Inspiration: The Gift of Gifts for Writers

In line with ABCWednesday's Round 15 "I Week" I thought I'd talk a bit about inspiration - what it is and the age-old question, where we might find it.

Found at:  under30ceo.com

 According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inspiration

in·spi·ra·tion

noun \ˌin(t)-spə-ˈrā-shən, -(ˌ)spi-\

: something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create : a force or influence that inspires someone
: a person, place, experience, etc., that makes someone want to do or create something

: a good idea

 Wikipedia breaks inspiration into two categories: "ARTISTIC" inspiration which they define as "sudden creativity in artistic production" and "BIBLICAL" inspiration based upon "the doctrine in Jude-Christian theology"


But we're all different. We learn differently. We work differently. We have different needs and goals. As such, our sources and means of inspiration must, by definition be different too.

Maybe you find inspiration in what you see around you:

From: superstrengthhealth.com

From: entrepreneur.com

 

From: googleapis.com

vangoghgallery.com

Maybe you find inspiration from music? If so, please leave some of your favorite music suggestions in the comments below!

Or, you may find inspiration from others:

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value ~Albert Einstein

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run  ~Babe Ruth

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse ~Florence Nightingale

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore, Dream, Discover. ~Mark Twain

I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear. ~Rosa Parks

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. ~Amelia Earhart

If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced. ~Vincent Van Gogh

Eighty percent of success is showing up ~Woody Allen 

Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent ~Eleanor Roosevelt

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.  ~Maya Angelou

It is never too late to be what you might have been. ~George Eliot

Personally, I find inspiration all around me - from my colleagues to my spouse, to my children, and strangely enough in my dreams.  On one discouraging day, a wonderful friend and colleague, Andra Medea, hooked me onto zenpencils.com. I've used one of their posts before (The Power of Words in Graphic Novels) where "Phenomenal Women: A Poem by Maya Angelou" is beautifully presented, complements of zenpencils.com

In closing, I present another zenpencils post: a quote by author and video blogger John Green:Make Gifts for People.  John and his brother, Hank, are the Vlogbrothers. They helped pioneer video blogging (communicating only through YouTube videos for a year). John Green also hosts/co-writes  Crash Course World History - a series that tells the entire history of civilization in over forty, very entertaining 10-minute videos.

In the quote below, John Green (via zen pencils) offers words of advice, inspiration and encouragement for aspiring writers:

From http://zenpencils.com/comic/119-john-green-make-gifts-for-people/

As always, I want to thank you for your visits. These visits and your insightful, kind comments are always inspirations for me.

Please share what inspires you in the comments below.

"GREAT TEACHER!" Judgment Call or Objective Evaluation?

"When a high value added teacher joins a school, test scores rise immediately in the grade/subject taught...and falls if/when that teacher leaves...All else equal, a student with one excellent teacher for one year between fourth and eighth grade would gain $4,600 in lifetime income, compared to a student of similar demographics who has an average teacher." -economists Raj Chetty and John Friedman of Harvard and Jonah Rockoff of Columbia as reported in  The New York Times (1/6/12) article, "Big Study Links Good Teachers to Lasting Gain"

"Those who can't do, teach. And those who can't teach, teach gym." --Woody Allen

Comedy aside, it isn't WHO makes a great teacher, but WHAT makes a great teacher and HOW do we determine "GREAT TEACHER?" Are there objective criteria or is it a JUDGMENT CALL? And what are the ramifications if it is a judgment call - especially now with the Chicago teachers' strike and teacher evaluations as a pivotal national domestic issue? 

In attempting to answer this question, let's first distinguish between "objective" evaluations and "judgment" calls:

objective  (adj.)   http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/objective

•  not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based of facts; unbiased.
• intent upon or dealing with things external to the mind rather than with thoughts or feelings
• of or relating to actual and external phenomena as opposed to thoughts, feelings, etc....existing independent of thought or an observer as part of reality

According to many, using this last definition may make it promising for us to evaluate teacher effectiveness by measuring external criteria relating what students have LEARNED.  Granted this is easier said than done, but many believe that if you measure students facility with a subject matter at the onset of the year, one can assess 'growth of knowledge' by measuring their (increased) facility with those same skills at the end of the school year (as long as we don't go overboard with continuous testing and overly consuming overblown test-taking preparations).

BUT does teaching material make someone a GREAT teacher or just a GOOD/ EFFECTIVE teacher?

Furthermore, IF one looks at the first two definitions of "objective" I wonder and am somewhat doubtful if one can objectively determine what makes a great teacher. 

So what might a judgment call look like?

judgment calls ( judgment calls plural  (also use judgement call)    ) http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-cobuild/judgment%20call

If you refer to a decision as a judgment call, you mean that there are no firm rules or principles that can help you make it, so you simply have to rely on your own judgement and instinct.   

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_judgment

A value judgment is...based on a comparison or other relativity. As a generalization, a value judgment can refer to a judgment based upon a particular set of values or on a particular value system. A related meaning...is an expedient evaluation based upon limited information at hand, an evaluation undertaken because a decision must be made on short notice.

Incorporating these definitions brings us awfully close to the current debate on teacher evaluations and merit and whether these can be measured at all.  While we need to hold both educators AND their students accountable for learning, are we ready to objectively define and evaluate "GOOD TEACHER?"  

Looking back at my experiences as student, as an educator, and as parent, I think there IS A PERSONAL COMPONENT to what makes a GREAT TEACHER - there has to be.  A great teacher must relate to his or her students, make learning come alive. bring out emotions and feelings in their students while addressing student fears and passions associated with learning.

Maybe we can objectively quantify an effective teacher but must make judgement calls on "GREAT" teachers... 

Whether 'Great Teacher' is a judgment call or objective reality (I leave the continuing debate to you in the comments) I want to focus on...the making of a GREAT teacher.

 Illustration by R. Kikuo Johnson found in http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?pagewanted=all    

THE MAKINGS OF A GREAT TEACHER:

I have been an educator for over 25 years.  I have worked as a school psychologist, as a language arts/reading teacher (grades 1,3,4,5,6,7 and 8), as a teacher-mentor, and as an educational consultant, and was actively involved as a parent in my kids' education.  I have met, observed, and taught with many, many teachers - some who were outstanding, some who were mortifying, and most who were 'good'.  Here are the TOP TEN components I have found (based on literature searches and my own experiences) that make a teacher GREAT :

• Great teachers exude INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY  and they push their students to follow and feed the curiosity they model as they constantly question the world around them. When teachers can channel and push a 'need to know' attitude, learning and remembering are much more effective.
• Great teachers exude PASSION - for their students and for learning.  Passion is motivating. It is exciting, it is engaging and it is catchy.  This passion motivates and pushes students to want more, to embrace more, and to contribute more.
• Great teachers RESPECT their students' needs and perspectives.
• Great teachers have KNOWLEDGE and expertise in the content they teach while- 
• Knowing what they know
• Knowing when they don't know 
• Knowing how to acknowledge that they don't know (this is so important for modeling intellectual curiosity which in turn is so important for true, attainable learning)
• Knowing how to find out what they don't know - or when to have their students find out what they don't know - and bringing it back to class.
• Great teachers express CONFIDENCE and COMFORT in their subject matter AND  in not always knowing ALL the answers.  Modeling 'not (always) knowing' will make it easier for your students to acknowledge what they don't know while strengthening and modeling intellectual curiosity.
• Great teachers set EXPECTATIONS high (but obtainable) for themselves and for their students, facilitating and nurturing their attainment.
• Great teachers ACKNOWLEDGE that there are all kinds of minds in their classrooms and 
• Great teachers have the FLEXIBILITY to build and integrate multi-modal components into their lessons addressing auditory learners, visual learners, students with longer and shorter attention spans, students who easily can move sequentially along steps of a problems and those who need more structure (to name just a few).
• Great teachers ENGAGE students, making the curriculum meaningful, pertinent, exciting, and getting students to critically evaluate and perceive issues in a variety of ways.
•  Great teachers form PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS with their students, listening to their needs and their comments, acknowledging the right for different perspectives while GUARANTEEING A SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT for all.

Before closing I want to thank you for your visit and send you off with clips of inspiration...view them all or chose your favorites: From Dead Poet's Society: "What will your verse be?"

From Dead Poet's Society: "Just when you think you know something, you must look at it in a different way...triving to find your own voice...Dare to strike out and find new ground!"

And maybe, the question isn't "What makes a great teacher" but "What great teachers make...a god damned difference!!!!!"

 

Thanks for your visit, please leave you opinions in the comments. 

Quills, Pens, Pencils: Let's Talk Handwriting!

In my last post I wrote about perceptual motor skills - eye hand coordination and have been asked to go into a bit more detail about graphomotor skills.  Jargon aside:  Let't talk about handwriting.

Graphomotor Skills involve highly specialized coordinated eye-hand-finger movements for writing (and writing only).  Drawing, interestingly enough, is not a graphomotor skill as it involves different muscles and different eye-hand coordination.  [Drawing is considered a fine motor skill.] Many people can play musical instruments, draw, knit, and perform other fine motor actions but have horrendous hand writing.  That is because handwriting has its own very specialized memory-motor, and eye-hand-brain feedback requirements.

What do Kids with Graphomotor Weaknesses Look Like? Basically, kids (and adults) with graphomotor weaknesses have horrible handwriting. My husband calls his handwriting chicken scratch because it looks like a chicken scratched it out.  My son's handwriting is equally illegible. He is in college and his notes still look like a second grader wrote it.

These kids either hate writing, or they write cryptically keeping whatever must be written down as brief and simple as possible.  My son took it even further, he hated writing so much, he learned to do most of his math in his head.  This was quite a problem as most teachers want to see the work.  Because his handwriting was so poor, his 4's became 9's, 3's became 8's, 7's became 1's and to save himself from getting the problems wrong - would simply work them out mentally.  My son was lucky - he has a phenomenal memory and could get away with this until high school.  Then things fell apart again.  




What are some factors affecting handwriting?

• Visual Discrimination - kids must be able to visually recognize and distinguish each letter of the alphabet so they can accurately interpret and reproduce them.  A "b" has to remain a "b" and not look like a "d" or "p" or "q".  "Gun" must look like "gun" and not "pun" (as in Woody Allen's letter in the clip above).  Otherwise others it can't be read and it makes no sense. [Note that visual discrimination skills effect reading as well as writing.]
• Orthographic Coding - students must not only be able to discriminate between letters recognizing how each is different and unique, they must remember how to print or write them.
• Motor planning, motor memory, and execution - kids have to be able to remember letter shapes and the muscle movements necessary to make and execute those shapes.  They then have to remember or plan how to make those shapes.  
• Kinesthetic Feedback - Finally, kids have to monitor their progress as they write, constantly evaluating feedback that the brain receives from the muscles, nerves, and eyes.

For example, when writing kids must remember what the letters look like, then begin to recreate them.  As they write, they have to monitor what their handwriting to make sure the "a" looks like an "a" and the word "act"  looks like "act"  and not "aot" or "ect" or "acl" etc.

 Strategies and Accommodations For Kids With Poor Handwriting: 

• Practice in private. Have kids practice penmanship, but at their own pace and in private (at least until there is less embarrassment).
• Have your kids trace letters and words in sand or even in jello (if you don't mind the temporarily sticky fingers).  Tracing in sand and jello or even in the bathtub adds some resistance and can build stronger muscles and muscle memory.
• Experiment - try out different types of writing utensils and different types and sizes of paper and line width. Try different sized pens and pencils.  Large pencils for example are easier for kids with weak muscle control to use.  My son hated the "feel" of pencils on the paper and was much more comfortable using a pen. My husband prefers the feel of quills as they glide over the paper.  Experiment.

Note: As with most interventions, some help some but not others, my advice is to try and if necessary move on if not effective.

• Strengthen hand and finger grips.  Squeezy toys/objects can help.
• Keyboarding.  This helps for some - not others (my son still prefers taking notes by hand). 
• Pen/pencil grips - When handwriting sometimes the pencil grip is an issue.  In this case try using different types of pen/pencil grips.  My son had more of a sensory-integration issue (he was too sensitive to the paper and grip and pencil) and the grips did not help.  
• Graph paper - For those who have trouble with letter size, experts suggest practicing print hand writing on large-boxed graph paper, using one square per letter [practicing privately].
• Provide ample work and writing space on each page. Make sure there is enough space on mathsheets or worksheets and tests for you child to comfortable fill in the required response.  You may want to discuss this with your child's teacher(s) 

My son, who is actually quite good in math was failing because this teacher put 30 problems on one page lines (_______ ) for the answer and no room to work out the problem.  The teacher expected the students to turn the page over and show work there.  My son's 3's became 8's and 4's became 9's, etc.  At that point his teacher was testing my son's copying ability (which he obviously failed).  After convincing the teacher to keep the same problems while providing work space directly on the page (and not have students turn it over or recopy to work) my son earned A's not F's.  The point:  make sure your child has enough space to work in.  If not, talk to his or her teacher about it.
These are just a few suggestions.  Let me know what you have tried (successfully or otherwise).  Also, please let me know if you have any other questions or issues.

These are just a few ideas.  Please let me know what you have tried (successfully and unsuccessfully), and please let me know if you have any other questions.

Some helpful websites to visit:

• http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/graphomotor.php 
• http://www.paperpenalia.com/handwriting.html 
• I have other 'handwriting related blogs you may want to look at:
•  Ways Around Exceptions:  Handwriting and Dysgraphia (10/11/2010)
• No Brainer:  Handwriting Trains the Brain By Creating Multiple Memory Paths (10/5/2010)
• Understanding Spelling Errors to Raise Better Writers (9/13/2010)