Enthusiasm- It Makes Learning Stick!

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Have you ever thought about the part that enthusiasm plays in the learning process? I have noticed that when I’m interested in something, I learn it so much more easily than if I’m not enthused about the subject. Interest fosters attention and focuses the mind, making learning a truly delightful experience. Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop

I witnessed enthusiasm in action on Saturday when I taught a lively group of teens how to write a timed essay for the SAT or ACT (at a Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop). Throughout the four+ hour workshop, these delightful students remained focused and interested. There was so much participation that we could have gone on for at least another hour!

When the teens passed in their class evaluation forms at the end of the workshop, the comments were enthusiastic and positive. One teen, when asked what she liked about the workshop, wrote “Everything! I had a blast!”

Imagine that. Cooped up inside on a spring morning, writing timed essays, and she really had fun!

Another teen, in answer to the question about what could be improved, wrote “More essay writing.” Oh my– most teens who had to write two essays in a day would be more than ready to quit!

What was up with this group? I’ve taught this workshop in many places, and some groups are so quiet and unresponsive that we could easily trim the very same material by almost an hour. These students were so engaged and enthusiastic that the day just flew by (and no, I don’t think any of them are available for adoption!).

I don’t know the source of their enthusiasm– they were mostly, but not all, homeschooled high school students. They asked questions, they offered to read their essays aloud, they made the most of their time with me. And guess what? I’d be willing to bet that because they participated actively, they will remember what they learned.

Enthusiasm is a wonderful motivator, and if you can trigger your student’s interest, and encourage participation, the labor of learning is suddenly reduced. Enthusiasm makes learning fun!

On a personally enthusiastic note, I just uploaded the e-book edition of the new third edition of my book, Transcripts Made Easy. I’m happy that it’s finally done!

I wandered lonely as a Cloud…

Daffodil-copyright freefoto.comSpring just isn’t spring until I can share Wordsworth’s delight in daffodils. Poetry is experience distilled to its essence. Once you’ve enjoyed an experience through poetry, you’ll find that both experience and poem are enriched.

The daffodils are in full dress in our yard today, like scraps of sunlight scattered about. If you don’t have daffodils in your garden, do plan to plant some bulbs next fall. They’re absolutely easy-care, and they’ll reward you by multiplying year after year.

Enjoy!

Here is the 1815 poem by William Wordsworth:

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Read more

Sentence Fragments- To Use or Not To Use…

I’m working on a small book on evaluating writing, so in my last e-mail newsletter, I asked if anyone had questions on the subject. One mom sent in the following question, and I thought I’d share it, along with my answer.

Q- My children read quite a bit and enjoy it. I see that even good writers may at times use fragments instead of a full sentence. They use that for effect. This brings questions to my children, as their composition book tells them not to. Read more

Enjoying Spring With Thoreau

Forsythia embracing an azalea...I took my own advice this afternoon and went for a walk outside. It was a beautiful, balmy afternoon, so I walked the path my boys made through the woods for me, then went down to sit by the creek for a little while. The sky was daubed with Constable-worthy clouds, and buds are swelling at the ends of countless twigs. Our tiny creek had enough water to burble gently, and it all felt so peaceful.

Back in the yard, the daffodils are beginning to bloom, and sweet box is spreading its sweet fragrance near the front porch steps. I’ve seen bluebirds trying out the houses we’ve posted around the edge of the woods, and the goldfinches are beginning to turn yellow once more. Spring is bursting out everywhere, and it reminds me of Henry David Thoreau’s lyrical description of spring on Walden Pond:

“The first sparrow of spring! The year beginning with younger hope than ever! The faint silvery warblings heard over the partially bare and moist fields from the bluebird, the song sparrow, and the red-wing, as if the last flakes of winter tinkled as they fell! What at such a time are histories, chronologies, traditions, and all written revelations? The brooks sing carols and glees to the spring. The marsh hawk, sailing low over the meadow, is already seeking the first slimy life that awakes. Read more

Spring & Compulsory Schooling- Carpe Diem!

I’m thinking about spring, and the need to seize the day, and do the thing that is appropriate for the moment. It’s time to emerge from our winter cocoons!

Spring means being outdoors, breathing great gulps of crispy-fresh air, moving winter-weary bodies and bones in unfamiliar ways, clearing mental cobwebs along with the physical. It’s simply not human to be confined, institutionalized, imprisoned, when life is waiting.

Even in the heart of the largest cities, there are pockets of green in which to rejoice in the new season (I know, because I grew up in the heart of a very large city, and green was nourished and cherished). For your children’s sake, clear the calendar of obligations, and go outside. Work in the yard, take a picnic to the park, ride bikes, play basketball, walk, walk, walk!

Finally, here is a quote from John Taylor Gatto’s The Underground History of American Education, page 129. Call it a thought for the day!

“What should make you suspicious about school is its relentless compulsion. Why should this rich brawling, utterly successful nation ever have needed to resort to compulsion to order people into school classes– unless advocates for force-schooling were driven by peculiar philosophical beliefs not commonly shared?”

If you’d like to read more of Gatto’s thoughts on education, I recommend Dumbing Us Down. It’s interesting, to say the least!

Now… how about enjoying those daffodils?

Thoughts on Choosing Literature from a 1903 Reader

Old booksI love old books. Although I strongly advocate reading whole works for high school literature, I find that old readers can be very useful in introducing an author and creating a taste for his or her work.

I was browsing through The Jones Fifth Reader by L.H. Jones, A.M., published in 1903, this morning, and I was struck by the high quality of the works it contains. I found the reasoning behind the choices in the author’s mission statement / preface. It’s quite unlike anything I’ve seen in modern texts, and well worth sharing. Enjoy!

“This book is intended as a basal reader for pupils of the sixth, seventh, and eight years in school. These years make up a period of high enthusiasms and noble impulses. During this period ideals of life and conduct are rapidly shaping themselves in the minds of the growing girls and boys. Susceptible as they are at this age to evil influences, they yet respond most readily to the call of higher motives. Noble, daring, and heroic action, when properly pictured to them, seems native to the human spirit. Read more