Supporting Wisconsin's Democratic State Senators

If you, like me, enjoy making a decent wage, like having weekends off and sick days and a decent working day, work for a company that at least gives you access to health insurance, or if you are in a union and are concerned about the political bullying occurring right now in Wisconsin, there's frankly not much we can do from the outside but watch and hope.

But I've never been one to just sit back.

If, as Rachel Maddow reported, it's only going to take ONE Democratic state senator to fold and give in to the Republicans in that state to ruin unions nationwide (ultimately), I think sending a message of support to those 14 Democratic state senators might do some good. At the very least, it won't hurt. So that's what I did this morning.

I sent this simple message of support to all 14 Democratic state senators from Wisconsin:

Subject line: In solidarity for your stand from Pennsylvania

Message:
Good morning and thank you. Thank you for standing up to the political bullying in your state over union rights. Please don't give in. Many of us in other union states are watching very closely and are hoping and praying that you are strong enough to withstand this pressure.

Thank you for standing firm. Thank you for not giving in.

In solidarity.

- Amanda Morris


If you are of a similar mindset, I would encourage you to send a note of your own. If anything exemplifies the power of ONE person being able to make a NATIONAL difference, it is this one (if Maddow is correct). So that individual needs our emotional and psychological support. And you never know what difference our (collective) words could make.

Email addresses of the 14 Democratic state senators:

Sen.Carpenter@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.coggs@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.Cullen@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.erpenbach@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.hansen@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.Holperin@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.jauch@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.Larson@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.lassa@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.miller@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.risser@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.taylor@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.Vinehout@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.wirch@legis.wisconsin.gov

Punished for telling the truth

This story makes me very angry: Pa. teacher strikes nerve with 'lazy whiners' blog

I love my students - I wouldn't have put myself through six years of grueling graduate work, and put myself $60,000 in debt, and ended my marriage if I wasn't committed to teaching. But damn it, some of my students give me the lamest excuses for missing class, being late with work, missing deadlines - and while I haven't called out any particular student by name or even by group, I have certainly made public statements about how lame the excuses are in general - and have even mocked and made fun of the lameness! Sometimes I tell my students right to their faces that I don't buy their excuses. Does this mean I deserve to be fired because I speak the truth publicly about a general situation that exists in ALL colleges around this country and is UBIQUITOUS with this current generation of students?

Hell no. And neither does the teacher in the story. For two reasons.

One - If teachers can't speak out honestly about the serious problems in the education system - and yes, student attitudes are a big problem - then how can we EVER hope to CHANGE this system? The reaction of this particular school district makes me wonder if school administrators anywhere are TRULY interested in fundamentally changing the education system - revamping it a la Ken Robinson's suggestions, for instance - so that everyone (students and teachers) are more interested and engaged.

(School districts might have to stop cowering in fear from parents if real change is to occur.)

This travesty makes me think the answer is no - change cannot occur while the education system is held hostage by the attitude that we 1) can't hurt students' feelings by calling them out on their irresponsible behaviors because feelings are apparently more important than work ethic and 2) certainly can't speak out publicly about the student component of the problem for fear of being FIRED? WTF?!

I'm committed to challenging my students and work hard to get them past their own laziness and procrastination, which they readily admit to!! But I will not - NOT - stop speaking out publicly about some of the dumb things they say and do. And if that results in me having to change careers once again, then so be it. I've got lots of experience in many fields and I'm not afraid to use it.

And the second reason this teacher shouldn't be fired - This is obviously a free speech issue. It doesn't sound like this teacher violated any FERPA law or said anything that wasn't true - even if it was merely her opinion. Last time I checked, we have free speech and free press and unless her contract specifically states (like some private corporations might) that she is not allowed to speak publicly about her work, then the district is waving smoke and mirrors and has NO case.

Why don't they use this opportunity to have an open discussion with their teachers about the problems that exist in their school? Perhaps if they put their minds productively together, they might come up with some solutions to student attitude problems instead of punishing the very people who have the power to help CHANGE the situation?!

What the hell is wrong with this country?!?!?!

In solidarity with teachers at every level who are unafraid to speak out.

I, (ex)posed

On page 120 of Kathryn Harrison's novel, Exposure, the narrator asks, "What words could have exposed her more than the photographs themselves?" The question disconnected itself from the plot of the story and in my mind started rotating as a compelling question in general, as I am both a writer and a photographer. As a writer, I write about ideas, situations, the world, and myself; as a photographer, I capture...shoot...compose...photograph the essence...the whisper...the suggestion of people, places, pets, objects.

To me, photography is infinitely more complex an art form than writing, possibly because I've been writing in general and writing more professionally longer and so have more comfort and experience with the craft, the art, the science, the skill of connecting words together to form meaning about ideas, situations, the world, and myself. Also, I find the art of photography to be a medium that requires a true partnership between the camera, the photographer, and the photographed. Whereas writing is a mechanical skill partnered with one's own imagination and depth of knowledge - a truly solitary pursuit. Composing an image requires numerous instantaneous decisions, each falling over the other as they combine to form the idea about what the image should and could look like, and then the photographer tries to (but doesn't always) achieve. But when I consider the question that the novel's narrator raises, whether words or photographs expose an individual more, I find myself caught between two dangerous loves, both seductive in their ability to expose, or pose, our "true" natures.

When you look at a photograph of yourself (probably taken by someone like me), what do you see? Do you see your true self, your soul, your spirit, your essence, the truth of who you are? Or do you see what I see? My truth about who you are. Compare a photograph of your face to something you've written about yourself. Which one is more posed? Which one exposes more of who you truly are? Do we EVER expose ourselves fully in either medium, despite our confessional yearnings?
 
Having exposed my fears, concerns, and escapades pretty thoroughly in writing (if sometimes anonymously) over the years, and having taken photographs of myself recently for various purposes (publicity shots, online dating site images, Facebook photos), I would have to say that my writings expose more of me than the captured images. However, I might be blind to what the camera sees with its unrelenting, unblinking shutter-vision...the man I'm currently dating says that he can see my soul through my photos. Now, this might have just been a line, which I initially took it to be, until he started talking about what else he sees based on the photos. And what he said took me aback. How could he possibly perceive those notions...through a photograph? And a digital one, to boot!

It is a powerful medium, to be sure, but even as I attempt to capture the truth of what I'm seeing, I'm still aware that it is ME seeing - my lens, my perception, my interpretation of whatever is in front of me. And because of that separation between the truth and my interpretation, the photograph can't possibly contain vital information that essentially exposes the captured person beyond the surface pose.

Or does it?

I have always thought that our own writings, particularly public writings, say more about us than any photograph could. But both mediums require us to both pose and expose to some degree, and whether we are entering the enterprise with the intention of exposing our truth or hiding it, is it possible that a photograph of our essence, captured in a moment, even manipulated by software and a soft touch, can reveal more about who we truly are than our own written expressions? By which medium do we truly know ourselves? By which medium can others truly know us?

What do you think? Which medium exposes you more - a photograph or your own writings? 

Delayed experimental beginnings

Snow days. Ice storms. Delayed starts. Full day cancellations. 

Welcome to spring semester 2011 in the Northeastern US corridor.

As a professor, I'm concerned with the effects that these snow and ice day cancellations have on my students' schedules. And at this point, there is zero consistency across my classes. Three sections of college composition are all at different places and my advanced students must discuss two days' worth of readings tomorrow, instead of a more focused and well-paced conversation.

Instead, this stuttering start to the spring semester has a jarring inconsistency that the clock and calendar have no regard for. We began on Jan. 18. We are in our third week and it feels like I have not seen my students more than I have seen them.

While I realize that no one can control Nature and I also would rather not risk my car and life in treacherous commutes, these delays are not exactly blessings, given the ambitious projects I have my students tackling this semester.

To wit, my advanced composition students have selected a pressing social or cultural issue to explore all semester long in the form of two creative nonfiction essays and one newspaper opinion editorial - all of which they must submit to publications of their choosing. Almost none of them has experience writing in either of these genres and so benefit from my input and class discussion. Plus, they are also creating, writing, and maintaining a blog for the semester with a required 10 posts minimum of 500 words minimum each post.

My core classes, college composition, are tackling and attempting to solve local problems in a real way - outside the classroom. They are working in groups, so their first project is a problem/solution proposal where they will thoroughly pitch their problem and ideas for solutions. Unfortunately, all of these class cancellations have put the groups behind. In fact, some students who have missed even more days because of the weather (beyond the sanctioned university cancellations), aren't even in a group yet. And the groups are tasked with presenting their group's proposal tomorrow for the major project due dates for the semester.

I'm trying something new this semester. Students are deciding on major due dates and determining much of the daily activity schedule for each unit. I have veto power, of course, but my approach is one that fosters and encourages personal responsibility and a sense of ownership in the course. I truly believe that composition, as a class and as a field, can do more in the community outside of the classroom. My students will be writing traditional academic essays, blogs, business proposals, press releases, emails, public awareness materials, videos, and more. They will also get experience interviewing fellow students, administrators, town council representatives, public safety and health department officials (depending on the local problem).  But that's not all.

My students must DO something this semester, in addition to improving their writing skills. They are truly attempting to solve a local problem in the next 13 weeks. This pedagogical approach is often known as service-learning. But I'm not following any pre-determined plan and I'm breaking the mold a bit - I'm developing the idea as we go, allowing my students to contribute a line and verse as to how the projects and course itself will go. So far, they are doing wonderfully and I'm witnessing some pretty intense group discussions and debates.

Only time will tell if my experimental approach will work and will still achieve all that the composition curriculum requires, but I can say that my students are excited by the idea that they get to DO something in a broader context than just another university core class.

Perhaps this is the direction more university classes should go. Of course, it needs to stop snowing and icing if we are to start making actual progress. How about it, Nature? Ready to give us a respite?