Cart For Mabef Giant Easel Part IV

Here is a "semi-exploded" diagram of such a handcart. I did write 39" but it is really 40" long. I am thinking of building it out of wood.

I do not, however, have a drill press. So I am unable to drill holes at the end of a 15"x 1/2" axle shaft to attach cotter pins. I could always order a custom length axle shaft from one of those internet companies. But the prices are outrageous.

Some of you might ask, well why not buy the type of bike cart designed for walking too? For example, Wike's "Speedy Cart"? This foldable, lightweight cart is as good as the Burley Travoy but much better priced ($99 vs $269). Unfortunately neither the Speedy Cart nor Wike's Golf Cart is narrow and long enough to hold the Mabef Giant easel securely without major bungee intervention.

Cart for Mabef Giant Easel Part III

After I decided that a handcart, and not a wagon, was what I needed, the question became what shape, and how deep. I took the measurements you see here and discovered that when I placed the chair on top of the easel, the total height is a bit more than 5 inches. And the width of the two arranged in this way is 12".

I reasoned that the cart would need to be about six inches deep for the chair not to fall off the handcart, and about 13 inches wide to give the chair a little play. The entire box would have to be 40" long.

For that box to become a handcart, I would need to add a handle. I already have a recycled steel handle that will work well, that I took from a plastic seeder cart.

One more thing: the axle would have to be at least 15" long and 1/2" in diameter. The length worried me because it had "non-standard" written all over it. By this time I had done enough research online to realize I was not going to find a 15" long axle unless I fabricated it myself. I decided it had to be 1/2" in diameter after I realized that no matter what size of the cart wheels I used, these spoked wheels would only accept a 1/2" diameter axle.

Cart For Mabef Giant Easel Part II

There is something else I consistently carry to the field besides the backpack that holds my paints. This child-sized steel folding chair is surprisingly lightweight and actually small, 33" long by 12" wide. I usually strap it to a handcart without any problem.

I decided that If I am going to go through the trouble of creating a custom cart, that this cart should also carry the chair. The easel and the chair actually fit together quite well. The whole package is 12" wide, six inches deep, and 39" long. 

After some research online, I also decided that a wagon would not do, due to the fact that I often have to go up and down stairs in my search for suitable painting spots. Hand carts are also quieter and much lighter in weight if made with the right materials. Wagons and bike trailers online looked attractive, but were too expensive and not really what I needed.

Here I should add that I have weak hands and the thought of tying bungee cords brings pain to my senses. I decided that this cart should help me do away with the need for bungee cords.

So why not buy the Burley Travoy? Two reasons: The handle system in this hand cart/bike trailer not really made for long treks on foot. And, although the Travoy sports an award-winning design, it requires securing the load with...you guessed it, straps.

I did like the 12" wheels on the Travoy, so I decided that this would be the type and size of wheel I would use on my custom cart.

Cart for Mabef's Giant Easel Part I

I paint outdoors on "big" canvases. Since size is relative, let's say that for me, big is around 2' x 3', with a width of 2". Not only are big canvases hard to haul around, they behave like a sail under windy conditions. So it is important to work on a sturdy easel, made to accommodate the demands of larger sizes. I have tried several brands by now and have found Mabef easels to be well-constructed, so this last christmas I bought myself Mabef's "Giant" easel. At 30 something lbs and 39" long, this is what we could call "the daddy" of field easels. Don't be fooled by the nice leather strap and handle. It is unwieldy.

In fact, as a side note I should add that the white parts are pieces of UV-resistant styrene I had to add to hold the 2" wide canvas in place, because this beautiful italian easel is built with metric measurements. This was an unexpected problem I discovered the first time I took it out to paint on a steep El Cerrito hill.

After experimenting with various ways of attaching this easel to the carts I use to transport smaller easels, I realized several things:
1. I cannot carry it by the handle (since I have the canvas to contend with)
2. It is so long it cannot be strapped to a wagon weighing less than 30 lbs
3. It is so heavy it has to be strapped in several places if you want to stay in place on a handcart
4. Can't even think of strapping it to a backpack!

I began to think of a custom hand truck for it....

Digital Learning In The Arts

Before anyone thinks I am going to write about the many ways in which artists are using digital media to express their ideas, let me clarify that this post is simply about the way that digital learning has transformed our small community of painters. We got together four years ago, one of many groups in the Bay Area that did so to support each other's development as artists. Karen and I started our group because we searched the web and found no other local group with similar goals. As it turned out, we were so very wrong. There were other groups but they did not have a web presence. Several of these groups collected dues to support, among other things, postage for a traditional mailing list. If there was a need to talk, they waited until an actual face-to-face event, and if there was an urgent matter, they picked up the phone. Blogger Vs Personal Websites Because we had decided we would not collect fees (too much work!)and that the group would be open to anyone who wanted to show up, we had a communication challenge. We had no money to set up a group website that would do what we wanted. We tried to set up a Google Site, but back then, its features were not friendly to people whose work was mainly images. I didn't know Tumblr existed. We had group members who had fantastic images of their work, but no idea of how to share them digitally. Some had paid family members to set up websites for them, others had no idea of where to start. I suggested setting up a group blog. They all stared back at me, so I figured we needed some workshops. I began teaching blogging sessions, which included how to use a digital camera, how to format images with Photoshop, and how to post on Blogger, the hot authoring tool back then. We agreed on general norms we would use when posting, and began giving editing privileges to members who completed these workshops. These were our first contributors. From them, we learned it was important to agree on how the type of content that should go with images of our work. In order to keep it easy, fun and simple, we agreed that name, media, size, and a short description should be the minimum. Very soon we built up a collective blog. I was a frequent reader of Boing Boing back then and noticed they had guest bloggers, so we used this model. Every time we went out to paint, someone would write about it and share their work on the blog. Our visibility grew. So did our readership, and eventually, our membership. But not everybody became a contributor. For some members, this process was an added layer of work. For others, it was simply too complicated and they had no support for their learning at home. Google Groups Vs Meetup Back then, most group members referred to the blog as a "website." They didn't know about another tool we came to rely on, the Google Group. Having been a member of Yahoo groups, I was ready to try out the advantages of Google Groups. I learned by trial and error. For example, I took a snippet of code provided by Google Groups and pasted it on our blog. This enabled all kinds of people people to sign up for our "mailing list," so we decided to weed out the non-artists by providing a short prompt with the sign-up process: "Describe the work you do as an artist." Our Google Group was originally open to anyone willing to sign up, but then it was vandalized. We were forced to close it and open a new, private group. The best part of using Google Groups? It is free. This enabled us to maintain communication with the overwhelming majority of our members without having to resort to traditional mailings. And I would say that despite the fact that all of us are "older," almost everybody in our group knows how to use e-mail. So e-mail notifications have proved to be the best way to make weekly announcements. The ability to reach people quickly becomes really important during the rainy season when we are forced to cancel painting sessions, and also, when we want to announce shows. In addition, those who are planning to attend our sessions RSVP by e-mail. With my smart phone, I am able to reply and help members who need directions or who cancel their attendance. These days several of our local painting groups use web-based tools to organize themselves. Some have gone public, and others have chosen to stay private. At least one of the private groups has decided to use Meetup to schedule their sessions. Meetup is very convenient because it fuses the group management functions with blogging capabilities. Unfortunately it costs money to use it. Because using Meetup would force us to start collecting dues, we have decided to stay with Google Groups for the moment.

What Does College and Career Readiness for ELs Look like?

I revised the text on p. 7 of the Common Core Standards, to reflect our goals for English Learner college and career-readiness. I have marked the text I added in red.

ELs can demonstrate independence

Over time and eventually without scaffolding, will be able to comprehend and evaluate increasingly complex texts across a range of types and disciplines. Given an appropriate time frame, they can construct effective arguments and convey intricate or multifaceted information. Our goal is for EL students to eventually be able to independently to discern a speaker’s key points, request clarification, and ask relevant questions. An emphasis on oral language means we expect them to build on others’ ideas, articulate their own ideas, and confirm they have been understood. Once they no longer need prompting, they should be able to switch between standard English and their own dialect, acquiring and using a wide-ranging vocabulary. We are teaching them how to become self-directed learners, effectively seeking out and using resources to assist them, including teachers, peers, and print and digital reference materials.

ELs can build strong content knowledge

ELs establish a base of knowledge across a wide range of subject matter by first engaging with personal experience, followed by the reading of high interest texts. As their fluency develops, they take on more works of quality and substance. They become proficient in new areas through modeled research and study. They read purposefully and listen attentively to gain both general knowledge and discipline-specific expertise. They refine and share their knowledge through daily writing and speaking.

ELs can respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline

Students in the higher stages of English Language Acquisition adapt their communication in relation to audience, task, purpose, and discipline, but all ELs learn to set and adjust purpose for reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use through consistent exposure to multiple models. When their fluency is high enough, they appreciate nuances, such as how the composition of an audience should affect tone when speaking and how the connotations of words affect meaning. They all learn that different disciplines call for different types of evidence (e.g., documentary evidence in history, experimental evidence in science).

ELs are able to process comprehensible input and critique using all the language tools at their level

If taught well, all ELs can be engaged and open-minded—but discerning—readers and listeners.  They will work diligently to understand precisely what an author or speaker is saying. College and career-ready ELs question an author’s or speaker’s assumptions and premises and assess the veracity of claims. Those in the higher stages of English Language Acquisition can question an author’s soundness of reasoning.

ELs value evidence

They are able to bring up specific evidence when offering an oral or written interpretation of a text. They use relevant evidence when supporting their own points in writing and speaking. Even in a short piece they make their reasoning clear to the reader or listener, and they constructively evaluate others’ use of evidence.

ELs use technology and digital media strategically and capably

College and career-ready ELs employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use. We teach them to read strategically so they can tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline. We give them internet access so that they can become familiar with the strengths and limitations of various technological tools and mediums, and can select and use those best suited to their communication goals.

ELs understand other perspectives and cultures

Because they are a diverse group, they appreciate that the twenty-first-century classroom and workplace are settings in which people from often widely divergent cultures and who represent diverse experiences and perspectives must learn and work together. Because many ELs come from immigrant families, they actively seek to understand other perspectives and cultures through reading and listening, and they want to communicate effectively with people of varied backgrounds. We teach them to evaluate other points of view critically and constructively. While those in the higher stages of English Language Acquisition will read and comprehend great classic and contemporary works of literature representative of a variety of periods, cultures, and worldviews, all ELs can vicariously inhabit worlds and have experiences much different than their own.

Social Justice and the National Writing Project

When I decided to become a teacher back in 1991, there was a figure from Puerto Rican education I was so inspired by, I must have read his biography about ten times before I got my teaching credential. When I think of him, I visualize the famous painting that shows Maestro Rafael Cordero teaching at his school. He started the island’s first public school in 1810, for Black children who had not been admitted to the city’s schools because of their race. He also took on many students who could not afford to pay for their education.

Over the years, I have often wondered why Rafael Cordero devoted his life to those children, when he could have made a living doing something else. He was an educated man. Perhaps he knew neither the private nor the religious institutions of the time could be expected to produce the leaders his island needed. Maestro Cordero must have seen literacy as the key to liberation, or he would have taught a profitable trade instead of reading and writing. He must have felt instruction should be delivered through a public system, or he would have tried to convince private and parochial schools to take in those they had rejected.

What would he have thought of the dismantling of our public school system?  I wonder if someone could have convinced him of the effectiveness of the business model for schools, or of the need to remove the bargaining power of teachers to save money. After all, he was no stranger to economic crises; his school remained open and even thrived during the period of great turmoil that was the middle of the 19^th century.

He was a teacher. Had he been around today, the maestro would have advocated for the students that 21^st century private and charter schools won’t accept. Students who have fallen behind or who are learning English and score too low. Students with behavioral issues. Students that cost too much money to teach because they have special needs. I imagine him helping other teachers figure out how to address those needs, and advocating for the right of all students to get a quality education.

Would he have sat around to watch the de-funding of organizations that support teachers?  No way. Not only would he have been heartbroken at the number of literacy organizations that are being hit, he would have exposed the fallacy of dismantling decades of taxpayer-funded work in the name of fiscal responsibility. Which is why I write today, channeling Maestro Cordero.

Our legislature has taken the National Writing Project’s federal funding. If it is not restored, thousands of teachers per year will miss a chance to learn how to teach writing well from other teachers. Let me explain how my involvement with a local writing project changed my professional life.

Before I joined the Bay Area Writing Project in 1994, I thought professional development was a binder that a school district consultant gave you after a long period of boredom. Little did I know how much that vision would evolve through my lively discussions with the colleagues I would meet, and how that same community would encourage me to stay in teaching during the dot com revolution of the mid-nineties. I knew I could always count on the support of my writing project colleagues on issues of equity and social justice. And I knew they would help me figure out how to teach my English learners to write well. Because of my writing project, I had a place to go to when I needed help, and I had a place where I could share what I had learned. Over the years, I began noticing the number of outstanding colleagues who had been influenced by the writing project model and realized that there was much power in Jim Gray’s idea, “teachers teaching teachers.”

The removal of federal funding will not take away the notion that teachers have something to add to the great national dialogue in education.  Those of us who have been part of the 206 writing project communities across the country will not forget what we have learned. But the countless new teachers who join the profession each day are at increased risk of leaving the profession. Teaching can be lonely, exhausting, and difficult work, and writing projects in every state have provided the nurturing environment where this particular teaching expertise can be cultivated.  There may be other organizations providing support, but none of them is such a large teacher network focused on literacy, and in particular, writing.

In this age where writing is the ultimate gatekeeper, to defund such a well-established and effective network constitutes a tragedy for all teachers, their students, and their parents. It is because of this that I am certain Maestro Cordero would have blogged today.

Oscar

While at Nicholls Park (in Richmond) the other day, I met a younger man. He said his name was Oscar. After going through the usual questions most people ask of outdoor painters, he settled next to me and  watched me paint for a while. Then Oscar said, half joking, "bet you wouldn't put me in your painting." "Why not?" I asked. "Can you stand for twenty minutes?" "Sure I can!," he responded. "Ok, you're on!" For the next twenty minutes, he stood there, laughing and joking some more, saying he should have married me because I was "unusually open-minded." Then I called him over to see the results. I offered him twenty dollars for his time, but he refused the money, saying he had had "the time of his life."

Moss Landing, CA

We took a short family vacation this winter. The three of us and our dog rented an RV, drove for two hours and stopped at the coastal village of Moss Landing. Every morning I would take the long walk through the estuary to find a spot where I could legally paint the Salinas River flowing out to sea. For some reason the Moss Landing harbor, though very charming, did not cast the same spell. You can see why in these two 16 x 20" acrylics on masonite.