Neo-Victorian Poetry
  • Steampunk Poems
  • Romantic Poems
  • Christian Poems
  • Other Poems
  • Blog
  • Home

The young man who built a robot ...

12/7/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
My many years spent in teaching have taught me that a teacher's enthusiasm is a vital element.  As Benjamin Franklin said, "Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember.  Involve me and I learn."

I once encountered a young man who was entirely resistant to learning.  He sat on the sidelines of my small arena and flatly refused to try, or even to try to try, the activity that I was teaching.

My every invitation to him was met with an impassive shrug ... until I asked him to select a color from among the many colorful felt tip pens in my hands.  He only barely obliged me, but he picked one.

As soon as he touched that pen I could tell that I had him.  He had responded to me!  When I asked him for an idea about where to place that pen on the robot I was building he pointed to a spot on it.

Slowly, eventually, he began to choose pieces from the pile of paper, pens, plastic cups, and motors that lay before him.  He'd choose a piece, and I taped it into place.  Together, we built a motorized robot, (see photo above), that drew an abstract image as it moved.

And then, he asked me if he could build one by himself!  "Sure," I said.  "Go for it."  I moved on to help others at the table with their projects, clandestinely keeping an eye on that one young man.

When he was done with his robot, I laid out a sheet of paper for him to place it on.  We uncapped the pens, started the motor, and his robot drew decorative lines.  He got to keep the robot's artwork.

Earlier this year I wrote a ten-part series titled, A key to writing in rhyme: to inspire would-be rhymers, and to involve them, (possibly you), by teaching one tried and true method of writing poetry.

The problem with this approach to teaching, for all my enthusiasm,  is that the remoteness of the teacher allows for passive learning wherein one is merely told, rather than being involved in, the lesson.
 
And yet, I learned how to compose verse by emulating outstanding poets who had passed on their knowledge, before passing on passed away ages ago.  I emulation their the works that they left behind.    

So, it can be done, this notion of involving others from a distance.  In any event, their poems, and my series, are available to all who would, evenly remotely, apply them .. like that young man who built a robot.





Image:
funny-pictures.picphotos.net
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    About the author:

    I've written many poems over the years.  This blog is a preview of my books: Echoes, Neo-Victorian Poetry (April 2013), Echoes ll, More Neo-Victorian Poetry (May 2014), Echoes lll, Even More Neo-Victorian Poetry, (August 2016), A Compilation of Echoes. (September 2016), and When None Command (April 13, 2019)

    Archives

    December 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly