. I pretend I’m writing stream of consciousness, but I’m also crossing things out. Then the real refining happens when I type things into the computer. That’s when the messy sentence get cleaned up or changed or gotten rid of. I do read aloud a great deal, even when I do first drafts in my notebooks. I wrote poetry for a long time, and I still read poetry. Poetry can’t be reduced to a training ground for prose writers, but it trains your ear to be economic and precise, and to understand how powerful language is and what a wallop it packs.

Published: April 29, 2014
Article from http://www.writermag.com

Writer shows how comic books can be used in education

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Sat, 03 May 2014 03:05:00 +0000

Writer gives lesson at Cary library

Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 11:40 p.m. CDT • Updated: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 11:42 p.m. CDT

By JOSEPH BUSTOS - jbustos@shawmedia.com

Article from http://www.nwherald.com

With pencil and on a white piece of paper, Owen Butler, of Cary, sketched a three-panel comic of Yoda in battle with a man.

Yoda won the light sabre fight in the 11-year-old’s comic strip.

The story was Owen’s creation, after a presentation by Palo Alto, Calif.-based comic book writer Josh Elder at the Cary Area Public Library, where Elder discussed how comics are created and how they can be useful in the classroom.

Owen’s favorite part of the presentation was when Elder described the process of creating a comic book, which includes a story outline, sketching out the pictures and adding color to the pages.

During the presentation, Elder showed the roughly 20 youngsters how simple shapes can be used to draw characters in a comic.

Elder drew Superman using a circle for the head, a rectangle for the body, lines for the arms and legs and a triangle for the cape.

“You can make a comic out of the simplest things,” Owen said.

During his presentation, Elder asked the kids, what are comics?

“Comics are graphic novels that are basically stories written with pictures and speech bubbles,” said 9-year-old Matthew Cotting, of Cary.

Elder also discussed on Tuesday how comic books encouraged him to read.

“I learned to read from comics, learned to love reading from comics. It opened up all the doorways to all subject areas to me,” Elder said. “Hooked on comics worked for me.”

Elder, a 2002 Northwestern University graduate, is a writer for DC Comics and has worked on Batman, Scribblenauts and Iron Man, and Mail Order Ninja, among others.

He is the founder of Reading with Pictures, which promotes the use of comic books in schools as part of the Common Core curriculum.

Reading with Pictures has created a series of short stories and lesson plans that are aligned with Common Core. The first series is aimed at late elementary school and early middle school students.

He hopes to have material for all grade levels in the future.

Elder said comics are helpful because they help engage students in a subject matter, especially for kids who won’t read anything else.

“The format is less intimidating or more interesting and you can put the same content, same material in two different ways, and they will engage with one of them, and not with the other,” Elder said. “You get them engaged, everything else is ... magnitudes simpler.”

Comics also help youngsters remember material better, he said.

“You can convey an enormously complex ideas in powerful ways in comics in ways prose cannot do by itself ... or text and images can’t do alone,” Elder said. “You put them together, you get more.”

Comics also help present material in a more efficient time frame than just a block of text, Elder said.

“We live in a world where we have to process information faster because there’s more information,” Elder said. “The rate of information growth is accelerating.”

JOSEPH BUSTOS - jbustos@shawmedia.com
Article from http://www.nwherald.com

Conservative Writer Desperately Needs Comprehensive Sex Education

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 11:13:00 +0000

Cathy Reisenwitz
DC-based writer and political commentator
Posted: 03/31/2014 5:48 pm EDT Updated: 03/31/2014 5:59 pm EDT From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathy-reisenwitz/

On the same day that Massachusetts recommends all sex education classes in the state include accurate information on contraception and STI prevention, a writer at conservative site Townhall.com has written a scarily inaccurate article entitled Hobby Lobby: Should Employers be Forced to Provide Abortifacients?

Perhaps with access to quality sex education, writer Rachel Alexander would know that none of the products covered by the ACA are abortifacients.

Alexander's very first sentence is untrue, "The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in the Hobby Lobby case, to decide whether a business that provides health-care insurance to its employees can be forced to include abortifacients in its coverage." In reality, no form of abortion is covered by the ACA. Only contraceptives are covered.

Not only are Rachel Alexander (and Hobby Lobby) ignorant of or lying about what the term abortifacient means, but they're also ignorant of or lying about how the contraceptives covered by the ACA work. For Alexander, Hobby Lobby, and anyone else who missed out on comprehensive sex education, an abortifacient causes an abortion. An abortion is the ending of a pregnancy. There are two generally accepted definitions of pregnancy. Some believe pregnancy happens as soon as an egg is fertilized. Some believe pregnancy begins when a fertilized egg attaches itself to uterine lining.

Here's where things get misleading. Some people are fighting contraceptive usage by claiming that some forms of contraception prevent pregnancy by preventing fertilized eggs from implanting in uterine lining. This is false. No form of contraception works that way. All forms of contraception work primarily by preventing ovulation and fertilization. It's true that in theory, every form of birth control can fail to prevent fertilization and can interfere with implantation. But no form primarily works this way. In fact, no scientific evidence indicates that prevention of implantation actually results from the use of any of any form of contraception covered by the ACA.

How does the implant work? The "primary mechanism of action" is inhibiting ovulation. How do hormonal and non-hormonal IUDs work? They both keep sperm from reaching eggs. The claim that any form of contraceptive works primarily by keeping fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus does not stand up to any scientific scrutiny whatsoever. It is patently false.

Not only is Alexander misleading readers when it comes to the facts of the case, but she actually encourages women seeking abortions to look to the black market. "In today's Internet society, any woman can purchase dirt-cheap abortifacients online without a prescription." Sure, illegally. But there's always a coat hanger lying around, right?

She also does understand what abortifacient are made out of. Pregnant women "can also take an increased dosage of contraceptives to act as an abortifacient, since that is all abortifacients are." Well, no. Most are actually steroids.

Besides the fact that no one who is so incredibly, breathtakingly ignorant on contraception should be writing falsehoods about it for a major publication, the truth is that no one in America should be that so incredibly, breathtakingly ignorant on contraception. Learning how to prevent a pregnancy, even if you choose not to do it, is kind of a big deal.

Certainly, there are downsides to mandating sex education. Parental desire to shape their content and timing of their children's introduction to sexual health is understandable, and should be protected. However, one only has to look at Townhall.com to see the great need for better and more information on how pregnancy and contraception actually work.

Cathy Reisenwitz
DC-based writer and political commentator
Posted: 03/31/2014 5:48 pm EDT Updated: 03/31/2014 5:59 pm EDT From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathy-reisenwitz/

How to Hire a Great Ad Writer

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:29:00 +0000

Tips for finding the perfect pitch person for your business

BY ROY H. WILLIAMS | January 10, 2005|

Article from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article

Common sense would tell you that a person with a degree in advertising and marketing would be a better than average ad writer. But then common sense would be wrong. Rarely can a person with a marketing degree write anything more interesting than a grocery list. Or at least that's been my experience, having hired more than 150 ad writers during the past 25 years.

Strangely, the college degrees that I've found to more often indicate writing talent are these:

1. Art history. Surprised? You shouldn't be. This degree requires a tremendous amount of writing. The successful art history student must routinely find words to express what is by nature inexpressible. "Explain the difference between the impact of Jackson Pollock and that of Pablo Picasso." Show me a person who can wrap their arms around that, and I'll show you a great ad writer in the making.

2. English. People who love to read and write will often major in English, even though they know there's little they can do with their degree after graduation. There are two kinds of people who graduate with an English degree. One is a natural editor, great at content evaluation, thought organization and sentence structure. The editor knows instinctively what to leave out. The other is a romantic in love with words, and he or she always knows what to include. Look closely at the cover letters accompanying their résumés. The editor's letter will be clear, concise and well organized. The romantic will be flamboyant in his or her use of colorful words and phrases. If your product is purchased intellectually, hire the editor type. If it's purchased emotionally-from gut feelings-hire the romantic.

The most important question to ask during an interview is this: "How many books do you typically read in a year and what have you been reading lately?" Anything less than 15 books per year is not acceptable. Extra points for the person who reads 25 or more, and nonfiction books don't count. You're looking for the person who reads poetry and novels and spends his or her spare time writing short stories and screenplays. Putting the right words in the right order to express the right idea in the right way is a skill not unique to advertising. Show me a hungry reader of great literature-something besides newspapers, business books and magazines-and I'll show you someone who can bang words together so the sound of them will ring for miles. Make no mistake: That's exactly what it takes to make your ads stand out from among the clutter.

I'm not suggesting that ad writers use a literary style in their ad writing, only that they create the same kinds of word-juxtapositions, elegant incongruities and joltingly vivid descriptions that distinguish the legendary authors. And writers can't hear these kinds of phrases echoing in their ears during the day unless they're filling their minds with them at night. Hire a hungry reader in love with language.

Be sure you interact substantially with each of your candidates in writing before you ever speak with them by phone or in person. Why? You're not likely to be impressed with a great writer during a face-to-face interview. Writing is their preferred method of communication, remember? And great writers are a different breed. As John Steinbeck wrote in his diary (published by The New York Times): "In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable. He must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true." Wow. What a perfect description of a great ad writer.

Great writers were rarely the quarterback or the head cheerleader or the student voted most likely to succeed. They were usually misfit kids like the legendary screenwriter David Freeman, who recently said, "The goal of life is to take everything that made you weird as a kid and get people to pay you money for it when you're older."

Go hire a David Freeman, and your ads will start pumping out prospects like you never thought possible. You'll probably find your David working at a Barnes & Noble.

The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, not of Entrepreneur.com. All answers are intended to be general in nature, without regard to specific geographical areas or circumstances, and should only be relied upon after consulting an appropriate expert, such as an attorney or accountant.

ROY H. WILLIAMS | January 10, 2005|

Article from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article

Quiet Strength: 'The Cooked Seed': Anchee Min's Journey From China To America

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:22:00 +0000

26 minutes ago - by Katie Baker
Article from http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/

Bestselling author Anchee Min pens a follow-up to 'Red Azalea' about her long, hard road to success in the U.S. The Daily Beast spoke with her about immigration, China today, and the ecstasy and terror of writing honestly.

The Daily Beast: What made you decide to tell the second part of your story now? The first part, about your childhood in Mao’s China, you told in Red Azalea. What made you decide to talkabout coming to America in The Cooked Seed?

Anchee Min: I think it had to do with my daughter. She was born in Chicago and grew up in America…raising her was a learning experience. She grew up here and when she was applying to colleges a few years ago, she said, 'You know, Mom, you have a platform'. Lauryann reminded me that I had a platform, and that I represented a population of immigrants who are voiceless. Back in China, I wrote Red Azalea because so many of the people that I knew in labor camps, they just vanished. And I had this survivor's guilt and I came here and wrote Red Azalea—it was voice they didn’t have, and I voiced it for them. And it never occurred to me that I could represent a population here that was also voiceless. But it makes sense. Because I came here without English, with no education, so therefore I could only work on low-end jobs and live in the bottom of the American society. Which turned out to be a blessing for me as a writer—it made the foundation for The Cooked Seed.

That was such a powerful part of the story, where you writing about how you had just come to America and you were struggling to stay alive. So many immigrants do have to struggle so very much just to stay afloat. You write about the loneliness, and the constant fear of deportation. Are you ever in touch with those students from your early days in Chicago?

I'm aware of what they are up to. You see, I’m in a difficult situation right now because of the [literary] celebrity thing. Many of them are still ... they are doing well. They gained a higher education, even though they didn't know the language—but they strived on. They went into nursing, or if it wasn’t the medical profession, into restaurants and the like. They are still living a good American life, but they are still working hard. And I am on, like the high end ... [so] I’m afraid that people might feel uncomfortable, if they do hear about you. It’s different now.

Are you still in touch with the actress Joan Chen? That was such an interesting part of your story, the fact that you were in a labor camp in China together as kids.

We spent time together two days ago. She was producing a piece for the San Francisco Film Festival, she had her first screening, and she invited me.

Do you ever talk about those early days in China?

No. It’s very strange, the silence. When Chinese get together—what’s buried stays buried. We don’t even discuss our embarrassing early days struggling in Chicago. This is also the hardest challenge of writing The Cooked Seed. I believe many of my fellow immigrants, we have to stare at our own humanity right in the eye—sometimes you can’t bear it. It’s beyond uncomfortable, because it means having to reveal, in my own case, my darkest thoughts—embarrassing, humiliating human moments. You read about my video store thing [renting an X-rated film out of loneliness]. How all these years throughout my youth, I craved for affection, but my relationship was with this sex video tape… I feel like I would have never shared that with my daughter or anybody I knew.

That was really brave to write about it.

So I thought I was American enough [to be aware that] the true value of my writing lies in my honesty. It wouldn’t be my best contribution to America, however hard it is—there would be no meaning in writing it—unless I could commit myself to 100 percent honesty. And I struggled to conquer my own demons, and I deleted some of the paragraphs, right after I wrote them. I had to fish them back from the recycling bin.

Was it difficult to relive some of these episodes you write about? You talk about some very difficult things: rape, an attempted murder, abortion, a loveless marriage—was it hard for you to revisit those points in your life?

Yes... you see, the great thing about America, with [its tell-all memoirs and] Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil … all these memoirs [like] Frank McCourt's— I realized, it wasn't my fault if I was raped. But the hardest thing was. how do I dissect my own life and perform an autopsy on my failures? To point out my failures. My daughter is going to see them, my family is going to see them. And my daughter accepts me; my father says, 'I don’t read English, my gut feeling is I trust you'. But my family members, my siblings, are having tremendous trouble with it: 'Why do you have to [reveal things] that big, at that level? Reveal the scope of it?' I understand, they want to protect me; they thought I was putting myself in harm’s way. In China, this is considered a shame. Silence is expected for a Chinese woman. No matter how American I become, I’m considered part of the Chinese community by my own family.

So this is what I’m dealing with. It took me 29 years to realize that the value of my material was the life I was living. And my everyday struggles in America reflect a part of immigrant history, and that it’s larger than myself, larger than my own sacrifice. I talk about giving back, this society talks about giving back. But when I really come to the bottom of what I can give back, is it the glorious moments? You know, ‘I made it, I have five toilets to show off, a big house’—or is it my failures, my humanity?

What was going through your mind when the literary agent called and said she was interested in Red Azalea?

I thought I was hallucinating. The moment before, my husband and I were mad at each other. We were taking down the plumbing because it was leaking, all because we were unwilling to spend $1.29 for [fixing the pipe]. If only I could afford $1.29, if only I could afford a new model, this would not happen. And next thing, Sandy [Dijkstra] was telling me the number [for the book]. In Chinese, the hard thing to translate is the math. I just couldn’t get it. I thought $750 would be great. I asked, ‘$750, or seven-five with two zeros?” And she said, ‘Three zeros, honey.’ I thought I heard her wrong. You can come here a nobody. You can come to America off the boat, a nobody…and you can get [a book deal].

You worked so very hard to get there. You sent the manuscript out to 12 literary agents. That’s tenacious. Is it strange when you look at China today and it’s become this flourishing, capitalistic society? It’s so much different from your childhood.

The words that come to mind are: I’m not surprised. Not surprised. Because the people who are managing China are people like me. You see, during my time, half of the country's people were sent to the Cultural Revolution's labor camps or the countryside. So we knew what did not work. Our whole generation was a disillusioned generation, therefore politically mature and very practical. So look at the streets of Shanghai during three different decades: the first decade, there was a lot of [praise of] Chairman Mao and carrying on the Cultural Revolution to the end. And the second decade was Deng Xiaoping’s 'White cat, black cat, whichever catches mice is the great cat' capitalism. And then the third was, 'Let’s build 18 million toilets in Shanghai, and borrowing to take a loan is not bad'. So I think this really reflect the Chinese middle-class mindset, which I think is the strength of my writing—I think I can easily penetrate that way of thinking.

What's going on China, I have no problem comprehending, understanding. I see in my daughter, and she is so ill-prepared throughout the American education system, she was not prepared with any knowledge of China. As a country, as Americans, I feel we can no longer afford to ignore China. And I think that I’ve made it kind of my mission, to help Americans understand where China is going by showing where China is coming from.

Will this book be published in China?

I don’t know.

Was Red Azalea published in China?

No. It was rejected. Many books on the Cultural Revolution are ok, China embraces them. But this one was an international bestseller, and China felt kind of unsure and vulnerable. When something’s big, it has to be perfect. If there’s any hint of anti-Communist party [sentiment], any question of that, then they get nervous ...But this one, I’ve got so much positive feedback from Chinese friends. Actually, we’ve never discussed Red Azalea. With The Cooked Seed, we discussed it, and one person wrote to me saying that she cried in many places when she read The Cooked Seed. They feel they could share this American experience. In a way, it’s what China wanted to read. Red Azalea is something they want to forget, And The Cooked Seed, they feel like they can be inspired—it’s a piece about moving on.

The theme of mother and daughter is so strong in the book. When you were pregnant, you said you wanted a boy, because being a Chinese woman, you knew females have a tougher life. Are you glad now that you had a girl?

Oh yes, I’m so thrilled that she’s a girl. I’m so blessed; I’m so, so happy. Also, she proved me wrong. She made me realize my core values. You can be constantly surprised by what your own American culture is doing to you. It made me see how corrupted to the core I was...And I thank my daughter for educating me on that level. In a way, it is a fulfillment of a life. I probably never would’ve even reached that—reached enlightenment—if I hadn’t been in America. If I had remained in China, I would’ve been dead. Physically—and if not physically dead, then mentally dead. Because I would’ve never reached the spirituality, the enlightenment, the richness of my life, the potential of who I am, if I haven’t become American.

It sounds like your daughter is also reaching her potential, too. In the book, we see her getting into Stanford.

The thing I appreciate the most is that she’s in the mindset of giving back. Because it was my biggest fear. I have witnessed so many, I'm sorry to say, self-centered people of this generation, my daughter’s generation. And I thought I couldn’t do anything about it. But I can do my best to avoid letting my daughter go in that direction. And I also have to give credit to my husband. He’s American, a U.S. Marine, and Vietnam Vet. He’s the Tiger Dad, still today. He’s the Tiger Dad at home. They all assume you’re the Chinese woman and you’re the Tiger Mom. I’m not; Lloyd is.

Katie Baker
Article from http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/

Are kids still learning the basics?

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:37:00 +0000

Dougall Public School student Kyle O'Keefe, 6, works on a task Wednesday, May 8, 2013, in Windsor, Ont. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)

Brian Cross
May 10, 2013 - 11:59 PM EDT
Last Updated: May 12, 2013 - 11:19 PM EDT
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/05/10/are-kids-still-learning-the-basics/

When parent Nikki Pilutti walked into her daughter Jill’s Grade 3 class and saw “Lerning” misspelled prominently on the board, it drove home what she’s long believed.

Like many parents raised on weekly spelling tests, grammar work sheets and multiplication times tables, she contends the basics aren’t getting the attention they deserve.

“They don’t focus as much on the phonics and the repetition of doing your addition and subtraction over and over and over again,” said Pillutti, a LaSalle mom who takes her two kids to a Kumon tutoring program to supplement their regular school with old-time, back-to-basics education.

“They drill them,” she said, “for days and days and weeks, we’re doing the same work over and over again, until I can look at my five-year-old son and ask: ‘What’s eight plus four?’ And he says ’12.’”

He’s not counting on his fingers, he just knows, says Pilutti.

“They don’t get that at school.”

It’s a sentiment felt by an army of parents who are complaining their kids can’t spell, have terrible grammar and don’t know their times table. In response, tutoring centres have sprouted up across the city. Scott Sylvestre started with one Kumon and 20 students in 1996. Today he has two locations and 300 kids.

Parents cite the lack of emphasis on spelling, cursive writing, phonics, times tables, basic adding and subtracting. “That’s what we do,” he says of his program. He thinks the basics are “glazed over” at schools because they have so much to get through. “Believe it or not, we have teachers bring their children to us, so something’s missing.”

The biggest comment that Oxford Learning Centre franchise owner Andrea Esteves hears from parents is what happened to the basics?

“It used to be we’d have to memorize the times tables and that doesn’t necessarily happen anymore, so a lot of times I have parents come to me, they have kids in Grade 6 or 7 and they can’t say off the top of their heads what five times seven is.”

When Amanda Coughlin was supply teaching a Grade 7-8 class few years ago, about 75 per cent of the students did not know the times table. When it comes to one of the basics, teachers teach it and move on, and the kids who haven’t grasped it are “kind of left hanging,” said Coughlin, whose tutoring service is called There and Back Again, a reference to her back-to-basics approach.

“I’m finding that drilling, as old fashioned as it is, if you drill and practise, practise, practise, it starts coming easily.”

But Ontario’s Education Minister Liz Sandals insists that “absolutely,” kids are still being taught these basics, just in different ways. They’re still learning phonics and spelling. And when it comes to math, what they’re doing in high school is work that used to be done in university, she told The Star.

The average student who graduates high school now has vastly more knowledge than someone who graduated decades ago, she said. “The amount we expect our kids to know is actually quite astounding,” said Sandals, citing studies that show Ontario’s education system is one of the best in the world, and standardized test results that show a continuing improvement year after year.

Nowadays there’s a greater emphasis on students figuring things out, the minister said. “It’s not just parroting back, and ultimately that is what allows you to go forward in any subject.”

When asked about parents mourning the absence of the basics, Clara Howitt, a superintendent at the Greater Essex public school board, said “I think we get caught up in what we know, what we experienced.

Dougall Public School student Arlind Avdo, 6, works on a task Wednesday, May 8, 2013, in Windsor, Ont. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)

“But we don’t do spelling like we used to, writing out the word 25 times, because I don’t think that necessarily makes people better spellers.”

And there are tools to help us we didn’t have before, including spell check, she said.

Howitt said when she was in school it was largely about memorization and regurgitating. “Well, for your kids and for my kids, I don’t want them to regurgitate, I want them to think, I want them to be creative, I want them to challenge and just not accept an idea.”

J. Richard Gentry, the U.S.-based author of a new generation of spelling textbooks, believes that spelling has been put on the back burner and as a result kids these days are lousy at it. What’s taken over is the discovery approach to spelling, where kids explore words. And what’s disappeared is the old fashioned memorization method. “In my own view, what’s more appropriate is a kind of balanced between these two,” said Gentry, whose books, he said, are very different from traditional spellers.

Dougall Public School student Mason Lapansee, 7, centre, watches a video Wednesday, May 8, 2013, in Windsor, Ont. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)

There’s a preponderance of research that says the old way of memorizing and drills is not the best way to educate our kids, said Susan Holloway, an associate professor at the University of Windsor’s education faculty who studies literacy. Perhaps kids aren’t as good at spelling as they once were, but that’s largely due to the fact they’re reading less in this computer-game-crazy era, said Holloway, who likes the way schools are heading when it comes to teaching kids to write.

“I’m not in any way saying it’s not important to teach grammatical skills … but those skills are better learned when they’re tied directly to students writing.”

For example, she said, learning the correct use of a semicolon might be started by a short 10- or 20-minute lesson on a Monday, followed on Wednesday with students being asked to write a short story which includes at least one sentence in which a semicolon is properly used.

Dougall Public School teacher Kathy Freeman teaches her grade 1-2 class Wednesday, May 8, 2013, in Windsor, Ont. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)

Having students use the grammar they’re taught in their own writing, said Holloway, “is really key to their actually taking it in.”

Students at Dougall elementary don’t use the old spellers with weekly word lists, but that doesn’t mean they’re not learning to spell, says principal Diane Beck. Indeed, you should see the vocabulary list in Kathy Freeman’s Grade 1-2 class. Environment, garbage, carbon and pollution were among the dozen or so words these six- and seven-year-olds were learning to spell and write.

The words all come from their study of polar bears, a subject the kids themselves chose, but which incorporates all kinds of curriculum requirements for their grades. After learning throughout the week about polar bears and how their survival is threatened by climate change, they each wrote letters – edited and corrected – to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking him to help. Last week, they focused on space, studying reports from Canadian Commander Chris Hadfield aboard the International Space Station. The inquiry included forays into math, science, writing and reading.

Dougall Public School students Simran Parker, 7, left, and Brooklyn Dell, 8, discuss a video they watched Wednesday, May 8, 2013, in Windsor, Ont. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)

“They’re doing (spelling) for a real purpose,” said Freeman, who calls her room an inquiry classroom, which has a word wall filled with hundreds of commonly used words, which the students put up themselves and then reference when they’re writing.

“Instead of just memorizing a word as part of a list and it’s gone next week, we learn with the words, play with the words,” she said.

This week, they were working on their KWL pages, where they write what they know, want to know and learn about space.

Fernando Garcia, 7, proudly says “I’m writing about space,” as he carefully writes in his KWL: “When you sleep in space you are on the flor,” a minor misspelling that probably won’t get pointed out immediately. That will wait until he makes the final draft of his report and he edits his work.

Dougall Public School student Fernando Garcia, 7, watches a video Wednesday, May 8, 2013, in Windsor, Ont. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star

“They’re still doing spelling, it’s just not in the traditional sense where every week there’s a random list that may or may not have a connection to what they’re doing,” said Emelda Byrne, a superintendent with the Windsor-Essex Catholic board.

She believes that moving away from memorizing and towards a discovery-based approach better prepares students for the modern world. Instead of concentrating on memorizing the times table, students learn how multiplication is the repeated addition of the same number. She recently witnessed a classroom where students were broken into groups and asked to figure out how to put 475 students going to a field trip onto school buses that seated 50. Some did addition, some estimated, some did division, and then they had to figure out what to do with the remainder – the 25 students left over after nine buses arrive. They then decided to take the 10 buses they’d ultimately need and calculated how many students each should have.

“It was a great operational question,” Byrne said, “And it led them to problem solve, which was what was expected of the assignment.”

Dougall Public School teacher Kathy Freeman teaches her grade 1-2 class Wednesday, May 8, 2013, in Windsor, Ont. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)

Brian Cross
May 10, 2013 - 11:59 PM EDT
Last Updated: May 12, 2013 - 11:19 PM EDT
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/05/10/are-kids-still-learning-the-basics/

Reaching their full potential

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Sat, 11 May 2013 07:38:00 +0000

By Roger Phillips
Record Staff Writer
May 11, 2013 12:00 AM
Article from http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130511/A_NEWS/305110316

STOCKTON - Yael Castillo slipped on a prosthetic arm the other day and flexed the device's two prongs to pick up tennis balls and toss them into a bucket, to lift a can of soda and drink from it, even to grasp a pen and sign his name.

Was there anything he couldn't do with the artificial limb?

"Maybe use a touchscreen phone," Castillo said.

The prosthesis cost $19.44 to build. It was designed and constructed by Castillo and fellow Stagg High School students Brooklyn Omstead, Anthony Nichols and Gabriel Zuniga. Today at University of the Pacific, Stagg's prosthetic arm just might pick up one more thing. It might grab the Math Engineering Science Achievement, or MESA, state championship.

"For less than $40, they had to design something to replace the arm and hand," explained Stagg's MESA teacher, Andrew Walter.

Last year, Stagg students including Omstead won the national MESA championship with the wind turbine they built. This year, MESA participants nationwide were called upon to design and build prosthetic arms that could be of use to the roughly 65,000 people in the United States who annually undergo an amputation. If Stagg's team wins today, it will try to repeat its MESA national championship next month in Portland, Ore.

The Stagg foursome designed and built its prosthetic device, starting in November, over the course of more than 700 hours. As if designing the gadget wasn't enough, MESA competitions require students to write a seven-minute speech about their creation and to create a display board and a PowerPoint. Writing and presentation skills are as important a part of the MESA process as the scientific aspect.

"They turn out to be a fairly well-rounded group by the time they're finished," said Walter, whose MESA program has about 130 participants.

Stagg's prosthesis was fashioned from 26 different items, none of which cost an arm and a leg because the MESA projects are required to be built with thrift in mind. Stagg's students used duct tape, air tubing, a bit of sofa cushion, PVC pipe, football padding, fishing line and 20 other materials.

Though all of Stagg's supplies were donated, the students were required to price the items online and provide documentation of the total cost of building their arm. Walter said the students also received another donation: a spare prosthetic arm from a Stagg teacher who is an amputee. From this, Walter said, the students were able to do "reverse engineering" as they conceived their own prosthesis.

Stagg High students are among more than 1,500 elementary, middle school and high school students from the region who receive support from Pacific's MESA center. The Stagg teammates competing today say learning by working on a project is vastly more engaging than sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture. They say the active learning develops their brainpower.

"It gives you a new way to look at things," said Omstead, a 16-year-old junior. "It teaches you to problem-solve. You can take that and use it in other situations and be more effective in the way you think."

There's also a practical benefit, Walter said, to getting students excited about science, technology, engineering and math - STEM for short.

"STEM fields is where it's at," Walter said. "STEM is where the United States unfortunately is falling farther and farther behind, and that's where most jobs are opening up."

Walter's students worked collaboratively to prepare for today's event. The 18-year-old Castillo, a senior, was the lead builder with assistance from Nichols, a 17-year-old junior. Omstead designed the team's academic display board. Zuniga, a 16-year-old sophomore, did the technical writing. In developing their prosthesis, the students learned about kinetic and stored energy, kinesiology and anatomy, among many other things.

"You get to test your ideas and see whether they work or not," Nichols said.

Zuniga added, "It's fun, and at the same time you get to learn new things."

Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or rphillips@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at www.recordnet.com/phillipsblog.

Roger Phillips
Record Staff Writer
May 11, 2013 12:00 AM
Article from http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130511/A_NEWS/305110316

Writing like a historian: developing students' writing skills

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:35:00 +0000

Using Michael Halliday's theory of functional language, history teacher Lee Donaghy transformed his students' speaking and written work

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/teacher-blog/

Writing like a historian: Lee Donaghy uses English to help his students' express their knowledge and understanding of history in language. Photograph: Alamy

"Why are we doing English in history, sir?" came the question as I asked my year 9 history class what kind of word disarmament was. Having anticipated this kind of reaction I had an answer prepared: "Do we only use language in English lessons?"

The question was anticipated because I have heard it from other classes, and indeed other teachers, since I began to include an explicit focus on language development in my history lessons 18 months ago. And the question goes to the heart of what I believe is a fundamental reason for the attainment gap between children eligible for free school meals and their non-free school meal counterparts in Britain; the misalignment of these pupils' language use with that which is needed for academic success and the need for teachers to explicitly address this misalignment in their teaching.

My year 9 class are typical of many classes I've taught over the nine years of my teaching career; enthusiastic, bright, of limitless academic potential. But when it came to marking their written work I would be left tearing my hair out at their inability to express their understanding clearly. I wanted my pupils to be able to read, speak and write like historians; to be able to express their knowledge and understanding of history in language. After all, we would cover the material in class, I would check their understanding through various exercises and careful questioning and then I would give them frameworks for writing answers, using sentence starters and model answers. Yet, this had always been something of an elephant in the room for me as a history teacher, an issue whose cause and therefore solution I could never quite unpick: why can't I teach my students to write properly?

My answer arrived 18 months ago when I was introduced to the ideas of Michael Halliday and his theory of the functional model of language. Halliday describes language in terms of a 'register continuum' from everyday, informal and spoken-like at one end to abstract, formal and written-like at the other. It's at this latter end where the language of school subjects operates, but the other end where the majority of my pupils operate.

So, I began to focus on shifting my pupils' language use explicitly from everyday to abstract, from informal to formal and from spoken-like to written-like. One very important aspect of this was to use classroom talk and discussion as a way to bridge the gap between pupils' exploratory talk in pairs or groups and their individual written work. Paying conscious attention to the language they use to express understanding in different contexts, from discussion to reporting back to presenting, is a powerful way of scaffolding pupils' ability to write accurately and effectively.

In practice this means two things: developing pupils' knowledge of technical, subject specific vocabulary, like disarmament, and giving them a framework for talk in the classroom. To give you an example, when considering the impact of the Wall Street Crash and the subsequent Great Depression on levels of international co-operation, I divided pupils into six groups. Three groups were given information about international co-operation in the 1920s and three were given information about the same topic in the 1930s. Each group had to discuss the information and be ready to feedback to the class their judgement on the level of co-operation in their period. I emphasised to the pupils that each group only had half of the information needed to answer the question.

As a result of this information gap, each group investigating the 1920s had to explain clearly and explicitly to the 1930s groups what their judgement was and which information they had used to come to it, and vice versa. By feeding back to the rest of the class in this way pupils were pushed to produce longer, fuller and more explicit stretches of language.

This move provides a bridge for pupils into writing. The longer stretches of language with explicit explanation help them to reproduce this on paper. They then begin to speak like historians – although they hated me describing them as historians at first – and then in turn find it easier to write like historians. Consistently using this formulation has increased my pupils' confidence and for my year 9s it has now become second nature to answer questions and report back from discussions formally and at length, with noticeable impact on the quality of their writing.

All of which means marking their books should no longer lead me into premature baldness.

Lee Donaghy is an assistant principal at a secondary school in Birmingham.

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/teacher-blog/

2013: The Year of the Online Writer

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Tue, 07 May 2013 04:45:00 +0000

From: http://www.copyblogger.com/2013-online-writer/

We’re coming up on seven years since I started Copyblogger. That alone is hard for me to wrap my head around, and yet … here we are.

Since day one, it’s been about content. Not just words that fill up a webpage, but valuable information that attracts attention, drives traffic, and builds businesses.

But there’s another thing Copyblogger has always been about, and that’s the people who create the content. For the most part, especially for us, that means writers.

The last several years (and especially 2012) you’ve heard a lot about content marketing.

Some might say too much, but trust me, it’s not going away. We won’t go back to straight pitches, clever commercials, and filler website copy after being offered strategic content with independent value – the Internet-empowered prospect won’t tolerate it.

On the other hand, there hasn’t been as much celebration of the people who create the blog posts, white papers, video scripts, and infographic copy. That’s about to change, especially around here.

2013 will mark a shift in both the perception and the fortunes of Internet-savvy writers. Here are three big reasons why the writer runs the Internet show:

1. Online Marketing is Driven by Content

Content marketing isn’t a buzz phrase, and it isn’t a fad. Rather, people are starting to realize that content is the foundational element of all effective online marketing. This is very good news for writers.

From the allure of building a direct relationship with prospective customers and clients, to smarter pay-per-click strategies, to social media sharing, to SEO – content is what works.

The increased demand for talented content creators means compensation and respect for the writer will rise … as long as you understand and assert your own value in the marketplace. Don’t worry, we’ll keep reminding you, and giving you smart tips for staking the claim of your choice.

2. Google Authorship Elevates the Writer

Google made talented writers more important with the Panda and Penguin updates. Instead of weak content and “unnatural” link building, now sites need strong content that attracts links organically.

But it hasn’t stopped there. Now who creates the content, and who does the linking out matters – which is why Google wants to know who you are via your Google+ authorship profile. What’s been dubbed Author Rank has the potential to be the biggest algorithmic signal for SEO since the hyperlink itself.

The days of lame anonymous content are over. Even better, rock star writers with demonstrated success and strong social followings will command the highest compensation and equity positions.

Think about that.

3. The Writer as Entreproducer

So, the rest of the business world might start to realize just how much great writers are worth. Well, a lot of writers have already realized it, and have clued in to the fact that they don’t need a job, or perhaps even clients, to succeed at doing what they love.

The boom in online content marketing will drive thousands of writers to control their own destinies. Not just as in-house staff or freelancers, but as owners of consulting firms and agencies.

Add to that the self-publishing boom with ebooks and other digital goods, and the writer truly can run his or her own show. Some might even start software companies.

We’re Excited About You in 2013

Here at Copyblogger, we finally feel like the rest of the world has caught up with us, and more importantly, you.

Content makes the Internet work, but without the writers and other content creators, it wouldn’t happen at all. Never forget that, and never underestimate how much you’re worth in this brave new world of a content-driven, convergent medium.

So, we’ve got big plans for our favorite people next year. Here’s a slight teaser before we wish you happy holidays, and the very best to you and yours in 2013.

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Google+.

From: http://www.copyblogger.com/2013-online-writer/

Improve Your Writing Day by Day

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:56:00 +0000

Article from Literacy News

Once I got to college, I realized that papers were no longer just a couple of pages like they were in high school. Papers became huge projects that took a lot of time and effort. I was not used to spending so much time on just writing a paper. College requires papers that are a lot longer, sometimes up to 15 pages or more. After I had to write my first 14 page group paper, I realized that I could probably use some work on my writing skills. Many other college students feel the exact same way. Just remember you are not alone and there are many other students in the same boat. Here are some tips that I have picked up over the last couple of years in school.

1. Write every day

One of the best ways to become a better writer is to write every day. Although you probably will not have a paper due every single day in college, you should still bust out a pen and paper and write. You can practice by writing in a journal, writing letters, writing other homework assignments, writing on a blog, or writing short stories However you choose to write, make sure you do some every singe day. You will find that your writing skills improve. After all, they say practice makes perfect.

2. Practice proofreading

Proofreading might be one of the most annoying parts about writing a paper. You cannot just write a paper and be done right away. You have to have at least a rough draft, and maybe even two or three other drafts. After you write a draft, you should be able to proofread and fix all of the mistakes you see. If you do not have any mistakes, you need to practice proofreading. Every draft has mistakes and there are always ways to make it better.

3. It’s all about quality

Many people think that the longer their paper is, the better. This is entirely false. If you do not have a length requirement, do not worry about trying to make it as long as possible. Focus on narrowing your topic and making it credible, interesting, and full of good information. Your teacher will not fail to notice f you stretched out your paper as much as you can. If you start sounding repetitive, they will know that your paper is really just mild facts and you did not dig in deep enough.

4. Talk to TA’a

Your TA’s are always there to help. If you need someone to help you proofread or edit, go to them. If they are the ones grading your paper, this is an even wiser decision. Your TA knows what they are looking for and they will point you in the right direction.

5. Take your time

Do not procrastinate big papers. If you write a paper the night before, it can be very obvious that you did not even think about it very much. Take your time. Write out an outline in advance and spend a few weeks mapping out ideas, brainstorming, and drafting up different parts of the paper. The more time you spend, the better your paper will turn out.

About the Author

Terry A. is a writer for the helpful website called MyCollegesandCareers.com. If you are interested in online colleges, this site can help you reach your goals.

Article from Literacy News

Cursive? What’s That?

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 09:30:00 +0000

Handwriting is a dying art. Should it no longer be a required subject in elementary school?

By C. Zawadi Morris Email the author April 6, 2012

Article from Bed-Stuy Patch

In 2012, it’s no secret that letter writing is a dying art.

In fact, it looks as though handwriting and penmanship may already be dead and buried.

If you are a parent with a child in one of the New York City elementary public schools, according to the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS), handwriting as a subject is no longer required.

In fact, handwriting, penmanship and learning cursive have not been a requirement for quite a time. Go ahead: Ask any fourth-grader about cursive, and you likely will get a “what’s that?”

With the proliferation of digital communications, more and more children are developing their writing skills on a keyboard and less on a piece of paper. Typeface has replaced cursive, and emotions now are conveyed through emoticons.

It’s important to note that CCSS does not say teachers cannot teach handwriting and cursive. But the focus of CCSS is on modern writing skills that enable children to compete in the 21st Century, such as discipline-specific content, including building effective arguments, technical writing, coherency and tone.

Most can agree: Penmanship probably was not our favorite subject in school. However, as adults, how many of us can imagine a professional life writing without the ease of cursive? What about the tiny little joy of recognizing a loved one's handwriting and, naturally, connecting it to their personality? And what about signatures? What will become of those?

In many ways, handwriting is the last bastion of personalized communication. Once that’s gone entirely, we can look forward to a world where even grandma’s sweet missives will come in a form of a text-- and then, once that becomes too cumbersome, maybe not at all.

Article from Bed-Stuy Patch

Trouble With ‘As’ and ‘Than’

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:06:00 +0000

April 3, 2012, 8:00 AM
By PHILIP B. CORBETT
Article from The New York Times

Notes from the newsroom on grammar, usage and style.

It’s surprising how often we stumble over constructions involving comparisons with “as” or “than.” This is a case where reading aloud (even reading “aloud” to yourself) may save you from a misstep. These lapses are easy to miss by eye but are more obvious to the ear.

Some recent examples:

•••

Blacks, in general, are three-and-a-half times as likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers, and more than 70 percent of the students who were involved in arrests or referred to law enforcement agencies were black or Hispanic.

Make it “as their white peers.” In general, if the comparison starts with “as,” you need another “as.” (Also, no hyphens are needed in “three and a half times.”)

•••

American Indian women are 10 times as likely to be murdered than other Americans.

Same problem; make it “as other Americans.”

In some cases like this, the original may have read “10 times more likely to be murdered than other Americans.” The Times’s stylebook cautions against those constructions as potentially confusing. But when we change “more likely” to “as likely,” we also need to change “than” to “as.”

•••

Almost all of the rise in nonmarital births has occurred among couples living together. While in some countries such relationships endure at rates that resemble marriages, in the United States they are more than twice as likely to dissolve than marriages.

Here we may have been thrown off track by the “more than” phrase. But the construction should still be “as likely … as marriages.”

•••

But consumers still came out in droves to buy the iPhone 4S, helping the company sell more than double the number of iPhones for the quarter ending Dec. 31 than it did a year ago, a figure that was also lifted by sales of cheap, older models of Apple’s cellphone.

With this construction, we would have to say “more than double the number … that it did a year ago.” But it’s simpler to say “more than twice as many … as.”

•••

Low- and mid-priced chain restaurants are one of the few segments of the economy that decided, during the recession and in its aftermath, to spend as much or more on advertising than they did in the years before.

This is a different version of the “as/than” problem. The full expression is “as much as,” and the second “as” can’t be dropped. Here, the neatest solution is to say “spend as much on advertising as they did in the years before, or more.”

In a Word

This week’s grab bag of grammar, style and other missteps, compiled with help from colleagues and readers.

•••

The awards — considered the most prestigious in all of television — are put on each year by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

If something is truly prestigious, the reader usually needs no persuasion. This sounds promotional.

•••

Rick Santorum tried on Monday to turn a tense and profane exchange with a New York Times reporter to his benefit, using the encounter as a rallying cry and a fund-raising plea.

In precise usage, the word in question, literally describing cattle droppings, is a vulgarity, not a profanity. “Profanity” refers specifically to religious oaths. (Also, it may be overstatement to describe the whole exchange this way, since there was only one vulgar word.)

•••

Uninsured Americans each year use $43 billion of health care they cannot pay for, effectively transferring those costs to other American families to the tune of about $1,000 per year, Mr. Verrilli said.

If you can’t hum it, it’s probably not a tune. In a serious context, the colloquial (and hackneyed) phrase was jarring.

•••

The woman, Shaima Alawadi, died three days after her daughter discovered her body in a pool of blood inside their home along with a note that said, “Go back to your country, you terrorist.”

This crime-scene description, through overuse, no longer shocks anyone. And since she was then still alive, it seems odd to say “her body.”

•••

Like Valerie Jarrett, Mr. Obama’s personal friend and adviser in the White House, Mr. White’s relationship with Mr. Romney goes beyond the professional.

“Like Valerie Jarrett… Mr. White’s relationship” is a dangler.

•••

The party, one that Payton oversaw as one of the league’s most powerful coaches, screeched to a halt last week as the Saints separated themselves from the league in a most unsavory way.

Unless the party was in a stretch limo, R.V. or tour bus, we should have blocked that metaphor.

•••

Quibbles about the thin plot and questionable acting go out the window with each and every tune — and there are plenty of them.

Alliteration is often a clue that a phrase might be shopworn.

•••

The fear factor squared off against my culinary ambitions. Others may want fame and fortune; give me the perfect dinner party.

There’s that alliteration again. And there are the clichés.

•••

For all its success against European rivals, victories by Wales against Southern Hemisphere teams are few and far between.

If only this cliché were rare in our pages.

•••

The bill, approved by a vote of 223 to 181, provoked a full-throated debate on the merits of the law, the Affordable Care Act, on the second anniversary of its signing by Mr. Obama.

My colleague Tim Race points out that “full-throated” is also well on its way to clichédom, especially in political coverage.

•••

A Japanese phenomenon, these tops have erupted into American living rooms, with more than 30 million sold in the United States in the last 18 months, an old-school onslaught that has left some parents finding Beys (as they are known) in every nook and cranny of the house.

This phrase has become weary with overuse; let’s root it out of every corner and crevice.

•••

In evaluating Tebow, he has obvious assets like size and athleticism, and a superabundance of intangibles: work ethic, leadership and some elusive or illusory traits that make him “a winner.” …

When trying to throw quickly, his passes wobbled or sailed away from receivers.

Two danglers in these two sentences.

•••

For good measure, Regular Joe Biden, the muscle-car-loving vice president, has been sent to working-class locations in the Rust Belt while the first lady, Michelle Obama, went on “Late Show with David Letterman” on Monday and reminded everyone she went shopping at Target last year (Mr. Letterman helpfully flashed a photo of the outing.)

The period should be outside the parentheses — or one should be added after “year” so the parenthetical line stands alone.

•••

“I am considering Tweeting,” Leyner announced recently, to a table of friends, over dinner in the West Village, as though Tweeting is an activity he has been encouraged to pursue and is eager to master, even if he’s not quite sure yet what it entails.

Lowercase; “Twitter” is a trademark, but not “tweet.”

•••

But if the endorsement held the potential to further choke off the oxygen to Mr. Santorum’s insurgent candidacy, the Romney campaign inadvertently gave Mr. Santorum a new supply when a senior adviser went on CNN and seemed to suggest that Mr. Romney’s conservative positions in the primary season could change like an Etch a Sketch drawing.

Etch A Sketch (uppercase A, no hypens) is a trademark, and we should render it that way.

•••

Cooper played his senior year at Seton Academy in Illinois, where Thomas, a former Hales Franciscan assistant, said he could not believe the amount of poachers.

Make it either “number of poachers” or “amount of poaching.”

•••

The area is both a National Historic Landmark as well as a Chicago Landmark District.

This pair doesn’t work together; make it “both … and.”

•••

After Deadline examines questions of grammar, usage and style encountered by writers and editors of The Times. It is adapted from a weekly newsroom critique overseen by Philip B. Corbett, the associate managing editor for standards, who is also in charge of The Times’s style manual.

Article from The New York Times

English teachers think outside the box to teach reading, writing to STEM students

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:20:00 +0000

By Allison Rupp

Posted April 2, 2012 at 6 p.m.

Article from knoxsnews.com

Brandon Lee and Rob Williams, both 10th-grade STEM students at Hardin Valley Academy, look for evidence, or quotes, in William Shakespeare's "Othello" to prove what Shakespeare thought about marriage. Then they will fill out a lab report about their findings. photos Special to the News Sentinel

Hypothesis, equation, formula and lab report are words usually associated with a science or math classroom.

However, certain English teachers in Knox County Schools use these words to teach William Shakespeare's "Othello," persuasive writing and figurative language.

In schools with students designated as science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, learners, teachers have had to get creative to teach kids who generally don't like reading and writing how to read and write.

"If you are reading 'The Scarlet Letter' and you don't do anything to bring in science or math, they will hate you, and you will hate it," said Jennifer Pace, an English teacher within the STEM Academy at Hardin Valley Academy. "They hate poetry. They hate to write."

Though STEM students have been put on a math and science track, they still have to learn state standards and pass state English exams.

English teachers at Hardin Valley, L&N STEM Academy and Farragut High School said they've had to change the way they teach to reach math and science kids, but it's made them better teachers overall.

Teacher Beth Love said she was nervous when she first heard she was in the STEM Academy at Hardin Valley. Math and science were never her strong subjects.

Most of her job is spent marketing English to students and explaining why they need to learn to write a literary essay or read Shakespeare, even if they plan to be an engineer or mathematician. She always tries to give them real-world applications.

Whether they're an astronaut or scientist, they might have to write a grant, pitch a project to a client or give a presentation, Love said.

Tressie Norton's L&N students write business letters and emails to learn to write. Recently, students crafted emails to the librarian at Lawson-McGhee Public Library.

"Knowing that the letter goes to a real person ups the motivation," Norton said.

Even though she is an English and journalism teacher, Norton said she feels more like a communications teacher. She's become more "skill-oriented" in instruction.

"If you put a complex math problem in front of them, they can solve it immediately," Norton said. "But if you ask them to talk about it, it's a whole different story."

Norton said she knows she's not going to produce a mass amount of English majors at the end of the year, but if she can get STEM students to talk about current events in front of the class and write technically, the year will be a success.

English teachers have had to come up with ways to excite and interest STEM students about reading and writing as well as make them understand concepts.

"Liberal arts kids get it," said Meshon Crateau, an English teacher at Hardin Valley. "They can write. They want to read.

STEM students don't work in the abstract. They like the concrete where they can say, 'I can figure this out.' That doesn't lend itself to literature."

Lindsey Smith, an English teacher at Farragut, said STEM students sometimes can't get past the subjectivity of a poem to discuss it. She has them look at poetry like solving a problem.

Students are Farragut select different tracks like math and science, but they aren't separated like at Hardin Valley and L&N.

"These students make everything black and white instead of grayish," Smith said. "The subjectiveness is sometimes what turns them off."

Hardin Valley teachers use formulas to explain English concepts.

For example, acec2 tells a STEM student how to write an analytic paragraph. The letters stand for assertion, context, evidence, commentary and conclusion.

Other teachers have STEM students build replicas of Shakespeare's Globe Theater while others have students do lab reports on novels.

Recently, Love asked students to do a lab report about "Othello" and Shakespeare's views on marriage.

They had to state a purpose, materials and procedure, collect data and write a conclusion, all parts of the scientific method. The data and evidence were quotes and examples from the play.

Love even talked about chemistry between characters.

For teachers, it's almost as if they've had to learn a new language, Pace said.

"Instead of using 'prediction,' we say, 'Let's form a hypothesis,'" Pace said. "What do you think is going to happen? We change the language and provide examples."

STEM students like to use graphic organizers, index cards and diagrams to describe character development.

Pace teaches them literary devices, such as metaphor and hyperbole, through different types of novels. Her STEM students read "The Time Machine," "October Sky" and Michael Crichton, besides the classics.

Students at L&N also get to choose a lot of their own books, Norton said, and only five or six students read the same book. However, she said her students don't always choose science fiction books.

Though English might not be their favorite and strongest subject, Smith said math and science students at Farragut don't shy away from them. Many in her 12th-grade AP English class are on math or science tracks.

"Math and science kids are still taking AP English classes even though they may be intimidating," Smith said. "It's challenging, and I think math and science kids are ready for that."

Teachers also celebrate the successes of STEM students like they would the football team or cheerleaders. Recently, Hardin Valley held a pep rally for the robotics team.

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Article from knoxsnews.com

Through playwriting program, students improve writing skills

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 10:46:00 +0000

Article from The Burbank Leader

Students Justin Palomino, Giana Riad, Dominic Perez and Emma Wochner, who wrote the scene "The Runaway," answer questions from the audience after their scene was performed by professional actors at Luther Burbank Middle School in Burbank. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer / March 27, 2012)

By Megan O'Neil, megan.oneil@latimes.com

March 30, 2012 | 4:41 p.m.

A three-year theater arts initiative designed to strengthen the writing skills of middle school students is drawing to a close as the student playwrights and their collaborators stage a final series of performances of work they've written.

At Luther Middle School on Tuesday, and Jordan Middle School on Thursday, students saw their work brought to life by professional actors from local theater companies.

“Everybody had a great time and the parents were surprised,” said Lisa Dyson, art chairwoman and a parent volunteer at Luther. “I don't think it could have gone any better. It was the perfect culmination.”

A similar performance is scheduled for April 13 at Muir Middle School.

The Center Theatre Group Middle School Playwriting Program was launched during the 2009-10 school year in 10 schools across Southern California, including all three Burbank middle schools. The pilot is part of the educational programming at the Center Theatre Group, a prominent performing arts organization housed at the Los Angeles Music Center.

At each middle school site, a Centre Theatre Group teaching artist partnered with an English teacher to deliver theater and playwriting instruction to one class of students.

“The goal behind the program itself is to really improve student writing,” said Traci Cho, director of school partnerships with Center Theatre Group. “We wanted to add to the education of the overall student.”

In the inaugural year, the sixth-grade students wrote first-person monologues. In the second year, the students, now seventh-graders, wrote a full scene. This year, the now-eighth-grade students were tasked with collaborating in small groups to write a one-act play.

Those plays were brought to life at Luther and Jordan middle schools this week, performed by professional actors for audiences made up of staff, students and parents.

While a formal evaluation of the playwriting pilot won't be published for several weeks, early signs indicate compelling results, Cho said. Teachers reported seeing their students — who demonstrated improved writing skills — in a different way.

“The students are highly motivated because of the lessons brought in by the teaching artists, as well as the actors, to write and continue to write,” Cho said.

Article from The Burbank Leader

Writers absorb knowledge from author

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:30:00 +0000

Wayne Dick and Rita Keller concentrated on a creative writing exercise at the writers workshop with New York City author Alison Espach on Saturday at the Riverton Branch Library. Photo by Christina George

Mar 29, 2012 - By Christina George, Staff Writer

Article from The Ranger

Lawrence Miles has spent the last nine years working on an eight-novel urban fantasy project.

The 27-year-old Central Wyoming College student said he hopes to see the pieces in print one day, and his aspiration motivated him to attend a writers workshop led Saturday by New York City novelist Alison Espach at the Riverton Branch Library.

"She's a published author and about my age. I hope to learn from her experiences and learn some of her techniques," Miles said. "I saw this as an opportunity to improve my skills and meet other authors."

To prepare for the workshop, Miles read Espach's novel, "The Adults," which made the Wall Street Journal's Top 10 Novels of 2011 list and earned other recognition.

"It's not my normal genre, but it made me think," he said. "It took me two days to read. I took the time to digest it."

Library assistant Teri Wiblemo, who is in charge of adult programming, advertising and marketing, said Saturday's workshop was the first of its kind in the four years she has been at the library.

"Being in Riverton in the middle of Wyoming, we try to bring people opportunities in culture and art," Wiblemo said. "We try to look out of the box."

On Friday, Espach gave a two-hour talk at the library, reading portions from her book and taking questions from the 30 attendees.

Espach, 27, teaches creative writing in New York City. She said she committed to Saturday's workshop because she enjoys teaching.

"It is always fun to work with aspiring writers and get inspired," she said. "It's mutually beneficial."

With sharpened pencils and spiral notebooks in hand, the class was ready to soak in any information Espach shared.

The author covered elements of writing that included how to develop well-rounded characters, plots and the importance of descriptive words.

"You can't have a point of view without a character," she told the group. "And you can't have a point of view without a plot."

The 15 participants had different reasons on why they signed up for the three-hour workshop.

Rita Keller said she finds her art interrelated to writing and hoped to come out of the session with a few writing tips.

Wayne Dick has a novel he'd like get published.

Riverton High School students Mason Webb and Scotty Heckert, both 17, are prospective writers.

"I wanted to know what kind of effort to put in a good work," Webb said.

Heckert agreed.

"I want to develop my writing skills," he said.

RHS teacher Annette Thornton opted to be a learner for the day, rather than an instructor.

"Sometimes it's really good to stop being a teacher and be a student," she said.

Article from The Ranger

How to Write a ‘Lives’ Essay

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:27:00 +0000

March 8, 2012, 5:36 PM

By HUGO LINDGREN

Article from The New York times

William James Warren/Science Faction, via Corbis

The “Lives” essay has been running in our magazine nearly every week since 1996. For those who don’t know, it is a place for true personal stories, running about 800 words long, and in the print edition, it’s the last bit of editorial content, right inside the back cover. Though we do solicit professional writers, it is open to anyone with a good tale to tell, and we try as best we can to keep up with the steady torrent of submissions. At the risk of making our jobs utterly impossible, I want to encourage even more writers to take the plunge — because the more stories we get, the higher the quality of what ends up on the page. In doing this, it is not our intention to set people up for failure. The truth is, while getting published is a wonderful achievement, the process of writing a story is itself a rewarding experience. You won’t be sorry for having tried.

To help you think about how you might approach writing your own “Lives” essay, I asked the magazine’s editors for a single, succinct piece of advice. This is obviously not meant to be a comprehensive list, and we would love for readers (and writers) to submit their own counsel in the comments section.

Here’s what my editors suggest:

• More action, more details, less rumination. Don’t be afraid of implicitness. And the old Thom Yorke line: “Don’t get sentimental. It always ends up drivel.”

• If it reads like it would make for a Hallmark TV episode, don’t submit it.

• Meaning (or humor, or interestingness) is in specific details, not in broad statements.

• Write a piece in which something actually happens, even if it’s something small.

• Don’t try to fit your whole life into one “Lives.”

• Don’t try to tell the whole story.

• Do not end with the phrase “I realized that … ”

• Tell a small story — an evocative, particular moment.

• Better to start from something very simple that you think is interesting (an incident, a person) and expand upon it, rather than starting from a large idea that you then have to fit into an short essay. For example, start with “the day the Santa Claus in the mall asked me on a date” rather than “the state of affairs that is dating in an older age bracket.”

• Where, exactly, did it start?

• Write past what you think the end of the story is. (Hat tip to Raymond Carver.)

• Do not make it about illness or death, unless that is the story you have to tell.

• Try an Oblique Strategy.

• Go to the outer limit of your comfort zone in revealing something about yourself.

• Embrace your own strangeness.

• If you can’t write it, try telling it.

Oh, and here’s the address for submitting your essay: lives@nytimes.com.

Article from The New York times

Once a teacher, always a teacher

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:56:00 +0000

Educator continues her lifelong career with focus on adult literacy
2:35 PM, Mar. 24, 2012
Article from mycentraljersey.com

Edison, NJ - ESL teacher Barbara Wiskowski-Puglisi works with students, Thursday, March 22, 2012, at the Community Learning Center in Edison. JASON TOWLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / JASON TOWLEN/MyCentralJersey/Staff

Barbara Wiskowski Puglisi remembers gathering her three younger sisters to play when they were children.

“I conducted class,” Wiskowski Puglisi said. “As a child, I always wanted to be a teacher.”

As a teenager, that desire was reinforced by her high-school English teacher, Mrs. Jeanne Nugent.

“She was energetic, enthusiastic, dramatic and loved the written word,” Wiskowski Puglisi said. “What she did appealed to me, and I saw myself in her.”

Some 40 years and one public-school career later, Wiskowski Puglisi brings that same type of energy and enthusiasm to her job as an English as a Second Language teacher in Middlesex County Workforce Development’s Community Learning Center in Edison.

“Teaching is an opportunity for me to learn,” she said. “As a teacher, my students have constantly challenged me, especially now because I teach adults in the ESL program. It is a challenge to communicate some of the basic grammar and vocabulary they need in order to lead a successful life in a totally new environment and secure jobs.”

How it started

Wiskowski Puglisi’s mother, Julia, wanted her daughter to be a teacher, but for a time, she thought she would be a psychiatrist.

“But I couldn’t get my nose out of a book when I was young and I always wanted to write,” said Wiskowski Puglisi, who lives in Bridgewater with her husband, Richard, and their 17-year-old daughter, Genevieve. “Mrs. Nugent also pushed me, in a good way, and it was just natural for me to go the humanities.”

The Irvington native decided while she was in high school that she was going to pursue a career in education. She went to Montclair State University and got her bachelor’s degree in English and her education certification. As a result of a job fair at the university, she got an interview with the Edison school district and a job teaching English in the district’s Thomas Jefferson Middle School. She stayed in the district for 30 years.

Some of those years were spent teaching high school English, primarily to sophomores, she said, as well as teaching to middle-school students. One year, she helped develop a writing skills program for basic-skills students.

“That gave me a taste for what it’s like to teach someone from a different culture,” she said.

When she reached the 30-year mark with the Edison district, she was teaching in middle school.

“I didn’t have quite the same energy, and there were changes going on that were making things more demanding with less appreciation,” she said. “Instead of staying and burning out, I retired while I thought I was still a good teacher.”

Retirement didn’t mean the end of teaching. A friend who also had retired from the Edison district had become the GED coordinator and supervisor of ESL instructors for the Community Learning Center in Edison and told her about a position available in her office. She applied and got the position, and five years later, she is still there, working part-time teaching in two programs.

One is a beginning learner’s program, for students who need to learn the English alphabet and begin to attain some basic knowledge of English. This class has between 10 and 12 students at a given time. The second is an advanced class for students who are more proficient in the language, but need instruction in reading and writing rather than conversation. This class can have between 12 and 15 students.

The open-enrollment ESL classes last about six months and are free, funded by the state. Some students are there so they can find work or get a better job; others because they want to attend Middlesex County College or be able to go on to get a college degree, Wiskowski Puglisi said.

“The people who I have met here are amazing,” she said. “In the past five years, I’ve met professors who have come here to start all over. They’ve left jobs in their own country for an opportunity for a better life here. They struggle with the language but are determined and have a vitality to succeed. They want to become contributors to our work environment. They are working hard to pursue the American dream.”

She also sees a commonality among the successful students she taught in public school and the adult students she teaches today.

“The link between the two is curiosity and the confidence to ask questions,” she said. “That is what has kept me in teaching. All learners have those two qualities in common.”

Challenging times

Hundreds of people use the services of the Community Learning Center annually. According to Carol Bamdad, the center’s supervisor and chief examiner of the GED program, the center served 109 people between August and December 2011, and anticipates serving another 225 through this June. These student-clients come from all over the world — South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Some of those clients come from referrals from the state unemployment program. Others are people who simply find out about the program and make their way to its offices on the third floor of the historic Roosevelt Care Center complex off of Parsonage Road.

Funding for the program has tightened over the years; both Bambad and Wiskowski Puglisi are part time, as is another English instructor. Only the math instructor is full time, and Bambad noted that the program was nearly shuttered last summer because of a possible loss of state funding. These instructors are supplemented by several volunteers, including eight from Democracy House at Middlesex County College. These students are matched with the learning center’s clients to help with one-on-one instruction in remedial math, writing and conversation.

“They are a gift,” Bamdad said of the volunteers, as she also offered praise of her colleague’s work.

“Barbara cares about her students and is able to speak slowly and carefully so that they understand her,” she said. “She does it in a way that they get it, and they love her. Everyone comes with a problem and she helps them. She is the best teacher possible.”

Wiskowski Puglisi speaks with pride about the accomplishments her former students have made in getting jobs — and in forming friendships.

“Some of these students come into the classroom with their own perceptions and stereotypes, but they start to break down the barriers themselves,” she said, “like a young woman from Poland who wanted to go to the mall to buy a bear for her boyfriend’s birthday and had help from another student who is Egyptian.”

This teacher wants to make sure that people understand her students and their motives.

“These people are go-getters,” she said. “Their stories are inspiring, and they have provided a gift to us by what they are doing and trying to achieve.

“You know, my grandfather came here from Poland with nothing, and if it wasn’t for his perseverance, I wouldn’t be where I am today, with the ability to have a good job and a good life,” she said. “These students are trying to do the same thing for their families. And they are our future work force.”

When it comes time to retire from this second career, Wiskowski Puglisi doesn’t envision retiring from teaching.

“I'll be a literacy volunteer,” she said. “I’ll always be involved in some kind of educational work. To me, service is the biggest reward.”

An ornament on Wiskowski Puglisi’s desk has the following saying: “In the joy of others, lies your own.”

“That’s how I’ve tried to live my life,” she said. “And that’s what teaching is about.”

Paul C. Grzella is general manager/editor of the Courier News and Home News Tribune. Share your “passion” with him by emailing him at pgrzella@njpressmedia.compgrzella@njpressmedia.com or calling him at 908-243-6601 or 732-565-7215.

Article from mycentraljersey.com

Four ways to help team members develop their writing skills

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:50:00 +0000

Article by: STEPHEN WILBERS , Special to the Star Tribune Updated: March 18, 2012 - 3:55 PM

Article from Star Tribune Business

When I tell people I meet that I offer training programs in effective writing, a common response is, "Can you believe how poorly people write these days?"

Would that be your response? Would you rant about declining standards and carry on about how no one, especially younger writers, cares about clear, correct writing anymore?

If so, your concerns would not be without merit, and I would interpret your disapproval, perhaps delivered with dramatic emphasis, as an attempt to affirm the importance of what I teach and as a declaration of your allegiance to high standards and the cause of clear communication in a world where so few people practice it. All of which I commend and appreciate.

The problem with this standard response is that it represents an outpouring of negative energy, and if you are a manager and this is your consistent message to your team members, you may not be helping. Instead, you may be undermining your team members' confidence and thereby lowering rather than raising their level of performance.

If you believe as I do that effective managers succeed through challenge and affirmation rather than fear and intimidation, I encourage you to take a positive approach. I'm not suggesting that you lower your expectations but that you articulate your expectations clearly, provide the resources for your team members to meet those expectations and reward them when they do as an explicit component of their job performance reviews.

If you're a ranter, the first step is to change not the content of your message but the tone. Your message is simple: Effective writing is important and achievable, and you are committed to providing the necessary support and resources to help your team members succeed.

The second step is to establish a baseline to determine objectively how good or bad your team members' skills are. This can be accomplished easily (and at no cost) by Googling "Wilbers assessment" and measuring their writing skills on a fifteen-point scale. The average on-the-job writer scores 9. If a team member scores 10 or higher, encourage that person to work on finer points of stylistic technique and persuasive strategy. If a team member scores 8 or lower, send that person back to the basic rules of grammar, punctuation and word choice. Again, a Google search will produce numerous free resources. Objective measures are not hard to come by.

The third thing you can do to promote effective writing in the workplace is to invest in additional resources. This may involve purchasing quick reference guides such as William Sabin's The Gregg Reference Manual, or hiring a trainer - and I don't necessarily mean me. There are plenty of good people out there. One of my main competitors in Minnesota is Stan Berry, and he does an excellent job.

Finally -- and this may be the most challenging step for you -- lead by example. Be a model of good writing yourself. Indicate your commitment to high standards not by carrying on about failure but by demonstrating success.

Stephen Wilbers offers training seminars in effective business writing. E-mail him at wilbe004@umn.edu. His website is www.wilbers.com.

Article from Star Tribune Business

Visiting author sparks imaginations

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 06:16:00 +0000

'Let worms dance!'

South Warren students ‘struck by thunderbolt of creativity’ write book about dancing worms, prejudice during literacy-building project with visiting author

Article from The Warren Record

By Jennifer Harris

Author and writing teacher Susie Wilde talks with South Warren Elementary School students about how the use of vivid verbs can “make a whole picture.” From left to right are: Samirah Watson, Ashley Cortez, Stephen Faulkner, Wilde and Taylor Abott.

Posted: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 2:15 pm | Updated: 2:10 pm, Wed Mar 21, 2012.

By Jennifer Harris

By Jennifer Harris

Nancy Gorrostieta, Unique Nelson and Shannon Hunter, from left to right, participate in a writing exercise.

Students at South Warren Elementary School “slurped horrible fish juice” during a unique learning activity that focused on literacy skills and opening their minds to the creative process of story telling.

Susie Wilde, an author, teacher, children’s book reviewer and columnist from Chapel Hill, was in the school Feb. 27-March 2 to lead fourth- and fifth-graders in writing a book. By the end of the week, students had a fully developed story including “juicy” words, colorful characters, supporting details and an opening paragraph designed to grab readers’ attention.

Diggy would never forget the morning the landlord birds burst into his family’s worm hole. He was just waking when he heard their gravely voices squawk, “Pay your rent, or you’re out!”

“It was a great week for us. The children were talking about it this morning,” Dr. Tony Cozart, South Warren’s principal, said the Monday after Wilde returned home. “Her being here brought some real direction for us. We’ve really been trying to improve our reading comprehension.”

Wilde and South Warren teacher Ashley Smith worked together in the creative learning process, with Smith connecting the students with past information they have had.

“My opportunity to team-teach with Mrs. Wilde was none less than exceptional and ideal for a partnership of that nature. This experience has catered to the comprehension needs of my students,” Smith said. “We met daily to assess the writing needs of our students and create exciting and engaging lessons.”

Wilde uses a stick figure called a “Story Skeleton” to help teach the writing process to older youth, with each body part representing a different story element. During an exercise that reinforced reading comprehension, Wilde read aloud “Ruth and the Green Book” and had students assign story elements to the skeleton. The head represented the main character, strands of hair were character traits, the spine was the character’s motivation, ribs represented conflicts, and so on.

The students later applied the same exercise in developing their own story, which had a break-dancing, Mohawk-wearing earthworm named Diggy as the main character, and prejudice against dancing worms as a theme.

The only thing he loved more than dancing was his family. He’d do anything to keep a roof over their heads and make sure they were safe from predators. So after supper, the night crawler slithered into his skinny jeans, wiggled into his tight T-shirt, and decorated himself with every bit of bling he owned. He popped his snap back over his red and black Mohawk and scooted into the streets of Hollywood.

To keep students motivated and engaged in learning, Wilde rewarded them with free books for displaying vocabulary knowledge of words like simile and alliteration, for skill in writing “showing” statements using vivid verbs, and for “Slurping Horrible Fish Juice” to describe supporting details—what you can See in a scene, Hear in a scene,Feel in a scene and Juicy words.

...Slimey was a dazzling, dynamite, dancing machine.

In addition to working with the students, Wilde held a session for parents and led a professional development workshop with South Warren’s teachers where she went through the Story Skeleton exercise, as well as using a Story Train, which is designed for teaching younger children.

“I was very happy with this,” Cozart said. “The Story Skeleton or Story Train gives a visual way for teachers to lay out the framework of a story, talk about a story and dissect it. It helps the students with their level of comprehension.”

Reading comprehension is an area the school has focused on improving since a needs assessment was performed last year, the principal added.

“Since (then), we’ve really been working to increase our student engagement, but some of the students weren’t engaged and learning like we wanted,” Cozart said. “Every time I came in (to observe Wilde) the level of engagement was high. We’ll be able to use those same strategies. We got the kind of help we needed in an area that’s been a challenge for us...especially with the new Common Core Curriculum that’s coming up (in the 2012-13 school year).”

The energetic Wilde, who has a passion for teaching in rural areas, was just as impressed with her experience.

“This was the best residency I’ve ever had. A lot of it is Ashley, and a lot is the subject,” she said. “(Ashley) was co-teaching the whole time. She’s very familiar with curriculum needs, such as helping the students make text-to-world connections they have to get on end-of-grade tests. She takes my work above and beyond.”

Developing the subject of the students’ story—prejudice experienced by Diggy, who needs to earn money for his family by break dancing—taught Wilde a few things, too. She wasn’t familiar with break dance terms and certain types of apparel, such as a snapback hat, worn by Diggy.

...he busted out his signature move. His Robot was such a hit that traffic stopped for blocks. Worms and people cheered and the cars beeped.

“The kids were struck by a thunderbolt of creativity. They had Funds of Knowledge about break dancing, and I had Funds of Knowledge about writing,” she said. “They did incredible work, and they got up and break danced for me the last day. The kids had to teach me about that.”

Wilde’s weeklong writing residency was made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, and South Warren was selected to apply for the grant through The Warren Record’s Newspaper In Education Literacy Program. Smith has applied for another grant that, if approved this fall, would allow for Wilde to return to South Warren.

“We were so excited and pleased with our work together that I have submitted an additional grant application for a follow-up visit next year,” Smith said. “Our students need and deserve opportunities to interact with different artists and authors to help build the sense of community and interconnectedness.”

North Carolina adopted the “Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts” and “Common Core Literacy Standards” for all other subject areas in June 2010. The state also has developed new “Essential Standards” for all other subject areas. These new standards, which were developed to ensure that all students are college and career ready in literacy for a 21st century, globally competitive society. will go into effect in the 2012-13 school year.

Article from The Warren Record

Experts Share Tips on 'Clear Writing` in Various Fields

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 22:39:00 +0000

By SOP newswire

Article from The SOP

With the recent focus on reviving the economy by nurturing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students, one might conclude there`s little economic value in honing a basic skill like writing.

Not true, say Stephanie Roberson Barnard and Deborah St James, authors of Listen. Write. Present: The Elements for Communicating Science and Technology (Yale University Press; 2012), www.ListenWritePresent.com. They cite the American Society for Engineering Education in which researchers ranked technical writing No. 2 in a list of 38 necessary skills for engineers.

Engineers aren`t the only ones who need to write effectively in order to get ahead says Barnard, a communications consultantwho specializes in training medical professionals to speak and write clearly and persuasively. A recent ad for a pharmacist read, "Clinical Pharmacist: Strong Writing Skills Required!" Basically every job in the science and technology fields today requires effective writing skills, she says.

"Whether you`re requesting funds for a research project, a loan for a business venture, or writing a cover letter, resume,or abstract, you`ll want to write with confidence and conviction," says St. James, deputy director of publications and communications for a biotech company in North Carolina.

Unfortunately, science-rich educations often leave little room for students to learn how to craft a strong written message. They suggest you ask yourself four questions before you start any written communication:

Is it reader based? Ask yourself who are my readers? Are they colleagues or people outside my field? What do they know? What do they need to know? How can I best present the material to these readers? Knowing who your reader is will help you decide what words to use and exactly how much detail is needed.
Is it purposeful? Your second question should be, Why am I writing this? Today we live in an over-communicated society: emails, text messages, tweets, ads, letters, newspapers, magazines, books. In fact, most of what we write no one reads. Make sure every word is useful and relevant to every one of your intended readers.
Is it clear and concise? Generally, the cause of unclear writing is too many words. Many writers will read a long, rambling sentence they`ve written, and to clarify it they`ll write another long, rambling sentence to clarify the first one. Big mistake. If a sentence is unclear, take words out. Be wary of long sentences, unclear antecedents, poor transitions, jargon, clichés, and an alphabet soup of acronyms.
Is it correct? Nothing puts the kibosh on a grant application, business plan, or resume faster than grammatical, punctuation, or spelling errors. Choose a good dictionary and a reputable style guide for your trade or industry and use it consistently. A style guide is a good investment that will answer questions on grammar, punctuation, and word usage. It will help you appear polished, professional, and well-educated.

Finally, St James and Barnard suggest two final tips to improve your writing:

Read more: You`ll increase your vocabulary and see how other writers craft sentences and argue points to make those points more effective. Good choices for reading material: general non-fiction, scholarly journals, and award-winning books specific to your trade.
Practice: Writing is a skill. The more you do it, using the suggestions above, the better you will become.

Stephanie Roberson Barnard has trained thousands of pharmaceutical industry professionals on how to be more effective speakers, writers and communicators. She has also coached hundreds of health-care professionals on presentation skills for FDA hearings, CFO reports and scientific speaker programs, as well as national and international congresses. Her clients include AstraZeneca, Bayer Corporation, WL Gore and BoehringerIngelheim. This is her second Yale Press book collaboration with Deborah St James.

Deborah St James is Deputy Director of Publications and Scientific Communications at Grifols. She has worked in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry for more than 20 years. Prior to her current position, she was Bayer Corporation`s senior manager for national sales training in the pharmaceutical division. She is a former college English instructor and Senior Editor of Better Health magazine.

Comment on this story, by emailing Judyth Piazza at comment@thesop.org or join the SOP friend network with your Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN or one ID account located on the front page of http://www.thesop.org

Article from The SOP

Texting doesn’t hurt writing skills, students and professors say

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:09:00 +0000

By Rachel Warren

Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Updated: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 02:03

Article from Isureveille

As text messaging’s popularity continues to rise, some may assume the constant abbreviations and auto-corrections would hurt students’ writing skills, but some students and University professors say they’d be wrong.

Ann Martin, English professor, said she hasn’t noticed any changes in students’ writing abilities through the years, despite the improvements of technology.

“The students who were bad spellers and sloppy writers are still bad spellers and sloppy writers,” she said. “And the ones who try are still trying.”

Biochemistry sophomore Corey Guidry and sociology freshman Melissa DeMoura both agreed — texting hasn’t affected the way they speak or spell.

DeMoura said she noticed people used to shorten words to keep messages short, but today’s smartphones have eliminated the hassle of typing full sentences.

“With iPhones, you don’t really worry about abbreviations as much,” DeMoura said. “People used to do that, but it’s not much of a problem anymore.”

Guidry said he uses punctuation and capital letters in his text messages because he thinks it’s important to speak well all the time. He also thinks it makes the message seem like more of an effort.

“When people send you these quick messages in shorthand, it makes you think, ‘Am I not worth typing a whole word?’” he said.

History professor James Hardy said he thinks texting interferes with the way students learn, but he hasn’t noticed a decline in their writing skills.

“It seems to me there’s no real reason they’re even in class if they’re on the phone,” he said. “They’re not paying attention.”

Hardy said he doesn’t send texts or even own a cell phone because he doesn’t see the point.

“I’m looking at it from the outside,” he said. “It really just eats up time, and it isn’t time I think I can spare.”

Hardy said he doesn’t allow cell phones in his classrooms because he wants to prepare students for the professional world.

“Whatever you do after graduation, you’ll probably have to be in a professional setting at some point,” he said. “And texting during meetings or work is rude. A lot of companies take a hard line, and these kids could be in real trouble if they text all the time.”

Hardy said he thinks technology — text messaging included — has caused students to become distant from their teachers.

He said students who are more used to speaking to people through messages may be less inclined to visit their professors in person during office hours, which could prove detrimental to their grades.

“It’s always best to go in person,” he said. “The fact that you make an effort really carries some weight.”

____

Contact Rachel Warren at rwarren@lsureveille.com

Article from Isureveille

Is the Internet a threat to libraries, reading and writing culture?

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:10:00 +0000

TAPIWA GOMO | 2012-03-12 16:15:00

Article from news day

It is beyond question the introduction of the Internet into our lives has brought more benefits than negatives.

It has surely cut the cost of communication and transport and facilitated speedy decision-making.

In fact to those who have access to it, it has made life exciting and somewhat contributed to empowerment and the development of some communities.

However, despite all these positives, there are still concerns from the library and academicfraternity.

In the early 2000s, most librarians were concerned the Internet was threatening the existence of the libraries and the professions of librarians.

These arguments even delayed Google’s expansion of its vast digital library in 2009 arguing that, it would kill the book, render thousands of librarians jobless and deny access to knowledge to those who could not afford online subscriptions.

Politically, it was argued the deal would make Google a ring-leader of the literary cartel that wielded too much power in the knowledge industry and control over prices of digital books.

In fact, most of the arguments bordered on power and commercial interests by other competitors than saving libraries and enhancing access.

For a progressive librarian or any advocate of reading culture, it is mundane to think of a library as a physical collection of books in this day and age.

While access to the Internet remains limited, it is beyond doubt Internet has enhanced access to a wide collection of virtual knowledge worldwide.

As part of its defence, Google argued it was better to have a one-stop virtual centre for those who had access to the Internet by pooling together millions of books scattered across the world which would be inaccessible to most readers.

It is no doubt that in Africa knowledge and research are central to development and therefore imperative for libraries to playing a leading role especially in research and development.

One way of doing that is to stop whining about lack of a reading culture when most people spend the better part of their time reading on the Internet.

The starting point would be to move away from the traditional and conservative attitude to information sharing.

While paper may be irreplaceable anytime soon, signs are on the wall a physical book is faced with a number of threats, from the Internet itself to the environmental activism.

The only way out is to adapt to these new developments than be behind the library counters.

Virtual libraries give users access to billions of latest books and papers across the world at affordable cost than this physical book.

It is better to provide access to wide collection of materials to those who can access Internet.

For a reader nothing can defeat or is as plausible as having access to reading materials round the clock from anywhere in the world — so librarians shape them.

Africa is hungry for knowledge.

Meanwhile, research shows where a reading culture does not exist, the Internet has not contributed to increased literacy levels even in developed countries.

Recent study in Sweden found out people spend more of their leisure time on the Internet, a suggestion the Internet might be replacing the time people reserved for reading what are now old-fashioned books are.

Another study on mobile telecommunications study showed Africa had the fastest growing mobile telephone market in the world perhaps evidence of a growing Internet user base.

But the Swedish study showed some very interesting trends on how Internet impacts on the literacy levels of a society in these techno-times.

A University of Gothenburg study in Sweden concluded reading skills of children in countries where computer use had increased during leisure time such as the United States and Sweden had suffered as a result because most of the times children were playing games instead of reading.

The study shows the entry of computers into the home has contributed to changing children’s habits in such a manner that their reading does not develop to the same extent as previously.

“By comparing countries over time we can see a negative correlation between change in reading achievement and change in spare time computer habits which indicates that reading ability falls as leisure use of computers increases,” announced Monica Rosén the head of the study.

In other countries it seems reading skills have improved, but writing skills have declined. This is because social media has allowed a relaxed or rather reckless writing culture where people are no longer bothered about writing correctly.

To become a good writer one needs to practice daily, but then when people get used to the habit of writing in slang and taking shortcuts such as “ill c u 2morow” their writing ability gradually deteriorates as that becomes part of one writing culture.

It seems there is a more preoccupation with communicating in the shortest writing than spelling and grammar.

And this has to some extent found itself in examination answer sheets resultantly crippling people’s business writing skills.

Overall, there is no doubt about benefits the Internet brings to human life.

A true professional stays on top of their game and consistently looks to expand their knowledge.

It’s done by reading proper books, whether online or physical.

Article from news day

How To Write for Major Magazines

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 09:52:00 +0000

By Allena Tapia

Article from About.com Guide

Breaking into national magazines is tough, but it’s not absolutely impossible. You just need a plan. Here’s a few tips that continue to work for guest columnist Melissa Walker:

Pitch them an idea they can’t refuse. Especially if you haven’t broken into the national market yet, you’ll need a strong story to get that first big byline. But that doesn’t mean you have to land an interview with Kanye West or track down the scientist who’s about to cure cancer. Look around. Pay attention to what your friends are talking about. Read your local newspaper every day (if your local newspaper is The New York Times or the Chicago Tribune, check Newspaper Links to find small papers with local color profiles and features that might play to a national audience). My first big byline? A story for Ladies Home Journal’s “How We Met” column about a single, 20-something schoolteacher who took in a foster child and then ended up marrying his case worker and having triplets. Foster care, multiple births, and love in unlikely places—a women’s magazine’s dream. And I originally heard about my subject in a small-town paper.

Know the magazine.Read at least three back issues (often available at the library if you can’t wait three months to pitch). I know you’ve heard it before, I know it’s common sense. But what I’m saying is, really know the magazine. Know the name of the section your idea fits into, know the general word count of items in that section, know the tone of voice the magazine uses, know how to spell the editor’s name. It’s right on the masthead; there’s no excuse.

Pitch the sweet spot. Associate editors are the lower-middle level of the magazine staff. They are recently promoted assistants, and they are assigning stories for the first time in their magazine careers. That means they’re on the lookout for new writers, writers who can send them ideas that work (and make them look good to their bosses). If you’re not sure who edits the section you want to pitch—and as we’ve already established, you do know the section you’re pitching—shoot the idea to an associate editor. They’re not quite as busy as senior editors, generally, and they’re hungry to build their own stable of writers.

Flatter, flatter, flatter. Google your editor’s name. Does he/she have a book out? Read it! Or mention how you’re looking forward to picking it up. Did he/she write a fantastic feature in last month’s issue? Know that. Comment on it. If you have a knowledgeable compliment in your introduction (“I love the redesign of your section,” “Your story in the August issue about friendship breakups was so insightful!”) you’ve got the editor’s attention.

Pitch via email. 99% of the time, electronic is the best way to go. It’s not as invasive as a phone call; it’s not as likely to end up in an intern mail pile as a hard copy query. Plus, it’s free.

Follow up, but don’t be annoying. I know that sending ideas to editors can sometimes feel like shouting into a black hole. Here’s my method of nudging: After two weeks with no response, remind them of your pitch. After three weeks, remind them of the pitch, and mention that if you don’t hear from them in a week, you’ll assume they’re not interested, and you’ll be moving the pitch along to other venues. Say this all very nicely and professionally, of course.

This may be a lot of info to take in, but here’s my advice on Step One: Think of a story idea with a specific angle and tone, and then hit a bookstore to look at a lot of magazines (many you haven’t heard of, but that still pay $1/word and more!) and find the right niche for your idea. Study a few back issues of the magazine at the library to make sure you’ve got their content and personality down, get the editors' names off the masthead, review this list of tips… and email away!

Article from About.com Guide

Advice on getting published

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:09:00 +0000

Tue, Mar 6, 2012

Article from Minnesota Lawyer

Lawyerist recently had a good post with tips for publishing a law journal article while you are still in law school. Publishing an article is a good way to demonstrate work ethic, writing skills and expertise in a substantive area of law. Once you have written the paper itself (which most law schools require you to do at least once anyway), finding a place to publish the article is probably less difficult than you think it is, with hundreds of journals from which to choose. If the article is accepted, you also get the benefit of having your work vetted and critiqued by others, which should further sharpen your writing and analytical skills. If you are having trouble picking a topic, law library websites often have a host of resources that are specifically geared to article writing.

If you don’t have the time to write a 30-page paper, consider writing an article for a bar association newsletter, or better yet, an industry newsletter that circulates to potential clients. Within every bar association there are dozens of practice sections and committees, many of which publish newsletters and journals as a service to members. In addition to being shorter, an article in one of these publications has the advantage of being targeted to an audience that is likely to be interested in what you are writing about. Getting published in one of these journals can be as simple as sending an e-mail to the chair of the section.

This post was written by:

Michael Goodwin - who has written 19 posts on JDs Rising.

Michael Goodwin is an associate attorney at Jardine, Logan & O'Brien in the Twin Cities. Michael's practice involves a range of insurance defense and coverage issues. Michael currently serves as the Outreach Committee Chairperson for the Minnesota State Bar Association New Lawyers Section. He earned first place in the 2010 Levit Essay Contest, a national writing contest sponsored by the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability and Long & Levit, LLP. Michael graduated from Hamline University School of Law in 2009. During law school he was a board member of the Hamline Law Review and he completed a judicial externship in United States District Court. A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Michael was a newspaper reporter prior to enrolling in law school.

Article from Minnesota Lawyer

Choice of topic boosts reading, writing in Hamilton Township schools

ridodirected@gmail.com (RIDO) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 02:49:00 +0000

Article from Press of Atlantic City

Posted: Friday, March 2, 2012 8:29 pm | Updated: 4:36 am, Sat Mar 3, 2012.

By JOEL LANDAU Staff Writer |

Michael Ein

Second-grade teacher Heather Bahr helps student David Cressman, 7, on Friday in Hamilton Township. The school partnered with Teachers College at Columbia University to provide its faculty with professional development.

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP — The township’s school district has implemented a new curriculum that allows students more freedom in what they read and gives teachers less control of their own classroom.

But the program, implemented by Teachers College at Columbia University, has had success and the teachers say it’s due to broadening the students’ choices in the classroom and allowing them to discover the lessons on their own.

“It’s a juggling act,” said Christie Reed, a teacher at the George L. Hess Education Complex for three years. “I see kids more excited to read. They keep you on your toes, because you don’t know what to expect because of the freedom they have. But it’s not a challenge because they have a routine of what they do every day.”

The district started a professional development program with the college three years ago, Principal Jennifer Baldwin said.

Faculty must have 100 hours of professional development over a five-year period under state law, and Baldwin said personnel from the college visit the school to work with the teachers. The staff will hold development sessions weekly, she said.

The college’s Reading and Writing Project, which is taught in districts worldwide, allows kids to make choices on what they want to read and write about — instead of being dictated to — which teachers say creates more enthusiasm.

During a session Friday, the teachers discussed nonfiction writing and the best way to get ideas from the children. Instead of instructing the students to write specific ideas in their essays, the teachers were told to tell the students to write the essay and then afterward ask them to identify what ideas they used.

“Opposed to telling them they must write one way, here kids do things (the teacher) may not even think of because it’s a different style,” Baldwin said.

She said some district hold development sessions only on in-service days when there is no school but that her faculty will meet at least once a week as part of the program.

“We don’t apply it without support,” she said.

Hamilton is the only local district that uses the program, and Baldwin said other districts often visit the schools to study what they’re doing.

The program is used for the about 100 language arts teachers at Hess and Joseph C. Shaner Elementary School. The district budgets about $25,000 a year for the program, Baldwin said.

The Hess School made the state benchmark in language arts under the federal No Child Left Behind program last year for the first time since 2007, and Baldwin said the program was a major reason for that.

“We focused on teachers and instruction,” she said. “That will make the biggest impact on kids.”

The method also helps the students develop skills that will benefit them long into their academic futures, said Dan Cartwright, principal at Shaner.

By planning curriculum for the whole district, the students and faculty both understand what they will need to succeed in future grades, he said.

“Beginning from kindergarten, we are on the right track to move forward,” he said. “It helps us dig deeper and understand why we’re teaching a lesson and how it fits the learning. They’ll have the skills they need.”

Jenniffer Farrell, literacy coach for the district, helped implement the program three years ago.

Each language arts class is divided into small book clubs and the children can select books they want to read from a basket, Farrell said. All of the material is matched to them based on their interests, she said.

“The students get to make decisions, and it’s highly engaging behavior because of their choices,” she said. “They can write about the topics they love and read about the things they like.”

And teachers have had to make the transition from teaching one lesson plan to every student to being able to accommodate what each of the roughly 20 kids per class is doing, she said.

“It’s the hardest way to teach. You have to know your stuff, the content and different skill sets,” she said. “You have to be on point with the class. They have so much choice and freedom. We teach the teachers how to have the skills so they do not use a manual.”

Brett Derringer, a teacher for 12 years, said he was excited to make the transition to the new program.

“I’m a big proponent of books instilling knowledge,” he said. “I thought it would be beneficial to have novels to teach literature instead of watered-down texts (from literature text books). A novel is more comprehensive and better for that.”

Contact Joel Landau:

609-272-7215

JLandau@pressofac.com

Article from Press of Atlantic City