donald graves pt. II

Graves (2002) work on teachers’ energy issues—what provided energy and what took it away—was itself empowering. He noted that it took energy to get energy—“energy begets energy”—and that teachers needed to “find energy in what they did well and practice it,” instead of focusing—like we so often do—on what’s not going well. He listed four sources for filling up our teacher-energy-tanks:

· Students (through humor and rapport)

· Colleagues (through collaboration and friendship)

· Curriculum (through characters, rather than events)

· Asking questions (“How does this policy/practice result in learning?)

Teachers teach because we love learning and want to instill this love of learning in our students, so that they in turn become life-long learners. This takes a lot of time and energy, everyday. Unfortunately, the numbers of energy-filled teachers is on the decline—more teachers are quitting citing stress, fatigue, exhaustion. Thankfully, learning generates energy, which in turn generates creativity, which generates more energy, and so on—it’s cyclic—teachers need to understand this: it behooves us to be constantly seeking knowledge because as educators, we feel most energy-filled when we learn ourselves (Graves, 2002).

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Graves’ work is inspiring for a number of reasons. I was literally energized by his research on teachers’ energy issues. It was quite revelatory, since I’ve always struggled with having enough energy to be effective meeting the needs of all the students in my classroom. Indeed, I drew energy—I felt truly motivated—from reading about this study and the notion that “creativity generates energy.”

At our school we call these energy-providing situations “treasure moments”—those times when “little things” (like a student’s question or response) invigorate a lesson or enliven a school day by virtue of their creativity or poignancy. Graves did this through his study—I actually gained energy from reading it—which again illustrates his point: “Energy begets energy.”

It was great to see Graves mention “Long Thinkers” like Jefferson and Darwin as paragons of intellect and thinking since they are heroes of mine. I believe that an informed populace is the only way to have a functioning democracy, so it was encouraging to see Graves support and champion this notion. Indeed, had we accepted a deep-thinker as President seven years ago, we wouldn’t be stuck in Iraq at this very moment… but I digress.

“Writing a research paper is like writing a poem,” Graves (1991) said; “Trust the Shadows.” This intrigued me. When I realized what he meant—that while researching or drafting we must first say “yes” to all information, (even the shadows) before we say “no” during revision—I was able to apply this knowledge successfully to my writing as well as my teaching. This process of distilling information has helped me compose poetry and prose, and has been a valuable lesson to teach reticent or struggling writers when they are confronted by The Bothersome Blank Page.

Since I use the Columbia Writing Program in my classroom, I am completely aligned with Graves’ principles of student-centered, authentic writing. It’s a far cry from the prompt-generated writing that students were producing a few short years ago. The quality and investment that students make in their craft is quite remarkable. This is because students feel empowered to make writing decisions themselves. When students exercise this sovereignty, they are doing the work of real authors, and they in turn feel empowered and motivated (Remember: Energy begets creativity and vice versa.)

This small sampling of Graves’ work compels me to read more. He’s a wealth of information as well as an inspiration. I will continue to implement Graves’ techniques and strategies in my classroom to build life-long learners—learners that will one day be asked to make the tough decisions that are required of the populace in a free and functioning democracy.