Sunday Salon: What I Read Online November 16-30

 Still Life with a Ginger Jar and Eggplants, 1893–94
Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906)
Oil on canvas; 28 1/2 x 36 in. (72.4 x 91.4 cm)
Bequest of Stephen C. Clark, 1960 (61.101.4)

 

Thanksgiving

When Thanksgiving Was Weird, an article by Lisa Hollenbach, explores the history of the Thanksgiving holiday in America.

A New York Times article by Sandra Joy Stein titled An Intensive Thanksgiving provides insight and opportunity for reflection based on a year when the author spent the holiday in her son's hospital room.

The band from one of our local high schools played in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so it was fun to read about they prepared for the big day.

My appreciation for art and my leisure time on Thanksgiving Day led me to this fantastic article by Christopher Jobson. How 10 Famous Artists Would Plate Thanksgiving Dinner.

Dreaming, Hoping, Creating

You Too Can Help Students Achieve Their Dreams @ E blog post by Next Generation Leader, Shannon Treece. Seriously, you should read this blog and see how you can help this group of students change the world.


Continued protests around the country resulting from the Ferguson decision led me to this article by Chloe Johnson. Meet Davonte, the little boy with the big heart.

An art program for low income youth in Lexington intrigued me because of the innovative way they plan to take art to students via a mobile art studio, provided they raise all the money they need for the project by midnight tonight.

A Foundation in Georgia funds innovation projects for STEM learning looks promising.

How Much is Too Much? NPR Story about an 11th grader in Florida who will take more tests his junior year of high school than any other year. Granted, there's too much testing and test prep in all grades in America, and we need to do something about it. This story shares some hope for the future.
The Great Escape, a creative nonfiction piece, by Chris Bell a friend from college, appears in a brand new online literary journal--Grand Central Review.

Picasso Plates for Creative Dining showed up as a holiday gift suggestion in the New York Times. I just thought it was a cool idea to have creative dining options.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art releases 400,000 images for non-commercial use. I actually recall this announcement happening several months ago, but when I read the Colossal post it reminded me of this treasure of images available for use.

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Citation

"Paul Cézanne: Still Life with a Ginger Jar and Eggplants" (61.101.4) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/61.101.4. (December 2008)

Volunteering at the JLA Elementary Entrepreneur Fair

On a recent Friday I had the privilege of volunteering at the JLA Elementary Entrepreneur Fair in Lexington.  We've been part of James Lane Allen Elementary since 2006 when my first son started kindergarten there.  This year, my youngest son will graduate from fifth grade, and our days as elementary school parents will conclude.  Therefore, I'm continuing to take advantage of each opportunity I can volunteering for various events.  The Entrepreneur Fair is a longstanding fifth grade fundraiser and event anchored in the teaching of economics and entrepreneurship for young students.  My oldest son participated in 2012, and my youngest son participated this year.

Preparations for the event begin during the first semester when teachers start laying the groundwork and building background knowledge for students ten and eleven years old who may or may not have any business experiences.  Early in second semester, the school holds a parent information night to explain to parents the required elements of the project and to encourage us to help our children learn the intended objectives related to entrepreneurship.  For some of us who have limited entrepreneurial experience ourselves, it's definitely a family learning event.

Students decide upon a product or service for their business, create a pitch, conduct a market survey, and then advertise for a couple of weeks leading up to the big day.  On the day of the event, students arrive early prepared to set up their booths and sell to the younger students throughout the day.  The evening event brings parents, community members, and former students back to the school to see the

He created this sign & hung it around the school.
Customers purchased tickets with real money, and
used the tickets to make purchases to avoid any issues
since hundreds of people attend the event. 

creativity and ingenuity of the fifth graders.  My son and the rest of the students experienced glimpses of real business ownership.

In the days leading up to the Entrepreneur Fair, I did as most mothers would do and helped my son finalize his product.  Since Isaac decided on a creative product, we spent days painting, hot gluing, glittering, and making his imaginative planes and dragonflies from wooden clothes pins and popsicle sticks.  For Isaac making and creating was an important part of his entrepreneurial experience.  While he acknowledged that the kids who sold nachos and sno cones or candy typically made the most money, Isaac wanted to create something, and I was thrilled with this choice because I enjoy watching him be creative and also enjoy being creative with colors and styles when helping him.

The day of the event required all hands on deck from any adults available because not every child had a parent available to assist with taping down extension cords and loose hanging tablecloths or to help hang signs and display products.  In a couple of instances, we had to improvise to ensure students had all the supplies they needed. Quick trips to the store or home for random items were all part of the fun of the day for me.  Crawling on the floor helping students set up their booths, hang their signs, and display their products made me smile with pride as a mom and an educator.  Most of the 80+ students poured their hearts into their businesses and learned about engaging with customers of many ages.

Watching my youngest son (who is not often around much younger children) interact with the kindergartners was a highlight of my day.  He was gentle, kind, and a superior young business man.  In addition to learning about creating a business, Isaac's favorite part was earning real money he's saving for this summer.  Each student pays a "rental fee" for their spot in the gym, and all money that goes toward the fifth grade field trip to Mammoth Cave. 

Driven by Passion, Curiosity, and Dedication: Creating My Personal Mission Statement

For a work project, we were asked to develop personal mission statements and create Individual Development Plans.  As a former classroom teacher, I'm well familiar with Individual Growth Plans, but never before have I worked so diligently to consider my personal goals and mission because those forms previously created as a teacher were driven by the school's mission statements or the organization's overall strategic plan. Over the past few weeks I've been reading texts that I thought would help with my task of developing a personal mission statement, and I've been musing on my personal attributes, goals, and values.

One of the websites I visited suggested asking friends to tell me my top three attributes, so I asked my family and friends on Facebook to respond. I cut and pasted their responses to create a word cloud, so I could visualize my greatest attributes.  Other tips suggested by Gala Darling were similarly suggested on Franklin Covey's site as well. Using all of the sentence starters below, I drafted a somewhat cohesive mission statement to keep me going on this personal journey.

I'm at my best when...
I'm at my worst when...
At work I really like to...
In my personal life I really like to...
My natural gifts and talents are...
3 people who have influenced me most & one attribute they possess...
On my 80th birthday I hope people say....Renee is...
The image I'd like to project is...

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Since I'm reading a book a week, I selected Susan Cain's Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking to read last week.  Learning more about my introverted self and how to leverage my strengths fed directly into my Individual Development Plan.  I especially enjoyed the sections on the differences between shyness and introversion.

"Many people believe that introversion is about being antisocial, and that's really a misperception. Because actually it's just that introverts are differently social. So they would prefer to have a glass of wine with a close friend as opposed to going to a loud party full of strangers."

"Now, shyness, on the other hand, is about a fear of negative social judgment. So you can be introverted without having that particular fear at all, and you can be shy but also be an extrovert."

As I proceed with my Individual Development Plan and living my personal mission statement, I suspect I'll benefit from knowing the power of my introversion.

Stop Squashing Creativity in Education

More and more when I travel, I hear teachers share stories of scripted curriculum programs they are expected to follow in their schools.  Often schools and districts are so concerned with high-stakes standardized tests, they seek uniform means for providing instruction to students.  Many schools and districts do this because they don’t trust teachers to be professionals.  Other schools do this because they think it’s a quick fix answer to their low test scores.  Does a standardized approach to education provide students what they need to be successful in the 21^st century and beyond?  Is a standardized approach to instruction what we really want?  No!  We don’t.  Evidence of this not being what we want was unmistakable at the Kentucky Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts (KCTE/LA) annual conference, which concluded only hours ago.  This year’s conference theme was Literacy Matters:  The Common Core and Beyond. 

Professional conferences like this provide occasion for educators to refuel and network so they can return to schools energized and ready to provide students creative and critical opportunities to learn, and so they can be more connected to other educators.  Personally, I am on a creative high after hearing Sara Kajder discuss digital literacies and after hearing Kentucky’s poet laureate, Maureen Morehead, read her poetry.   Not only did I hear these well-established authors, I also heard Kentucky teachers talk about best practices in their classrooms.  The showcased sessions were not teachers sharing the page number they were covering in a scripted program.  Exciting session titles included “What’s the Big Idea?  The Real Purpose of Literature in Society and the Classroom,” and “The Power of Narrative in Writing and Teaching.”

I had the joy of reconnecting with a teacher I first met a couple of years ago; this teacher shares the passion I have for promoting creativity in education.   This all has me thinking about what we can do to stop squashing creativity in education.  With creative and thoughtful planning of time and resources, there’s no reason why schools couldn’t and shouldn’t do these five things. 

1. Let students study and explore topics that interest them
2. Let students use their own technology devices to enhance their learning
3. Let students make mistakes
4. Allow more time for the arts, physical education, and recess
5. Allow more time for creating,  performing, dreaming, and thinking

In future posts, I will explore these ideas more fully and offer suggestions for how schools can pragmatically approach ways to stop squashing creativity.  If you have your own ideas, please share them here so we can all learn from one another.

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