Favorite Stories Research Articles

Time for spring cleaning and decluttering? But what about books?

Dear Readers,It’s that time of year again. Suddenly, our attention turns to housecleaning and sorting through all manner of stuff that fills our closets, basements, garages, and every nook and cranny in our homes. In the spirit of cleaning up and getting organized for warmer weather, I was keen to read Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. The book has been widely celebrated in the media and it was already on several bestseller lists by the time I had noticed and started reading it. I successfully applied the author’s “magical” method to an oversized storage closet in my home and was generally pleased with the result, but I had trouble following her advice when my focus turned to several boxes of out-of-print children’s books that had been stored in my guest room for years. Kondo advises that we should sort by choosing a single category like clothes and books, asking ourselves if these objects spark joy, and getting rid of them if they don’t delight us. Asking ourselves “What sparks joy?” is certainly one way of helping us decide what to keep, but to be honest, it was a difficult question when I applied it to books in my home. Obviously, not every book in my library “sparks joy” but as a category books bring me great pleasure, especially children’s books, so I couldn’t fathom how I could part with a single title. In this case, I decided to keep everything because that decision made the most sense for me. And believe me, I fully expect to eventually crack open those boxes of books if nothing else for the satisfaction of thumbing through some favourite childhood stories. In this busy season of tidying up, you may also discover boxes of children’s books in your own homes. If I may offer advice in this regard, it is simply to consider inviting your kids to participate in the decluttering process. That is, take time to discover what children’s books spark joy in their lives. If the books are not of interest to them, consider giving them a second life if they no longer “spark joy” for you or your children. Rest assured, if you make the effort to drop books off at a thrift shop, used book store, or the home of an appreciative friend, they will almost certainly spark joy in someone else’s life. Happy reading! Robert DesmaraisManaging Editor

The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China by Bin Xu

Reviewed by: The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China by Bin Xu Mary Alice Haddad (bio) Bin Xu. The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2017. xi, 237 pp. Paperback $25.95, isbn 978-1-5036-0336-3. The Politics of Compassion is a wonderfully detailed book that reveals the nuances of the civic response to the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, which killed nearly 90,000 people and left about 5 million people homeless. The book discusses the earthquake and its aftermath, but its main purpose is to unpack the complexity of the civic and political response to the discovery that much of the damage and many of the deaths were not due to shifting geologic plates but rather a direct result of political graft and greed. Sadly, events that cause protesters to cry out, "Natural disasters are unavoidable; man-made catastrophes are despicable" (p. 121) are common. We made similar cries as abandoned elderly drowned in their beds New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and as helicopters flew over Fukushima in futile attempts to stop a nuclear meltdown. Residents and onlookers feel compassion for the victims and outrage at their governments. The Politics of Compassion does a masterful job telling the story of the Sichuan disaster and its aftermath in ways that draw readers into the specific details of a particular time and place while allowing us to see the broader political pattern as one that is repeated time and again in every corner of the planet. The Politics of Compassion is told as a play with four acts as it seeks to explain what it calls the "'politics of compassion': how political conditions shape expressions of moral sentiments through civic engagement" (p. 16). The introductory chapter offers up the details of the earthquake itself and the [End Page 314] immediate response. With maps, statistics, voices from the victims, and testimony from witnesses, it recounts how it felt for those who were there and the spectacle it presented for those who watched and listened from afar. "Tonight, there were dozens upon dozens of families going through this same grim ritual, their heads bowed in unspeakable pain as they set vigil over small lifeless forms" (p. 3). It describes the outpouring of volunteers (estimates ranged from 200,000 to 10 million) (p. 8), which led 2008 to be called the "'birth year' of civil society in China" (p. 13). The chapter also articulates the tension that lies at the heart of the book, a tension between two kinds of civic engagement: (1) harmless and warm volunteering that shows compassion and care for victims but ignores the underlying problems that lie at the root of their suffering, and (2)the "angry activism" that strives to hold political leaders accountable for their greed and poor decision-making and demands a lasting solution to the deeper problems in society that are the ultimate cause of the suffering (p. 15). Act One: Chaotic Response. The political context of the Sichuan earthquake was such that the state did not have sufficient capacity to deal with the magnitude of the disaster. As a result, the state needed civil society's participation, but it was concerned that unregulated giving and participation could lead to rampant fraud and might undermine the state's moral authority. This "consensus crisis" created a political opportunity for established organizations (NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and GONGOs (government-organized NGOs)) to expand and new groups to form. Xu offers a masterful portrait of "emergent NGO networks" that formed as preexisting groups of mobile private citizens, small organizations, and companies quickly organized to bring relief directly to victims. One of my favorite stories is how two members of the Shanghai Car Club, who usually met to enjoy friendly drives through the countryside on the weekends, stuffed their cars full of medicine and food, drove 2,000 km due west, met a random young man begging assistance at a gas station, delivered their supplies to a local hospital that was catastrophically low on supplies, and helped bring in a PLA military medical team to the town. They called their friends back in...

Classical Education: Preparing for an Epiphany

Classical Education:Preparing for an Epiphany Florian Hild (bio) The present state of things is the consequence of the former, and it is natural to inquire what were the sources of the good that we enjoy, or of the evil that we suffer. If we act only for ourselves, to neglect the study of history is not prudent: if we are entrusted with the care of others, it is not just. Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal; and he may properly be charged with evil who refused to learn how he might prevent it. —Samuel Johnson, Rasselas Instead, I find a kind of cultural void, an ignorance of the past, a sense of rootlessness and aimlessness, as though not only the students but also the world was born yesterday, a feeling that they are attached to the society in which they live only incidentally and accidentally. —Donald Kagan, “Ave atque Vale” While progressive education in America’s K-12 schools aims at vacuous commonplaces, such as “children will demonstrate levels of achievement in learning skills and content knowledge consistent with high expectations across all academic areas in the Colorado State Standards” (from my district’s “educational philosophy”), classical education aims at epiphany. While the “bankruptcy of progressive education” (Hannah Arendt in 1958) has been documented repeatedly—comically as well as tragically, anecdotally as well as through hard data—classical K-12 education conserves the lessons of culture and graduates students prepared for the “high” in higher education. As a teacher and principal at a classical K-12 charter school in Colorado, I have had a front-row seat to “the good that we enjoy” in the studies of the best of our culture as well as to “the evil that we suffer” from the sometimes ludicrously absurd demands from our [End Page 553] department of education. I have seen students have epiphanies, and I have seen students bored to death by acronymic testing nonsense. The promise of classical education is that working through “the best which has been thought and said” prepares us for the epiphany of Anton Chekhov’s “The Student”: Joy suddenly stirred in his soul. . . . The past, he thought, is connected with the present in an unbroken chain of events flowing one out of the other. And it seemed to him that he had just seen both ends of that chain: he touched one end and the other moved. Ivan, Chekhov’s seminary student, had just told two widows the story of Peter’s denial of Christ, causing tears and anguish in his listeners. The widow’s tears and Peter’s tears now flow together in Ivan’s mind as past and present respond to each other in a moment of truth and beauty. Classical, liberal education forges the chains between the present and the past, because it seeks to free us from the fashions du jour by giving voice to the timeless. In “The Student,” Chekhov’s favorite and most optimistic story, Ivan can transcend the misery of his time and touch the unbroken chain of events connecting him to the past because he knows and communicates a deeply human story with sensitivity. Ivan had to be prepared for this epiphany, since epiphanies about our connections to the past don’t just happen: Peter’s denial leaves us cold if we have never meditated on his dilemma, Hecuba is nothing to us if we haven’t read The Aeneid, and self-evident truths we don’t hold won’t change the fate of nations or individuals. Culture, the whole heap of human creativity, only speaks to us when we listen, and listen we must, because, as Donald Kagan said in his 2013 “Ave atque vale” address at Yale, we must be freed from the tyranny that comes from the accident of being born at a particular time in a particular place, but that liberation can only come from a return to the belief that we may have something to learn from the past. The challenge to [End Page 554] the relativism, nihilism, and privatism of the present can best be presented by a careful and respectful examination of earlier ideas, ideas that have not been...

Some of our favorite holiday-themed science stories

Some of our favorite holiday-themed science stories

Thank You and Good Night by Patrick McDonnell (review)

Reviewed by: Thank You and Good Night by Patrick McDonnell Jeannette Hulick McDonnell, Patrick Thank You and Good Night; written and illus. by Patrick McDonnell. Little, 2015 32p ISBN 978-0-316-33801-1 $15.99 R* 4-6 yrs Little bunny Clement is excited when his friends, Jean (an elephant) and Alan Alexander (a bear), show up at his door one evening in their PJs, ready for a sleepover. Clement’s caretaker, a human girl named Maggie, serves a snack and lets them have their fun, including jumping on the bed, doing the chicken dance, and playing hide-and-seek. Yoga, a shooting star, and a night bird’s lullaby bring down the action a notch, and Maggie soon tucks them into bed—where it is revealed that the trio may actually be Maggie’s stuffed toys (and are most certainly an homage to classic children’s books). McDonnell’s storytelling is concise but detailed, and the book’s simplicity, gentle rhythms, and easy patterns make it perfect for bedtime reading. Names and textual references make a clear connection to time-honored tales Goodnight Moon, Winnie the Pooh, and The Story of Babar (Maggie reads them “their favorite bedtime stories—stories about a majestic elephant, a brave bear, and a quiet bunny”). Visual nods—Clement’s blue-and-white striped pajamas, Alan’s red balloon, etc.—cement the connection, and viewers who’ve spent time with those classics will be delighted to hunt for other hints in the pictures. McDonnell’s solid but energetic linework gives a certain verve to the trio’s activities, while the watercolors soften the background, creating a warm, joyful feeling that welcomes [End Page 261] audiences just as Clement welcomes his friends. The details keep the pictures fresh and original, but never overwhelm the quiet story. Youngsters who love their stuffed animals will particularly latch onto this, and parents who want to promote nocturnal tranquility (or those with their own fond memories of Pooh Bear) will appreciate this little gem as well. Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Uncovering young children's emerging identities related to their literacy experiences: Suggestions to strengthen language education

The study explored how young children’s identities emerged from their drawings and accounts of their favourite stories as we argue the importance of understanding children in the context of school and language education. Sixty-six (n=66) children of two urban schools in Pretoria, South Africa were asked to write about and draw their favourite story. The participants were between the ages of six and seven years. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory and Chen’s theory of the construction of identity in a social context were used as conceptual framework. This conceptual framework could be linked to the findings which suggested that the children related their drawings and versions of their favourite stories to their interpretations of their life worlds. The prominent themes from the data could be associated with the self, the family, familiar objects and known animals. Their literacy experiences and the socio-cultural influences on the children’s construction of their identities were apparent in their work. We argue that teachers need to better understand how children understand themselves in relation to the world around them when making decisions about effective language education.

Cohn, Scotti, illustrated byBersani, Shennen. 2014. Animal Partners. Abordale Publishing,Mount Pleasant, SC, USA, ISBN 978‐1628554564, 32 pp., $9.95, PBKurtz, Kevin, illustrated byHunter, Erin E. 2013. A Day in the Deep. Sylvan Dell Publishing,Mount Pleasant, SC, USA, ISBN‐13 978‐1607186298, 32 pp., $9.95, PB

I was pleasantly surprised to see both “Animal Partners” and “Day in the Deep” by Arbordale Publishing because too many children's books do not convey accurate science or may not reflect the most intriguing scientific discoveries. As an oceanographer, I want my field to be accessible and exciting for children and, personally, to be able to read science books to the young people in my life. As a sampling of what science-related books Arbordale Publishing has to offer, “Animal Partners” and “A Day in the Deep” mostly achieve those goals. Both books are a short collection of vignettes on each page spread; “Animal Partners” describes a different land or water-based animal symbiosis while “Day in the Deep” illustrates symbioses in 500-foot depth increments from the ocean surface to the seafloor. In both books, there are no introductory comments, no linkages between vignettes such that each stands on its own, nor a conclusion to tie all of the individual vignettes together, which represents a missed opportunity for synthesis and conceptual learning. Strengths of these books include their scientific accuracy, both in text and illustration, and their curriculum connections. For these reasons, they are good supplemental out-of-class learning experiences. The content of the books is aligned into the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards, and standards alignment is available on the publisher's website. The books have 4 pages of interactive review activities at the end of the book and an additional teaching activities guide (publisher's website). I put my deep-sea biology experience to the test as I critically reviewed “A Day in the Deep” for scientific accuracy, and I can attest to the fact that this book is scientifically sound. The best stories in “Animal Partners” explain the biological interactions of the symbiosis (almost all mutualisms). Likewise, my least favorite stories just describe two creatures living together without an explanation for the nature of the symbiosis. For instance, one vignette discusses how barnacles can live on shells of sea turtles, but the reader learns nothing about the commensal relationship. A microbiologist like myself will be disappointed to not find any vignettes about microbe-animal symbioses. “A Day in the Deep” describes deep-sea adaptations for some of the world's weirdest-looking critters, including the gulper eel, the deep-sea angler fish (and her parasitic males), and the viperfish, all critters whose day in the sun has finally come. I was pleasantly surprised to see a vignette about a whale fall, but, sadly, it failed to hint at chemosynthesis. The author missed a fantastic opportunity for generating interest in ocean discovery when the illustrator put in three pictures of an ROV (resembling Jason) but failed to even mention ROVs in the text. Although the books had a few shortcomings in promoting conceptual learning, I am still excited to share these aquatic science children's books with the young people in my life! Rachel E. A. Horak, American Society for Microbiology, 8901B Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase, MD 20815 USA; rahorak@gmail.com

Introduction to the Special Issue: Storytelling and Politics

true tale of the hunt will never be told until it is the lion who does the telling.(African proverb)In his book Great Political Wit, former U.S. senator Bob Dole relates what he calls one of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan's favorite stories, about an American and a Soviet citizen's comparison of their respective governments:In my country, said the American, can walk into the Oval Office in the White House, and slam my fist on the desk, and say that I don't like the way Ronald Reagan is running the United States.Well, replied his Soviet counterpart, can do the same thing in the Politburo.You can? asked the incredulous American.Certainly I can, came the response. can go into [Mikhail] Gorbachev's office, and slam my fist on his desk, and say that I don't like the way President Reagan is running the United States. (61-62)This is perhaps the most obvious example of political storytelling: the use of an amusing, or otherwise emotion-generating anecdote to make a point, break the ice, or in some other way support an effective public utterance. Here the president is clearly demonstrating his view of the major distinction between the two political systems. Reagan was a master of this rhetorical tool, the many anecdotes in Dole's book-and several academic papers (e.g., Lewis)-attest.Reagan also employed the more sophisticated form of subliminal storytelling in service of a master narrative. Reich describes how the former president redefined his predecessor Franklin Roosevelt's conception of the Community, one of what Reich identifies the core cultural parables (8) of American political rhetoric. Taking a small-government perspective, Reagan understood the Benevolent Community as small, traditional neighborhoods in which people voluntarily helped one another, free from government interference (16). This approach contrasts significantly with, for example, Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, which included the creation of Social Security, among other examples of welfare state innovations. What we are faced with are two vastly different stories of America's promise to its citizens, the world, and history. Even though these stories may not be explicitly presented, Reich argues, they underlie policy decisions and form the basis for political rhetoric expressed in speeches, press releases, and so forth.As this special issue demonstrates, there are numerous ways in which politicians, academicians, and artists understand storytelling in political, and politicized, settings. Rhetorician Andrew Leslie observes that the persuasive use of story dates back to early rhetorical training and that stories have always been employed in concert with rhetorical argument in the service of persuasive discourse. Combined with Vladimer Propp's conception of the topoi of the story, Leslie's argument offers a new analytical framework for evaluating the persuasive potential of political storytelling.In my conversation with Paul Loeb, we see an activist's on-the-ground view of how stories are effective, and at times destructive, in the political process, whether through the received story of Rosa Parks's protest or by the storytelling prowess, or lack thereof, of Barack Obama.Francesca Polletta, a sociologist, draws on anthropology, political science, and other disciplines to discuss the role of character in competing public and private political narratives, while School of Communication Dean Evan Cornog unpacks the ways in which the New Media landscape has altered the transmission and understanding of these narratives.For a decidedly different approach to the notion of political storytelling, folklorist Steven Zeitlin's brief personal essay takes on folklore fundamentalists. His article is replete with tales of his own experience that make the case for narrative a connective, rather than divisive force. Fairytale expert Jack Zipes's essay on The Sorcerer's Apprentice provides a glimpse into variants on a well-known tale type, providing valuable insights into the master-slave relationship evident recently the publication of the Harry Potter franchise. …

How Fiction Puts the Science in Engineering

This article elaborates how science fiction can inspire innovators in their lives. Adam Steltzner, Curiosity Lead Engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, reveals that he was a big fan of Larry Niven’s Lucifer’s Hammer, Ringworld, and his Known Space stories. Steltzner says he was intrigued by having a job where somebody might put him in a helicopter and send him somewhere exotic. Science fiction gave him models of smart people using their smarts, usually in some technical way, to figure out problems and exploit that. That model of a smart guy as a hero motivated Steltzner. Science fiction also allows him to ponder what might be. His favorite stories inspire him to figure out what is far out and what might actually be possible. Steltzner says if he could have any sci-fi invention, it would be a flying car. It would give him the ability to use all the three-dimensionality of the world to get around all the bumps and wrinkles and curves.

Must Australia Always Be Imaginary?: Cartography as Creation in Peter Carey’s “Do You Love Me?”

Everything that is not loved will disappear from face of earth.-peter Carey, You Love Me?This is key thematic line oF Peter carey's 1975 short story you love Me? story is made up of numbered short sections, each with its italicized heading as if it were a type of report-a favorite sci-fi story form-and this report is narrated by a young man. heading is The Role of Cartographers, followed by this line: a few words about role of Cartographers in our present society are warranted (17). ongoing creation by Cartographers-the word is always capitalized-is essential; thus a key word in that line is present.The young male narrator then immediately moves on to describe annual Census. Census, which takes place during Festival of Corn, is meticulous: all possessions are piled outside of every house and counted. this makes people feel secure. need for security, to know what it is they possess, is also why Cartographers are so important, and young man is proud his father is one of them. But land is stubbornly enigmatic and parts of it, nether regions, are fading and disappearing image on an improperly fixed photograph (19). this upsets people.City buildings, buildings owned by multinational corporations iCi and Royal dutch shell, then begin to vanish, too, and finally so do people. As they disappear, people become murderously angry when they realize they're vanishing because other people do not love them enough. it becomes clear anyone and anything not sufficiently known and loved will evaporate like morning mist in glare of rising sun. final moment of story takes place in young man's lounge room after his father has vanished. His mother turns to him and says, with fear, you love me? (31)At this point, a few words about role of Cartographers in our present society are warranted. role of Cartographers is perhaps particularly resonant for non-indigenous Australians. idea of Australia began as science fiction, as a projection of european imagination based on scientific principles as they were believed at time, which was that there had to be a vast southern land to balance land masses of northern hemisphere.When ptolemy published his Geographia (ca. 150Ad), he proposed hypothetical continent of Terra Australis nondum cognita, south Land not yet known. terra Australis then remained a site of speculation and fantasy imagined by scientists, explorers, cartographers, and writers over centuries, as in 1572 map above (Fig. 1) in which imagined continent takes up nearly a third of globe. Here is an instance where map, or actually many maps, do literally precede territory. More importantly, these maps drive search for territory itself; they help bring that territory into being.these maps are part of process of creating Terra Australis Incognita in evocative phrase used by cosmographer Johannes schoner on a 1533 globe: Terra Australis recenter inventa sed nondum plene cognita (Southern land found recently but not fully known)-the process of bringing this imagined science fictional continent, this land whose existence is, for europeans, born of fantasy and speculation, into focus.Aside from well-known references to antipodes in works by writers such as Marlowe and dante, david Fausett has described an entire seventeenth century cycle of novels of imaginary voyages which enclose detailed accounts of utopias/ dystopias found in unknown southern continent. As Fausett says, the south-land was more than a real frontier; it was last major notional exterior, or generator of collective difference (175). He notes power of unknown south land as a literary device was not lessened by its partial discovery; indeed effectiveness of its use in political allegories seemed to be enhanced (177). …

About Him

About Him Holly Thomas (bio) He still sleeps with the same blanket that covered him in Iraq. He wraps it tightly around his body as if it were his baby blanket from years ago. At night I watch him grasp the ends of the blanket and squeeze it tightly between his fingers, as if someone might try to wrestle it away. He holds his blanket close. He feels safe hiding underneath the camouflage. It serves him today as it did in war. It covers him; his secrets, his scars, and anything else he encountered there that still haunts him. When he sleeps, I catch tears that stream down his face. Each tear I wipe away represents someone or something that happened there. I watch the tear trail scatter on the dust. His tears remind me of the rain there that he described. Drops would roll down his skin, forming a layer of paste that held together bits of sand carried by the wind. He would wear a thick layer of muck until it crumbled off. I know when he is there. His moans help me paint a picture of the same hell night after night. His shrill cries wake the household; however, no one speaks of these late-night interruptions. I have adapted to his cold night sweats and frequent nightmares. I wait for them when his eyes close and his breathing becomes deep and slow. It is only a matter of time before they visit him. He says their names in his sleep. They sound familiar to me, names I have heard in his stories. Though he does not often speak of his time there, he finds moments in the night when I least expect it to tell me a tale. I wish I could hear all of his stories, and maybe one day I will, but for now I perch on the edge of my seat every time he starts one. [End Page 71] He has told me stories of his unit busting down doors in search of weapons. These stories are disturbing because they always end up with shots being fired. I have heard him go into those houses in his dreams. Bombs detonate in his dreams as well. I hold him close under the blanket as he covers his head for safety. I hear bits and pieces, enough to know what’s transpiring. I imagine it in my head as though I am there with him. He tells me he rarely remembers his dreams and nightmares. I wonder if he chooses not to remember them, or if he simply does not want to talk about them. I don’t want to embarrass him; I just want to hear all of it. He lived that experience so I would not have to. My curiosity stems from gratitude and interest. My favorite story has nothing to do with guns, but everything to do with war. He told me that the soldiers would watch Finding Nemo night after night. “‘Put on that fish movie!’ they would yell over and over again,” he laughs as he remembers it. I feel warm inside thinking of our troops watching Disney movies together. But it only lasts a moment because the reality of their youth hits me, and I realize how much they were risking at such a young age. There is one thing we don’t talk about: how many people he killed in the war. Why not? It does not help. When we first started hanging out, I remember him telling me how he appreciated my asking intelligent questions about Iraq. He said he felt uncomfortable when people would only ask him the number of people he killed or how it felt to take someone’s life. Though I had shamefully wanted to know those answers, I decided not to ask. I desperately wanted to know the details of what happened there, but I knew I had to refrain from asking him [End Page 72] his death toll. When people ask his number, he responds, “I don’t know.” He does not feed into their appetite for gruesome details and exaggerated numbers; I can see the disappointment in their eyes. But...

We Want to Know Who Our Students Are

Composition studies concentrates on students, not texts. We in this field want to know who our students are. What abilities to use language do they bring to the academy? What new kinds of intellectual work are they able to do? What challenges does academic discourse pose for them? These are research questions we explore with rigor but also compassion and, sometimes, admiration. My favorite origin story claims that this field's modern iteration sprang from reluctance to use first-year writing courses, required at most universities, simply to eject the “boneheads.” Instead, we learned from Mina Shaughnessy and others to regard even the most struggling undergraduate writers as agents, operating among intersecting and competing discourse communities. For us, student writers are not solitary creators, nor are they intertextual blurs.

Worshiping the Black Sun

Worshiping the Black Sun

President's Page:IADC Pride: The Trial Academy

Going to Boulder, Colorado with my family was my first introduction to the IADC Trial Academy. Back in the 1980s, my father served on the IADC Trial Academy faculty, and I can still recall his favorite story from that experience. One of the students in his small group stood up to deliver her opening statement on the first day, but nothing came out of her mouth. Consumed with stage fright, the woman was speechless. Over the course of the week, the student gained confidence in her own abilities, learned more trial techniques to add to her tool chest and, in general, developed a much better understanding of the art of persuasion. At last, on the final day of the Trial Academy, she delivered a beautiful, articulate and persuasive closing argument. Upon finishing, the small group of students gave the woman a standing ovation. The student has gone on to enjoy a highly successful career as a trial lawyer trying cases all around the country for major corporations. Many IADC members can share similar stories about their experiences as students or faculty members at the Trial Academy. The dedication of the faculty and the commitment of its students produce incredible results and serve as the foundation of the premier trial advocacy program in the country. Like many, I can attest to the personal and professional satisfaction I experienced as both a student and faculty member. Indeed, a member of this year's Trial Academy, Marc Williams, stated the following: Serving on the faculty of the IADC Trial Academy was one of the highlights of my career as a lawyer. The camaraderie of the faculty forges a bond that will remain long after the week is over. I feel like I learned as much as the students. It was an experience that I'll never forget. Over the past forty-one years, more than 3,500 students have attended the Trial Academy with the express purpose of improving their trial skills. Students have come from all over the world, including all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Ireland. The Trial Academy's widespread and historical achievement is amazing but not surprising. Its backbone is the IADC membership itself--a group of the finest trial lawyers in the world who recognize the importance of giving back to our profession by training the next generation of trial lawyers. IADC members who serve as faculty prepare well in advance of the opening day in order to develop effective methods of instruction and to produce superior demonstrations for the students. Faculty members then spend more than a week out of the office and away from their families working all day with their students to give each one of them the best instruction possible. The amount of time our members dedicate to the Trial Academy year after year cannot be overstated. Their time and commitment to the IADC and the Trial Academy is a testament to the quality and character of every faculty member, and it makes me proud to be a member of this organization. On August 1, 2013, I attended the Closing Dinner of the 41st Trial Academy. The exhilaration and excitement among the students and faculty was palpable and brought back wonderful memories from my own personal experiences at Boulder and Palo Alto. After seven days of intensive faculty instruction and videotaped student demonstrations, the students and the faculty celebrated the great accomplishments that each had achieved during the week. …

Into the deep dark wood

Traditional fairytales and modern classics can be enhanced beyond the page by helping children bring elements of performance, role-play and interpretation into their interaction with their favourite stories.

Exorcism

<i>Exorcism</i>

Storybook mathematics

Noticeable in the revised Early Years Foundation Stage is the lack of reference to maths talk, however, with many favourite stories offering rich opportunities for discussing numbers, do not be discouraged.

The Top 10 Science NOWs of 2012

At the end of every year, Science NOW takes a look back at some of our favorite and most popular stories.

Mr. Rogers' other neighborhood

One of my favorite stories in fiction is a short novel describing the experiences of a Mr. Anthony Rogers, the story's main character. I first read the story when I was in junior high school in roughly 1963 or 1964, and the description given in the following paragraphs struck me then, as now, as imaginative. The scene described by the main character involves two fictional cities: Fis-Ko, which I believe is a corruption of San Francisco, and Lo-Tan (identified only as being in America’s Rocky Mountains). I've never determined where Lo-Tan was supposed to be. In this excerpt from the novel, Philip Nowlan wrote:

Going on a yoga bear hunt

Primary Teacher UpdateVol. 2012, No. 14 YogaGoing on a yoga bear huntMichael ChissickMichael ChissickSearch for more papers by this authorMichael ChissickPublished Online:29 Sep 2013https://doi.org/10.12968/prtu.2012.1.14.34AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 1 November 2012Volume 2012Issue 14ISSN (print): 2047-8917ISSN (online): 2052-4609 Metrics History Published online 29 September 2013 Published in print 1 November 2012 Information© MA Education LimitedPDF download