Day Three!

Stephen Fry kicked off our day with his diatribe against the self-proclaimed “keepers” of language and reminded us that Shakespeare “chaired the meeting” and “tabled the agenda” of the verbing of nouns.  Brigid shared Diigo with us during Ten Minute Tech.

Our morning batch of Learning Autobiographies were INTENSE (note to self:  bring a box of tissues on LA days!) and a testament to the bravery, trust, and creativity of our Fellows.  We were properly wowed, boy-howdy.  Phew.  The afternoon Learning Autobiographies were equally compelling and reminded us of how great it is to get to know one another in this intimate and deeply moving way.  The talent in this room is enough to knock one’s socks clear off.  Here are some doozie lines from the LAs we heard today:

• “She had the body for grading papers”
• “The Russian Department gave great parties”
• “The sun never sets on a badass”
• “Girls don’t hunt until they’re married”
• “Destiny has a way of finding you wherever you’re at”
• “Comparisons cheat happiness”
• “Our bodies hum in sympathy with nature”
• “Own your slippers”
• “The tentative space right outside the comfort zone”
• “I’m here at the center of the room to do my laptop dance”

Your visuals complemented your words.  Gigi, thanks for sharing the pictures of your younger selves; CC, that snippet of “Like A Prayer” was tantalizing; and Lucinda, cookies are always welcome!

Though summer has barely begun, we did have a short introduction to the expectations for the Fall which -- sad to say -- will be upon us before we know it.  You don’t have to make any decisions just yet, but you’ll want to let your mind graze over it now and again.  You’ll have a couple of opportunities next week to meet with your mentor groups to kick some ideas around -- and you can always check in with us, as well.  Just a reminder that there are a couple of documents in the shared folder to help you in your thinking, and we posted the presentation slides under the links section of this blog.

Following some much-needed writing time, Patricia presented her teaching demonstration on Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing to Learn, which we think is a great model for the workshop.  (Another great thing about Patricia is that she always has chocolate!)

It was a day of inspiring videos.  In addition to Stephen Fry as the opening moment, we got to watch “Our Story In Two Minutes” and a TEDTalk on the power of simple words.

Thanks for another great day, Fine Fellows!

Rebecca & Brigid