NaNoWriMo: a novel writing month

The girls participate in the month-long "NaNoWriMo" novel writing event throughout November. They do not "do" English in a regular sense throughout November: no grammar, no analysis, no focused reading. They write for an hour everyday as a part of the "NaNoWriMo" contest; sometimes, they revise but the main aim is to be able to focus their minds on a single story or plot and develop it. Laura Miller has written an interesting blog on the uselessness of such an activity (http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2010/11/02/nanowrimo). Miller's main point is that the act of novel writing is defeated by the reality of the lack of readers. Everyone has something to say, few have a willingness to listen (or read). Of course, she is right. But, that does not mean the activity is pointless. My girlfriend is an adult literacy tutor; most of her clients have come through the education system, graduated, but still cannot read. Despite the fact their reading sessions are held in the library, very few of my friend's clients ever check out a book. I know of homeschoolers who argue systems of various sorts are prejudiced, discriminate against minorities, but, then, they, themselves, do not have books in their home or take their children to libraries. Many of these people have something important to say, sometimes people, like me, listen to them or read their blogs; more often than not, however, I don't. What Miller indicates is that of the many that try to communicate, only a few are read; ultimately, if one doesn't read well, one doesn't write well. I like the NaNoWriMo contest because it gives my daughters a chance to take their writing seriously; only one of them writes when she doesn't have to do it and the others need to feel a value to self-expression. The activity reveals the importance of being able to communicate well. It also validates their reading time; the girls read a lot, probably an average of four (4) hours a day--sometimes more, sometimes less. And, the interconnectedness of the two activities is displayed in this NaNoWriMo. And, that makes it worthwhile.

Cheating

Two articles on cheating in the graduate and post graduate arena:

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/

and

http://www.independent.ie/education/cheating-students-allowed-to-graduate-2418541.html

And, an opinion piece from the Guardian in England that discusses how corporate America is removing education from the public sphere and making it a leader driven profession:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/15/education-schools

Maybe it is my bias, but I would think cheating and profit-driven education are linked. Ultimately, not education but success, in the profit orientation of the word, is currently governing the ways schools operate. It is sad.

A Tutor, A Mentor and A Failure

How to build my argument?

First an article from today's New York Times about a tutor/ mentorship program available to the wealthy, middle class unable to spend the time to insure their children complete their homework:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/nyregion/08homework.html?ref=education

It hardly bears worth mentioning, but why have children if one doesn't want to spend time with them?

However, the easiest way to insure a child's success in school is through parental support:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101029121554.htm

Do tutors and mentors qualify?

But, then, there is the issue of quality. What happens when one's child finally gets to graduate school, passes all those exams, exceeds parental dreams? In Manitoba, it could all be for nought. The university there is currently allowing a student to graduate with his Phd despite failing the exams twice and arguing test anxiety after the second failure (to be clear, no mention was made of the student having this anxiety during previous graduate school level courses or undergraduate programs) of his or her exams:

http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/current.xml (if the link doesn't work, the interview is a podcast on CBC, date: November 9, 2010, The Current radio program)

Ultimately, if a child is taught and learns well, becomes an ethical human being, he or she must do it for themselves because, ultimately, it is only their look in the mirror that matters.

Education: U.S. at the U.N.

The American Secretary of Education speaks to UNESCO:



How many times does the man reference the word "education" ? Of all the places to mention, there is something horribly ironic discussing Haiti's educational needs the day its latest hurricane is expected to arrive....