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.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

As many of you know, I have long been a fan of Eulalia Bourne, a.k.a., Sister, since I bumped into her work at The Singing Winds bookstore in the late 70s while living on the Cascabel Ranch and teaching in Benson, AZ.  I could not read her three books fast enough to please me.  And, I loved hearing the stories of her decades of teaching at tiny little schools on the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. The purpose of this WinkWorld is to create an overview of who Sister was, and her impact today on a little two-room school on the prairies of South Dakota.

My beloved copies of three of Sister’s books.  Just the titles of the books tell us a lot about Sister Bourne.

Nine Months is a Year, Ranch Schoolteacher, and Woman in Levis

Several decades later I shared my treasured Sister books with Missy Urbaniak, the teacher of a  two-room school on the prairies of South Dakota. Missy was as captivated by the woman, as I had been earlier.

Missy fell in love with Sister also, and thus began a special bond between Missy and the students of Atall School and myself.

Read the following (click here) for a historical peak into Sister’s life, The University of Arizona library and local museum maintain and preserve all of Sister’s papers.  Many may believe that the tiny little one and two-room school is a thing of the past–not true.  Atall and others are as dynamic and central to the isolated ranching communities today on the prairies, as Sister’s were in the early to mid twentieth century in AZ.  Through the last half dozen years Missy and I  have attempted to save this history and to share it with others.

Below I am posting as few of the photos of the kids through the years.  In the first photo one of the students is now a sophomore at the state university; and four others are in the local (50 miles away) high school.

The photo above shows the students after I donated a few of my books to their school library. The following three photos were all taken during different years.
(Click on a photo to see a larger view.)

Little Cowpuncher was the name of the students newsletters, which Sister’s students often produced on old mimeograph machine.  When Missy and the Atall students learned of this, they, too, wanted to write and publish their own newsletter, which they named, Prairie School Post (PSP).

More about these student newsletters from Sister’s students and also from Missy’s students is available at the end of this paragraph. Many miles stretch from AZ to SD, but these students are the bridge which joins the desert and the prairies. Click here.

You have probably guessed that we are working on a book, and we have our work cut out for us.

More Atall kids and photos here.

Latest Archives – Page 14 of 27 – JoanWink.com — JoanWink.com

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South Dakota Magazine, September/October 2019:

Continue Reading

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

A friend just received her second new knee and is recovering.  She is an avid reader and asked for a few suggestions. Primarily, these are just books, which popped into my head.   In addition, I dug out some photos of recent books, which I have read. I have another friend, who consistently wants me to write about the books I am reading.   Michelle and Cissa, this WinkWorld is for you.

First, Michelle, I suggest fast, easy, compelling books during recovering.  I remember when I was on chemo, I read The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency  (a series) by Alexander McCall Smith. I discovered beautiful Botswana. After I finished the series, I continued to read any book I could find about elephants. 

Thank you to Harvey Sapir of Pexel for sharing this free photo.

Of course, you could re-read the Harry Potter series.  Elizabeth Gilbert might be a good fit right now. The City of Girls was great fun.  How about American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins?

At the moment, I am reading and enjoying Peter Likins’ A New American Family: A Love Story.  It is the story of their family life with their six adopted multiracial children.  Amazing.  Likins was also the president at the University of Arizona.

You might prefer podcasts until you get off the painkillers.  I am thoroughly enjoying both series of podcasts by Brené Brown.  Or, you might just want to read (re-read) all of her books.

Alexandra Fuller might interest you. I loved reading of her free-range childhood in Africa.  I suggest reading her books in order.

The Giver of s Stars by Jojo Moyes will be a very healing book, I am sure.  And, you will find yourself cheering for the librarians.  The same is true for

Or, maybe you could just jump right into any of the series of the prolific JA Jance.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is a great read, too.  I really enjoyed …and His Lovely Wife by Connie Schultz.

In Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts, I thoroughly enjoyed reading of Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, and his amazing wife, Maud.  In this book, you will learn of their life in South Dakota, too.

Red sparkly shoes

Or, dare I suggest that you might want to read one of these? Just click on the book icon at the top of the webpage.  Click on Home below:

Home

Hello WinkWorld Readers,

I am often drawn to questions regarding the generations: The Greatest Generation to The Silent Generation to the Baby Boomers to the Gen X to the Millennials to Gen Z.

As a former professor, a former teacher, and as a current parent and grandparent, this subject fascinates me.  Now, as a member of the South Dakota Board of Regents, I find that the unique characteristics of each generation shape how and what we teach.  For example, are the needs and interests of the Millennials the same as those of the Gen Z? Nope. The university students of the last few years were Millennials, but now our classes are filling up fast with the next group, Gen Z.

Previously (2011, in Critical Pedagogy: Notes from the Real World, pp. 176-177, Fig. 5.1), I shared a chart of my understandings at that moment.  This originally came from Jim Burke, and I reproduced with permission. Click here to see the generations and their characteristics and years.

However, time keeps marching forward, and I wanted to update my understandings.  I read a bit (see Resources below), and I went to one of my grandsons, Luke, to update my knowledge of the generations.

Luke Wink-Moran

Meet Luke.

As some of you know, Luke contributed to two previous WinkWorlds.  Click here and here. In these two posts, we summarized some current writing regarding our post-COVID needs of students and society.

Luke captured his present understanding in the image below.  He omitted the World War II generation, which is often referred to as “The Greatest Generation.”

How To Make Sense of This

Think of your own family members–at least that helped me.  

Dawn and Bo:  I started with our own two kids, as I sure do know their birth dates:  1968 and 1971  They are both Gen X. Very much so.

Next, I thought about our grandkids: Wyatt, Luke, Wynn, Austin, and Garrett.  Wyatt and Luke have many Millennials characteristics, and I can see that Wynn and Austin have more characteristics of Gen Z.  For now, Garrett is a Gen Z, but it will not surprise me if he eventually falls into a Yet-to-be-Labeled Generation.  And, whatever that generation is named, I will bet that Garrett will be leading the parade.

Wink and I are a part of the Silent Generation, although we did not know it when we started down this family path together.  We graduated from undergrad (Yankton College) in 1966, and left immediately for life in the Philadelphia area.  I started teaching at Great Valley High School, Malvern, PA, and in 1968 Dawn was born.  Wink and I looked back at our college friends, only two years younger, and saw that they had totally different life experiences. While we had a mortgage, diapers (pre-Pamper days), and careers—they had the Sexual Revolution, marijuana, and a trip to Woodstock.

We often laugh that we missed the Sexual Revolution by two years. We’ve been catching-up ever since. 

1968 was a pivotal year for our nation and for us. In 1969, I realized that I was morphing from a nice Goldwater Girl to a mom who questioned everything.  I remember dressing Dawn in little bell bottoms, a little leather fringed vest, and a headband. I jumped on a bus to go to a protest in Washington DC, Dawn in a blue Johnny-Carry on my back.  I have no idea now exactly what we protested, but I clearly remember that she was the cutest little “beatnik” there. I remember the personal and national pain of the assassinations of that time: John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King.  The Silent Generation suddenly was replaced by the Baby Boomers.

Now our family and yours are all experiencing a similar national and personal pain.  It will change us all. 

Resources used in this article

Dabney, Courtney. (2020, March 26). It took a global pandemic, but Generation X is finally getting love. PaperCityMag. https://www.papercitymag.com/culture/generation-x-earns-respect-conronavirus-pandemic-stay-home/?fbclid=IwAR0k83T1LVV1BBduh5QWQtpQektT7s1Gc6WDffNT9GfBQNb57yhanBEonHc

Guillén, Mauro F. (2020).  2030: How today’s biggest trends will collide and reshape the future of everything. St. Martin’s Press: New York.

Salingo, Jeffrey J. (2018).  The new generation of students: How colleges can recruit, teach, and serve Gen Z.  The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Wink, J. (2011, p. 176 & 177).  Critical pedagogy: Notes from the real world. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Used with permission from Jim Burke, jburke@englishcompanion.com.