Cambridge Again!

We are here! The temperature is in the 30’s. I’ll take pics tomorrow of the impending snow(storm). At least 10-12 inches of snow is predicted for tomorrow during the day and evening. I guess they will plow the streets.
I really like it here. We arrived in darkness so it will be nice to see the daylight and Harvard again, albeit, with layers of snow all around! I didn’t bring a suitcase. I just layered on all my clothes like the Michelin man! In my carryon bag were my galoshes and a couple of journals I want to get published in. I scrutinized them carefully on the plane. My mom, in first class, brought back the warm cookie to me in coach!
We ate dinner at the deli in Harvard Square (quick). We wolfed the food down in about five minutes! Then we had mind-numbingly good hot chocolate from Burdick’s Chocolate. Savory.
Tomorrow will be exciting!

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/01/06/16read_ep.h29.html?tkn=UN[Fx3bLjkKLdQye5ls2RalA9K576xX0pBAu

The end of this article poses an interesting idea that a downside to reading aloud to adolescents is the possibility of it being used to compensate for lack of basic independent reading skills. I know when I spent time reading the work of Jeanne Chall she continually said students need to engage in wide independent reading with challenging text. I didn’t see a lot about reading aloud to older students across her work. So, I would say that the caveat is that the text the teacher reads aloud should be sufficiently challenging and rigorous if one is reading aloud to adolescents.

At age 14, I wrote to the San Diego Zoo and asked to brush Ken Allen-the Orangutan’s hair

We lived in San Diego from 1984-1992. From age 10 (1984) to age 17 (1991), we spent nearly every weekend at the zoo. My mom even bought most of her wardrobe at the zoo gift shops. My sister’s nickname growing up was ‘Ken Allen’. Oh, we had some good trips to the zoo. I even wanted to be a zookeeper at one point. Growing up in Alaska, I spent most of my childhood wanting to be a primatologist or an anthropologist–like Jane Goodall– who studied monkey behavior and lived amidst the primates. She watched and analyzed their behavior so closely while being fascinated by them. At the SD zoo, at age 10, I brought a notepad and always took notes on all the animals–their behaviors, their kingdom, species, and phylum (in Latin).

Mentoring

I’m still thinking about the power of mentoring in higher ed. It’s so crucial.

While I was at Harvard, I was able to focus one one thing, one person, and her ideas, as well as my own inquiries into helping students who struggle with reading at the upper grades into early adolesence.

One of the thoughts I had while in the Chall collection was how I was ‘mentored’ by the intense reading of texts, mostly from the 1960’s-1990’s by Chall and prominent Harvard scholars. I was inspired in the following ways, and I feel I brought that inspiration back with me:

1) From both the interdisciplinary span and focus of her collection on helping students who struggled in reading, I knew this was a person who was intensely focused on finding solutions to helping students who find reading challenging. She looked back to Thorndike, Gray, and Harris. She had collections of alternative teaching alphabets (i.t.a., UniFon, for instance, and accompanying ‘readers’ for both). There were rows and rows of books of readers. The most interesting were the ones she created which included classic stories from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s (e.g., folktales and fairy tales). Some were my personal favorites. She had a focus on her field and said that the books she wrote were her children. Her interest in the history of the field was fascinating.

2. Chall’s advice was sought out for Congressional testimony and she remained an activist throughout her career. I hope to be more of an activist. I am still working on ways to do so. Maybe one way can be though writing.

3. As you walk into the special collections room in the basement of Gutman Library, you see a framed photo of Chall, and there is this quote by her: “Thus I came early to my two loves in education: teaching and inquiry. Although research and practice are often seen as different pursuits, I found that for me they had great similarities and were intimately related to each other.”–History of Reading News. Vol.XVII No.1 (1993:Fall) I love this connection of theory to practice.

Chall’s marginal notations in the works of others, whose theoretical orientation’s differed from hers were fascinating. She wrote “Where’s the evidence?”. This gets as the heart of the ongoing debates in our field. What counts as evidence  of literacy learning as well as what we are working towards as goals of literacy learning are contentious. So is the very definition of ‘literacy’.

So, I learned through my visit the ‘power of focus’, a firmer fascination with research, and an appreciation for New England fall foliage!

I love, too, that mentoring can be found in books and in the peace of library basements. I am grateful to have been a recipient of the Chall grant.

Texas

One reason I’m glad to be back in DFW is the pleasant weather. Today was sunny and in the 70’s. It was like the warm days of my childhood in San Diego.

I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. I hope to knock out at least three grant proposals, do some serious data analysis and otherwise “catch up” on things.

I bought “The Grapes of Wrath” today at Borders. I’ve been meaning to read it for a while.

Last Day

Yesterday, I went with a class on a “field trip” to a local elementary school in Boston to see the Community School concept in action. It was a large collaborative effort; “it takes a village”.

Over the last two+ weeks, I learned:

1. To get out of my comfort zone in a new town, state, region, and university.

2. I met some great people and made some great professional connections. I learned the value of taking initiative and networking. Visiting the classes was great!

3. I learned how to focus.

4. I became intrigued with the history of our literacy field. It’s truly new, interdisciplinary, and evolving. It’s also contentious and deeply rooted in our own personal and public allegiances and ideologies. Reading Chall’s work and other’s work (both similiar and different) helped me to solidify my own theoretical orientation.

5. I learned to be on my own. It was great–like a much needed retreat into my own thoughts and being.

6. I will be sad to officially leave tomorrow, but that’s how life is, always changing. Memories stay. I’m glad I wrote things down on this blog.

This was a great opportunity! I really learned to appreciate academic libraries. I hope the next person that does this has a great time!

Losing Count of the Days (three more left)

I ate at the Harvard Faculty Club today with the librarians. It was fabulous. All the walls of the many rooms were covered with art and portraiture. I then toured Wiedner library (briefly) and saw an intact Gutenberg Bible. It was so magnificant–like a recurring dream I have often of being in large, stately, and spacious libraries.

Day 12: A Happy Monday

I like it here; it’s just a good place to be. I love the way the sunlight reflects off the multiple hues of colored leaves. I am meeting some great people who want to know things. There are a lot of good resources here, too. I can’t wait to get back to Arlington and start writing it all up in the form of academic articles.

Day 11: Doing Laundry

Laundry

Library

Burrito

That was my day!

Day 10: Pics

Sounds of Cambridge near the campus: the ongoing bells that ring from the morning onwards. I haven’t figured out the schedule…and…according to this link, there were extra ringing of the bells to raise awareness about climate change. I thought I heard this as I made my way to the library!: http://www.wickedlocal.com/harvard/news/x927264519/Harvard-Local-Churches-ring-their-bells-for-climate-action