The print version of the 2023 spring~summer edition of Teach. Write.: A Writing Teachers” Literary Journal is available for purchase. Go to this link if you want to order a copy.
Also, an updated online version is also now available here.
I am currently seeking submissions for my first post-retirement edition of Teach. Write. Submissions will close on September 1, 2023. Click here for submission guidelines. I would love to see your work, especially if you are, or were, a writing teacher.
Well, she’s up to her neck, actually, but trying to remember that this too shall pass and that after this spring semester will be three more small, short summer classes, and then RETIREMENT!!
Of course, only Katie Winkler would say yes to doing a play right at the end of the spring semester–our second to last performance will be on graduation day! But, I am actually glad I said yes because I am spending time with old friends and making new ones. Also, it keeps me busy and makes the days feel like they are rushing by!! When the horse is headed for the pasture, she needs time to fly!!
The play is called The Savannah Sipping Society by Jesse Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten. If you are in the Asheville area May 5-14, why not come see this cute little play? It’s mainly a fun frolic but does have its poignant moments that get to the core of what makes for true friendships and how important they are in our lives.
As well as the rehearsals, I, of course, have had all of the end-of-semester grading that comes along with teaching English at a community college. That along with so many other things has set back editing and preparing the print version of the spring-summer edition of Teach. Write. I just want all my contributors to know that I haven’t forgotten and will be working on the print version this week.
Today’s my birthday, and though most of it will be spent at the theater and grading papers, the day is a reminder of all the grand adventures I’ve had in my life. I feel blessed and humbled to have had the opportunity to be an actor, writer, teacher, friend, sister, daughter, mother, and wife.
It’s a grand life. Happy birthday to me!!!
The 2023 Spring~Summer edition of Teach. Write. is supposed to be published today, but my impeccable timing led to a large number of essays and other assignments I have had to grade just as I was preparing to work on the final stages of putting the journal together. Therefore, I have been teaching and writing (notes on freshman comp. essays, responses to discussion forums, and e-mails responding to unhappy students after they receive the grades on their essays) like crazy, but not editing and proofreading my journal.
I have written to my contributors about the delay, but I want to let all my loyal readers know that the journal will be here soon and that it will be worth the wait! I am excited about this edition. Please come back to take a look at the next edition of Teach. Write. I’m predicting Friday at the latest.
And that’s no April Fool!
The Fall~Winter 2022 edition of Teach. Write. is here! I love editing this journal, and it always amazes me how things come together. In this edition, we have a special feature asking for readers’ feedback. Hope you will read it and let the author know what you think.
Here is the link to the new edition’s page: Fall~Winter 2022 Teach. Write.
I will be accepting submissions for the Spring~Summer 2023 edition until March 1 with an expected publication date of April 1, 2023. Here is a line to the submission guidelines. I would love to read your work!!
I am excited that next weekend, on Saturday, October 8, my one-act parody of Poe’s “The House of Usher” called “Roddy’s House Comes Down” is going to be workshopped at Hendersonville Theatre in Hendersonville, North Carolina. A few months ago, one of my students had a play that she wrote for my creative writing class read during this reader’s theater program, and she inspired me to give it a try!
If that’s not good enough, my former student and now friend and collaborator, Curtis McCarley composed music for the song included in the play called “Usher’s Lament.” It was like old times as Curtis and I worked on the song, just like we did for our musical A Carolina Story and other projects we’ve done through the years.
Click here for more information about Hendersonville Theatre, and maybe I’ll see you there!!
Being back on campus inspired me to go back to CAMPUS, my podel (podcasted novel). Episode 14: Ms. McBride is now available on most podcasting platforms. Just click here.
It’s been a long time–Episode 13 came out in March, so I am going to do my best to post more frequent episodes. I know the production level is kind of low right now. I’m just doing the best I can until I can learn more about podcasting and have more time. That opportunity begins August 2, 2023 when I begin my retirement. Right now my podel is a happy little hobby that I use to have a voice about what’s happening in my world and also just to have some fun. I neeeeeeeddddddddd fun.
In Episode 14, I give my listeners some backstory about one of my favorite characters, Ms. McBride–she a math fairy godteacher. Sounds pretty weird if you haven’t heard any of my podel.
Okay, it sounds weird even if you have listened to some of my podel. But, it’s fun, and I talk about Kierkegaard and Hegel and Kant a little bit, too. Oh, that’s even weirder.
But it’s fun.
There are still a few days left to submit to the Fall/Winter 2022 Edition of Teach. Write.: A Writing Teachers’ Literary Journal. The final day to submit is September 1. The publication date is October 1. Click here to see the submission guidelines. I would love to see your work.
The print version of the 2022 spring~summer edition of Teach. Write.: A Writing Teacher’s Literary Journal is now available for purchase in the Lulu Bookstore.
Click HERE to go to the journal’s page.
Once again, I thank all of the fine contributors to this edition. I am so very grateful to them for entrusting me with their work.
I know I give myself so much more to do by publishing this journal, and my teaching, writing, and editing deadlines often collide, but I love editing Teach. Write. It allows me to be autonomous in my creativity. I don’t have to please anyone except myself in the end.
But, of course, I do hope this edition pleases you, too.
Here is the link to the online version if you missed it!
Episode 13 of my podel (podcasted novel) is now available. Why not take a listen to it and the other twelve as well? I hope it won’t be so long between episodes again. Episode 13: Mrs. Whittakers 7,360th Class
It is snowing here in Western North Carolina. Our first big snow in a while and so beautiful. My husband and I have made preparations: I went to get what groceries I needed and tried not to go crazy (come on guys, even if we get snowed in, it’s not like we are going to starve in the day, maybe two, it will take to dig out). We ran the dishwasher and washed a couple of loads of laundry just in case our power goes out, which is possible with the high winds that are predicted for later in the day. John didn’t forget the birds either. He wiped off the five inches of snow on the tops and refilled them this morning, so now I’m watching the cardinals, titmice, chickadees, woodpeckers, wrens, juncos, and rufous-sided towhees as they take turns at the well-stocked feeders.
All is at peace.
So what’s the anger all about, Mrs. Winkler, you may ask.
It’s the title of a book many of you no doubt have already read but is totally new to me–Anger by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Master and Buddhist monk. The book is a Christmas gift from a dear friend, inspired by a long debate we had a couple of months ago about the “value” of anger. He didn’t see any positive effects of the emotion, and I recognized its destructive nature but argued that feelings of anger, correctly channeled, can have powerfully positive effects.
After reading the book, I am convinced that our friendly argument (I know–an oxymoron, especially these days) was more a semantic one than anything else. Anger, written from a Buddhist perspective but aligning with my own Christian worldview, seems to address both our points of view.
The first thing I noticed and had to get used to was the simple and repetitive nature of the writing. Having just read Rudolf Flesch’s The Art of Plain Talk (see my review in my last post), I appreciated the simple nature of the language, but the repetition distracted me at first, until I moved into the rhythm of the work and realized its purpose as a meditation on anger.
Throughout my first reading of the work, I noticed that Thich Nhat Hanh tends to emphasize the following:
Throughout the book, the author repeats these basic ideas, explaining it in different words and contexts while offering many real-world examples. This will be a book that I’ll read again. I’m sure I will glean even more wisdom from it next time around.
One of my favorite parts is “Chapter Two: Putting out the Fires of Anger,” where Thich Nhat Hanh discusses how dealing with your own suffering and anger can help other people dispel any anger they have with you: “A transformation will take place in the other person…just by your behavior” (42).
Another chapter that speaks to me is “Chapter Seven: No Enemies.” In this part, the author speaks about the effect of alleviating anger on a community, even a nation. One section of the chapter is entitled “Compassion is Intelligent.” He writes: “If you think compassion is passive, weak, or cowardly, then you don’t know what compassion is. If you think that compassionate people do not resist and challenge injustice, you are wrong. They are warriors” (130).
I love this. Reading it and meditating on it has been invaluable to me because I have always seen my so-called “righteous anger” as the thing that makes me a courageous fighter. Now I see things differently. Perhaps my anger towards injustice lights a flame, but the results will only be positive if, if I dissect that anger and channel it, developing compassion for those with whom I am angry by trying to understand their suffering as well as my own.
Much of what Thich Nhat Hanh says resonates with my own Christian beliefs:
You see, my friend and I are not so far apart after all. None of us are. So my wish for all of us in 2022 is that we would find that peace that passes all understanding in our hears and our minds (Phillipians 4:7).
Stay tuned for next blog post when I review the unusual but wonderful little book that my daughter gave me for Christmas, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig.
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Just a few updates:
I am now accepting submissions for the Spring~Summer 2022 edition of Teach. Write.: A Writing Teachers’ Literary Journal. For complete information se my submission guidelines.
Also, drumroll please, I will be resurrecting my podel (podcasted novel) called CAMPUS: A Novel That Wants to Be a Musical sometime this month!!! It has been a long time, but last semester was just too intense (sooooooo much grading). I had little time for any of my passion projects, but I’m itching to get back in the saddle with some new material. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then I hope you will listen to the first 12 episodes. You can find the podel on most podcast platforms, but here’s a link, too: CAMPUS.
On November 28, I completed National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO) by writing 50, 453 words. I exceeded my goal with two days to spare!! Now, I didn’t write a novel, and it isn’t a complete rough draft, but it is quite a leap forward on my newest major writing project–a book about some of my travels and how they have affected my teaching.
So, I’m not nearly finished, but I must say that I’m allowed to take some pride in this accomplishment I think because I have also been grading like no tomorrow, and organizing, and traveling to see family, and attending the North Carolina Writers’ Network conference in Raleigh, and enjoying Thanksgiving with family and friends.
50, 453 words.
Not bad, Mrs. Winkler.
Not bad at all.
Today’s tally is 1,782 words for a total of 5,591. Not bad for three days of writing after a full day of crafting responses to students, grading British literature exams, and putting out various fires. Doesn’t make for much time to blog.
However, I can’t let the day go by without saying this: Academic freedom for faculty is not an option for any institution of higher learning. It is an absolute necessity. As the people hired due to our expertise in different subjects, we have an obligation to prepare our students for the rigors of the academic world if they are transfer students and the industry standards for our students that will go immediately into the workforce.
Furthermore, we should maintain that standard for ALL students regardless of their program of study, age, background, or obstacles. One standard for all student groups–regardless of their situation. We must also help ALL students reach that standard without regard to those factors; nevertheless, the standard must remain. It is in the classroom where that standard is supported, so it should be the ones who manage those learning environments, be they virtual or seated, who should decide, within the bounds of the course description established by the state, of course, how that standard is maintained.
Our accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) seems to agree. In Section Six of the Principles of Accreditation, it states:
Qualified, effective faculty members are essential to carrying out the mission of the institution and ensuring the quality and integrity of its academic programs…. Because student learning is central to the institution’s mission and educational degrees, the faculty is responsible for directing the learning enterprise, including overseeing and coordinating educational programs to ensure that each contains essential curricular components, has appropriate content and pedagogy, and maintains discipline currency.
Achievement of the institution’s mission with respect to teaching, research, and service requires a critical mass of qualified full-time faculty to provide direction and oversight of the academic programs. Due to this significant role, it is imperative that an effective system of evaluation be in place for all faculty members that addresses the institution’s obligations to foster intellectual freedom of faculty to teach, serve, research, and publish (p.17).
Shared governance and academic freedom for faculty are not rights or privileges–they are basic principles essential to the health of any institution of higher learning.
Okay, enough writing for today, Mrs. Winkler.
You got some teaching to do tomorrow. You need your sleep!
Hey, Mrs. Winkler! 