The College Journal: Creating a Weekly Budget

The College Journal is Available on Amazon through This Affiliate Link

Should I Keep a Budget in My Journal?

Absolutely! Creating a budget, one week at a time, can help students who've never created budgets before start thinking about financial goals and responsibilities.

The College Journal includes template pages for Weekly Reviews, and one of the prompts in the Weekly Review asks students to gather receipts and bank statements from the previous week to help them create a budget for the following week.  Especially helpful for visual learners, the prompt is accompanied by a pie graph template for the budget. 

Each student budget will be unique because each budget must take the student's income or money available for spending into account. 

How to Create a Weekly Pie Graph  Budget

Determining Weekly Income

As stated previously, a budget requires a knowledge of both income and expenses. A student generally receives income by paycheck, allowance, financial aid, or through savings. When income arrives once a month, then that income must be divided by the number of weeks in a month (4) in order to determine how much income the student has per week. If income arrives once every nine months, as may be the case if a student receives financial aid during the academic year and works in the summer, then the income must be divided by the number of weeks per nine months in order to determine a weekly income (36). In some instances, income will come from a variety of sources, like financial aid, work-study, and savings or allowance.

Determining Weekly Expenses

Weekly expenses for a week may be categorized as simply "savings," "food," and "gas." However, some weeks may include "rent and utilities," "entertainment" (like going to the movies), special "school supplies" for projects, "textbooks," or even "medical appointments" or "medication." By planning for the upcoming week, students can learn to schedule when, how, and how much income is spent. 

Using the Pie Graph

Once income and expenses for the following week are determined, the budget can be drawn into the pie graph template on the Weekly Review page. First, divide the pie graph into divisible areas with a pencil. If your income is $340.00, for example, each 1/4 of the pie graph equals $85.00. Alternatively, use percentages to determine how much of your income is being used for each expense, and divide the pie graph by percentages, like the example below. If your portion of the rent is $300.00, that is 88% of your weekly income. 

Feel free to work ahead on your pie graphs (in pencil) if you prefer to work out your budget for the entire month instead of one week at a time. You could also keep a list of your weekly or monthly expenses and bill due dates as one or more of your Freestyle Journaling entries. Lastly, one of your daily entries might be a "savings tracker," in case there's something you need or want in the future (like an out-of-town trip, a formal dress, or car repairs).

Raising Awareness

Some expenses will be inevitable, like rent and medications, while others might be "wants" and not "needs." In order to raise awareness of financial responsibilities, you should make as many notes in the margins as possible or necessary.  This can help with planning for future weeks or even for reminding yourself of important lessons learned. For example, you might write down what you want to do with your paycheck the following week before you forget: You need school supplies for a project (will cost about $34.00), you have a date to go to the movies (about $17.00), and you have a dental appointment with a copay ($30.00). 

Notes or not, the most important part of tracking your finances is that you are tracking your finances and learning more about where your money goes so you can make better and more informed financial decisions each week.

Want to read more about The College Journal? Try

The College Journal: A Fill-in-the Blank Journal for First Year College Students
The College Journal: Prompts for Freestlye Journaling
The College Journal: Ideas for Your Special Tracker
The College Journal: Supplies on a Student Budget

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

The College Journal: A Fill-in-the-Blank Journal for First Year College Students

The College Journal is Available on Amazon through This Affiliate Link

The College Journal is an 8.5" x 11" fill-in-the-blank journal specifically designed for first-year college students. It includes prompts and templates to help you raise your self awareness, take financial responsibility, and keep track of important deadlines, meetings, and assignments. 

Is it Hard to Keep a Journal?

Keeping track of life during college is hard, but writing things down can make it a bit easier. The hard part is establishing a writing habit and knowing what to write down and how often. This journal is already planned, includes fill-in-the-blank pages with prompts and templates. This is a quick and painless way to help you stay on top of your to-do list and gain useful insights about your time, money, wellness, and academic responsibilities.

After you complete the initial set-up for your semester’s dates, you might spend between 10 and 30 minutes on your journal each day, depending on the depth to which you choose to use your journal, how pretty and colorful you want to make it, and how exactingly you keep track of your time and finances.

This journal makes it easier for you to keep track of your life, and it has been divided for you into three categories with  prompts:

• Academic Calendar
• Weekly Review
• Dailies

About the Academic Calendar

The Academic Calendar section is where you will copy important dates from your school’s academic calendar and your class syllabi into your journal for quick reference. As academic responsibilities are added, you can add them to your master Academic Calendar. This part of the journal is your one-stop-shop for reviewing all important future dates.

The Academic Calendar pages include three main sections:

• Course Schedule
• Work Schedule
• Planner for the Month of _____________

Your institution (college or university) will usually post an academic calendar on their Web site and in the official Catalog. Your professors will usually publish important class dates in their syllabi or on their online learning management pages, and additionally, student organizations or teams will generally provide a calendar of events or important dates. Before you fill in your academic calendar for each month, be sure to review all those separate calendars. If you also have a job with a consistent schedule, you can fill in your scheduled work days. If you want, add holidays, birthdays, and preplanned social or family outings.

About the Weekly Review

Each week in The College Journal begins and ends in a Weekly Review section, where you will think back on the week that’s passed and think ahead to plan the upcoming week. 

There are three main sections for prompts in the Weekly Review pages:

• Freestyle Journaling
• Looking Back
• Looking Ahead

There are several ways to use your Freestyle Journaling pages, like keeping to-do lists, writing about major events, writing letters, or recapping interesting class discussions. On the Looking back pages you'll get a chance to quickly capture an experience and analyze the way you've been spending your time. When you are Looking Ahead, you will get a chance to set some weekly goals and a weekly budget.

About the Dailies

The Dailies section is the place for your daily entries. These entries will help you keep on top of daily responsibilities, tasks, and habits, like whether or not you’re keeping up with assignments or drinking enough water.

There are 4 prompts on each Dailies page:

• Schedule and Task Tracker
• Time Mini-Tracker
• Button-Size Mini-Memoir
• Personalized Special Tracker

Dailies are organized seven days at time and are nestled between Weekly Reviews. While Weekly Reviews require time and reflection, Dailies should be quick and relatively painless, but there are opportunities for deep thinking if you’re up for it.

Want to read more about The College Journal? Try

The College Journal: Creating a Weekly Budget
The College Journal: Prompts for Freestyle Journaling
The College Journal: Ideas for Your Special Tracker
The College Journal: Supplies on a Student Budget

Want to read more from Amy Lynn Hess and Gypsy Daughter? Try

Diagramming Sentences: A Playful Way to Analyze Everyday Language

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

Our Favorite Non-Dairy, Gluten-Free Noodle Bowl Recipe

My Favorite Rice Noodle Recipe
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and No Sugar Added

Interested in a gluten-free, dairy-free, no sugar added, super-duper, complete  meal in a bowl? 

I whipped up this noodle bowl recipe one day when I needed to use up some odds and ends we had in the house, mostly the precarious avocado on the countertop and some herbs getting out of control in the garden. It's become one of our favorite go-to's for supper, especially when we're in a hurry . . . and with my need to avoid dairy, gluten, and sugar, establishing a go-to meal is something spectacular.

It's also easily adaptable: I sometimes add fresh Polish kielbasa, kale, or cilantro and parsley in addition to the other herbs or instead of the other herbs. It's also just as delicious with lemon instead of lime, or with vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. If need be, eliminate the coconut milk for a clear broth, or use low sodium ingredients. The trick is to do what's best for you with no awful ramifications or digestive problems. What follows is what works best for us, including the approximate nutritional information provided by entering the recipe into the MyFitnessPal nutritional calculator.

Ingredients 

Our Favorite Noodle Bowl
Beautiful purple broth, with Polish kielbasa

4 oz (2 servings) Sempio Rice Noodles, or your favorites
3 Cups chicken broth
1/2 can coconut milk
2 cloves pressed garlic

1 tbsp grated or sliced ginger
1 tsp Freeze-Dried Chives or 1 tbsp fresh chives or green onions
1 medium avocado covered in lime juice

1 medium lemon (juiced)
1 can sliced water chestnuts
2 cups rough chopped red cabbage

1-2 sliced carrots

Salt to taste

*Optional
1/2 lb fresh Polish kielbasa, boneless rib meat, or diced dark meat chicken 

2 tbsp fresh thyme
2 tbsp fresh basil

Instructions

You will need 2 6-8 cup kettles, a can opener, a cutting board, colander, and your favorite chopping and slicing knives, stirring spoons, large soup bowls and forks, and a soup ladle.

1. Clean and chop the veggies (but not the avocado, yet), and mince, slice, press, or grate your herbs. Juice your lemon and lime.
2. In the first kettle add broth, coconut milk, herbs, water chestnuts, lemon juice, purple cabbage, and carrots. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Salt to taste. Ladle the soup into large soup bowls. There should be enough for 2 servings (and maybe a bit more).
3. In the second kettle, bring 4 cups of water to a boil for the rice noodles. Add the rice noodles to the water and boil for 4 minutes. Drain the rice noodles and add them to the noodle bowls. Spoon some of the broth over the noodles to prevent them from sticking. 
4. Lastly, wash, peel and slice your avocado, coating with lime juice, and adding half to each bowl. 

*If adding meat, brown it and simmer in the soup for 45 minutes or cook per the packaging instructions.

Nutritional Facts

Servings 2
Amount Per Serving:

• Calories 604
• Total Fat 29 g 45 % 
• Saturated Fat 17 g 83 %
• Monounsaturated Fat 7 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
• Trans Fat 0 g
• Cholesterol 0 mg 0 %
• Sodium 1727 mg 72 %
• Potassium 941 mg 27 %
• Total Carbohydrate 77 g 26 %
• Dietary Fiber 9 g 35 %
• Sugars 8 g
• Protein 10 g 21 %
• Vitamin A 38 %
• Vitamin C 89 %
• Calcium 38 %
• Iron 10 %

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipe has not been professionally evaluated nor been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. If adding the Polish Kielbasa, add a total of 508 calories (254 per serving), 40 g total fat 9 g total carbs 29 g protein.

Want to read more gluten-free, dairy-free recipes? Try

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Peanut Butter Cookies
Mizeria: Gluten-free, Dairy-free Cucumber Salad
What to Eat While Fighting Lyme Disease: Detox Soup


Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

The Parts of Speech: A Quick Overview

Can you name the nouns in this photo? 

The eight parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and articles, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. With a little practice and within some interesting sentences, it's easy to begin telling them apart.

Nouns

Nouns are proper names (like of people, pets, and special places), general places ("home,"" garden," "park"), things ("leaf," "trees," "building," "shed"), or ideas ("love," "sadness," "mathematics," "dancing").  I can show you pictures of most nouns, whether they are singular or plural, common or proper: Monarch butterfly, shed, grass, trees, wheelbarrow, sunflowers.

Nouns play very specific roles in sentences: Nouns can be subjects, objects, or predicate nominatives. In fact, a subject, object, or predicate nominative will always be a noun or pronoun. In order to understand parts of speech, always look at how words are used in a sentence.

In the following examples, the nouns are green, including the gerund, "dancing" and the infinitive, "to dance." In sentences, nouns often answer the questions Who? Whom? or What?

• Jean loves dancing. Who loves dancing? Jean!  What does Jean love? Dancing!
• Walter loves to dance with Jean. Give Jean the ticket. To whom do I give the ticket? Jean! With whom does Walter love to dance? Jean!
• Her name is Jean. What is her name? Jean! Jean is what? Her name!

Pronouns

Pronouns are like nouns, but they are less specific. Instead of saying "bicycle," for example, I might refer to the bicycle as "that" or "it." Instead of referring to "Jean" or "grandma," I might say "she" or "her," depending on where or how the pronoun is used in the sentence. In order to use a pronoun so that it has meaning, a pronoun must have an antecedent, or a noun to which it refers (so readers or listeners know what "it" is.) In the following sentences, the pronouns are blue, and the antecedents are green.

• My grandma, Jean, bakes pies. She bakes the best pies.
• The baby hugged grandma after walking to her on his own. 
• Is that woman your grandma? It is her!

Ownership

Nouns show ownership when we add an apostrophe "s", like the announcement, "That is Matthew's new guitar."  In that sentence, "Matthew's" is a possessive noun that modifies, or tells a little more about the guitar. Pronouns can also show ownership or possession, and we call those possessive pronouns. Those pronouns tell us a little more about the words they modify, too. The nouns in the following sentences are in green, and the possessive pronouns are in blue. 

• That is Shelia's bike, and its tires are flat.
• My mother went to see her doctor.
• Sam's brother is in his room.

Verbs

Verbs indicate action with action verbs, like "climbs", "flew," "loved,"or a state of being  with linking verbs, like "is," and "sounds." The "has" and  "been" in  "has been dancing," are examples of helping verbs. Helping verbs help indicate tense and aspect: Verbs have tenses (past, present, future) and aspects (simple, perfect, progressive, and perfect progressive), which help explain when something started happening, when it happened, and if it's still happening.

I cannot show you pictures of verbs without showing you the nouns that are completing the actions (or the nouns that are in a state of being). Even in a one-word sentence, like "Sit," as I might say to my dog, there is the subject of "understood you," or the dog being asked to do the sitting. In the same way, if I yelled "Run!" at my friend's race, my friend would know that he was the "understood you" I was encouraging to run.

Sometimes words that look like verbs are used as nouns or modifiers and vice-versa, like "dancing" and "to dance" in the previous examples. Again, it's always important to look at how words are being used in sentences before trying to determine a word's part of speech.

The verbs in the following sentences are in red. Notice how verbs are conjugated in order to match the subjects. Regular verbs are conjugated according to consistent rules of conjugation, but irregular verb conjugations, like "to be," should be memorized.

• Jean loves dancing. Jean and Walter love dancing. (Action verb)
• That woman is my grandmother! Those people are my grandparents. (Linking verb)
• The dog is laying in the garden, (Action verb with helping verb) and he smells terrible! (Linking verb)

Adjectives and Articles

Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns. They give us more information about people, places, things, or ideas by identifying them, or telling us about their qualities or quantities. The three articles are "a," "an," and "the." Adjectives and articles help answer What kind?, Which one?, or How many? in a sentence. It is important to place adjectives either before the words they modify, directly after the words they modify, or directly following a linking verb to connect to the words they modify.

In the following examples, the adjectives and articles are in orange, and the nouns they modify are in green.

• Five dogs are now laying in the garden bed.
• The soup is cold
• My grandparents, happy and kind, love dancing.

Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, other adverbs, or even adjectives. It often does not matter where an adverb is placed in a sentence when it modifies the verb, but there are some instances where placement of an adverb can change the meaning of a sentence. In the following examples, the adverbs are orange. The verbs are in red. Notice in the second set of sentences how much the meaning of a sentence can change depending on the placement of "only."

• A far-off Mourning Dove sang sadly. A far-off Mourning Dove sadly sang.
• We are almost ready to go on vacation. 
• Open the bottle of pop very slowly.

• Only rain wrecked our vacation. Everything else was lovely.
• Rain only wrecked our vacation. It did not do worse than "wreck."
• Rain wrecked only our vacation. It did not wreck the vacations of others.
• Rain wrecked our only vacation. Too bad we get only one vacation.

Prepositions

Prepositions are linking words that show the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other word in a sentence. Prepositions show position of a noun, direction, causation, or possession. People often explain that a preposition is anything a squirrel can do to a tree or an airplane can be to a cloud. The prepositions in the following sentences are in purple, and the rest of the prepositional phrase of each is underlined. Notice that prepositions are followed by nouns (or sometimes pronouns), in green. Notice that even when a prepositional phrase begins a sentence, the noun that is part of the prepositional phrase will never be the subject of the sentence.

• The squirrel climbed up the tree and across its branches.
• The airplane is to the West of the cloud cover.
• According to the pilot, we are going to be late because of the clouds.

Conjunctions

Like prepositions, conjunctions show relationships between ideas. Conjunctions can either be coordinating (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, either, neither), or subordinating (since, if, while, although, as, so that, because). Because conjunctions show logical relationships between ideas, it's always important to be sure to use the correct conjunction in order to make meaning most clear. Because they are also linking words, like prepositions, they are also in purple.

• The search for treasure has been rewarding, yet we should investigate further.
• Because the search for treasure has been rewarding, we should investigate further.
• Either the search for treasure has been rewarding, or we should investigate further.

Interjections

Interjections are simply exclamatory words that add emotion to our statements. The interjections are in the following sentences are in grey.

• Great!  We're lost.
• Hey! Give that back.
• No way! I beat the game.

Short Practice: Parts of Speech Exercise

Are you able to pick out the parts of speech in the following sentences? When you're ready to check your answers, scroll to the bottom of the post.

• Wonderful! The black and blue butterfly is resting on the sunflower in my garden.
• Be sure to trim the vines from around the shed.
• Martha used the wheelbarrow to move the apple tree to the back of the yard.

Want to read more about grammar before you see the answers? Try

Diagramming Determiners

Diagramming the Past Perfect: "Had had had had"

Diagramming Possessive and Plural Nouns

or check out my book, available on Amazon! 

Diagramming Sentences: A Playful Way to Analyze Everyday Language

Practice Answers

• Wonderful! The black and blue butterfly is resting on the sunflower in my garden.
• Cut the vines from the shed.
• Martha used the wheelbarrow and moved the apple tree to the back of her yard.

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

A Newbie's Cro-Tatting, Needle Tatting, and Shuttle Tatting Comparison

Tatting is a type of lace making, and there are three ways to go about creating tatted lace: shuttle tatting, needle tatting, and cro-tatting, which is a crossover between crocheting and tatting. 

When I was new to tatting, I found it very helpful to learn all three methods in order to better understand each one and the differences between them.  The samples in the title image are my own "newbie" samples.

One of the biggest differences I have found is in the tightness or "thickness" of my completed projects. In shuttle tatting, the double stitches used in tatting are built onto the thread itself, so the stitches are as tight or as small as the thread. In needle tatting the stitches are built onto the needle, which holds the thread in its eye, and therefore two thicknesses of thread are pulled through the rings when the rings are closed, or through the chain when the chain is made. If I make the stitches too tight, I have a very difficult time pulling the needle, the core thread, and the tail thread through the double stitches. Cro-tatting is similar to needle tatting in that two thicknesses, or a doubled length of thread, is pulled through the ring after the stitches are built onto the cro-tatting hook, and in order to close a ring the hook has to be wiggled through the double stitches. For that, the larger and more consistent the double stitches the better! I have also found that even the smallest cro-tatting hook I can find and easily use is fairly large compared to a tatting needle. The thicknesses of the completed projects, therefore, can be very different - especially for newbies who need a little extra "wiggle" room.

Other differences, like speed and ease, are entirely subjective, and for every person who prefers shuttle tatting, like Karen Cabrera, there is a person who prefers needle tatting, like RustiKate, and both can be done with speed. When I want to try something quickly, I opt for needle tatting. Yet, as someone who has crocheted for over 30 years, I generally reach for my cro-tatting hook when I start a new project, but I carry my shuttle tatting in my purse because it easily fits into an old Altoids tin. With my cro-tatting hook and tatting needles, which are fairly long, I would worry about breaking them if I carried them with me too often.

There are other subtle differences that make different forms of tatting more difficult at given times. With needle tatting, for example, I need to make sure I have a needle threader handy and know how much tail thread to leave. With shuttle tatting I need to make sure I know whether I need one shuttle or two, attached to the ball or not, and with cro-tatting I have to know that my crochet chain, versus double stitches, will not change the look of the pattern too much for my personal aesthetic.

The price of the tools is also quite similar among the three methods. There are several options available for all three. The Handworks from the Heart blog has an excellent post about cro-tatting hooks. I most often use my Annie's brand cro-tatting hook, and I also use a Prym brand hook on occasion because it is a bit smaller.  When I work with yarn I use a Tunisian crochet hook for cro-tatting.  My favorite tatting shuttles (Affiliate Link) with bobbins are made by Susan Bates, but I also really like my small Clover shuttles without bobbins. Handy Hands has a great set of tatting needles for a variety of thread sizes (that also comes with threaders and a small instruction booklet), and I have found that simply having that one set is enough for me.

So what does this all mean? What is my recommendation? Because the cost is minimal, and the feeling of accomplishment in trying all three is high, I recommend trying all three and seeing which works best for you in any given situation or with any given pattern. Personally, I enjoy all three for different reasons and am exceptionally glad I've given all three a try!

Want to read more about Arts and Crafts? Try

Cro-tatting Rows of Rings: Split Rings and Stacked Rings
Punch Needle Embroidery Supplies for Beginners
Which Weaving Loom is Best for Beginners?


Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

How to Write Writing Assignments

What are you handing me?
Image by James Cohen used with Creative Commons License

Do you shudder  or get a little squeamish when students hand in their papers and dread the inevitable hours upon hours of grading? Writing better assignment sheets means getting back papers that better meet faculty expectations, making your job easier and student success higher.

When writing your assignment sheets, think carefully about the rhetorical situation you want the students to envision, the qualities of the writing that are most important to you, and how examples of the assignment meet your requirements.

The Rhetorical Situation

One of the many ways faculty can ask for and receive better papers from students is to carefully craft assignment sheets that clarify what's called the rhetorical situation. This includes telling students who their intended audience is meant to be (the professor, peers, or professionals in a particular discipline, for example), their purpose for writing, which is linked to one of the four modes of communication, and their focus, which would include the broad topic and examples of more narrowed subtopics.

• Audience - Who's it for, and how does that change the language, use of sources, and depth?
• Purpose - Is the student mostly meant to inform, persuade, describe, or tell a story?
• Focus - What are appropriate topics and subtopics?

These distinctions can mean the difference between getting back papers called "Science Fair: How to Farm Earthworms" and papers called "Benefits of Using Compost Tea for Orchards with Loamy Soil." The first paper example is expository, merely informative, and the intended audience is most likely high school students. The second paper is argumentative, offers an educated opinion about the topic, and is most likely meant for agricultural professionals or serious hobbyists. The information the student gathers for the first paper will be general, not necessarily peer-reviewed or academic: The sources might be blog posts or articles from general interest gardening magazines. The information the student gathers for the second paper will be academic, come from library subscription service databases and Google Scholar, and most likely will be peer-reviewed.

The Rubric

By offering a rubric for the students to see before the paper is due, a professor lets the students know right away what's important. The rubric can even be divided into categories that may mimic what students have learned in composition courses. The qualities of unity (sticking to the topic overall and main ideas within paragraphs), coherence (order and flow), and clarity (grammar and mechanics) are almost always taught in freshman composition, and when combined with the categories of content (accuracy and use of evidence) and formatting (use of an appropriate style guide), just about all aspects of a paper can be covered on the rubric.

• Unity - The thesis, topic sentences, and evidence have alignment and are relevant to one another without being repetitive
• Coherence - The information is presented in a logical order with smooth transitions
• Clarity - Grammar and mechanics are used correctly
• Content - Evidence is interesting, accurate, timely, relevant, credible, authoritative, and on-topic; all claims have evidence in support
• Formatting - The student has followed the rules of an appropriate style guide

Faculty who appreciate detailed titles or who are adamant about APA formatting can address those points on the rubric by assigning, well . . . points. If the professor wants a thesis or enthymeme to appear in the introduction of the paper, that can be listed on the rubric, too, maybe even under the unity category. Students will know right away these particular items are important and can spend time and energy focused on those parts of the paper. The more descriptive the rubric, the better the betters will be, and the easier it will be for the professor to stay focused and on task while grading.

The Example

One of the best ways to explain to students what faculty are looking for in papers is to show students examples of those types of papers. This is exceptionally important for students who are just learning to write in a particular discipline or in a particular mode (exposition, persuasion/argumentation, description, or narration). By carefully pointing out how a particular example meets the assignment requirements and rubric items with proficiency, students can more confidently begin their own writing. If students begin to stray or have questions about the quality of their writing later in the process, the example or a second example can be given again to help demonstrate the qualities.

In addition to the qualities, faculty can even offer an example of the step-by-step process with a schedule or timeline, which can greatly reduce the anxiety of students who are not well-practiced in time management or writing and research.

Satisfaction and Success

When writing your assignment sheets, think carefully about the rhetorical situation you want the students to envision, the qualities of the writing that are most important to you, and how examples of the assignment meet your requirements. Not only will this bring you more personal satisfaction as you grade the papers, but the students will have been more successful in learning how to write in the given discipline.



Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

Cro-Tatting Rows of Rings: Split Rings and Stacked Rings

Cro-Tatted Split Rings on the Left and Stacked Rings on the Right

There are two main methods for creating rows of rings when cro-tatting. The first, making split rings, is very similar to how we make split rings in needle tatting. We use the split ring method when we want to make several split rings in a row. The second method is stacked rings. We use the stacked ring method when we need to make only two or three rings in a row.

How to Cro-Tat Split Rings

The trick to making split rings in cro-tatting is to create a second working ball, a continuous ball, that will stay on the tail side of the cro-tatting hook. A row of split rings starts with a first, complete ring. In this example, the pattern for all the rings is 3-3-3-3, or 3 double stitches (ds), picot (p), 3ds, p, 3ds, p, 3 ds.

1. After closing the first ring, start the split rings by casting on the left side of the second ring: 3-3.

2. Flip the hook so that your "main" hook, or working end, is now on the right and the tail is now on the left.

3. Cast on the second half of the split ring using the tail thread, 3-3.

4. Flip the hook so that the main hook is back on the left side and the tail is back on the right side.

5. Close the ring as usual. I added a crochet chain stitch between my rings.

How to Cro-Tat Stacked Rings

The second method, stacked rings, does not require a long tail thread. However, we use stitch markers or an alternate color thread to mark where we'll exit the "pull through" to create a ring atop another ring. Again, this method should only be used when making two or three rings on a row. We cannot add a chain stitch between rings using this method.

1. The first step is to cast on the first half of the 3rd ring, 3-3, the first half of the second ring, 3-3, and in this example, the complete first ring, 3-3-3-3. We have room on this hook to create a fourth or fifth ring, but it does become more difficult to count and close rings.

2. The second step is to place stitch markers between the first half of the third and second rings, and between the half of the second ring and the complete first ring.

3. After placing the markers, close only the first ring by pulling through to the first stitch marker, then exiting the double stitches.

4. Tighten the ring using fingers or a second small hook. Remove the stitch marker.

5. Cast on the second half of the second ring, 3-3.

6. Close the second ring by pulling through to the second marker and tightening the loops using fingers or a second hook. Remove the stitch marker.

7. Cast on the second half of the third ring, 3-3.

8. Tighten the third ring as usual.

Choosing Split Rings or Stacked Rings

Tatting patterns often call for split rings. When adapting tatting patterns for cro-tatting, we can certainly imitate the needle tatting method for split rings or create stacked rings in order to complete the pattern as long as the pattern does not require a chain stitch between the rings. Simply remember that split rings require a substantial amount of tail thread, and stacked rings could also be substituted if the pattern requires only two or three rings in a row.

Want to read more about arts and crafts? Try

Make a Celtic Tatting Shuttle
The Susan Bates Tatting Shuttle with Bobbin
A Brief Introduction to Crochet Hooks




Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

The KonMari Syllabus: Teaching Less and Learning More

Is it time to declutter your syllabus?
"Graphics Class" by Ryan Johnson used with Creative Commons License.

Just in time for many of us to start thinking about our next semester's classes and syllabi, Marie Kondo's Netflix premier, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, blew up. Love it or hate it, her KonMari method of sorting out those things in our lives that do not "spark joy" sparks conversation.

After watching the entire first season of the show and attacking my own closet and bookshelves with gusto, I started thinking about the gigantic boxes of books and papers waiting for me to unpack in my new office on campus. Too stymied by the thought to actually do anything about that particular problem, I addressed something honestly even more frightening, creating a new syllabus for a new class with new time limitations.

I opened my laptop and perseverated for an entire afternoon, making and unmaking changes. By the time 7 pm rolled around, I had accomplished nothing, so I gave up and ate supper with Marie on Netflix. The following morning I attacked my lists of graded assignments and in-class activities with gusto previously unparalleled. I owe some of that to the energy created by Marie Kondo series and some of that to my return looking into a "less is more" approach in current pedagogical theory.

Teach Fewer Topics and Students Learn More Deeply

I was first introduced to the idea of "less is more" by Nicki Monahan, MEd. Monahan published an article in October of 2015 called "More Content Doesn't Equal More Learning," a title that excellently sums up the thesis. The article focuses on the idea that as we develop our syllabi we keep in mind "threshold concepts" and our roles as "content curators" who, instead of deciding "'what' to  teach,"should focus on "'how' to facilitate learning." One scenario the author suggests for paring down class activities and topics is to think about a chance meeting with a student several years after graduation: What would you want the student to still know or know how to do?  As Marie Kondo might suggest, what answers could that hypothetical student provide that would "spark joy" for us as faculty? Those answers become the backbone of our lectures, planned activities, and graded assignments.

Breadth Versus Depth 

Another view of this tension between having a lot of content on the syllabus and covering only "threshold concepts" is referred to as "breadth versus depth," a tension especially felt by faculty who are responsible for teaching survey courses meant to cover a great breadth of knowledge, none of it necessarily in great depth. Although researchers have found benefits in teaching a great breadth of knowledge, teaching a great depth of knowledge is shown to correlate to higher order thinking, or the synthesis and application levels of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy (Coker, Heiser, Taylor, & Book, 2017). With these benefits as well as others discussed in context of active learning methods, like experiential learning and problem-based courses, I became convinced that decluttering my content was the right choice.

Asking Difficult Questions

After revisiting this research topic when I started revising my syllabus, I started asking myself some tough questions about my course content. Strangely enough, I was asking the same questions about my course content as I was asking about my belongings.

• Am I hanging onto this piece of pottery because of nostalgia, and is it still serving me and my family? I love pottery, but is this piece of pottery worth having? Would we appreciate it more if it were the only piece of pottery on the shelf?
• Am I hanging onto this topic because of nostalgia, and is it still serving me and my students? I love The Things They Carried, but is covering it in an hour and a half really doing it justice? Would we appreciate it more if it were the only reading before midterm?

I think the answers to both these question sets, at least for me, are that we will appreciate what's there more abundantly and more deeply if there is less there.

Summary

Whether or not we can agree on the importance of decluttering our homes, or come to a complete understanding of what it means for a pair of utilitarian work pant to "spark joy," what those of us who teach may certainly be able to agree on is that decluttering our syllabi is a worthwhile endeavor. We must force ourselves to keep only those "threshold concepts" and skills that will "spark joy" in us when we realize more students understand those important ideas more deeply.

References

Coker, J. S., Heiser, E., Taylor, L., & Book, C. (2017). Impacts of Experiential Learning Depth and Breadth on Student Outcomes. Journal of Experiential Education, 40(1), 5–23.

Monahan, N. (2015, October 12). More Content Doesn't Equal More Learning. Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/curriculum-development/more-content-doesnt-equal-more-learning/

Want to read more about pedagogy and learning? Try

Learning Community Classroom Design
Active Learning Classroom Design and Pedagogy
Contemplative Education: Modeling Mindfulness in the Classroom


Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

Pen and Ink: Inspired to Draw with Sticks

Prepping sticks for drawing requires minimal effort

The mark of a clever art book is that it inspires readers to make some marks of their own. 

James Hobbs's book, Pen and Ink: Contemporary Artists, Timeless Techniques (affiliate link), inspired me to make a few marks.

Specifically, I was inspired to learn more about drawing with sticks, just plain ol' dirty sticks, of which I have an abundance.

Drawing with Twigs: Ch'ng Kiah Kiean

The image from the book that truly inspired me was an ink drawing of Ng Fook Thonk Temple by Ch'ng Kiah Kiean, and there are additional twig drawings in the book by the same artist. The fine lines and detail of the drawings belie the artist's humble tools, dried twigs. Yet there's personality and interest in the drawings that would not be there had Kiah Kiean used commercial pens, which create a more consistent line.

Preparing Sticks for Drawing

Googling "drawing with sticks" provided me with two videos that both showed how to draw with sticks, one that demonstrated how to whittle a tip and another that showed almost the same results with an unchanged tip. It seemed easy enough after that, almost "anything goes." I chose a variety of sticks from my yard; some oak, some cedar, and even some trumpet vine, and I pulled out my woodworking tools. In this instance, I used pruning shears, a fine sanding block, and a box cutter.

A variety of sticks can create a variety of line thicknesses and qualities

I used the pruning shears to clean up the tips of the twigs and the box cutter to make sharper points and flat tips. I used the sanding block to create more consistent surfaces.

An Experiment in Drawing with Sticks

To test my twigs I used a watercolor paper and a royal blue Pelican ink. I did try watering the ink a bit, but it created a bleed I did not really like, especially when using the trumpet vine. Using the trumpet vine created quite a "blobby" line, but it worked well as a "brush." On the other hand, the cedar, especially the small cedar twig, worked beautifully, as did the oak twig with the sanded tip.  As expected, the cedar twig I split created a lovely double line. Using the cedar and oak sticks made my handwriting extra lovely, and as an added bonus, I don't have to clean my pens at the end of my session.

With materials at hand, including a brand new "art supply" from my yard, I was able to follow up on an inspiring inclusion in Hobbs's book. The experiment was a complete success, and I look forward to hearing about your endeavors in the comments.

Want to read more about no fuss art projects and supplies?  Try
Adult Coloring Books
How to use Beautiful Buttons
Point of View and Emotion

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

A Comparison Essay: On Kaiseki and Haiku

Seasonal Kaiseki image by Nishimuraya Kinosaki used with
Creative Commons License 4.0.

Haute cuisine, much like poetry, has both internal and external form. In addition to how a dish looks, its ingredients and components, it's expected to be more than the sum of its parts: A fine dining experience of the highest caliber contains within it the chef's narrative and an essence of unity.  The same is true for poetry.

Japanese seasonal kaiseki is a lot like Japanese haiku, for example.

The Importance of Haiku's Internal Form: Kigo and Kireji

A haiku's external form is immediately recognizable.  Most readers of poetry can identify a haiku by its three lines of a set number of sounds per line: In Japanese, the lines are divided into 5-7-5 sounds, and in English some poets have adapted that structure into 5-7-5 syllables per line. However, the poem's internal form is much more intricate and contextual than its external form. A haiku's excellence and importance is judged by its use of seasonal words and cutting words, known as kigo and kireji, respectively.

A poet's seasonal words, or kigo, come from lists of words known to evoke particular seasons or even to draw upon the cultural context of famous poems that use the same seasonal words. These lists of kigo are called saijiki.

An excellent explanation of how to use cutting words, or kireji, comes from Michael Dylan Welch:

In Japanese, traditional haiku include words that function like a spoken sort of punctuation. More importantly, they cut the poem into two parts, creating a sort of juxtaposition, not only grammatically but also imagistically. The point is to carefully pair two images together in such a way that a shift or disjunction occurs between them. The art of haiku lies in creating the right amount of distance between the two parts, so the leap is neither too far (and thus obscure) or too close (and thus too obvious). By focusing on concrete images rather than judgment or analysis, the two juxtaposed parts of a haiku allow the reader to feel what the poet felt, without the poet telling the reader what to feel.

Just as the simplicity of haiku's external form tricks us and pleasantly surprises us as we dig into its images and meaning, a chef's internal form, narrative, or unity, can surprise and delight the palates of diners. An excellent haiku poet's use of kigo and kireji sets them apart as masters of the form just as a chef's knowledge of technique and ingredients creates renown.

Seasonal Kaiseki 

Lines of haiku are not the only inspiration that comes in threes. Appreciating a balance of three has been instilled in artists across all art forms, and cooking is included in that long list. According to an article by Elaine Yu and Amanda Sealy from 2006, kaiseki is an "evolving tradition," but initially, "a set consisted of meshi (steamed rice), shiru (soup) and mukozuke." In the traditional, diners started with rice and soup to "warm up the stomach," then would move on to sake and sashimi. Like haiku, the flavors and textures progress in an order determined by the maker, the poet, the chef. The meal is punctuated with a form of culinary kireji.

Traditional kaiseki has more in common with haiku than its Japanese origins, punctuated progression and lines of three, however. Kaiseki is based on seasonal ingredients. A hassun is a seasonal platter that sets the tone of the meal based on its ingredients, those available fresh in any given season. Just as the kigo sets the season of a haiku, the ingredients found fresh in a given season may become part of the hassun course. A yakimono is a course of grilled, seasonal fish. A ko no mono is a course of seasonal vegetables, prepared and pickled.  Being seasonal is part of the language of kaiseki, just as seasonal words are part of the language of haiku.

Culinary expression and poetic expression may seem miles apart as art forms and as experiences, yet haiku and kaiseki speak to one another and through one another. A haiku is a meal of seasonal words, punctuated and progressing toward a feeling of satisfaction in the images. Kaiseki is an edible poem, and those who appreciate it savor its available ingredients, its kigo, just as much as they savor the separation and pauses between courses.

Want to read more about poetry? Try

How to Identify a Sonnet
Denotative and Connotative Meaning in the Poetry of Denise Levertov
Diagramming Mina Loy's "Letters of the Unliving"

En Plein Air and Haiku

Works Cited

Welch, Michael Dylan. "Why 'No 5-7-5'?" NaHaiWriMo. http://www.nahaiwrimo.com/home/why-no-5-7-5

Yu, Elaine & Amanda Sealy. "A Beginners Guide to Kaiselki, the World's Finest Meal." CNN. Nov. 8, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/guide-to-kaiseki-cuisine/index.html 

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.

What's a Research Narrative?

Research should be a quest to find the best evidence. A research narrative tells
the story of that quest, and all of its inevitable twists and turns.

A research narrative is a chronological account of your research activities. 

In a research narrative. the writer recounts the story of the research: what happened, when it happened, the sources found and read, and realizations or insights about the topic or process. This type of narrative is wonderfully suited for keeping track of a writer's progress while completing a long-term research project. It's less formal than an annotated bibliography, but it's more complete than just pages of notes.

Take Chronological Notes in a Research Journal

In order to recreate your process and realizations accurately, you should take careful notes while you work, reflecting on what you've already completed and what you're about to complete. Bullet points or numbered points work great for these kinds of notes. Always take a moment to record any realizations about the topic or process you have as you have them. Record quotations and citations as you read your sources. Once you've completed your research project and are no longer  actively working on gathering or reviewing sources, you can stop taking notes for your narrative and begin choosing the "important" parts of the story. Which bits of research lead you to a conclusion about your topic? Which realizations or insights added momentum to your process? What were the moments that meant the most to you or changed the direction of your research? You may want to highlight or circle or rewrite the important notes as a way to organize your thoughts or create an outline. After you organize your notes and make decisions about which notes to weave into a story, you can begin drafting the body of your narrative.

Draft the Body of the Narrative

The body of the narrative will be your retelling of the research story. Look closely at your notes and your decisions about which details were the most important. Let those important notes be your guiding principle. Following any outline or organizational principle you've created, include any and all details that emphasize or inform the importance of those moments and realizations you've identified as important. For example, you might not normally include going to the restroom as an important part of a story. However, if you met a friend in the restroom, discussed your research with her, and had an epiphany about the topic because of that discussion, you may want to include details about that trip to the restroom in the narrative.  Create the scene with dialogue. Likewise, you may not normally want to detail three hours of fruitless searching in the library databases. However, if the fruitlessness of your search informs your conclusions about the topic, those hours should be part of the story. Again, create the scene. Explain how your five senses played a part in those three hours. Let the scene show the reader your frustrations instead of just telling the reader you were frustrated.

Just as with any document that contains source content, be sure to use an appropriate documentation style to cite any source content that makes its way into your final draft.

Draft the Narrative Frame

All good stories have a point, and all good stories have a genesis or "inciting incident." In a narrative, the point of the story, or the thesis, appears in the conclusion. The introduction generally includes information about why the writer is telling the story without giving away the point of the story. The goal is to make the reader want to experience the events of the story so that he or she can come to the conclusion in the same way the writer came to the conclusion - after the natural progression of events. The "trick," if it really is one, is simply to be honest and remain in the realm of  nonfiction. So, after completing the body of the narrative, you should think carefully about the overall lesson, revelation, or insight you gleaned from the research experience. Although information from sources should be shared within the body of the essay, along the way, the conclusion is not the place for recapping source content as it might be in an academic research essay. In a narrative, the reader desires a more universal and thematic thesis: a lesson about the topic that reflects "a universal" insight about life. Not only do you tell the reader what you learned about the topic, in other words, but you tell the reader what you learned about your broader world by completing the research.

A research narrative is a record of actions and realizations you have about your research topic as you are in the midst of the research process. By taking thorough notes, choosing important moments, and drafting content as scenes, you can complete the entire body of your narrative. Complete the narrative by explaining the impetus for your research in the introduction, and your insights about the topic (and life) in the conclusion. Get the reader to take the research journey with you, and you will have created a successful research narrative.

Want to read more about narratives? Try

Prewriting a Narrative Essay
Why Write a Narrative Essay: The Power of Narrative
The Power of Story: The Power of Narrative




Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.