The Professor and the Madman

Reading about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary was interesting. The struggles both James Murray and and Dr. William Chester Minor had throughout this story show their relationship through the text. It is amazing to think that Minor sent definitions for the dictionary. The creation of words is an interesting study. I can see how this novel relates to our final project of slang words because students essentially make up words and definitions through slang. As a project, students could create their own dictionary of slang and use in their writing. The students would have to turn in their dictionary for the teacher to reference what the word means. If a teacher needed to teach students how to read the dictionary and how to use it as a reference, this could be a fun activity. I found a video of Simon Winchester discussing The Professor and the Madman. As interesting as I found this book, I am having a hard time relating it to teaching. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

Teenage Dream

I am a Glee fanatic. I love how the show comes up with new ways to sing older songs and popular songs. Last night the episode focused on Kurt, a homosexual student an McKinnley High School, who struggles finding acceptance from his classmates. Kurt explores a new school and is introduced to a new friend, Blaine, and a new glee club. The club sang Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream." I am also a big fan of Katy Perry and the way this glee club sang "Teenage Dream" left me speechless. It was amazing with different rhythms and they sung it accapella. Please take a look :-) .

Pleasure Reading-Saw 7

So it may not be a book, but this weekend I saw the final installment of the Saw series. I have watched every movie. I am not the typical girl who LOVES chic flicks, so I love this series. It is so creative and every movie has a twist at the end. I don't want to give too much away incase there are more Saw lovers out there, but you won't be disappointed. The killings from Jigsaw are still underway in the final movie, 3 movies after his death. The games set up are more intense than the previous movies. The final movie was in 3D. I liked the 3D features in this movie better than Alice in Wonderland because things popped out at the audience. I suggest anyone go see this movie if you like suspense and gory movies. If you are a fan of this series, you won't be let down.

Image Grammar Chapter 5

I would just like to point out how much I LOVE this book. Image Grammar is such a wonderful resource. The strategies at the end of each chapter are beneficial in teaching specific lessons. I feel that the strategies can relate to more than one component of Language Arts which makes them so resourceful.

This chapter focused on creating special effects with punctuation. In the first section of the chapter Noden says, "Authors often consciously craft grammatical structures and push conventions beyond textbook limits to create special effects of meaning" (Noden 95). While this may be a great method, students should use this is moderation. As a teacher, I would be afraid that students would begin to use proper grammar. This is a great and creative method for developing special effects, but at the same rate I am torn that students may forget/misuse proper grammar. The text further states a study by Dawkins where he demonstrates that good writers use "incorrect" punctuation. Again, this needs to be used in moderation.

Creating Special Effects

While I fear that students will learn incorrect practices, this section states different approaches to show this strategy has advantages. This method is able to show students the relationship between meaning and punctuation. Students don't always need to focus on grammar, but they need to be aware of proper usage. Showing students both ways could be a positive or negative thing. It could show students what not to do, or it could give students an ultimatum for grammar.

Creating Special Effects with Sentence Structure

What I really enjoyed about this section was the way these sentences that teachers fear bring a dramatic element to writing. The examples Noden provides allows students, and myself, to see how fragments and run-ons could benefit a writing piece. Noden says, "When teachers help students see conventions as an aid to meaning, struggling students can better recognize when fragments and run-ons don't work, and confident students can better understand why writers break rules" (Noden 98). This example of fragments shows students HOW to make a piece more dramatic. Fragments in this case were used positively and correlating back to Noden's statement they show ALL students how to understand why writers break rules.

Creating Special Effects with a Greek Influence

Noden uses terms that aren't popular or go untaught throughout the school year. I will admit, some of the terms such as epanalepis and chiasmus I have never heard of before I read this chapter, and I am sure a lot of high school students are the same way. I liked how he breaks a part and defines each term, followed by an example. This not only helped me understand what the term meant, but also showed me how to find them in sentences. Students could use television, movies, or music to find these terms.

Creating Special Effects with Mood Filtering

This section gave me great ideas of showing a happy or funny movie with scary music in the background. The music can show students how it helps set the mood of a piece of work. This could become a fun activity in class. Students could find videos on YouTube, or create their own, then provide music for the opposing effect to show mood. After the groups present, students could then writer a breif paragraph/journal entry on how the song selection affected the mood.

Creating Special Effects with Tantalizing Titles

We are all guilty of coming up with boring titles. We may have run out of time, or our brains are fried from writing the paper. The list of 12 items Noden provides is a GREAT tool to help students create catchy titles. This list could teach students how to write titles. I liked how the list provides an example for each element.

Hungry Minds Article

This article made me want to go help out a local shelter. This article was inspiring. Ian Frazier donates his time and effort to the local soup kitchen in his community. He helps out in a way unlike any other; he is a teacher for the writers' workshop. Reading the background information on the soup kitchen helped put in perspective the types of people Frazier works with. The article states, "It serves an average of about twelve hundred meals a day, though the number often spikes higher" (Frazier). Fraizer considers the soup kitchen a "work of art" and wants to give back to the members of the kitchen.

I like how Fraizer doesn't thrust the idea of a Writers' Workshop to the people who come in the soup kitchen, but rather lets them know it's a place for them to go. Just like students need another place to release their thoughts, the members of the soup kitchen need the same thing. I admire Fraizer because although many people just stop by the table, not many show up to the workshop. Fraizer still continues to sit and greet the members of the kitchen weekly with flyers. He is always there to try, and his face shows the people he cares about them.

This article reminded me of the lesson Lauren taught about writing. She posted an example of poor writing and asked if the student could become a famous writer. The writer was Thoreau. The members of the soup kitchen may not be the best writers, but they could become famous and inspire the world with their writing. I really enjoyed this article because students could be struggling writers, but want to get their thoughts across. I like how the members of the writers' workshop from the soup kitchen shared their pieces aloud with everyone. Students can become more comfortable with peer feedback, especially feedback that is positive. Students could also feel proud of their writing and want to share it to the class. I feel a lot of classrooms are not sharing writing anymore. I would like to try a coffee shop writing activity where students share their piece of writing with the class after we have finished it in class. Students can bring in coffee, tea, or any school appropriate beverage and the sharing would be like an open mic night. Students could provide feedback to help others enhance their writing. This could be a different twist on writers' workshop. Students could add background music for an effect.

Waiting for Superman

I have also been hearing a lot of good things about the movie Waiting for Superman. This is a movie based on public education and how it is affecting students. As future teachers, we need to make sure we are helping to better the lives of our students. The synopsis of the movie states, "Guggenhiem sets off on a probing journey into the lives of five unforgettable kids whose dreams, hopes and untapped potential reveal all that is at stake at this critical moment."

As of right now, the closest location the movie is playing is in Pennsylvania, but it is coming soon to Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus. It is in Cleveland until Thursday November 4.

Pleasure Reading

I just finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Although this book is for middle school kids, I still enjoyed reading this book. I have always wanted to read this series. Unfortunately, I started with the second book. This book of fantasy is an allegory to Jesus. I made many comparisons to biblical references while reading this book. The lion, Aslan, dies, but resurrects just as Jesus did in the Bible. Aslan and Jesus both sacrifice themselves to protect the lives of others. Narnia reflects life on earth in the Bible that Adam and Eve walked on. The children are referred to as the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve.

This book would be a great resource to use when teaching allegory to students. Allegory is a more difficult term to comprehend, and with this example, children may better understand this term. The fantasy world tends to draw in a better audience, and this fantasy novel will win the hearts of many.

This book was made into a film, so students would also be able to see and compare the text to the film. This novel is controversial because of the religious overtone, but it is a great tool for learning allegory.

I am continuing to build my classroom library. Through the scholastic book orders my teacher hands out monthly, I have purchased five new books with 8 more on the way. My current order includes The Gift of the Magi, Fever 1793, The Boy Who Dared, and a writing tool called How to Write Your Life Story. I am trying to get a variety of fiction, non-fiction, stories for girls and stories for boys.

Image Grammar Chapter 1

Writing as Seeing

✎ In this section, I found some great quotes that could help writers add descriptive language. The quote I loved was found on page 2 and read, "Paint. That's the magic word. Paint pictures with words. That's the greatest advice I can give anybody. Paint the pictures with words. The pictures will appear in the imagination so the person reading it can say, 'I can see that'" (O'Neill). I enjoyed this quote because many students struggle with adding description in their writing. Not only students, but adults can struggle with this as well. This quote shows writers that if you relate writing to painting, then maybe you can "paint" a visual image and be able to write about that image. "A good author writes with a camera, not a pen" (3). Writers need to write with pictures, not necessarily words. I think the activity Dr. Kist had us do with the postcards could really help students create that picture. This activity could help students begin writing about an image, then you could have students create their own image based on the activity.

Painting with Five Basic Brush Strokes

Painting with Participles

✎ In this section Noden describes participles as evoking action. As I grade my students' essays, the sentences are bland; they don't have a variety of sentences. Using the metaphor of brush strokes to help students add to sentences is a great way to introduce different elements of writing that students may struggle with throughout the school year. In the participle section, Noden says, "Using a single participle creates rapid movement, while expanded phrases add details at a slower, but equally intense pace" (Noden 5). I believe one of the strongest ways to show students how to use this first brush stroke is by modeling what they are expected to do. The brush strokes cover more complex elements that are added to sentences, so modeling will help students see what needs to be done, but also it will allow students to work as a class. Dr. Kist's strategy example with the note cards is a great tool to use when using brush strokes, specifically participles. I believe that the note card activity will allow students to expand on sentences, and allow then to add participles. I like how Noden defines certain words or examples in each section because I haven't covered a lot of this information since my high school days. The terminology is a good refresher.

Painting with absolutes

✎ Again, I like how Noden simplifies the definition of an absolute. He says it is "defined simply as a noun combined with an ing participle" (Noden 6). Noden uses the metaphor of a telescope lens to introduce and teach absolutes. I think this is a great idea because you need to zoom in on the sentence to identify the different places where absolutes should/could be used. Students, according to Noden, can learn absolutes by imitating. To help students write absolutes, they could watch video clips and write absolutes based on what they observe. A video example I found was about nature. Students can use absolutes to describe what they see in each video clip. This is the video I found:

Students could also use this brush stroke to create a character profile from a story. Students can use absolutes to create an image from the words.

Painting with Adjectives Shifted Out of Order

✎ In this section, the two examples of adjectives helps students and myself see how not to overload a description. In high school, I remember being taught the rule of three because it makes a description more balanced; however, in this section, Noden says that professional writers "avoid a three-in a-row string by using a technique called adjectives out of order" (Noden 9). I want my students to write like professionals, so this is new to me because of what I was taught in school. I like this rule / brush stroke because it adds variety to a description and doesn't create the dull three word description.

Combining Strokes

✎ A good friend of mine has been a teacher for many years now and graduated from Kent State. This past winter break I observed her classes for extra field work. When I observed she was having students complete this brush stroke activity Noden discusses in chapter 1 of Image Grammar. I observed at the end of this unit because students were combining strokes in their narratives they wrote.

Strategies

✎ There were three strategies that I liked the most in this section. The first was the Create an Artist's Image Palette. I feel this strategy will help students find/locate words and images to help create their own writing. Students can add this Artist's Image Palette to a list provided by the teacher. This list can be a resource for words and terms to use in future writing. The second strategy I liked was Stimulate Images with Derived Poetry. Because I will be teaching a poetry unit in February, I thought this section would be a great resource for me when teaching my unit. This strategy allows students to look for words that could be used in their writing in poetry, and students can then create their own poem. As a teacher, I would like to model this activity with my students based on a poem I select. I could modify this strategy and use it when I teach figurative language and emotional language. Students can find their own poem for homework so all students have different words to select. Then, after the lesson on emotional language/figurative language, students can create their poems for homework. Lastly, I liked the strategy Paint Models from the Nando Times. I liked this because the images are preselected and appear to be school related. Unfortunately, the Nando Times website is no longer available, so teachers would have to select images for students. This strategy though will allow students to select a brush stroke they feel fits the image the best.

Reflection of day 2 of my ten-day unit.

Day 2

Students seemed to better understand the elements of persuasion. The indicator and concepts that students continued to grasp were the different appeals. For the first five minutes of class, students discussed in pairs the characteristics of persuasion based on the story they were assigned for homework. Students were assigned different stories, so in the pairs the students educated each other on the story they were not assigned for homework. Then, the next five minutes we discussed as a class the homework assignment. Students provided excellent examples of logical and emotional appeals. I was impressed with the quality. However, I was frustrated because students didn’t follow the directions. The directions clearly state to use a page number and a quote from the story to defend the response, but only four students followed the directions. Students understood the content from the previous lesson, but did not follow directions. After the homework check, students were put into groups to write a persuasive speech based on a law they picked. The speech needed to include the different appeals, examples from the stories, and it needed to be persuasive. Because I am teaching basic Language Arts, I am trying to push students with this assignment. This assignment is for accelerated classes, but I feel students should practice speaking in public and begin writing persuasive elements. I want to challenge my students because I know they are capable for success. While I was walking around, students seemed to struggle with using examples from the story to their law. Students were having a difficult time making connections between the laws provided and laws from the story about Martin Luther King, Jr. After I walked around to each group, students seemed to understand and make connections.

Students are struggling with providing examples with author’s purpose in a piece of writing when dealing with persuasion. After grading the homework assignment, a handful of students just said the author’s purpose was to persuade. Students weren’t explaining what the author was trying to persuade. This could be due to the vague directions I gave about the worksheet in class. I felt the worksheet was self-explanatory, but as a teacher I need to explain things in more detail. A major concept students struggled with today, also was making connections to the stories read for homework and applying concepts to their group speeches. When I walked around to monitor group progress, students were asking how the law they chose would apply to the story. I had to explain and give ideas to each group. I know this assignment is for accelerated students, but I want to push the basic Language Arts students as well.

In my lesson, I still need to continue to slow down. I feel like I need to cover so much in so little time so I rush through things to get them done. I need to focus on what students NEED to know rather than what students need to get done. If I notice a student or students struggling with something, I need to take the time to slow down and explain a concept again. I may also need to read verbatim the directions on worksheets for a while. I am disappointed that only four students read the directions on the homework assignment. I was impressed with the details students provided; however, I took off points for not providing examples from the directions. I may need to be more clear when assigning homework because I know I explained page numbers and quotes need to be provided. For the next class, students will be presenting their group speeches. I hope that this activity will allow students to apply persuasive terms to their own writing and help them identify persuasion in different texts. In the next couple of days in my unit, students will be introduced to their summative assessment, which is to write a 5-paragraph persuasive essay. This activity is supposed to get students thinking of how to use persuasive language in a writing piece.

As a teacher you learn things that work in a classroom and things that don’t work in a classroom. I tried a snowball activity with laws/beliefs to get students thinking of how it feels when people are restricted from laws. The activity worked, but students weren’t able to really make a connection to how it felt to have a law taken away from them. Unfortunately, I would not do this activity again because it didn’t seem to have an impact.

As a future teacher, I think I am beginning to think well on my feet. When students ask me questions that I am not prepared for, I am able to answer in a correct manner. If I am unsure of an answer, I tell students we can research this together. If a question is related to something that my cooperating teacher would know, I explain to students that I will find out the information and relay it back to them when I find out. I think I handle this very well. Also, I think it is imperative to walk around the classroom when students are working. The teacher needs to be visible and available to answer questions for students, and I am beginning to do this. I walked around to each group multiple times while they were working on their group speech. When students were working on their homework at the beginning of class, I was at the front of the classroom taking attendance. I was visible and available for students.

Journal of Ten Day Unit-Day one

It's official. I am a teacher now! I started my ten-day unit on persuasion today. I didn't crash and burn. In fact, my cooperating teacher thinks I did wonderfully. She said, "If all of your lessons go like this, I won't ever have to be in here." This made me feel confident because I am always harder on myself. Today was an introduction to persuasion, introducing new terms. I began the lesson by showing this video:

The video was to get students thinking about persuasion. I used this video as an example to show persuasion including the different types of appeals, logical or emotional, and the type of tone the author is trying to use to convince his or her audience. After the video, students answered question about the video such as, what was the purpose, what was the tone, and who was the audience. Students were reluctant at first to answer, but then a few students began raising their hands. Two students, Kevin and Solonas, contributed the most.

After the video students followed a guided notes handout to follow the PowerPoint I created.

The PowerPoint covered basic terms for the unit such as intent, persuasion, tone, subjective, objective, etc. Students seemed to follow along better because they wanted to fill out their worksheet. I asked students for examples in the media of logical appeals and emotional appeals. (This was not in my lesson plan). I was surprised with myself that I thought quickly on my feet to ask questions like this. Students began talking about different commercials such as political campaigns, adopt a pet, donate money, etc.

After we worked through the guided notes, students were split into groups to begin reading one of the two stories assigned for homework and fill out the characteristics of persuasion worksheet. Students got a head start on their homework and were able to ask me question if they had any.

As a teacher, I didn't realize the little things that could be so challenging, or that I was unaware of. For example, I started off with the lights on in class while going through the PowerPoint. After five minutes into the notes, I realized that students were having difficulty seeing, so we turned the lights off. This simple procedure was the last thing on my mind, but it created a minor road block for some students.

Secondly, the newer technology in classrooms has been a little bit of a struggle for me because of my height (I know this sounds funny.) The smart board requires the use of a pen if you want to write on the board or advance slides. In order to activate the pen, you need to follow it around the screen. Because I can't reach the top of the smart board, this was a challenge for me. I did practice this the day before my lesson so I could be prepared, so the period before I started teaching I got the smart board ready so I wouldn't have to reach to start it during class.

Teachers make so many decisions throughout the day. I had to make so many in a 41 minute period class. A student asked if she could go to the library to get a book for silent reading. I know silent reading is imperative for Mrs. Schaub's classroom, so I told the student to go ahead. Looking back on this, I should have asked her if she had a study hall she could go to the library. Today was a day of learning, as will all of the other days be days of learning.

If I could improve things about my lesson I would mark down who I assigned what story. Students can say they had a particular story, but they could change the story they had to be with their friends. I probably should have had more authority over this activity. One of the biggest things I need to improve is slowing down. I didn't rush, but the PowerPoint slides could have been slowed down. Students had a hard time keeping up with their guided notes. That awkward silence is what makes me feel that we need to move on in the lesson. Mrs. Schaub and I created the guided notes differently. I used her handout and was unfamiliar with some of the material she added to the worksheet. In the future, I need to make sure I am familiar with all worksheets, even if I borrow one from another teacher.

Overall, my first day was successful. This is a learning experience and that is what I am doing, learning. I appreciate my 3rd period class for their enthusiasm and willing to learn from me. I will have to make cupcakes or something after the lesson to let them know that my first teaching unit was a success. I can't wait to see how the rest of the unit goes.

The Modern Library Writer's Workshop-Ch 6

As I continued reading Stephen Koch's book, I was hoping to find ways to hold workshops in my classroom. Unfortunately, I did not. In chapter six, Koch describes memoirs. He lists memoirs throughout the chapter, but provides no specifics on how to write effective memoirs in a classroom.

I did like some of the points Koch brought up on page 136. I found the section Subject of Your Memoir Cannont Be "You." I like this section because memoirs have to be about something, and as Koch explains, "'you' are not a subject" (Koch 136). A memoir is a story about you, but it the subject you will not shape the story. I think this is a great message for students to understand. I would like to come up with an activity in my classroom to show students that you is not a subject, but can help form a subject. Does anyone have any ideas?

After reading this book, I would like to continue sticking with the writing workshop that I currently use in my classroom at Green High School. The writing workshop I use is from Kelly Gallagher. Students are paired in groups, selected by the teacher based on writing abilities with a higher performing writer in each group. Students will then help correct the six highlighted sentences from the teacher. If that group cannot figure out the mistake in someone's highlighted s

entence, then the whole group has to come to the teacher because no one knew what was wrong. This method seems to work really well because students are learning from each other. I will also provided two comments on the paper for students to work on. Students need to perfect these two techniques for their final drafts. Also, while grading rough drafts, I take notes on common mistakes from students. If a group of students has a similar issue with writing, I will meet with this group while other students are work shopping. I am able to help these students that struggle with a certain topic in writing, while others still are writing. I do not have to interrupt class time to teach a select few of students who do not understand material. IF anyone has any other ideas or references for writing workshops I'd love the help. My cooperating teacher also uses this practice.

Click the picture below for more information.

The Modern Library Writer's Workshop-Ch 1

✔ I hate to admit, but I am not found of this book. I am always looking for useful tools to help teach students. I feel that the title of this book is deceiving because there is not really any focus on a writing workshop. I feel a majority of the book is of Stephen Koch providing statistics of writing with references every other line.

✔ With that said, Stephen provides some beneficial information throughout the text. In chapter one I specifically liked the quote, "Begin with whatever gives you the impetus to begin: an image, a fantasy, a situation, a memory, a motion, a set of people__ anything at all that arouses your imagination" (Koch 3). I thought this quote was important because it enforces that writing can come from whatever gives motivation. This quote reminds me of Nancy Atwell's territories. Writers need to find territories that they want to write about. Territories help writers have a beginning point. Koch also discusses that writers need to write it now. He states that writers tend to say they don't know their story, but if you put off writing, you won't ever have a story. I think this is an important philosophy because students struggle with what to write about, but if students don't ever write, then they won't ever have a story to tell. By starting with an idea, according to Koch, the idea will lead to questions then to a developed piece of writing.

✔ One element of this chapter I disagree with is Koch's philosophy of writing as you know is misleading. He does not believe in writing what you know. I disagree because students may be able to write detailed stories on what they know. I believe a teacher should assign certain writing assignments, but some times the teacher needs to allow students to write about what they know. Doesn't this defeat the purpose of territories? I agree that we should turn the unknown into the known, but also I believe students can focus on the known. The same with reading. Teachers introduce books to students that don't interest them because students can't relate. When teachers allow students to chose what they want to read, then students seem to enjoying reading more. Further in this paragraph Koch says if you don't know what to write about start with childhood. I found this condescending to what he stated earlier in the paragraph. Childhood is familiar with most people. Although Koch says to develop the story of childhood, writers are still starting with the basis of childhood, which is part of the "known."

✔ I like the notebook idea. The notebooks help prepare writers for the entire writing process, before, after, and during. I like the way Koch phrased his opinion. Writers are "preparing all the time." As a teacher, I think I am going to borrow the idea from Koch of folders. He describes using a folder for each paper topic. The folder will include evidence, rough drafts, brainstorming, etc. Students will be able to reflect upon their writing and have a writing portfolio for that particular writing piece.

✔ Finally, Koch describes having rules for rough drafts. I couldn't disagree more. Students need structure, yes, but a rough draft is exactly what it says. A rough draft is the process for students to learn. Rough drafts help writers grow and continue improving writing. If writers have rules when beginning a piece, then writers will not be able to learn from their mistakes, and writers will be turned off from writing all together. Overall, I was not impressed with this book. Koch provides many examples from prominent writers including quotes from these writers; however, I feel a lot of the content in this book is hard to apply towards high school students. Maybe I am just missing something in this book ☹

Reading for Pleasure

Last weekend I went to the drive-inn movies with my two girlfriends and saw Easy A. I thought it was a very cute movie. The message in the movie could apply to anyone, but specifically towards teenagers because teens tend to believe/spread rumors. This movie is about how a rumor spread and ruined a girl's reputation. If this movie wasn't centered around sexual content, I think some parts of the movie would be great to show in a classroom to show the effects of rumors. This movie also makes reference to The Scarlet Letter, which is where the movie gets its name. Click here for the trailer.

I don't get a lot of time to read for pleasure when I am in school taking classes. My cooperating teacher does Scholastic Book orders and I take advantage of this immensely. I can tell where my Resident Services pay check will be going. On the first book order I bought Al Capone Does my Shirts, The Hunger Games, and The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. I have yet to read any of these, but I am excited to start.

On the next book order I am buying a book about autism, a historical fictio

n book called Chains,and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part -Time Indian. When my teacher was in a meeting, I was in her classroom and I began to read the first part of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I thought the humor was magnificent. The book is told by a male narrator who has brain damage/trouble. Throughout the book he has drawings throughout to explain what he is thinking/saying. I look forward to purchasing this book and reading the rest of it.

I am so glad my teacher does the Scholastic Book order because it is helping me build my classroom library. I see how many books she has in her classroom library and it inspires me to continue to buy books for my students. I want to give my students opportunities to read and I will do Silent Reading at the beginning of class so students get this opportunity.

(This is my teacher's classroom library)

Reflections of Course Content

So far in Teaching Language and Composition I have learned many activities to help build a better writing classroom for my students. Like I explained in a previous blog post, I love the idea of the traveling journals with specific topics to focus on. I feel like this is a great way to get students writing, and they help students continuously write. I want to try something like Erin Gruwell and have students just write journal entries daily. The entries can be about whatever they want, but it is a good way to help kids release their thoughts and get them to write. I think that if I had a criteria of how many posts they need to have for the week will be efficient. I don't need to read the entry, only if the student allows me to read it then I will. Journal writing can be very effective.

I also was surprised by the standardized test writing scores. I was shocked that so many of my peers and I had different responses to the grading. What shocked me even more was the fact that my peers and myself have different grading standards compared to the state requirements. This is a difficult situation because this type of grading can be very objective. As a teacher, you need to be cognizant of what is suppose to be in a student's writing. I fell in love with Kelly Gallagher's philosophy of writing. He makes the rubric with the class which I 100% agree with because then the student knows what is expected of him/her. I also like the fact that he personalizes the rubrics to fit each individual student. Each student will have two different comments on the bottom of their rubric for what he/she needs to work on in that particular writing piece. This helps that student perfect the area in which he or she is struggling. My cooperating teacher also values Gallagher's philosophy and I am glad we both get to apply his methods to our classroom. Visit his website for more details.

I am teaching Career Portfolios for my Strategy Demonstration. At first, I was hesitant because I didn't think this was too relevant to an English classroom, but I was wrong. I have found a great idea on a website that I am excited to share with the class. I am almost done preparing my lesson and look forward to presenting it to the class. I will be focusing on a Grade 11 indicator.

Atwell-Chapter 5 Getting Started

I loved Atwell's philosophy of writing territories. In the first section of this chapter, Atwell has students break up into groups on a scavenger hunt to find resources that writers and readers will use. I found this to be a very clever idea because it is engaging students with each other, getting students familiar with writing/reading materials, and it is a fun first couple of days ice breaker. The list is found on page 119 of the textbook if anyone is interested in looking at it.

Students are unable to come up with topics to write about a lot of times, so the idea of "territories" is a great way to get students brainstorming. According to Atwell, "the list of territories represents my self-portrait as a writer" (120). I think this is a great motto. Having students sit in a circle while Atwell discusses her territories, which include topics, genres, and audiences, allows students to get their imagination flowing. This is also a great modeling technique that Atwell demonstrates so students are aware of what she is looking for.

Atwell shares her writings with students, allowing them to build a trusting teacher relationship with her.

One thing I plan on doing with my students is silent reading time. I like that Atwell also has reading workshops. At my student teaching location, the teacher has book talks to get students interested in reading particular novels. Atwell has a similar approach. If a student finds a text he or she is not interested in, Atwell provides that student with 5 choices and gives a brief overview of the book. This is a great way for students to be introduced to many texts. She walks around with a clipboard documenting student progress. I don't necessarily agree with this because silent reading time is suppose to be free of distractions. I think it is a good idea to document student progress, but you could do that through book recommendations.

Overall, this was an informative chapter. This textbook is engaging and I continue to learn many great ideas through Atwell's experiences.

The Freedom Writers Diary

When I was a little girl I remember playing school in my basement; however, it wasn't until 2007 when I first saw the movie The Freedom Writers that I knew I wanted to make teaching my career. The movie inspired me to be an influential teacher just like Erin Gruwell. When I saw on Dr. Kist's reading recommendations that The Freedom Writers Diary was an optional book, I knew I had to read it. I knew the book came out years before the movie, but I was too busy reading other things. I remember starting The Freedom Writers Diary when I was a freshman in college, but because of my busy schedule I was unable to finish it. I am glad I started to read it again.

I have been tabbing certain pages. This diary of all of the students thoughts and feelings is an emotional roller-coaster. It's amazing to see how far these students have come. When I teach, I want students to keep a journal just like the students at Wilson High. Some students may roll their eyes because they have to keep a journal, just as many of Ms. Gruwell's students did, but after getting use to the journaling the students found it as a way to let out their emotions.

I enjoy reading about Erin's teaching strategies and I have some ideas of ways I could incorporate her ideas into my classroom. I am borrowing her "Toast for Change" campaign and lesson for my student teaching 10-day unit. I was moved by this story and feel as though my students could do the same. Erin does a fabulous job of bringing literature together and relating it to her student's lives. Erin knows her students and because she knows them, she is able to teach them.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be a teacher, not just an English teacher. Reading about how "at-risk" students become successful is reason in itself to want to teach and help make a difference in a child's life.

Here are some links relating to the Freedom Writers:

Click here for the movie trailer.

Click here for the Freedom Writers Foundation.

Student Teaching

I am student teaching at Green High School. My teacher, Mrs. Schaub, is very helpful. She has provided me with many new materials such as textbooks and handouts. Her organization fits well with mine. I will be teaching Language Arts 10B, which is the basic Language Arts class. I will have one class of inclusion students. Also I will be teaching creative writing and mythology. I am a little nervous about mythology because I am not as familiar with it as I am the other subjects. In Language Arts I will be teaching Of Mice and Men and Julius Caesar. For my ten-day unit I will be teaching persuasive non-fiction. Mrs. Schaub has given me some great ideas and I have come up with the theme "Toast for Change." I will introduce persuasive speeches, read stories from the textbook, find propaganda and different forms of media that has persuasion. I will also be including a lesson on rhetoric. I look forward to student teaching.

Mrs. Schaub has a website to keep her students informed. I feel this is a great way to keep students connected. Click here to view her website. Mrs. Schaub is a firm believer in silent reading and reading for pleasure. She gives students 10 minutes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for silent reading. She also does Scholastic Book Orders to get students more involved with reading. I like her style and I am learning a lot from her.

M. Myers

✓ After reading what Myers had to say about recitation, I was turned off to the English curriculum of that time period. On page 64 where it discusses the oral recitations appalled me. Having a child sit on a bench facing a teacher to recite a piece of writing or literature is no way to learn. The toe-to-line approach is barbaric. The line, "children were expected to stand on the line, perfectly motionless, their bodies erect, their knees and feet together, the tops of their shoes touching the edge of a board in the floor" (64). The way a child stands, whether they are perfectly motionless or not, will not effect their learning. I can see how children were more disciplined with this method, but this style of teaching reminds me of a boarding school.

✓I was amazed to read about the circulating libraries in the 1850s. In today's society there is a library in almost every township that hundreds of people can use, but in the 1850s there was one library for every 600 free adults.

✓ I think the recitation method has many flaws, but may have worked for its time period. Because the recitation method didn't require all students to have a book in hand, it makes me wonder what the children did who didn't have a book. I understand that this helped with the shortage of books, but each student needs a copy of a book, or at least share. Also, on page 67 the text reads, "In recitation schooling, one's intelligence was determined by how many written materials one could recite." This is entirely not true because a student may only recite one written material, but acquire more information than a student who recites 15 written materials.

✓ I don't like how students were sorted by their order of "achievement." Students learn from each other so students need to be intermixed with their abilities. I feel as though this ranking is just a way to point out who is smarter, or richer in a classroom.

✓ Overall this article was informative of past teaching techniques. As a teacher, I do not agree with this method and feel as though it wouldn't work for students in today's society. Students need more hands on activities to help engage them in learning and teachers need to do more than sit on a bench as a child recites a line of poetry back to them. Teachers need to model what they are trying to conveying to their students.

In the Middle Chapter 1

✓ This textbook kept my interest. The way Atwell begins this first chapter, allowed me to get into her mindset. I am a huge fan of Erin Gruwell, and the way Atwell begins In The Middle reminds me of The Freedom Writer's Diary. Both Erin and Atwell have beliefs of how to teach a certain topic to students and they both didn't fully have support from their colleagues.

✓ I agree with Atwell that students should have an opportunity to write about what they want, and I believe I will adopt this technique; however, in some circumstances, teachers need to have a theme or topic to guide students when learning specific writing processes. I think in my own classroom I will have a mixture of both allowing students to chose their own topics and coming up with a theme for students to follow when we are discussing a more complex writing style.

✓ After reading chapter one, I realized that I resonate with Kelly Gallagher's style of teaching writing the most. I like picking five things for students to focus on rather than completely marking up their papers. Atwell discusses in chapter one how she would go home and continuously mark up a student's paper and they would not correct the error. Focusing on five specific elements allows students to learn better that way.

✓ One aspect of Atwell's teaching style I liked was the fact she would write with students. Although she was not writing well in the classroom, students saw she was a writer. I want to adopt this practice and actually write with my students. They can see that a teacher can write just like students. I like how she has minilessons for writing. I think for my classroom I would like to have a grammar lesson mixed with a writing lesson. I agree with Atwell when she says, "conferences with individuals are more important than minilessons to the group" (Atwell 17). I agree with this because if only a select few need help with a certain topic, teachers waste time lecturing the whole class. That whole list Atwell provides on page 17 is helpful.

Final Reflection for Dr. Kist

* In Dr. Kist's class we learned many activities.  Some of the activities included Trading Places, which is good for shy kids and can replace a pop quiz. We did many community builders where we counted to twenty with no pattern.  We also did human graphic organizers which are a great way to break students into groups. More activities we learned to create groups include the 7 opinion statements and famous friends. I like these activities for picking groups because the groups are picked at random.  Teachers should pick groups to help certain students not feel left out, and these activities make random group picking fun for students. 

* One activity I really liked correlated to the book we read Big Brother. I liked the activity with groups picking out words to relate to the story.  Making it a contest allows students to think about the text more.  This is also a way to get students engaged who may not have read.  After picking ten words that students found to be the most important among their groups, they make a poem.  I really like this activity because it gets students thinking about the text, and also they are using a form of writing in a creative way.  I plan on using this activity when I teach in my classroom. 

* We also studied film this semester.  I liked seeing how films have many elements such as camera shots, angles, etc.  It is important to take a part film like we take a part novels.  Students learn from films just as they learn from novels and picking a part films allows students to think critically. It's important to see how each scene is developed.  Relating to film, I liked how we looked at how women are portrayed. Students always see how gender roles are looked at in novels, but actually seeing it in popular television shows and movies help students visualize gender roles.  I liked this activity and would like to try this with not just gender issues, but also race and social class. 

* I enjoyed the books that we read for this class.  There was a wide variety.  My favorite book we read is probably Little Brother  because I can see many male students liking this book.  One of my fears is that I won't have a lot of texts to recommend to my male students and this is a great novel for them.  If they like this novel hopefully they would be interested in the classic 1984. I am glad we got to read more graphic novels because they are my least favorite.  I like becoming more familiar with texts that I don't know a lot about quite yet. I really liked American Born Chinese and I feel students can relate to the characters.  Everyone struggles at some point with stereotypes and fitting in.  I didn't really get into Naruto because I spent so much time figuring out how to read it.  I have heard how popular this series is so I am glad I had the opportunity to read at least one to become more familiar with it.  

* I enjoyed the projects we worked on.  I loved looking back at my past and seeing how media influenced me.  I would love to do the multi genre project to allow students to see what influenced them.  Students can see that they have learned from many medias such as television, music, art, fashion, novels, etc.  Looking back at my project I surely have and I am glad I got to do this project.  I also loved the Wiki project.  This will become my best friend while I am student teaching looking back at all of the different ideas on how to teach a particular text.   I am excited to see what each classmate of mine has done and I am sure I will learn from the ideas.  I found out I will be teaching 10th grade English and Of Mice and Men, Mythology, and Julius Caesar are all texts I will be teaching.  The Wiki project will help me teach these texts to my students next year.

* One of the final projects we did in class was the Facebook project.  I think this is a great way to get students connected with each other and use the web.  I like how a social network is being used as a teaching device and students can contribute their ideas.  I think this project works well for students who may be apprehensive in class.  Students are able to contribute without speaking and this allows students' ideas to be shared over the web.  I feel that this project will become a national thing someday and I am glad I had the opportunity to try it.  I think if we had more time or had notice of what books/poems we were to read would have been helpful, but we are doing the best we can and I enjoyed it. 

Final Reflection for Dr. Pytash

- We started the semester off looking at certain students and the strengths and weaknesses of each student in language learning. By doing this activity I was able to see how students struggle with learning and ways that they connect to the language.  For instance, Yolanda had an open attitude and understood themes by relating the text to her life. However, she needs more options for her learning and more practices with writing, vocabulary, grammar, and reading.  By seeing the strengths and weaknesses I was able to think like a teacher and see what each student needed to help better their education. 

- Also starting the semester off we looked at the different Language as Learning strategies.  I liked looking at these articles to see how I would prefer to teach my classroom. I was able to pick different elements from each of the categories and relate my personality towards each strategy. The strategy I related to the most was Language as Development.  I related to this strategy because teachers engage instruction to individual needs.  I think by doing this students are able to relate to the material and get more out of a lesson.  

-Working with the Great Gatsby this semester helped better my understanding of the novel.  In high school I didn't care too much for this novel; however, learning different ways to teach this novel helped me appreciate this book more.  I liked creating our own lesson plans and teaching our lessons to help prepare us for when we will be teaching this novel.  I also liked looking at the different literary theory strategies when working with this novel.  I think it is important for students to understand these different theories to help them better understand a text.  I did 1984 for my paper and I looked at it through a social lens.  By looking at the novel through a social lens I was able to come up with many more themes and messages in the book than I would have if I wouldn't have known the different literary theories.  

- I learned different ways to use discussion in my classroom such as the Fishbowl, Save the Last Word for Me and Literature Circles.  I think all of these methods help engage students more than a typical lecture discussion.  The fishbowl strategy is a fun way to get ideas across.  Save the Last Word for Me helps students pick out certain passages and share with students without feeling intimidated. Literature Circles help students focus on certain topics with a small group of people to learn from each other. I always enjoyed getting the different ideas from Dr. Pytash to help me in my classroom. 

- When teaching writing I would like to try Kelly Gallagher's approach.  Looking at student writing as improvements rather than grades is a great way to help students better their writing.  I like that he only has six comments for students to look at because this helps students fix a few mistakes rather than being discouraged by a paper full of red marks.  Everyone can improve and I like this attitude.  Creating rubrics as a class allows students to see what is required of them because they helped make the rubric.  Also having a rubric specific to each student allows each student to focus on their own individual issues with writing.  I love this method and think I will adopt it. 

-Finally closing of the semester with Shakespeare was fun.  In my high school classes we each got a role and read from the play.  It wasn't ever too exciting.  I liked the ideas of the readers theatre play, the silent roles, and the beats to help students learn Shakespeare.  I liked watching the video of the teacher who had students sing to a play because that helped students learn in a different way.  All of these methods help students become engaged and active while learning Shakespeare making it easier to understand and remember. 

- I liked our textbook this semester because it gave many great ways to teach literature.  I enjoyed this class and I will miss you Dr. Pytash.  I have learned a lot in the two semester I have had you and I think the lessons I have learned will help me be a better teacher in the future.  

Autism Speaker

*Michelle Cahoon's presentation on Autism blew me away today.  This year I have become very passionate about autism because I have a resident who has aspergers. He has been denigrated all semester because no one knows that he has aspergers or why he behaves the way he does. I have heard many people say that people with disorders shouldn't go to college, but this resident, along with any other child who has a disability has every right to an education. I was really glad to hear Michelle's story and the information she had to share.  

* I was floored to hear that insurance companies don't want to claim children who have autism or aspergers. These children need just as much aid as any other child and it peeves me to think that they aren't treated equally. I was glad that Michelle explained the difference between Aspergers, Autism, and PDD-NOS. I wasn't aware of PDD-NOS so I was glad she explained it.  I've always read definitions, but when she put it into her own words it made more sense to me. 

*I am glad Michelle is not afraid to speak about her son.  Speaking about her son makes her experience easier to understand, and it is easy to tell that she is passionate about what she is doing.  I am glad she wasn't afraid to tell the class what types of disorders her son has and explained things that work for her son and things that don't work.  

*Reading the autism facts were startling.  The fact that 1 in every 110 kids has autism is crazy. What is even crazier is that the government isn't helping these children. I was kind of surprised that more boys have autism, but as I look back on the autism cases that I know of they are all males.  I can't believe how expensive autism is.  I came back to my room after Michelle's lecture and talked to my boyfriend about it and he wants to do charity work or something to help raise money with me.  Anything I can do to help would make me feel better about this situation.  

*The learning tips Michelle gave were helpful for us future teachers.  I like how she showed the video of picture rules and instructions because this helped show me what I would like to do in my classroom.  This is just one easy accommodation to help students who need extra help. I also liked the social stories that she showed to help children with autism understand things.  I think this would be a fun project to help a child with autism out with. I would like to be that teacher who asks parents for testing records and anything that can help their child learn.  I understand that some children need more help, and I would like to be a positive influence on a child's learning.  All students, not just children with autism, learn better visually or auditory.  There are many ways for students to learn and I think all teachers should know all of their students, not just the students who have special needs. 

* A book I read this past winter was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. I absolutely loved this book because it allowed me to see how a child with Aspergers thinks.  This book is written from a child who has aspergers point of view. This book really helped me see how children who have aspergers reacts to situations and how meticulous and smart they are.  I suggest this book to people to read. If you want more information click here and you can click on the book to read a couple pages.  

The ACM Awards

So the ACM awards is the award show I anxiously wait for each year. The Academy of Country Music honors the artists who worked hard over the past year.  This year was a great show with many great performers and winners.  The show started off with Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley Charlie Daniels, and John Fogerty. Host Reba Mcentire was incredibly funny poking fun of some of the hot topics in America.  There were many great performers such as Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Lady A, Toby Keith, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, and many more.  I was sad Sugarland didn't perform, but they are headlining their first tour this summer..it will be a good one. Brooks and Dunn also performed for the last time on the show..it was a bittersweet moment.  

Click here for the opening performance

The winners include..

Song of the year-Need You Now

Single Record of the year- Need You now

Top New Artist- Luke Bryan

Album of the Year- Revolution

Vocal Group- Lady A

Male Vocal of year- Brad Paisley

Top Duo- Brooks and Dunn

Female Vocal of the Year- Miranda Lambert

Entertainer of the Year- Carrie Underwood

Jago Ch 7- Literature, Knowledge, and the High School Graduate

* This chapter was inspiring with how to teach towards high schoolers who are ready to graduate.  I like how Jago believes that in order for students to meet benchmarks and be successful, they need to practice literary analysis throughout school, not just high school. I never really had to write letters to characters, but I see this often in classrooms.  I never understood how this got students to really learn and comprehend what they were reading.  I believe that through analysis students are able to learn more, make better connections, and grow through the text.  Making an  analysis doesn't have to be just for the English classroom. Many people have to analyze a situation and through analyzing a text, students may/can be more successful with analyzing literature. 

* I like how Jago teaches Julius Caesar. Comparing the two speeches gets students to analyze the text and learn more about the specific characters. Students can have different opinions as to what each speech means about a character, but students then can learn from each others' ideas. A quote I really liked in this section is on page 154.  Jago says, "Yet the recognition of rhetorical devices has value and, with scaffolding from teacher and peers, most students can produce an essay that demonstrates an emerging understanding of the speeches' structures" (Jago 154). By analyzing the text of the speeches students were then able to use the different literary elements to write an essay to reflect what they learned.  I think this is a great strategy to get students to write and reflect what they know.  

* I am an essay test kind of girl.  I like how Jago says that multiple choice questions about character identification and true and false doesn't truly measure comprehension of the text. I agree because I may know a character and what a character did, but if I can't relate to the text, analyze the significance of a character, make connections, use literary terms to define certain characteristics of a character, etc, then I may not fully comprehend the story.  I like the questions she provided for the Julius Caesar test allowing students to answer five of the nine questions.  This way students can write what they learned and through the essay comprehension of the text will show. I like how students can volunteer to answer the questions once the test has been passed back.  Students can learn from each other and add more to what they wrote, or understand why they missed certain points.  

It's Concert Time..Again

Since these blogs are coming to an end along with the semester..I would like to inform everyone of my summer concerts that I am attending.  Music is a major part in my life and I love seeing my favorite artists in concert.  For me, music is an escape from reality at times because songs say the words that I can't at times :-) .. I think music is also a way for students to express themselves and I am glad I can relate to students with music.  I would like to do some type of music project relating to a text, poetry, or something but I haven't thought of what yet. 

In May I will be seeing Red Wanting Blue again at the House of Blues. They will also be in Kent in this friday April 16. Everyone should check them out if they have the time.  This band's lyrics are melodic and you can see the passion on Scott Terry, the lead singer's, face when he sings.  The band is from Columbus so it's nice to have such a talented local band. At their concerts it's awesome to hear the fans sing every word with them, even though they are local. I am really into their song "Borderline" right now because it is about where they are from, Columbus, Ohio.  Check it out...Borderline

In July I will be seeing Brooks and Dunn's final concert :-)...It's a bittersweet goodbye. I am a huge country fan so it is exciting and sad to be able to see their final concert.  I am 13 rows back, so maybe I could touch them :-).  Check out their song Only in American live..here

Opening up for Brooks and Dunn will be Gary Allan.  He is a great performer with great songs...it should be a good time.  Check out Learning How to Bend. 

And finally if I am lucky...I may go see John Mayer in August.  He is my favorite performer and he is an awesome guitar player.  Hopefully it will be an early birthday present to go see him :-).  Here is performing one of my favorite songs on David Letterman, "Vultures."