jeromemartin.ca

Cross-Border Learning on the Great Plains

I was privileged today to be part of a session with the participants of The Great Plains from Texas to Saskatchewan: Place, Memory, Identity, an NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) Summer Seminar for School Teachers which was convened at North Dakota State University in late June and is now in Eastend and surrounding area for a three day period. Fifteen outstanding scholar-teachers are studying the the works of Webb, Cather, Stegner, and Momaday under the leadership of Tom Isern, Professor of History & University Distinguished Professor.

Sharon Butala and I welcomed the group to the Stegner House. I gave a short summary of the work I am doing here, and Sharon read from her latest book The Girl in Saskatoon. Questions, discussions, and a tour of the house followed.

The participants in this seminar have come from across the USA, from New Orleans to Oregon. This is the fifth time this seminar has been offered, and I hope it continues for many more years. These scholar-teachers excited me with their interest in this country and this area.

As I prepare to leave the Stegner House tomorrow I wish I could stay just a bit longer and meet with this group again. They are fine people and great ambassadors for their country.

We need more seminars like this one: and our school system in Canada needs scholar-teachers like the ones I met today.

Literature

The Joy of Reading

This is Literacy Week in my city, and today I had the pleasure of reading The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier and A Hero Named Howe by Mike Leonetti to a group of Grade Four and Grade Five students at James Gibbons School.
I love being read to and I love reading to other people. These students were very attentive and interested in the books and in hockey in general (It is our national sport). Reading to a group is similar to telling stories around a campfire – but we need good stories and audiences which are interested. I was fortunate to have both.
We had time for questions, and the students were not shy about asking them.

'How old are you?'
'Do you like to read?'

'Is hockey your favourite sport?'
'Did you play hockey?'
'Did you play in a big league?'

'How do you publish a book?'
'How do you make the typing so neat?'
'How do you make the words so small?'
'Tell us more about publishing a book.'
'If I had a book to publish where would I take it?'

Spending time with these young students today was a privilege. They are so excited about learning, so keen about life: and their enthusiasm is contagious.

Storytelling

Garr Reynolds writes a great blog, Presentation Zen, which I recommend highly. In his most recent posting, Ira Glass: Tips on Storytelling, Garr summarizes the points made by Ira Glass, famous for This American Life on NPR, on a recent video.
Don't miss this one. Ira Glass is one of the best broadcasters and storytellers I've heard.
Podcasts of This American Life are available on iTunes.