pedablogical

Elmore Leonard: 10 ways to “remain invisible” in your writing | 43 Folders—How depressing. We spend so much time working on voice with students, and here is a list of ways to squelch it. Valuable in ways, I’m sure. Actually, the target article explains, “These are rules I’ve picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I’m writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what’s taking place in the story.”

Leonard’s goal is fine: to focus on showing rather than telling. What I find troubling is the language Leonard uses to describe this move—”remain invisible.” I don’t want writers to think that they disappear. I want them to own that voice of theirs. To be proud of it. To know what makes it strong and their own. Regardless of the tips, the name of the tactic is disappointing.

NPR : Commission Mulls Standardized Testing in Colleges—this was a nice story, but I was bothered by the arguments that the various people who were interviewed gave. The problem with standardized testing is that standardized testing doesn’t work. It’s not the range of kinds of programs and schools or the fact that there are not national standards. It’s that testing is NOT the most effective way to improve student learning. I wish that instead of the folks they talked to they had found someone in an education school who could speak to the real problems with this idea.

Story on Focus 580 this morning about Gender Issues in Computing, which also was generally about women and math/science. One day I really need to write down my math stories. It’s probably important to write them down, but I never seem to get to it.

Finished writing my draft for Inbox and actually used some articles that I had found to write a second issue to hold for an emergency. Continued work on the 1984 Macintosh commercial lesson plan.

The fun experiment of the evening was getting the latest version of Skype and having an online conversation with video with Subwolf. I need to get my family set up to do these things. It would be so much nicer than just telephoning.

Hmm, or was the fun part baking cookies as a Valentine’s present for the office? The cookies are definitely tastier.

Blog Stalkers – Personal Safety for Bloggers: ProBlogger Blog Tips: Mostly obvious to me, but the list may come in handy later. We have a blog lesson plan coming along that may benefit from the link. If not, I’ll have it for later.