Wow! What an amazing hour and a half . . . with Miss Kenny’s Grade 5 class at Annie L. Gaetz School. Now there’s a master teacher at work with a super talented group of young people.  I played the “Names, Faces and Places” game so I got to know everyone and then shared an overview of the booklet. From there, we buckled down and got to work – oops, I mean play. We did rubbings, masking, felt pen bleeding, doodling, hatching and cross-hatching and shading AND ALONG THE WAY this exceptional gang created ideas of their own.

The very last picture is a Morse code message from Amr. Too cool. I send a special message back to him and then emailed one for the whole class – a riddle. For the next week or so, I’ll send a Morse code riddle per day. Practice helps.

 

 

(Too busy presenting to have a picture from my session but I did learn a bit about hoop dancing at the Friday evening entertainment session)

I had the pleasure to present a session at the annual Toastmasters conference in early May. Here are the responses I  received:

District 99 Toastmasters Conference

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

May 4, 2019

Session titled “It was a dark and stormy night – an interactive session about story”

Audience evaluations

16 attendees, 13 handed in evaluation forms

 

Poor = 1, Fair = 2, Good = 3, Very Good = 4, Excellent = 5

The presenter delivered the material in a clear and structured manner.

3 5 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 2 5 5 5  Average 4.38

The presenter was knowledgeable about the topic and any related issues.

3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 5 Average 4.69

The presenter maintained my interest during the entire presentation.

4 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 4 Average 4.54

The presenter answered questions effectively.

4 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 5 3 5 5 3 Average 4.46

The presenter was enthusiastic about the topic.

5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 2 5 5 5 Average 4.69

The presenter was organized and well prepared.

4 5 4 5 4 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 5 Average 4.62

The presentation was concise and informative.

4 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 4 Average 4.62

The presentation contained practical examples and useful techniques.

4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 5 Average 4.77

The visual aids were effective.

4 5 5 5 5 5 5    5 3 5 4 3 Average 4.5

Overall, I would rate this presentation/instruction as:

4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 4 Average 4.69

Would I recommend this presentation to others?

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes = 13 Average 100%

Comments:

1. Very knowledgeable on the topic & great examples

Rearrange your Powerpoint so your videos are at the end – if you won’t have enough time for them

Using your concept of ‘Picture’ – I found your concept didn’t really connect to what I think of as a picture – perhaps rework/rearrange the material to connect these concepts.

2. –
3. –
4. Good audience participation – reading scripts

Great body language awareness

Time conscious

5. Very enthusiastic, thank you for sharing!!

I enjoyed the structure and visuals

6. Excellent info. Great examples! Great acronyms.

Great visual – the Picture of a story + 3I-RACER

Opportunity – Jock, opening with a personal story would show us a good example of what you’re about to teach. I love the “Hickory Daiquiri” story.

I love the familiar story you broke down, so we could see how it was built up.

7. –
8. The presentation was a good review of some concepts of storytelling from school that I had forgotten but with an adult twist. It shows you are an educator – you have a comfortable presence, are engaging, and present in a clear and concise manner.
9. Check out “Hero’s Journey Free Run” on YouTube. 5 minute video, pretty great.
10. –
11. Polished presentation. I hadn’t thought a lot about storytelling in a speech and am looking forward to exploring it further. Well done, Jock!
12. Very useful information. Will use to help write my speeches.
13. —

 

I have recently returned to the world of professional development days and teachers’ conventions. Hmmmm – didn’t realize how much I’ve missed them. If you’re looking for some tried and true ideas, please get in touch. 

I always ask for immediate feedback at my sessions. Here’s what I received after my hour and a quarter session at the Central Alberta Teachers’ Convention Association (CATCA) on March 15, 2019. 

SESSION EVALUATIONS

“LEARNING TO REMEMBER – HOOKS AND THINGS TO HANG ON THEM’

CATCA (CENTRAL ALBERTA TEACHERS CONVENTION ASSOCIATION)

MARCH, 2019

 

1. STRENGTHS: lots of practical ideas for remembering general things, good involvement of participants

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:  Maybe some specific context-specific (subject specific) applications/examples from best practices (yours and from others)

2. STRENGTHS: engaging, great teacher participation

• Great demo of strategies
• Good examples of how to use strategies

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:  Enjoyed presentation. Thank you!! I’m going to try to use your strategies. Hope they help.

3. STRENGTHS: Love that we got to do some of the things that were talked about

• Enjoyed the humor!

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:  Open the floor for people to share acronyms or a site to share

4, STRENGTHS: very knowledgeable

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:  I was hoping for something different than what I thought I learned in school. I thought you were going to show how to reel them in to a lesson.

5. STRENGTHS: enthusiasm

               SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:  Do more activities like “Ladies and

                                                                     Gentlemen”

6. STRENGTHS: stories, humor, presentation

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:  Maybe more practical application – exemplars etc. of lessons and things

7. STRENGTHS: Smooth, calm delivery – no false starts, etc.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT: None

8. STRENGTHS: Humor and personal stories. Singing is good too. Fun little tips

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:  None

9. STRENGTHS: You tried to make it applicable to real life and it was fun to listen

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:  None

10. STRENGTHS: There are many ways to be sure that the things that are really important are tended to (1) long term goals (2) short term goals (3) weekly goals (4) daily to do list, in order of importance *write it down in a planner – I have way too much on my plate without writing it down

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:  strategies to list things that are really important

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been out of the classroom (the school classroom not the classroom of life) for 15 years. About a year and a half ago, I returned to wonderful world of Toastmasters–and was reminded on numerous occasions of the power of “story.” Sooooo, I’m dusting off some of my time-tested exercises from my days teaching Upper Elementary and Middle School Language Arts that assist in the art of weaving words into a credible tale. 

Here are the notes I used to share with my classes. ***These are the “finished product” notes. I would often provide a hand-out that was filled with blank spaces. As I explained the information, I would get the students to fill in the blanks with the pertinent terms or wording. e.g. the Initial Incident section might look like this:

Conflicts are usually one of three types:

1. Man versus __________________ – examples: a boxing champion and a challenger, or two street gangs, or the cops and the robbers
2. Man versus __________________ – examples: a lifeboat of survivors from a shipwreck may battle against storms, sharks, starvation, etc. or someone is lost in the desert.
3. Man versus ___________________ – examples: a person has an inner problem to solve, whether to cheat on an exam or not, or to stand up for a belief.

 

The Plot Structure of a Short Story – 3I-RACER

The plot of a short story is the order or sequence in which the events occur. Most short stories follow the order that is described in the five steps of 3I–RACER.

INTRODUCTION – in the first part of the story, several things happen:

Introduction of main characters – the reader is usually told the names of the main characters, what they look like and a little bit about their personalities.

Setting – the setting is described. It is made up of three parts:

1. Time – the reader is told or can assume that the story takes place in either the past, the present, or the future.
2. Place – where the story takes place is also made clear. Sometimes the reader is simply told the name of the country, sometimes the city, or perhaps, just that everything happens in a specific location e.g. a person’s house or in an alley, etc.
3. Mood or Atmosphere – as part of the setting, the author tries to put the reader in a certain mood. He attempts to involve the reader in a certain emotion or feeling. He may create a “scary” mood in a ghost story, or describe the unhappiness of being alone in the story about an orphan.

INITIAL INCIDENT– this is the “first event” in the story that tells the reader what the major problem or conflict or struggle is in the story. The reader often unconsciously will put the problem into the form of a question –e.g. Will the good guys beat the bad guys? Will the person survive being lost in the wilderness? Will the lady make the right decision?

Conflicts are usually one of three types:

1. Man versus Man – examples: a boxing champion and a challenger, or two street gangs, or the cops and the robbers
2. Man versus Nature – examples: a lifeboat of survivors from a shipwreck may battle against storms, sharks, starvation, etc. or someone is lost in the desert.
3. Man versus Himself – examples: a person has an inner problem to solve, whether to cheat on an exam or not, or to stand up for a belief.

RISING ACTION– this is usually the largest part of the story.  In this portion, a series of events happen which keep the reader wondering which side will win the struggle that began in the “Initial Incident.”

In a good story, the reader is kept in suspense or doubt as to what will happen in the end. This is done by first making it look like one side will be victorious, then the other, and so on, back and forth.

CLIMAX – at this point in the story, the reader finds out who wins the struggle. The outcome of the conflict is determined. The answer to the question posed in the “Initial Incident” is answered.

examples:    the challenger defeats the boxing champion

sharks eat the survivors of the shipwreck

the person decides not to cheat

EPILOGUE OR RESOLUTION (also known as “Falling Action” or “Denouement.”) – any questions that weren’t answered by the climax are now resolved and made clear. Loose ends are tied up. This is often a very short part of the story.

examples:    the challenger went on to defend his title in a re-match with the ex-champion

the death of the survivors resulted in stricter regulations about equipment put into lifeboats

the honest person passed the exam, but his friend, who cheated, got caught and was expelled.

3I – RACER is an acronym that can be used to remember the five parts to the plot structure of a short story.

I – Introduction

II – Initial Incident

RA – Rising Action

C – Climax

ER – Epilogue or Resolution

 

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ON OCTOBER 13, 2018, I HAD AN INTERVIEW WITH GREG GAZIN FOR HIS TOASTCASTER PODCAST. I TOLD HIM I’D RE-POST MY EXPLANATION OF HOW TO USE MY 3I-RACER PLOT OUTLINE. HERE IT IS:

Trying to get students to see things in the mind’s eye has always been one of my goals.  Visualizing allows me to better understand a concept and it provides hooks for the memory.

For the plot of a short story, I have added to the standard plot picture with several additions, additions I feel are helpful because they add important details. The pictures below are a progression from the standard plot outline familiar to most (but perhaps not all), my first adaptation (and this one may be sufficient for early grades), and then my latest version (and even this is only the very basic, no frills short story plot).

Your standard plot picture

The standard plot picture may be sufficient to explain the idea that a story has a beginning (where the reader learns where and when the story takes place, who the main characters are, if any significant events have occurred before the actual beginning of the story), it rises to a climax (a main problem exists that must be solved and in seeking that solution the events build toward the climax), a height of interest and answer to the problem is given, and then loose ends are tied up and/or unanswered questions are answered.

The standard plot picture doesn’t really say most of the specifics I’ve just mentioned but the BIG picture is given. I thought the picture needed to be more focused.

My Original Adaptation to the Standard Plot Picture

 

 

 

 

My improved and/or more detailed adaptation to the standard plot picture

My first improvement, and this is the one I used throughout most of my career, simply indicates where the Initial Incident occurs and shows it with a Q in a circle. After the information given in the introduction, the reader is met with the story’s BIG problem. I have always asked my students to note that problem as a question. When I introduce the whole notion of the simplest plot structure, I use fairy tales: What will happen to Goldilocks when the three bears return? Will Little Red Riding Hood get safely to her grandma’s house? Will the three little pigs stay safe from the big bag wolf?

The steps rising to the climax are a series of “Good” and “Bad” events – good for the protagonist’s situation or bad. We begin by playing the Good and Bad Game. Situations like this are invented: You and a friend are in a life boat in the middle of the ocean. Students then offer suggestions. Good – the boat has oars. Bad – a shark swims by and bites one of the oars in half. Good – you whack the shark over the head and he swims away. Bad – there is no food in the boat. Good – there is a first aid kit and it contains a fish hook and some line. . . and on we go. Students are quick to catch on to the idea that suspense increases through any series of events that keep the reader in doubt.

The steps are only a generalization as I am quick to point out that most stories do not follow a one good – one bad sequence. More often a number of either good or bad events occur in a row only to be interrupted by an opposite event. In Goldilocks’ case, it’s a “two bad, one good” sequence – this chair is too hard, this chair is too soft, this chair is just right.

For me, the climax has always been the answer to the BIG question, not the point of highest interest, the split second before the reader discovers what happens. In the real world a climax is a climax. I rest my case. A = answer.

The shortest part of the story seems to have been blessed with the most names: epilogue, resolution, falling action, denouement. I use Epilogue/Resolution because it fits my mnemonic. For my students, the plot of a short story is 3I-RACER. That’s 3 I’s, one for Introduction, the next two are for Initial Incident. The RA is Rising Action, C is Climax, ER is Epilogue or Resolution.

Fairy tales offer a perfect epilogue/resolution with the ubiquitous “They all lived happily ever after.”

 

This more detailed version of the very simple plot structure of a story is my “since I’ve been retired” version. It is not classroom tested . . . but it does appeal to my “let’s not dummy down” philosophy. It only includes a few small additions and I think it makes things a bit more clear. The jagged lines forming the introduction are a series of W’s and perhaps should be shown as such. (I added a picture below that does this.) The introduction, once again as portrayed in fairy tales, is the “Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a far away place, there lived a . . .” part. It tells when, where, who.

Another W in the Introduction could be What if one can make the leap to Antecedent Action being thought of as What important events occurred before the actual beginning of the story. The arrow below the W’s indicates the Antecedent Action.

The labeled version of the above plot picture

 

As promised above, the slightly altered plot picture with W’s in the Introduction.

Check out this link https://jockmackenzie.wordpress.com/the-mackenzie-middle-years-alphabet/

This page is under reconstruction but it’s a great concept. The videos still work but my email address (as noted at the end of the overview iMovie is now mackenzie.jock@gmail.com. I’ve also designed a booklet to go along with the alphabet – always looking to make things better!

Hi Language Arts/English teachers everywhere. It’s been just over 10 years since Pembroke Publishers of Markham, Ontario published my book Essay Writing – Teaching the Basics from the Ground Up. I am currently working with the publisher to regain my copyright to the print and eBook editions.

The only hiccup is that I need to purchase the printed copies currently sitting on Pembroke’s shelves. As the author, I get a good deal but I will need to put on a major push to sell my new acquisitions.

So here’s the deal. I’m planning to sell the books for somewhere in the neighbourhood of $20 Canadian (a substantial reduction from the current $24.95) AND include a copy of my unpublished book, Poetry and Song, AND include my services (for expenses only) to workshop ideas from either book or my blog.

Further planning is required but that’s the essence. A work in progress. Nothing definite as yet. More soon.

Tuesday, November 14 It was a “National Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day” themed session

at Sunrise Toastmasters. Jock’s speech was titled “A Road Trip” and was Speech #7 (Research Your Topic). He described a journey down a road less travelled from Red Deer to Lake Louise. Kendra’s speech was titled “Ayurveda: What It Is And How You Can Use It.” It was Speech #3 (Get to the Point). Having been to India, Kendra shared her thoughts (some times breathtaking) about how Ayurveda affects wellness.

In March, I returned to Toastmasters; I joined the Sunrise Toastmasters Club. They meet every Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. It’s a great group and I am thoroughly enjoying my return after over 30 years away. I will record my progress and my content for those who may care to follow along. My second speech is on YouTube and now (I hope) is here.

One of the easiest ways to get students excited about poetry is to share the best (in this case, a personal favourite: The Cremation of Sam McGee) and then have them write new words. Here’s my attempt: 

There Are Strange Things Done On the Golf Course, Son

By Jock Mackenzie

 

There are strange things done on the golf course, son

By the hacks who haunt the links.

The tees and the greens and the in-betweens

Could tell some tales methinks.

The summer days have seen displays

Of the famous and of the renowned,

But this tale of strife is about my wife

When she asked to play a round.

To “play a round” is a welcome sound

But “golfing” is what she meant.

She loved me dearly and showed it clearly –

What could I do? We went!

Now my blushing bride and my manly pride

Were truly in for a test

They call it a “game” but what’s in a name?

I never have been so stressed.

On the fateful day when we made our way

To the course where I belong,

She was dressed to the nines and lookin’ so fine

I guessed that I had been wrong.

What could possibly mar this quest for a par?

What tragedy could ensue?

A husband and wife should share in their life

And be more like one than two.

I gave her a peck as she waited on deck,

And wondered if it would do

If she wouldn’t mind or could be resigned

To a helpful hint or two.

She turned to me and, “No,” said she,

“Just trust me in this, my love.

I saved and I paid for some teaching aides –

I bought Butch Harmon’s gloves.

And this Speed Stick thing from Vijay Singh,

Well it works just like a charm.

Then to help my stroke, they’ve invented this yoke

That I strap to my waist and my arm.

My putting machine, my workout routine, the bracelet for my wrist

They’re all guaranteed; I know I’ll succeed – so no advice, I insist.”

A wife’s request, as you may have guessed,

Is something you don’t ignore

So my wife and me, we stepped to the tee,

I couldn’t resist any more.

I silently cursed cuz I had to hit first; I wrestled to solve the riddle.

Was it protocol to hit the ball long and down the middle?

I stood at address, then gave it my best,

My drive went straight and true

I peeked at my bride; she was beaming with pride.

She said, “Now for my debut.”

My sweet little lass knelt down in the grass,

And jammed in her tee with a twist

Then over the ball she tried to recall all of the things on her list.

Her muscles went taut as she mentally fought

To remember just what to do.

The tension was clear; the moment was here

And then right out of the blue

Like a gong to a bell, her three wood just fell

She really had given her all

Yet still on the tee was that shiny Pro V

Oh no! She had missed the ball.

With unshattered pride she stepped back and sighed

(Ever the consummate actress)

“Don’t look so concerned; there’s one thing I learned –

Always start with a practice.

One waggle, one wiggle, one little hip jiggle,

She drew back her club low and steady

Then just like a pro, so smoothly and slow,

She hit it just like she was Freddie.

A Fred Couple’s swing is a beautiful thing

She’d hit it on the screws!

A speck was all you could see of the ball

As it climbed into the blue

It fell from the sky and it rolled right by my drive

(My ego was jarred)

She was tickled pink, then she gave me a wink,

and said, “Golf’s not so hard.”

So the round began – a woman, her man –

In truth I feared the worst.

I was thunderstruck. Was her drive just luck

Or was my bubble to burst?

But the game we play seems to have a way

At revenge, as if by design

It’s a slippery slope, give and take of hope,

It gives both ‘rain’ and ‘shine’

My bride and I had some lows and some highs

Flashes of glory and fame

Some time at the beach (golf’s figure of speech)

Shots ranging from awesome to lame.

It became quite clear my initial fear

That my wife would clean my clock

Was the silly thought of a man distraught

I relaxed and enjoyed the walk.

And since that day, I look back and say

I’m amazed at the prize I found

On the course of life, with my love, my wife

When she asked to play a ‘round.’

A chance to go and a chance to grow

To golf with the one meant for me

On the tees and the greens and the in-betweens

It’s the way that it should be.

There are strange things done on the golf course, son

By the hacks who haunt the links

Your mom and your dad will always be glad

To share the tale, methinks.

Of the summer day we went to play

Together as husband and wife

We’re the twosome who grew some

And now we’re a pairing

As we walk down the fairway of life.