In the Company of Writers 2006

Marshall Kitchens

Description

A wonderful anthology of creative works by teachers of writing (K-16).
In July 2006, teachers of writing came together to share their knowledge, experience and creative expression in language arts as participants in the Meadow Brook Writing Project at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Affiliated with the National Writing Project, the Meadow Brook Writing Project's 2006 Summer Institute provided these teachers with the opportunity to learn from each other and write together during a month of intensive professional development. In the Company of Writers 2006 is the wonderful anthology resulting from their collaboration. All participants, from elementary through college, returned to their classrooms in the fall, inspired and ready to pass on that inspiration to their students in order to help them become better writers.

Sujets

• Creative Writing
• Language Arts
• Literature
• Biography
• Poetry
• Autobiography
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: iUniverse
• Date de parution: 10 octobre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781475904871
• Langue: English

Extrait

IN THE COMPANY OF WRITERS 2006
MEADOW BROOK WRITING PROJECT FELLOWS 2 0 0 6 SUMMER INSTITUTE OAKLAND UNIVERSITY
Weekly Reader Press
New York Lincoln Shanghai
 
 
I n the Company of Writers 2006
 
 
Copyright © 2007 by Ron Sudol
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Weekly Reader Press an imprint of iUniverse, Inc. and the Weekly Reader Corporation
iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:
iUniverse
 
 
2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100
Lincoln, NE 68512
www.iuniverse.com
1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid.
The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
ISBN: 978-0-595-47150-8
ISBN: 978-1-4759-0487-1 (ebook)
Contents
Acknowledgments  
Editor’s Note: About the Cover…  
Preface  
Chapter 1  
Kathleen Reddy-Butkovich  
Chapter 2  
Darlene Lloyd  
Chapter 3  
Susan Crill  
Chapter 4  
Mary Cox  
Chapter 5  
Regina Crittenden-Byas  
Chapter 6  
Karen Harry  
Chapter 7  
Matthew Ittig  
Chapter 8  
Brenda McGee  
Chapter 9  
Joy Moss  
Chapter 10  
Kim Radden  
Chapter 11  
Kristina Sobota  
Chapter 12  
Jennifer Sertyn  
Chapter 13  
John Callaghan  
Chapter 14  
Bruce Tosolt  
Chapter 15  
Mikki Zachary  
Chapter 16  
Jeanie Robertson  
Chapter 17  
Elizabeth Johnson  
Acknowledgments 
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.”
—William Butler Yeats

The Meadowbrook Writing Project Summer 2006 Writing Fellows would like to thank the following individuals, for without their contributions, our experience would not have been possible, let alone as powerful as it was.
Dr. Ron Sudol, whose dedication to the art of writing provides the spark and the flame to keep the program going.
John Callaghan, whose stamina and talent at finding the space between the logs gives us all something for which to aspire.
Mary Cox, whose laughter, guidance, and ability to give voice to the fire, is awe-inspiring.
Kathleen Reddy-Butkovich, whose abilities to fan not only our flames, but the flames of her students, to make them burn at their hottest, is incredible.
Catherine Haar, a most gracious hostess, for feeding our fires on the last day with an incredible array of delicacies and pearls of wisdom.
Marshall Kitchens, who brought us the technological tools to take our fires, spread them, and to look at them from all perspectives.
Kathleen Lawson, who, like the dragonfly, never stops working, and is always willing to provide whatever the fire needs, especially where this publication is concerned.
And to anyone not mentioned above, for your hard work stoking, editing, or helping us keep space between the logs, may your fires always keep you warm!
Editor’s Note: About the Cover… 
You might think it strange for a group of teachers who spent an intensive month of professional development together exploring the “writer within” to choose a fallen maple tree to represent their experience. You would probably expect that we would have selected something “teacherly” as a metaphor: a school bus, an apple, or possibly even a composition book. Those symbols seem both creative and positive, things that it seems our tree is not. But while this tree might appear to be dead or dying, it is actually surviving, and in doing so, it represents many of the powerful and compelling ideas that ran through our thoughts and took root.
Every part of that tree helped shape our writing during the 2006 Summer Institute. The roots connected us to who we are and who had come before. The sparse leaves striving to reach the sky, regardless of the forces that tried to prevent them from doing so, helped us to understand where we need to go as educators. The uprooted trunk that could one day become fuel for fire reminded us of the need for proper “breathing space” and sometimes just provided us a place to stop, open our journals and minds, and write. That tree gave us a lot.
—Bruce Tosolt, Editor
Preface 
By literal definition, the few words contained on this page come before the faces of the authors’ collective works found in this anthology. Faces that are behind the thoughts of those whose truths are perceived through each individual mind. Perceiving those thoughts is a difficult task when one considers the complexity of the minds of the participants of the National Writing Project’s Meadow Brook 2006 Summer Institute at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Out of our time together came thoughts of communing with nature, dealing with death and loss, expressing love and remembrances, and most of all, sharing common experiences. This small group of teachers from kindergarten through college, came together to exchange ideas, and to listen and learn through the words of their colleagues about this complicated world of educating writers we, as teachers, try to navigate on a daily basis.
If during the course of reading these works, you find a revelation of your own, a related experience, some insight into another’s world, or something that stirs you to positive action, we will have succeeded in imparting the enjoyment each of us carried with us as we put our thoughts into this book to share with you. As St. Paul wrote, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.” If in your dwellings, you come to a better place, remember you arrived there In the Company of Writers 2006.
—Susan Crill, Editor

Chapter 1 
Kathleen Reddy-Butkovich 
Alphabetic Principle
Authors begin crafting dialogue
everywhere families gather.
Hoping inferred jabs
kick-off
laughter,
monologues,
notes of possible quotes,
revealing sermons.
Talk uncovers
virtues, whims, extreme yearnings Zoom in!
 
Thoughtful Alphabet
After breakfast
conversation diminishes.
Everyone
feels
guilty.
Her intense jealously
kills loves momentum.
Noting only past questions,
reiterations suggest
tarnished, unused variations …
without examination
yields
zero
Sonnet I
What if the girl recites a poem to him? She wants to play with fire, to take a chance. The form conspires; she will indulge the whim. Oh tended words ignite. Invite his glance. It builds. Will he know how to play along—To keep his balance in the breathing space? Tradition breaks the mood; it feels all wrong: A press of words unlike a real embrace, The feeling doused by rhythm just required. Let go of rules; extinguish this conceit. It’s more than erudition that’s desired, For even in the dark you hear hearts beat.
Her word game solved with little reverie. Line embers moved to mere periphery.

Chapter 2 
Darlene Lloyd 
Grandpa!
 
On that walk along the rocky path of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, I was looking to make a connection to my literary side. I was not in search of my identity because I am pretty much comfortable with who I am. Some people spend their whole lives in conflict with self. I know that this can be rather distracting, as distracting as a tree in the meadows of Meadow Brook. But what I found on this walk could have been a part of my identity.
It was on a journey with my Oakland University Meadow Brook National Writing Project (NWP) colleagues that I was reminded from whence I came. The path we took that day was a defining moment of my life. On this journal writing-walk marathon, we encountered this enormous tree that reminded me of my birthplace. I couldn’t tell you what type of tree this was if my life depended on it. It empowered my spirit and embraced me with its presence. Had I not been a part of the NWP, I never would have discovered this tree nor have been able to write about my experience. Somehow, I felt an overwhelming connection to my grandfather.

Maybe this was a sign from Granddad reminding me to keep our family name—double consonant, vowel, consonant, sometimes a vowel, consonant—in good standing wherever I went. I’m not like a rebel of the family, but I was always tempted to bring excitement to the family’s name. At times I was successful against my parents’ wishes. As a kid, I also always wanted to know more about my Grandpa and often wondered if I could get away with a lot like I did with my dad, his son.
So, to get answers about the type of man my granddad was, I selected his eldest child, double consonant, vowel, consonant, sometimes a vowel, consonant, Aunt Lillian, as my interviewee.
Lillian, like all of his daughters and sons, rose to expectations of betterment. I knew she would provide me with good information about her father. However, I also knew that I would have to receive a lecture about education, marriage, and family and in that order. Therefore, I prepared myself for this very long journey. I began