WELCOME Family Members Spring 2015

November 8, 2014 Oral Proposal Presentations
April/May 2014 Teacher Video Journals

Welcome Family Members:

I enjoy inviting family members to our graduate research seminar to meet each other and to meet me.

I am the person responsible for some of the sacrifices your spouse/parent/partner will make this semester. They are an example of what research is, what it involves, the importance of it, and how you need to support them.

You can support them in the following ways this semester:

• Powerpoint of Cohort  Members
• They will be involved in a project that they are not sure about-so they will be more fragile than usual, absent-minded, preoccupied.
• Provide routines and support them on a temporary basis to relieve some of this stress.

• Your parent/partner will be preoccupied-do not interpret this as indication that they do not love you, care for you, or are neglecting you. There is a reason every book has an acknowledgement page. Those who live with writers and researchers, are understanding, cognizant that their counterparts are working on something for the greater good.
• Let us feast today for tomorrow will be challenging work to do. We will celebrate in May at the completion of their diligent and focused work.
• Sometimes they may just need to talk and for you to listen to play out their thoughts and to articulate and to make meaning of what they are thinking. Build in some scheduled time together. On Saturdays-family time. Sundays-give them the freedom to work on their project uninterruptedly.
• Practitioners also need to establish a productive working time free from distractions and interruptions and temptations. Support them in accomplishing this.
• Not all of their stress will come from me. They are the ones who will be conducting research in their classrooms. If they are unusually stressed, be proactive and offer to make dinner or suggest to order out to relieve some of the stress. Have a family meeting where responsibilities may be divvied up.
• We all know that this is temporary! By Spring Break they will be near the end of their project. Their draft will be due but there may be some minor adjustments which they may still have to take time to do. APRIL 3 is their ORAL EXAMINATION where they will travel to Cuba (half way between Albuquerque) to present their practitioner research to their committee members. They will also be presenting their classroom research at the SHARED KNOWLEDGE Conference at UNM     Alb. on April 23-24. It is not a thumbs up or thumbs down kind of inquisition. I am responsible for their grade in this capstone experience.
• We encourage students to simply tell their story-no need for fancy bells or whistles or fancy delivery. We honor the storytelling approach. Practitioner research is the storytelling art of research. So by simply telling who they are, what they did, why and what happened along the way; what new questions arose; where it led them and where they are going from here, comprise their story.
• Questions, concerns…….
• On May 8, you are invited to their Graduation reception 5-7pm & May 9 Graduatio at SJC (UNM ALB May 9). When you come to graduation/reception, you will be familiar faces to celebrate their successes together. There is no doubt that they will be successful. That is a given; I will see to it.         

(Frances Vitali, January 12, 2015)                         



Symbolic Artifacts of Creative Process  
Pen = Drafts & Revisions
Money = Investments already made & future gains
Puzzle Piece = Piecing the story of your research story together as you go
Spring = Flexible, stretchable thinking
Journal = Art & craft of your writing and storytelling
Dinosaur = Transformation & following natural process               
Candy = Taking time to enjoy the process along the way