Let Us Commence

Award-winning playwright Margaret Edson, a Smith College alumna who teaches kindergarten in the Atlanta public school system, was the speaker at Smith’s 130th commencement ceremony Sunday, May 18. This is a portion of the transcript; the speech was delivered without a written text. You can listen to her deliver it here.

I want to talk about a particular kind of love, this love: classroom teaching.

I have my posse of gaily clad classroom teachers behind me.

They like to be called college professors.
And we can’t all work for the government.

We gather together because of classroom teaching.
We have shown you our love in our work in the classroom.

Classroom teaching is a physical, breath-based, eye-to-eye event.
It is not built on equipment or the past.
It is not concerned about the future.
It is in existence to go out of existence.
It happens and then it vanishes.
Classroom teaching is our gift.
It’s us; it’s this.

We bring nothing into the classroom — perhaps a text or a specimen. We carry ourselves, and whatever we have to offer you is stored within our bodies. You bring nothing into the classroom — some gum, maybe a piece of paper and a pencil: nothing but yourselves, your breath, your bodies.

Classroom teaching produces nothing. At the end of a class, we all get up and walk out. It’s as if we were never there. There’s nothing to point to, no monument, no document of our existence together.

Classroom teaching expects nothing. There is no pecuniary relationship between teachers and students. Money changes hands, and people work very hard to keep it in circulation, but we have all agreed that it should not happen in the classroom. And there is no financial incentive structure built into classroom teaching because we get paid the same whether you learn anything or not.

Classroom teaching withholds nothing. I say to my young students every year, “I know how to add two numbers, but I’m not going to tell you.” And they laugh and shout, “No!” That’s so absurd, so unthinkable. What do I have that I would not give to you?

Bringing nothing, producing nothing, expecting nothing, withholding nothing –
what does that remind you of?
Is this a bizarre occurrence that will go into The Journal of Irreproducible Results?
Or is it something that happens every day, all the time, all over the world,
and is based not on gain and fame, but on love.

There are those who say that classroom teaching is doomed and that by the time one of you addresses the class of 2033, there will be a museum of classroom teaching.

Ever since the invention of wedge-shaped writing on a clay tablet, classroom teaching has been obsolete. It’s been comical. Why don’t we just write the assignments and algorithms on a clay tablet, hang it up on the wall, and let the students come who will to teach themselves from our documents?

Why, since the creation of writing with a pen on a piece of paper, do we still bother to have schools?

Why, since the invention of movable metal type, don’t we all just go to the library?

Why do we have to have class? Why do we need teachers?

Why, since the advent of the microchip, don’t we all stay home in our pajamas and hit send?

Technology is nipping at the heels of classroom teaching, but I perceive no threat.
How could something false replace something true?
How could a substitute, a proxy, step in for something real and alive?
How could the virtual nudge out the actual?

The other great threat to classroom teaching is the rush to data — data-driven education.
We must measure everything — percentages, charts, tables.

I’m not entirely opposed to this.
If data-driven education were a pie graph, I would have a piece.

But I was not educated and did not become a teacher to produce data.

I love the classroom.
I loved it as a student, and I love it as a teacher.
I can name every teacher I ever had:
Mrs. Mulshanok, Miss Williams, Mrs. Clark, Miss Bogan, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Muys, Mrs. Parker, Mr. Eldridge, Miss Bush — and that’s just through sixth grade.
I could go on, I promise.

I loved coming to class: the chairs, the windows, unzipping my book bag.
And I loved my teachers.
There was content, I suppose, but that’s not what I remember.
I remember my teachers.
I remember being in the room,
and no data and no bar graph will be assembled to replace that, or even to capture it.

This week my students worked on dividing a pizza between two people, and they realized that if you make the line down the center of the pizza the two sides will be equal. After much trial and error, they came to this conclusion on their own, and I welcome you to try it. I think it’s really going to take off, and let this be where it begins.

When they take a standardized test, they will be able to fill in the bubble next to the pizza that is cut exactly in half. Do they know that will be the correct answer? Yes. But I don’t care that much. What I care about is how they got there, how they figured it out for themselves.

This skinny little high school senior got herself into Smith College by writing an essay about Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s theme, “The journey, not the arrival, matters.” It worked for me.

Standardized tests measure the arrival, but they have nothing to say about the journey, about having wonderful ideas. Do you know it/do you not know it is second, and how do you know it, and who are you, is first.

The only way this knowledge grows inside a student is with a teacher, a classroom teacher. Of course, my students will insist they did it themselves, and I don’t try to disabuse them of that.

But the work you graduates have done was in the classroom with your teachers.
That’s the miracle of today.
Why don’t we talk about it?
Because it doesn’t show up.
There’s not a bar graph for classroom teaching. There’s no data for classroom teaching, and yet it persists this year and the next year and the year after that.

Telling tens of thousands of people what to do is not teaching, it’s shouting, and there’s a lot of that going around.

Showing somebody how to do something exactly the way you’ve always done it is not teaching, it’s training. And there’s plenty of that, too.

But the reality that is neither shouting nor training is classroom teaching.
Nobody can touch it because nobody can point to it.
You have it forever.
When it grows inside you, it’s doing its work.

We can disappear.
We’ll never see you again, probably.
The chairs will be folded.
It will be as if we were never here.
There will be nothing we can count after today.
But not everything that counts can be counted.
Not everything that matters can be put into a pie chart.

The Board of Trustees has set a very great challenge for itself:
to educate us all for lives of distinction.
You are never going to be able to make a bar graph out of that.
That is immeasurable, and that’s what makes it so real.
I admonish you — because that’s my job — to think about the things that float away:
your love for your friends,
the smell of the lilacs,
the feeling your families have on this day.
You will have nothing to take with you.
The diploma you receive will be someone else’s.

Everything meaningful about this moment, and these four years,
will be meaningful inside you, not outside you.

I’ve been a classroom teacher for sixteen years–as long as you have been in the classroom. We started the same year. And I hope to go on for fourteen more years.
That will make thirty, and I’ll be done.

At the end of that time, someone will bring me a box, and I will put in it a ceramic apple somebody gave me thinking it would be symbolic somehow. I will have nothing, and that will be proof of the meaning of my work.

If you can point to something, you might lose it, or you might break it, or someone might take it from you. As long as you store it inside yourself, it’s not going anywhere — or it’s going everywhere with you.

This day is a day of love.
It’s a day of your family’s love for you,
your love for each other and your teachers,
and your teachers’ love for you.

In time, the bar graphs may tumble,
the clay tablets may crumble.
They’re only made of clay.
But our love
is here to stay.

Thank you.

via Susan Ohanian

The Calder Game

The Calder Game
by Blue Balliett
illustrated by Brett Helquist
Scholastic, 2008
review copy compliments of the publisher

This is my favorite of the three art mystery books Blue Balliett has written (the others are Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3) about Calder Pillay, Tommy Segovia, and Petra Andalee. I want the literature circle back that read Chasing Vermeer as their first book in fourth grade and The Wright 3 as soon as we could get multiple copies from the library when they were in fifth grade. They would love this book!

The Calder Game is packed, layered, and balanced with so many different elements. It is about art and the response to art. It is about balance, social class, finding patterns (especially of 5), symbols (ancient and modern), mythology, and language. Oh, the language! The ways Balliett finds to describe with words the way Alexander Calder's mobiles balance, turn, change, and affect the viewer. The word mobiles that the characters create -- five words that balance, turn, and change depending how you look at them (NO-MINOTAUR-ONLY-WISHES-HERE becomes NO-WISHES balancing along with MINOTAUR-HERE or maybe MINOTAUR-WISHES).

It's about how bad teaching kills a student's urge to learn and about how much trust good teaching requires. I didn't really believe that the three protagonists' teacher could go from such a bad teacher to such a good teacher, but the book is also about the power of art to change people, so okay, I'll believe it.

The book opens with a class field trip to an Alexander Calder exhibit of mobiles at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Then Calder Pillay is lucky enough to be able to accompany his father on a trip to Oxford, England. He and his father stay in the nearby town of Woodstock, which is near Blenheim Palace and a real hedge maze made of symbols. Lots for Calder to explore while his dad is at meetings. The biggest surprise awaits them, however -- a Calder sculpture in the courtyard in front of the bed and breakfast where they are staying. And then the theft of the sculpture. And then the disappearance of Calder Pillay. Tommy and Petra come with Mrs. Sharpe from Chicago to help find the boy Calder, but his fate is linked with the Calder sculpture, and all of the characters must shift and re-balance their relationships in order to solve the mystery.

Speaking of characters, the three kids meet a girl who is named after Georgia O'Keefe. Plans are made for her to visit Chicago and stay with Mrs. Sharpe. I'm certain we will be seeing more of her in Balliett's next book...which I am anxiously awaiting!


Shelf Elf has a review with some cool bonus links.
Bill, at Literate Lives, has a review with some cool Calder pictures.

Memorial Day

Thank you, TadMack for a Memorial Day poem, a bit of information about the history of the day, a great photo, and a reminder that Colleen at Chasing Ray has invited bloggers to highlight books (for ages 4-100) that cover political subjects on Wednesdays this August:

August 5th - Race in America
August 12th - The environment
August 19th - Class divisions in America
August 26th - US foreign policy

Start gathering your titles!

SNEAK PEEK: LOOK WHO'S LEARNING TO READ

I am a HUGE fan of Shelley Harwayne. She is the person whose work keeps me grounded in what is right for children. I have been a fan since before she became principal of The Manhattan New School in NYC and before she wrote LASTING IMPRESSIONS, GOING PUBLIC, and others. Shelley ALWAYS makes decisions that are best for children.

Anyone who has heard Shelley Harwayne speak to teachers in the last several years, knows that she is now a grandmother. Being a grandmother has Shelley thinking and learning about early childhood education. She has learned much from her grandchildren that she shares with us in her upcoming professional book LOOK WHO'S LEARNING TO READ.

In this upcoming book, Shelley does what she does best and reminds us all of the things that are best for children. This time, she takes a hard look at what parents, grandparents, day care workers--anyone who spends time with young children--can do to support literacy development in ways that make sense for the child.

LOOK WHO'S LEARNING TO READ is a huge resource for parents and teachers. Shelley talks about many things that are important in literacy development and gives authentic ideas for working with children age 0-6. She includes thoughts about reading aloud, rhyming, the alphabet, singing, writing, sight vocabulary, and more.

The book is also filled with great booklists--favorite read alouds specific to age groups. Shelley includes titles of books that will be loved by young children and recommends both fiction and nonfiction.

It is so nice to see someone who knows literacy and learning so well give us a book that focuses on this important time in a child's development. With these high-stakes times, many parents are buying crazy programs for even our youngest children. Shelley reminds us that the most authentic literacy experiences are the ones that are important.

This is a great new resource for teachers of Pre-K through 1. But is is also a great addition to any baby gift. It will be a book that parents will go back to over the first 6 years of their child's life--finding new books and new ways to help their young children fall in love with reading.

Keep your eye out for this one from Scholastic in July!

SNEAK PEEK: 2 New Books by Louise Borden

Primary teachers are going to want to keep their eyes out for these two new books by Louise Borden. It isn't often that we have two new books about school released by Louise at the same time! This is quite exciting!

Off to First Grade is a new book focusing on the beginning of first grade. Louise has created a unique type of alphabet book focusing on different children in a first grade classroom on the first day of school. Each child tells a bit of getting ready for their first day of school (teacher, principal and others also give their take on this great day!) Children will be able to see themselves in the stories shared. The book begins with Anna:

At last,
it is August 26th
on our calendar.
It's a big day!
The day
I start first grade
at Elm School.
Mrs. Miller will be my teacher.

The story is great from A-Z! The illustrations by Joan Rankin are a perfect celebration of such an exciting day! I can imagine this being read over and over and over in first grade classrooms everywhere.

The Lost-and-Found Tooth is one in the series of school stories written by Louise Borden and illustrated by Adam Gustavson (Good Luck, Mrs. K,, The Day Eddie Met the Author, The John Hancock Club, and others). Each book introduces us to great new characters and Louise always manages to write a book about school that matches the experiences that our children have. This new one, focuses on second grade and the losing of teeth! Such a great story for many ages, but it is always fun to have one that talks specifically about those things specific to the grade you are teaching.

Both are due out July 1--just in time for school!

SNEAK PEEK: THE SANDMAN by Ralph Fletcher

I have been long awaiting this new picture book, The Sandman by Ralph Fletcher. He is one of those authors that writes a variety of things--poetry, picture books, novels, writing books for kids) so I always look forward to a new one from him.

This is a totally different kind of book for this author. It is a kind of fantasy that explains the story of the Sandman--the one that sprinkles sand over children to help them sleep. A dragon's scale is the key to this magical sand! A great story that is a very satisfying read.

You can tell by the cover that the illustrations are quite fun--the cover has a bit of a sparkle and the inside illustrations are just as perfect for the story.

As always, Ralph Fletcher uses great language in his work. Lines like "Looking down, he saw a gleam of light at his feet. A dragon's scale!" and "A great wave of sleepiness came over him." are found throughout the book.

I like this book for lots of reasons. First of all, it is a great story to enjoy as the great story it is. For fans of Ralph Fletcher's work, this is a great addition to the stack that kids already love. From a writing perspective, this is a great model for children-- a believable fantasy that could easily serves as a mentor text for some students. As always, Ralph Fletcher has written a book that is amazing on many levels. A great new fantasy that you'll want to check out!

This book is scheduled to be released on May 27!

SNEAK PEEK: Keep your eye on this new author!

Amjed Qamar is the author of Beneath My Mother's Feet, a coming-of-age story set in modern-day Pakistan (reviewed here yesterday), which will be in stores on June 17. The book has received, and is very deserving of lots of early attention: a Kirkus starred review (May 15, 2008 issue), Junior Library Guild Selection (April-September 2008 catalog), a Book Sense nomination, and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick (Fall 2008). How lucky for us that this rising star of an author lives in our very own community!

Tell us a little about your childhood in India and Columbus, Ohio.

I spent most of my childhood growing up in Columbus, OH. My parents immigrated from India when I was a baby. I attended school in Columbus during my elementary and middle school years and then went on to attend high school in Westerville when we moved there. I loved school and reading. I must admit I was a quiet child growing up and was more of listener than a talker.

How is your children's experience growing up in the U.S. different than yours was?

Interesting question. My children have a lot more opportunities than I did growing up. Mostly because I was limited in what I was allowed to do because my parents were quite protective. I never played sports or did after school activities; my children today are active in team sports, enjoy taking other classes, and doing things with their friends that I couldn't do at their age. Also, they have traveled around the world. Since the time my parents immigrated when I was a baby, I'd not been on a plane until after I got married. My kids have been on boats, planes, trains, rickshaws, horses, and camels!

What advice do you have for teachers with Muslim children in their classes?

This question was tough to answer because growing up as the only Muslim child in my most of classes, I can honestly say that I never had any issues in school or with the teachers. MY teachers were amazing, wonderful people. You have to understand I loved school and idolized my teachers. They were all supportive and I can't recall any instance where a teacher did not support me. On the flip side though, teachers are probably more aware that most issues that do arise, or any insecurities, or uncomfortable situations that come up generally involve your peers, friends, and fellow classmates. But I find that given today's climate, kids and people in general, especially in our community, are amazingly sensitive, aware, and open-minded.

Who were your female role models when you were growing up?

My mother was my biggest role model and influence. She struggled to raise five kids through a lot of adversity, economic issues, family issues, language barriers, her own education limitations, but she never gave up. She has been through a lot and she made me realize the importance of education.

Also my teachers, and yes, Oprah too. I watched that show nearly everyday after school since it came on. She was like the big sister I never had.

How typical in present-day India and Pakistan is your character Nazia's struggle to choose her future, rather than following the traditional path of an arranged marriage?

Most families in Nazia's situation just don't have the funds to send their daughters on to further their education. Generally, there are several kids in a family and the sons do get priority in this regard because they are the ones expected to gain employment and care for their families. As people pass on what they've learned from one generation to the next, and people are open to it, then the realization that educating women is vital does spread. Pakistanis are working hard to inform and educate people in this regard, opening more schools, creating more awareness, and generally providing more opportunities for women. Women who are educated in Pakistan hold high positions, are very successful in the fields of business, law, medicine, education, arts and media. When this success is filtered down to the less fortunate, then it has more wide-spread benefits. As a regular traveler to Pakistan, I have seen this first hand and am so proud!

Tell us the story of how this book came to be written and published.

This book took about a year to write, a year to edit, and it spent another year in line to be published. The story had been in my head for a very long time--I lived in Pakistan for five years, and I always seemed to remember the children the most. I saw such fortitude in their eyes, and such joy over the smallest things, and I wanted to honor that. I wanted to let the world know that in Pakistan I saw families who worked hard, women who were independent, and girls who were head strong. There females were capable, self-assured, and bold individuals living with dignity in a Muslim country, defying most western stereotypes and myths. If I conveyed even a small portion of this strength in Nazia, then I feel satisfied.

Can you give us a "sneak peek" of your next writing project?

The next book is set in the United States and deals with the balancing act some teens face when trying to align home life and high school.

SNEAK PEEK: Beneath My Mother's Feet

Beneath My Mother's Feet
by Amjed Qamar
Simon and Schuster
in bookstores June 17, 2008
Ages 12+
ARC provided by the author



We don't typically review YA books at A Year of Reading. We also don't typically meet authors of new and already highly-acclaimed books in the hallways of our school! When Amjed introduced herself to me and told me a little bit about her book, I knew I had to read it. I curled up on the couch with it on Mothers' Day and I was hooked immediately. It turned out a little ironic to read it on Mothers' Day (see review for details), but I am convinced that this book deserves every bit of praise it has already garnered. This is a book you must read, and Amjed Qamar is a new author to keep your eyes on.

Nazia is a modern-day Pakistani girl living in Gizri colony, a working class neighborhood in southern Karachi. She is 14 years old, loves school, and is promised in marriage to her cousin back in the village where her father's family lives. Nazia's mother is focused on preparing Nazia's dowry for her wedding, and Nazia's friends tease her for being "a good beti, a dutiful daughter." These traditional mother-daughter roles are soon put to the test when Nazia's father is injured in a construction accident and Nazia's mother takes her out of school to help earn money by cleaning houses.

Things go from bad to worse when Nazia's dowry is stolen, her father loses the rent money, and the family winds up homeless. This shift of fate gives Nazia (and the reader) the opportunity to meet strong and capable women whose lives expand her understanding of the power that women have, even in a culture that seems to be all about the fathers, uncles, and brothers.

Through it all, Nazia's mother works to keep her children with her and to keep Nazia's wedding on track. Nazia, in helping another servant child attempt to escape his fate, discovers the inner strength she needs to choose her own path as well.

This is a well-paced story filled with the sights, sounds, smells, and flavors of a variety of levels of status in modern Pakistani culture. However, Nazia's struggle to choose her own path in life is, at its core, the common story of every girl on the brink of her future, every girl who must break her mother's heart by choosing a way of her own and not the one her mother has hoped and planned for all her life.

Beneath My Mother's Feet has received much early acclaim:

• Kirkus starred review (May 15, 2008 issue)
• Junior Library Guild Selection (April-September 2008 catalog)
• Book Sense nomination
• Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick (Fall 2008)

This is Amjed Qamar's first book. She lives in Dublin, Ohio with her husband and two children. Tomorrow, we will feature an interview with Amjed.

Sneak Peek Week

We had so much fun with Graphic Novel Week last week that we are going to do another theme this week:

Sneak Peek Week

The name says it all. New books and new authors every day this week.

Meme of Five

We've been tagged three times this week for The Meme of Five, but we couldn't fit it into Graphic Novel Week, so here are our fives. In lieu of tagging, we have included a bit of a roundup of the ones we've seen around the Kidlitosphere. If we missed one (especially if we missed yours) let us know!

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

FRANKI'S FIVE:

What were you doing five years ago?
Of course, Mary Lee has a diary that tells her exactly what she was doing on this day 5 years ago. I will just have to try my best! 5 years ago, I was just finishing up my first year teaching at Eli Pinney--we opened the school that year and it was a great year of teaching and learning. We were also in the midst of the adoption process and were waiting to bring our youngest daughter home.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
buy a few birthday and retirement gifts
get a few sets of handouts ready for summer work
pull a presentation together for this week
make cookie dough
laundry

What are five snacks you enjoy?
(I am going for the unhealthy ones--treatlike snacks)
My new favorite: DOVE Ice Cream Bars
chips and salsa
those really cheap vanilla cream cookies that you can by anywhere
DOTS
Doritos

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
(not in order of action folks!)
1. Buy books for kids and adults who don't have them and for children's hospitals
2. Put money into schools for girls in places where it is hard for girls to get an education
3. Do something to get rid of testing and punishment of schools for test scores..
4. Buy a house somewhere warm and calm
5. Hire a few people to live here (or close) to do the things I don't like to do (laundry, weeding the yard, etc.)

What are five of your bad habits?
1. I ask a lot of questions.
2. I overbook myself.
3. I don't exercise enough.
4. I eat junk food.
5. I make piles everywhere.

What are five places where you have lived?
(be careful--this may be just too exciting..)
1. Ohio--Youngstown
2. Ohio--Howland
3. Ohio--Bowling Green
4. Ohio--Hilliard
5. Ohio--Dublin


What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. Bob Evans hostess
2. Bob Evans waitress
3. Desk and Night Clerk (college)
4. worker at Hot Sam's Pretzels
5. TEACHER:-)


MARY LEE'S FIVE:

What were you doing five years ago?
Five years ago on May 16, my students were baking cookies (5 groups, 5 different recipes) for the "World Premiere" of their multi-media project "Social Issues in the World." (I know this because I have a 10-year diary that I've been keeping for 7 years now.)

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
1. Walk in the Race For the Cure. (It did NOT rain!)
2. Get gas. (Found some high test for under $4/gallon!)
3. Pick up watches. (7 got new batteries and one got a new band. I now have 17 working watches! And now you know one of my obsessions. Other women go for shoes. I go for watches.)
4. Pick up my new glasses.
5. Grading, grading, and more grading, then maybe start report cards?

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. Potato chips. Especially with onion dip.
2. Cheetos.
3. Hubs peanuts.
4. Jeni's ice cream.
5. Pam's cheddar popcorn. (I also like grapes, apples, veggies, Bill's guacamole with corn chips, Cheezits, dark chocolate, peanut M&Ms, Chex Mix...well, you get the idea...)

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Fully fund Ohio's Casting for Recovery program.
2. Buy enough lobbyists to get NCLB fixed or nixed.
3. Save the Arctic from oil drilling.
4. Travel.
5. Buy a house with enough shelves for all our books and enough wall space for all of our art.

What are five of your bad habits?
1. Procrastination.
2. Sloppy handwriting.
3. Taking laundry out of the dryer, laying it in a neat pile on top of the dryer, and then not folding and putting it away for a week.
4. Taking on yet another project.
5. Speaking before thinking.

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Burlington, CO
2. Denver, CO
3. Aachen, Germany (only six weeks, but that counts, doesn't it?)
4. Dallas, TX
5. Columbus, OH

What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. Babysitter
2. Lifeguard
3. Cashier at Ben Franklin's
4. Nanny
5. Teacher

OTHER FIVERS:

Wild Rose Reader
The Miss Rumphius Effect
Welcome to My Tweendom
Read. Imagine. Talk.
A Wrung Sponge
Big A little a
Check it Out
Greetings From Nowhere
HipWriterMama
jama rattigan's alphabet soup
Jen Robinson's Book Page
MotherReader
My Breakfast Platter
Read Write Believe
Read, Read, Read
Shelf Elf
The Reading Zone
Two Writing Teachers
Wizards Wireless