December 21st. A day to appreciate the stillness, the silence.
A day to deck the halls for Yule, and light up the house in festive lights that serve both to ward off the darkness on this longest night of the year, and celebrate the return of the light.
I think it's my favourite day of the year. It's when Christmas starts, truly starts, for me.
Move over, literary crushes (see http://viewfromtheglen.blogspot.ca/2010/11/literary-crushes.html )
There are a couple of new guys in my life.
Murdoch
William Murdoch is not my type. I usually go for the broody or the cavalier (think Aragorn or Han Solo), and this guy is way too clean cut, too fastidious, too cautious for me. Or so I'd have thought. And yet, I am utterly hooked on Murdoch Mysteries, and can't get enough of him. I think it's his brilliance. I really like intelligent men. And Murdoch is one helluva intelligent man.
Funnily enough, I'm a fan of Murdoch, not the actor who plays him. In fact I was disappointed to discover that actor Yannick Bisson lives in a modern house with stainless steel appliances...the very antithesis of William Murdoch. How can that be?
In complete contrast is this next guy. The broody one. The one whose film and television roles play second fiddle to the actor himself. Though I've admired the actor for some years since first seeing him in The Hobbit, I never thought much beyond He'd be great as Richard III. That is until a few weekends ago when the kids and Andrew were away and I watched a decade old British TV miniseries in which he starred.
Richard Armitage
No doubt his most famous role is Thorin Oakenshield, the Dwarven King who leads the quest for gold.
I loved the character of Thorin. Dark. Complex. Strong. Compelling.
And then in North and South I met John Thornton. Dark, Complex, Strong. Compelling.
And about then, I researched Richard Armitage himself. And he too is like that. Dark, Complex, Strong. Compelling. Also intelligent.
That student is my son. And to be fair, hate is a strong word. Dislikes. Finds it inefficient. Never wants to do Geography again.
For the uninitiated, IBL (or Problem Based Learning, a close relative) is a new way of teaching material in which the student is given more choice, more say, and ultimately more responsibility in their own learning.
For Erik's first project, he was given a research question to research and answer and present to the class in the method of his choice. He got a B. He could have given more detail. He was frustrated.His problem: He felt he had answered the questions, but he needed to go one step further. "If the teacher asks for X but actually really wants Y + Z as well, why wouldn't she just say so..." said my mathematically-brained son. "Otherwise I'm like, WTF!" (Sense of humour intact).
It was time to get to the heart of the matter. He's not super communicative, Erik, especially when Mom starts bugging him about schoolwork, so it took a few weeks to elicit enough responses to really understand. Here's what I have:
Inquiry based learning is messy and there is no clear answer. His mathematical mind really struggles with this. It's happened for years in English class where he never understood how to give enough detail until I turned it into a math formula: Give as much detail as you think answers the question, then add 50% more (D + 50%). He could do that (or at least he understood that). So we tried that again: Answer the question, and add 20% more information (Q + 20%). So far, so good.
Inquiry Based Learning takes time. Erik has always been an efficiency expert. The shortest route. The fastest result. The quickest response. He does things once. So having to suddenly take the time to a) figure out what he wants to find out; b) add 20%; c) put it together creatively (not his strength); and d) ensure it is thorough....well this is not fun for him.
We talked (car rides great for talking to recalcitrant teens...they can't escape) about WHY IBL is important. Would you, I asked, rather be told what to think or how to think? Duh. He is NOT a follower, that boy. Well, I explained, seizing my advantage, IBL is about teaching you how to think. I gave (top of my head, I swear) an example about trucks and fuel and how someone good at IBL would solve the fuel-environment issue (something he IS interested in)...and you know what, I think we were getting somewhere.
Erik is very introverted and has mild Aspergers. He is highly functional, but man, does that kid hate change. Always has. And loud noises. So a noisy class of IBLearners doing something brand new that many are excited about....it's an understatement to say it is not Erik's cup of tea. His sisters, both introverts themselves, love IBL, and are keen to help Erik (to his infinite delight <sarcasm>. Nothing more fun than a younger sister who wants to tell you what to do).
Erik's memory is phenomenal. One of our big issues with him has always been that he gets good marks without trying too hard (grade inflation is another issue for another day...gets me too riled up), and this has largely been due to his memory. Because until this year, noone ever challenged him in a way where he needed to work hard. As a result, his grades in Geography are harder to maintain. This causes him stress. And why wouldn't it. As he said, it doesn't seem fair that they changed the system (translation: they changed a system that was working favourably for him to one that he struggles with, that is harder for him to achieve in, AND that is new - see previous point about hating change). Like I said...STRESS.
So what can we do? First, if you are a teacher who loves IBL/PBL (and I am too, I get it!) I implore you to please be gentle, especially if introducing it in a higher grade. Not all kids love it, many struggle with it and need some serious scaffolding. They need to be exposed to it slowly, and see small successes, not just a major project that is seemingly open ended (to them, it really is!).
As a learner, embrace it. It's a great way to become a life long learner. It's a great way to have some say in your own curriculum and do projects that interest you (even Erik saw the logic in that). It needs to be broken down into manageable chunks, and its okay to get help along the way. Ask for it (Erik not a fan of asking for help - again, not something he is used to needing to do...so no experience in it).
As a parent, take heart. It's surmountable. Erik's most recent project was on coffee (his choice) and though his research skills still need work (he flounders without specific guidance), he did bring home the work he had done in class and we used it to put together a creative project. Neither of us knew what we were doing when it came to using Camtasia to make this video (ignore the echoing intro), so I used it as an excuse to model the Inquiry-Based Learning process.
And whaddya know...? He even admitted it was "sorta fun" to make.
In Flanders Field is the classic poem of today, and when I teach war literature, that and Dulce et Decorum Est feature prominently in the curriculum.
Today however, I have two other poems.
Written by Grace, in lieu of an essay for school...
And written by Anna....
These are their drafts. Anna has finessed hers and is reading it at the school assembly today. Grace is working on hers, though is participating in her school ceremonies by playing the national anthem on her saxophone.
And me...I teach all day, but will be taking my police foundations students outside at 11 for a few minutes of Remembrance.
Erik, 14, is the voice of reason. Overly much at times, but he does have a wicked sense of humour. Tonight he was enjoying a joke about H2O, H2O too (versus H2O2) and murderous scientists which was a little obtuse for most of his listeners, but that didn't stop him from explaining the details.
And that makes him the most normal of them all tonight.
His youngest sister, my sweet Gracie, 11, dressed as a bear, was explaining that she's been conducting a series of experiments on her friends and family regarding pupil dilation. Without their knowledge. She shrugged off with a very Gallic wave of her hand any ethical considerations of not informing them, stating that if people know you are experimenting on them, they are less willing, and results may be skewed.
I worry about her.
Anna 13 was busy being torn...as teen girls are wont to be...between dramatic flair and most ernest concern. One minute she is recounting the needle she had today and how it hurt, and how she is never, EVER, EVAHHHH getting a vaccination again (insert heartfelt eye roll here), and the next, she is harnessing her inner middle age, all indignant about the state of education and how she feels she is being short changed and under challenged in school.
13 is about extremes, after all.
And then there is Andrew. I wasn't going to mention him, but then, post bath, I am shelving bath bubbles and lotion, and in among them on the top shelf is a syringe of topical medicine for cattle that clearly states, "For veterinary use only" and which, just as clearly, my husband has been using to self-medicate. Who knows why.
I am not even going to try to understand that one.
