Hi WinkWorld Readers,

As you know, I started a series on language acquisition and literacy development in the previous WinkWorld. We began with a 25-minute video by Steve Krashen, who paints a broad picture of  language acquisition, literacy development, foreign language instruction, ESL/EAL, bilingual education, etc.  It is all about communication.

The video is like the story of my professional life–I started as a high school Spanish teacher (Philadelphia), moved to junior high language arts and then more high school Spanish to kids  who were already bilingual (Benson AZ), eventually  to pre-K Spanish immersion and bilingual programs (Davis, CA), and then teacher preparation and bilingual teacher preparation (TX A&M and CSUS), and I finally landed in literacy, the connecting thread throughout my entire career.

The Power of Reading by Steve Krashen is one of the books which really helped me understand all of this.  Deb Harrison, who was a student in one my classes at Black Hills State University, once turned in this Powtoons which captured some of these ideas.  Deb is now a high school teacher in Wyoming.  We hope you enjoy.  Thank you, Deb, for sharing.

There is no audio–just follow the writing with your own power of reading.

Somehow all of my treasured books  end up being redecorated.  Below, you will see an earlier edition of The Power of Reading.

Yes, that darling little boy in an Eagles football shirt really is Dean Austin Wink of the Wisconsin Winks.  He is now a geology student at the University of Wisconsin,White Water. I am thrilled to have another “rock hound” in our family.  I know my Grampy Dave would be happy, as he was our very own “pebble puppy.”

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

My plan is to share a  series of posts on language acquisition and literacy materials, so that others, who might need them, can access them easily.  I begin with a large holistic view.  In later posts, I will share individual pieces, but we begin with the big picture.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

Sometimes it feels like I live in two different worlds: My town friends and my country friends.  Sometimes these two groups like different stories, but I just try to share whatever might have value for someone, somewhere.  In this WinkWorld, I share two different stories.  Below please meet my Storyteller mama and babies, which was a surprise gift to me a few years ago.   Thanks, Marje Kaiser!

The storyteller brings you the following two stories.

First, look what just came in the mail, unexpectedly.

As many of my former adult students could tell you, one of my great joys in being a professor is that I love to share my books, er,… and I hate to share my books.  I share when I see that a student might connect with a particular book, and I mostly  get the books returned in a timely fashion. But, sometimes one of my books ends up forgotten on an obscure bookshelf, under a couch, or with a stack of children’s book somewhere.  This seems to happen, when I need that book for a specific reason or person. Of course, I do not know where the book is. Years pass.

However, a couple of times a year, I get a surprise package in the mail, when a former student (now teacher) finds one of my books and mails it to me.  All of the happy memories of that student and that class come flooding back to me.  This is exactly what happened yesterday, when a book mailed from Wyoming showed up in our mail.  Thank you, Mandy  White.   I remember you so well: a quiet, engaged, active student.  You were such a curious, wonderful learner. And, thank you for your work as a teacher!  We appreciate you.

Mandy, I no longer need this book; do you want it back?  If not,  someone else want it?  I will mail it to you.  It’s good to keep books moving. What good do they do on my bookshelf? 

On to the second story. . . and, this story is specifically for another former student, now teacher, Deb Harrison. I hope you like the story, too.  The original story was in my first book, published in 1997.  I no longer have the page proofs of that book, so it is not readily available for online reading.  Here is a copy of what my first book looks like today.

I remember that day when the UPS guy delivered a copy of my first book to the ranch.  Of course, I was thrilled.  Standing outside in the wind, he looked at me and asked: “Is it a cookbook?”   Nope, Critical  Pedagogy: Notes from the Real World is not a cookbook. However, I did add a fudge recipe, to a later book,  The Power of Story, and it amazes me how many positive critiques, I have had about that recipe. . ..

Oh Fudge

Back To The Little Red Book about Critical Pedagogy

I prefer some of the original stories in the first edition better than those same stories in later editions, when various  editors asked me to cut back here and there, and add other stories.  I sort of felt that some of the stories lost their pizzazz with too much edit work. 

However, in the 3rd edition, pictured below, I did find a fairly good copy of an original story.

Deb, be sure to read until you come to the part of “Hooked on Books” by Fader and McNeil.

Critical Pedagogy 3rd Ed – The Benson Kids

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

This post is for 7th and 8th graders who might like to attend a FREE camp for kids to explore and learn about various career options which await them after high school. 

Check it out – click HERE.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

It is not lost on me that my WinkWorld on snakes in the house had way more active, engaged readers with funny responses that my last WinkWorld on the research of three brand-new researchers, armed with their brand-new doctorates: Ana York, Jade Herman, and Dawn Wink.  My blog is eclectic, and my readership often seems to represent two different worlds–my two different worlds. 

In this post, I will share some of the links we created for the CARE (Conference on Academic Research in Education) and EQRC (Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference).

Click HERE to see a little video, which I created, to introduce our 3 new researchers. 

Below I am posting our group poster presentation, in which we share their combined research.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL SIZE VERSION.

Ana York’s poster presentation of her own research.

VIEW LARGER VERSION

Ana  York’s audio link:

https://youtu.be/2_VMAGvU7yw

Jade Herman’s poster of her research.

CLICK HERE FOR LARGER VERSION

Jade Herman’s YouTube of her Dissertation Defense

Dawn Wink

Below is a  YouTube link, which Dawn created to share the audio of her research.

Dr. York, Dr. Herman, and Dr. Wink, it is great fun working with you three.  Good luck with your research projects and the next ones to follow.

Photo  credit: dbd

3-10-2022

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

OK, I admit: My blog, WinkWorld, is quite eclectic.  Last time I wrote about blue racer snakes on the ranch…er, hanging from the ceiling, and this time I am writing about a professional educational conference, CARE, which has been sponsored by UNLV and Clark County School District of Las Vegas. 

CARE, Conference on Academic Research in Education

Click HERE to visit the CARE website.

This year the conference will be virtual, and I have the pleasure of introducing  three new docs and their research: Dr. York, Dr. Herman, and Dr. Wink.   The presentation was initiated last year, when I served on two of these committees (no, not on Dawn’s).  I noticed that these three young doc students were having totally different experiences – based on their program, their chair, their university, and who each of them were as researchers.  It was fascinating.

This blog post will be longer than my normal, but I need a place to save our CARE materials for the virtual conference….hence, my post today.

Click HERE to watch a little video of my introduction of our poster presentation and the three new doctors.

CARE Conference March 21/22, 2022

TITLE: Theory to Methods: Three Case Studies

Joan Wink, Ana York, Jade Herman, Dawn Wink

3.10.2022

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study, as represented in the poster, is twofold: First, it is to demonstrate distinct research methodologies, as used in three 2021 dissertations; and second, it is to demonstrate how theoretical foundations ground methodologies and inform their distinct research inquiries.

The Introduction of the poster will lay out a broad spectrum of theoretical foundations from multiple points of view, as understood by a senior scholar, Dr. Joan Wink, Professor Emerita of California State University, Stanislaus. All will be available via links in the RESOURCES.

Next, the poster will compare and contrast three very distinct doctoral dissertation methodologies (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods) representing the broad continuum of research.

Dr. Ana York, Assistant Professor, California State University, Stanislaus, will begin by sharing her research, in which she used quantitative methods.

Dr. Jade Herman, Chief of Staff at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, will follow as she shares her research, in which she used qualitative and a quantitative method.

Dr. Dawn Wink, Associate Professor at Santa Fé Community College will then share her research, in which she used qualitative (Scholarly Personal Narrative) methods.

The participants who view this poster will learn the how-to of each method of the dissertations as the three doctoral scholars paint a portrait of their inquiry, sample size, theoretical foundation, methods, and findings. The Conclusion of the poster will emphasize the why of each of the processes as Dr. Joan Wink makes connections between theory and methodology.

What initiated this poster presentation?

Joan continues:

During 2020-2022, I was on several doctoral committees, and I observed how the experiences of three specific doctoral candidates were vastly different—depending on the program, the university, the chair of each committee, and the candidate herself.  As a veteran professor of languages, cultures, and philosophies, I appreciate how important it is for each graduate student or educational professional to understand the broad spectrum of philosophies, be able to articulate each, and to see how these various theories, perspectives, philosophies, turn from theory to practice in schools at all levels.

Meet Ana. Ana’s quantitative dissertation used a quasi-experimental, single-group, pretest-posttest design in her study of meditation.

Meet Jade. Jade’s mixed methods dissertation used intrinsic case study and transcendental phenomenology, plus a chi square test for contextual information in her study of an educational leadership program.

Meet Dawn. Dawn’s qualitative methods used Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN), as she followed the Pre-search, Me-search, Re-search, and We-search methodology in her study of ecolinguistic.

CONCLUSION

In this presentation, we shared three different philosophies of education and how each affected the experiences of these three doctoral candidates and their research.  Our over-arching goal is that each viewer of this poster presentation will come away with a deeper understanding of, not only a broad view of the various educational philosophies, but also the ability to name and understand each to a greater degree.  Ultimately, we want each of viewers to understand their own philosophical grounding.

RESOURCES, plus a short abstract of each link.

These short stories explaining the theories/philosophies/points-of-view/perspectives will be holistically referred to as the “big ideas” which guide teaching and learning.

There are many ways to think about schools, and there are many philosophies guiding our beliefs about schools.  However, for our purpose, we are emphasizing the language which describes two, three, four, and five points-of-view. Different academic areas sometimes use other terms, synonyms, and descriptors for the basic “big ideas” or philosophies. (Joan Wink, 3.10.2022)

100 Years In A 1000 Words

First, A Little History.  I have tried to write 100 years of history in a 1000 words.  My goal is to tell a story about history.

https://www.joanwink.com/a-little-history/

Two Big Ideas: A Short Narrative by Joan Wink

https://www.joanwink.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/two-big-ideas-narrative.pdf

Two Big Ideas on Teaching and Learning: A Visual by Jenny Thompson, 2007, CSUS.  Of course, there are not just two big ideas. In addition, a binary often limits our thinking.  However, qualitative and quantitative are often two methods we have all experienced in one way or another.  Frank Smith (1992) used, Classical and Official, to represent these two big ideas.  The ‘5 ism’s’ are often used by many foundational texts.

https://joanwink.com/newsletter/2007/perspective1.pdf

A Visual of 2 and 5 Big Ideas created by Natalie den Dulk Merrill while she was in my class in my graduate class, 2007.

https://www.joanwink.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/5isms-visual.pdf

The 5 ISM’s Maaria Thompson had fun summarizing these big ideas.

https://www.joanwink.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/5isms-summary.pdf

Elliot W. Eisner captures the notion of captures the notion of “Two Visions of Education” by using the terms:  Formalistic and Romantic. Teachers College Record, Date Published: November 07, 2005.

http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 12234, Date Accessed: 1/18/2006 10:56:19 AM

In Critical Pedagogy: Notes from The Real World, I referred to the three big ideas as transmission, generative, and transformative.  Others use the words, constructivist, constructionist, and/or social constructivist when they refer to 4 or even 5 big ideas.

https://www.joanwink.com/critical-pedagogy-4th-ed-the-lesson-of-dayna/

ADDITIONAL LINKS FOR CARE CONFERENCE:

Resources

Joan’s Sharing (Narrative)

Video Introduction by Joan Wink

Dear WinkWorld Readers, as you know I usually write a blog post about whatever is on my mind, on my computer desktop, or on my desktop. I rarely write about some ranch-life-realities. However, today I decided to write about Blue Racer snakes, which sometimes come into our house.

A Blue Racer Snake Hanging from the Ceiling of Our New Bedroom

Our ranch was once my grandparents’ homestead, or Grandma Grace’s house. I used to think that it was a castle.  But, when we returned to live in her house, circa 1994, we did some measurements and found that the main floor had 900 square feet.  Not as large as I remembered. We believe that my grandparents must have moved from the sod hut to this house about the 1920’s.

This house also has half a basement: dirt floors, low ceiling, gorgeous old cedar beams, dangerous, hand-poured concrete steps, and our all-important water pump, with various more important water pipes going to and from the cistern.  OK, I will admit it: the basement is more like a cellar, and sometimes it feels like a dungeon. Very scary.

However, snakes (Blue Racers) think that it is a fine place to hibernate.  Often during the cold months, a ball of sleeping Blue Racers hang from that low ceiling.  When we are in the cellar, we watch carefully, so as not to bump that ball of snakes with our heads.  Sometimes one will wake during the winter, and slither up those dangerous steps and sneak into the kitchen to look around.  More than once, I have been reading at night at the north kitchen counter, when I noticed an annoying smell.  Blue Racers stink.  Then I simply “shoo” the snake back down those dangerous steps.

In 2006 we decided to build an addition–new living area and new bedroom for us.  This was the year that I was on chemo in CA, so I am only vaguely aware of all that took place during the building process.  In retrospect, the builders must have dug into another hibernation site, as the Blue Racers continued to sneak into our new bedroom.

Six years in a row–one snake in the new bedroom each year–always at night–always in the winter–always when I returned from a trip to a cold, dark ranch. Wink was not home for even one of these great snake events, as he was in Pierre for the Jan., Feb., March annual legislative sessions.

The first time this happened, I had just flown back from CA, driven from the Rapid City airport two more hours, and was thrilled to be home safely–even though alone.  I hauled my suitcase down the new stairs to our new, gorgeous bedroom, and there stretched out in all of his glory, was a huge snake on our brand-new carpet.

What to do?

Rule #1: Don’t look away – you must know where that snake is.  I stood and stared and thought and gathered my courage.  I slowly picked up a small wastepaper basket and a pretty, little decorative broom, which were in the bedroom.  With one whoosh, I swept the snake into the basket and ran as fast as a I could up the stairs and out into the darkness and tossed the snake out the door.  This is basically what I have done with each snake in the bedroom since that time, even though Wink did give me one of those snake catchers, which I have never tried.

My Unused Snake Catcher 

However, one time I had just returned from another teaching trip, and I found the snake in the photo, hanging from the ceiling of our new bedroom.  This time, a man who was working on the ranch was helping me carry the luggage down the steps.  We saw the hanging snake at the same time.

            “Oh, no, I don’t do snakes,” he told me seriously.

            “Buck up, Big Boy,” I replied, “tonight you do, do snakes.”

I kept my eyes on the snake and asked him to get me a wastepaper basket and the big broom, which he did.

            “Now, on the count of three, all you have to do is take the broom handle and pop up that ceiling tile.  I will catch the snake with the waste basket,” I told him.  And, this is exactly what we did, and then I again ran like crazy to toss the snake outside.

Each time I have had a snake in the house, I knew I could call one of several local ranchers for help, but I knew it would take time for anyone to arrive, and then they would tell stories about the experience.  Nope, this is my story.

Dear WinkWorld Readers.

Reading a story in your neighborhood school: Imagine how fun. How beneficial. How interesting.  Recently, I had this opportunity in our neighborhood school, Atall, which is 50 miles from our ranch. Atall is a small (okay, tiny) rural school on the South Dakota prairies.

The teacher, Missy Urbaniak, read the English version, and I read the  Spanish version of  “Imagine” and “Imagina” by Juan Felipe Herrera, illustrated by Lauren Castillo, translated by Georgina Lázaro, and published by Candlewick Press.  Herrera did not speak English when he entered school in the US.  He eventually became the Poet Laureate of the US.  This story captures parts of his childhood and a peak into a very special day at the Library of Congress. 

CLICK HERE

if you want to hear Dawn and I read this story aloud.

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone who reads this will also go to their local school and offer to read to kids?

Atall Emeritus

Some of  the former students of Atall School returned in December for the school program.  It was wonderful to see all of the students enjoying each other again.  Love these kids so much!

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

As many of you know, in the past year I have spotlighted several graduates who caught my attention.  Some of  these students graduated from undergrad programs (Nadifa, Lizzie, and Wynn), one master’s graduate (Katie), and two others completed their doctoral degrees (Ana and Jade).  I was honored to serve on the doctoral committees for Ana York from Grand Canyon University and Jade Herman from Creighton University. To read about any of these graduates, just click on the archive at WinkWorld News

With this issue of WinkWorld, we will bring to a close (at least for 2021), this blog series celebrating a few graduates.

Congratulations, Dr. Dawn Wink!

How lucky am I? Those of you who know our daughter, Dawn, know that she just successfully defended her dissertation. Actually, she nailed it. And, I was able to spend a spectacular week celebrating with her. A few pix follow.

First is a screen shot, which a ZOOM student took and sent to us.  I had just walked into the room right after her Chair congratulated her.

Next, are the flowers she received from her Chair.

And, these are the flowers which Dawn had delivered to me for my defense (Yes, a tiny bit late–30 years.) How cool is that?!

And, if you look very carefully at the following pix of the two of us, you will see that she is wearing the earrings, which I gave her for her Ph.D., and, yes, she surprised me with a similar pair to celebrate mine. Told you I am lucky!

When I finished in 1991, I remember walking out into the long hallway of Harrington at TX A&M, and 🎼 ‘Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch’ was rocking in celebration. Thank you, Aggies.

Dawn’s blog, Dewdrops. October 21, 2021

Stories at the Intersection of Language and Landscape Through Wildness, Beauty, and Imagination: A Scholarly Personal Narrative — Dissertation Defense (Video)

After Dawn’s defense, we walked down to the campus of the University of Arizona to celebrate.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

As you know, I have been highlighting recent graduates–one more left to come this season, and I hope to get it out to you before Christmas.  For now, I want to share some of the books I have been reading.

As some of you know, when I was on chemo I spent a lot of time reading about elephants, but I have not read another elephant book until recently. Alexandra Fuller’s book of growing up in the wilds of Africa pulled me back.  The following is a previous WinkWorld, in which I write about her books. From running free as a child in Africa, she now lives in a yurt in Wyoming.

Books Which I Am Reading Now

Lawrence Anthony

If you are not really a reader, it is only that you have not yet bumped into the right book.  This could just be the book which captures you.

Francoise Malby-Anthony

Ranchers often have baby calves in their kitchen in the cold spring storms, but I have never had an elephant in my kitchen.

Thula Thula

If you want to watch more about these two authors, just Google  Thula Thula, their home in Africa.   Start with thulathula.com, but you will find many links on the web.

Cindy Moss

This book captues the research of Cindy Moss.  Each chapter begins with a compelling story, which is then followed by the theory behind the story.

Camino de Santiago

From the elephant books, I dove right into books about The Camino de Santiago. I remember hearing of this in 1961 from my first Spanish teacher, Mrs. Johnson at Mobridge High School.  Today, I am not sure if I really want to walk 500 miles. One of my favorite books on this topic is posted below.

Historical Novels about Libraries

From Camino I went into historical novels which are grounded in a true story of one person (or a group) and one library. Oh, how I love this New York City Public Library; I have been lucky enough to visit it twice.

In this page-turning novel of two women (one 1913 and the other 1993), we learn some of the secrets of this famed NYC library, as we see the power of love of literature and of family.  The link below is a previous WinkWorld, in which I wrote about the NYC Public Library.

The Power of Story Chapter Seven

Next, I found myself reading histories of the Spanish Civil War, WW1, and WW2.  In these historical novels, I met people (and often one solitary woman) fighting to save books. 

For example, The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escobar is a true story of a woman fighting the Nazis to save the library in this northern coastal town in France. I had no idea of this little town which is eventually overrun and burned.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a true story of Bella da Costa Greene, who was born Belle Marion Greener, to a Black family in the late 1800’s.  In order to succeed, she lived her life as a White.  And, succeed, she did!  She became the personal librarian to JP Morgan, and created his treasury of early printing press (1500’s) books and works of art.  I had no idea about his private library, which she eventually succeeded in opening to the public.  In the late 1800’s, Blacks had hope in the promise of freedom and peace, but by the early 1900’s their hope began to fade.  A very compelling history.

Next, I was ready for a new genre, and I read The Christmas Pig, by JK Rowling. I have never been captured by fantasies, but I can pretend like I love these stories if I am reading to young people, but I usually do not get it.  However, this new JK Rowling is pure magic.  Even for me.  If you ever had a soft, cuddly stuffed animal or much-loved blankie, who completely understood you, this is the book for you.  I even shed a tear at the end.

From the fantasy of JK Rowling, I was ready for a good mystery novel.  I started this new novel last night, and I need to finish this WinkWorld now so I get back to this book, which totally grabbed me from the beginning.