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Natural dyes are derived from naturally occurring sources. Although natural dyes have been used for
centuries, their use was greatly reduced with the development of synthetic dyes in the nineteenth century.
These natural dyes are experiencing renewed interest because of the importance of green and natural
products. While natural dyes are renewable and sustainable, their use can be controversial. Natural dyes
are a great tool for educators because they add interest to many areas of education including history,
natural science, math, art, social studies, and family and consumer sciences.
Оригинальное название
Natural Dyes a Traditional Craft Experiencing New Attention
Natural dyes are derived from naturally occurring sources. Although natural dyes have been used for
centuries, their use was greatly reduced with the development of synthetic dyes in the nineteenth century.
These natural dyes are experiencing renewed interest because of the importance of green and natural
products. While natural dyes are renewable and sustainable, their use can be controversial. Natural dyes
are a great tool for educators because they add interest to many areas of education including history,
natural science, math, art, social studies, and family and consumer sciences.
Natural dyes are derived from naturally occurring sources. Although natural dyes have been used for
centuries, their use was greatly reduced with the development of synthetic dyes in the nineteenth century.
These natural dyes are experiencing renewed interest because of the importance of green and natural
products. While natural dyes are renewable and sustainable, their use can be controversial. Natural dyes
are a great tool for educators because they add interest to many areas of education including history,
natural science, math, art, social studies, and family and consumer sciences.
International Journal for Professional Educators The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin (ISSN 0011-8044; USPS 715-850; IPM 0302295) is published quarterly each year by The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, 416 West 12th Street, Austin, Texas. Mailing address: P.O. Box 1589, Austin, TX 78767-1589. Periodicals Postage paid at Austin, Texas. Subscription, U.S. $20 per year; single copies, $5 each. International dues include subscription to The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin. Views expressed do not necessarily agree with positions taken by The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin P.O. Box 1589, Austin, TX 78767-1589 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin ics addressed, accuracy and validity, contribution to the professional literature, originality, quality of writing, and adherence to Submission Guidelines (see page 40). Edi- torial Board members evaluate each submissions focus, organization, development, readability and accessibility to the general audience of Bulletin readers. Due to the diversity of the Bulletin audience, material of a religious, political or patriotic nature is not suitable for publication.
Please send materials to bulletin@deltakappagamma.org or to Bulletin Editorial Staff, The Delta Kappa Gamma Soci- ety International, P.O. Box 1589, Austin, TX 78767-1589. The Bulletin, the official journal of The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, promotes professional and personal growth of members through publication of their writings. The Bulletin invites materials appropriate to the Soci- etys Purposes: position papers, applied and/or data-based research, and other articles on announced themes or other topics of interest to educators; letters to the editor; view- points; book reviews; annotated bibliographies; anec- dotes; poetry; and graphic arts. Prose manuscripts for the Bulletin, a refereed journal, are reviewed by the Editorial Board and the Society edi- torial staff. Selection is based on relevance of the top- Sarah Wees Communications Manager The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Austin,Texas Andrea Honigsfeld, Ed.D, 2008-2010 Associate Professor, Division of Education Molloy College Rockvile Centre, New York Judith Merz, Ed.D., 20062010 Doctoral Advisor, Educational Leadership Nova Southeastern University Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Janice Novello, Ph.D., 2008-2012 Doctoral Dissertation Advisor, University of Phoenix Phoenix, Arizona Saundra Wetig, Ed.D., 2008-2012 Associate Professor University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, Nebraska Editorial Board 2008 The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. All rights reserved. Published by The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. 4 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS 39 POETRY 40 SUBMISSION GUIDELINES THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN Fall 2008 Volume 75-1 AWARDS 5 2008 ACHIEVEMENT AWARD by Barbara Day 6 2008 EDUCATORS AWARDS reviewed by 2006-2008 Educators Award Committee ARTICLES 7 LIMITLESS IMAGES: DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE CLASSROOM by Anne Zahra
10 POETRY IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT by Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove 14 NATURAL DYES: A TRADITIONAL CRAFT EXPERIENCING NEW ATTENTION by Sara Kadolph 18 THE POWER OF COLLABORATION: TWO TEACHERS WORKING TOGETHER FOR THEIR STUDENTS SUCCESS by Ellen Pochedley and Juliann Dorff 23 PATTERNED POETRY WRITING HELPS PRESERVICE TEACHERS SUMMARIZE CONTENT LEARNING by Susan Szabo 27 THE CULMINATION OF PROJECT WINGS IN ARIZONA by Donna Reynolds 29 MUSICIANS ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY by Jackie Griffn and Marianne Holland 32 MY BEST BOW HOLD: PLAYING VIOLIN AS AN ADULT BEGINNER by Marilyn Barry VIEWPOINT 36 RECITING OUT LOUD: BRING BACK THE LOVE OF POETRY WITH AN AUDIENCE by Rita Tamalavage BOOKMARK 38 THE CHILDHOOD ROOTS OF ADULT HAPPINESS: FIVE STEPS TO HELP KIDS CREATE AND SUSTAIN LIFELONG JOY by Edward M. Hallowell REVIEWED BY CHRISTOPHER R. MURPHY AND JUDITH J. PULA COVER ARTWORK: sixth grade class of Barbara DeWitt (Upsilon Chapter, Maryland). The students were given the shapes of a bowling pin and scissors and asked to be creative with one of them. COVER DESIGN: Sarah Wees 4 FALL 2008 ABOUT THIS ISSUE Call for Submissions! Members are encouraged to submit manuscripts for consideration by the Bulletin Editorial Board. The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin accepts manuscripts for print issues (spring, fall) that are Action Research, Anecdotes, Graphic Arts, Letters to the Editor, Poetry, or Program Descriptions. The online issues (summer, winter) include Annotated Bibliography, Qualitative Research, and Quantitative Research. For both print and online issues we accept Book Reviews, Viewpoints, and Position Papers. Manuscripts should be focused, well organized, effectively developed, con- cise, and appropriate for Bulletin readers. The style should be direct, clear, readable and free from gender, political, patriotic or religious bias. For more detailed information, please refer to the Sub- mission Guidelines on page 40. Listed below are the suggested themes of upcoming issues. Spring 2009 (75-3) Educational Travel (Postmark deadline is December 1, 2008) Study Abroad Travel as Professional Growth Personal Stories Hostels Teaching Abroad Foreign Language Study Summer 2009 (75-4) Comparative Education: Issues and Practices (Postmark deadline is March 1, 2009) Study Abroad Information Literacy Cultural Impacts Licensing Teaching in Foreign Countries Teacher Preparation Programs Specialty Schools Peace Education Evolving High School Models Global Awareness Submit all materials to: Bulletin Editorial Staff The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International P.O. Box 1589, Austin, Texas 787671589 bulletin@deltakappagamma.org T he theme for this issueThe Artsmust have spoken to many of our members, because we received a number of great theme- oriented submissions. In fact, a class of sixth grade students got in on the action by submitting their creative artwork (used on the cover). We hope you enjoy the informative and interesting articles in such diverse genres as poetry, music, and photography. In addition to the articles, you can read about this years Achievement Award recipient as well as the two authors whose books were chosen for the Educators Award. Weve also included a poem that is particularly ftting for this time of year, The First Day of Class. We welcome your feedback, so feel free to contact us at bulletin@deltakappagamma.org. THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 5 2008 Ac hi evement Awa r d T he International Achievement Award is given annually by the Society to a Leader who has given devoted service and distinguished leadership to the Society at the chapter, state or- ganization and international levels. The symbol of this honor, a gold medallion, is worn only by members who have been voted that honor and privilege by the International Executive Board. The Constitution says that it will be presented at an international convention or a regional confer- ence. Given frst to Dr. An- nie Webb Blanton in 1933, this years award is to be given here. Our recipient today is described as dedi- cated, exceptionally com- petent and dynamic. Her membership and infuence in the Society began at the chapter level and quickly embraced a much wider audience at the state or- ganization and International levels. Her journey in education began as a teacher. The challenge of enticing young people into becoming lifelong learners, the changing roles of technology, the excitement of new ques- tions to be researched were all challenging and exciting to her. This charter member of Lambda Iota in Texas has held nearly every offce at the chapter level; she was her chapters achievement award recipient. She has been an area coordinator of her state organization and chaired the State Nomina- tions Committee. Winning a state Achievement Award and the attending the Golden Gift Leader- ship/Management Seminar are among the high- lights in her Society journey. She loves to travel, particularly with her husband, since they both enjoy visiting art gal- leries, museums, and bakeries with equal fervor. Her idea of heaven on earth is being with friends and discussing movies and books over a leisurely meal. She treasurers a womens spiritual forma- tion group and a book discussion group which she misses only when Delta Kappa Gamma du- ties take her away from home. Spirituality in the workplace is particularly interesting to her, and she has an extensive library on this subject. One of her favorite wisdoms is the African Proverb: The two antelopes will walk side by side, so that one can blow the dust from the others eyes. The recipient spent 25 wonderful years as a classroom teacher in Andrews and Austin, Texas, and then as a librarian in the Austin In- dependent School District. In 1998 she became the Business Services Administrator for The Del- ta Kappa Gamma Society International, and in 2003 she became its Executive Coordinator. In 2007 she resigned to care for her mother, who re- cently died, and her husband and soul-mate Ed- die. On a personal note, when I became Interna- tional President, she said to me, I consider my job is to make you look good, and she did. Ever wise and compassionate, she called me when I was on one of my long travel journeys and said, I know you are tired. Take a long bath and order room service and have a good hot meal. In nominating her, one member said, Sandras understanding of, and commitment to, empowering others has consistently been a tenet of her personality and actions. This human em- powerment is refected in those with whom she has both worked and supervised. The strength of her character in this area makes her the quintes- sential choice for the International Achievement Award. Sandra Smith Bull embodies the essence of the Achievement Award. It was my happy privilege to present to Sandra the 2008 International Achievement Award, frst presented to Agnes Ellen Harris in 1934 and re-circulated in 1979 to Laginia Hale who was a mentor and friend to the recipient. Sandra Bull Receives International Achievement Award Barbara Day, Ph.D. 2006-2008 International President July 24, 2008 w Chicago, Illinois 6 FALL 2008 T he selection process for two Educators Award books for 2008 proved to be challenging, stimulating, and controversial. Guided by the Society Constitution and sustained by award money from account interest, grants, and donations, the Educators Award Committee supports educational research and writing through recognition of women authors. Award money goes to authors whose books, published in member countries, might infuence the direction of educational thought and action in a complex global society. If no nominee fts the regulatory criteria, the committee may withhold the award. At frst the Committee considered the possibility of withholding the award for 2008 when obscurity seemed to reign supreme. Passionate discussions created a delightful dilemmato expand or to narrow the global scope of educational research. We wrote reviews and narrowed the feld. Finally, we voteda tie ensued for two captivating books. A wise and passionate member brought us to closure with the statement, This one appeals to my heart while the other one appeals to my mind. When mind and heart respond to creatively detailed and carefully documented research, our choice to choose two books was simple. The two selected authors made connections that sparked passions of the heart. Two bookscreatively written and wisely documented spoke life into complex worlds. Nina Burleigh (pictured right) energized the scientifc world of 150 scholars to bring encyclopedic scope of scientifc exploration to historical research and writing. Linda Lear (pictured below) invigorated the world of nature with accuracy, detail, and compassion in her mesmerizing biography of Beatrix Potter. In Mirage, Nina Burleigh collected research revealing works of scholars, artists, and scientists whose agonies and ecstasies bring readers to painful awareness of the contradictions of scientifc research and military aggression during a specifc historic time. The heart-wrenching documentary of success and failure, of strategy and struggle, is presented from varying points of view of the 150 savants who took a voyage of scientifc discovery and military conquest with Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. Mirage reads like a thriller when intrigues abound as two countries vie for the spoils of war. Scientifc discoveries, analyses, and records underscore the Napoleonic conquest of Egypt at the turn of the 18 th
century. Documented scientifc inquiry, personal sacrifces, and political intrigue propel the reader on a trip to the past. Burleigh touches hearts of readers as she hints at signifcant infuences on present historical development. Burleighs gripping account of human interaction and her exemplary research into the experiences of the creators of a 23-volume encyclopedic work challenge the reader to explore history and its global ramifcations. The marvelously detailed sketches of Peter Rabbits natural world earned Beatrix 2008 Educ a t or s Awa r d Mirage: Napoleons Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt BY NINA BURLEIGH (HARPER-COLLINS) Beatrix Potter, A Life in Nature BY LINDA LEAR (ST. MARTINS PRESS) (Continued on page 22) THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 7 W hen todays educators strive to enrich their classroom instruction with technology-based activities, most focus on computer applications or the Internet. However, digital photography is an ideal tool for developing academic and technological skills. Students creating, sharing, publishing, manipulating, and analyzing digital images are actively engaged in their learning. Photography- centered activities empower students to create and communicate with others while building the students self-esteem and breaking down cultural and emotional barriers. The ever-increasing sophistication and popularity of digital cameras has made it easier to include photography- centered activities in the curriculum. Building Classroom Relationships Highly effective educators foster a sense of community in the classroom, establishing a comfortable rapport with students regardless of differences in ethnic background or socioeconomic status. They make all students Digital photography is a valuable technology for todays educators. Photography-centered activities help educators foster a positive, trusting atmosphere in the classroom and give students an opportunity to develop academic and technological skills. Students may use digital photographs to report on their learning, gather images for classroom discussions and projects, or jumpstart creative activities. Photography-centered activities build technology skills, encourage creativity, and develop self-esteem. However, teachers must train students to use the camera effectively and must plan photography-centered activities carefully. Ethical considerations, including district privacy policies, must be weighed when planning photography-centered activities. Limitless Images: Digital Photography in the Classroom feel accepted and successful, even those challenged by learning disability or limited English profciency. Digital photography can be surprisingly helpful to any educator hoping to build trusting relationships with students. Simple snapshots of classroom groups can be displayed in the classroom and given to students at the end of the course as an inexpensive keepsake. The teacher who appears in photographs with students becomes a part of their personal historical record and may live on as a positive memory and role model for many years to come. BY ANNE ZAHRA T H E
A U T H O R Anne K. Zahra is a member of Delta Epsilon Chapter in Gulf County, Florida. She holds a Bachelors degree in French, a Masters of Science in secondary education from the University of South Alabama and has been a certifed teacher of French and German since 1993. Anne has also taught student journalism and served as a technology coordinator, workshop presenter, and learning lab manager, most recently for A. Crawford Mosley High School in Lynn Haven, Florida. 8 FALL 2008 Simply keeping a bulletin board or scrapbook to which students can add their own photos encourages positive feelings towards the class and helps foster the trusting atmosphere the teacher hopes to create. Creating and updating a photo display throughout the term is a reliable way to document classroom activities, thereby encouraging students to discuss and refect on what they have learned. Teaching Through the Power of Images The digital image is one of the best teaching resources available, whatever the content to be learned. Because digital images are so easy and inexpensive to create, retrieve, manipulate and share, digital photography is arguably the easiest technology to integrate into an instructional program. Digital photographs can be edited, altered, enhanced, and combined using expensive or free computer software. Rather than printing images, students can share them digitally, incorporating them into a slideshow or displaying them using a digital projector. Digital images can even be compiled into videos playable on a standard DVD player. Photography-centered activities in class- rooms typically include the following: 1. Reporting tasks: Students use the cam- era to present the product or outcome of an activ- ity that will be graded. For example, the photos may document the steps students followed in con- structing a model or carrying out an experiment. The photos may be part of a report or portfolio to be examined by the teacher, parents, or other stu- dents who will complete the activity in the future. 2. Analysis tasks: The digital images collected or created by the teacher or students are a springboard for discussion or a resource supporting a lesson. For example, science students may photograph different types of trees and later discuss the characteristics shown in the photos. 3. Note-taking tasks: Teachers or students use cameras to gather and share images that contain information relevant to their learning. Students visiting a museum may be assigned certain displays to photograph in order to support in-class activities. Students photographed while competing may develop insights that improve later performance. Students completing a science project may use their photos to support the conclusions drawn through their research. 4. Response tasks: Teachers and students use digital images to express and inspire creativity and develop artistic skill. For example, students may fnd, create, or share photos that then become springboards for creative writing or fne arts activities. Applying Technical Skills in the Classroom Digital devices today are increasingly integrated with computers and the Internet. Not long ago, peripheral devices typically meant computer mice and printers. Today, peripheral devices include cameras, mobile phones, portable media players, microphones, toys, and even musical instruments. Advances in wireless communication will lead to even more interactivity for electronic and non- electronic devices of all kinds. Using a digital camera requires students to apply a variety of technical skills they will also use in the working world. For instance, amateur digital photographers handle memory cards and discs, manage fles, and work with their images using common computer applications. When students use their photos as part of a learning activity, they are using classroom technology as it is meant to usedas a means to achieve an academic goal, and not for its own sake. Student Photographers as Artists Digital photography taps the students inner creative drive, empowering all students to express themselves both through their digital images and any new works they create by collecting, combining, and manipulating digital images. One of the most popular independent photography projects for students is the photographic autobiography. Students use a classroom camera to capture images that explain and describe the world as they know it, creating a series of images of their homes, families, friends, and communities. With the help of the teacher, they compile their favorite photos into a portfolio, adding a written narrative to unify the photos into a presentation they can share with the class, the school, or even the community. Students who produce high quality photos can enter them in contests, display them at fne arts shows, or have them published in local newspapers. Although the THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 9 cost of this project can be considerable, it offers students a rare opportunity to learn about self and others. For some students, the photographs may bring public recognition and respect they have never experienced before. In classrooms with diverse populations or special-needs students, this project can also be very helpful in building self-confdence and tolerance for difference. Whatever the project, digital photography is an ideal tool for teachers hoping to teach students to understand and appreciate the visual arts. When students fnd or create photos that express movement or appeal to viewers by their use of form or color, they demonstrate a deeper understanding of these concepts than they would be likely to achieve from reading and discussion alone. Finding a Starting Point Teachers who routinely use a digital camera to build rapport and document student learning will be most comfortable introducing photography into student activities. Teachers who encourage students to substitute photographs for hand-drawn illustrations have recognized the digital cameras usefulness as a learning tool. However, phot ogr a phy- c e nt e r e d projects require some student training, and this training must help the students know the camera and some basic principles of composing a good photograph. One photography activity that can help young photographers understand the camera is the window light portrait. By turning off all artifcial lighting and posing a single subject next to a well-lit window, the student photographer has an opportunity to compose an appealing photo that can be used as a keepsake or added to a classroom collage. Window light portraits can be created using the cameras automatic settings or can be an opportunity to experiment with a variety of camera settings. Four Technical Considerations When planning an activity that includes digital photography, teachers should consider the following: 1. How the students taking the photographs can receive equal access to the camera and adequate instruction in how to use it effectively 2. The time it will take for students to complete the activity with the available equipment and software 3. The procedure that will be followed when downloading, saving, and identifying the students photographs 4. The procedure that will be followed if technical problems complicate the project as it has been planned. Ethical Considerations Before placing the camera in a students hands, the educator should establish clear, written guidelines and grading procedures for digital photography projects. Students should have ample opportunity to practice and receive feedback before a grade is given. Sample photographs should be used to establish how an acceptable product looks. The teacher must also take steps to ensure that the digital photos are used in a responsible way. It is best to carry out photographic projects that have a clear instructional purpose documented in writing. If the photos will be used to document a specifc classroom activity, it may be best to assign the camera to one student well-trained in its use. Students who are told to take photographs without some prior instruction and guidelines may not produce (Continued on page 17) Inexperienced photographers can create lovely window light portraits using the digital cameras automatic settings. The vertical orientation of the photo helps the photographer get close to the subject while cropping out unwanted details in the background. Photographing younger children from the childs eye level tends to create a more natural likeness. Photo courtesy of the author. 10 FALL 2008 Poetry in Professional Development W hile conducting professional development on topics as varied as differentiated instruction or meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students in the mainstream classroom, adult literacy, or standardized test preparation, we frequently use poetry. Those who teach poetry with passion and joy know it is one of the richest learning experiences students can have. We journey to worlds and peer into spaces in our hearts and minds and soul through poetry (Fitch & Swartz, 2008, p. 4). Classroom practice appropriate for K-12 students can inspire creative ways to deliver instruction for adult learners. By the same token, professional development sessions may utilize learning strategies and techniques that mainstream teachers and education specialists can adapt for lesson delivery in their own classrooms. Poetry as a genre allows teachers (and their students) to be self-refective The authors share their experiences of utilizing poetry in pre-service and in-service teacher education programs. They incorporate poetry into their education courses and professional development sessions for two purposes. Poetry becomes the avenue to explore pertinent educational topics such as cultural diversity, bilingualism, adult literacy, or the immigrant experience. It may also serve as a focus for exploring literacy instruction, such as discussing how poetry can be used to promote literacy development through differentiated, scaffolded, or tiered activities. and to express thoughts and feelings that may not ft into the curriculum while also exploring instructional strategies and practicing literacy skills. The purpose of this article is to share some of our successful professional development activities that use poetry. Poetry either (a) becomes the avenue to explore pertinent educational topics such as cultural diversity, bilingualism, adult literacy, or the immigrant education; or (b) serves as a focus of exploration in itself to discuss how poetry can be used to promote literacy development through differentiated, scaffolded, or tiered activities. Poetry as an Avenue to Explore Diverse Topics Windows and Mirrors A favorite activity of ours that may be used with a range of artistic expressions (paintings, flm clips, music, or quotes from any BY ANDREA HONIGSFELD AND MARIA DOVE ANDREA HONIGSFELD MARIA DOVE THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 11 form of literature including poetry) is called Windows and Mirrors. As we read a poem, we invite teachers with whom we work to refect on the experiences described in the poem and jot down their reactions in a Windows and Mirrors graphic organizer. On the Window side, they are asked to write down new insights they gained from the poem; whereas, on the Mirror side they record ways in which their own lives or experiences are refected in the poem. We have selected a few poems we use in various professional development programs and provided the frst stanza or initial segment of each poem to offer a sense of direction the activity takes for participants as they listen to these poems, refect on, and then share their Windows and Mirrors. Prospective Immigrants, Please Note by Adrienne Rich (1967) invites readers to place themselves in the immigrants shoes and ponder their dilemmas. The poem immediately pulls the audience into the world of immigrants: Either you will go through this door or you will not go through. If you go through there is always the risk of remembering your name. Another poem, Elena, by Pat Mora (Williams & Muller, 1994) also explores the immigrant experience from the perspective of a 40-year-old Spanish-speaking mother. My Spanish isnt enough. I remember how Id smile listening to my little ones, understanding every word theyd say, their jokes, their songs, their plots. Vamos a pedirle dulces a mama.Vamos. But that was in Mexico. Now my children go to American high schools. They speak English. At night they sit around the kitchen table, laugh with one another. I stand by the stove and feel dumb, alone Conversations about immigration take a new turn when the topic is introduced through poems such as the ones cited. Both the cognitive and affective domains of the participants are engaged. In a workshop on literacy development and the challenges of developing writing skills, we use Why Do I Write? by Enid Santiago Welch (Schneider, 1989): I write to be heard to be understood I write to impress to encourage I write about truth, honor About suffering and happiness By offering sentence starters such as I write to and I write about, we invite participating teachers to enumerate the many reasons they engage in the process of writing and how they may model authentic writing experiences for their students. Poetry to Teach Literacy We often turn to poetry to model differentiation of instruction and to demonstrate ways to adapt tasks for English Language Learners or other at-risk students through scaffolding or tiering assignments. Eloise Greenfelds poem titled By Myself (Heard, 2000) lends itself to exploring dimensions of identity and metaphorical expressions of self while offering an enriching literacy experience both to struggling learners and gifted children within the same classroom. We use this poem to show how teachers can use poetry as mentor text (Hoyt, 2008) and how they can create scaffolded frames for retelling or recreating the poem. The scaffold below illustrates what type of support may be helpful for intermediate level learners to write their own poem modeled after the original by Greenfeld. By Myself Retold by ___________ When Im by myself And I close my eyes Im a __________________ Im a __________________ Im a __________________ Im a __________________ 12 FALL 2008 Im a whatever I want to be An anything I care to be And when I open my eyes What I care to be Is me For a learner who might not be able to fully comprehend the original poem and struggles with creating metaphors to describe himself or herself, a more thoroughly scaffolded version may be helpful: By Myself Retold by ___________ When Im by myself And I close my eyes Im a __________________ Im a __________________ And when I open my eyes What I care to be Is me Poetry Splash Staff developers as well as classroom teachers often facilitate learning and spark interest regarding the topic at hand by tapping into the prior knowledge of those involved in the learning experience. By anticipating what they will learn, participants are better able to incorporate what they already know, resulting in a deeper understanding of the topic and an increase in active participation. Educators either involved in conducting professional development or in regular classroom teaching generally accomplish the task of activating prior knowledge through various techniques such as brainstorming or the use of graphic organizers. However, another avenue to focus participants on the topic being presented is a type of fll-in-the-blank poetry we call Poetry Splash. A Poetry Splash is a way in which teachers can scaffold poetry writing using content area or nonfction topics and vocabulary. It requires participants to complete a poem about a particular theme by selecting from a splash of words provided in a word bank. The words contained in the word bank lead learners to create poems based on both their previous experience with the subject as well as to learn new information. This poetry technique is a versatile tool that can be used with any age group. A recent staff development session on guided reading was introduced by asking a group of teachers to complete a Poetry Splash (see Table 1). One way to initiate a Poetry Splash activity is to present the vocabulary words contained in the word bank frst. Allow the participants to associate the words freely with the topic being targeted, encouraging them to make connections, construct defnitions, and share sentences aloud containing one or more of the words. Subsequently, the facilitator distributes the fll-in-the-blank portion of the activity and has participants complete their own poems. Acrostic Poems Ongoing evaluation and assessment is an important element to include in planning a successful learning session. During professional development, facilitators need to assess whether or not the participating cohort fully understands the information being presented. A quick and simple way to gauge learning is the use of acrostic poems. During a lesson presentation, the facilitator will ask participants to pause and refect on a particular concept or idea. They will be asked to write the concept vertically on a piece of paper using one letter per line. Participants use each of the letters to write phrases about the selected concept. The following is an example of an acrostic poem on literacy: Love to read Interconnected Think alouds Everyone at their own pace Reading to learn Ability to read and write Comprehension Yearning to be life-long readers By sharing their acrostic poems, participants have the opportunity to assess their own learning. This strategy can be used to reinforce presented information or further examine and discuss the topic to acquire a greater understanding. Diamante Poetry Poetry writing may also be used as a culminating activity in a learning event to contrast two ideas that have been presented THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 13 (Upson, 1998). A Diamante Poem may be used for this purpose. It contains seven lines, with each maintaining a different format by using a specifc type and number of words. When completed, the poem resembles the shape of a diamond. The following describes the format in greater detail: Line 1 Noun: identifes topic 1 Line 2 Two adjectives: describes topic 1 Line 3 Three -ing verbs: telling about topic 1 Line 4 Four words: Two words about topic 1/ two about topic 2 Line 5 Three -ing verbs: telling about topic 2 Line 6 Two adjectives: describes topic 2 Line 7 Noun: identifes topic 2 Here is an example of a Diamante Poem produced by a workshop participant: Guided Reading Dynamic, strategies Supporting, assisting, explaining Groups, monitored, alone, on-my-own Selecting, enjoying, re-reading Silent, comfortable Independent Reading Conclusion Infusing poetry into everyday instruction is benefcial to learners of all ages. Poetry is often taught in isolation to youngsters with infrequent lessons that revolve around the reading and understanding of a particular poem unrelated to curriculum or content area instruction. When it comes to professional development, poetry may be a rare treat. Developing a common practice of using poetry as a part of the learning process helps to eliminate its mystique and makes poetry more accessible to young students. With adult learnerswhether future teachers or practicing educatorsthe use of poetry in pre-service or in-service classes can help them reach beyond the limits of the learning experience to promote refective practice, an essential technique to develop and refne ones teaching expertise while also experiencing an evocative art form. References Fitch, S., & Swartz, L. (2008). The poetry experience: Choosing and using poetry in the classroom. Portland, ME: Stenhouse. Heard, G. (Ed.). (2000). Songs of myself: An anthology of poems and arts. New York: Mondo. Hoyt, L. (2008). Interactive read alouds. Retrieved on May 28, 2008, from http://www.interactivereadalouds.com/overview.aspx Rich, A. (1967). Snapshots of a daughter-in-law. New York: W. W. Norton. Schneider, P. (Ed.). (1989). In our own voices: Writing by women from the Chicopee writing workshop. Amherst, MA: Amherst Writers & Artists. Upson, G. B. (1998). Poetry writing handbook: Defnitions, examples, lessons (Gr. 4-6). Carthage, IL: Teaching & Learning Company. Williams, J. A., & Muller, G. H. (1994). Bridges: Literature across cultures. New York: McGraw-Hill. Guided Reading Guided Reading is an instructional __________ Teachers help students become good ________ Teachers work with small, fexible __________ Teachers carefully select __________________ Teachers provide ________________________ Teachers ask higher order level _____________ Guided Reading encourages _______________ Students are actively engaged in ____________ Students focus on________________________ Students better understand ________________ Students use a variety of__________________ Students may read _______________________ Guided Reading is a part of balanced ________ Poetry Splash Word Bank reading readers strategy texts strategies support meaning groups thinking content silently questions literacy Table 1 T H E
A U T H O R S Andrea Honigsfeld, Ed.D., Alpha Pi Chapter, New York, is associate professor in the Division of Education at Molloy College. She is a Fulbright scholar and member of the American Educational Research Association, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Kappa Delta Pi, International Reading Association, Phi Delta Kappa and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and NYSTESOL. Maria Dove is an ESL teacher in Valley Stream, New York, and adjunct instructor at Molloy College. She is currently pursuing an advanced degree in the instructional leadership doctoral program. 14 FALL 2008 T he traditions and crafts associated with adding color to textiles and other materials were important to almost all historic cultural groups. Naturally occurring colored materials or natural colorants were used to paint the body; add interest and pattern to clay, basketry, and wood objects; and color textiles. Archaeological evidence and documentation of materials and practices of anthropologists and others demonstrate the important cultural role of natural colorants (Barber, 1991). Until 1856 when the frst synthetic dye was created, natural sources of color included plants, insects, animals, and minerals. The colorants that bond with textile fbers or other materials are collectively described as natural dyes. Natural dyes were one of the components that fueled the spice trade and were signifcant trade commodities for centuries including most of the nineteenth century (Casselman, 1993; Fereday, 2003; Liles, 1990). Because of the wide range of colors possible with natural dyes, medieval and cultural dye recipes were carefully protected and rarely recorded so Natural Dyes: A Traditional Craft Experiencing New Attention Natural dyes are derived from naturally occurring sources. Although natural dyes have been used for centuries, their use was greatly reduced with the development of synthetic dyes in the nineteenth century. These natural dyes are experiencing renewed interest because of the importance of green and natural products. While natural dyes are renewable and sustainable, their use can be controversial. Natural dyes are a great tool for educators because they add interest to many areas of education including history, natural science, math, art, social studies, and family and consumer sciences. BY SARA KADOLPH that dyers could maintain a competitive advantage over their competition. Unfortunately, when dyers switched to synthetic dyes, their knowledge of the traditional craft of natural dyes died with them. By 1910, most commercially available textiles in the North American and European markets were dyed with synthetic dyes. By the 1930s most ethnic groups who had maintained a dye tradition after contact with Europeans had also switched to synthetic dyes. Natural dyes and plant-based pigments are colorants derived from natural sources such as plants (e.g., indigo and saffron); insects (e.g., cochineal beetles and lac scale insects); animals (e.g., some species of mollusks or shellfsh); and T H E
A U T H O R Sara J. Kadolph is professor in textiles and clothing in the Department of Apparel, Educational Studies, and Hospitality Management at Iowa State University, where she has been a faculty member since 1980. Sara is a member of Beta Theta Chapter in Iowa. She has written several textbooks related to textiles and quality assurance in the textile and apparel industry and is a passionate natural dyer. THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 15 minerals (e.g., ferrous sulfate, ochre, and clay). Heat and water as the solvent are used to extract the natural dye from the dyestuff (the plant or insect part from which the colorant is removed). These dyes are usually applied to textiles by combining them in a hot water bath and heating the bath for approximately one hour to bond the dye to the fber. Unfortunately, not all colored extracts function as dyes. For example, chlorophyll, extracted from grass and other green vegetation, is not an effective dye because it will not form a permanent chemical bond with textile fbers. Natural dyes are categorized as either additive or substantive. Additive natural dyes require the addition of a chemical assistant, such as a metallic salt, to form chemical bonds between the dyes and the fber. The metallic salt is known as a mordant. Common mordants include alum (aluminum potassium sulfate), copper (copper sulfate), and iron (ferrous sulfate). The additive dyes are also known as mordant dyes. Substantive natural dyes chemically bond with fbers without requiring the use of any chemical assistant. Additive dyes include onion skins and marigold. Substantive dyes include cochineal and most tree barks. Mordants can be added before dyeing (pre-mordanting), during dyeing (simultaneous mordanting), or after dyeing (post-mordanting). The specifc mordant and the stage of mordanting infuence the color achieved. While many dyers prefer to mordant a large quantity of textiles at a time, other dyers mordant only what they plan to dye or mordant while dyeing. Post-mordanting is used to shift hue and is usually used to achieve a color not possible with any other combination of dye or mordant. The manner in which the dyestuff is handled will also affect the color achieved. Indigo and woad are fermented to develop their blue colors. Some dyestuffs such as Queen Annes lace and elderberries are used fresh to best advantage; others, such as lac, must be boiled and reduced to achieve a useable dye. Dried materials, especially fower petals and fruit, often produce a different color compared to fresh materials. Current Developments With the ever-increasing interest in green products, low carbon-footprint lifestyles, and environmentally friendly consumerism, there is an escalating interest in natural products, including natural dyes. Current commercial interest in natural dyes is primarily as colorants for food. Natural food dyes include carminic acid for processed foods and yogurt, annatto for dairy and bakery products, carotene for beverages and frozen foods, curcumin for beverages and candies, spinach for ice cream and candies, and beets for fruit and dairy products (Rung International, 2008). In addition to use as a food dye, there is a growing interest for using natural dyes to dye textiles; to stain wood, ceramics, and some plastics; to add color to cosmetics; and to dye hair. While synthetic dyes are derived from non-renewable coal tar and petroleum, natural dyes are extracted from plant and animal sources and are renewable and sustainable. By defnition and careful management, natural dyes are renewable since they can be farmed much as grain crops, livestock, fsh, and honeybees are produced. However, there is some concern about the sustainability and environmental impact of natural dyes. These concerns include harvest practices, use of certain mordants, and disposal of extracted dyestuffs (Glover, 1995). Natural dyestuffs are either harvested from the surrounding area or grown specifcally to be used as a natural dye. When harvesting from naturally occurring dyestuffs, one should harvest no more than one-fourth of the dyestuff in an area to ensure that the dyestuff will remain as a viable colony in its natural environment. When natural dyestuffs are grown, one must be careful to minimize any damage to the environment resulting from the growing and harvesting of the dyestuff. Many contemporary natural dyers use only mordants that have minimal environmental and chemical hazard issues. For example, alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) is used in baking. Most dyers do not use the more toxic mordants that were commonly used prior to 1856: stannous chloride, potassium dichromate, or mercury salts. Even when using alum, many dyers use concentrations as low as 5 percent and reuse mordant baths many times by adding smaller concentrations of alum to the bath. The manner of discarding dyestuffs from which the dye has been extracted depends on 16 FALL 2008 the type of material. Most plant materials can be added when cool to a compost heap. After their decomposition, the residue can be used to augment the soil. Another concern with natural dyes relates to their supposedly poor fastness characteristics (Glover, 1995). While some natural dyes do fade, it is also true that not all synthetic dyes are completely colorfast. In support of the fastness of natural dyes, one can examine the textiles in most museums for color. Any item dated prior to 1856 and many items dated between 1856 and 1900 are dyed with natural dyes. A wide range of vibrant colors can be seen in these historic textiles that provide evidence of the good fastness properties of the commercially signifcant natural dyes. Research and development programs focus on natural dyes as a means of developing rural areas, producing unique sustainable agricultural products, enhancing an existing or developing a new craft market, and meeting consumer needs for organic products. India has several research programs focused on providing commercial textile and related products that are dyed with natural dyes. These programs support the discovery of new natural dyes, improvements in the color-fastness performance of traditional natural dyes, and increases in the output of natural dyes and naturally dyed goods for sale. Mexico has developed cochineal farms where the cochineal beetle is raised as a red dye. The Dominican Republic is developing plantations of logwood for commercial use to produce blue, gray, or black dyes. Fiber artists on several continents work primarily or exclusively with natural dyes to produce their art (Kadolph & Gilbertson, 2002). This list demonstrates the range of artists and their work: traditional Iban weavings by Karama Ak Dampa (Malaysia); rugs by Pamela Feldman (U.S.); wall hangings by Susan Furneaux (Canada) and Di McPherson (Australia); baskets by Judy Dominic (U.S.); parchment by Inge Boesken Kanold (France); yardage by Ulla Lapiolahti (Finland) and Seiju Yamazaki (Japan); tapestries by Karin Delaunay-Delfs (France); womens apparel by Ruby Ghuznavi (Bangladesh); water color on paper by Virginia Hoge (U.S.); pojaggi (fabric quilts) by Ji-Hee Kim (Korea); and traditional Maori costume by Christina Wirihana (New Zealand). Teaching Applications Natural dyes are a rich source of information for educators. Educators can use these dyes to illustrate the history of exploration and global trade; to assist in the study of science (the botany of dye plants, the zoology of dye insects and mollusks, the geology of mordants and the mineral dyes, the chemistry of natural dyes, the physics of color, and the physiology of color vision); to understand the development of art by examining the use of color in paintings, architecture, and sculpture; to animate social studies or anthropology by examining the cultural traditions of dyeing; to provide practice in calculating simple mathematical problems to determine the textile-to-mordant ratios and weights needed for dyeing; to give hands-on experiences in family and consumer sciences by adding natural color to food or textiles; and to provide a framework to help students understand the basic concepts of laboratory research. In an upper level textile science course in a public land grant universitys apparel merchandising and design program, natural dyes are used to introduce the chemistry of dyes and dyeing methods used in the worldwide textile and apparel industry and to help students integrate the chemistry of fbers with the chemistry of dyes. The class uses a variety of exotic (e.g., imported dried insects, wood, spice or dried fowers) and locally grown materials (e.g., hulls, fruit, leaves, roots, or fresh fowers). The natural dye unit includes lecture; readings; laboratory experiences mordanting fabric, extracting dyes, and dyeing fabric with them; and a project focusing on independent research related to students interests. The lecture includes a brief history of dyeing and natural dyes, availability of natural dyes in todays market, the potential of natural dyes as a sustainable and renewal resource, environmental issues related to natural dyes and their uses, and techniques and processes used with natural dyes. Lecture and readings also include basic concepts related to laboratory research: use of control groups, independent and dependent variables, research design, and development of hypotheses. Variables that student researchers manipulate in the project include generic fber type (wool, silk, cotton, rayon, nylon, or polyester), plant species, treatment of the dyestuff (fresh, fermented, THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 17 frozen, or dried), mordant, stage of mordanting, pH of the dyebath, and post-mordanting of the dyed textiles. The laboratory work includes preparing selected dyestuffs for extraction, extracting the dye, mordanting the fabric before dyeing, and dyeing the fabric. Each student receives 16 samples of dyed fabric using four dyes (cochineal, logwood, marigold, and ragweed) and four mordants (alum, copper, iron, and no mordant). Written reports focus on application of dye theory emphasizing dye class and fber type; the hypothesis being tested; the experimental design identifying independent and dependent variables and use of controls; the method of handling the dyestuff , extracting the dye and dyeing the fabric; results including textile samples, conclusions, and references. Students in the class have enjoyed the opportunity to explore natural dyes and develop a small research project. They were able to apply concepts learned in class and address challenges that occur when conducting research. The single largest area of comment was that the resulting color was not what they expected based on the color of the original dyestuff. That issue is one that all dyers address regardless of using natural or synthetic dyes, but it is more pronounced with natural dyes. It is also one of the attractions of natural dyeingthe serendipitous nature of working with natural materials. Summary Natural dyes are experiencing renewed interest in the art world and in commercial applications. Natural dyes are a renewable and sustainable resource that can have minimal environmental impact while providing good serviceability to consumers. These dyes also provide educators with a rich source of information to supplement or provide a framework for educational experiences covering a range of subject matter areas and learning styles. References Barber, E.J.W. (1991). Prehistoric textiles: The development of cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with special reference to the Aegean. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Casselman, K.L. (1993). Craft of the dyer: Colour from plants and lichens. (2nd Rev. ed.). New York: Dover Publications, Inc. Fereday, G. (2003). Natural dyes. London: The British Museum Press. Glover, B. (1995). Are natural colorants good for your health? Are synthetic ones better? Textile Chemist and Colorist, 27(4), 17-20. Kadolph, S. J., & Gilbertson, L. F. (Eds.) (2002). Proceedings, Colour Congress 2002: The art, history and use of natural dyes. Ames, IA: Iowa State University. Liles, J.N. (1990). The art and craft of natural dyeing: Traditional recipes for modern use. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press. Rung International, website accessed May 19, 2008, at http://www.foodadditivesworld.com/products/ useful pictures or may be tempted to misuse the camera. Some students are very resistant to being photographed at all. Their wishes should be respected, but teachers can still encourage them to participate every time photos are being taken. Camera-shy students can take photos, select the best photos for a project, arrange subjects to be photographed, take responsibility for copying photos to a classroom computer, or carry out the planning and note-taking the project might require. A camera-shy student may be more willing to participate in a small-group activity with trusted peers or when prints of the photos will be given to the students at the end of the project. School districts may have a privacy policy forbidding photography in classrooms that serve special student populations. Teachers must be aware of district privacy policies before they photograph students. While parents are unlikely to object when photos are displayed only in the classroom or are given to students as keepsakes, they may object if the same photos are used in school print publications or on school websites without prior parent permission. Administration may recommend that parents sign a permission slip that explains district policies on photography and details how classroom photos will be used. As with any technology, knowledge is power. An educator who is familiar with the camera and knows how to collect and manage the students photographs will be better prepared to deal with ethical concerns that may arise from the use of digital cameras in the classroom. Continued from page 9 Limitless Images: Digital Photography in the Classroom 18 FALL 2008 I n art class, children are often praised for the uniqueness of their work, rather than its conformity to a predetermined standard or response (Hurwitz & Day, 2007, p. 28). The University Course Art Education Field Experience is a required senior level course for art education majors prior to student teaching. The course provides secondary teaching experience for pre- service art teachers in preparation for their student teaching experience. After implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of This article presents an anecdotal discussion of collaboration between a college art education professor and a high school teacher. In the past 4 years, the secondary experiential course for pre-service art teachers has included teaching a class of students with special needs at a local high school. The goal is to provide pre-service art teachers with confdence and skills that will improve their teaching practice with all students. The Power of Collaboration: Two Teachers Working Together for Their Students Success BY ELLEN POCHEDLEY AND JULIANN DORFF 1997, a review of the course led to the inclusion of an assignment that places pre-service teachers in a classroom of students with special needs. The hope is that pre-service teachers will realize the humanity in all students and overcome the fear that keeps teachers from fully including every student in their classrooms. As stated by Hurwitz and Day, the art room is a place where uniqueness and individuality are celebrated. In order for all students to fnd this environment welcoming, teachers must be confdent in their abilities to teach all children. This sense of teacher effcacy directly relates to ELLEN POCHEDLEY JULIANN DORFF THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 19 student success in the classroom (Delacruz, 1997, p. 58). Exposure and experience help develop teacher effcacy in pre-service teachers. The High School Students with Autism Identifed on the autism spectrum, the fve participating students possessed defcits in speech and language, cognitive development, and social skills and behaviors. Instructional planning was based on an embedded functional curriculum focusing on life skills, work experiences, functional academics, and community activities. The instructional goals of the curriculum were making independent choices, communicating needs in a nonverbal manner (e.g. picture cards, communication boards, gestures), completing work tasks, and demonstrating appropriate social courtesies and practices. The descriptions below provide a sketch of each student and his or her abilities. Kevin was a 17-year-old with echolalic speech. Speaking in frst person to Kevin increased his responses to the teachers questions. He enjoyed drawing, and he placed a high priority on completing every project that he started in a session. Martha was 17 and possessed a very large repertoire of sight words. She was the most vocal student in the class. During art class she demonstrated heightened verbal expression and varied voice infection. Martha worked slowly and precisely on her drawings, using them to express her interests. Anne was 21 and used basic signs and gestures to communicate her choices and needs. She also utilized an augmentative communication device with teacher support. Annes fne motor skills were delayed, and she received occupational therapy to learn and practice daily living skills that require fne motor use. Matt was 17 and followed many established rituals during the school day. He displayed some stressed behavior when his routine or environment was changed. Adam was 16 and worked in short sessions timed with a visual timer. He began his project, took a break for physical activity, and then returned to his art project. Kevin, Martha, Anne, and Matt followed a written daily schedule indicating times and activities. Each student carried a clipboard with his or her schedule attached and marked off scheduled activities as they occurred. Adam utilized a picture schedule kept in the classroom that he checked after completing each activity or lesson. Planning for Instruction Due to students special needs, increased modifcations and adaptations are needed for successful experiences in the art classroom. The frst step for the pre-service teachers is an observational visit to the classroom. This provides them with the opportunity to meet the students, talk with the teacher and para-professionals, and begin to develop ideas regarding instruction. The pre-service teachers are encouraged to incorporate the instructional goals of the class within their art lessons. The pre-service art teachers then identify artworks of interest. When selecting artworks to share with the students, they are encouraged to select works with identifable subjects rather than non-objective (abstract) imagery (Yenawine, 2002). This enables the students to connect with the artwork and read the stories presented in the pieces. After a thorough critical examination of the artwork to uncover the story, meaning, and message, the pre-service teachers develop detailed two-day lesson plans that include scripts. As with any student population, investigating ideas of interest to the students is essential. The pre-service art teachers are encouraged to post their names and pictures of themselves on the board. These are left up throughout their tenure to reinforce their identities. The pre-service teachers create visual schedules for each of the students. These provide a reference for the steps of the lesson. This advance notice provides a more relaxed atmosphere in the classroom. For example, knowing that washing hands is a step in the lesson, students are more comfortable working with messy materials. These visual schedules are reinforced with posters of the art materials and 20 FALL 2008 processes being used when appropriate. A large visual timer is used to establish the duration of each step in the lesson. Students are more easily convinced to continue a task when they know there is a set end to the activity. Other concepts considered during planning ensure that each activity can be completed in the time allowed. For example, books must be read in their entirety, or students like Kevin will be upset. If this is not possible, copies of the appropriate pages must be provided rather than the entire text. It is also recommended that instruction be varied rather than routinized. This variation limits the development of a ritual. It is also essential, due to the students diffculty in processing auditory information, that verbal instruction is provided in simple commands. These commands are more effective when reinforced with hand movements, including sign language. Because students with autism interpret language literally, commands must be phrased for clear understanding. The command, Recess is over has little meaning, but Time to get back to work is clearly understood. It is also important to provide only one activity at a time. For example, instructions are lost if given while distributing papers. It was also important for the pre- service art teachers to be aware of behaviors that communicate student anxiety. Rapid eye movement, fapping of hands and arms, and hand biting are indications that the students are becoming upset. The Lesson Strategies Because the fve students were mostly non-verbal, creative methods were needed to engage the students with the artworks and the concepts of the lesson. It was important to provide the students with visuals they could easily see. Rather than posting an image on the wall, the instructor handed out individual copies for each student to allow him or her to examine the image close up. Based on the story being told, different activities helped the students explore the image. For example, when viewing the work Giant Snowball (2003) by Andy Goldsworthy, the pre-service teacher began by placing an ice cube on each students desk. As the students examined the progression of the melting snowball in the artwork, they witnessed the change taking place in real time through the ice cube. To assist the students in understanding a sculpture of a toy bear by Jeff Koons, the pre- service teacher brought in the actual toy along with texture plates and porcelain so the students could feel the difference between a plush animal and a statue. This was reinforced by playing a mystery touch game where differently textured objects were placed in bags for the students to touch without visual cues. Simple costumes were also used to make connections. When examining the work Some/One (2001) by artist Do-Ho Suh, the students discussed the concept of security. They were each given a baseball mitt, a kitchen apron, sunglasses, and a hard hat to wear protective objects that helped them feel safe. Individual works allowed students to play I spy, identifying key objects in the artwork. This can be done in a variety of ways. With laminated reproductions, students can use a washable marker directly on the piece and circle important elements. In another activity, pre-service art teachers cut out images from the work and prompt students to fnd matching pairs. Alternately, the artwork can be cut into simple puzzle pieces that when assembled reveal the story. Paint color swatches can provide easy matching tools to identify the colors present and relate them to colors on a color wheel. This also demonstrates how students with autism will often match the color swatches to less signifcant facets of the work rather than the focal point. For example, when examining the work Buttons, Her Strength is in Her Principles (1982) by Elizabeth Layton, Kevin focused on the outline of the fgure in the colored-pencil drawing. Studio Production Any studio materials can be effective for students with autism provided reasonable precautions are taken. Care must be taken to provide the students with clean, cared-for materials that ease stress. For example, when providing watercolor trays, it is important to have the cakes clean and intact. The size of the paintbrush as well as the design also needs consideration. For example, sponge brushes hold additional paint and thus limit re-loading with paint. Large brushes allow for covering larger THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 21 areas and push students to use broad expressive strokes. Whenever possible, materials are chosen that have the beneft of texture to provide further sensory connections with the students. Making texture rubbings over different materials such as screens provided sound and created an image. In another project, students designed printing plates of found objects. Printmaking was particularly rewarding as it provided the students with the opportunity to replicate an image. Clay methods of pinch pots and push/pull animals were also successful. At one point, students worked together to create collaborative pieces using foam core and fabric. It has also been important to identify tools and techniques that can be adapted for these students. Using pyramid-shaped crayons helps students get a variety of stroke widths with the same tool. Adaptive scissors help with hand-over-hand instructional techniques. Sponge brushes are made with paint pads inside the sponges to eliminate the step of reflling the brush. Flavors can be added to paint to provide the added sensory stimulus of smell. The Results The pre-service art education students develop their teaching environment to meet the needs of the targeted students. This results in effective and meaningful teaching. Independent decision making: The students regularly make independent decisions related to their choice of color, media, and the content of their work, creating personal stories. In other subjects, Kevin tends to copy his friends work. This behavior is not as evident during art class where Kevin creates independently. Sometimes Kevin copies the teachers demonstrations, but with modifed instruction he creates his own work of art. Extended attention span and social skills development: Students are more attentive during art class than during other activities. Appropriate social skills and positive behavior are displayed throughout each lesson. If the focus of the lesson is lost, the visual tools and media greatly assist the distracted student, regaining his or her attention. Demonstrated personal communication through connections to personal experiences: The students are clearly communicating through their art. For example, Martha was given a questionnaire to take home regarding a recent family vacation. Her parents returned it with information about their New York City trip. The pre-service art teacher used this information as a focal point in the lesson. Inspired by her memories, Martha included a precise drawing of the Broadway Theatre her family attended. She also included at least fve other sites in NYC that the family visited. Today, Marthas drawing hangs in the classroom, and on occasion she will admire her work and initiate conversation about her NYC trip with her family. Breaking out of routines and rituals: Matt has many rituals in his daily routine. The pre-service art teachers have designed their instruction to require Matt to make choices that are outside of his routine. During art class, Matt will make choices more readily and with less stress. He smiles frequently and has tried different kinds of media. He has grown in his willingness to work with messy, wet, or dirty materials. As part of his routine, Matt wears the same color shirt everyday. To begin art class, he is required to put on a protective paint shirt. He will cooperatively put the paint shirt over his daily uniform shirt. This newfound fexibility is quite an accomplishment. Pacing and fexibility in planning: Adam has shown his pre-service art teachers that a lesson can be divided into smaller segments with success. His participation in art class is possible because the pre-service teachers have recognized his need to take breaks while working on a piece. They understand his desire to return and fnish his project. The pre-service teachers have also encountered teaching days when Adam is not ready to return after his break. They have been required to make changes and adaptations while teaching. New opportunity for family and community connections: Parents enthusiastically endorse the program and comment about how happy their children are on Wednesday morning because it 22 FALL 2008 is Art Day. Parents also attend a public display of their childrens work organized and presented by the pre-service art teachers. The art show is attended by extended family and the community as well. The art class infuence extends into the home as well. Inspired by her artwork, Annes mother painted and decorated her room using four paintings that Anne completed as the focal point. Importance of well-organized lesson plans, adaptive tools, and personal fexibility: One of the most valuable lessons that the pre- service teachers have learned is the necessity of organization within their plans as well as the development of instructional tools that will be effective in teaching their lessons. Taking the time to cut out aspects of the artwork so that students can focus on the key elements in the piece, creating visual schedules for each days teaching, and planning variations in instruction to meet the needs of each student are essential. It is also important to maintain good humor when situations in the classroom make these extra efforts ineffective. Power of professional dialogue: Both the pre- service art teachers and the high school teacher beneft from this collaboration. By working directly with the classroom teacher, the pre- service art teachers gain immediate feedback to improve their instruction. The new ideas presented by the pre-service art teachers help to invigorate the more experienced educators. Conclusion At the beginning of each semester a new group of pre-service art teachers is assigned to develop art lessons for this class of very special students. They begin this assignment with trepidation, concerned that they do not have enough experience and are unprepared. After their teaching assignment is fnished, their most common refection is how this was the most rewarding teaching experience they have had to date. Educators can never fully grasp all there is to know about teaching, but they can always be open to learn. It is the responsibility of art teachers to teach all students. To do this, they need to have confdence that they are able to create and teach meaningful art lessons that support the learning outcomes for each student. Through this collaborative effort these pre-service art teachers gain the confdence and skills needed to refect and grow in their teaching. With the experiences this program provides, they are prepared to welcome all students into their classrooms. References Delacruz, E. (1997). Design for inquiry: Instructional theory, research and practice in art education. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association. Hurwitz A. & Day, M. (2007). Children and their art. Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education. Yenawine, P. (2002). Jump starting visual literacy. Art Education, 56(1), 6-12. T H E
A U T H O R S Ellen K. Pochedley is a member of Theta Chapter in Ohio and is an intervention specialist/Autism for Theodore Roosevelt High School. She received her National Board Certifcation as an Exceptional Needs Specialist in 2000. Juliann B. Dorff is an instructor at Kent State University and a member of the National Art Education Associations Special Needs Group and Womens Caucus. Potter a place in the minds of naturalists and in the hearts of children in many countries. Biographer Linda Lear in Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature uses ordinary experiences to depict the extraordinary life of a naturalist, writer, illustrator, entrepreneur, farmer and environmentalist. She also revealed the heart-rending story of true love cut short on the eve of a wedding. Lear leads the reader through emotional peaks and valleys revealing epic contributions of Beatrix Potter whose success as wise businesswoman in a masculine world is juxtaposed with her creative spark as storyteller who created a new fable where animals behave always as real animals, with true animal instincts accurately drawn by a scientifc illustrator (p. 153). Peter Rabbits creator embarked on a challenging new career and found a lasting new love after the age of 50. The work of epic proportions reaches worlds beyond the expected. Through Potters legacy of perseverance through gender bias and personal loss, Lear brings the power of a brilliant artist, scientist, and conservationist to the forefront of educational literature. 2008 Educators Award Continued from page 6 THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 23 I work at the university level teaching undergraduate students who are preparing to become teachers (pre-service teachers). I need to make sure that my students are learning the concepts being taught, but I do not always like to give tests. Therefore, I use poetry writing as an after-strategy so my students can thoughtfully think about what they have learned about various concepts and strategies for teaching reading effectively in the classroom. In addition, I will review some of the literature that discusses the importance of integrating writing and content information. I will also explain how poetry can be used to differentiate instruction for all students. Next, I explain the procedure for implementing this activity with my pre-service teachers including several of their examples. Finally, I will refect on the benefts that poetry writing provides to pre-service teachers and to their future K-12 students. Poetry writing can be both fun and unintimidating, especially when poetry provides so many choices that appeal to a large variety of learning styles. Not only are there many types of poetry, such as inspirational poems, humorous poems, friendship poems, science poems, and reading poems, but there are also many poetry patterns such as haiku, tanka, shape, and list. Thus, poetry writing appears to be an effective learning tool as it uses creative writing and refective thinking about the literacy vocabulary and content information that pre-service teachers are learning while at the same time providing differentiated learning. Patterned Poetry Writing Helps Preservice Teachers Summarize Content Learning Integrating Writing into Content Literature sources confrm that teachers in various content areas have used poetry for many years to enrich curricula and to help students learn content concepts (Calkins, 2004; Kane & Rule, 2004; Maxim, 1998; Robertson, 1997; Rodgers & Zolbrod, 1986; Spatz, 1982). In addition, Moore, Moore, Cunningham, and Cunningham (2006, p. 2), state that there are three compelling reasons to teach writing and reading in content- area classrooms: 1. Reading and writing are tools for learning. 2. Literacy requirements continually increase in school and society. BY SUSAN SZABO T H E
A U T H O R Susan Szabo, Ed.D., is professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department at Texas A & MCommerce and is a member of Beta Lambda Chapter in Texas. She teaches reading to both graduate and undergraduate students and is a member of the International Reading Association and College Reading Association. 24 FALL 2008 3. Content-area teachers can teach content- area reading and writing best. However, teachers often feel that devoting time to writing instruction is diffcult given the amount of content information that must be covered in the typical curriculum (Troia & Maddox, 2004). This is supported by data from the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) that reported only 28% of fourth graders, 31% of eighth graders, and 24% of twelfth graders performed at or above a profcient level in writing achievement (Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). There are many reasons why students fnd writing challenging, such as changing student demographics, the nature of writing, time constraints, quality of instruction in the classroom (Graham & Harris, 2002), and individual student characteristics (Troia and Graham, 2003). Differentiated Instruction Using differentiated instruction allows each student to use his or her strengths and interests to enhance the learning experience. There are three ways that classroom teachers can modify their lessons in order to provide differentiated instruction (Berger, 2000; Heacox, 2002; Tomlinson, 1999). They are (a) differentiating the content or topic, (b) differentiating the process or activities, and (c) differentiating the product. According to Heacox (2002), a teacher can differentiate the content or what is being taught in several ways: The teacher can differentiate the content by providing students with the opportunity to read, examine, explore, and learn about different subtopics within a main topic. This allows the students to explore something of interest to them in more detail and then share their learning with the class. The teacher can provide students with various materials and resources that match their reading level. Thus, teachers need to have access to a large variety of multi-leveled books about various content topics. Both the school library and the public library are valuable resources for books. For my university classroom, I differentiated the content for each of the reading topics we studied as my students were given various sources of material to read. Some read from the text; some read from peer-reviewed articles; and some explored and read about the various reading topics on the Internet. They were directed toward several specifc websites, such as http://searchlight.utexas.org/ http://www.texasreading.org/utcrla/ The second way to differentiate a lesson is to provide choice during the process. Teachers need to integrate various learning activities and strategies into their planned lesson so that students can make sense of what is being taught (Tomlinson, 1999). Thus, the teacher needs to provide various activities and strategies to help students to organize and refect on the information that is being learned. Activities that can be used are centers, interactive bulletin boards, and literature circles. Strategies that can be used are graphic organizers such as the What do you Know, What do you Want to know, and what have you Learned (KLW) created by Ogle, 1986, and the what do you already Know, what do you Want to know, what Hard words have confused you, what Heart wordor emotional worddoes the reading trigger for you, what have you Learned (KWHHL) created by Szabo, 2006, which promote higher-order thinking and work with vocabulary words. However, teachers need to encourage their students to choose the activity or strategy that best fts their learning style (Sprenger, 2003). Poetry itself provides for differentiating of the process as there are a variety of poetry patterns that can be chosen by the author to use while writing. Finally, differentiating the product encourages students to show off what they have learned in a meaningful way that interests them. Students self-select a method that will allow them to be successful at showing they have learned the material that was taught (Bailey & Williams-Black, 2008). Thus, my students poetry products varied as the students were allowed to pick both their content topic and their poetry pattern to share in class. Procedure: Creating Reading Content Poetry by Pre-service Teachers Step 1: As a whole class, we frst created an acrostic poem as it is normally the poem that is known by most students. I put the letters READ vertically down the board, and as a whole class THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 25 we developed sentences that started with the letter to describe our topic. Step 2: Next, as a whole class, we created a reading list poem. This was done by frst asking each group to create a sentence that tells something about reading that they have learned thus far. I further explain that Reading had to be the frst word in the sentence. After about 3 minutes of brainstorming and talking within the group, each group shared its sentence. While they shared, I wrote these sentences on the board. I then explained that they had created a list poem. Step 3: We next used our various resources and materials to talk about numerous poetry patterns. Then each group of 3 to 4 students picked a poetry pattern and a reading topic about which to write. After 15 minutes, the poetry was shared with the class. A class discussion followed to determine if the information presented was important information about the topic. Second, the class determined if the poem was well- written and used the correct pattern for the poem. This had my students counting words, syllables, adjectives, and nouns as well as reading their text to provide pertinent information. Several examples of their poetry follow: The List Poem Reading Reading helps us to explore and comprehend life. Reading is a transaction between the reader and the author of the text. Reading is decoding. Reading is a form of communication. Reading is talk written down. Reading is saying the words correctly. Reading is key to academic success. The Acrostic Poem READ Reading has many purposes. Efferent reading is for information. Aesthetic reading is for fun and enjoyment. Discussions help to summarize the material better. The Repetitive Poem Books Some books are patterned. Some are not. Some books are predictable. Some are not. Some books are fairy tales. Some are not. Some books are narratives. Some are not. Some books are humorous. Some are not. Some books are read aesthetically. Some are not. Some books are well illustrated. Some are not. Some books are informative. Some are not. Some books are read aloud. Some are not. Some books are chapter books. Some are not. Some books are read efferently. Some are not. Some books are sequenced. Some are not. The Diamante Poem Listen and Talk Listen Receptive, Attentive Critically, creatively, Simply Hear, Ear, Speak, Mouth Gossiping, chatting, chattering Expressive, animated Talk The Limerick Poem The Boy The little boy wanted to read a book. But, he was afraid to take a look. So, every single day He went outside to play And never learned how to read a book. Refection on the Poetry Writing Project The ability to gain knowledge from text is a critical one. Being able not only to understand the information read but also to evaluate the information is essential. Watts (2001) and Abisdris and Casuaga (2001) showed that poetry writing enhances students understanding and poems can often be the source of aha moments, or Now I get it (Walders, 2000, p. 2). For my students, using poetry writing as an after-summarizing strategy provided them with a unique and genuine opportunity to create meaning while improving their understanding of the concepts being learned. In addition, using poetry provided my students with opportunities to integrate creative writing and content, to experience differentiated instruction, and to learn the power of taking time to use writing in the classroom to enhance learning. Incorporating patterned poetry writing into content area teaching has many benefts: Poetry writing makes concepts come alive as 26 FALL 2008 the writer uses patterned poetry. Patterned poetry writing not only expands the students understanding of the vocabulary words but provides a creative way for them to show off their understanding of the words in conjunction with the content. Students have the structured patterns of a poem to follow, which provide scaffolding to them while they are writing, but they are also free to use any words to fll in the pattern (Sampson, Rasinski, Sampson, 2003). Students take apart and look more deeply at the overall meaning of the content, which allows them to gain a deeper understanding about reading and the teaching of reading as they are writing using various poetry patterns. Listening critically to their classmates poetry helps students with the metacognitive process as they talk about and think refectively about each of the poems. Poetry reading also provides for conversations to occur, which aids in the comprehension process (Ketch, 2005). As the students are pre-service teachers, instructors hope that they learn a variety of poetry patterns so that they feel comfortable having their K-12 students write poetry in their classrooms when they are the classroom teachers of record. Writing engages the students in learning the content material rather than memorizing it. Poetry writing demonstrates to preservice teachers (and their future students) that not all poems rhyme, and it is an authentic way to show what they have learned in their reading class. Poetry writing exposes students to precise language, and it gives them syntax knowledge (Heitman, 2005). Poetry writing allows students to create word pictures as they express concepts and topics through original means (Maxim, 1998). References Abisdris, G., & Casuga, A. (2001). Atomic poetry: Using poetry to teach Rutherfords discovery of the nucleus. The Science Teacher, 68, 5862. Bailey, J. & Williams-Black, T. (2008). Differentiated Instruction: Three Teachers' perspectives. College reading association yearbook (in press). Berger, E. H. (2000). Parents as partners in education: Families and schools working together (5th ed.). New Jersey: Merrill. Calkins, L. M. (1994). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2002). Prevention and intervention for struggling writers. In M. Shinn, H. Walker, & G. Stoner (Eds.), Interventions for academic and behavior problems II: Preventive and remedial techniques (pp. 589610). Washington, DC: The National Association of School Psychologists. Heacox, D. (2002). Differentiating instruction in the regular classroom: How to reach and teach all learners, grades 3-12. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing. Heitman, J. (2005). Poetry and literacy from a to yea! Library Media Connection, 23, 40-42. Kane, S., & Rule, A.C. (2004). Poetry connections can enhance content area learning. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47, 658669. Ketch, A. (2005). Conversation: The comprehension connection. The Reading Teacher, 59 (1), 8-13. Maxim, G. (1998). Writing poetry in the elementary social studies classroom. Social Education, 64, 207-211. Moore, D. W., Moore, S. A., Cunningham, P. M., & Cunningham, J. W. (2006). Developing readers and writers in the content areas K-12 (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Ogle, D. (1986). KWL: A teaching model that develops active reading of expository text. The Reading Teacher, 39, 564-570. Persky, H. R., Daane, M. C., & Jin, Y. (2003). The nations report card: Writing 2002. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Robertson, J. (1997). Poetry in science. Voices from the Middle, 4, 7-10. Rodgers, G. & Zolbrod, P. (1986). Images of creation in science and poetry. Journal of College Science Teaching, 15, 530-534. Sampson, M.B., Rasinski, T., & Sampson, M. (2003). Total literacy: Reading, writing and learning (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Spatz, L. (1982). Six women: A demonstration of the use of poetry in health science curriculum. College English, 44, 674-684. Sprenger, M. (2003). Differentiation through learning styles and memory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Szabo, S. (2006). KWHHL: A student-driven evolution of the KWL. American Secondary Education, 34, 57-67. Tomlinson, C. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Troia, G. A., & Graham, S. (2003). Effective writing instruction across the grades: What every educational consultant should know. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 14, 7589. Troia, G. A., & Maddox, M. E. (2004). Writing instruction in middle schools: Special and general education teachers share their views and voice their concerns. Exceptionality, 12, 1937. Walders, D. (2000). Poetry and science education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 463 946). Watts, M. (2001). Science and poetry: Passion v. prescription in school science? International Journal of Science Education, 23, 197208. THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 27 The Culmination of Project WINGS in Arizona W ith pride, Arizona announces the culmination of Project WINGS. WINGS, an acronym for Wise Investment in the Next Generation of Students, was a project conceived more than 20 years ago by six members of Alpha Epsilon Chapter in Arizona. In 1984, Phyllis Steinmann, one of the six, had a vision of a plan to give students and their parents a goal to aim toward a college education. The plan involved reaching students in homes where college was not thought to be a possibility and helping the parents of these students become involved in their childs education. Phyllis invited fve membersDonna Reynolds, Mary Garbagnati, Lois Cullipher, Kathryn Kutis, and Pam Snowall of Alpha Epsilon Chapter to join her in the White Mountains for a weekend to participate in a Think Tank. Throughout the course of that year, there were more Think Tank opportunities needed to refne ideas and to substantiate the plan with the legalities needed. Alpha Epsilon offcially adopted the project in 1986. The plan was presented to three different school boards. Mesa Public Schools showed The passion to help students unable to go on for higher education was what helped an Arizona chapter and several members decide to try such a project. Six educators made a commitment, and others joined them in this ongoing project that helped make the difference in many lives. This article will explain many of the steps taken to reach this goal and describe the great impact such an undertaking had on the community. the most interest as long as they were under no future obligations. Thus a school was selected in Mesa, one with a student population that was quite transient, was in a low socio-economic area, and had 0% of their students going on to higher education. Project WINGS started with a group of 26 kindergarten students in that school. The project was fortunate to have Lois Cullipher, a teacher at the school, as an on-site contact person. A legal contract was drawn up and signed. Parameters were set. The parent/student obligations included the following: Parents were to attend training sessions a. taught by Alpha Epsilon members. Parents were to keep WINGS Board informed b. of address, phone, academic achievement records, and any academic problems for BY DONNA REYNOLDS T H E
A U T H O R Donna J. Reynolds is a retired teacher from the Mesa Public Schools in Mesa, Arizona, and is a member of Epsilon Chapter. She is past Omicron (Arizona) state organization president and has held the offces of Omicron treasurer, recording secretary, second vice president and frst vice president. Donna attended Golden Gift Leadership/Management Seminar in 1997. 28 FALL 2008 which tutoring was offered. Parents were to form a group to raise money c. to help pay for books. Students leaving the school area needed to stay d. in contact with the WINGS Board. Students not staying in contact for 2 consecutive years would be dropped from the project. Students were to complete high school e. with the grade point average to qualify for enrollment in any of the state universities in Arizona. Students needed to enroll in post-high-school f. study within 2 years of completing high school. Students needed to maintain fulltime g. status as a student in good standing in a degree program up to 4 years. In 1988 under the leadership of Phyllis Steinmann, Project WINGS became an endorsed project of Omicron State (Arizona) Organization with Ann Stephens as Omicron States president. A governing board was created to administer the project. Members of Alpha Epsilon Chapter and seven State Organization Presidents have at different times served on the WINGS Board. Two members of the original BoardDonna Reynolds and Lois Cullipherhave served from the beginning of the Board to its end; Ann Stephens has served since inception of the State Board. Fund raisers were organized, including garage sales, bake sales, ticket sales at a western dinner theater, craft sales, and cookbooks. In 1986 Phyllis Steinmann secured the assistance of a fnancial advisor, who served Project WINGS for 8 years, pro bono, and helped establish an investment portfolio. A second advisor fnished the last 4 years for Project WINGS. The investments paid well and helped make the fnancial commitment of the project a reality. Project WINGS was also very fortunate and very grateful to receive grants from The Delta Kappa Gamma Educational Foundation. From 1999 through 2004, the project received $16,088 from the Foundation. The WINGS students became known throughout the school district, as well as in the surrounding areas, with articles in local newspapers and the Phoenix Republic. The children felt proud and excited as their parents encouraged them to do their best. Project WINGS was also one of four projects representing Delta Kappa Gamma on Voices of Vision, a television series produced by the Teaching Learning Network. In 2000 the group graduated from high school and celebrated with Omicron State Organization at the State Convention that year. One of the students was by then living in Illinois but came back for the celebration, emphasizing the importance of the occasion. After high school graduation, 50% of the WINGS students used funds from the project to continue their education. Seven of these graduated from their respective levels of higher education, and two of the college graduates also continued on to earn their Masters Degrees. At the conclusion of Project WINGS, the remaining funds were distributed in two ways: $15,000 was given to Omicron State Organization to establish an endowment in memory of Phyllis Steinmann. From that state endowment, a $1,000 scholarship will be given each time interest accrues to that amount, with the principal to remain intact. Secondly, ten $4,000 scholarships were awarded to high school seniors to use for higher education in the 2008-2009 school year. These ten recipients were selected from 141 applications received from all parts of Arizona. The funding of Project WINGS is offcially over, but it is the hope of Omicron State members that the emphasis on education will continue to be seen in the lives of the WINGS students as they encourage their own children and generations to come. Summary The Mesa, Arizona, Public Schools welcomed the WINGS program into their school system. Residents of the community as well as the state of Arizona helped in many ways by attending fund-raising activities and thus looked forward to seeing the project to its completion. The community impact has certainly been felt. By having money left over after the Project completion, we have been able to touch the lives of ten more students from various parts of the state in pursuing their education. It is the hope of the Board that other states may get ideas of how such a project might be done. Our Board will gladly help others in getting started. THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 29 G one are the days when music educators use overhead and flm projectors, long- play recordings, and reel-to-reel tape recordings. All teachers in todays world fnd themselves learning new technology daily because much of the technology in schools has become obsolete. The use of a laptop computer with programs such as Finale (www.fnalemusic. com), Notation (www.notation.com), Sibelius (www.sibelius.com), and Alfred Publishing (www.alfred.com) enable music educators to demonstrate and teach with SMART Boards and Promethean Boards, touch-controlled screens that work with projection and computer. Students are provided with opportunities for acquiring and improving music reading and performing skills. Perhaps the frst place students learn about technology is in high school; however, teacher candidates in most colleges and universities are required to complete a certain number of credit hours in technology. Because todays teacher candidates need to be profcient in the use of technology, all music majors at North Greenville University complete a 3-hour course titled Computer Technology for Musicians. Subjects covered in this class include Digital Audio Musicians on the Cutting Edge of Technology Education in the 21st century must include technology. Students in colleges and universities need to acquire skills in using the latest software available for the classrooms of todays schools. A computer course at North Greenville University for all music majors presents to students software programs such as Finale, Notation, Sibelius, Promethean Boards, Digital Performer, ePortfolio, Auralia and Practica Musica, Audacity, Smart Music, and Pyware: all of these enable teacher candidates to be better teachers. The teacher candidates are then able to assist students in the schools in acquiring and using technology to improve musical skills. BY JACKIE GRIFFIN AND MARIANNE HOLLAND JACKIE GRIFFIN MARIANNE HOLLAND 30 FALL 2008 Workstation, ePortfolio, Auralia and Practica Musica theory, Audacity, Smart Music, Finale, Sibelius, and Digital Performer (Griffn, 2008). When learning to assemble the Digital Audio Workstation, students use the Computer Processing Unit (CPU) with sound card, mixer, and synthesizer. It is important that the student learn to follow the signal, be it analog or digital, in order to fully understand the communication properties of the hardware. In ePortfolio students design their personal portfolio via word processing and PowerPoint. The ePortfolio becomes the students offcial record of professional training and experience in ones discipline. Included in the portfolio are a professional photograph, resume, a personal philosophy, and other documents for the particular major, whether it be Music Education, Performance, or Church Music. Music Education majors develop the South Carolina System for Assisting, Developing, and Evaluating Professional Teaching required by the South Carolina State Department of Education (South Carolina Division of Teacher Quality, 2001). Instrumental music education majors design the marching band drill on Pyware (www. pyware.com) to include in the ePortfolio. Students review Auralia and Practica Musica theory software in order to have a fundamental understanding of the value and procedure of the software programs for the classroom. Other useful software includes the following: Audacity is a freeware for editing digital audio. Students spend several class periods examining the software and editing digital audio via tutorials presented by the textbook for the class, Experiencing Music Technology (Williams & Webster, 2006). Smart Music is a music practice system with more than 30,000 titles. The program features an Intelligent Accompaniment: technology that listens to musicians sing or play through a microphone and is able to follow the students tempo changes. In addition, the software includes a system that allows the classroom teacher to make individual practice assignments for the student to complete at home. The program can grade the assignments based on the teachers grading criteria, collect audio recordings of the student assignments, and thus, inform the teacher as to the progress of the student. Finale and Sibelius music publishing software programs are utilized in the class for several weeks. Both of these programs are very effective, each having strengths and weaknesses. Students acquire skills to publish and print professional-looking scores, edit scores, and import digital audio into the scores. Score layout and notation procedures are perhaps the most important lessons the students learn. Digital Performer is an integrated Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) and audio sequencer computer software program for studio recording, flm scoring, live performance, and remixing. Integrated software is a combination of many different media that allow students to interact with various learning media by means of a personal computer. Digital Performer, as a professional level recording studio software, allows for MIDI track recording, digital audio track recording, mixing, soundbite importing, and many more advanced studio techniques. Students learn the basics of this computer software via three instructional tutorials (Griffn, 2008). Many school districts in South Carolina have placed the latest technology in all the classrooms of the district. In previous years, there might have been one computer lab or room to serve the entire school, or one computer in each classroom. The arts often were the last to receive such technology. Booster clubs and parent organizations have assisted arts teachers to secure laptop computers and software to use in music, visual art, and drama classes. For more than 20 years, band directors have had the use of Pyware to design marching band drills. The days of using graph paper to design the marching band drill have vanished as Pyware now may be used by teachers to design the drill for marching band, drum corps, winter guard, and drum line. Students are able to view the marching band show prior to going to the feld to learn the drill. When Finale, Notation, and Sibelius are used with ones laptop and the SMART Board or Promethean Board, classroom students are able to ask questions, answer questions, THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 31 improvise, compose music, and print music. Using these programs with the SMART Boards and Promethean Boards extends skills to the total class, whether in elementary general music, chorus, strings, or band class at the middle and high school levels. For school districts that are able to afford additional software programs, the purchase of Smart Music and Auralia and Practica Musica theory will provide opportunities for students to gain other skills. All of these companies provide training sessions for teachers to become profcient in the use of computer programs. Many subject area professional organizations, such as the South Carolina Music Educators Association, provide sessions at the yearly conferences to aid members in learning to use the latest in technology in the most effcient manner. The publishers of software offer summer sessions and workshops in various locations around the nation. When purchasing various software programs, one has an opportunity to view a tutorial program, thus learning how to use the program as a teaching tool and develop skills designing various types of assessments to measure student achievement. Professional organizations such as the National Association of Music Educators (MENC) publish books to assist the teacher. One excellent book is Strategies for Teaching: Technology (Reece, McCord, & Walls, 2001). In addition to the opportunities now available to ones students, the life of an educator is less hectic once the teacher acquires skills in designing lesson plans on the computer. On the school website, a teacher may post the class syllabus; daily lesson plans; daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly calendars. Students who are ill are able to keep up with the work being assigned and continue to practice their instruments at home. While it does take time to learn to use the new programs, the benefts are great for teacher educators. All musicians vocalists, pianists, band and string students have the opportunity to use transposition skills, arranging skills, and compositional skills in their studies. College and university professors need to be on the cutting edge of technology in order to better prepare teacher candidates for surviving in the real world. References Griffn, J. (2008, spring semester). Syllabus for MUSC 2350, Computer Technology for Musicians, Tigerville, SC: North Greenville University. Reese, S., McCord, K, & Walls, K. (2001). Strategies for teaching technology. Reston, VA: MENC, the National Association of Music Education. South Carolina Department of Education, Division of Teacher Quality. (200l). Retrieved from www.Scsde.com Williams, D.B & Webster, P. (2006). Experiencing music technology (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson & Schirmer. T H E
A U T H O R S Dr. Jackie Griffn is dean of the College of Fine Arts, North Greenville University, Tigerville, South Carolina. She is a published composer and teaches technology for musicians, organ, theory, and composition. Jackie is a member of Beta Kappa Chapter, Alpha Eta State, and serves as music chair for the chapter. Dr. Marianne Holland is chair/professor for Music Education at North Greenville University, Tigerville, South Carolina. A past state president of Alpha Eta State, she is presently serving as president of Beta Kappa Chapter. Marianne has served as choral director for several SE Regional Conferences and for the 1994 International Convention in Nashville. 32 FALL 2008 M y frst violin lesson was on June 22, 2005. I was 66 years old. After retirement from education I had stayed busy, accepting leadership roles in Delta Kappa Gamma and attending workshops, conferences, and conventions. I had acquired a real estate brokers license, had run a small real estate business, including serving as webmaster for the business, and had served as president of the Area Board of Realtors. Although I did not feel elderly, I was, however, a part of the growing elderly population that hungers for educational and cultural opportunities. By the middle of the 21 st century, the number of people in my age group (65 or over) will more than double, expanding to approximately 20% of the total population (Smith, 1997). Learning is more than ever a lifelong event, and educators must increasingly give attention to the interests of this growing element of the population, older adults. Older adults are learning that education outside classroom walls provides immeasurable mental, physical, and emotional benefts. This article hails the results of music lessons for older adults while it charts the authors personal experiences with violin lessons begun in later years. The exhilaration and enjoyment of her music development were tempered by frustrations of coping with distractions, physical limitations, family obligations, even a natural disaster. The implications for educators are that education for seniors is an important direction for development, and it offers valuable returns for those adults who participate. My Best Bow Hold: Playing Violin as an Adult Beginner Dealing with Distractions My violin lessons began at the same time I was engaged in helping my mother sell her home 50 miles away, fnding her a little cottage near me, moving her and her possessions, and settling her into her new home where I could be her caregiver. One month after I began lessons and before the sale of her home and the completion of the move, Mother fell and broke her right arm. I took her into my home to care for her until she could live alone. Three months after my frst lesson, Hurricane Rita hit our area, and we coped T H E
A U T H O R Marilyn Barry, M.Ed., retired after 33 years in education as a classroom teacher, curriculum coordinator, television teacher, research writer, administrator, consultant, and counselor in Texas, Hawaii, American Samoa and Micronesia. A member of Mu Theta Chapter of Alpha State (Texas), she has served as chapter president, area coordinator, state committee chair, and member of various state committees. BY MARILYN BARRY THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 33 with no electrical power and no running water for 2 weeks. It was months before all the fallen trees were cleared away, insurance settlements made, and structural storm damage repaired. Practicing the violin was not a priority during that time. Although my violin studies had a rocky beginning, distractions and conficting obligations are not unusual for an adult student. Older adults may be dedicated students who are able to analyze musical issues, but some music teachers avoid older students because adults fnd it diffcult to work practice into their schedule. Adults often beg off, leaving awkward holes in the teachers schedule. They contend with family, career, and other responsibilities, and they put their own leisure interests last. Indeed some adult students fnd it not only diffcult, but impossible to work music lessons and practicing into their lives. Denis Colwell, River City Brass Band director and music teacher at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, says, For every 10 or 12 [adults] who start to study, one or two stick with it. [Studying music] is a great disruption in life (Karlovits, 2006). Colwell knows from experience that there is quite a difference between adult students and young students. One of the biggest diffculties an adult beginner faces is fnding time to practice and go to lessons (Scott, 2007). Autonomy in Senior Learners My teacher was patient and fexible. When I could not work lessons in, even though it might be for an extended period of time, she held my spot for me. She was encouraging and supportive, and I never considered giving up. In my 3 years of studying violin, I have averaged a lesson about every other week. It is possible that the fexible schedule and the breaks between lessons worked to my advantage. Senior learners typically demonstrate self-directedness (Uszler, 1990). Self-directedness is not necessarily a trait of the elderly, but it is a desirable aim of education. While adults tend to follow their own interests, they still appreciate guidance and parameters. There must be a balance between the freedom implied by self- direction and the structure inherent in traditional classroom model.Novice musicians may require substantially more guidance than those with appreciable experience (Johnson, 1996, p. 16). Adults as Risk-Takers Music moves me; it uplifts me; it speaks to me. But I am inhibited, I avoid a chance of failure, and I do not want to embarrass myself. This fear of failure and avoidance of making a mistake may be attributable to my age, or it may be part of my individual nature. It was my good fortune to enroll with a gifted string teacher whose encouragement and patience gave me the confdence to address a diffcult instrument. At my frst lesson my fngers trembled when I attempted to fnd a note on the violin. My teacher, Dr. Karen Gordy, asked me to demonstrate my best bow hold. I had studied photographs of how the fngers should be placed on the bow. I was sure I knew what to do. But it took me an interminable amount of time to place my fngers in what I thought was the correct position. Dr. Gordy waited for me to arrange my fngers, and then she gently showed me the proper position. As we age, we are less inclined to be risk-takers. Experience tells us that risk may result in unpleasant consequences ( Dabback, 2003). Thus, In music instruction, adults want all the information they can get and they are less inclined to try things without some kind of knowledge base. Children may blow into a trumpet and not worry about how badly it sounds, whether they know how to read the music or where to put their fngers, they do it just for fun. Adults want to master it and not make a fool of themselves (Stevens, 2007). Not only was I inhibited in the lesson setting, I was self-conscious about practicing. I did not want my family, friends, or neighbors to hear my mistakes. One day my husbands good friend saw me putting away my violin after practice and said, Oh, I wish I had known you were going to play. I would have come earlier for a concert! I bought a mute so that I would have some privacy when I practiced. Teaching the Adult Learner Violin lessons were exciting and diffcult. Each lesson was a physical and mental workout. 34 FALL 2008 Most adults need more encouragement than children do because they have high expectations but lack physical skills. Adults may be able to analyze ideas more quickly than children, but they are slower physically. With an understanding of the concepts, I was impatient to make progress, but my fngers would not respond appropriately. Soon after I began playing, my arthritis fared up, and my fngers were stiff and tender. An old injury in my thumb that had not bothered me for years became painful. Mentally, I tried to plow ahead. Physically, I lagged. I fretted at my slow development. However, Dr. Gordy calmed me. The proper way to learn is to learn slowly and correctly and in sequence. Perfect practice (not just time spent) makes perfect. Dont be in a hurry. Just do the next job or goal as you master the past jobs and goals. Have standards of accomplishment. You need to know what is in process, what is almost there, and what is mastered. Some things have to incubate. Some skills need a rest from doing. So if you can take the ideas and patiently add them, like building blocks, to previously learned material, whenever the time is right, you have it made. Teach yourself as you would approach another person who is learning.I am pleased with your progress, potential and attitude. Now relax and enjoy. She explained physical or muscle memory and urged me to be patient, to let my fngers gain memory and develop strength. Her most important advice: Relax and enjoy. I thrived on her encouragement. Adults as Performers My best friend Elaine, a beginning cello player, had talked me into taking lessons. Our intent was to learn to play well enough to enjoy playing private duets. We envisioned sitting on my deck above Lake Toledo Bend on summer afternoons, playing for the eagles and the great blue herons. After our fourth lesson, Dr. Gordy told us she would like for us to play in the Vernon Parish Community Orchestra. We had reservations. We lacked confdence. Playing in an orchestra was not in our plans. Our hesitation was understandable: A grown man or woman may feel a little too old to submit to public scrutiny for the frst time by seeking out other amateurs to play with, (but) there are as many reasons to fnd other amateur players as there are players. According to a 2003 Gallup poll, a whopping 42% of people between ages 35 and 50 play, and the numbers for all age groups are on the rise (Walker, 2007). Dr. Gordy gave us the music for Sahara Crossing, Fiddles on Fire, and Frog in a Tree. She invited us to attend two rehearsals before the concert. We were to play with beginners, most of them children, in a special portion of the concert. The music was fun to play, and Dr. Gordy made the idea of playing in a concert sound exciting. Elaine and I talked it over, and we showed up for the rehearsals. I was astonished at the pace of the rehearsal. I had no time to carefully arrange my fngers in a proper bow hold. It was fnd the music, watch the baton, and begin playing immediately. Never having played in a band and never having sung in a choir, I was not trained to watch the conductor. I was stretched, watching the music, watching the conductor, listening to and playing with my stand partner, listening to the rest of the orchestra, and watching bow movements. Another new concept for me: All the bows had to move up or down in unison. At the frst rehearsal my stand partner was a little blond-haired boy. He was well-behaved, a capable violin beginnerand silent. We did not get acquainted; I was absorbed in keeping up, and he had no time for conversation. He may not have been thrilled to be paired with an old gray- haired beginner. At the next rehearsal, my stand partner was Christine, a young woman who was also a beginner but more advanced than I was. From my perspective, Christine knew everything there was to know. She was also friendly and helpful. I left the rehearsal walking on air. I had had such a good time. I was hooked. We wore black for the concert. Beginners sat in the front rows of the auditorium until it was time to move to our places in the orchestra for our three numbers. When it was near time, we removed our instruments from the cases, rosined our bows, and waited. Just before time to go on THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 35 stage, I looked down to see white stripes across my long black dress. I had laid the freshly rosined bow in my lap. We found our places and got ready to play. Mercifully, the rest of the orchestra stayed and played with us. Dr. Gordy gave us a reassuring smile, raised the baton, and we were in the music. Playing with the beginners in that small portion of the concert was one of the most exciting and satisfying experiences of my life. Afterward, Dr. Gordy wrote me an encouraging note. Her approval meant everything to me. When we were invited to play with the community orchestra at a Christmas concert, Elaine and I did not hesitate. We began practicing Christmas carols. Benefts of Studying Music Some adults study music as a serious leisure activity, and some study because they fnally have time to get back to something they have always loved or have always wanted to do. Some adults just want new knowledge or enjoy the process of learning. I love music, I play for enjoyment, and I enjoy learning. But since I began studying violin, I have learned that music lessons for older Americans have improved their health, stimulating their immune system and helping them with stress. Playing music pushes adults beyond their comfort zone. It requires them to use many areas of the brain. It is both physically and mentally stimulating. Several scientifc studies show that music education actually improves memory, decreases anxiety, and contributes to feelings of well-being (Tims, 1999). At the time of this writing, the community orchestra has just presented its spring concert to an audience of about 700 people. We played the First Movement of Bachs Brandenburg Concerto, No. 3, Brahmss Academic Festival Overture, and C. Saint-Saens Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah, among other numbers. I play second violin in the orchestra, and I learn from every rehearsal and every lesson. I feel that I contribute to the orchestras sound, and I enjoy hearing the blending of notes and the communication of instruments in an ensemble. In addition to playing in the orchestra, Elaine and I are part of a fedgling string quartet, another tremendous learning experience, an experience that we both resisted when it was frst presented. Most of all, I enjoy making music, feeling my progress, and experiencing the exhilaration of musical accomplishment. Opportunities for lifelong learning for adults cry for the attention of educators. Older adults are increasingly discovering their own abilities, and they are seeking avenues to engage in learning activities. As the population ages, there is an increased call for services and educational opportunities, demanding an examination of the gap between the philosophies and practices in education environments (Smith, 1997). Education for the elderly is the next frontier as growing numbers of older adults enjoy improved health, longer life, and more leisure time. Music study for older adults contributes to community culture, improves individual physical and mental health, and provides an enjoyable creative and artistic outlet for the individual. References Dabback, W. (2003). Toward andragogy in music: Examining the gap between theory and emerging practice in the instrumental music education of older adults. International Journal of Community Music, 2. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http:// www.intljcm.com/articles/dabback_content.html Johnson, R. (1996). The adult student: motivation and retention. American Music Teacher, 46(2), 16-19+. Karlovits, B. (2006, March 14). Adults take music lessons for a variety of reasons. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Scott, H. (2007). The mentor maze. Strings, 21(2), 45, 46. Smith, D. (1997). Population profle report. U.S. Census. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http//:www.census.gov.prod/e/98pubs/p23-194.pdf Stevens, P. (2008). Adult learning principles and latent music training. TopTenREVIEWS.com Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http:// ezinearticles.com/?Adult-Learning-Principles-and-Latent Music-Training&id+338346 Tims, F. (1999). Music medicine: Enhancing health through music. Symposium of Music Making and Wellness Project. American Music Therapy Associaton and Fletcher Music Centers. Uszler, M. (1990). Andragogy? American Music Teacher, 39(6), 12-15. Walker, G. (2007). Its never too late: How to build confdence as an adult amateur. Strings, 21(2), 36, 37. 36 FALL 2008 M y love affair with poetry began with learning poems by heart. There was never, ever NO HOMEWORK for Miss Julianas students circa the 1960s. All sixth graders were assigned to memorize pages of Paul Reveres Ride, The Village Blacksmith, and O Captain! My Captain. Our independent study of poetry was never completely fnishedwe could always get started on the next one. It was our homework every night. Parents knew that all poetry in the chapbook text was fair game and prepared us at home. The long narrative stanzas were recited verse by verse each day in class. Every verse merited an inkpad star stamp on a colossal block chart in our classroom. When the complete poem was fnished, a gold foil star appeared in the block by each name. Students in our double-grade classroom who got to the fnish line ahead of the group stepped up to help students who werent ready. Thats when Vinnie became my partner. Vinnie never did homework. He never fnished classwork, and I couldnt stand it when the class couldnt move ahead because students like him had not completed work. As his audience of one, I planned on cheating a bit to facilitate his focus. Instead of hearing his entire stanza at once, I allowed him to chunk it down with line-by-line intensity. Then I gave him credit by telling the teacher I had heard the entire verse! However, our reciprocal learning became more than memory work. As we practiced, those unknown words were indelibly sealed in our minds as description: The belfry tower of the Old North Church... rising above the graves on the hill lonely and spectral and somber and Reciting Out Loud: Bring Back the Love of Poetry With an Audience Vi ewpoi nt BY RITA TAMALAVAGE T H E
A U T H O R Rita Tamalavage is a Minersville, Pennsylvania, Area High School English teacher and reading specialist. She is a member of Xi chapter, Alpha Alpha State, and has held the positions of corresponding secretary, recording secretary, and vice president. THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 37 still With each repetition the vivid imagery became more solemn. Some poems carry unforgettable rhythmic patterns. We tried to exaggerate their sounds aloud in anapestic, galloping rhythm or as lapping iambic waves. In others, we delighted in the alternating tetrameter or trimeter of the ballad stanza. Although I didnt know how to scan lines back then, the beat of poetry captivated my heart, and it has never let go. Far away from the rote learning of my youth, as a teacher of 10 th grade English, I see that most of my students consider poetry as a performance task from the state test. Poetry questions show how well students understand simile, metaphor, and personifcation: Thats all. But thats not good enough for an English teacher! Almost as if in answer to my concern, I received an invitation from a colleague to participate in the 2006 Poetry Out Loud competition. She wanted something theatrical and academically competitive for her speech classes and had found the National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundations source on- line. She was recruiting participants for a school- wide contest. The Poetry Out Loud website (www. poetryoutloud.org) published a list of 500 eligible poems and made available audio CDs of professional readings to teachers. At least one- third of the poems of my 10 th grade Prentice Hall text were represented on the list, including some favorites like Robert Brownings The Laboratory, Recuerdo, A Black Man Talks of Reaping, and La Belle Dame Sans Merci. Selected poems had to be memorized for performance in this high school Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest. I was in on this deal! Poetry would be revitalized in my class. My classroom competition counted as a grade, but participation in the school-wide competition was voluntary. Emerging from the woodwork of my room was an articulate, natural actress who stole the show locally and won the judges votes with her Annabel Lee rendition. She represented our school in a regional PA competition 60 miles away. Winning at a higher level on the pyramid could lead to statewide fnals with further advancement to National Finals in Washington, D.C., with a $20,000 scholarship. After school, Aubrey practiced for further regional competition with a new role as Queen Elizabeth I in When I Was Fair and Young. Understanding her lines for oral art performance required breaking them down with intense line- by-line silent reading. She then prepared to sound like the voice of her character and consulted her world history teacher for background Go, go seek some other Importune me no more What could this have meant to the speaker herself, the Virgin Queen? What tone might Elizabeth used to deliver this message to her audience? This no longer was merely a memorization lesson; Aubrey now needed research to become the speaker of the poem. Although Aubrey did not further her winnings that year, I felt I had found a format to help more students acquire a winning attitude towards poetry. At this point, I became convinced that reciting poetry could very powerfully appeal to Generation Y learners. Besides adding a livelier classroom activity to formal poetry units, it presents choices with potential for further investigation. To perform it as the poet intended, characterization, mood, and tone assignments could fourish beyond rote memory into higher level thinking follow-ups. Lessons of reciting poetry dont dead end. They are concrete, can be watched, heard, and felt. They are carried in the mind and hearts of the student for a lifetime. Most of all, reciting poems by heart nurtures love for literary heritage: no more learning for the performance task of state testing, but for performance to a real, live audience. 38 FALL 2008 C hildhoodand therefore adult happiness starts with connectedness. Childhood happiness is a series of fve repeating steps: connection, play, practice, mastery, and recognition, according to Edward M. Hallowell. He is a child and adult psychiatrist who teaches at Harvard Medical School and has become well known as the co-author of Delivered from Distraction, a book about helping people of all ages overcome attention defcit disorders. A childs connection with the world around her starts with her family. Lets say her uncle is interested in baseball. Since he is her role model, this sparks her interest in baseball. He takes her with him to watch baseball games every weekend with his friends. Gradually, she looks forward to being a part of the game. She has a dream of playing baseball, even though she is too young to really understand what is going on in the game. She asks her uncleand other family membersto play catch. She may start with a wiffe ball and bat and miss the ball more than she hits it. But she keeps practicing because it is fun. Gradually, with continued practice, she gets better and eventually hits more balls than she misses. With this mastery, she wins family recognition in the form of praise, like good job and high fves. At some point, she signs up for Little League baseball. This is where she enjoys more connection and is more involved in playing and practicing at actual games. Ultimately this leads to mastery and recognition. This cycle goes on for the rest of her life in anything that she doeswith baseball and beyondand helps her create and sustain lifelong joy. Hallowell says connection is the key to adult happiness. He cites several important studies that emphasize the importance of connection. One study he cites is the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (September 10, 1997). This study of 90,000 American adolescents, including a core group who were interviewed and whose parents flled out questionnaires, showed that feeling connected at home and at school protected against emotional distress and suicidal thoughts or attempts; it protected against violent behavior; it protected against cigarette, alcohol, or marijuana use; and it protected against early sexual intercourse. Connectedness at home is defned as closeness to mother and/or father, perceived caring by mother and/or father, satisfaction with relationship with mother and/or father, and feeling understood, loved, wanted, and paid attention to by family members. Connectedness at school is defned as the students feeling that teachers treat students fairly, feeling close to people at school, and getting along with teachers and students. Hallowells fve-step cycle (connection, play, practice, mastery, and recognition) certainly seems to have the potential not to leave happiness to chancefor ourselves, our children, and our childrens children. Book ma r k The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness: Five Steps to Help Kids Create and Sustain Lifelong Joy By Edward M. Hallowell, Ballantine Books, NY (2002) ISBN 0-345-44232-6 REVIEWED BY CHRISTOPHER R. MURPHY AND JUDITH J. PULA T H E
R E V I E W E R S Christopher R. Murphy is an intern and computer science major at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. Judith J. Pula is a professor in the Department of English at Frostburg State University and a member of Alpha Alpha Chapter, Maryland. THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA BULLETIN 39 The First Day of Class Thirty-fve students and twenty-nine desks, Thirty-fve students and twenty-nine books, Did the offce make a mistake, oh no! There really are thirty-fve students and twenty-nine desks. I was thinking, no way could this get any worse, Then Bobby got sick on my new teacher shoes. Call the custodian; escort Bobby to the nurse, And please someone bring me six more desks. First day lesson plans so carefully prepared With twenty-nine handouts listing rules and supplies. Ready for twenty-nine students not thirty-fve desks, Or was it thirty-fve students and twenty-nine desks? Professor Jones covered it all in Education 101, Yet managed to omit this frst day scenario Of thirty-fve students and twenty-nine desks. Would some one please send me six more desks! Each student was there with great anticipation. The six chairs arrived and fnally class had begun. I had cleaned off my shoes and proceeded with care Thank goodness for the six new chairs. No more students, if you please, Not another desk for this small room. Send them down the hall to another class With twenty-nine students and thirty-fve chairs. That afternoon she sat beside me, the teacher with thirty-fve students And there on the foor were her new teacher shoes. With a sigh, she tucked her feet beneath her And said: how do you do it day in and day out? I joined her in a momentary sigh and smiled. I, too, have had those days of too many students And too few desks and not enough time. Let me share with you that it can be done. So began, my new school year taking the new teacher With hand and heart, and encouraging with word and deed. Its not hard when two can agree and help one another To teach and reach the thirty-fve students one day at a time. We became friends and my mentoring days few by. The new teacher shoes were now comfortably worn. Experience replaced panic and the lack of six chairs. Now thirty-fve students are nothing to dread. Reach out to that teacher that needs a role model. Be the friend, colleague, and mentor and say: yes, you can. You too have had thirty-fve students and twenty-nine chairs, And someone said: yes, you can and so you did. Janye Brainard, Kappa, Texas 40 FALL 2008 Bulletin Submission Guidelines Submissions from members will be accepted for review provided: The submission is not being considered concurrently in whole or substantial part by another publisher. 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