TSC Tribune March 2012

ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT MICHIGAN SCHOOLS TSC T RIBUNE VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 MARCH 2012 Academy of the Sacred Heart Thursday February 9 th was a brisk, chilly even- Cornerstone Schools ing, but the cold did not deter over 100 AIMS Cranbrook Schools educators and guests from coming together at Daycroft Montessori School Cranbrook-Kingswood Girls’ Middle School Dearborn Heights Montessori Center for a viewing of Miss Representation, a docu- Detroit Country Day School mentary about the way media misrepresents Detroit Waldorf School women and their roles in our society. Seen Emerson School through the lens of female director, Jennifer Eton Academy Siebel Newsom, this Sun- dance film caused one view- Frankel Jewish Academy er to express that the “portrayal of women in media is appalling” and an- Friends School in Detroit other viewer to state that “women are even more exploited” than one Greenhills School would think. In addition, the movie sheds light on the absence of wom- Grosse Pointe Academy en both in American politics and as corporate decision-makers at multina- Hillel Day School tional media conglomerates, like Walt Disney et.al. These provocative Japhet School issues fueled lively discussion about educating students, boys and girls Kalamazoo Country Day School alike, to be critical of the stereotypes perpetuated about women and to Kazoo School empower students to be agents of change. Ideas ranging from creating Kingsbury Country Day School media literacy and/or women’s studies classes to hosting a parent/ community movie night were shared. Many attendees left Cranbrook- Meadow Montessori School Kingswood with the desire to continue the dialogue in their home schools New Morning School and within their own families. For more information about Miss Represen- Pathfinder School tation or about how to advocate on behalf of future generations, go to The Roeper School http://www.missrepresentation.org. Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor Steppingstone School Carla Chennault Detroit Country Day School Summers-Knoll The International School The Leelanau School Please take a few minutes to complete a survey. Click on University Liggett School the link to go to the survey. http://goo.gl/tLXOk Upland Hills School VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 PAGE 2 DCDS Teacher Publishes YA Novel Mild-mannered French and Spanish teacher by day, Young- Adult Fiction writer be night: meet Tracy Bilen, Detroit Country Day Upper School teacher. Bilen announced to her colleagues and students a year ago that her novel, What She Left Behind , had been picked up for publication by Simon Pulse, the YA imprint for Simon and Schuster. Now she is awaiting the May, 2012 publication date. While Bilen's experiences as a high school teacher might naturally seem to in- form her fiction, in fact she emphatically states she is not writing about her students but about herself. She pulled "parts of her story from her own past," she says, and always has always maintained a teenage mindset that allows her to tap back into a teenager's feelings. According to Bilen, "maybe things have changed since we were kids, but the emotions are the same." She admits that she has her ears open for the language her students use, but also avoids overus- ing slang that can really date a book. Bilen has been writing since she was in high school, where she won prizes in youth writing contests (including a fancy new typewriter with a LCD screen that displayed one line at a time before committing it to paper), but she began writing for publication in earnest about the same time that she started teaching at DCDS, in 1996. What She Left Behind is actually Bilen's third novel. According to her, "the first [novel] was atrocious and the second had a plot." They are "under the bed books": necessary to her eventual success, but ones that will never see the light of day again. In the long process that resulted in this third novel, Bilen also had two children who are now ten and five years old. Asked how she juggled the demands of family, work, and writing, she first responded "Yeah . I don't know," then admitted that she had always been a night owl and so wrote after the kids were in bed. She has since come to realize that she is actually more productive during the day; ideally she would write every day, but the reality is that she writes most during school vacations. One of the keys to Bilen's success as a published writer was getting critiques from experienced writers and agents. The deadlines inherent in contests, classes, and writing groups motivated her as well. For instance, she entered 20 pages of an early version of What She Left Behind to a contest sponsored by the Michigan chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and won; her prize was a yearlong mentorship with Michigan YA author and illustra- tor Shutta Crum. To prepare for the mentorship, Bilen took an on-line writing course that provided her with critiques from another published writer and from the six or eight other course attendees. Now Bilen has local critique partners who meet monthly to review each others' work. Bilen advises prospective writers to join a professional organization like SCBWI or Romance Writers of America; their conferences are rich in resources, including the option of paid critiques. Similarly, taking an online course or joining a critique group will provide you with necessary motivation and feedback. Even with these kinds of support, however, rejection is a given. It sometimes made Bilen doubt herself and consider giving up, but she "always envisioned having a book" of her own that she "could hold" or see "on the shelf," and that vision always made her go back to writing. Thinking back to her earliest experiences writing in high school, Bilen acknowledges how much her teachers motivated her. Simple comments like "I love what you wrote" were hugely important to her. She remembers winning internal contests in school; even though there were only two or three entries, the positive reinforcement she received made her feel special and like she could "do it": be a writer. Her advice to teachers: keep in mind how influential your praise can be in the minds of your students. "You make them feel like they're special and they internalize it, they believe it." Jean Kowaleski Detroit Country Day School VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 PAGE 3 WHAT ’S HAPPENING IN OUR SCHOOLS ... Looking for a way to celebrate writing and inspire your students? Award-winning young adult author Neal Shusterman will be visiting Detroit Country Day Middle School on May 11 th , and he has three addi- tional dates available for Michigan schools. Shusterman, who first vis- Author Julie Otsuka will visit Cran- ited Country Day about six years brook Kingswood from November 7 ago, is an engaging speaker best suited for 6 th – 10 th graders. -9. Ms. Otsuka is the author of When He will also conduct writer’s workshops. Shusterman’s nov- the Emperor Was Divine and The Bud- els span multiple genres from humor to fantasy to science dha in the Attic , a National Book fiction, and unique themes and plot twists are his trademarks. Award Finalist. Both novels examine The Schwa Was Here, Full Tilt, Downsiders, Everlost, Unwind and the lives of Japanese-Americans in Bruiser are some of his best works. If your school is interested the years before and during Internment. Classroom visits in hosting Neal Shusterman, you can find more information will comprise the bulk of Ms. Otsuka’s time on campus; on his website www.storyman.com . however, she will give an evening reading that is free and open to the public. Judy Thompson-Barthwell, Emerson Lower School music teacher, has been named 2012 Music Educator of the Year by the Michigan Music Educa- tors Association. The Roeper School’s is proud to announce the seventh season of its Amnesty/Diversity Film Series. The third in the series, is on March 24th, with a presenta- tion of Breaking the Silence In- side Burma’s Resistanc e. 2012 McMillan Lecture Speaker: Po Bronson The films will be shown at Presenting research and findings of his most recent book, 7:30 pm in the R. Dean Ache- Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children son Theater on Roeper’s Bir- November 8, 2012, 7:00 PM mingham campus located two blocks north of Maple on the west side of Adams. Admis- sion is free with this evening’s donations gratefully accepted to benefit Roeper’s Make A Splash program. For more information regarding the showing of these films, please contact Carolyn Lett at 248.203.7327 or [email protected] . VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 PAGE 4 Meet. Share. Spark Innovation The ISACS Spark: A monthly professional development resource to help March 2012 Spark: The March Spark, Silent Beats, is a challenging and thought-provoking look at stereotypes and how they shape our perceptions. Clip #1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76BboyrEl48 (6 minutes) This is a 6 minute video, but you may wish to allow time to discuss using questions similar to the ones below. You may also find this to be a useful tool in the classroom for an even larger conversation. How do stereotypes manifest themselves in a school setting? What is the impact of stereotypes on the individual? A group? An entire school community? What can people do individually, collectively and institutionally to minimize the frequency and impact of stereotypes? February 2012 Spark: The February Spark is an antidote to the February Blahs, a light and good- humored look at the power of teachers & what they "make:" Clip #1: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/taylor-mali-miracle-workers? referral_code=QiuRLJEyjHjG6sfDVNDd (5 minutes) Clip #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU (3 minutes) (Length of time for two clips: 8 minutes) January 2012 Spark: The January Spark is related to the opportunities, challenges and competition provided by vast access to online learning.

Load more