Fishbowls and playdoh (Day 2)

Day Two begins with a brief reading from Sandra Cisneros' Woman Hollering Creek, called "Eleven." The piece uses a school incident on the narrator's birthday to muse about how when one turns a certain age, one is still all the other ages. So our journal writings today tapped into memories. I ended up writing some weird riff on Alanis Morissette's "So Unsexy," which had sprung to mind as the passage was read ("how these little abandonments sting so easily/I'm 13 again, am I 13 for good?"). It didn't work so well, and I didn't share. But I really do like that song.

But several did share, including one very moving tribute to a mother who died of cancer. The kleenex came out early today.

We learned more about the demos, with modelling from a 2007 SI participant. It was second grade and involved play-doh (I have the recipe now). After a book about relatives coming to visit, we wrote on such visits--it's harder than you think to write like a second grader. Later in the day, we watched a "fishbowl" session in which Lori & Shirley (our fearless leaders) showed how they coach for demos a couple of days before the presentation. It was a good way for the observers to understand the concerns and expectations behind demos.

I continue to be impressed with the demo assignment. It not only involves demonstrating a teaching strategy, but placing that strategy in a clear theoretical framework. One of its aims is clearly to professionalize teaching--we need to be able to explain why we do what we do with confidence. I'm thinking this assignment might be adaptable to English 3360 in some way. The coaching mostly consists of the leaders asking guiding questions and helping the presenter make connections to theory. The individual who was coached today had an excellent idea to work with (I'm looking forward to her demo on Thursday), but I later asked Shirley if they've ever had to coach someone who had a really bad idea--what did they do? She said they try to be supportive, but also honest, and help direct the presenter to other ideas. There is no sink or swim here; it's about helping teachers toward success and to gain confidence in their expertise as a teacher.

We also met with our response groups to share some writing and determine expectations for these groups. The others in the group had such strong pieces--I was amazed at how they got such significance out of small things--a swing, an antique table, a well--and these were mostly first drafts, journal entries. One (to my untrained ear) seemed almost immediately publishable--began with a marked tone of regret, but somehow ended up at happiness. I didn't have anything new I wanted to share, so I read my piece about anxiety again, thinking writing about anxiety might be a good subject for poetry for me (one of our major assignments is to write in a genre out of our comfort zone--poetry is the Pluto of my comfort zone). My group had some marvelous suggestions, and this afternoon I followed it (with a bit of adaptation) and actually ended up with something that marginally resembles a poem on anxiety.

Am I going to post it?

No.