Tuesday Teaching Successes: Collaging and Biblical Storytelling

Here I am, blogging before heading off to school, heading off early to go to the Spartanburg Lowe's and Home Depot in hopes of getting some of the little propane tanks for our inside heater.  Here I am, blogging even though I want to keep looking at weather maps.  Here I am, blogging, even though I have an annual report to finish.

Let me focus on what went well in yesterday's classes. 

In my Advanced Creative Writing class, we did some collaging.  I brought in a variety of magazines and had students cut/tear out words and images that appealed to them without analyzing why they chose them.  I was happy to see how focused they were on this part of the process.  Often when I do a collaging process, there's one student who finishes in 3 minutes, where everyone is just getting started.  That didn't happen yesterday--hurrah!  

I had a piece of poster board for each student, and we finished the class by gluing the materials to it.  I gave out the 4 page document that we did on Thursday and had them think about the collage and see if there were connections.  It might be about either the long term project or the shorter projects.

On Thursday, I'll put the collages out around the room and have a bit of studio time.  Between now and Thursday, I'll develop more of a class plan (in addition to checking the weather maps).  

In my English 102 class, we continued our discussion of what makes a good story and the ways we can tell a story.  This week, I'm using Bible texts, Matthew 1:18 - 2:23.  I gave them two translations of the text, the NRSVUE and The Message.  I used handouts, because it's easier.  Then I showed the same text presented by Biblical storyteller (and my seminary professor) Tracy Radosevic (you can view it here).

I had created a worksheet where for each version, they wrote the strengths and weaknesses of each version.  Then I divided them into groups to discuss.  We had a brief time discussion as a class, and then they answered question #4 on the worksheet, choosing the one version they liked best.  I urged them to think about this work as a text, not as a sacred story, which I acknowledged might be easier said than done.  They seemed able to operate at this level.

Although the energy level was low at the start, the class went well, and I ended up feeling good about it all, a good thing, since I'm teaching the same material twice today.  After class, one of my students from last term who has continued with me this term talked about how strange it was to encounter the material in English, instead of the Spanish of her home church--a wrinkle I hadn't considered, but will mention today!

But first, a stop at the Spartanburg stores on my quest for small propane tanks for the indoor heater--which means I need to get ready to leave a bit earlier than usual.

Travel Plans and Weather

I didn't plan to take a break from blogging.  In retrospect, I should have slotted in an MLK post to run yesterday, but on Sunday, I wasn't completely sure of our Sunday to Monday plans.

If you were reading this blog last week, you know that I was keeping an eye on the weather.  If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know that the weather is never far from my consciousness.  Last week, there was some possibility of a winter storm during the upcoming holiday week-end, which would have impacted my ability to travel to Bristol, Tennessee to preach and preside at Faith Lutheran.

In fact, the winter storm came, but it tracked east.  As we drove to Bristol, I kept an eye on the radar (by way of my phone app), and snow was just a few miles away.  It had already snowed at the higher elevations, but the roads seemed fine.

I also kept my eye on the radar because we planned to go to a different part of east Tennessee, for an overnight visit to my spouse's father and stepmother.  We weren't able to see them during the holidays because of my sudden need for melanoma removal surgery.  We knew that it hadn't snowed at their house.  But what about the mountains in between us?

On the way down, we didn't see much.  On our way home yesterday, we saw snow and ice in the landscape and secondary roads around Bryson City, but the highway was clear.

I'm glad we went.  We had a great visit, full of conversation and food and many hands of the card game Euchre (I'm never sure how to spell the name of that game).  I'm glad that we made the effort and that the weather/roads were better than some of the forecasting predicted.

And now, here we are, at the beginning of another week, and the weather questions are the same.  We know that a storm system will be in the southeastern states over this coming week-end.  Where will it track?  Will we get ice or snow or rain or a mix of all of them or nothing?

Once again, I won't write my sermon early.  This week, even more than last week, it looks like we've got a very good chance of cancelling church.

Fragments--So Fragmented that I'm Posting Late

I am still watching the weather, still wondering if we'll have church tomorrow.  The radar showed snow falling in Bristol this morning, with possible accumulations of 3 inches.  If the snow stops in the early afternoon and the sun comes out, warming the temps to above freezing, will it all melt off the parking lot in time?  I will stay tuned--and keep working on my sermon.

With my fragmented attention, let me capture a few bits from the week that I don't want to lose:

--I've had really good classes this week, with students paying attention and participating.  Hurrah!

--In my English 102 classes, I've been using Carolyn Forche's "The Colonel."  I often use it as a way of talking about whether a piece is a poem, a journal entry, a very short story, or something else.  I did that this week.  But I also talked about Forche's time as a human rights adviser for the U.N., and the situation in El Salvador when she was there in the late '70's.  I have concluded by making connections to Venezuela.

--It is strange how events have changed since I taught this poem in the fall.  Now we have invaded Venezuela.  In some ways, it's not a surprise.  After all, the U.S. has inserted itself in many a country, especially in Latin America.  But this time, the surprise is that the U.S. has been very covert in the past.  Not this time.

--Will Marco Rubio be the next Kissinger?  Hmm.  I'm listening to interviews (here and here) with Dexter Filkins, a writer for The New Yorker, who has just written a piece on Rubio.  Fascinating--and I'm so glad that I don't have political ambitions in this day and age.

Bingo Cards and Whiteboards: A Good First Week

I am always on the lookout for ways to get students up and out of their seats for brief periods of time, especially if it can be for something that's not dividing into small groups and discussing something, just for the sake of having small group work.  I'm not opposed to small group work, even though I hate it for myself.  But I have noticed that small group work involves a lot of prepping on my part and a lot of coaching when they are in small groups (i.e., now talk about this, now switch to talking about this).

Yesterday in my Advanced Creative Writing class, I was leading us through exercises to develop a long-term project.  I created 4 worksheets.  The first one had them list/discuss creative works/artists that had been important to them when they were children and a separate space to list creative works/artists that are important to them now.  As they were writing, I thought, I'm surrounded by whiteboards in this classroom; I could have them write their lists on the board.  And I did it.  There were only 7 students in class, so it wasn't too chaotic.  And it was interesting to see their lists.

On worksheet 2, I had them write about what types of creative works they had created in the past, both in a school setting and on their own.  One wall had two whiteboards beside each other, so I wrote a variety of types (short story, poem, novel, song, animated work, graphic novel/story, hybrid work) on the board as they were filling in the worksheet.  Then I had them put check marks in the columns if they had created that type of work.

On worksheet 3, I had them discuss the conditions that make creative work possible, like space and food.  Then we chatted a bit.  On worksheet 4, I had them list 3 potential long term projects--no commitment implied.  It was a great class, much better than what I had originally planned, which was me verbally giving them prompts.

Then I went to my English 102 class.  I had a bingo/getting to know each other sheet ready to go (see this blog post for details), and I put a blank grid on the back.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but now, I've come up with a plan for both English 101 and 102.  First, the students will move around the room, trying to fill in the getting to know each other Bingo squares.  Then they'll sit back down and use the grid on the back.  For the English 101 class that meets this morning, I'll have them fill in the grid with some details about themselves that can lead to a standard "who I am" kind of essay.  

In English 102, I used the grid for students to create a fictional character.  Some of the squares were minor, like does the character have a pet.  Some were major:  what does the character yearn for and what is keeping the character from getting that (2 squares).  Then, as we talked about what makes a story, we had character details filled in, conflict details that might lead to an interesting plot, and setting details.  It was an interesting way of talking about these aspects of fiction/story telling.  I look forward to seeing how this afternoon's English 102 classes respond.

It's been a good first week of classes, and I'm grateful.

Crystalline Shards and Fragments

I am feeling fragmented today, so let me capture some fragments:

--Part of why I'm feeling fragmented is the shifting forecast.  Will we be able to go to Bristol on Sunday?  It's very unclear.  There's a system that will likely snow on part of the Carolinas--but will it be closer to the coast?

--So, should I write a sermon?  Yes, I probably should.  And if church is cancelled this Sunday, I can probably tweak it so that it works for next week.  This Sunday is the call story of Peter and Andrew in the Gospel of John, and next week is the same story in Matthew.

--Why do we have these two call stories?  I'm assuming it's because of where the moving holidays fall, specifically Easter and the Baptism of Jesus.  

--If I have to write a sermon about each, what on earth will I say?  The Gospel of John has the words "Come and see."  The Gospel of Matthew has the fishing for humans language.

--My brain zings back to class planning.  It's not unpleasant, but it does remind me of why/how the times when I'm teaching in-person classes is SO different from the times when Spartanburg Methodist College is on a break.

--All of my classes have met for their first day.  They all feel good, with at least a few students who seem bright-eyed and ready to get going.

--So now the easy part is over.  Now I need to focus on what we're going to do each day.  I have broad ideas.  I understand why some people start the semester with day by day course plans, but I never have done that.

--If I did that, would I feel like I have more time to focus on other things?  I would feel that way, but I would probably not do the other things, like poetry writing.  

--I think about sermon writing, which I do every week.  If I had a weekly poetry assignment, like a paid column, would I be more focused week after week?  Yes, if I had a paid gig, I would.

--I think I will walk this morning.  It's going to be cold and windy all day, so I might as well walk early.  And maybe there will be snow flurries!

--I was hoping for a bit of snow yesterday afternoon, but alas.  We prepared as if there might be snow:  charging the phones, bringing the portable heater inside, making a pot of chili, that kind of thing.  Despite the lack of snow, it was cozy and nice.

--We're getting a bit more light outside, a very filtered light just before sunrise.  I think that it might be snowing now.  Or perhaps it snowed more last night than I thought.  But as I look across the trees, it does look snowy.

--When I took the last of the recycling to the curb a half hour ago, the air itself seemed crystalline. There weren't many snow flurries, but I could feel tiny shards of ice on my face--not altogether unpleasant, but not the joy of snow either.   

Report from the First Day of Class

I've been listening to a delightful interview with Virginia Evans, who wrote The Correspondent, which made it to several year-end "Best of" lists.  The New York Times Book Review had a wide ranging conversation with her.  She wrote novel after novel, which never were published, before this one.

I meet with three classes for the first time today; yesterday was a lighter day, with 2 back-to-back classes, from 12:15-1:30 and 1:40-2:55.  I felt good about them both.

The first was the Advanced Creative Writing class, a class which is new to me.  I'm used to schools that have a general Creative Writing class and from there, students can do more advanced writing classes that are genre specific, like Poetry. 

Here's what surprised me--every student in the class has had me in a previous class:  1 in the very first English 101 class that I taught at Spartanburg Methodist College (Fall 2023), 2 in the Non-Fiction Writing class I taught a year ago (Spring 2025), and 6 in the Creative Writing class last semester.  So I didn't go over a lot of basic stuff, like how to pronounce my name or where/how to find/contact me.

I liked the energy in the class, and they all seemed interested in the idea of a long project that stretches across an entire semester.  They're not likely to have this kind of opportunity many more times in their lives.  We'll do some smaller writings too.  Today during my office hours, I'll sketch out a more complete calendar to let us all know what each week will look like.  I want some time to be out of the classroom, meeting with me individually, which will give them time to write/work on the long project.

After that class I had one of the three English 102 classes that I'll be teaching.  Here, too, the energy was good.

I came home, did some grocery shopping along the way to get some more veggies to last the week, and after supper, I went over to the local library to get the books on hold that have come in.  I took my short, after dinner walk around the library grounds, which are beautiful.  The grounds are more beautiful in non-winter times, but it was good to have a change in scenery for my after dinner walk.

And now, it's time to get ready for the second day of class.  Will we meet in person tomorrow?  There's snow that will be swirling around the area, but it's hard to know its impacts yet.

Prayers for Healthy Choices

While I set New Year's intentions, they aren't usually wildly different from year to year:  there are health goals and creativity goals and spirituality goals.  Most years, my sister joins with me on one or more.  We often adopt a word or phrase for the year.  This year, it's an advertising slogan, but we like it:  "2026:  The year that incremental becomes monumental."

This year, we've got some additional people trying to make incremental health changes that will become monumental.  I sent out this e-mail this morning, and because I like the prayer, I wanted to include it here:

"I wanted to let us all know that I prayed for us this morning, and I'll do so every morning. Some times, it helps to know that someone prays for us. It's a simple prayer:

Give us the strength to make healthy choices, the wisdom to forgive ourselves for past unhealthy choices, and the courage to go forward.

Peace be with us all!"