Hungry Minds

I think that the title itself draws attention to the article. I thought that first and foremost the mere fact that this was all taking place in a church. I know of many churches around my home that incorporate soup kitchens during the day. It's comforting to know that things like this go on in many major cities such as New York. I said in the beginning that the title intrigued me because I didn't know where the writing was going. Being hungry is a terrible feeling, but I think that the author was trying to convey that being hungry to write is just as important/noticeable as being hungry for food. When I first started reading about the writer's workshop that was being held there I honestly found myself, ashamed, stereotyping those who would be going to a soup kitchen. Normally we think of homeless people, or even people in need of a free meal like that as being unintelligent. However, that really isn't the case at all. The author recalls so many stories of the people who came in and out of the workshops and the impressions their writings had. One point in this piece really stuck out to me: "In the workshop’s fourteen years, several participants have died. Pierce, a tall, white-haired man with bushy black eyebrows, was a volunteer at the soup kitchen. Almost every piece he wrote centered on the most important moment in his life—when he attempted suicide by jumping into the East River. After police pulled him out, he quit drinking; many of his pieces ended, “One day at a time.” A few years ago when the workshop reconvened, we learned that Pierce had died of a heart attack not long before." Even a man like this had such an impact on Frazier. We don't know what is going on with other people in their lives, but Pierce had the opportunity to showcase it to everyone by writing and sharing his work. His life changed because of it, and I want to think that this may have saved him slightly before his time to die had come.

I personally knew a man one time who was homeless for 4 years. The man was a local at our Taco Bell and he always sat outside. He never asked you for money or food, but one time he did ask me for a pen and a notebook. Most of the time I went to Taco Bell right after school. Tim was sitting there one day when he asked me, and I happened to have my book bag in my car. I got out a notebook that hadn't been used yet, and I gave him a pen and pencil. I asked him why he would want such a thing and he brought out, from his trash bag, and old tattered notebook and handed it to me. Page to page was filled with writings. This particularly was a journal he had been keeping. Tim told me he wrote in it everyday. When I asked why he simply said "I have a life too, and maybe one day someone will want to hear about it." I never really thought about that day until reading this article.

Everyone has a voice. Today's society lends us the opportunity to have it heard. Right now for instance I am writing on a blog that the entire world could view if they wanted to do so. Another form of writing is graffiti which almost anyone can do as well. We all have voices, and that is what I think this particular writing is telling us. The great thing is that it's real. There really is this opportunity that has been given to so many to have their voices heard throughout a room full of people who truly are going to support them. Below is a video of a writing workshop being used in a very young classroom. It goes to show that with the right preparation and state of mind, anyone willing can learn. I think it's a great video to showcase the variety of ways this concept can be used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi9hkwvF2Dg

Linking Our Mini Lessons to Image Grammar

We have been doing these mini-lessons in class recently. I have honestly enjoyed doing mine, and taking what others have to offer from theirs. I like the idea of doing such short lessons within our classroom time. It does have its down side though. I hate when the students who are trying to create these elaborate lessons must be cut short. Of course it would be ideal to give us all much more time, however we aren't given that luxury by only having class once a week. Anyway, back to Image Grammar. Many of us have been given the lessons that we are supposed to take right out of this book by Noden. Many of these particular lessons come right out of the book. The fictional lesson was one of my favorites. We took fictional writing but placed our own spin on it. Noden's book is filled with a lot of strategies that will help us as future educators. One of my favorite strategies is on page 90. It's called "Read a Scripted Fantasy."

This strategy allows students to close their mind and really try to get a grasp on items that they are going to be writing a poem on. The best thing about it though is in the beginning the students have no clue what they are doing this for. They simply are told to think of a machine and an animal. I like that afterward there is a set of steps that the students are supposed to follow. I like it because although it is a very organized strategy, it leaves enough independence to the students to create their own kind of poem. Creating poetry actually is one of my favorite things to do with students.

Poetry allows us to write whatever we want to write, and it really can't be a "bad/wrong" piece of writing. We are given the option to rhyme or not, make it long or short and we can choose whether to have it make sense or only be understood by us. The ability we have in poetry is endless. I think that is a message that Noden is trying to relay to us in his book that our possibilities as teachers are endless. He gives us strategy after strategy that we can use in our classroom. He also gives us topics and scenarios that would allow us to think outside of the box as a teacher. Many times we ask this of our students but we never do it ourselves. Below is a video of an alternative form of "poetry." These kinds of ideas and ways of "performing/creating" poetry are alternative ways we can help encourage our students to participate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdta43fVmes&playnext=1&list=PL1C2B0C673BAC96EC&index=9

The Professor & the Madman

This book was actually really interesting to me. My girlfriend had to read this for a separate class last year, so I was already very familiar with it. I think the concept behind it is brilliant. It truly depicts how writing can bring people together. James Murray and William Chester couldn't be more different from each other. Although Chester may have been considered "normal" before the murder, he was still discharged from the Army for weird behaviors as well. However, through the use of a pen and paper, these two men found a bond piecing together one of the greatest reference books in the world. When I think about a dictionary I honestly can't imagine the work that has gone into one. Looking at page after page of words being defined honestly gives me a headache, and I only turn a few. Yet, where would we as English majors be without the dictionary? It's hard to imagine that these words took that much time, effort and thought into defining them for a world to reference to constantly.

I thought for a while how this book would relate to us as future educators. As I said above, I think one of the messages in this novel is that writing can bring even the farthest strangers together. I think applying that to high school classes is a huge task, but one that is inevitable. My job, in my eyes, is to create a room where I teach not only how to look at literature, but how to put your writing down on paper. Now, that seems simplistic, sure. Yet, after observing in Akron and student teaching now, I think that's really the first couple of steps. Kids need to get back to the basics and then I can act as Vygotsky and take them further. I think that while teaching my students will no longer be separated by differences they may have, but united in the fact that as of now, they are all in the same boat. I think this book shows that concept. A convicted man behind bars, adding to one of the greatest books, with the help of a well respected man from Oxford.

Re-Reading Harry Potter

With less than a month away from the premiere of the new Harry Potter, my roommate, girlfriend and I are all starting to re-read the series. With so many books I feel like it's going to be quite a task. The books are rather long and will require me to be dedicated in my reading. However, doing this will only help me when it comes to teaching. We are in positions where many of our students are unfamiliar with this literary "canon" that we are expected to be experts on. Yet, I personally think that these are some of the books we should be brushing up on. Many of our students will find this sort of reading to be more enjoyable. Although the school may require us to teach Shakespeare, The Great Gatsby, The Chocolate War etc., these books are ones we can use to fill in for those students who need a suggestion of a book to pleasure read. I also know that for instance at my school my cooperating teacher has told me she was able to choose a young adult literature book at her own discretion for her Junior level class. Back to my topic. Harry Potter is set in a world of fantasy. Wizards, witches, werewolves, trolls etc. These books really open up the imagination of the reader. Obviously everything is fictional, and half of the enjoyment is how you view it in your mind. We talk about everyday in class ways in which we can really reach our students. We have given examples of successes that we have had thus far in our teaching. For the most part, I haven't heard us talk about many books we are teaching in the classes.

I think of last year when we were in Dr. Pytash's class and she gave us the opportunity to choose a young adult book to read and do multiple assignments that went along with it. Honestly, this was my favorite thing I have ever done in a college classroom. I enjoyed it for several reasons. Dr. Pytash introduced this activity to us in a way that was as inviting as possible. She did research on all of the books we were able to choose. She told us the categories in which they fit into which allowed us to narrow our decision. Once we had dones so, we chose the books, read them, presented them, wrote papers on them. Now, obviously there were much more details than that, but what I truly loved was the ability of choosing something ourselves. I really got excited about what we were doing and I got excited about sharing my book with everyone. I ended up going on to read the next two books in the series and The Hunger Games has become my favorite trilogy. Below is a PDF file about some research done on young adult literature. Not only has it been incorporated into English classrooms, but into others as well. This research is trying to show that young adult literature can benefit students in all areas, and all subjects that schools offer. I enjoyed reading it, and found it to be very interesting and informative.

http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/young.pdf

Chapter 4 Writer's Workshop

I actually used this chapter in my ten day unit plan. My unit was on Characters. I had to do anything and everything that included characters and how they apply to reading, writing and English in general. I started off my unit by actually reading the first paragraph of the chapter. My students looked at me perplexed. Yet, I got their attention. My absolute favorite line in this entire chapter is located in that first paragraph: "Now don't misunderstand: By "action" I do not mean merely street fights, car chases, and passionate love scenes. By "action," I mean any thought, word, or deed that engages your character with some other character, and thereby becomes an event." I think that is such a good statement for a couple of reasons. My final assessment for my students was them composing a very short, two-page narrative. When I told them that I wanted them to develop their characters, they all become flustered and clearly anxious about the assignment. After reading this to them again they started to settle down. I remember Dr. Kist reading this to us in class one day and I knew that I would be using it to help my unit.

I think it's a great chapter with all the in-depth looks we see for characters. Koch talks about the point of views, roles of characters, voice, dialogue etc. When I am writing a story I never really think about the depth that my characters can have. I have the power to develop them into such dynamic people. With this chapter I did a lot of activities with my students. We did activities that allowed them to develop characters that didn't even pertain to what they were writing for their narratives. I talked to them about the ability to really get into developing their characters. Like our activity in class where we acted out skits with random stuffed animals. I did something very similar to this in my classroom as well. My students loved it and afterward I allowed time to begin writing and I think that really helped them open up their creative minds and get going on their writing.

When I wrote my own narrative for my students, I modeled characters from my life that were real. I developed them in ways that I only could have. Nobody else knew what had happened in my story. I had all the power. I think that really was my overall message for my unit. I challenged my students to be creative, use the pencil as a weapon when writing. "Give me more, more details, more dialogue, more actions, more adventures, more characteristics, when in doubt, write more." This was my "lecture" at the end of the day before their paper was due. Below is a funny clip from Family Guy. I chose this because we see the dynamic development of Meg, Brian and Stewie within a short two minutes. Little things like dialogue, scenario and body language tell a lot about characters. Although this is a video, you can see how this being written would give a great indication of who these characters really are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lich59xsjik

Writing

"Good writing occurs because a writer passionately desires to say something....Students do not need more abstract advice about how to write. They need somehow to have their feelings kindled." X.J. Kennedy This statement couldn't apply better to my feelings about writing. I like the idea that Atwell established her classroom as a workshop. In chapter 10 she lets us know that she believes it is imperative for her to be a role model for her students. With her bringing papers of her own, or stories, poems etc., it shows her students that there are adults who write as well. We can't ask our students to write for us if in fact they don't see us writing at all. We are English teachers and this should be like breathing to us anyway. I hope to establish my classroom as a workshop just like Atwell in the future.

http://www.oneofus.co.uk/index.php/writing_tips/writing_exercises/

Above is a link that has a couple of writing activites that could help others dive into some "non-traditional" way of teaching it. My personal favorite is "Writer's Tennis" because I have had such success with this actually in my life. I was introduced to it during high school, and I actually used this when I was helping tutor for the OGT at Akron North. Many of my students were not passionate writers, and when we were practicing on some of the essays for the OGT I used this approach. I would help them after they wrote a paragraph and we would write off of each other. Clearly the students wouldn't be able to do this on the test, but my idea was to keep them thinking and writing the entire time.

Student Teaching

I think it's only appropriate to talk about student teaching in this blog. I want everyone to know that I absolutely have been loving my experience at Field High School. I am learning and gaining so much from this experience. When I am in my classroom I am able to lead discussion, grade papers and dive into lessons. I have taught 2 lessons completely so far and have been very involved in others every time I am there. Taking everything in about the school has given me a better outlook on how my future might be shaped. I see how schools are run and how everything gets done. I have been watching other teachers as well and soaking everything in.

I do wish that KSU's teaching program would have gotten us into schools sooner. I have talked to many teachers over the past few months about my experience and they were shocked to learn that we had only been in the schools starting last year. I am not in anyway bashing our program, I just am learning so many more things by actually physically being in a classroom as opposed to just reading about it. I would be interested in seeing if anyone at KSU would actually consider placing education majors inside of a school somehow even earlier than Junior year. On a POSITIVE note, like I said, being in the classroom for hours has proven EXTREMELY beneficial. Learning things like, how to redirect lessons that are going poorly, treating students equally, interacting with students is truly something you can't learn from books, and I am learning so much just by being there. I can't wait to see how this unit turns out!

Myers Article

I think that this article showed a lot of insights to things that I have never really thought about when it comes to teaching. I never take into consideration the "early years" of teachers and how they helped pave the way for us today. On page 66 of the article two things really caught my attention. One was the fact that the pencil was the main technology that had led the way to writing. I know this seems so odd to us today, but the fact that something so simple took them so far. They were talking about quill pens not being so productive. Now we have computers, pens, mechanical pencils, smartboards etc. and it makes me wonder about what articles a hundred years from now will be saying. Will they think we are out of date??

The other thing that caught my attention on this page was the statement about the only books, if any, that were in the house at that time would have been a Bible and an Almanac. It's crazy to me that those would have been the only kinds of books available to them. I personally think it would have crowded judgment and not allowed for any personal growth. Imagine students only being able to view one or two books. Actually, when you think about it, some students attend schools with such poor funding that this actually may be a reality. It saddens me thinking about what some were subjected to in the past. However, it does bring a sense of hope for the future because I think of the advancements we have made from then. I can only imagine how far we will go in years to come.

Netflix, Gaming, Texting

Yes, I am going to blog about Netflix, Gaming and Texting. I am a HUGE movie watcher. As Dr. Kist said, we should all be up-to-date about what is going on in the media. I think being aware of what kinds of movies our students are watching is a good conversation starter with them. A lot of the time students don't want to talk to teachers because they don't think that we are "cool" enough or know what is going on with their lives. If we are able to strike up a conversation about a movie that we both have seen then it could put us, as teachers, in a different light to them. Netflix is available in all kinds of ways and we just became subscribers at my house. You can get movies through the mail, on PS3, on the Wii and through your labtop. It's amazing the technology that is out there right now.

Our students are constantly playing with their I-pods, cell phones and PSP's during classes. I don't think that these are a good idea for the classroom, but I think they should be allowed during lunch and study halls. I know this goes against everything that most schools try to establish. Hear me out. If our students are writing, reading and putting conversation/thought into something, why are we trying to stop it? I know that the texts, and the gaming scripts aren't traditional ways of reading and writing. However, the fact that they are doing so is a positive thing in my opinion. Below actually is a link to an article about schools who have embraced this change. With allowing cell phones being used it has reduced the "sneaking" of texts in class becasue they have the chance to communicate anyway. It's an interesting read and I agree with every part of it. I think that more schools should accept this change as well. These schools have had success embracing this change and I think that I will try to bring it up to my school district now and in the future.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100921/NEWS0102/9220333/More-high-schools-embrace-student-texting

Adolescence

It's a funny word. You never really know how to take what teenagers are doing or saying. We were all there once in our lives, but it seems as if their thoughts can be so strange and unfamiliar to us. Atwell talks on page 55 about the fact that one of the most important things middle school teachers can do is be aware and conscious of the real issues that teenagers are dealing with. I think that this should apply to teachers on ALL LEVELS. I don't think that there is a time that teachers and educators should ever be unaware or unsympathetic to the emotions and lives of their students. Their lives and what goes on in them does affect who they are in our classroom. This particular section of the book focuses on poetry which I think ties in perfectly to this message.

Poetry is such a great way of expressing what is going on in your life. Emotions, thoughts and dreams can all come out in poetry. It is a freedom of expression that has no boundaries. I think that although many adolescents would run away from the thought of writing poetry, teachers need to put it in a light that will interest them. I have actually began a poetry "unit" with my teacher at Field the past few weeks. Our students have began writing and reading more poetry and they are finally starting to enjoy it. A lot of my students are actually opening up about themselves within their writing which makes it even more enjoyable. I get to finally know more about my students. I have encouraged them to continue writing and to make a collection of their poetry throughout the year. At the end of my student teaching I would like to do an activity where the students bind their work. I think it would be special to them and hopefully they continue to enjoy it.

Reflection for Pytash

I have learned a lot in Professor Pytash's class this year. I went into it, as I did with Dr. Kist's class, thinking that all we would be doing is lesson plans and reading theories on how to teach all the time. I was thankfully mistaken. In our class I have learned to much about how I am going to develop my classroom in the future. We have looked at texts in such a deeper way than I have any other class. We have broken up into groups and dissected material and learned from each other on ways in which we can teach the material in our classrooms. I also have loved actually reading about all the ways to approach Literature. I knew about feminism, and Marxism and etc. However, reader response and topics such as that were fun to learn about. I have a new look at how to truly analyze Literature. I think that professor Pytash made us really think about ways to involve ALL students when reading a book. She let us know that not all students are going to be able to get the message that other students are going to pick up easily once they begin to read a book. She too has had so much experience in her teaching and she was able to share stories with us about ways she has worked with students, and what she has found to be helpful in her adventures as a teacher. I plan on taking away the lessons, the activities, the critical thinking and all of the MANY ideas we talked about during our group discussions in class. Professor Pytash, it again has been a pleasure being in your class this semester. I know that you may think sometimes I prefer, oh say a football game, rather than class! However, I want you to know that I truly have learned so much from you over the year. You have been so kind to me and all of my other peers in the classroom. You treat us with respect, and truly give us every opportunity to learn as much as we can. You have been a great role model to me, and I will take the lessons and insight you have given me throghout my career as a teacher. Again, thank you for all you have done!

Reflection of Multi Modal

I have honestly thoroughly enjoyed being a student in this class this semester. It has opened my eyes to a lot of issues that we will be facing in the future as teachers. I think that there are a lot of things we have used/discussed that I'll end up using in my class in the future. I will certainly create wiki space for my students for a project. Personally I thought that was the best project that we have had all year. I love the fact that we are all able to gain/learn from everyone else in the process of creating them. It has been interesting learning about how things such as cell phones, movies, music, TV and even the internet are such useful tools that we can use as teachers. Most of the time when I thought about what my classes would be like once I got into my education classes here, I assumed all we were going to do is write lesson plans and study about theories all the time. This class showed me there is so much more to teaching that not only enhances us as teachers, but allows us to develop our students as well. Students are going to be technologically advanced when we begin to teach them. Being on the same page as them when we enter the classroom is not only going to make me confident, but I'll be at a comfortable and understand level with them on things that will be going on in their lives. Looking back at my blog, I have grown over the year. I still don't think I'll ever use a blog in my classroom just because I still haven't found the love for them that I had hoped to. I have thought about using a blog however, it would really be more of a journal that the students could write in at the end of the class period. I would not think that I'd ever make it a requirement outside of the classroom. I have changed my views about worrying whether or not I will know how to use some of the sites and gadgets that my students will be using as well. I have never been technology savvy but I feel like now I at least will be able to join in discussion. Finally, Dr. Kist, I just wanted to tell you what a pleasure it has been being a student in your classroom. You truly are a remarkable teacher and I am not just saying that because you hold the ticket to my grade :) I am saying that because every week we come into your classroom and I can tell you really are enthusiastic about what you are teaching. You know your content and have given us tools that we will be able to use in the future that will make us more successful in our careers. Over the year you have treated us with respect and been a great role model. Thanks for everything you have done!

Jago Chapter 7

I liked this chapter due to the subject that it was talking about. I personally used to HATE classic Literature. I still find myself finding new pieces to try and dissect and I still get frustrated at times. Jago takes her time and patience when she is teaching this topic. She lets us know that she believes it's imperative that high school graduates know how to read such Literature. Pieces of works like these have shaped the ways that poems, books and movies have been made over the years. It impacts them whether or not they want to admit it. On page 154 I liked how she confronted her class with the question of : "Who would make the best President out of Julius Caesar, Brutus, Cassius or Antony?" It's enabling students to look at Literature like this that is going to help them actually start to learn and understand the issues within the text. Jago also lists ways to actually assess whether or not students have been reading the texts, or whether they have gathered information from friends or merely internet sources. She takes a closer look at their work to see if they actually had a deep reading of the text or just on overview look at it. I am happy that I had to take an AP English class my Junior and Senior year before I came to college because I know how to read these kinds of works and how to analyze them. Unfortunately, not everyone was blessed with those opportunities and it has hindered them in college. I hope that teachers like Jago start taking the initiative to make this topic an important one in their classrooms.

The power of TV

I have been sitting here the ENTIRE day with my roommates watching every single Harry Potter movie! Lame, yes I know, you can judge me. We have sat here for the past 12 hours just watching these movies. The fantasy and all of the creativity put into them has been fascinating to me. I know that TV doesn't really seem like a topic of blogging that I should be writing about when I am supposed to be blogging about our future as educators. However, I think that movies like these are great for students. The fact that as a 21 year old adult I can still enjoy the fictional aspects of these movies is awesome. It allows my mind to think creatively and wonder off to places that textbooks or even most novels can't even take me. I know that Harry Potter is also such a widely recognized series of books that millions of Americans are hooked on. Some students don't have the attention span to read a book that is over 400 pages long. Yet, I guarantee a student could sit down and watch one of these movies for 2 and a half hours and would be able to articulate all kinds of aspects that were put into the movie on a paper that they could write. It would be an easy assignment and it would still be considered educational because they would obviously have to dive deep into the movie to analyze it. Just because students aren't strong readers, it doesn't mean that they are terrible writers. Sometimes it's extremely difficult to write on materials you find difficult to read. I think creativity is half the battle when it comes to writing, and these movies certainly spark that part of ones brain. I easily think things like this could be incorporated into the classroom.

American Born Chinese vs. Naruto

The two graphic novels are similar and different in a lot of ways. I am going to talk about American Born Chinese in this paragraph because I would have to say that of the two, it was my favorite. The way the novel was set up was that of a normal comic to me. It read from left to right, had color, the scenes were depicted nicely on each and every page. With all comics it's either extremely hard or quite easy to follow the dialogue of the characters. Gene Luen Yang did a great job of having the flow of conversation easy to follow throughout the novel. The bubbles came in sequence as my eyes moved across the page. The sound affects I think came at appropriate times in the novel. I am not a fan of authors writing out sound affects, I think they should be implied. However, they certainly were not overdone in the novel. I thought that the characters were drawn very well throughout the book. Each page they looked the exact as the same before and they were believable. You could tell there was a lot of detail that went into creating both the fictional and non-fictional characters of the novel. Even the Monkey King and all of his encounters had details about them that made them intriguing to look at. The scenery in the novel was creative. I personally was a fan of the dinner party that took place up in heaven during the first few scenes. The general layout of all the scenes was put to good use. I think that the way the cartoon images were shaped and the borders around them fit nicely onto each page. I liked the simplistic use of black bordering and white text bubbles. When there needed to be close ups to provide emphasis during a certain situation I think they were used effectively. I don't think that the mood or tone took away from the novel at all. I personally thought I was really just reading just another book that was brought to life by pictures. I haven't read many graphic novels because I have never been one to enjoy them, but this one was different than most. I think a lot of time and care was put into this. The characters and their relationships, roles, dialogue and actions were all thought out carefully and it was a well constructed novel.

When it comes to Naruto I don't necessarily have negative feelings. The two novels are just completely different from one another. It took me a little while to figure out how exactly to even read Naruto. I don't like the fact that it was reading from right to left, it just doesn't follow the protocol that I am used to. The balloons and text were much more difficult to read compared to American Born Chinese. I think a lot of that just has to deal with the fact that Naruto is in black and white instead of color. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all. I must say I am not a fan of using things such as "?!&%" to try to indicate feelings or thoughts. It's much easier to type or write out what the person is trying to say or think. I certainly wouldn't consider them to be noises because those aren't noises. I understand though that a lot of comic books do this with their text, I am just no a big fan of it. Naruto did have a lot of strong qualities to it. The characters looked fierce and strong throughout the novel. I am guessing that most of the reasoning behind this is due to the NINJA story from the book, but it does appeal to a guys point of interest. There were a lot of close up shots in this novel which didn't require any scenary to be in place for that box. However, when there were scenes in the pictures, they were actually very detailed and look like they had more emphasis on them rather than the characters themselves. I do wish that this novel would have been in color. Looking at the cover of the novel, it looks so much more professional. Yet, I guess that the black blood and bruising and the overall darkness of the novel gives it a more edgy feeling which again plays along with the ninja aspect. There were funny party in this novel, particularly the part on 102 where he can't kiss Haruno because he has the runs! Overall I would recommend this novel to young male readers, but I don't think too many other people would enjoy it.

Bullying

I know we have been discussing topics that have to do with all sorts of media in the classroom. We have talked about the use of blogs, Facebook, cell phones, Twitter etc. In one of my other classes we are learning about how students use all of these kinds of media to bully one another. Kids sending threatening texts, posting something mean or rude about another on Facebook, or Twitter accounts made that are purely just to make fun of someone. The fact is, that the majority of this is actually happening IN SCHOOL, a lot of these events don't even occur outside of school. So what can we do about it? I personally think that these types of media are fine to use freely in and out of school. I use my cell phone all the time to text and don't think that students should be held in different standards. But when it crosses the line, I think that something surely needs to be done. There are countless stories about kids being bullied this way and it ends up being a serious case where someone ends up hurt. I read the other day on line about a girl name Louise who was receiving threatening texts from girls at her school. When she went to her teachers with the issue they wrote it off and told her that's just how girls behaved. Two weeks later Louise was foudn being beaten up by one of the girls by her bus stop. It had gotten to the point where Louise was unconscious on the ground with the other girl on top of her kicking her face. Louise was in a coma for over a month before she recovered. The point I'm trying to make is that although these are helpful tools to all of us, we need to be aware of the dangers that they provide as well.

Multi Modal - Cleveland Film Festival Experience

I am unfortunately going to say that all in all, I did NOT have the best experience when I was at the film festival. I know, it was supposed to be something fun, and something to get us outside of the classroom but it just wasn't pleasant for me. I don't particularly like the city of Cleveland, and I found myself thinking the same about Music City Towers. I felt that the building itself was nice, but everything was so crowded, and everyone I seemed to run into was rude. With the bridge being out, I was literally 2-5 minutes late for the movie I wanted to see. I tried buying tickets, after running to get there, and they told me I was rude for thinking that I could come so late to a movie. I had to wait an hour and a half to see the next movie that was playing. When I finally got my tickets and got in line, some man informed me that I was in the wrong place since I didn't have a pass, and next time he would throw me out for cutting the line??? I simply walked back to where the movie was playing, stood in line with everyone else, and waited for the movie. Three workers told me to go there, and this security guy had other plans. Once I was finally in the movie, it started 45 minutes late! Wondered to myself if my first choice of movie was really on time or not. I did however watch a great movie, but I will talk about it in my next blog.

Classics In The Classrom Chapter 5

I realized I got a little overexcited about poems last time, and am not sure about how to "edit" these, so this is actually going to be my post about Chapter 4 instead of 5! Getting back on topic, this chapter was interesting to think about. I mean, we all know how stories go, with the beginning, middle, and end. But, sometimes when we think of it that way I tend to think someone is only telling me facts instead of an actual story with meaning behind it. In this chapter it talks about the importance of introducing characters, setting the mood, having a plot, picking a setting etc. It goes into much more depth than we would think about if we were telling a story, but we are doing these things unconsciously when we are telling a story. Yet, an author needs to be careful because that is their main goal when putting together a work of literature. They need to pay attention to details like, the rising action, climax and falling action. Without them a story wouldn't really be a story. I also really liked the list of words that are found on page 69. A lot of these are words that a student should be familiar with when discussing a book. It's interesting to think of all the things that have to be covered before finishing up a book. I would never be able to really write an entire novel that was long. I would fear that my thoughts in my head wouldn't be conveyed on paper and would confuse my audience.

Classics In The Classrom Chapter 4

Page 75 "STUDENTS NEED POETRY." That's all I had to read and I knew I was going to enjoy this chapter. Along with my Mother, we both feel like poetry has diminished slowly from schools. We don't see it in the curriculum except for maybe one lesson or a possibly reading a classical poem or two. When students hear that they are going to be writing poetry they cringe at the thought. Many of them think "God we have to rhyme, everyone is going to think it's dumb," the list goes on and on. However, I bet none of the teachers put it like this book has, which by the way I have been telling any student I have tutored for YEARS. When they go home and put on their headphones and listen to music to block out their parents, guess what, that's poetry. Eminem is probably one of my favorite examples. He is a lyrical genius and has been for years. When we were at Akron North, one of my students said that "Poetry is gay man" and put his earphones in and started listening to Lil Wayne. I tapped my pencil on the table and asked him to tell me the lyrics he was listening to, and to write them down. He actually wrote the lyrics in a poem form, broken up line by line. I told him that he had just written poetry. Kids just need to be taugh of all the advantages that writing like this can bring. Many poetry assignments are going to be left open for the students to pick about what they are writing about. What could be easier? I think students are scared of poetry when they have to try and learn about sonnets, couplets, stanzas etc. If given the tools and knowledge of how to approach/think about writing poetry I think we would see a change in this pattern of behavior. Personally poetry is my favorite thing to write. I love escaping and putting all my thoughts that are trapped inside my mind onto paper and relieving the stress they cause.

Multi Modal - Film Review

Movie- Warrior Champions

Personal Issues- I'm not sure I understand this prompt, but I think that the issue in the movie was quite strong. Everyone in the theatre can relate to facing adversity in their lives, and trying to overcome barriers set in their way. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house during some of the parts of the movie. I think I would tell other viewers that I too can relate to their issues. Clearly I have never been to war, nor lost a limb, but I have experienced losing the use of my legs for 6 months, and trying to battle back to achieve things that doctors said I wouldn't be able to do.

Technique- The use of music weas fantastic in this movie. I think the two brothers who produced it did a great job analyzing and coming up with certain music for certain parts. I think they had great views and shots of the actors/actresses throughout the entire movie. It was more of a personal autobigraphical movie, and yet they portrayed it into a story shot by shot. I loved the fact that they have so many angles that in the personal view of the viewer. It's in third person point of view, and it makes you feel as if you are actually at the Olympics during points in the movie.

Acting- There were no roles in this movie. It was the story of 4 athletes who were injured in Afghanistan and were competing to the Paralympics. I think that was the best feature of the film. I liked the fact that these were real people, in their own roles, and nothing was going to interfere with who they were, even with a camera in their faces.

Plot- I basically just told you the plot. The brothers filmed 4 athletes, 3 of which actually competed in the Paralympics in Beijing. They followed them as they trained, lived their daily lives, and traveled to Beijing to compete. The end was their journey home, and what they did after their experience of a lifetime. The film was awesome this way because I love non-fictional movies. I think it brings a certain element that fiction can't produce in their films.

Themes- The theme is power. I don't think I could put it any other way. The struggles and adversity these people face are so incredible, that only sheer power could get them through. I am not only talking about physical power, but mental and spiritual as well. I thought that the messages throughout the movie were clear and concise. I would rank this movie as one of my top ten favorites.

Genre- I would say that this would be in a category of it's own. I would almost call it an inspiring movie before anything else. It really is a documentary of things that we should all be aware of, and actions we should take when we think we have it tough. I loved the entire movie, and I can't say that I have seen anything like it in my life.

Representation- This movie represents veterans in such a different light for me. I have never really thought about people who have just served and are still quite young to be so affected by the war, yet I hear about people dying everyday. I never really knew how many of the prostetic limbs have worked before I saw this movie. It is interesting to me just how mobile these men and women have become.

Ideology- I wouldn't say that any ideology was challenged or confirmed, but I think the audience now has a better understanding about what really goes on in the lives of those who are handicapped. I usually think that people, myself included, would feel sorry for them but not anymore. I think that these people are just as normal as me, and yet I believe many of them seem happier with their lives than I do with mine sometime. All in all, I thought it taught a great lesson

Classics In The Classrom Chapter 2

I found this chapter to be somewhat repetitive but useful and full of things that we could use as teachers. Of course Literature is all about words. Unless the book is a picture book, there would be no way for a student to read a book, unless they have it on cassette. I do however, like the emphasis that this chapter places upon vocabulary. I feel like all the time the students don't have a wide enough vocabulary to comprehend the novels they have to read in high school. On page 26 I like the "My Vocabulary List" that they have for use. I think it's a great idea that student would have the opportunity to write down the words and page number they are on when they encounter words they don't know. It's useful because I feel like many times the students pass the words over and just continue reading. Although this can work with some novels many are filled with words that will confuse and stump students and we find that some students are just too proud to ask for help. I think this would put it discretely and allow them to find the help themselves.

I also enjoyed the do's and don'ts of how to teach vocabulary. A lot of times in my education my teachers would simply ask us to look up the word in a dictionary. They never took it upon themselves to help us integrate that word/words into our daily lessons. I think it's lazy to make all of the responsibility fall upon the students. Words are the key to learning about literature. I think practicing and focusing on vocabulary is a lost art.

Multi Modal-I'm So Totally Digitally Close To You

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html

" They call it 'Ambient awareness.' It is, they say, very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood through little things he does- body language, sighs, stray comments-out of the corner of your eye." This article was INSANE to me. Not only was it interesting to read just how the website of Facebook was created, but it was interesting to just read and look how severely a site like this really impacts the lives of millions around the world. I admit that I get on Facebook probably once or twice a day. However, to be obsessed with knowing everything and anything about your friends is too much for me. He mentions "News Feeds" which is an application on the site, but they were solely made to make it easier to "creep" on people.

About the topic of Twitter, I will stand by my previous post about disliking the entire concept. Twitter is just a site for people to constantly tell us what they are doing. I don't care if you are "bored at work" and five minutes later you are "still bored at work." Yes, Facebook has the whole "Status" set, but most people update that MAYBE once a day. I might do it once a week. Plus, Facebook only really interests me so I can keep in contact with my friends who I don't get to go to school with, or whom I have fallen out of contact with.

These days I do worry about some of the content that may be on my Facebook. I admit that I have had to clean up some of my pictures and comments. Not because I was doing anything illegal, but because how I act and what I say to my friends is completely different than how I will want to be viewed by a potential employer. I fear that daily many people don't stop and think about that, and unfortunately it will come back to haunt them.

Classics in the Classroom Chapter 6

There were several points I liked in this chapter. One of the first was the author talking about the use of comprehension tools. In the chapter the referred to one way using this is making a chart of the gods for the students that are reading the Odyssey. This is a way to further their knowing of what they are about to be reading and studying. Another thing that we could use is simply a character list from the internet before a student would read the text. Comprehension tools to me are a way of helping your students reach their highest potential point of learning. A lot of times teachers will dive into lessons and won't give any background on the information that they are teaching.

One of the other points I loved in this chapter was on page 97. There were 4 points the author made that I believed summed up key points of teaching.

1. Being a teacher means being a learner- although we are going to be the ones teaching, it doesn't mean we can ever stop learning. We learn from other teachers ways to better our classrooms and lessons, and we learn from our students how to help convey a message or meaning in a better way to them. We can never close our minds to new ideas and approaches.

2. However much you think you know, it is always worth thinking some more-again I think this is very similar to the above statement, but it corresponds with my life goal of "Never being satisfied." When you think you know everything, someone out there knows it better.

3. Whenever you find yourself in a quandary, read the research- there will be times where we won't know what to do in our classrooms. We will be stuck either with a lesson or with a student of ours and we are going to have to go get help. We need to look to research for how to deal with such things.

4. Teaching well can be thrilling- we all need to be excited about our jobs. When we create lesson plans and teach our students they are going to only be as into it as we are. Like Dr. Kist we need to be enthusiastic about our approach in order for our students to feel the same. We are going to teach well and it's ok to be excited about it because that is what we have worked for these past 4 years.

Chapter 3 "Classics In the Classroom"

I enjoyed reading this chapter, but there was one part that caught my attention more than anything else. It was the part in the chapter that talked about reading for empathy. I tend to read literature to escape my sometimes boring life, and dive into another adventure instead. This is a typical thing to read for. Yet, I enjoyed reading about how many of the interns/students at Columbia University are required to read literature to help them become more empathetic towards their patients. "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is supposed to make them realize that what they are doing isn't simply just a job, but that they are affecting people everyday with what they do. I found that to be very interesting because usually you wouldn't think such a task like this would be required of doctors. I always just think they are more like robots who come in, do their job, and don't worry about anything that may potentially go wrong with any of their procedures.

Yet, when I really started to think about this part in the chapter, I think about my future as a teacher. I am going to have students from all different backgrounds, religions, ethnicity and heritage. I am going to need to be empathetic for the students that I am going to be teaching. I need to learn about who they are, where they come from and the things that they can relate to. Too many times we see teachers who are ignorant or naive about what is going on in the lives of their students. I refuse to be one of those teachers. I want to not only educate them, but allow them to further educate me. Those boundaries don't need to exist between students and teachers, they should be broken down and allow everyone to connect on much deeper levels, which I believe in turn will enable further education development to occur.

Chapter 1 "Classics IN the Classroom"

One of the points in this chapter is this: Reading Literature Educates Students' Imaginations. I believe that this is 100% true. The example of Gus and Bigger is just one of many examples that we can use to exemplify this. When we are giving our students literature, we need to keep this in mind. For instance, students in bad neighborhoods or those who come from poor families need literature to help them escape. When these students are reading it is a good idea to give them novels that give them hope. When reading students relate to the characters in the novels. They can take things away from their situations and begin to adapt those morals, values, and ideas to their lives. I know for instance when I was trying to find myself in high school, my teacher set the infamous "To Kill A Mockingbird" on my desk and it changed my life. I remember thinking about someone like Tom Robinson who had nothing going for him. I was feeling sorry for him and thought of just how easy my life really was. Then I could also relate to Atticus Finch. He was a man who I envied because he had all of his things together, and he knew how to be a man in a town full of boys. It's inspiring to read fiction like this book, however non-fiction is just as powerful as fiction. Many non-fiction books give us insight into lives of people we can only dream to emulate. Autobiographies about our favorite sports stars and idols can be very inspirational. Someone such as Marshall Mathers, who came up from nothing, and rose to be one of the biggest white rappers in America's history could truly touch the lives of students. I was very moved by this section in this chapter, and I believe it touches on a very important subject of being a future teacher.

Multi-Modal Costanzo Chapter 2

In this particular chapter, I never really understood the "entire" concept of their being different languages within a film. I do get the fact that film has characters/actors, and what they say and do doesn't necessarily mean what we may think it means. On page 16, Metz says "A film is difficult to explain, because it's so easy to understand." He makes a valid point that as an audience our main objective is to get to a theatre, sit down, watch and interpret. We don't have any other objective when we go see a movie. However, there is so much more there than what meets the eye. All of the angles, the cast of actors/actresses, the setting, tone of voice, etc. Everything comes into play in these movies, and that's what I think he is referring to.

Throughout the chapter talk about Cinematic Grammar and the use of signs and referants. The grammar part is understandable to me. I believe that things such as music, sweat, position of an actor plays a vital importance to getting a message across. The tune of a sorrowful jazz saxaphone can indicate a mopd change for a particular character. There are things in movies that don't need words to get the message across to the viewer. On page 18 Costanzo explains the difference between signifiers, and what is being signified. I know that when I watch scary movies, as soon as I hear eerie music, I brace myself for a surprise because of years of that happening to me while watching movies.

I enjoyed this chapter because it took a look at more of the elements of film, rather than JUST how we VIEW it. I would have never stopped to think of such things, had this book not been a requirement for the class.

Reflection on Multigenre Autiobiography

I have been thinking back to all of the presentations that we looked at last Monday during our class, and those that we will be seeing tomorrow morning. I thought about how I put mine together, and the preparation that others used for theirs as well. I think activities like this strive for us to think about our lives from the outside looking in. We all can dwell on our past, but it was different to put it on display for everyone else. I did enjoy the fact that there were multiple sites that we could use to enhance our ability to create these projects. It was necessary for me to rely on something else, because I wasn't able to access PowerPoint on my computer. Yet, looking at all of those other sites also allowed me to think of ways to incorporate those things into my classroom. Things such as mixbook could be used for group projects to show each step of the way that the group took before they reached their conclusion. Thinking about the future also made me really take a look at everyone else's projects. Yes, a lot of our information was similar to each others, yet there were also categories where they were extremely different as well. I think this is important to look at because these were the stages that we went through in our lives, just as our students will be going through as well. We need to be aware that not any two students are going to be the same, that their "Multigenre Autobiographies" are different from the person sitting next to them. I think that too often teachers imply that children are either going through the same things that they went through when they were younger, or that they are all going through the same childhood experiences. I hope that a project like this could be used to get students to think about themselves and all the ways that things have impacted their lives. Viewing each student's would be a great way to break the ice and delve into their perspectives in the beginning of the semester.

Activities we have been introduced to

After reading some of Dr. Kist's book, it has really hit home just how "creative" teachers these days really need to be. I love that in this book, and daily he gives us examples of what we can do to keep our children entertained and focused about learning. Besides our experiences last semester, I haven't had much time in a classroom teaching besides when I was required to teach a chapter or two in high school. These are the facts in my head that I have actually been having nightmares about (don't judge) next year we are going to be in charge of a classroom, our students won't be clueless about the fact that we are first-time teachers, these students (as I'm sure did we) will thrive on the fact that we are inexperienced. Yet, after reading more into the Socially Networked Classroom and thinking about the things we do every Monday morning in Kist's classroom I am beginning to see that we have more power than I thought, yet it really lies within our capability to be creative. I just keep thinking that I personally need to remember how I felt in high school. I am afraid that at times I will want to almost be a robot and go through the motions that we have been taught throughout our time at KSU. However, I am totally going to borrow these ideas and games what Kist has been teaching us every week. I think about how before we even start the day he asks all of us what we did over the weekend, what media we've been using etc. This class, like he told us the day he gave us our syllabus, isn't about getting that A, but taking so much more away from it and I think I am finally getting the grasp on that. I too am learning SO much from all of you as well. I know that I don't know everyone as well as I would like to, but I do take mental notes of everyone's contributions and opinions in class and reflect how I could be more like ya'll when I step into a classroom.

Multigenre Autobiography

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Still having trouble

I find myself thinking about this whole "Blogging" thing constantly. I am NOT a fan of things like Twitter, or Blogs, yet I find myself having to do them in order to receive credit in this class. I am not dismissing the fact that they are useful. I guess I am just finding it hard to get motivated about logging on a seeing what everyone is discussing and talking about. When it comes to Facebook I am more content doing that because you only post things when you want to, and a lot of times you really are only responding to things others say to you. I will say that i find it very beneficial at times. You can relate to others' blogs and generate ideas for the classroom, papers, discussions or projects. If anyone can give me some pointers on getting more excited about this part of our class I would LOVE IT!!!

As for things that are happening right now with the Multigenre assignment I am loving this project. It's really based on whether or not you have the ability to be creative or not. I mean, yes, there are areas where you must follow the grading rubric and actually present a significant amount of slides. However, really I think Dr. Kist is looking for us to be creative and artisitc and enthusiastic about this presentation. Activities like this will allow students to show off their skills and love for something that has touched their lives. Not having to do any writing will encourage children to dif deep into the material and actually spend time on it. As for me, I feel like this whole project is going to bring up what a loser I was when I was a child, and actually still am today.

Little Brother

The main topic I want to address in this blog is, FINALLY, I found a book that pertains to the "smart-alec, gamer, and delinquent" student that actually puts them into a positive light. Marcus is obviously portrayed to be a strong character in this book. Although he clearly defies authority, it is not frowned upon in the pages. The author portrays him as being very intelligent (because he is) along with all of his other friends. It is clear to me that this book would be an acceptable book to use in a classroom as an English teacher. It is a rather large book, and to ensure that the majority of the semester/quarter wouldn't only focus on the book, I would suggest that it be used in a Junior or Senior level course, where the students would be able to take on a heavier reading load. Many of the topics covered so far in the book may be "touchy" subjects, but none the less are topics that students see, talk about, and hear everyday. We are not limited to our discussion about "terrorism" especially in books that are fictional. I so far think the way that this book is written is perfect for high school students. I am enjoying it, and find it to be an easy read, as opposed to something I have to trudge through to turn the pages. I look forward to reading the remainder of it.