I do any art form I can get my hands on; my artistic curiosity is something that I both enjoy and take pride in. There are, of course, art forms that I am more closely connected to right now, oil painting, creative writing, knitting, song writing, and pottery to name a few, but give me anything and I’ll try it.
This mentality is why I chose electives in poetry and storytelling rather than my more comfortable music and visual art for grad school this spring. And, so far, what a good choice! This past weekend I spent my Saturday and Sunday from 8 am to 5 pm in a rather ugly, sparse classroom. Oh, the horror, right?
Wrong.
The best thing about going to an art/education school is that the teachers know how to teach and they know their art form. Abigail Jefferson, the instructor for my weekend course, isn’t only a wonderful and engaging teacher, she’s an inspiring storyteller. With her we learned about storytelling through storytelling. Throughout the long weekend I don’t think we sat down for more than an hour at a time. This comes from Abigail’s experience with middle schoolers, but also speakers to her knowledge as a performer and teacher about attention spans and how to best engage people.
While preparing and excitedly waiting for this class, I found myself noticing the stories I was already telling everyday and remembering the stories that I had been told throughout my life. There are stories that I forgot that I knew and stories that I forget how I know, ones through which I hear my mother’s voice and Jim Weiss‘s on cassette. Yes, even I am old enough to remember cassettes.
Through the class I also realized that stories are, and always have been, how I learn. I’ve been blessed by whatever combination of nature, nurture, or spiritual force you personally prefer with a sharp memory. I can hear things once and teach about the material later in the day. (That has happened. More than once. Bad planning, I know). But during the weekend I realized that stories and discovery aren’t just good tools for teaching and learning, they are the best.
Give me facts, numbers, and names and I can read them over three times and know them for the test tomorrow. But then I promptly forget them because I just don’t care about those specifics. There are people whose life work is based off of such specifics and facts, but I am thankfully not one of them. I could describe the entire catalogue of an artist’s work, the stories behind each piece, and the artist’s biography, but forget their name until something reminds me of it hours later.
But to tell stories you don’t need verbatim, memorized facts. Indeed, memorization often impedes a good story. You need to absorb and understand the story itself. Then, when you go back to tell it, the details can be formed in the moment, based on the connection and the energy you are experiencing. Storytelling is a trust exercise between you and your brain, one that I need to practice. I often lose what I know because I over-think and second guess myself rather than trusting not what I’ve memorized, but what I’ve learned, what I know. In psychology, that’s called psuedostupidity. (A random fact I remember from my second year of college not because it was the most important, but because I could directly connect it to my life… and it made me laugh.)
From my reading for another class, I can see that I’m far from the only person who believes in storytelling as an incredible vehicle for teaching. In Literacy: Reading the Word and the World, Paulo Freire, the father of current educational thought and the archangel of Lesley schooling, describes how he teaches writing. Rather than reducing reading to rules of grammar and structure he taught these rules as “objects to be discovered within the body of the texts.” He goes on to say that “the students did not have to memorize the description mechanically, but rather learn its underlying significance.” Freire was on the forefront of changing teachers from the fountain of information to the leaders of discussion and discovery, or the storytellers.
As soon as I read Freire’s words, my brain clicked into gear. I wasn’t thinking of something that I remembered from my days of rote memorization, but something that I knew from listening to Abigail, taking part in her stories, and making my own stories; that human connection is the best way to teach and to be taught.
Thank you for your blog. Really Great.
Really informative article. Great.
I think this is one of the so much significant information for me. And i’m glad reading your article. However wanna remark on few general things, The site taste is great, the articles is really nice : D. Good activity, cheers
Im obliged for the article.Thanks Again. Keep writing.
Thank you ever so for you blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Great.
Great blog article.Thanks Again. Much obliged.
Wow, great blog.Really thank you! Will read on…
Major thanks for the blog.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Thanks again for the blog post.
Major thankies for the article post.Much thanks again. Will read on…
I value the blog.Thanks Again. Great.
I loved your blog article.Thanks Again. Will read on…
wow, awesome blog article.Really thank you! Really Cool.
Thanks for the blog article.Much thanks again. Want more.
A big thank you for your blog article. Want more.
Very neat article post.Thanks Again. Awesome.
I really liked your article post.
I really enjoy the blog article.Much thanks again. Want more.
Wow, great blog.Really thank you! Keep writing.
I value the blog.Much thanks again. Keep writing.
Really enjoyed this blog.Much thanks again. Fantastic.
Thanks for sharing, this is a fantastic blog.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.
Thanks again for the article post.Thanks Again. Fantastic.
Thank you for your blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Awesome.
Thanks-a-mundo for the blog. Fantastic.
Awesome blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.
A round of applause for your article post.Thanks Again. Really Cool.
Muchos Gracias for your blog post. Great.
This is one awesome article post.Much thanks again. Really Cool.
Great article.Really looking forward to read more. Cool.
Really informative article post.Really thank you! Awesome.
I truly appreciate this blog post.Really thank you! Fantastic.
Say, you got a nice post.Thanks Again. Will read on…
I truly appreciate this article.Thanks Again. Keep writing.
I am so grateful for your article. Fantastic.
I really like and appreciate your article post. Cool.
Great, thanks for sharing this post. Great.
Wow, great blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.
Im thankful for the post.Really thank you! Great.
Say, you got a nice article. Really Great.
Im obliged for the article.Really thank you! Will read on…
This is one awesome blog post.Much thanks again. Great.
Awesome blog post. Really Cool.
wow, awesome post.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.
A round of applause for your article post. Much obliged.
Thanks-a-mundo for the post.Much thanks again. Will read on…
Thanks a lot for the post.Thanks Again. Really Great.
I think this is a real great article post.Much thanks again. Really Great.
Thank you for your article post.Thanks Again. Cool.
Really informative blog.Really thank you!
Im obliged for the blog.Really thank you! Want more.
Im thankful for the blog article.Thanks Again. Awesome.
Very neat post.Really thank you! Great.
I really liked your blog article.Thanks Again. Much obliged.
Really informative article post. Will read on…
I really liked your article post.Really looking forward to read more. Awesome.
Thanks again for the article.Really looking forward to read more.
Muchos Gracias for your article post. Really Great.
I think this is a real great post.Much thanks again. Really Cool.
Major thanks for the blog.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.
Thanks a lot for the blog article.Really looking forward to read more.
Really appreciate you sharing this blog.Really looking forward to read more. Will read on…
I cannot thank you enough for the blog.Much thanks again. Keep writing.
Looking forward to reading more. Great post.Really looking forward to read more.
I value the blog.Thanks Again. Much obliged.
Awesome blog.
Very good article.Really thank you! Really Great.
Fantastic blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Great.
I appreciate you sharing this article.Really thank you! Cool.
I cannot thank you enough for the article. Want more.
Thank you for your blog. Want more.
Say, you got a nice blog.Much thanks again. Fantastic.
Major thankies for the article post.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.
Im thankful for the blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.
Hey, thanks for the post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
I appreciate you sharing this article post. Fantastic.
I really like and appreciate your blog post. Keep writing.
Hey, thanks for the post.Much thanks again. Awesome.
I truly appreciate this article post. Really Cool.
Looking forward to reading more. Great blog.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
Thanks again for the blog article. Really Great.
I really like and appreciate your blog.Much thanks again. Cool.
Fantastic blog. Fantastic.
A round of applause for your article post.Thanks Again. Fantastic.
Appreciate you sharing, great blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
This is one awesome blog post. Cool.
Awesome post.Really thank you! Will read on…
Very neat blog.Really thank you! Awesome.
A round of applause for your article.Thanks Again. Will read on…
Im obliged for the post.Really thank you! Really Great.
I really liked your article post.Really looking forward to read more. Want more.
Major thanks for the post.Much thanks again. Fantastic.
This is one awesome blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Great.
Great post. Great.
I think this is a real great blog article. Great.
Im grateful for the blog.Much thanks again. Much obliged.
I am so grateful for your post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Hey, thanks for the blog article.Really thank you!
Very neat article post.Thanks Again. Much obliged.
Very neat post.Much thanks again. Really Cool.
Really enjoyed this article. Great.
Really informative article.Really thank you! Really Cool.
Very informative blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Really Great.
Fantastic post. Much obliged.
Wow, great blog post.Much thanks again. Want more.
Im grateful for the post.Much thanks again. Awesome.
Really informative article.Really looking forward to read more. Great.
Thanks a lot for the article post.Much thanks again. Cool.