If an elephant walks along a market street in India, she will reach now to the left for a melon, now to the right for a grab of pistachios~led by her trunk, glutting on the available feast. She will not walk very far. Why should she? But given some object to hold, such as a stick, she can be easily led to the fields beyond, the brook where she might bathe, the open sun in which to bask.
It is the nature of the human mind to be constantly scanning~for resources, mates, predators. Now this way, now that. Boredom is "nowhere to focus"~an experience of scanning that devolves into numbness; frustration; anxiety; depression, and its concomitant, anger. The antidote, and corollary tendency of the mind, is to seize on an object, like an owl on its prey. That's the how of golf, Elvis collections, laser surgeries, guacamole recipes, digital cameras. But the need to scan makes us vulnerable~to Nintendo, Tweeting, Facebooking, Cheetos, Black Friday sales, Budweiser, and on~all the things that offer our minds respite from scanning, at our own expense. The need to seize can freeze. If the elephant's trunk is constantly occupied, she can't feed herself.
Even as I write this post, I find ways to stop myself from scanning. I open a new file to write the post, a not-to-be-underestimated step. Woody Allen says, "80% of success is showing up." I anticipate what might arrest the attention of my readers. I choose an unexpected image for a teaching essay~an elephant. I find an image of an elephant with an unexpected basketball in her/his trunk. I surprise myself, and hopefully, you, onto the page. I keep a working outline scrolling ahead of me.
When a student asks me What do you want? the subtext is likely to be Saving me from myself! She is asking for something to help her gather her attention in a direction, so she might move forward. But I, as her teacher, want something that will help me, as her teacher, to focus. The A paper, if we must talk academic economics, is the one that surprises me with its originality, that stops me from scanning for something to get me through the stack of papers. That is, in short, not boring to us both.
How do we guide our students to train their minds, so that they will not be vulnerable to predatory politics, commerce, and, yes, predatory teaching? We can beat minds into submission, as mahouts traditionally do elephants. For that, bring on the hooks, the chains, the starvation, humiliation, the pain of rigid pedagogies. Beat the elephant so it will walk that street.
Or, we can resist what unenlightened administrators deem to be "focused": chaining students to hackneyed standards. A first step to this is to help each other appreciate how the mind works~that it will, that it must forage. But it also needs surprise and novelty to move forward.
Then, when a student asks me What do you want? I turn the question back to her: What do you want? What surprises you? What energizes you? Open questions, by their nature, focus us, lead us to surprise. Next, I ask How can we make this assignment about you? And then, the important step, help her to commit, to hold onto this focus for the ride.
How are you training your own and others' elephants? Where is your slam-dunk?
There are days in my life when I have to be hit over the head in order to find inspiration (I’m really having a tough time with Dr. Chandler’s class right now and need to come up with a plan before Monday—yikes!). Other days it just comes to me within the blink of an eye. This week’s inspiration started with a set of three elephants: in Pragmatics class (ENG 5171) we were discussing an elephant as a representation of the Republican Party; then I saw a short video about a bull elephant, which comes to a family swimming pool for a drink (obviously not in our area), while the family was in the pool (no one moved or got hurt during the filming of this event…don’t try this at home); and then your blog post about “Training the Elephant” appears. These elephant ideas brought me back to the day that I visited Lucy the Elephant in Margate City, NJ, which is just above Atlantic City.
ReplyDeleteLucy the Elephant is a sight to see! She is a building in the shape of an elephant and is located right near the boardwalk in Margate City. If you'd like to climb up inside Lucy, there is a price to see her insides, which houses some interesting artifacts, as Lucy is a museum. Lucy even gets her toenails painted once a year during an event with children, who get to choose the color for the coming year. Her current paint job is a French manicure with purple nails. Imagine that! If you've ever seen the movie “Moulin Rouge” then you can imagine Lucy is the elephant building in which Nicole Kidman’s character lived—it looks very much like Lucy.
This week there was a total lunar eclipse, which sort of resembles a French manicure when the eclipse is about 1/3 done. Though I wasn't awake to see this week’s eclipse (I’m sorry, but I’m not getting up at 2 a.m. on the off chance that I’ll see this eclipse, since it was cloudy when I went to bed at midnight, and a rain storm was moving into our area), I have seen enough lunar eclipses to know what it looks like. The moon inspires a lot of creativity in a lot of people—songs like “Moon River” and “Bad Moon Rising”; or the TV shows “Moonlighting” and “The Honeymooners”; and let’s not forget the children’s book “Goodnight Moon”, which was a favorite bedtime story when my children were young.
So, how do Lucy the Elephant, her painted toenails, and the moon inspire me? It brings me back to think about my mother, and how she never painted the moons on her fingernails. (The moons are that whitish crescent at the base of a nail bed. I only have moons on my thumbnails, but my mother had moons on all of her nails.) When I was young I’d watch her paint her nails a bright red, which sometimes matched, and sometimes didn't match, her lipstick. (She would use her lipstick as blush—she’d smear just a little bit onto her cheeks for that matching glow.) So, today I wrote a poem inspired by my mother’s fingernails and in a roundabout way by the elephant and the moon. I just never know when inspiration will hit me!
As always, Mary Ellen, I delight in your generous and encompassing imagination~you are quite a synthesizer. Thank you for your response~~~
ReplyDeleteÉn elég szintetizátor! (I hope that's spelled right.)
ReplyDeleteMary Ellen, igen is~
ReplyDeleteI feel like I have this problem. I don't really know what I want to do yet in life. After , I graduated high school and came to college because thought that was the natural/common thing to do. Plus, I wanted to be successful and yada yada yada. But Ultimately, I feel lost as I get closer to attaining my degree. I really don't know what I want to do after college. The main thing that comes to mind when I think that is more college. Hence Graduate school. I feel like I'm doing the right thing because I was a delinquent kid throughout middle/high school. So to be in the position I'm in right now really leaves a lot of people from my past astounded( Old Friends and Teachers). really find happiness in that because I'm proving people wrong. That's another reason why I chose to double major. But Other than that I don't know what I really want to do . I'm a simple person. I Like simple things. Spending money on doing activities doesn't guarantee fun. I know that because I've experienced it Sometimes I want to just be alone and just roll a blunt smoke and relax and just enjoy nature. Plus, it depends on how I'm feeling if I want to do something. I don't know,hopefully I figure things out soon.
ReplyDeleteOne basketball or stick at a time, Jaleel. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. This radical freedom is our legacy as humans. How do we want to use it?
ReplyDeleteAs I am beginning to student teach I see a lot more of these bored eyes scan my classroom daily. The students try to re-direct their focus on anything but me. Sadly, they know that when the teacher is finished talking at them and asks them to complete an assignment, they just have to do it the assignment to the expected student standard and they'll 'pass.' I have yet to meet a kid that writes and hands in work how THEY want. And a majority of those students are also the ones that “hate writing” because they “don’t know where to start” or how to “write from a prompt.” But I'm not here to talk bad about the students of today because I was one of those students. Sadly enough that student will still come out of me. I constantly ask myself if I think I wrote “enough words or pages.” But I have been training myself recently to not ask if what I wrote is “enough” anymore. I try asking myself if what I wrote comes from my heart and is of quality, not quantity. It’s help changed the way I write and no longer feel pressured that I’m not doing enough. Because now I have learned that I am doing plenty, for myself specifically not for my teacher. However, the question that still remains for me is how can we change the way these things are taught? How do we un-teach them that it’s not the quantity of pages I am asking of you, but the quality?
ReplyDeleteDr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this, I recall the first class we had together. This class was difficult because you had us own the "I" and think about what we wanted from our writing. When I would ask a question, and it was too specific about what YOU wanted from MY writing, you left it open for interpretation. I'd like to thank you for that. I believe you being open to my interpretation of an assignment has helped me grow as a writer and poet.
I currently tutor students in k-12th grade. (I know it sounds crazy to have students being tutored so young. But this is what the company offers.) In the past, I have given my students specific prompts to write from. If they skewed from the main idea, I'd correct them. Now, I have a bigger picture for my students. I want them to change up the prompt. I want their ideas to flow. I want them to want to write how they want to write about what they want to write. I allow them a free range of ideas and allow them to make their own decisions. In school, they are strapped down too heavily and I want them to know that when they come for extra help, or time to take a step up from where they currently are, they will have my support and they will be able to write freely and ENJOY it.
I have one student in particular who I think about when writing this. She would come into the writing studio every week and huff, "only 90 minutes," she would say. We have a magazine publication, and she has been coming to the studio for four years and only published once when she was younger. A few months ago (after your class), I encouraged her to free write. I told her she had no restrictions. I told her if she felt a fragment should be used, to use a fragment. I told her that her ideas should not be constrained and she doesn't have to worry about judgement. -- Amongst many other suggestions you have mentioned in class, I have used these to guide her. I'm DELIGHTED to say that when she comes into the studio, there is not more huff and "only 90 minutes," but a, "I'm not sure where I want my story to go ... maybe i'll just start writing and see where it takes me." I LOVE THIS. IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY THAT I HAVE TO WRITE IN ALL CAPS! :)
- Paige Bollman
The most difficult task to unlearn has to be that, which has already made a deep influence in our daily lives. This is true of the way we express ourselves, whether informally in conversation or in writing; the cliches,the jargon, the repetition, bad habits in communicating, but also the way we respond to how we're taught. The refreshing difference of having a professor's expectations be high, but still undefined in nature and purpose, is a turning point for those of us who seek the challenge of being accepted for the bold and unique of our creative expression. And so when we hear that we must own the "I" of our experiences, it is uncommon, as it is to hear that our writing is not to fit our professor's expectations, but our own's.
ReplyDeleteWe become robots in the way we create for others, mechanically creating a version of ourselves. It is welcoming to feel free to "take care of ourselves" and appreciate writing for what we want it to be.
Being able to do writing as a form of exercise has been the most freeing of experiences, It has allowed me to reflect and re-invest in me. Having the paper as my true confidant has meant that there were no mistakes or editing of a certain page. What it was, was; stayed; meant it all.
Thank you for revealing that freedom and gift which already existed.
Dr Rich,
ReplyDeleteAll my life in school, I was trained and tested to write one way. To think on e way. If I thought different, I was wrong; if I wrote different, I was wrong. Might be the reason why I never did so well on my assignments growing up. When I came to your class you gave me that freedom that I always knew I wanted as a writer but I was so trained that I didn't know how to use that freedom. It was like picking up a new language or moving into a new apartment and not knowing how you'll decorate this new and different space. But lately I have been applying your freedom to everyday things in my life. Somedays I am lost and confused but I have been opeing myself as a free person that I am that I can do what I want (if it's legal and just correct). I have learned in my classes to bring more "me" as well as my work as well as too my friends. I have been approaching life with more "me" the free me.
Dr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteOne thing I appreciate, and will carry with me the rest of my life is how you have taught us a new genre of writing, which is, to write our papers as ourselves, rather than what we have all been trained on. I personally, have always been trained on how to paraphrase when it comes to essays, however, I love and appreciate how you allow us to express what is on our minds, and let us focus on just one thing, one "paper clip". As challenging as it was for the first time we had to do a paper, I am now finding it as a fun, and easier way for me to focus. You have taught me to be myself and be free like an elephant and to say what is on my mind. I try to apply this freedom everyday as much as I can, and learning to love it more as each day passes. The idea of focusing on one "paper clip" is a new way for me to write, yet I am enjoying it. Why focus on a whole story when you can write about and focus on your favorite part, or just a part that really draws your attention? So, thank you for that!
-Valentina Quesada
Omg! We all have been trained to do things a certain way when it comes to schooling. NO input of our own understand. See, the problem is really is the school system who is constantly encouraging creativity, yet imprisoned us in their standard system; which place us on a dilemma on what is the focus. Since I started college, I've been fortunate enough to a few awesome professors, who had allowed us to detox from that system and challenge our minds to create more, and thus having more freedom to evolve. I personally am learning a lot from your posts, and try to explore more outside my norm or comfort zone, to create and grow.
ReplyDeleteI love this post! As I sit at work on a prep and decide what Im doing to train my elephant. I think its important to train yourself and your thinking first, in order to effectively groom and train others. As I sit here typing, Im asking myself an important question raised in the text above, what the hell do I want? Reality is, I just want bit of peace and time to receive myself of my thoughts ,fears, anxieties, hates, and angers. Losing a mom is tough, but raising 3 siblings plus my daughter in the midst of this grieving is tougher. Training my mind hasn't been easy at all, but I fight everyday through feelings of grief, sadness, anger, bitterness, in order to remain positive. Everyday when I wake up, I write 10 things that Im grateful for. Throughout the day, even at work or school Im taking at least 5 minutes to perform Reiki on myself for positive energy and train of thought. Habit! I have become comfortable over the past couple weeks making this habitual. This is important for me because clllll day, I am in the company of little minds that need nurturing and I feel that if Im trained, then I can properly train. Teaching is no easy thing, but I think that it is important that whatever we teach, we are leading by example.
ReplyDeleteMy mind is constantly wondering out into the world of possibilities, not so much out of boredom but out of curiosity because of all that I don’t know about with keeping up in the society that I live in. Just yesterday I was thinking to myself about what I want to do with my life after this semester and looked for potential sources of information that could help me get a handle on my life and provide me with some stability, security of mind by enlightening me on jobs within a given field and whether or not they would appeal to me. My scanning the realm of possibilities paid off in that situation, though, overall, one should be careful where one directs their attention. There can be certain potential focuses that seem tempting but can serve to be a plague upon you existence in the long run. Much like you mentioned, Professor Rich, - Twitter, Facebook, and so on. Some things that seem like innocent targets for your attention than can alleviate your curiosity and/or boredom can just as easily become something more, quite possibly build toward becoming an unhealthy habit. Do be careful where your mind wanders for the sake of a goal in mind or even the opposite. It can have both a positive and/or negative outcome.
ReplyDeleteI've been training myself, well attempting to. My entire life, I've watched my mother be the jack of all trades, a handyman, plumber, painter, breadwinner, mom, dad, everything. I've adopted the same affinity to know a little bit about a lot of things. I have a very strong inclination to creative and artistic entities, and while I am familiar with, and decent at most of them, I have mastered and honed passion in none. I feel as though my mind is always moving from one project to the next without completing the initial one. Which can leave a feeling of anxiety and depression as you stated because there is a sense of incompleteness.
ReplyDeleteI've learned to train my elephant with goal setting and deadlines because that way I have something to look at thats representative of my progress.
And I'd hate to use this as an excuse for everything , but technology plays a large role in the blame!
ReplyDeleteDr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteI always find myself getting side tracked, lost in my own mind. I often start doing something and completely forget what it is that I'm suppose to be doing. I can be in the middle of typing my paper and then find myself on Instagram for the next 30 minutes and I don't know where the time went.
One thing I really enjoy about this post is your example of the elephant. Ever since I was young I always set deadlines and goals for myself. I like to be on top of everything even though I can get sidetracked from time to time. I feel that I'm like this because my mom is always late for everything. If we ask her to do something, it wont be done till days later, or if were leaving to go somewhere we have to tell her 15 minutes before we leave for her to be on time. I find this to be very aggravating sometimes, so I don't want to make someone else feel the same frustrations towards me because I know how it feels.
Good afternoon Dr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteWhen reading this post I kept getting up to do something like grab a snack, or turn music on, and I realized after finishing the post, that I wasn't focusing lol. My problem is I always want too much. When I don't have a guideline to do a certain thing, I leave my mind to wander and I realize that I want 5 different things. For example, when I do papers, I'll have an idea and I start writing it. By the third page, I'll get ANOTHER idea and say I dislike what I was first writing. Sometimes I scrap the first paper and work on my next idea even though it was just as good. I'm never satisfied with my work and find myself wanting to do too much. When I get overwhelmed, then I shut down and leave it completely. I'm going to try and work on it before the next semester starts up, but yeah, this is my problem.
It is hard for me to really concentrate on one thing, but I often wait until the last minute or things slip my mind and I often have to multitask. As of right now, I am writing my blog posts and watching a musical before my voice juries, trying to put equal attention on both activities. But at the same time, there are certain things I feel like I have to do for me to focus, for example, yesterday while writing my history paper I have to listen to me or the silence with disrupt my attention. In a way, my elephant is trained to focus on one task at time, when writing my paper yesterday the music was really just in the background and my main focus was set on gathering information, whereas my mind right now is trying to focus on multiple things at time. For me it's not so much training my elephant, but treating it right and giving it time to complete tasks and take breaks.
ReplyDeleteDr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteI feel that as a society we are always scanning. There are certain things that we must do such as our assignments. There are general expectations, and people feel thata s long as they meet the minimum they are in the clear. They meet expectations and deliver their ideas in writing in a way that suffices their teachers while writing in an impersonal style. I personally believe that everything one does should reflect a piece of their identity. I always knew that I wanted to do something in the world that would matter and improve some form of society. I took to writing as a child and even published a children's book by fifth grade. I loved writing and I loved helping people. I combined the two into what will be a dream job- an English teacher.
Although there are ways of going about life in order to appease society and to fit in, I am someone who beats to my own drum. I find something of value and importance to me in nearly everything I see. And if I feel the need to scan, I scan for meaning in those boring things that can relate to me on a more personal level. I learned that if you look at something for a long enough time, there is always a smallest part that is of significance and value to you. I always know what I want and I am always working hard to get it. With that, I find that my elephant is trained always has something in its trunk to keep entertained and busy.
Maryann
ReplyDeleteOur minds have so many thoughts going in different directions it is hard to focus on a task sometimes. In an art class my professor had us dedicate some time to meditating which I had never done before. We worked to achieve a peaceful mind trying to clear our thoughts. This is harder than you think it would be, however my teacher was skilled at easing us along. Slowly and calmingly leading us to peace by relaxing our bodies and mind. I think meditation can help focus us on writing a paper, choosing that topic, creating an engaging argument. Asking yourself first what do I want to get across how can I relate that to others lives and then putting pen to paper. I love the idea of a teacher asking a student “How can we make this assignment about you?” It student centers their work, you are actively involving them with their choice. Student choice helps motivate students and creates better papers while letting the teacher get to know the student better. I definitely have not trained my elephant (mind) yet. I don't think I ever will and most people won't. I know that's negative to say but there is so much going on in every single persons lives. “Sonder- the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness.” In a world where we are so distracted it is important to step back and meditate, focus on your mind and body.
How do I train my Elephant? Well that's something I'm still trying to figure out myself. In this day and age it's hard to stop scanning around just so I don't feel bored. I feel as if i'm losing my mind every minute passes me by unless I find something to entertain myself. As I sit there and do nothing while my mind races rapidly like if cars passes through red light or traffic and car’s forever honking. This mostly happens when I need to write a paper for even do something simple as homework. My mind wanders off and go straight to my phone or even but something out of boredom as well which I ultimately regret. However, one thing I keep telling myself is how I can better understand my mind more to minimize the constant rush of boredom. Now what I tend to do so is meditate and calm my mind. Thus, making me control my mind and its problems. Meditating is what I tell others to do as well if they too are feeling a rush of anxiety. This is most predominantly amongst college students so this will aid them a lot. Also as a future educator I too know that there head will racing as well so I will do whatever it takes to minimize those actions. Making students interested in assignments are key for staying focus because we all know that media in this day and age can be extremely toxic. This was quite a blog that truly resonated with me intellectually in the most deepest of ways.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main reasons I loved Dr. Rich’s class is because she gave us the freedom to be creative and write what we want to. At first I thought Shakespeare’s writing is the most boring thing in the world. Honesty, I still think it is boring. However, Dr. Rich taught us how to spin his writing into something that isn’t even there. This is where the creativity comes in. I have written papers that I am so proud of because I got the freedom to write about what I want.
ReplyDeleteWhen I become a teacher I want to teach a similar way. If I am teaching a writing lesson I want to teach it in a way student’s can be creative and do their own thing. This will also make grading papers more fun because I won’t be reading the same topic over and over again. I would like to teach different methods of writing and then give my students freedom to write what they want. Restricting students is also restraining their talents.
Priya Jhaveri
Dear Dr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteI love elephants, they are so smart and caring. The metaphor is so fitting, we tend to lose track and focus of things if left empty handed. It is like our minds are always running in different directions, aimlessly sometimes. I see it with my daughter, she says she is doing homework but her eyes are all over the place. She is on her laptop with several tabs open and she goes from one tab to the other. As students we tend to do the same, no matter what age, we are always looking to the side, losing focus. I have this thing, which for my husband is an annoying thing, where I focus so hard on a movie (for example) that people can talk to me and I am “spaced out”, but in reality I am giving that particular thing my whole attention. I try to do this when doing homework, although in my case, my house is hardly ever quiet. I take advantage of days when my kids are in school and I am alone at home, or late nights when everyone is sleeping and the house is quiet. These are the times I write my best. I also like the library, being surrounded by books comforts me and does not distract me. As a teacher I wish to teach my students how to concentrate and focus, this way they can produce their best. Answering a question with another question, although might annoy the student, is the best way to go about allowing them to think for themselves. As I said before, I like elephants for many reasons, now I have one more.
Nadia Radwan
ReplyDeleteI wish I had more self control when it came to getting distracted. I will have two essays, three finals, and a sink full of dishes but I will still waste 2 hours on youtube and instagram. Its like gross. And I don't know how to stop it. I mean seriously what is wrong with me? I have been doing better this week because I know that I want a good grade on my work and don't want it to be rushed (I also really don't feel like staying up until 4 in the morning catching up to work I could have done during the day if I hadn't waited 3 hours on facebook). But I genuinely think about why I am so easily distracted by trivial things like social media when I know I have so much shit to do? I get nervous because I am already an adult and I only have a few semesters left before I officially graduate and have to start BEING an adult. How can I be an efficient and productive person in society if I can't even stay focused on my essay without wanting to watch 3 more fat cat video compilations??? Seriously I need therapy.
I was trained to follow certain steps in order to be successful in life. This mostly happened in middle school and high school.My hands were held by parents,teachers, and others throughout this stage of my life. I went to college, I was alone and in the “real” world. All of a sudden, I was supposed to know what to do and magically be successful at it. I became so lost my first two years of college. If someone asked me how my freshman of college was all I would have told you are the bad experiences especially in T2K class. LOL. I realized that I was really alone in this,so I took matters into my hands and changed my major into something that would help me pay off my loans. I started experiencing things in college by being more active and that definitely helped me academically because I took ownership of me and i gained freedom through that process. My writing became very much about me and it was real. I did not gloss over things. There are still certain professors who want strict guidelines which they believe would make their students successful. I follow these guidelines if they concern my grades, but when I have the leeway to be as imaginative as I can be, I do not let that go.
ReplyDeletePriscilla B.
Dear Dr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteLike an elephant I do find myself constantly scanning. I guess I get bored a lot. But that’s why writing a good paper is important, so that you stop scanning because your bored. I am someone who hates being bored.
And when it comes to writing I feel like I always make it my job to write something I enjoy writing and to write something my reader will enjoy as well. I feel like if I was bored writing it, my reader will be just as bored.
I also feel like if I don’t “train my elephant” my paper would lose its focus as well. I would have a paper that is just all over the place, with pistachios here and melons there. Maintaining focus is very important as you can see.
Overall though, I feel like I haven’t one hundred percent trained my elephant, but I feel as time has gone by my writing has gotten better. And I really appreciate and will forever tell you that I love how you let us challenge ourselves and choose what we want to write about. You let us think outside the box. I love that idea of you asking us what we want.
Arlyn A.
Dr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you encourage us to make our assignments about us. I found it difficult at first because I am so used to a strict guideline to help me focus on my topic. I am not used to being able to write whatever I want to write about. I always have trouble focusing. My mind always goes into other things. I never thought I would be able to write a focused paper without guidelines, but you helped me to accomplish that. Thank you so much!
Sarah Otero
Seanette Martin
ReplyDeleteApril 11, 2019
Eng 4817
Prof Rich
Training the Elephant
I wish I seen this post weeks ago but what’s the saying better late than never. All my life when it came to writing I was always told how to write never did I bump into a professor who expressed about AID and less of the E. Having Dr. Rich express this to me has been a roller coaster because I didn’t want to step out of my element because I was so comfortable with my writing I didn’t want to learn new ways to incorporate ideas into my writing. After my meeting with you yesterday and talking about my new pieces I’m ecstatic that I became a person you can couch through this writing process.
I was so afraid to take the risk and put more of me on the paper I just wanted to do the bare minimum because that’s where my comfort level was. Now that I have decided to let that guard down the writing process has become a breeze. I am surely still a work in progress but as the weeks go on I know I will continue to get better. Now my focus is incorporating all the little details that you have coached me through. Thanks to you I have learned a valuable lesson when it comes to writing A.I.D. When I read books now I’m looking for those key points where does this start for me, where is the details, is this breakfast to bed, how many times have I heard this line, and the list goes on. I can say I am thankful for having a professor like you because these are valuable gems I can pass along to my own students as well as my daughter. I’m so sad that I found this great information out during my last semester but it will last me a lifetime.
I am so easily distracted it kind of freaks me out sometimes. How the hell can you get so lost on what is going on? Daydreaming is my biggest offense. I can be sitting in class, professor in full lecture, and my mind will go somewhere so far off. My daydreaming is more of daydreaming of anxiety (if that makes sense). I just think about all of the work I have due, rather than paying attention to the lesson in front of me. I then go home from that class, and feel like I’ve learned nothing. And then I begin stressing about that. This is something I’ve been dealing with since I’ve gotten to college. This is something they don’t teach you in that dumb “transition to Kean” class we are forced to take. My biggest downfall of my college career is not being able to stay on task. This becomes especially hard when it comes to procrastination. Instead of starting my papers, I’ll catch myself wanted to learn to cook a new recipe, watch 1000 videos on youtube, or just nap. I can never get myself fully on task. This is something I need to work on for the future, especially if I want to become a teacher one day. I feel like I can relate to the elephant, because the second I see something different, I’m right there. I’d rather do so many more things besides my schoolwork, and I will use any excuse in the book.
ReplyDeleteI feel like in life a lot of people have this problem. They do not know what they want to do or how to move forward from the spot they are stuck in. For example, my sister is currently stuck in life. She doesn't know where to go from where she is at. She hates school, but knows thats the only option to move forward in todays day and age. Training an elephant is a hard thing to do. You have to push through obstacles and try and look at the brighter side of things. You have to realize you will fail and things will not go your way all the time. Training your elephant is a big step in the right direction and you can not give up when it gets stuff. I am recently training my elephant by doing more things for me. When writing an assignment I am going to start looking at it how I want to write it and what interests me about that topic. I am going to incorrupt me into my writing instead of just writing because I have to. I want to write again and feel that feeling I got when I was a child. I want to write because it makes me happy and helps me to relax and not to finish a deadline or because its 10% of my final grade. My slam- dunk is to focus on myself and what I need to do to be a better person. And I believe through my writing and me time I will get there and be able to fully be happy again.
ReplyDeleteDr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteThis post really speaks to my on a personal level, yes I am getting spiritual. Wow, I have always been a big supporter on old school education, however I have recently seen modern education with a set of new eyes. This modern education is taught by younger, newer teachers (who are mostly fresh out of school). I am usually not that fond of younger teachers due to this exact attitude. There is a difference between ruling and owning the classroom with a strict yet optimistic approach versus le ze faire - I am the teacher - and I am entitled, b*tches. I feel that even in Montessori schools, with a dominant le ze faire teaching instruction, that students will now learn what control is in a classroom setting. Almost as if there are no rules, which is frightening in a classroom. Once control is lost, it is very difficult to gain it back. I cannot stand that entitles overly sassy almost snobby attitude. Some people can never let themselves grow up! It is sad really, and I pity them. We all have the ability to grow, even if we have been traumatized or hurt before. The worst part about that is - the students see and feel that attitude and more times than none - feel uncomfortable around those types of people. I feel bad for students who have to go through that via either a teacher, or even a guardian. I definitely prefer a high control, high warmth classroom because this ensures that the students know that I am their teacher and that I have control over the classroom, yet I can still carry them and comfort them in times of frustration or dismay. This is how I will train my future little elephants.
I liked the idea of the elephant as a metaphor for what teachers lead to students and what we lead ourselves to. In many cases in our educational career, we are often happily stuck in the glutinous state where we (mentally) grab left and right. Although this is one of the easier things to do, what is on the other side of our comfort zone? If I have learned anything from Disney, it’s to explore new sights and always question “what’s around the riverbend?”
ReplyDeleteWe are spoon fed and led into the glutinous fields until we are eighteen and we are expected to figure out what to do with the rest of our lives. This is something that I could never understand because we are so babied and then we are suddenly thrown into the void, expected to choose something that will be meaningful to us in a thousand years, but will also impact the world and the lives of others in a significant way. There’s just so much pressure and for people like me, who are complicated in the sense that I don’t like change, but I also don’t like being stuck in the same old routine, it makes it that much harder to choose what we want to do.
If the student is born to immigrant parents, there is an even bigger pressure. One of them comes with being a first generation -- there’s no one to guide you and you are basically doing the first trial run of college (if you do make it). The added pressure to be in a career that is both impactful to the world and makes a lot of money is always on the mind. Careers like a doctor, engineer, or lawyer are all acceptable and non dishonoring jobs, but there’s a negative effect that rises when what we love is not on that “acceptable careers” list.
I chose to major in Communications with a concentration in Journalism because I knew that I loved writing, but I also wanted to travel and make a difference in the world. I loved writing about other people and letting their interesting stories out. But in the crunch time of sophomore and junior year, I began to doubt myself. What would I even do with a journalism degree? I haven’t won any awards or anything for my writing. I must really suck! And the biggest question: Do I even love this major anymore? I eventually decided that I picked this major for a reason and since I made it this far, it was idiotic to go back and change my mind -- adding even more years to my degree. As I didn’t want to disappoint my parents, I felt that I needed to go on without much complaint.
But, there is one bright light to this depressing post. I’ve learned to take it easy. I have learned the importance of creative outlets as well as downtime for my mental health. This year, I focused on fun electives that would help me be more creative (and oh my has it worked!), something that I have lost in my journey here at Kean. I am much happier and have started to regain my passion or love for my degree.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I need to make my slam dunk?
That's a great question. My response is such a clique because “I don’t know”. I’ve lived a particular way thinking it was fun and for me then to only realize the level of discomfort. I was participating in a life that didn’t feel like my own. I obviously know what I don’t want to do and I guess that’s a step closer yet it’s still so far away. I believe no one really knows what they want. I think people and including myself feel what we want for the moment. Some people have the capability to extend the level of contentment longer.
Right now, I’m in the stage s of realizing me and how similar I am to an onion. I have many layers and if peeled/cut correctly then I’m successful. On the other hand, rushing without careful consideration can make me tear, turn brown faster and spoil. I didn’t know that an onion can continue growing if well taken care. At least I saw it in a movie once. I want to prove that theory right. I would like to peel layers that were sad, traumatic, not mine, lost, confused, complicated and etc. After removing what wasn’t working, I can now feel free to develop the way I want. Experience life the way I’m curious about. Make my own mistakes and learn from the many lessons. I will attempt to grow my new layers which will guide me towards my sincere slam dunk.
I don’t know how long it will take. I understand now that I cannot help others before myself. Where and when will I experience my slam dunk? I don’t have the answer to that. It’s possible my version of a slam dunk is miniature and will eventually add up to something much greater.
Meagan AWP 5000