Chapter 2

Having already read the book once, it is hard for me to remember what information was delivered in a single chapter and what was an accumulation over the course of the entire book. This difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that I read the book in only three days last February (an unusually fast reading for an otherwise slow reader). The reason that I mention this is because I was particularly struck by the incredible amount of information that Kay Chornook packs into very few pages - and she does it in a way that I find engaging rather than overwhelming.

In chapter 2, we get a great overview of what it is to be Quaker - including a brief historical context, an overview of their beliefs and practices, and a glimpse at the pedagogy of Quaker schools. When I returned home from Monteverde last February, I told my brother a bit about this book and was surprised to hear of his familiarity with Quakers. Corey has spent much of the last decade working as an activist for a variety of causes, and cited the Quakers as a major supporter of peace rallies. That conversation helped me understand that the impression I was getting of Quakers in the past, is not just in the past.

The other area of information that struck me was all of the historical references. This may be overwhelming for the students - in large part because of how much of it will be unfamiliar. I believe that it was while first reading this chapter that I became confident that the book could be used as the basis of an interdisciplinary course. So often, people see history as theoretical and distant, but this shows how it is alive and relevant. The world events that Wolf and his friends were following in their early adulthood changed the way that they saw the world, which then influenced the decisions that they made. They went off and helped settle Monteverde (which the book hasn't quite gotten to yet), which has become a major ecotourism destination. When we go there, we should appreciate the fact that it didn't happen randomly or spontaneously - it was a result of ethical and courageous people in the past taking control of their lives and destinies, and thus altering the present world for all of us. Any one of these historical events would make a great research topic.

Speaking of taking control, there were several other passages that relate directly to locus of control. This is an area of particular interest to me, and I consider it to be the centerpiece of the work I do at the Lister Academy and at Great Bay Community College. Locus of Control is whether you see life as in your control or or not. It's whether you see yourself as a victim or creator, whether you are a leaf in the wind or a bird flying in the air. I believe that taking control and having an internal locus of control is the central most important factor in becoming successful. On page 22, Wolf's Aunt Mary takes control of segregation in her home. Too often, people excuse historical wrong-doing because of what the societal norms were of the time - but not Aunt Mary. Her solution to a house guest that "...wouldn't feel comfortable sitting at the table with Negroes.", was to "...fix him a place at a table in the utility room." This is a woman that was a creator of her destiny - and so is Wolf.

Wolf showed tremendous locus of control through the telling of all his hardships - he grew up with a mentally ill mother, was jailed for following his religious beliefs and resisting the draft, and then lost his father and needed to take over the family farm. Despite all of this, his voice is never that of a victim. He identifies that it was difficult, but never blames others for the difficulty. These events and others certainly have an influence on his life, but he is clearly always taking ownership for the course that he steers. I am constantly teaching about locus of control - perhaps Wolf's story will serve as a powerful guest speaker in these lessons.

Chapter 1

While I have been blogging my travels all summer (BryanSummerTravels.blogspot.com), and had posted here about the fundraising we have done, this is my first blog about the book, Walking With Wolf - the text that forms the foundation for our year-long class. The students are going to be reading a chapter each week and then using their own blogs to post responses and reflections as well as updates on the research that each chapter has inspired them to pursue that week. I have decided to blog along with them this semester, and have given a lot of thought to what my posts should look like.

First and foremost, I hope that my posts can act as a model for theirs - especially right now in the beginning while they are learning the new technology and format. They're probably not sure what I'm looking for so I'll try to pick possible responses out of the chapter and record them here as potential examples. Recognizing that my background knowledge may be a bit broader and deeper than theirs, plus I have been to Costa Rica twice and I have already read the book once, creating a "model" for their posts is a bit more complicated. Of great importance is that I want to be authentic in my posts - the relationship I nurture with the students demands it. I am not going to pretend to be surprised by things that I am accustomed to, or question things that I already understand. The last thing I want to do is parody what a student post would look like.

I re-read the first chapter today while waiting at the barber shop. I'm not a fast reader, but I do find this to be a quick read. I jotted down some notes so that I could have some structure to this post - this is what I have asked the students to do as well. The first thing that struck me as I opened the book up was how much I enjoy the opening quotes that begin each chapter. I've read other books that start chapters with famous or important quotes, and I like how it provided a framework for the reading of the chapter - but this is different. These quotes are from Wolf Guidon - the central character of the book. The author, Kay Chornook, provided Wolf with a tape recorder and turned 17 years of his story telling into this book. These beginning quotes certainly don't summarize the chapter, and I'd even question whether they represent the central idea of the chapter, but they do adjust my mind in such a way that it has a wonderful impact on how I read the chapter.

As I continued reading, I was struck by all of the names of places. I'm a little familiar after having read the rest of the book - and I can even match a few up to what I saw when I was there - but I find myself flipping to the map inside of the front cover, pretty regularly. I've noticed the students doing the same thing, and even asking questions about it. I suspect we'll be including a similar map on our website - some of the students may even want it on their individual blogs. That might also help with some of the unfamiliar measurements that the book uses - kilometers, hectares, and even meters of elevation. In a society that doesn't use the metric system, it's difficult to really conceptualize these things - the book uses them a lot, so I may need to figure out an activity to help students connect with it. (On an aside, I couldn't help notice that the author uses the phrase, "... he has walked countless miles..." - it just struck me as odd since everything is in metric.)

The students will be doing research each week on the ideas and topics that they find interesting in the chapter. This kind of give-and-take with a text is essential to making it real and I hope that it will inspire greater curiosity and inquiry. There were several terms and ideas in this chapter that I clearly remember wondering about when I read the book the first time - and I did look into many of them. The term "Quaker" was the first one - and it's a central one to the book. I didn't know anything about Quakers other than that picture on the oatmeal container. The book taught me quite a bit and I've done some additional research on Quakerism since. The more I learned about it, the better I understood my feelings for Monteverde. There were plenty of new plants and animals that I found fascinating, but the Bairds's tapir particularly stood out as a name that I wanted to know more about. I also remain interested in the Pink Impatiens mentioned on page 4. The author, Kay, explains that they came from Europe and are wide spread along the sides of the trails. Here, environmentalists call plants like these "invasive" and lament their existence, but Kay doesn't seem to assign any negative status. This is a topic that I find very interesting - in the environmental education courses that I've been involved in, I always asked when an "invader" becomes an accepted addition to an environment ("wild" horses in America?).

My wife, Carmela, and I traveled this summer out west, and I found several passages in this chapter had new meaning for me because of those experiences. On page 4, Kay describes how amazed she is by the giant trees in the rain forest, and I immediately thought about the redwoods in northern California - it's hard to imagine the size and scope of these titans. On pages 4 and 5 Kay talks about the change in elevation as she's hiking in Monteverde, and the significant change that makes in temperature, sounds and sights. While we were traveling we ranged from approximately 10,000 feet elevation (Brian Head, Utah and Tualomne Meadow in Yosemite National Park) to 282 feet below sea level (Death Valley). As I wrote about on my blog, the difference was astounding.

On page 3, Kay makes the comparison of her hike to the "convoluted" path that the settlers in Monteverde were on as they developed and conserved the area. I love the imagery and analogy of this paragraph and understand it quite well, having read the whole book. I wonder if it even registered with me the first time I read it - or whether the students will even notice it. This relation between the evolution of their community and the natural surroundings - both literally and figuratively - is why I am drawn to Monteverde and so dedicated to bringing my students there. This book is what made that visible to me, giving structure and clarity to what I had felt the moment I first visited. I am thrilled to be sharing it all with my students.