Vicki Cobb's Blog, page 5
April 16, 2019
The True Joy of Bird Watching
Ever glimpse a flash of brilliant red fly by your window? It sure got my attention. Its name is cardinal, which means "brilliant red" and it's brightness is a measure of its superior health, as read by the much less red female. She's looking for the reddest, i.e. strongest, mate for her chicks. None of the dazzling birds in iNK author, Sneed B. Collard III's latest book of natural wonders Birds of Every Color, lose their intensity. The sparkling photographs, taken by Sneed and his son, Braden, that jump off every page have been carefully curated to amaze and stun the reader.It's no surprise that this slim, spectacular volume, to be shared and savored by children and adults, can release the inner bird-watcher in the most uninitiated folk, who previously looked at nature -lovers, with their binoculars and over-sized cameras, as strange birds of the human variety.
Did you know that some birds of a color eat food with the same pigments as their feathers? That makes sense. But I'll bet you didn't know that the colors of some other birds are caused by the refractive structure of their feathers and how light passes through them and have no pigment in their feathers what-so-ever. Then there are some nondescript brown birds with feathers containing melanin, the same pigment that colors human skin. And in the strange-but-true department, the Blue-footed Boobies have webbed feet that contain the pigment carotenoid, which makes some squash yellow and carrots orange but gives a blue hue to the skin of their feet.
In bird-world, it's mostly the males that sport the fancy feathers, even if it's just a small dash of color most noticeable to the wandering eye of a female. I have a back-deck in the northeast that overlooks a pond with Canada geese, mallard ducks (love that green head), and a lonely white egret. The same robins revisit every year and have even built a nest in the wreath near my front door and some soft gray doves, once nested in my garage. They got used to our rhythms and were safely ensconced every evening before we closed the garage door for the night. So I'm a lazy bird-watcher, and wait for the birds to come to me. But Sneed and Braden's Bird's of Every Color may just have the power to lead me astray, at least as far as the nearest aviary.
April 4, 2019
Teachers: Can We Bring More Joy of Learning to Your Classroom?
If you're a teacher, are you frantically grading papers these days as the third marking period comes to a close? Are you finding that your students and their parents are more concerned with grades than with learning? Are you finding that teaching is more stressful than ever and you are not now the teacher you always dreamed you could be?Here's an audacious idea: Why not try using children's nonfiction literature as primary reading material on curriculum subjects? Here's how you can find some suitable books that are likely to be in your school library. They are already aligned by their authors to meet your curriculum standards. Go to our free iNK Database and register. (Your information is safe with us. We use it from time to time to let you know what's happening with iNK that might interest you.) Once in the database, click on the subject and grade level you have to teach and then search. Like magic, you will get a list of books that are fun to read and discuss. Take it to your school and public librarians. Bring in your treasures and share with your students. Everyone doesn't have to read the same book on the subject. They can read different books and discuss the issues from different points of view. We first published our database in 2009 and have been adding to it steadily. Last time I checked, for the month of December, 2018, we had 57,000 page views from all over the world from people looking for books.
Think of us nonfiction authors as "professors-at-large" for children. We know content and speak "child." You can invite some of us into your classroom via our Zoom Room, an extremely robust technology that only requires, on your part, wifi and a webcam. You can interact with us live at a price much lower than a school visit where you also have to feed and house us. If you want to see our array of programs, we work through the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration. Here's a link to our dozens of programs.
But I have an even more interesting idea. What if we worked together over a period of time, using curriculum that fits with your school's, built around an author's book? Your teachers and curriculum personnel could help plan it in a face-to-face strategy session with the author. Together we could use Google Classroom to create a communal document where the author, teachers, and students contribute their thoughts and exhibit their work as the program unfolds. We could create a classroom writing project using the author's book as a mentor text. We could build some STEM activities that show how doing science makes the scientist their own primary source. The Nonfiction Minute is a way for you and your students to get to know each author as a "Brand." But there is so much more to us than 400-word essays.
Our program, called Class ACTS (Authors Collaborating with Teachers and Students) would take between three and five weeks and is like having an author-in-residence, as the author is available through email and interactive video conferencing (ivc) on an ad hoc basis. We include classroom sets of books. The more kids read our books and think, the better they will do on the standardized tests because the reading passages on the tests are excerpted from our books. So, let go of the training wheels that the standardized texts and mind-dulling worksheets represent. Watch what happens to you and your students. Discover how the passion for learning is contagious. Since iNK is a nonprofit, we can apply for grants jointly at no cost to your school. Let's start thinking and planning for next year.
If you are intrigued, please contact me, vicki@inkthinktank.org and put "Class ACTS" in the subject area.
March 26, 2019
The Lost Art of Conversaton
Embed from Getty ImagesI spent a few decades doing "stand-up" for kids at school visits. When I first started, I noticed that they listened well enough for me to teach them about the relationship between balance and one's center of gravity. Not an easy concept to grasp. It took more than one sentence. My success depended on a give-and-take oral response from them. It kept them engaged. It also required a lot of thought, rehearsal and energy on my part. And it got harder and harder as the years rolled by because the kids were less and less able to focus. Talking didn't seem to work as well as it used to.
A conversation is a social interaction that depends on listening to what someone says to you, acknowledging that you've heard them, and responding appropriately. In colonial days, before there was professional entertainment wired into your home and accessible at the push of a button, people had to provide their own entertainment. Wealthy young women learned the pianoforte and sang. Dinner parties depended on guests who were amusing and witty raconteurs. People sometimes even retired from the dinner table to engage in "parlor" (from the French word "to speak") games.
Recently a teacher friend put up an intriguing photo of human skin matched to Pantone swatches. She tried to start a conversion about the evolution of human skin color as serving different biological purposes, to no avail. The kids got themselves trapped in making silly remarks.
I've noticed many children don't make eye contact with me in one-on-one conversations. I have to request that they look at me when we're talking. My teenage granddaughter spent a lot of time on her phone texting her girl friends. When I was her age I spent, literally, hours talking with my girls friends on the phone. When I asked her why she communicated by text, "It's easier," was her terse reply. Yes, interacting with a complicated organism, another human being, is an important skill set that starts the moment you're born with smell and touch and eye contact among the most important interactions for a newborn and a parent. Children in orphanages who don't do these things as infants exhibit a "failure to bond" with others as adults.
Technology is teaching us new skills on how to be alone. Last Sunday's NY Times had an article about a man who spent the day with his cat avatar named Sox. It made him feel less lonely. There is a new game out to revive the art of conversation . When I watch news commentary shows with pundits, it's not just the content that interests me, it's the way they interact. They take turns and apologize when they "step on" or interrupt another speaker. The moderator develops skillful segues between speakers. They often cite one another when making a point. No one tries to dominate the discourse. I get very uncomfortable when two opposing commentators scream "talking points" over each other and I turn the show off. I just looked up talk show training on Google and there are more sites than I could count, most of them oriented on how to be a star talk show host. Good talker have the same problem as good writers:You have to have something to say. Content countsYou need to know whom you're talking to. Is this person going to be interested in you?You need to speak so the other person "gets" it. You can tell if that happens by listening carefully to the response.You must make your response acknowledge what the other person has contributed. This may be in the form of asking a question and waiting for an answer.The exchange can be measured by the extent of the back-and-forth. Poor conversations just dwindle away and are forgotten quickly.What have you observed about your own social verbal exchanges? Are you conscious about how you go about entering into a conversation? Do you like to talk to people? Why? or Why not?
Does this post make you want to talk to me? If so, please comment.
A conversation is a social interaction that depends on listening to what someone says to you, acknowledging that you've heard them, and responding appropriately. In colonial days, before there was professional entertainment wired into your home and accessible at the push of a button, people had to provide their own entertainment. Wealthy young women learned the pianoforte and sang. Dinner parties depended on guests who were amusing and witty raconteurs. People sometimes even retired from the dinner table to engage in "parlor" (from the French word "to speak") games.
Recently a teacher friend put up an intriguing photo of human skin matched to Pantone swatches. She tried to start a conversion about the evolution of human skin color as serving different biological purposes, to no avail. The kids got themselves trapped in making silly remarks.
I've noticed many children don't make eye contact with me in one-on-one conversations. I have to request that they look at me when we're talking. My teenage granddaughter spent a lot of time on her phone texting her girl friends. When I was her age I spent, literally, hours talking with my girls friends on the phone. When I asked her why she communicated by text, "It's easier," was her terse reply. Yes, interacting with a complicated organism, another human being, is an important skill set that starts the moment you're born with smell and touch and eye contact among the most important interactions for a newborn and a parent. Children in orphanages who don't do these things as infants exhibit a "failure to bond" with others as adults.
Technology is teaching us new skills on how to be alone. Last Sunday's NY Times had an article about a man who spent the day with his cat avatar named Sox. It made him feel less lonely. There is a new game out to revive the art of conversation . When I watch news commentary shows with pundits, it's not just the content that interests me, it's the way they interact. They take turns and apologize when they "step on" or interrupt another speaker. The moderator develops skillful segues between speakers. They often cite one another when making a point. No one tries to dominate the discourse. I get very uncomfortable when two opposing commentators scream "talking points" over each other and I turn the show off. I just looked up talk show training on Google and there are more sites than I could count, most of them oriented on how to be a star talk show host. Good talker have the same problem as good writers:You have to have something to say. Content countsYou need to know whom you're talking to. Is this person going to be interested in you?You need to speak so the other person "gets" it. You can tell if that happens by listening carefully to the response.You must make your response acknowledge what the other person has contributed. This may be in the form of asking a question and waiting for an answer.The exchange can be measured by the extent of the back-and-forth. Poor conversations just dwindle away and are forgotten quickly.What have you observed about your own social verbal exchanges? Are you conscious about how you go about entering into a conversation? Do you like to talk to people? Why? or Why not?
Does this post make you want to talk to me? If so, please comment.
