How was MCT at the Cincy convention? Wished I were there!

[HappyGrace]

They asked permission to use my post on K-8 board about dd's analogy of poetry meter with ballet-did they end up doing that?

 

How was the MCT presentation in general? Was it Dr. Tom speaking, I think?

[gardening momma]

They asked permission to use my post on K-8 board about dd's analogy of poetry meter with ballet-did they end up doing that?

Yes! I was there in that session. You know what was funny? As he was reading the email, he read "dd" as if it was a nickname for your daughter. I wondered if he knew what it meant, or if it was just easier to say "dd" than to try to explain what it meant.

 

How was the MCT presentation in general? Was it Dr. Tom speaking, I think?

I went to the overview. It was very good. Dh went to the Poetry session Saturday, and Dr. Tom had lost his voice. He was speaking in a whisper. Fortunately he had most of his points on powerpoint.

[angela in ohio]

The man is brilliant. I nodded so hard during his talks that I think my neck will be sore for a week. And I have never taken four pages of notes in one hour before. He lost his voice on Saturday, but he kept talking anyway. It must have been terribly painful, and I appreciated it so much.

 

Some direct quotes:

 

Language arts is the core of all content.

 

Knowing poetics makes you a better reader of everything.

 

Knowledge is not the enemy of inspiration.

 

Poets explore the world.

 

You write like you read.

 

The research paper is too complex to master in one pass.

 

Standard writing must be the de facto, daily standard.

 

Thinking is the point.

 

I have never used his materials, nor have I used VideoText Interactive. But after spending a weekend listening to MCT and Tom Clark, I can't see how I can keep using anything else. When the author is SO brilliant and has SUCH a passion for educating our children, the materials must be right.

[Saille]

I now have an intellectual crush on the man. He is delightful: both humorous and passionate about his subject. He has a way of explaining things with a sort of crystal clarity that makes them seem too obvious NOT to teach.

 

It's clear to me that the strength of his program lies in his intellectualism, where the pedantic nature of other programs tends to turn me off. When you hear him speak, you can see that the MCT materials evolved in this way:

 

•I deeply love the classics

•Children know trash from treasure, and have a right to access the classics at an earlier age, and with more frequency

•People argue against this on the basis that the classics are too difficult

•Here, I will break down the component skills, use the classics to demonstrate them, be playful about it, and everyone will see how wonderful it all is!

 

He's succeeding. Anyone who can talk about grammar and give me chills is amazing.

 

More quotes:

 

Poetic techniques are common in great prose, but writers learn their chops doing poetry.

 

Sonnets are like geometry proofs...they remind me of the Parthenon.

 

Also, Classics in the Classroom is totally worth buying. It's an amazing little book. I couldn't put it down.

 

My 6 and 8 y.o. liked him enough to ask to speak to him after the grammar session.

 

I would have paid the conference fee just to see MCT.

[GoVanGogh]

I wanted so bad to attend the conference just to hear MCT. Alas, I live across the country and just couldn't make it work.

 

And I have never taken four pages of notes in one hour before.

I was that way when I read his book, "Classics in the Classroom." :001_smile: I have never taken that many notes while reading a book before!

 

I now have an intellectual crush on the man.

Me, too. ;)

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I am so of everyone who was able to see MCT in person.

[cubfan]

What is this?

[HappyGrace]

I would have LOVED to be there and hear it! It sounds so inspiring; exactly the way I endeavor to teach!

[Snickerdoodle]

I am so of everyone who was able to see MCT in person.

 

 

Me too. I would have loved to meet some of ya'll as well.

[SonshineLearner]

OK

Jealous

Wanna hear him!

Is he a homeschooler?

Our HS conference will only have hs speak.

Some day, I'd rather go to a Classical Education Conference. I don't care if authors hs or private school. I want to be educated about.... education. Not just that I should hs...

[lauracolumbus]

I drank the Kool Aid and eagerly plopped down my credit card. I told dh I think I had a semester of poetry in just that one session. I am now eagerly looking forward to reading Shakespeare.

 

I almost bought the Teaching the Classics, but thought I had spent enough already and had too much to read already. Guess I'll just have to pay the shipping.

 

Laura

[angela in ohio]

Some day, I'd rather go to a Classical Education Conference. I don't care if authors hs or private school. I want to be educated about.... education. Not just that I should hs...

 

You're telling me! I could only hear why I should homeschool or why I should keep homeschooling so many times... once, to be exact. And then for the last eight years, I have been trying to find speakers like MCT who will actually tell me how to do it better or educate me so that I can educate my dc. If Midwest goes any further down the old CHEO 'encourage' route, I may just skip it and go to ACCS, Circe, Logos, and Veritas events from now on.

[HappyGrace]

I could only hear why I should homeschool or why I should keep homeschooling so many times... once, to be exact. And then for the last eight years, I have been trying to find speakers like MCT who will actually tell me how to do it better or educate me so that I can educate my dc.

 

:iagree: Amen, sister!

[Hen]

Is there a list of where MCT will be presented? A link please?

 

I'm in so. Ca and would love to hear him, I just ordered the Grammar Island homeschool set and the Grammar town set for next year.

[GWOB]

Thanks guys:glare:. I skipped his sessions because I did not want to follow the trend. (I am a non-conformist at heart.) I did mosey past the RFWP booth and may incorporate the poetics books. I discovered, thanks to Cheryl Lowe, that I truly am an LCC mom at heart. I do feel poetics are important, though dh and I were too "talked out" to attend that MCT session. Does anyone know if the talk is available on MP3? I do have a 20mile run to do Friday. Perhaps that talk would make the torture, I mean run, go by faster.

[HappyGrace]

Oh, please say it is available on mp3!!! If not, someone should suggest that to them!!

[radiobrain]

Sorry I didn't have a chance to respond sooner.

 

First of all, I agree with EVERYONE. I am a serious MCT fan, and I left his talks inspired and having a whole new level of understanding to his work. I also found MCT and Tom to be wonderful to hang out with.

 

I was so sorry to miss the poetics lecture, and I can't believe that MCT was able to do his last lectures when he had obviously lost his voice!

 

They did not allow recordings of their sessions. The reason for this became obvious once I went to one. MCT spends a LOT of time on the visuals of his lectures and they are an integral part of his presentation. If you were to only hear the audio, you would not get the whole lecture, and would have wasted your $$. Then MCT went and lost his voice... :tongue_smilie:

 

He does have a few you tube videos with excerpts of different lectures.

 

I hope that next year they give MCT the speaking time slots that he deserves.

 

I have to say, that MCT was the most inspiring speaker I have been to.

 

PS... I still recall a few things that Tom Clark said at a lecture 3 years ago.

Edited April 12, 2010 by radiobrain

[lauracolumbus]

Wendilou, I, too, struggled w/jumping on the MCT bandwagon and am an LCC'er at heart. But, I learned so much in his sessions and can't wait to dive into his materials. I was disappointed that the very last session had MCT pitted against SWB HS'ing the second time. I tried to go to MCT first and then to SWB and it didn't work out. I think I missed the best of both.

 

Laura