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."

American Born Chinese VS. Naruto

* I read American Born Chinese over Christmas break and I absolutely loved it.  I couldn't put the book down, and I finished it in 45 minutes.  I felt the message of American Born Chinese was inspiring for students because it showed the life of Chinese born in America. This book showed some stereotypes of Chinese through the language. I think it was sad that Wei-Chen changed at the end of the novel in order to fit in with the rest of his peers at school, including Kin.  I think the ending of this story has a good message for students to learn, and that is to be yourself no matter your background. 

* Unfortunately, I didn't care for Naruto as much as American Born Chinese.  Reading Naruto took me a little longer to finish than American Born Chinese because I kept getting confused and lost throughout the story.  I got confused with the different characters and the way this book was read.  I can see male students getting interested in this graphic novel because it does involve a young ninja in training and there is some battle scenes.  

* When it came to the text and dialogue I liked American Born Chinese's format better. I liked the colors and the pictures of American Born Chinese.  The pictures were easy to follow.  The balloons were clear and I knew exactly what I should read next. The white bubble with black text was easy to read. The narration was easy to follow and the words were clear and easy.  I liked how this novel was broken up between the different stories of the different characters.  When Gene Luen Yang wanted to show a sound effect, the words were written in big, bold lettering and usually a symbol like stars were around the word. In Naruto the text was in all black, white, and grey.  Because the text was also black, some words were not as easy to read.  I thought it was really creative on Masashi Kishimoto's part to start the book from the back to the front and read from right to left.  Although I thought this was creative, trying to read some of the pictures got confusing.  When I got to the pages on the left with a lot of boxes I wasn't too sure which box I was suppose to read first at times.  The pictures in this book were very detailed.  The balloons were big with bold text, which was easy to read most of the time. Not every page in Naruto was numbered and I wish that they were. Just like American Born Chinese, Naruto has sound effects and the text is in a different font than the rest of the text and is bigger and bolder. 

* I think the characters in both books were very creative.  It takes a lot of time to write a graphic novel because it is more than just writing words.  I liked in Naruto how the author provides the very first sketch on page 60. Something as small as goggles becomes very detailed.  I think the characters in Naruto were more detailed.  I liked the characters in American Born Chinese too. The colors in American Born Chinese really helped bring the characters out.  In American Born Chinese I feel there were more detailed objects such as bookshelves, detention slips, a diner, and a car. Although they are cartoonish, the objects help make this graphic novel. In Naruto the detail of the town on page 86 is amazing. 

* I wish Naruto would have some type of boarder.  The text covers the whole page and it is so much text. American Born Chinese has a nice boarder, but may have a little bit too much white space on certain pages.  Naruto has clear gutters dividing each box. The gutters in American Born Chinese aren’t as thick, but the different boxes are distinguishable. Like I said, I like the backwards layout of Naruto but the backwards reading becomes challenging in some areas.  I like the clear color in American Born Chinese to help bring the story to life.

* In American Born Chinese there are a lot of medium shots of the characters, and in Naruto had medium shots with some close-ups.  In Naruto there weren’t really any full-figure shots. In American Born Chinese there is a full-body shot of the “Monkey King.” I think a full-body shot is effective because it helps readers see the whole character.  There are a lot of head-shoulder shots in both novels, helping readers see the emotions and reactions on the characters’ faces.

* American Born Chinese can identify with people because at some point people may try to change their appearance and behavior to fit in.  There is conflict in this novel between Wei-Chen and Jin. Amelia and Jin also have a conflict because Jin likes her.  The “Monkey King” has conflicts too. In Naruto he has a conflict in trying to pass as a ninja.   

Gaming Guest-speaker in Kist's Class

☢Today in Dr. Kist's class guest speaker , Evan Schwab, talked to us about gaming.  During his presentation, Evan made many references to Literature and reading relating to gaming.  I am not a gamer and I even think watching gaming is boring, but I never thought about relating gaming to literature.  Because I am a female, I can relate a lot to my female students because we may share similar interests, but relating to my male students may be more difficult.  I think being able to stretch myself and learn about things my male students like will help me reach them with learning English. 

☢ After seeing the presentation, I never realized how many different elements were involved with gaming. There are many genres, many game machines, and different perspectives. I liked to see the different trailers Evan showed the class because I was not familiar with most of the games. It was neat to see different games that have been turned into movies.  I really want to see Silent Hill after seeing the presentation.  I think this would be a good way to show students that video games can mean more than a video game, but can be turned into multi modalities.  

☢ One aspect I think would be helpful in classrooms is with the movies and books that have been turned into a game.  Students can see a book or movie come to life, just like a movie, but they can become the character.  This could help teach different perspectives and plots when discussing a novel. I think the PSP reader was amazing. It brought 3-D images to life and allowed students to use a new technology to help them learn.

☢ Out of all the games I have played, I had the original Nintendo growing up. I also played with SuperNintendo so it is neat to see how far gaming has come.  To see images that look so real is unbelievable. I believe this is one aspect that draws people into the newer gaming,