TECHNOLOGY, WRITING & TANYA: NC STATE MEETS UNIVERSITY OF SURREY
WORDS - "One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment." --Hart Crane
TECHNOLOGY - "One must be drenched in the purpose of a technological tool, literally soaked in it, to have the right one used in the proper pattern at the right moment." --Mutilated Quote, Tanya Watson
A Little Blurb About Me
Tanya E. Watson, M. Ed., is a former E-LA educator with the New Orleans Public Schools and an active substitute with the Wake County Public School System in Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior work experiences include 12 years of teaching 7th - 12th grade English/language arts students and tutoring college freshman at her alma mater Southern University at New Orleans and the University of New Orleans. Her interests are situated in areas involving literacy, technology, drama and writing processes, especially in the middle school sector. Watson is currently a graduate research assistant in the African American Cultural Center library and serves as a university supervisor for student teachers in the content areas of English, language arts, and social studies.
TRIPS OF A LIFETIME!
Since last summer I have been salivating over this England trip! As a young teacher in the early nineties, I took a trip to the Bahamas that literally changed my life and exposed me to what the faces of drug warfare and poverty look like. I recall returning to these United States with a humble attitude and a challenge to not complain so much. A trip such as that one, some nineteen years ago, has been fused in my mind as a trip of a lifetime. Now that my friends are branding me an international, I see more of these types of trips in my future. One such trip of a lifetime is this England trip. To stand in spaces of timely poets, roll my fingers over architecture over 300 years old, stand face to face with Egyptian mummies, and recite the Our Father's Prayer with people of all nationalities are lifetime experiences that will stay in my memories of England. Playing around with the timeline tool heightened my awareness that the group experienced much in our short time in England. Challenge yourself to exposure, and I guarantee that when you return from such a trip, your life will never be the same.
Tabblo to Miracle
In class during the presentation of the Tabblo tool, my mind wandered to my little four-legged friend, a St. Charles cavalier, that I left behind in NC. However, while there in England, I was met with many, many four-legged pals along the way from the pubs of Guildford through Jane Austin's landscape: wolf-like Alaskan husky, woolly sheepdogs, massive German shepherds, a poodle that got away from its master and jumped on my leg for a friendly hello, greyhounds, a couple of wiener dogs, and, of course, a variety of England's finest St. Charles cavaliers! Dogs are everywhere in England, and they are revered in the restaurants and streets. None, however, are as fair as my NC Miracle!
If I were to see her oblong shape from across the room,
I’d know so quickly that it would be her...
... See my Tabblo>Mother Nature Shines in Surrey
What wonderful sights I saw in Surrey! From the lush grass that I would walk across on dewy morns to the varied wildlife scurrying around, especially large pigeons, creeping foxes, friendly cats that belonged seemingly to no one, flocks of gentle sheep, and busy-body magpies, Surrey held all the sights for me. But one major aspect of nature, that I can literally see and smell while I type this tribute, is the vast display of dainty flowers, thick trees, and shapely bushes. Here's to you!!!!
JOHN
On my arrival back to the States, I told a friend that what made the trip for me was the people. In the people you find the heart of a country! While on a pub outing, some of my group, consisting of Keshetta, Ann and Julie, met up with a regular (a person who visits pubs on a regular basis) of the George Abbott Pub. He was a friendly gent, and as we would find, he represented the humor, grace and warmheartedness that I take away with me from my England experience. John spoke candidly about pub life, schooling and career matters. What follows are two videos from that talk that happened over brisk cider, thick red wine, and what John describes as "reasonable" (mellow) feelings!
John, Part I - It's A Pub Life
John, Part II - Master Of None
Tooning John
Of all the characters I met, from the breakfast lady who said to me every morning, "Good morning, love...how's ya' day?" to the yardkeeper with his good advice: "Just have FUNNNNN!", to the postal clerk who assisted me with postcards: "I'll do it fur yer!", no one struck me more than dear John, a Scot turned Englishman. If ever there was the need for the perfect model of an Englander character, it would be he! Below is a small series of toons based on John. This one's for you, John, on whatever ale circuit you are traveling to find the perfect barreled brew!
Poetry Inspired in England
WOLVERLEY CASTLE
In Winchester, England
Beyond the oldest bookstore, Wells Bookstore
At the end of pebbled College
Past Jane Austen’s abode
H
i
g
h
up on the
d
o
w
n
Weakly sits the Wolverley Castle ruins
Reminiscent of
Formal gatherings,
Fighting knights,
Fiery brews…
No more.
TERENCE, African Playwright
Terence
Slave of an English nobleman,
African, British, humorist, playwright,
Lover of comedy, plays and the picaresque novel,
Who was educated, courtesy of his Roman master,
Who embedded morals to live a virtuous life and believed in clever plots for small groups of cosmopolitan nobles,
Who promoted topics of sophisticated men, nobility, and the *ODTAA formula,
Who liked his writings adventurous, suspenseful with surprise endings, and cohesive,
Who said, “Never be vulgar”
Resident of the Roman age, influencer of the Middle.
*One Damn Thing After Another