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Leaving for the airport in less than an hour. So being obsessive about my blog, I had to put this GREAT photo of some of my students on today’s blog. Rest assured, I will miss all of you! I just wish the Atlantic wasn’t so wide, however, surely beats crossing the Pacific Ocean!!! Instant time travel would be marvelous to master, wouldn’t it? I know Someone Who managed to do that. Guess Who?
Just up the hill 4-5 blocks from our university on Turhenevs’ka Street going towards Artema, are “urban lawns” in plots which make me smile. Last year I saw a woman “mow” these planters with a scissors!!! Also pretty to see are all the white tree blossoms around the city. These blossoming trees are along the Dniper River in Podil. The other with me is close to Peremohy where we live. I will miss Kyiv and have LOVED the mild winter and awesome spring!!!
Last Sunday was superb because we celebrated a birthday in a Chinese restaurant in Kyiv. Yesterday was a GREAT day at the American embassy but unfortunately we couldn’t take our cameras into the Information Resource Center. However, Vitaliy Makarenkova took photos of us around the 6-7 computers and tables discussing research papers. I’ll ask for copies of them and put them on this blog.
Thanks so much for the big poster card you presented, too bad I wasn’t thinking quick enough to have you all sign it. I will take it back with me to the U.S. I guess I was too focussed on getting the correct keywords into the ProQuest and Ebscohost that there was little time to think about saying goodbyes. I’ve said so many in my life and they have been happy goodbyes usually with the hope of seeing friends again. I live in an optimistic world. But those people who lived in Ukraine’s past have had many unhappy, painful goodbyes if even the privilege of that was extended to those whose families were disrupted by Holodomor, WWII or Chernobyl.
For now, I cherish the memories of my dear first year students (especially if they get their final electronic version of their research paper to me and also if they keep up blogging.) Then, the goodbyes are not so sad. If they really want to see me for the last time, they can find me at the church just down from the Express Hotel on Shechenko with the mosiac front THIS Sunday at 12 noon. Much easier to find than the American Embassy off of Artema. Sorry I missed some of you if you went to the OTHER American embassy. Those who prevailed yesterday were treated to celebrity status as if we had run the gauntlet, with free printing privileges, free use of what is completely underutilized. Forget about the strict security, once “in” it was well worth it.
I think there is a spiritual analogy here. How often, we as Christians have things at our disposal that we don’t even know about, just like at the American Embassy. As soon as we avail ourselves of it, we realize that it was there for the taking all along. That is how forgiveness and love work, it opens our eyes to the refreshing things of God. Thanks for the wonderful memories to my brave students. Keep on keeping on!
Loida is one of the widows who attended our “History Matters” and is written up in the first chapter of Diane McMurrin’s book “The Last Flowers Before Winter.” I’m thinking of Diane today because she is having a double masectomy done back in the U.S. Sometimes people go through difficult times and it does make them stronger. Loida has had a difficult life but by all appearances, it has made her sweeter.
Jazzy is looking very closely at Bubbles while I’m looking equally close at all my students’ research papers. So far, there are very few good ones, I’m sorry to tell. But of course, this is only rough draft and my students are “allowed” mistakes. The first place I look is at the “Works Cited’ page. Some have very few sources, instead too much emphasis on personal interviews. Writing a research paper is an exercise about gathering information from other sources (journals, books and NOT Internet) to support your point of view.
Next, I turn back to the thesis statements and find that some are too long, some are too short and a few are just right. After that I look for the “in-text citations” and those are woefully lacking. Academic papers do not look like newspaper articles or anything you would read in a magazine. The whole idea behind learning about academic writing is that you are part of a community who have similar interests and you “feed off” of each other’s discoveries. Those discoveries being sources that have a kindred spirit to what you have learned from your personal interviews or know from your own experience. In much of the scholarship having to do with Ukraine’s past history, there are not many sources as there should be to tell others what happened on this soil.
That is why it is in your best interests to serve your country well by finding out what you can and then to write well so that others may know. Going to the U.S. embassy resource center tomorrow will be of utmost importance for many of you who have signed up. Much to do yet before your paper’s FINAL deadline is due!
Many of my students after turning in their research papers to me will feel like this panda. Believe me, after grading 35 rough drafts and turning them back, I’ll be feeling a lot worse! Much to do before I board the plane next Monday! I’ll obviously accept NO LATE papers! Do the best you can now, the electronic version of the final research paper is due on May 15th!
Thanks to Blogger “Moschino” for finding this GREAT quote about research papers, I’m using it in today’s blog. Today and tomorrow is the due date for the rough drafts of all my students’ research papers (6 pages of text + 1 page for title page + 1 page “Works Cited” page = 8 pages). Yesterday I went to the American embassy with passport and prior permission to check out the resources they have there. I will have a sign up sheet for those who need more journal articles for their FINAL research paper to go on Friday afternoon to the American embassy. They are willing to take as many as 12-15 people. (Seems I was dealing with those numbers at the Chinese restaurant the other day.) 8) So, even if you have enough resources for your research paper, this is your chance to find out more about ProQuest and also Ebscohost.
“The research paper often looms like a mountain in the minds of students: a huge obstacle that can only be crossed with much agony and effort. But the research paper doesn’t need to be the Everest of your home schooling experience, and you certainly don’t have to die on its slopes. With proper preparation and a good basic understanding of paper development, you can conquer the research paper assignment and even enjoy yourself along the way.A research paper is an extended essay (eight to twenty-five pages, using three to ten outside sources) that summarizes information about a particular subject in order to prove a point.
Don’t think of the research paper as an “English” assignment. Depending on the topic you choose, the research paper is a science project, or a history project, or an art or literature project. The research paper isn’t a dreadful rite of passage demanded of all high school English students. Rather, it’s a tool for the student to use as he explores one of the content areas of the curriculum — something he’s interested in. It’s true that some of the skills needed to complete the research paper successfully are acquired in English study. But the paper itself should based on something the student is learning in another area of his curriculum: astronomy, the history of the Revolution, or Victorian novels.”
by Susan Wise Bauer
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/tacklingtheresearchpaper1.php
Yesterday was a remarkable day for many reasons. True especially when trying to pull off a “surprise” party for one’s spouse! Five days in advance of having already sent out e-mail invitations, the birthday-ee already knew about our Chinese restaurant rendevous with Kyiv friends on Sunday afternoon. Okay, so who did I invite, will they come at 2:30 p.m. all the “why didn’t you think of this person, why THIS person?” Next was letting the restaurant staff know we were needing a table for 12 people or would it be 15 or 20? No, as it turned out we got a table for 15 and once we settled in for a leisurely meal of drinking Chinese green tea and eating many different dishes, there was always a chair filled. Unfortunately, one person was too overloaded, another was stricken with allergies, another had a prior engagement with meeting a little widow lady. So, the amazing part of the day was that we met some new people from the Washington D.C. area while we visited with “old friends.” Also, we hosted two 7 year old Ukrainian brothers who were adopted five years ago. The oldest person represented at our “surprise party” was none other than the birthday boy himself at 61 years of age. The best part was that we had enough chairs for everyone as one had to leave early while simultaneoulsy one arrived late. Timing and God’s providence sorted out all the questions of how to make this a special day for my hubby.
The flowers I got last Tuesday are STILL blooming! Not as colorful as these but just as beautiful! Thanks! Now I’m going around our flat finding things to pack away for storage, others to pack for home and still others to give away. A profusion of STUFF but still redeemable if it can be used. What are flowers good for? Showing the fragility of time and of life.
If you have ever been in a short distance race for runners, you know that the winner who hits the tape first wins! The feeling of exultation must be exhilerating, I wouldn’t know because I was a plodder in many half marathons and long distance runs back 15-20 years ago. My Composition II class is in the final stretch with getting their work done on their research papers. I look forward to reading them, especially those who have good thesis statements, used in-text citations, have good sources in the “Works Cited” page and used their own words. I can usually tell who is trying to pass off something that is not, so I wouldn’t recommend trying that with me. I’ve been teaching writing for many, many years.
So getting my students’ papers (rough draft, hard copy) next week does not mean the end of the semester for them even though I’ll be physically absent. They must keep writing three blogs a week in my absence as well as getting their final research paper corrected and sent to me in electronic version. The final grade for the course will reflect those who actively participated in blogging, consistent attendance and learned the research process.
Speaking of “tape,” I have some GREAT ideas for next semester about getting our “History Matters” sequences into a DVD format. I would use some of the “From My Old Family Album” photos along with student’s voice overs, etc. I’m e-mailing a professional in Texas who works on this very kind of project, how amazing is that? Also, how exciting to work with dedicated, hard working students when they flesh out what happened in their country in the very sad past. When I meet up again with my students in the fall of 2007, I hope all will be back as second year students.
Aren’t they a wonderful looking group on the stage? I especially liked seeing my handsome male students in their suits and ties!!! To me that was like a victory at the end of my semester run here in Ukraine!!!
True History Matters 
