The Sattler Series: Dave's Visits to My Classroom

First Post of the Day

Dave was kind enough to visit my classroom several times.

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SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2012

Cartoonist in the Classroom!

As part of the preparation for our Reaction Art Museum, I invite guest artists to speak to my students about their artwork and to explore how art can be a reaction or response to a certain event. The final component is looking at Superheroes - did you know that Superman was created in the 1930s as a response to the rise of Hitler, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, etc.? The world needed a hero, some hope, and Superman fit the bill. (Take a look at early comics of him. See who he fights?)

You can also see the rise of technology and cultural changes through Superheroes, so we look at 10-12 of them, see how they reflect the cultural mores of their times, and then look at how they change as society changes. (It really is quite fascinating. So many cultural markers that can be traced - who we fear, racism, feminism, urban trends.... Superheroes truly do reflect us.)

Dave graciously agreed to visit my classroom this week and to talk about his work (which is a reaction to newsworthy events in our world.) I thought his clean-line drawing style would help my students draw their own Superheros which they are creating in response to a current issue of their choice in our culture.

 Part of Dave's discussion centered on how to communicate your ideas by zeroing in an an aspect - for example, a longer nose indicates an older character while a button nose a younger one. Facial length was another good indicator. Here he shows how he illustrates youth with a short face. 

And he even drew Boo, although he started by just drawing the outline of Boo's head and had them guess what he was drawing. It's a football shape, and that is what they guessed. Boo's #1 fan, aka me, knew exactly what Dave was going to draw!

Dave certainly delivered! He really gave the children things to think about as he discussed how he comes up with ideas, how his editorial cartoon is a reaction or response, and how it reflects us and our culture. Dave's presentation was spot on to what we were learning and thinking about!

Here he shows us several stages of his weekly editorial cartoon - how they begin, what they look like when he sends them to the newspaper, what is added in at that location, etc.

A picture with the students. They were so excited about having him come and what they learned. I cannot wait to see what their Superhero characters look like now that they are chock full of ideas and inspiration!

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And from another visit, this one in April, 2010.

Dave generously created a cartoon just for us. Knowing we were studying conflict and that I was trying to bring it down from a global/national level to a local/individual one, he asked the kids what conflicts they faced. Naturally HOMEWORK came up. Dave then asked the kids what sort of symbol might work in a comic for homework. Suggestions included a backpack, a notebook stuffed with papers, and a happy teacher. (Ouch!! Surely not!)

Dave got to work with a pencil, sketching out the figures, and then using a marker to finish. The end result? A schoolgirl staggering under the weight of an enormous book labeled "Homework" with Boo the cat sitting on top! The kids and I were absolutely delighted, especially when he signed it and presented it to us! 

Thanks, Dave! You're the best! (Even if you leave Boo out occasionally.... :D)

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More to come tomorrow - will it be about worms? Or will it be about the portrait caricature that the recipient hid away from others?

Stay 'tooned!

The Sattler Series: The Story of Boo

Second Post of the Day

Originally published in Teachinmama, this sheds light on why the black kitty, Boo, appears in the portrait that Dave drew of me.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2012

The Cartoonist versus the Teacher: A Sunday Morning Tradition

(All cartoons are shown with Dave Sattler's permission.)

Lafayette is fortunate to have its very own editorial cartoonist. For forty plus years, Dave Sattler, a lifelong local resident, has been drawing wonderful cartoons for the Sunday newspaper that comment on (and sometimes skewer) the ins and outs of life in Indiana. Opening the Sunday paper and reading his weekly cartoon is something I very much look forward to. (You can see them on Friday if you go online for a sneak peek, but I always wait!)

Dave is married to Nancy Sattler, a friend of mine who teaches at Hershey in the classroom next to mine. One day a couple of years ago, she was talking at lunch about their diabetic cat, Boo, who required daily shots of insulin. A fellow teacher asked in a derisive sort of way, "Why go to all that work and expense? Why not just put the cat to sleep?"

And Nancy drew herself up and responded frostily, "Because that cat allows my grandchildren to put diapers on him!" (He willingly acts as a baby when they play house.) She then proceeded to tell us some of the things patient, loving Boo tolerates from her six grandkids. Later, Nancy also told me that Boo kept Dave company in the early hours of Friday mornings when he works under deadline to draw that week's cartoon. Apparently Boo follows Dave down into the basement and hangs out with him by the drawing board while Dave creates.

Who wouldn't love a wonderful cat like that? I have been a Boo fan ever since.

Dave occasionally included a little black cat in his editorial cartoons. Sure enough, that was Boo, Nancy confirmed when I asked. Seeing Boo in the cartoons was a treat, and I began finding myself disappointed when Dave did not include the kitty.

One Boo-less Sunday, I decided to email Dave and, in a tongue and cheek manner, protest and tell him how disappointed the President of the Boo Fan Club (i.e. me) was that her favorite kitty had not been included in that week's cartoon. I said something along the lines that, if deer could be on campus, certainly Boo could be, too.

Dave responded quickly, telling me that Boo was in the cartoon and hiding behind the newspaper box.

And that started a nearly every Sunday correspondence between the two of us. On Sundays when Boo was included, I would comment on Boo's activities for that week. When he wasn't there, I would "protest" and ask Dave to reconsider.

Recently, on the second Sunday in a row without a Boo sighting, I emailed Dave "complaining" about another Boo-less editorial. Dave replied, "Look closely." So I pulled out the newspaper and did:

 The Boo Fan Club President hung her head in shame when she saw that she had overlooked her favorite kitty in the lower left-hand corner. "Okay, Sattler, game on!" I thought. "You won't fool ME again!"

 The following Sunday, I again had to look hard, but I spotted Boo in the passenger seat of the car. Those two little black ears were tiny but unmistakable! (Apparently Nancy asked him why Boo was in the car, and Dave responded that he knew I would be looking for him.)

Today's comic was very, very clever. Not only is Boo himself hidden, but he is present in another way, too. (The background on this cartoon is that a family is suing a local school district. Their 13 year old son was asked to remove a "Save the Boobies" wrist band that he claims is in support of breast cancer awareness and the family claims the school district is suppressing his right to free speech. I am with the school district on this one!)

In addition to the cat hidden in the hair of the character on the right, see Boo's name all over the place? I wrote Dave the following email:

Boo barrettes! What a concept! As fan club president, I should have thought of that one myself!  

I am not sure about using the BOObies bracelets as fan club memorabilia, though. The teacher in me shies away from that one. ;-D

As always,

Signed most respectfully yours,

Lynn, Boo Fan Club Prez

Here are some of my favorite Sattler cartoons (many without Boo, but that's the way it goes!)

I like this one because Boo plays a central role and actually gets some dialogue:

It is in response to a community art project where artists (including Dave) signed up to humorously paint dogs under the theme "Dog Days of Summer." The dogs were displayed all over town. Boo got his own 15 seconds of fame! (Not sure who his friend is.)

 The girl-geek in me LOVES this one:

Downtown by the courthouse is a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette. Apparently his sword was broken off the statue. Dave suggests replacing it with a light saber! (See Boo?)

And being married to a teacher, how could Dave not reflect on some of the things that happen in education? 

Most Indiana educators are appalled at what our governor, Mitch Daniels, and state superintendent, Tony Bennett, have done to education. This cartoon is hanging on the wall in the Hershey librarian's office.

The next cartoon actually happened at Hershey as well as at several other schools in the state. After a LONG list of mandates as to how the ISTEP tests MUST be administered, and in-your-face comments bordering on accusing teachers of cheating... (the state of Indiana actually counts erasure marks on a test - too many, and the teacher is accused of cheating. Happens a second year in a row? Your name WILL BE PUBLISHED in your local newspaper. Even if you did not cheat. I kid you not. Some of us were in tears over this.) ... there was a SLIGHT problem.

After following ALL the mandates, familiarizing ourselves with ALL the rules, ensuring that EVERY child was assigned a computer, and that THEY WILL NOT use ANY OTHER COMPUTER for the duration of the testing...

 ... the test itself proves faulty, and children are kicked off randomly throughout the testing period. It was a HUGE fiasco and the state had well-deserved egg on its face. Dave memorialized our frustration at the double standard to which we were being held. (Teachers must be perfect; the state, not so much.)

One of the cartoons that touched me most:

 That's Dave and Nancy standing in front of their home. The original cartoon was published the Sunday after 9/11; Dave reprinted it on the tenth anniversary this past year.

Craig had a question about this one: "Does Nancy know that Dave wrote about her?"

 Yes, that's Dave and Nancy in the new Mackey Arena, and yes, she knew he'd written about her. (Not sure she was super excited about it...)

And finally, my most favorite of all. The one that I clipped when it came out Father's Day, 2009, and is taped to the computer in my office:

 For me, that last panel reflects the joy we feel when our kids call us. Whether it's early in the day, afternoon, or evening, whenever the phone rings and it is one of our children, that happiness is the emotion. Dave captured it perfectly.

I told Nancy about my feelings for this editorial, and she laughed and said that Dave had gotten tons of comments about it. She then told me that he had struggled that week to find a topic, and that he felt this one was a bit lame. He was surprised to discover just how many people, like me, connected with it.

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Next up? Dave visits my classroom.

Stay 'tooned!

The Sattler Series: An Introduction

First Post of the Day

Dave Sattler is an artist who drew editorial cartoons for Indiana as well as many other news outlets across the country for 50 years. He is still drawing now.

I am lucky to have been "Sattler-ized" and this caricature of me hangs in my bedroom. It was drawn from a school photo of me, one I did not know he had access to, so it was quite a surprise when I received it.

Dave signed his work and he also added Boo, the cat that appears in most of his art.

He was kind enough to also give me the digital file of the artwork and permission to use the picture as I wished. What a gift!!

Dave's picture of me graces my original blog, Teachinmama.  

And, I used the digital file to create post-its and notepads to use in my classroom. 

The notepads included the classroom motto that a student had coined, "Flying high with Mrs. I!"

I even have some spiral bound journals that I used both when I was teaching and here at home.

As you might imagine, I treasure that picture that Dave drew of me. It has great meaning to me and is even more unusual since Dave only very rarely will do a portrait of someone. All the more reason why I was so surprised when he gifted the caricature to me.

So, how did all this come about? Well, this is the kick-off post for a new short blog series titled, The Sattler Series. (I know, imaginative title, right?) I'll explain how I became Sattler-ized and also share the story of Boo the kitty that I mentioned in this blog post.

I think you will enjoy the stories. (Teaser: Worms, anyone?) A second blog post is coming this morning so...

Stay 'tooned!

Word Play with Word Nerd Lynn

Second Post of the Day

Adding a few labels to a blog post helps with future searches, for me and for readers. And when I am adding a label, Blogger will suggests words it thinks I am writing.

Rarely do I pay any attention to those and simply finish my own typing, but recently the suggestions were popping so fast and with so many, that I ended up taking screen shots.

The word I was adding as a label?

Ian. 

As in my grandson. 

And here is the long list of words Blogger suggested that I might have intended to write:

As I think about it (the teacher in me has awoken!) I remember that the suffix "-ian" is a very common one. But I hadn't realized how much that three letter combination was also embedded within words and not as a suffix. (Dalmatian: suffix; piano: vowel arrangement within a word.)

I really do love the nuances of our language and how vowels and their placement affect pronunciation and even meaning.

The most fascinating many-voweled word I know, though, is not an English word even though it has become a part of our language, especially in Indiana. It's a word that means "place of the people of the whirlpool" and it refers to the area along the Wabash where the Wea people lived.

The word is "Ouiatenon." As in Fort Ouiatenon.

Four vowels in a row with a total of six vowels in the word! I used to challenge my students to find another word with four consecutive vowels and then, if they accomplished that, a word with six vowels in it. (No internet searches were allowed, at least not for the first 24 hours of the challenge.)

By now you may be thinking, "Whoa! Lynn was right - the teacher in her has awoken" and perhaps your eyes are even rolling up into your head. Sorry/not sorry!

Words, word play, their etymology and how they are used... I love them. Thanks for playing along with me today.

Picture of me at my desk in my classroom drawn by Dave Sattler. An unexpected surprise, he gifted it to me after a visit to my classroom to talk to my students about drawing and it is framed and hanging in my bedroom. The kitty has its own story.

Stay 'tooned!

I Stand Corrected - Again

First Post of the Day

Jessica may not be a teacher like Lisa and me, but she still knows her Ps and Qs. She jumped into the er/-ber conversation with some more insight for me.

And then she sent me a video she had made and captioned, "Happy Augtober, Besties!

I've watched it multiple times. I love how the two very different songs by the same artist are juxtaposed together and it's always fun to see grands!

It's videos like this one that first prompted me to ask Jessica if she could put together my BreyerFest seminars and year after year she has made me happy with what she does with the clips I send her.

"Augtober" - I'd not heard the term before but it is a good descriptive word for those who love and rush the Fall holidays. And I love the definition of the -ber months as the brrrr months. Things my kids teach me.

Coming up next is another word play post, one that I wrote some time ago as an emergency post for when I could not write for some reason. It fits right in with the word play topic.

Stay 'tooned!

Just Another Day

Second Post of the Day

Speaking of Lisa, she called me mid morning yesterday and asked if Rosie could come over while she took Nash to the vet.  Having Rosie over always means lots of activity and play time for the other dogs, but especially for Tammo.

He's jerking on the poor little toy mouse so hard that his ears are flying!

One of Rosie's strategies is to simply lie down and hang on to the toy. Like Mama was, she's built like a Mack truck and solid. It's muscle, not fat, and that little girl is STRONG.

Usually the other dog wears out after working against that dead weight for a while and gives up. Smart girl!

Speaking of dogs, my arm still looks pretty gruesome scary shocking icky. It has gotten infected so we are watching it.

At one point I drew a line around the infection boundaries but since the infection never crossed the line, I knew it was not getting worse. I washed off the line and at the moment have no plans to see my doctor. 

Despite having Rosie over, I finished the camel/elephant block print shirt. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

The sleeves look overly long because its a 3XL and the shoulders are much wider than the hanger and thus the shoulders hang down. That makes the sleeves look like they were made for Bigfoot.

Those printing errors that looked so glaring are small and spread out across the fabric making them hard to see. I will still let interested buyers know, though.

Today's plan? An early morning walk with Craig, Tammo, and Pepper, and then heading back into the sewing room again. I got started on a 2XL trade shirt yesterday and I'd like to finish it today if I can.

Ian has a football game this evening, but the heat is so oppressive, I'm most likely going to stay home and indoors. (I wonder if they might cancel the game due to the heat?) I'm also getting ready for a visit from Sarah - she flies in tomorrow to spend Labor Day weekend with us. Can't wait!

Stay 'tooned!

From One Teacher to Another

First Post of the Day

My family reads my blog, something that makes me happy. How do I know? Once in a while they will privately text me and comment. Sometimes that is because I made an error, or I left something out, or even that they remember things differently.

Yesterday, I made an error that Lisa pointed out. Which makes sense - she came up with the "er" concept that I had shared.

Except... I'd gotten it wrong. It was NOT "er," it was something else.

Got it, Lis! I see what you mean. (But "Augustber" is even worse than "Auguster.")

And there you have it folks. Be sure you call them the "-ber" months because the reason sure does make sense. LOL

More coming; stay 'tooned!