Dear WinkWorld Readers,

This issue of WinkWorld is directed specifically to a group of teachers in New Jersey.  When they initially received a federal grant five years ago to begin working on their  degree, I was there to wish them well, as they began their journey on their masters degrees.  The grant is ending now, and their masters degrees have been completed, and I am  invited to share with them again at the end of the program.  An honor, indeed.

TCNJ teachers, in this WinkWorld, I am enclosing today’s draft of our agenda, with lots of live links for you to have as resources.  In addition, I am enclosing several YouTube videos which I made with the support of CSU, Stanislaus and Black Hills State University.  During our time together, we will discuss if the ideas about language acquisition from the 1980’s have stood the test of time.

Help yourself, anyone, if this is something you can use.  I will be sending more resources soon.

The agenda, ‘Putting It All Together.’

putting-it-all-together Aug. 13

A few YouTube videos, which I created.

I will be posting more materials for you in the coming week.

See you soon.

Joan

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

Once upon a time in a faraway land, I was a professor who lived and breathed language acquisition for decades–first as a Spanish teacher and later as a professor in multilingual/multicultural teacher education.  Now, my world is primarily filled with kids, cows, and computers.  However, I try to keep up with my professional reading/thinking  as it relates to biliteracy, but I know that I am now more focused on literacy.  Yes, biliteracy and literacy are related, but that is a story for another time.

Storytelling and Storylistening

The world of storytelling and storylistening links my personal and my professional interests.  So much exciting research is taking place to enhance our understanding of storytelling and storylistening.  Many of you are aware of the long rich tradition of storytelling around the world.  Happily, it is enjoying a renewed emphasis in the last few decades as researchers learn more about the literacy and cognitive benefits. 

Teach me the facts, and I can memorize them and do well on a test–however, I will forget those facts sooner or later–but, if you can tell me a compelling story about those facts, I won’t forget it.

In addition to storytelling, storylistening is also developing rapidly–thanks to the research of Beniko Mason and Stephen Krashen.  In what follows, I am sharing some of their findings.  If you are interested, you will find videos of their work-in-action with a simple fast search on your web browser.  Thank you, Professors Mason and Krashen for sharing with us.

Meet Stephen D. Krashen and Beniko Mason

What storylistening is:

It is often used to help students acquire an additional language–for example in a foreign language or a bilingual class.  I have no experience with it also being used in English-only classrooms with only English-dominant students, but I am wondering about this.  I look forward to hearing from any of you who has that type of experience.

Storylistening is told with a strategy called Comprehension-Aiding Supplementation, and the idea is that the teacher throws a wide net of language (mostly comprehensible input, plus a bit more) for subconscious language acquisition. The method requires neither output, nor homework.

What storylistening is not:

It is not a teacher simply reciting a memorized story.

The Optimal Input Hypothesis

I am posting two articles  by Krashen and Mason regarding The Promise of Optimal Input. For those of us in language acquisition, we now learn that Not All Comprehensible Input is of Equal Value.

Click HERE 

Click HERE.

Learn more about Beniko Mason  on her webpages. Both professors are very active and share wonderful resources on social media.

 

Stephen Krashen  on Twitter is always a great read.  Here is one, which I particularly liked, which speaks to the value of storytelling.

 

In addition, be sure to check-out Story-Listening and Guided Self-Selected Reading on FaceBook, which Beniko maintains.

 

I have noticed in my research of storylistening that it is sometimes spelled as one word, sometimes two words, and sometimes a hyphenated word.  I have no idea how it will eventually be spelled.  This is a natural process of how words emerge and come to be  spelled and understood.  It is sort of like little kids with their “inventive spelling,” which is another fascinating area to research.

 

Below is a photo of a treasured piece of art which a dear friend/colleague sent to me as a surprise gift. I see the storyteller and the story listeners. Thank you, Marje Kaiser!

 

 

 

The Adventures of Scruffy

For those of you following the adventures of Scruffy, our little reader, he finally arrived in New York City with his friend, Sacramento Susan.  Of course, his first stop was the famed lions out in front of the New York Public Library.

I just finished reading and loving “The Lions of Fifth Avenue” by Fiona Davis, so Scruffy and I took turns storytelling and storylistening.

 

Dear WinkWorld Readers.

In the previous two WinkWorlds, I introduced you to some recent graduates, and I will continue with that theme by highlighting two more,  Lizzie and Ana

On the left is Lizzie with her Grandma (one of my best Besties ever), and on the right is Ana, Mike (one of Ana’s best Besties ever) and me.

Lizzie and Ana have never met each other, but they have something in common: They each had their first child when they were 14 and 15-years-old.  I have known Lizzie since she was born, and I have known Ana since the early 90s when I was her professor in the bilingual credential program at CSU.

Liz graduated from high school a year early, got her SD teaching certificate, had two more children, and she will begin her teaching career in a month.

Here is Lizzie with her first baby.

Here is Ana with her first baby. 

From Migrant Fields to Doctoral Degree

Ana worked in the migrant fields on the West coast, went on to graduate from high school, successfully completed her undergraduate degree, got her CA teaching credential,  a Masters, has taught for 24 years (16 elementary, 8 high school, and 3 university level, part-time), had three more children, and successfully completed her Ph. D.  You can see why I am in awe of these two women.

Liz and family on the left.  Ana and family on the right.

Now here is Liz telling her story in her own words.

My name is Elizabeth (Lizzie) Fischer, I know Joan due to her being my grandmother’s best friend. I graduated from Black Hills State University in May with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. I have accepted an offer to teach in Mobridge, SD as a second-grade teacher. I could not be more eager to begin this next chapter in my life and start my career as a teacher, my lifelong passion! I was able to get into my classroom several days ago and let’s just say there is A LOT of work ahead of me to get the classroom ready for my students.

I am a mother of three truly amazing, beautiful, and intelligent children. My oldest (Carson) was born when I was a freshman in high school, which has inspired me to become the best mother I could possibly be. I was able to graduate high school a year early, so I could start college and be the mother I was striving to be. However, life happens, and my plans for continuing my education was put on halt for a few years. I went back to school in 2018 and ended up getting pregnant with my second child (Cora). I pushed through the semester, my classes, and I was in labor with her when I was in my last class of the semester and proceeded to take a final after class was over. After I completed my final, I  her later that day. I finished my methods block classes with a newborn and when she was about 9 months old, I found out I was pregnant with my third child (Conner). After I had him, I was very hesitant to go back to school due to having him at 34 weeks. He was in the NICU for 3 ½ weeks and when he came home, I decided I just needed to finish school or else I may never go back. All I had left was to student teach so I signed up to complete it in January.

When I started student teaching all I could think was: Am I CRAZY, how am I going to raise 3 children (10, 1, and 3 months at the time)? I thought I would never be able to pass and complete the next 4 months of student teaching. With endless amounts of tears, late nights/early mornings of studying and so much hard work; it finally paid off!! Now look at me I am going to be a teacher in a little over a month!

I never in a million years thought that I would be able to achieve all that I have accomplished over the years. It took me 9 years to receive my bachelor’s degree, but I never gave up or lost sight of the finish line. If you can carry one thing away from reading about me it is that no matter what obstacles you are facing, you are so capable of achieving your dreams and DO NOT let anyone stop you, not even yourself. Take one day at a time and never stop believing in yourself! Thank you for taking time out of your day to read about my journey!

Congratulations Elizabeth Fischer!  We are honored to have you join the teaching profession.

And, now please meet Ana York in her own words.

Forever Grateful

In 1980 my father moved us from Puerto Rico to California in hope of a better life. I was a shy eight-year-old who did not speak English, so I fondly recall my ESL classes. Language instruction played a considerable role in my academic achievements. After elementary school, I attended junior high, and it was during that vulnerable phase, I began to have self-esteem issues. Therefore, I dated someone who was six years older. I married him when I was a freshman in high school and gave birth to my first child my sophomore year. It was difficult for me to attend regular high school, so I transitioned to alternative education, where I did independent studies.

After graduating, I went to a vocational program, where I was placed in an internship with the possibility of employment. Unfortunately, my placement closed down due to budget cuts. It was a devastating time for me. I was unemployed and pregnant with my second child. My mother encouraged me to use that setback to move forward by attending junior college. I met with a college counselor, and I shared I wanted to be a doctor. She looked at my transcripts and recommended vocational school (the irony). Two years later, I graduated and transferred to CSU Stanislaus, where I graduated with a bachelor’s and a teaching credential.

At CSU I participated in the Mini-Corp program, which taught me strategies and skills to support my future students. My professors in the credential program were compassionate and flexible (especially Dr. Wink). Through the recommendations of my professors and Mini-Corp, a district hired me for an internship. I taught a combination of kindergarten, first, and second grades during the day (8:00-3:00 PM) and went to school in the evening (4:30-10:00 PM). The sacrifice paid off. I was finally financially independent!

WinkWorld Readers, Joan here again.  It was during her internship and classes until 10 p.m. that I met Ana in one of my classes.  I never heard anything from her again for about 15 years, when she called out of the blue, and asked me to be on her doctoral committee.

Now back to Ana’s story.

Throughout my academic experiences, I have learned to appreciate my setbacks (the doctoral program was no exception). In every dark moment of my life, God has placed programs and people to light my path. My educational journey gave me more than just a degree! It gave me freedom from poverty and violence! It is why I am immensely grateful for the opportunities in this country.

WinkWorld Readers, this is Joan now, as I wanted to share this photo of a t-shirt I sent Ana, during one of those very challenging times while she was working on her dissertation.

Back to Ana’s story in her words:

I am grateful for programs like Adolescent Family Life for providing a public health nurse to do home visits and provide me with educational and parenting resources. Rochelle Olson was the nurse assigned to my case. She was instrumental in my life. I am grateful to programs like EOPS for helping me navigate the university system. I am so incredibly thankful to all taxpayers who contributed to the system so that I could break the cycle of poverty. I am so appreciative to my district for employing me for the past twenty-four years. I am also thankful to my parents for deciding to move to California and for helping me take care of my children. Finally, I am grateful to my children for their love and kindness and for continuously inspiring and strengthening me to succeed!

Ana, you inspire me. I will be cheering wildly for you on your graduation day.

The next WinkWorld will focus on storytelling and storylistening.

Dear WinkWorld Readers

I am happy to introduce you to a former student, Ana York, who recently completed her doctorate from Grand Canyon University (GCU).  I was honored to be a part of her doctoral committee.  I will be writing more about Ana in a later WinkWorld, but for now, I appreciate Ashlee Larrison and Grand Canyon University Today for sharing their article about Ana. 

California State University Stanislaus friends, do you recognize Ana?

From young bride to doctorate: an inspiring story

On to a totally different topic–this is for the WinkWorld Readers, who have been following the literacy stories of Scruffy.  Next week he makes the long-awaited trip to NYC to see those two lions in front of the NYC Library.  He is so excited, as he packs for the trip.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

The graduation season is such a joyous and emotional time for all of us.  I have had the honor of taking part in graduation ceremonies, as a part of being a Board of Regents member.  This year, I was with the graduates of Black Hills State University.  I talked to the graduates about the various generations (Zers, Xers, Boomers, etc.), and I said that I didn’t think the general public had yet given them a name, but to me they will always be the COVID KIDS.  Since that graduation day, I have learned  about Gen C, and my grandson, Luke, and I are already planning to update our generation chart.

However, in this WinkWorld, I want to highlight COVID KIDS graduates, whom I know and love.  They are all heroes to me for different reasons.  I asked each of them to share 500 words with us about (a) how we are connected; (b) something about their interests; (c) something about their journey to a successful completion of this degree; (d) and, what they hope to be doing in 5 years.

Meet Katie Knox, University of North Carolina, MA in Teaching, Spring 2021

Katie and I have never met, but I feel like I know her well, as she  did all of the drawings in my book, “The Power of Story.”  Here are all of the drawings, which made it into the book.  We were only allowed 12.

My name is Katie Knox, and I was an illustrator for Joan Wink’s book, The Power of Story. My aunt—hi, Aunt Suzy!!—is Joan’s web designer, who connected us. My interests are varied to such an obnoxious extent that it would be challenging to detail them all here. To quote a one-episode villain from the cartoon Adventure Time, “I have approximate knowledge of many things.” I am particularly passionate about stories and storytelling, though, and that tends to go for any medium you can make a story in. My undergraduate degree was in Film Studies, where I concentrated on animation and animation history, but I’m passionate about everything from video games to musical theatre to obscure Japanese musicals from the early 90s. 

Speaking of Japan, at the time I met Joan, I was gearing up to move and teach ESL there as part of the JET Programme. I taught in Yokkaichi City in Mie Prefecture for three years and fell in love with teaching. I had the time of my life in Japan, and miss it every day, especially my students and former coworkers. Fortunately, in my mind, it’s not a matter of “if” I’ll return in some capacity, but rather, “when.”

I returned from Japan in 2019, applied for, and was accepted into the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Watson College of Education. 355 days from the start of the program, I graduated with my Master of Arts in Teaching with a concentration in English. In spite of a global pandemic and the loss of a parent, I made it through the accelerated program, student teaching, Praxis exams and the edTPA. I feel like I both worked the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life and at the same time that I lucked through the whole program, and I technically didn’t earn this degree. A lot of people refer to this as imposter syndrome—the sensation that you’ve fooled everyone around you, failed upwards and will be found out as a fake sooner rather than later. At the same time, though, I know I’ve earned it, I know I’ve worked hard…. It’s such a bizarre sensation! Schrödinger’s Imposter Syndrome!

WinkWorld Readers, Joan here.  Dear Katie,  you are NOT an imposter.  Own your power and experience.  I know another recently-completed Ph. D. student who is also suffering from this.  I personally have only known smart women who suffer from Imposter Syndrome.  Do men get this? Back to Katie’s voice.

I wish I could give some big, hopeful, inspiring prediction for where I’ll be in five years, but I truthfully have no clue. If there’s anything I’ve learned during 2020 and grad school, it’s that you need to be flexible, and able to go with the flow when the time comes to the best of your ability. Right now, I’m aiming for gainful employment, helping kids find their “people” at school, another cat and maybe a trip to visit Japan. If I can do all of that and be happy, I’ve won.

Joan here again: Pearson Publishing did not use all of the drawings which we submitted.  The one below was not in the book, but it is one of my favorites.  It always makes me think of Katie and her dad, who passed away this year, while Katie was working on her masters.

Thanks for all, Katie. I worried so much about you when you left for Japan.  Silly me.  I guess I did not have anything to worry about.

Meet Nadifa Muhamed, South Dakota State University, Spring 2021

My name is Nadifa Mahamed. I was born in Chad, North Central Africa. My family left Chad when I was only nine months old due to the civil war and went to Cameroon where I grew up. On December 2, 2010, we arrived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, our new home. I graduated from Washington High School in May of 2015.

At that time I was not planning on going to college. In fact, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. I felt that before I could do anything, I needed to learn more English. All through high school I was told that my knowledge of English was inadequate, I was bullied for speaking incorrect English, so why would I want to go to college and get bullied more? So I spent the next few months focusing on my English. I watched many movies and had conversations with English speaking friends.

During that time I was working in hospitality, my hours were crazy and my paycheck was never enough to make a comfortable living. I decided that this was not what I wanted out of life. My goal was to empower girls back home to go to school and get an education. I could not be an advocate for something I was not doing myself. I had to walk the walk. In January 2016 I started at the University Center (now Community College of Sioux Falls) with a major in sociology. I was very nervous about what going to college in the US would be like. I was shy, I had low self-confidence and I was still worried about my English. I was also concerned that people in my environment would not support my major, and some still don’t today.

In December 2017 I was asked by one of my teachers, Jennifer Schelske, to share my story with the South Dakota Board of Regents. I had no idea who and what that was. I agreed, as a favor to Jennifer because she had been so helpful and supportive ever since I started taking classes at the University Center. This meeting changed everything. The Regents were so touched and impressed by my story that they offered their support. President Dunn from SDSU made my transition to becoming an SDSU student very easy and continued to support me until I graduated. Regent Thares offered to pay my tuition until I graduated. This took away my constant worries about finances and allowed me to focus on my education. Regent Wink also had my back. She consistently showed her support and was only a phone call away. I graduated from South Dakota State University on May 08, 2021, with a major in sociology and minors in French, social and human services and leadership and management of non-profit organizations

WinkWorld Readers, Joan here again.  I remember Nadifa’s visit to our board, as if it was yesterday.  She came and she conquered.  I was in awe of her life’s story, her perseverance, and her ability to communicate in her new language, English.  When she walked out of the room, two of the other board members and I followed her out to the hallway.  I was not the only person who shed a tear or two as  she talked.

 

 When I was growing up in Africa in the middle of unrest and civil war, I witnessed many horrors of my people suffering and being mistreated, especially women and children. I made a promise to myself that one day I would do something about this. I am passionate about women’s rights, equality, family, the community and our youth. I am an advocate for peace and finding solutions that will bridge all people, all genders, all religions and all ethnicities together so we can achieve greatness. I am pushing myself to gain courage and strength to stand up for what’s right and to be a voice for the voiceless.  My goal for the future is to have a fashion company and a non-profit organization that empowers our women, youth and children – everyone included. Currently I am working on launching my fashion company and hopefully the website will go live soon.

Nadifa has a passion for fashion.

Meet Wynn Wink-Moran, University of New Mexico, with a degree in Film and Digital Media Arts (FDMA)

My name is Wynn Wink-Moran, and Joan Wink is my Grammie. She is one of the most inspiring women I have ever known, and I am so proud to be her granddaughter. Throughout my life she has been so supportive of any endeavor I chose. She taught me to love reading and nature and that life can be as beautiful as you make it. I have tried to employ these values within my own life, especially my education.

This year I am graduating as an undergrad at the University of New Mexico. I am graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Digital Media Arts with a specialization in film production. Film has always evoked passion in my personal life and spending four years learning about the ins and outs has only made me more interested in my degree. As an introvert escapism is where I truly thrive. Film is able to grant me that escapism through the stories and art they depict. Movies have brought me comfort since I was a child and I hope to produce that same comfort for children and adults everywhere. While my degree may seem impractical or inconsequential to some it has brought me an abundance of happiness and has helped me through many taxing situations.

My journey toward getting my diploma has been wonderful and complicated. When I first started in the fall of 2017 my original plan was to obtain a degree in Biology. Why did I choose this path? Who knows? I figured a STEM degree would be the most financially beneficial and that was the only thing I really cared about at that time. However, the more I progressed with this path the more I hated the work I was doing. I never knew I was so right brained until I took chemistry. While I could complete the work somewhat successfully, it felt as if my brain was going to explode every time I did my lab work. To those of you who thrive in careers centered around STEM I truly respect and admire you. For me it just was not the right fit.

I switched to film my sophomore year and started my new classes. I instantly felt more comfortable with myself and my abilities. I loved hearing my classmates’ creative ideas and how impressive everyone was. In the fall of my junior year I had suffered a lot of mental health setbacks and I did not complete my semester. While I was comfortable out of school I knew if I didn’t go back in the spring, I never would. So I enrolled and went back, took summer classes to catch up and here I am today. I have no immediate plans for work, but in five years I hope to be working on films that I care about and working with talented crews that I love. All I can ask is for happiness and growth with what may come next.

Wynn Eliz, I am so proud of you, and I love your honest, authentic writing. xo

Finally, WinkWorld Readers, I want you to meet Dean Austin Wink, who just graduated from DeForest, High School in Wisconsin.  He was named Dean Austin when born, but mostly he has been Austin to the family.  Throughout his high school  years, he seems to have morphed into another Dean Wink, as this is what his friends call him. Next year he will attend UW, Whitewater.  His is interested in music and all things culinary.  Austin is kind, honorable, and ambitious, and one can usually find him with a job cooking for someone.  Most recently, he is preparing meals at a country club – I am sure he is learning much.  In addition, Austin is a drummer and loves  all of the marching band activities.  He was sad not to get his senior year  with all of the music activities and fun.  COVID wrecked the senior year for so many. We are all looking forward to all of the kids being back in face-to-face school and activities.   We were happy we could be in WI for  Austin’s face-t0-face, lively, fun graduationBo and Lisa Wink, with their son,  Dean Austin Wink

Bo, Dean Austin, Garrett, and Lisa.  Garrett will be our last grandchild to graduate, which is 2 years away.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

I love to share my books with others, and recently a friend returned a pile of borrowed books to me.  It was like visiting with ol’ friends.  I stacked up the books in order of favorite to least favorite.

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles was my most favorite book of  the last 6 months.  I had no idea that a quircky and courageous group of French and American readers tried to save the American Library in Paris during World War II.  Goodreads has a lot of good comments, but the link would not work on my blog–not sure why.  Here is a good link on Amazon.

My 2nd favorite book of the last 6 months did not make this stack of books, as I had not read it yet.  A wonderful young 7th grade girl told me I must read her copy of Booked by Kwame Alexander–so, I did. I was hooked by the 4th page.  I absolutely loved it.  I suspect it is written for teenage boys, but it felt like it was written for me.  Here is the link on Nerdy BookClub. Thank you, dear Emma.

Booked is written in verse form–don’t let that scare you off.  The narrative is very compelling–a real page-turner.

When I returned Booked to Emma, she quickly gave me 4 more books to read.  Joan Bauer here I come. 

Meet Joan Bauer.

 Thank you  to Missy Urbaniak for drawing the image of a blank book at the top. Missy is the teacher at Atall School  (K-8) where Emma is a student.

Snow is gone.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

Sometimes you hear adults saying, “kids today don’t read.”  Here is a story, which paints a different picture.

Recently, we have lost too many dear friends; their remaining family members are grieving.  I decided to buy books as a memorial.  First, we made  In Memory of  labels for Uncle Ray Johson of Moville IA, Mokey Yaap of College Station, TX, Jan Van Loben sels of Sacramento, CA, Pete Edgell of Cascabel, AZ, Roland Dendy of Benson, AZ, and dear Cuzzin’ Jessie Russell of Sturgis, SD.

Here are my helpers and I preparing the labels.

For several months, I bought books to give the students at a tiny, K-8 two-room school on the isolated prairies of South Dakota.  When the kids saw the boxes of books, they dove in as they squealed with delight.  They shared and talked about the books, and eventually every single student sat alone quietly reading. When I left through a door in the back of the room, they were still reading.  The teacher, nor I, gave any instructions.

In what follows, are some photos of the students receiving the books.

One  can never have enough Patricia Polacco books. In addition, the Junie B. Jones books were a big hit.

One little girl took all of the Junie B. books out and began putting them back into numerical order. I apologized and explained that we took them out to put the memorial sticker in each book, and we didn’t get them put back in the correct order.  Very seriously, and without making a sound, she mouthed to me with exaggerated lip movements “That’s alright. I will fix it.”  She also was the one who hugged the books to her chest, as she whispered, “I love Junie B.”

Jacqueline Woodson brought joy to two of the older girls.

Our resident 4th grade historian was over the moon with his books.  He said, “I love South Dakota history.”

Of course, we needed some good DiCamillo.

Found this little reader on the floor.

These two are eclectic readers.

Amid gasps, ooohhhs, and aaahhhs, we did hear some memorable comments during this time.

“We’re going crazy. I love this stuff.”

“Now, we are getting into awesome history.”

“What is the next holiday?”

“Mrs. U., you need to read this one (Be you by P. Reynolds) out loud.”

 

Later that night when I was home, the teacher texted me to say that the students read for another 20 minutes, after I left.  She finally asked them to stop, as it was time to do math.  Of course, by this time, there were books scattered everywhere.  Before starting math, the kids decided to pick up the books and categorize them according to the memorial label in the front of each book.  So, all of Uncle Ray’s, all of Mokey’s, all of Jan’s, all of Pete’s, all of Roland’s, and all of dear Cuzzin’ Jessie’s were stacked in groups.  Let the math lesson begin.

One of the book labels posted below.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

Recently, Dawn Wink posted a blog about quilts on her blog, DewDrops, and this led me to want to share some of my quilts. Of course, quilts led me to stories, and stories led me to books.  This WinkWorld gets a little long, but if you like quilts, stories, books, and pretty colors, you will enjoy this one.

Quilters everywhere are really storytellers.  I am not a quilter, but I, too, see a story in every quilt.  For example, here are three quilts which hang on our bedroom walls, and I will tell you three little stories.

The quilter of this horse is a dear friend, Gloria Traversie of Faith, SD.  She belongs to group of quilters who call themselves, the Prairie Strippers.  Gloria is over 90 years-old and still quilting.

This quilt was given to me by former grad students when I retired from Cal State.  They said that they spent a year deciding on the color and design before they took their own sewing machines during a long weekend and rented a cabin in the Sierras and created this work of art. 

As they said to me, “Joan, look at how each star is unique.  That is because that is how you made us feel.”  How I love this quilt and those memories!

Below are two more good books for kids and all of us.

The Quilt Story by Tomie dePaola

The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy

This gorgeous quilt was made for me by my dear colleague/friend, Steph Paterson, when I was sick. As Dr. Paterson said when she gave it to me, “I chose these red hot colors because that is how you were fighting the cancer.” I continue to take strength from the quilt and that memory.

Here are two more great books about quilts.  Great stories for kids and for me.

Who’s Under Grandma’s Quilt by Rachel Waterstone

The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco

After posting some photos of quilts on Facebook, the stories came pouring into my newsfeed.  My friend/cousin, Missy, reminded me of a book we both love.

The Quiltmakers Gift by Jeff Brumbeau.

Diane Kindt, has been my BFF from kindergarten until high school graduation, and now in this chapter of life, we are back and living near each other.  Such a blessing for us.  She and a group of women friends, in their small town of Mobridge are consistently very active in seeing a problem and fixing a problem.  Much of their giving is done locally, but they also give globally. 

Two examples follow: they make quilts and small knitted/crocheted prayer shawls to give to people who are in need. If you hear of a family suffering from a major disaster, chances are that quilts from this group of women are on their way to warm a family.  On the local level, the group simply keeps their eyes and ears open for families in need.  The prayer shawls are available for the asking.  This group has shared through the US and abroad.

In the photo below, the quilts from last year are displayed in Diane’s church.  The quilts are hanging on the back of the pews.

So, how many quilts and prayer shawls did they make in 2020?

For example, here is a church family in FL after the hurricane in which most families had lost every thing. In the photo below, they are receiving their quilts from Diane and friends in SD.

In addition to these hundreds of quilts which the women make and give away to those in need, they also knit and/or crochet prayer shawls and send to anyone in need who requests them.  See Trinity Lutheran Church of Mobridge SD and/or Diane Kindt on Facebook.  I have a soft cuddly lemon yellow shawl, and Wink has a gentle tan one, which Diane gave us when we were each fighting cancer.  I recently requested a candy apple shawl for my dear Cuzzin’ Jessie, as she was certainly a Red Hot Mama.  The last time I saw Jessie alive, she was covered with the shawl, and we were all cuddled around her on her bed.  Another treasured memory.

Thank you!

Here is another great books for all of us.

The Patchwork Quilt: A Quilt Map to Freedom by Bettye Stroud

Rose Kauhne is another friend from Mobridge high school days, and I enjoy following her quilting.  More recently I noted her small patchworks of what is called meditative stitching.  As Rose explained it to me,

I came across the stitch Meditation group of Facebook and decided to join in. The basis was to make a small (4X4”) textile collage using small scraps of fabrics and odds and ends stitched together by hand with thread, in a small amount of time, without much thought to the design or trying to make perfect stitches. That seemed easy enough and Lord knows I had plenty of raw materials to work with. So, I made one and was hooked. 

The only rule was once you added a stitch you could not take it out. Of course, you could cover it up! We made these small enough that you could finish it in a single setting and pack it in a small bag and take it with you, traveling, to the doctor’s office, waiting in line for something. It was fun. I was finding all sorts of small bits of things such as crocheted butterflies, small embroideries I made years ago that were never utilized, things I could use to enhance these small wonders. In 2018 I made 17. In 2019 I made 117. 

If you want to read more about her stitching, click here: The Rose Journal

The quilt (below) tells the story of my high school girlfriends (Mobridge High School, 1962), but we all have known each other since kindergarten.

I always love the surprises found in quilts–like this fuchsia patch in the middle of all of the black, turquoise, red, and white.  Sort of like the surprises in life.

In the photo above you see Mobridge High School friends, who gifted me that gorgeous quilt. Thank you Toots, Tiny, Diane, and Runny.  Below are more Mobridge friends when Donna Wessel Durrant hosted us.

Let me close with something which is not a quilt, nor a book, but I am sure there is a story somewhere in this image.  I recently learned that there is another WinkWorld in Las Vegas, created by someone named Chris Wink.  Do you imagine that he would like to also see our WinkWorld?

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

Today I saw a blogpost from Russ Walsh in his blog, Russ on Reading, in which he celebrates the books of famed children’s author, Mem Fox.  Oh, how I love Mem’s books.

I hope you enjoy, too.  Click on Mem’s name below.

Russ on Reading: Mem Fox

Thanks, Russ, for permission to share, and thanks for all of your support of literacy. 

I am not with all of my Mem books to post pictures, but Russ has great pictures of Mem’s books.  So, I will post a group of little avid readers: Oh, how I love these kids.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

Once upon a time in a far, far away place, I was a university professor.  Not only that–I loved research.  Still do.  However, I learned early in my career that not everyone loves research.  The minute I told a group of grad students, “Research shows…,” I could see the eye-rolls.  However, I also noticed that everyone seemed to love stories, so if I could bury a new idea (a.k.a., good research) in a good story, the students would pay attention, and remember the story.

Lots of time, new learning feels like it is up-side-down to our  previous learning.  Often new learning is not intuitive.  Sometimes new learning is down-right annoying.

Recently, I read a review of a big body of research (Shapiro, 2021) on how we process information, or how we learn.  It confirms what I used to get to learn and relearn every year in every classroom from students: People don’t care about research. 

Shapiro shares what he learned:

•emotions over facts – thus, when confronted with new information, we use feelings over facts;

•feelings are mistaken for facts – and, if someone doesn’t share my feelings, they must be wrong or even bad;

•skepticism is good–but, it requires deep, disciplined thinking;

•facts do not necessarily cure misinformation.

Sheesh. I told you that new knowledge is counter-intuitive and very annoying.

One answer: a good story.  People remember a story and even think about it and draw their own conclusions. 

When I was a prof, my area of specialty was language acquisition, where much we know from research is not intuitive.  So, I made up stories.  For example.

Teaching Passionately – My People Made It

See that image of The Power of Story at the top of the page?  It is not sold with that spiral binding on the side. A grad student took it to an office store and asked them to put that where the book binding was.  I had no idea you could do that. Sometimes new learning is cool.

If you want to see what is inside the book, The Power of Story, you can enjoy this visual Table of Contents, which my friend, Missy, made for me.

Or, you can look at this cool, little tri-fold, which my friend, Susan made for me.
Click on image to see larger view.

Or, you can go to the book icon at the top of my joanwink.com and click on it.  Some of the links are live in the Table of Contents.

Or, click below.

The Power of Story

I see Amazon is selling it for $30 right now, instead of the $45 it used to cost. 

Shapiro, G. (2021, Jan. 26). Studies on how we process info are eye-opening. Arizona Daily Star,  p. A4.