Making Comics: In the Classroom?

Scott McCloud's book "Making Comics" is very informational. I've never been one to like comics or graphic novels, but I can see that they can be of valuable use in the classroom.
There is always this assumption that you have to be able to draw well in order to make an effective comic, but McCloud takes us away from that assumption by emphasizing the point that "In short: There are no rules" (P5).
I really like how this book is set up. Not only does McCloud set an example for his readers as to how comics should look and read, he does so in an entertaining way. He's the type of writer who grabs your attention and writes in a conversational way. I felt like as I read, I could envision him speaking to me. I think a good comic would do this.
It seems that McCloud puts a strong emphasis on building characters with emotions that are evident to the readers. Sound familiar? That works the same way with novels. In the comics, this can be clear to the readers through facial expressions, body language, and of course, the words. I think that it might be easier for students to visualize in this format. However, I think that when it is the other way around, when the student is creating the comic strip, I imagine that they will struggle at times to make such efforts. I expect to hear excuses like "I stink at drawing," or "I can't think of anything..." Therefore, I think it is important to have the prompts such as the ones McCloud offers to get students thinking as well as explaining that great art doesn't necessarily make a great comic. Storyline, plot, conflict, characte development, etc., are all part of the game--just like novels or short stories.
I found a blog that has many linked articles as to why comics are effective in the classroom. As I scrolled through the list, I couldn't find one argument against comics in the classroom. In fact, I can find little, if any, information about opposing views of comics in the classroom.

Overall.

Overall, the Teaching Language and Composition course went pretty well. I think we read some great books, my favorite being Harry Noden's "Image Grammar" and Stephen Koch's "Writer's Workshop," and learned some worthwhile things about teaching writing to our future students. Lucky for me, I actually got to teach my two week unit on writing personal narratives and have gotten a lot of ideas for future lessons like that.

I think everyone brought a lot to the table as far as group activities are concerned. There were some creative ideas and I plan on incorporating some of them eventually!

The big writing piece project we had for the class was tough for me due to time limitations and such, but I think it is a valuable project to get us thinking about the writing process, creativity, structure, and the whole nine yards of writing. I find that our course has a been a great example of how writing workshop works and worthwhile to students. However, I'd like to find a couple of different ways for students to read each story. Some students do not own a computer or will not take the reading seriously, so maybe something like every Friday after the writing pieces are complete, they have to do a reading rotation around the room and read silently as well as answer questions on a worksheet. I'd really have to plan it out to make it work though! I just don't find activities such as a student reading their story to the class aloud is effective.

The only book I didn't enjoy very much was our "Making Comics" book. Personally, I hate comics and graphic novels and I am not an artist, but the author, Scott McCloud gives a great 411 about making comics to his readers. I think it would be valuable to give students an opportunity to use graphic novels and comics in the classroom due to the fact that some readers struggle to create an image in their head...

McCloud describes things clearly in an entertaining way, but I just struggle to enjoy reading this type of formatted book.

Below is a short video clip of how to create a novel that "sells!" created by novelist Andrea Rains Waggener. It is simple and Waggener uses her novel as an example to explain the steps of writing. It's pretty creative and well thought out.

A LITTLE Change of Heart <3 <3

I can't believe another semester has come to an end. Even more surprising is that I am going to walk away soon with a Bachelor's degree--And I did it in 4 years. (I'm giving myself a pat on the back.)

But there's always that question. Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life? Well, I love being in front of people. And teaching offers just that. However, after doing our 2-week unit, I'm a little nervous about handling young adults. Therefore, as I've sat in a couple of my literature courses this semester, I've come across a new passion--teaching college students. Yes, they too, are young adults, but at a much different level. I would absolutely love to teach an English that is topic-focused with focused students! I'm currently in Women's Literature and I am finding a huge passion for women writers and the Feminist Movement era. I would love to learn more about it or even better, teach it in my near future to interested college students, like myself.

There is a downfall though, I would definitely miss out on teaching Shakespeare and other British Literature authors, and classic novels such as "To Kill a Mockingbird," but I'm just really trying to find my place in the world right now. I started off college as a pre-medical student--desperate to find a job that paid lots of money. Then I changed to teaching and stuck with it. I think it is the right career path for me, but I just need to figure out at what level. My dreams of becoming a vet. are not attainable due to my awful performance in science, but I find that I have a strong passion in English--therefore, I THINK this is what is meant for me.

This is not a change of heart for me. I don't want to switch majors and start all over. I just need to rethink my options. Dr. Stephanie Peterson does sound pretty nice though. :)

Rubrics

For my unit, I had to create a rubric for a personal narrative students wrote. I tried to make it very fair and clear, but as I began to grade, I noticed how cut and dry they are. You either get a high score or a low score. It seriously seems like there is no inbetween.

As I read the article, "The Trouble with Rubrics," I can see some of the problems there are. Alfie Kohn quotes Linda Mabry by saying that "rubrics 'are designed to function as scoring guidelines, but they serve as arbiters of quality and agents of control' over what is taught and valued." I definitely see this problem! Later in the article, it says, "...students whose attention is relentlessly focused on how well they're doing often become less engaged with what their doing." I think students worry too much about their grades that this distracts them from putting forth a 100% learning effort. Instead of understanding the educational value behind a project, students often try to get the work done as quickly as they can and follow a checklist of requirements--this just doesn't seem right!

Now the question to ask ourselves as educators is what can we do to get away from this way of thinking? What do you all think?

The Professor and the Madman

The beginning was quite catchy, with the whole ordeal with the murder and how the author portrayed the city of Lambeth--I thought it really gained my attention, but then I was unsure where the plot line was going to go. However, a few things were quite interesting to learn & will add to the reportoire of random knowledge I have inside this 3 pound organ in my head. This wad of information about the Oxford English Dictionary began on page 25, "It took more than seventy years to create the twelve tombestone-size volumes that made up the first edition of what was to become the Oxford English Dictionary...Just as English is a very large and complex language, so the OED is a very large and complex book. It defines well over half a million words. It contains scores of millions of characters, and, at least in its early versions, many miles of hand-set type." I think this emphasizes the fact that this project is HUGE! Not only is it a massive project, it is a project of pure genious.

The relationship between Murray and Minor is well-maintained throughout the making of the OED. One of the suprising things about Minor is that he was a surgeon who gave significant contributions to Murray, sending thousands of handwritten items to Murray who was nearly fifty miles away. I thought about this. And today, fifty miles doesn't seem like much, but if you think back to the earlier days, and the lack of technology available, I bet that was considered far distance. So I think the relationship they maintained in this project is pretty impressive. It's kind of funny that the two never truly met, until Murray seeked Minor out, only to find out that he was a murder, seriously insane, and locked up in an asylum (apparently England's harshest).

I think one of the main focuses of this book is how two very unlike men maintain such an unusual relationship. Not only is this book educational, but it is a story one might not believe until they have read it!

Parts of Speech rap

Before I started my unit, my cooperating teacher asked me to come up with an activity before the unit so I could get used to being in front of her class. She asked me to create an activity for the parts of speech, so I frantically began looking for ideas.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to do the activity with the class because they fell behind on a lesson they were doing that week, but I found this video that I really want to share with you all as I was looking for ideas.

A student wrote this for her English class. How fun would it be to have students make up songs for a part of speech and share them with the class?? Check it out, you will love it!!

Harry Noden's Image Grammar

Let me just start out by saying I absolutely LOVE Noden's idea of image grammar. I just can't believe that he actually designed and created it. My cooperating teacher actually teaches it to her class for a creative writing unit. When she asked the class, "Who invented image grammar?" my jaw dropped and I instantly wanted to yell, "Harry Noden!" as the class sat silently waiting for the answer.

In the beginning of his book, Noden says on page 2 that "when an author lacks a visual eye, his or her writing has no heart and soul: images lie lifeless like cadavers in a morgue." Therefore, he created the five basic brushstrokes: the participle, the absolute, the appositive, adjectives shifted out of order and action verbs. I love all of them and I think they add a definite image to words, but I do have two favorites! I enjoy reading AND writing with the brushstrokes adjectives shifted out of order and action verbs. As I observed my cooperating teacher teach these, I think the students favored them as well. They had so many good examples for adjectives out of order, such as "The airport, a hub of activity, is located in Cleveland, Ohio." and "The airport, a place that never sleeps, is my destination." There were some other really good examples, but I didn't get a chance to write them down as I eagerly listened.

I love how at the end of each chapter Noden gives us activities that we could implement into the classroom. I really wanted to check out the website he gave us on page 24 of the text, but I couldn't get it! Did anyone have any luck with nando.net?

On pages 36-37, Noden gives us an idea that Janet Olsen, a teacher, created for students. The activity consists of students to write a description, draw and color an image of the description, discuss the drawing with a partner, and then revise the description after comparing it to the picture, to implement a creative writing activity. I absolutely love this idea! It not only gets students thinking creatively, but it teaches them to write with an image in mind. Another activity I like is explained on page 43, where random items are placed in various purses and students are separated into groups. They are to then examine the items and write a description about the owner. I think this would be fun!

Noden not only describes how brushstrokes are important, but other things in writing are too such as similes, metaphors, personification, etc. It's funny that I'm reading this book while I teach my unit of writing personal narratives because I feel like using such techniques is so fresh in my mind.

I also like how Noden goes into how to use certain punctuation and sentence fragments to entice readers. I think students assume that teachers always want detailed sentences with a whole bunch of adjectives to describe an image, but it doesn't have to involve that!

One activity that I found to be a little out there is described on page 137, "Perform a magic trick," where you tie a rope around your neck. I don't think I would do something like this! Would you? And why?

The last thing I wanted to talk about was Noden's section on writing introductory leads beginning on page 164. I remember this lesson vividly from his class I took last fall and I REALLY enjoyed it! I remember doing a series of leads to begin a lesson plan and I found them on my computer so I thought I'd post them on here! See below:

1. Statistical lead: “To be or not to be…” Can anyone name which play this is from or what author composed these lines? This author has written 37 plays (plays that have been found at least) and is one of the most famous writers of all time. Born in 1564 under the reign of Elizabeth I, he wrote plays in the form of comedy and tragedy. Some people think he is not the true writer of the plays and he is homosexual—myths or facts?
Lesson: Introduction to Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. Students will get a general background of Shakespeare, a brief introduction to Hamlet and its history and then begin reading Hamlet together as a class.

2. Experimental Lead: Students will take a survival guide test assessing their knowledge if they would survive being on a stranded island just as the characters in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies do.
Lesson: This will be an introduction to Lord of the Flies, a novel about boys who experience a plane crash and become trapped on an island. The stranded boys become chaotic and almost inhumane deprived of general survival skill knowledge and leadership qualities. This lead will bring the class into a discussion on what would happen if a group got stranded on an island. Students will be able to put themselves in the shoes of the characters.

3. Surprise Lead: As students arrive to class, two teachers will be playing the role of the characters Romeo and Juliet, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Teachers will speak in the language of Shakespeare’s time before class begins and will also be in costume. When the bell rings, the instructors will recite part of a scene aloud from the play Lesson: An introduction to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Acting it in front of the students will foster interest and allow for students to listen and try dissecting the meaning of the language.

4. Personalized Lead: Inform the class on the following issue: Pollution/littering and how to cut down on waste—the other day I saw a driver throw a banana peel out his window! Can you believe this? I mean first of all someone could slip (joke), but more importantly this is a form of pollution to our environment! Did you know that it takes a banana peel three to four weeks to decompose? I mean come on! This is 2009; we need to start to taking care of our environment. GO GREEN, right? Not only do people throw out banana peels, but they throw paper, plastic, Styrofoam, aluminum, even cigarettes and more into our environment. These things take even longer to decompose. Scientists estimate that an aluminum can takes up to 200-500 years to decompose. So why do people litter? Well, they are lazy, careless, not aware that they are littering, assume that others will pick it up, and probably dozens of other excuses. Something needs to be done about this, don’t you think?
Lesson: Students will research a problem within their community, school, workplace, etc, that they find as a major issue. They will discuss what the problem is, why it is a problem, and what can be done to eliminate it. Students will present the issue to class.

5. Imaginary Lead: Babies typically talk in babbles that adults can’t understand. But one day, while at the park, you’re sitting on a bench next to two babies. They start babbling, when all of a sudden you realize you can understand them. Even more, they are plotting a nefarious plan. Write this scene.
Or
Create a character that has an unusual phobia. Write a scene that causes that character to face his fear.
Lesson: This lesson could be used for a creative writing class and used as a prompt to engage students in writing a creative story. Several other prompts could be used so students can share their stories to the class.

I briefly browsed the CD that came with the book which is filled with images, but I'd like to find some more that could be used for classroom activities because I think there is SO MUCH you can do with image grammar. I wish I had more time to focus 100% on the book because I think it it extremely helpful for teaching students be creative in their writing.

Character debate

In the character chapter (4), I see that there is this small debate about “character-driven stories,” and “situational-driven stories.” The question is… where do I fall? I thought long and hard about this because I like both points that each author makes, Shelby Foote and Stephen King, that it is either characters that come first or situation that comes first. Even though I feel that characters are the most important parts of a story and are the figures that readers can relate to, I think I have to say that I prefer situation first over character. I like the feeling of knowing the basis of the story and begin to make predictions about what could happen. Now, after thinking about this for awhile, I’m questioning if you can get both character and situation at the same time. If you read on, it describes how there needs to be a point of view. Well, if you have a point of view and a situation, doesn’t that describe both? And wouldn’t that solve all this debate? My short story that I’m writing is in first person POV and I feel like I’m offering my readers the character and the situation all at once, killing two birds with one stone. What do you think??

Hungry Minds

So I was recently watching Ratatouille and the main theme in this film is that "anyone can cook." Well it is kind of ironic that I read this article soon after because the theme here seems to be that "anyone can write." The program they've got running here in New York at this church is a great opportunity for those who attend soup kitchens. Even though a large majority of the people disregard the table every Wednesday for writer's workshop, there are some who really take advantage of this.
I noticed that the author of this article really had some good descriptive detail. Coincidence? Considering that he is in charge of writer's workshop, I'm sure he's got some experience on his belt. The good part of this is that he does this solely as volunteer work! Wouldn't this be a great chance for students to get some hours of volunteer work done? For example, maybe a high school group called "Writer's Workshop" could be formed and then meet every Wednesday at the soup kitchen to aid people off the streets of New York in developing writing skills.
I just wish that the author would have went into more detail about the workshop itself. Instead, it seemed like he rambled on about how the soup kitchen works, the type of people who come eat, and some random stats. I only get a general sense of the writer's workshop and I'm left to assume some things, but overall, I think it is a good offer.

Shaping the Story

Chapter three of Writer's Workshop raises a lot of good points about the plot and story, which are surprisingly (not!), two different things.
What I've noticed that has really helped me in my own writing is the fact that you need to start small. All of the ideas don't just occur overnight. Just like in chapter one when an author started by writing about a wall, another started writing about boys having a snowball fight here in chapter three. I feel that every story begins with something! Whether it is a portrayal of your own life, your environment, or an item sitting in front of you, anything can spark a story worth telling. On page 66, the text reads in capital letters, "YOU CANNOT 'PLOT' A STORY THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW." Basically what I think Koch is trying to say is that you have to put together the pieces and parts before you have a plot. When teachers ask, "who can tell me the plot of this story?" after students read a novel, don't students usually sum it up in about 30 seconds or less? You definitely can't write a story in 30 seconds or less, can you?! If you do, how are students able to summarize that?

Something that I've had trouble with so far in my writing is building a conflict. Since I am such a positive person, it's hard to create any negativity in my story! From my understanding, I just need to make my character want something. And then, in turn, they have to struggle to get what they want, and finally get what they want. Sounds easy! But I'm actually having a difficult time with this because it takes a lot of planning, imagination, and "fitting the pieces together" that is holding me back. But as the text suggests on page 76, "...conflict determines genre. Is this story going to end with a funeral, weddding, or a party, or a soulful stare at a brick wall? Is it going to make us laugh, cry, or cringe, or get mad, or feel awe, or pity, or gentle sadness, or excitement, or what?" I feel that this actually helps me plan some type of conflict in a sense because inevitably that conflict will affect the ending. We'll see! Until then, I must read on...

Crestwood High School

Hello! I just wanted to tell you all about my experience so far at Crestwood High School, home of the RED DEVILS! I am really liking it so far. In the spring I will be teaching Honors 10 English, 3English 10 classes, 2 of which are partnered up with the special ed teacher, and U.S. 12 Literature. For my unit, which is Nov. 2-13, I will be teaching a regular English 10 class about personal narratives. I actually have a lot of fun things planned, which I will share later after I test them out. This week is homecoming week and also spirit week. I was told that the students aren't very school-spirited, but WOW! Being an outsider and walking through those hallways during spirit week has me amazed. The hallways are SO DECKED OUT! In one hallway, I believe it is the sophomore hallway, they have it decorated so it looks like a crime scene. There are yellow caution "ropes," whatever they are called, everywhere. On the floor they have a shape of a body outlined in white tape, as if a murder or something took place... It's so cool! I wish I would have brought my camera to take some pictures. The other hallways are decent, but I really liked the sophomore hallway. Tonight is their homecoming bonfire and they actually do this thing I've never heard of! A local automotive collision business donates a wrecked car and then the students buy tickets to use a sledge hammer and destroy it more. Crazy! Have you ever seen such a thing? Because of the delay in getting placed, I had a halt in creating my visual essay. I finally finished it! Check it out. I didn't have enough time in the video to incorporate what students do for fun...In brief, they live in a SMALL town which is approx. 1.41 square miles long! Therefore, the students go to other cities such as Streetsboro and Aurora to do things. They live somewhat close to Geauga Lake and close to Hiram College. Not much to do!

The Writing Life

Chapter 2 of Writer's Workshop is titled "The Writing Life." Perfect because it is a catchy title for this blog post.

In this chapter, Koch points out several elements a writer needs to consider when producing "art." It is everything from memories to what we see in our day to day lives. The point that I really like that Koch made was that reading and writing work hand in hand. He quotes Stephen King--"...If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. Reading is the creative center of a writer's life" (39). Further, Eudora Welty said, "Indeed, learning to write may be part of learning to read" (40). These quotes can be interpreted in a number of ways, but I think the main point both King and Welty are trying to make is that when you're a reader developing the senses of characters, plots, conflicts, etc., of stories, you are kind of trained to reproduce these things with your own imaginative abilities.

The only problem with reading and writing is...drumroll please...FINDING TIME. How many of us make excuses for finding the time to keep up with reading AND writing?? I have to admit, I've only got two pages written for my short story. Even though, supposidily, "writer's block doesn't really exist," I feel like I am stuck! I've taken over a week off of writing--thinking, dreaming, and envisioning where I can take my story, but it is so tough! Initially I thought I was going to go one route, but now I feel like it is totally stupid and I can't ramble on and on about it. I'm trying to find my imaginary skills deep inside me. I know they are there! I've got to put aside the TV time, the naps, AND FACEBOOK! and really try to focus. Just like chapter 2 mentions, my future readers "aren't going to give a damn whether it took me thirty minutes or one year" (45), all that matters is the story is well thought out!

Beginning of Writer's Workshop

Whew. Let me just start off by saying that writing a story is tough! Not only is it time consuming, it requires a lot of imagination and skill. I give credit to all the authors out there!
So reading this book, "The Modern Library: Writer's Workshop," I feel a little more inspired. I have read the first chapter--it basically encourages writers to get started, pick up the notebook and write, NOW. The major thing that I agree with is that good storylines come from childhood memory. Flannery O'Connor (one of my favorite authors), said that "anyone who survived childhood has enough material to write for the rest of his or her life" (13). I totally agree! When I began to brainstorm ideas for writing, I took the advice of this book and wrote down MANY childhood memories. I seriously wrote on the front and back of a piece of paper! Even though I had so many ideas, I ended up taking a totally different route, but it was a lot of fun to think back to my childhood anyway (and will probably come in handy next time for story ideas). It is kind of like how Flannery O'Connor wrote "Good Country People," which by the way, if you haven't read it, read it--I loved it! She had a girl character with a wooden leg and a bible salesman meet, and suddenly decided at the last minute, the bible salesman would steal her leg! That made me chuckle outloud because this is probably so typical of all writers. A story with all of its elements doesn't just come at once, they come in spurts!

There are a lot of quotes from various authors in this chapter that give some good advice and interesting comments. One thing that I really liked was how Kurt Vonnegut said: "When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away--even if it's only a glass of water." He was trying to tell his students that stories have characters who want something, but face trouble (conflict) to attain what they want, and go through a series of events until they get what they want. What a great way to put it!

I totally agree with the fact that our memories stink when it comes to ideas--especially in writing. It is always good to get your ideas on paper. Don't try to remember it later! Have you ever had a REALLY good dream at night and told yourself that you will remember it in the morning, only to wake up and totally forget? Point proven.

So far, I really find this book helpful. It's really hard for me to keep up with the reading madness of this semester, but I am loving this book. I'm on to chapter two... !



^^A sneak peak of "Good Country People." I'm telling you, read it because of course, this clip isn't the same or nearly as good!

Changing Our Minds: Negotiating English and Literacy

Wow, after reading this article, I really see how literacy skills gained by students has had dramatic changes over the years. The thought that I wanted to bring up was the idea of memorization. In the beginning of the article, there is a quote about Joseph Rice observing a classroom and seeing something that I think still exists today. The teacher he observed basically pulled out a map and located several spots and then students were expected to recite from memory all the areas on the map by heart. As further explained, this is a "conglomeration of oral reciations based on rules of elocution..."
My concern isn't primarily with the technique of oral recitation, but rather with memorization and how teachers go about assessing students most of the time. Students are required to memorize facts instead of understanding facts. Is this how students should be taught? Even though gaining literacy has changed throughout the years as we learn in this article, has this changed very much? I don't think it has!
Another interesting thing that caught my interest was that in about 1892, the National Education Association's Committee of Ten said that the purpose of English as a subject was to be able to learn how to express one clearly and learning to understand others. Do you think this has changed much? We see trends throughout the article of recitation literacy, decoding and analytic literacy, but are they only trends? We go through so many phases and trying to make perfect lessons to get through to our students, but what are we lacking? There will always be criticisms, but we have to strive to break the trends that come and go in our English classrooms!

Lori Pyles: Freedom Writers

Our guest speaker, Lori Pyles, on Friday, was full of great information and inspiration. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was that this woman truly has her heart set on her students in the classroom despite the fact she is teaching in a detention center. I remember what she said specifically, she is not to correspond with her students outside the classroom, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't think of them ALL THE TIME! Those are words from a true teacher!

The many examples she gave us of students in her experience as a teacher teaching hope really touched me. The one that affected me the most was the story about her student Axl. After having her students begin writing journals, Axl, one of the least likely to open up, actually put his trust in Lori and wrote about his experience of watching his grandpa shoot his dog as a punishment for it peeing. I just really wanted to cry when I heard this. The story was very traumatic, but touching that Lori accomplished such trust with detention center students!

Another thing that really stuck out to me was how Lori explained to us that one of her students kept egging her on, calling her the "stupidest teacher," and such, but Lori brushed it aside and let the teenager do the talking. After awhile, the student showed hurt that a different teacher actually fought back. Lori then quoted Martin Luther King Jr. by saying, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." She is right! Just as her one story about the student who hit her--everyone made Lori the victim, but in reality, the student was the victim of such an unfair system, both educational and judicial!

I will remember a lot of her words and use them to strengthen the relationships I build with my students.

Journals

In Nancie Atwell's "In the Middle," chapter 8 talks about "Responding to Readers and Reading." I just love her approach on this. Basically, she keeps journals that the students keep up with on their current readings and writings. Atwell has students exchange "letters" that are written in the journals both to herself and to the students' peers. In reading some of the sample letters, the students referred to different works, so I assume that this type of assignment works well to keep the teacher in touch with all the variety of stories. I also think it is a good idea to have the student express their feelings about what they've read through writing because not only does it assess that they are keeping up with reading, but it helps them practice their writing skills.

Now, the way that Atwell responds to her students varies from person to person. It's not like she has a rubric to grade the students. On page 283, she says that "The letters I write to my kids about their reading are personal and contextual: what I say in my half of the dialogue comes from my knowledge of how a student reads and thinks, of what a student understands or needs to know." Her responses either "affirm, challenge or extend a reader's response."
So for those students who don't have such a thoughtful response, Atwell gives them the chance to elaborate through this discussion method. I just love this idea and I think it would be great to go along with independent reading or even literature circles.

A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like

After reading this NY Times article, I feel pretty motivated to give my future students a choice in selecting a novel in the classroom. I think that having a unit that focuses on independent reading would be a good idea. Even before I read through this article, I felt that students feel more motivated reading a novel they get to select (I know from experience), and even in the article it says that "Literacy specialists say that giving children a say in what they read can help motivate them. “If your goal is simply to get them to read more, choice is the way to go,” said Elizabeth Birr Moje, a literacy professor at the University of Michigan."
I like how this article brought in the author of "In the Middle," Nancie Atwell! I felt like I knew what she was talking about with the minilessons due to the fact that I am reading her book!
What this article isn't very clear on is whether or not they think that choice should replace the classics completely. To me, it seems like they want students to be able to choose their own texts all year round. I don't think I agree with this. I think there should be one big assignment based on their selected novel, and then a focus on other popular classics. You can make the classics fun!
You're lucky if you even get the choice to choose your own curriculum. More and more kids are enjoying books such as Harry Potter and Twilight, but are these ok for the classroom?

Currently reading...

Week two is all said and done! Whew. Let me just say I have been quite the busy girl. I've already completed one novel--House of Mirth for Women's Literature and I liked it, but I didn't love it. We are moving on to Virginia Woolf and I am very excited for that! I've also been reading some poems by Walt Whitman--"Song of Myself," "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" for U.S. Literature. Soon we will be moving on to Emily Dickenson.

I'm also reading the textbook called In the Middle by Nancie Atwell. So far, I've read the first three chapters (I'm getting there!), and Atwell has a lot of information for soon-to-be teachers. In the first chapter, Atwell uses a metaphor that compares her own child to students in the classroom. Basically, she taught her daughter how to set the table. After a few nights, her daughter, Anne, soon folded the napkins in a special way all on her own. Atwell gave her daughter a model (setting the table) and then Anne went beyond that model to fold the napkins. In the classroom, if you give students a model and the choice to use their own expression and creativity, they can go beyond your expectations.
What striked me the most in this chapter is that Atwell actually participates with her students when it comes to writing! I think this is great! A general assumption made by students is that the teacher assigns all this homework and such to them, but gets to go home to do nothing. The idea of participating in activities sounds great to me because I think it could really get the students motivated. (Teachers could probably reuse items they've created if they reuse lesson plans)
In chapter two, I took a look at a big list of "Twenty-One Lessons Teachers Demonstrate About Reading" and I circled the ones that stuck out to me.
#4. There is one interpretation of a text: the teacher's (or the teacher's manual's)
This can be so true!! I know I have relied on a lot of professors to diagnose meanings for me for things such as Shakespeare's sonnets and characters in books such as The Odyssey. Sometimes, I have interpreted it differently, but I base my answers, let's say, on a test, according to what information the professor has given me. So, is this how I want my classroom to work? Admittingly, somewhat I guess. There is a fine line between what is right and wrong, but I think the best part of literature is the fact that there is so much room for interpretation! We are not the authors and we do not know the specific intentions of the authors always.
#6 Student readers aren't smart or trustworthy enough to choose their own texts.
Okay, I see where this point is going. BUT. I feel that students should get to experience literature circles and independent reading during their school careers. I've always had teachers that required their approval for independent reading and I think that works. There will always be that student who doesn't take it seriously, but in my experiences, I have seen that students like choosing books on their own. I am a supporter of discovery learning and I think this type of activity is perfect for students.
#17 Teachers talk a lot about literature, but teachers don't read.
Oh really?? I cannot wait to tell my students how many novels at a time I had to read in college. I think one reason teachers become English teachers is because of a strong passion for literature or elements of literature. Reading doesn't even have to include novels. It can be anything from newspapers to ads to magazines to cereal boxes. As Atwell described in chapter one, a teacher participating in reading probably motivates the students a lot.
In chapter 3, I have to say that Atwell touched base with a very important detail. She refers to middle school students, but I think this can be applied to high school too. She says that "Confusion, bravado, restlessness, a preoccupation with peers, and the questioning of authority aren't manifestations of poor attitude; they are hallmarks of a particular time of life" (54). We must remember this. We will try our best to get past these "distractions" in the classroom, but we cannot pretend they don't exist. Atwell has examples of poetry in this chapter that students wrote in relation to their adolescence. This is a good way to recognize that we all go through it and can relate in some way. Teachers could probably participate too! Maybe I'd write about bills. Ha, ha.

Fall 2009!

Hello again! It's been several months since I've written, but now that school is back in session, I am going to keep up with reporting some things on here.

I had a quick summer. I took 3 summer classes and got married! Then before I knew it, I was paying my tuition for fall.

I'm taking 15 credit hours this semester and also getting ready for student teaching in the spring. I am so excited! However, I still don't know where I am being placed, but I am patiently waiting. The classes I am enrolled in are: U.S. Literature 1865-1945, Women's Literature, Teaching High School Journalism, Teaching Language and Composition, and Fieldwork Practicum. As always, it is very overwhelming for the first week of classes, but I do seriously think that I'm going to be reading A LOT. I know this is going to be a very stressful semester. Not that I am complaining! I think it is going to be a fun, educational experience, but time is the only difficulty here. The good news is that I am making the time!

I hope to share some valuable information and thoughts this semester with the materials I'm reading and the experience I get from my fieldwork. Check back shortly!

Cheating in high school.

Read this article: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/Americas/2009/March/Schools-Attempt-to-Redefine-the-iPod-War.html
(For some reason, I don't have a hyperlink option..)
However, this article was found from the NCTE blog and is about how some classrooms are allowing students to have Ipods in study halls and break periods. I didn't realize that most school implement rules against having them as a prevention of theft and cheating! This issue of cheating is something we haven't talked about in our education classes yet!

How as a teacher do you prevent this from happening? I think back to my high school years and I remember students would cheat ALL the time (I cannot emphasize enough)!! Teachers were so oblivious about this too. I remember this one time, I actually wrote an annoymous letter to my teacher telling him that half of the class would always cheat on vocabulary tests. After I sent it, he had his eyes fixed on us like we were a steak dinner! Does it come to this--where we have to watch our students the entire period? Do we distribute different tests? Do we trust them? Do we test hard? I guess the answer lies in the way you handle classroom management, but in my experience of witnessing all the cheaters while in high school, I'm afraid that we cannot escape this problem.

Week 15. ALREADY??

Wow. I cannot believe it is already the end of another semester! I am getting closer and closer to student teaching and I feel more and more ready! I'm so glad that Kent State incorporated our Multi-Modal Literacies class to the catalog year. I think we would have missed out on a lot of valuable information if this change didn't take place.
I've come to the realization that the classroom is evolving. Whether it be our technology, our classroom activities, or our wrinkles, as a teacher, we gotta be ready to be on our feet. We have to stay up to date with the times and connect with our future students.
In my experience with Dr. Kist, I've acquired so much information and outlooks on my perspective classroom that will definitely assist me in maintaining a sense of professionalism, modernism, and optimism with my future staff and students. I look so forward to being that teacher that is approachable, knowledgeable, and committed to granting all students to an equal education.
We've come so far in class. From blogs, to wikis, to graphic novels, to classroom games, I've got a handful of things that can be applied to my English classroom! Thank you Dr. Kist for an excellent start to an excellent journey!

"You're Leaving a Digital Trail" article

This article was quite similar to the story of 1984 & Big Brother's success in invading privacy through computers! This article reminded me of the April 4th rumor of a serious computer virus/worm hacking into the computers because it focuses on how our privacy over the last decade has decreased with technology. Everyone was frantic because they were afraid someone would hack onto their computer & get vital information. Well, sadly, this could happen any day of the year!

My soon to be in-laws actually had someone decode their credit card number and purchase $300 in sporting items. I didn't even know people like this existed! There are people who try to arrange numbers to access credit cards! Thank goodness the credit companies are aware of this & actually called my in-laws at like 2am to report it!

People really take advantage of technology and it may be scary to see where our privacy with this technology goes in the future. Ever since 9/11 the government has seriously buckled down... I think I heard a while back that there are specialists who radar searches on the internet if people try to google something like "how to build a bomb" or anything of that sort. I can't remember what the policy is called!

In the article, the freshmen were persuaded to give up their private lives in return for a free iphone! Wow, people are greedy! I don't think I would become materialistic for something like that. Thank you, but I like to take my showers alone! Ha, ha.

Evolution of... everything!

I found this video on youtube and I just wanted to share. It's about the evolution of dance and it is absolutely hilarious! Take a look!




This video definitely goes along with the idea that technology is evolving in our world. Our media is also evolving including film, music, and even our hobbies!

Naruto & Persepolis

I recently finished reading Naruto and Persepolis, two graphic novels, that were easy and fast reads, but I enjoy the traditional novel. First of all, reading Naruto backwards was confusing to me for awhile because I kept wanting to read it from bottom to top instead of top to bottom. Wouldn't that make sense? If it's suposed to read backwards, shouldn't it read from the bottom--up? HMM?
I enjoyed Persepolis a lot more because it was in first person narrative and had an interesting plot line. Naruto was just a little too geeky for me to be honest!
In all truth, I didn't really enjoy reading these novels as I thought I would. But hey, at least I can say I gave them a chance! I hope that when I begin teaching I can add these to my book collection for students to choose from if we do something like independent reading. I bet someone would like these & appreciate a change from wordy pages!

Happy Easter & some random thoughts

Happy Easter!

I just had a very stressful week! I had two big exams, 3 papers to write and one difficult novel to read this week. Talk about busy--I'm so surprised I didn't break out with a cold sore or acne due to all this stress I've endured!

I finally have time to catch up on Heroes. I'm two shows behind, so after this blog I am going to sit back and relax for a change! Tomorrow we don't have Multi-Modal class, so I am going to use that time to begin reading our graphic novels, and some errands that need done such as picking up Sentinel for my dog at the vet.

I wanted to talk a little about Second Life and what I thought of my experience with it in class. First of all, I was totally shocked to find out that this program is used mostly by people in their 30's! When I toured it and tried it out, I felt like it was a program I would enjoy as a kid...The idea of having an avatar and walking around in a chat room seems like a waste of time to me. I'm not sure if I would like to incorporate this type of activity in my classroom because I think people would just goof off--just as a lot of us did when our characters were dancing.

Dr. Kist took us to the computer lab room where elementary students are usually observed as they use technology and I remember him saying something crazy: "This is what your classroom might look like in the future!" And then I looked around only to see laptops on the tables. I am a paper and pencil type of girl, so the thought of moving solely to laptops scares the heck out of me. Don't get me wrong, I DO rely on technology a lot, but the thought of losing the old fashion technique of things doesn't fit my idea of ideal classroom setting. You know what I think a laptop classroom would turn into? Students ignoring the lesson being taught, web surfing, solitare, textmessaging behind the screens, and working on other class work. We've all see it, we've all done it, and if you ask me, I think it is so disrespectful! Even though we aren't trying to be disrespectful, we are so exposed to technology that we can't keep our hands off it. Look how often we check our facebooks, spend hours shopping online, and sending emails. Once a computer is in front of us, this is one of the first things we do as part of our HABITS!!!

I want to walk into my classroom where there are educational habits for the students. I don't want laptops where students will always be checking their emails, browsing facebook, etc. I want students to be conditioned in things such as discussion, journal writing, or simply sitting there quietly waiting for class to start with paper and pencil ready!!

I <3 Novels

WHOA. This article titled, I Love Novels was not only weird, but kind of scary to me! A woman who wrote a novel on her mobile phone? Now, that is a little too much for me. In Japan, creating novels via cellphone is a normalcy--I wonder if there are any American authors who do this. For me, I'm a paper and pen type of gal, so the idea of creating a long novel using the tiny buttons on a cell phone sounds ridiculous to me!!
I do like Mone's story of how she got her book noticed though. Readers on the internet who read her work were really eager to read more and as she puts it, "It came to me that there needed to be the hills and valleys of a story," saying that she had to continue on and build upon her story. I really like that quote a lot because it says that without plot, conflict, characters, themes, symbols, everything, you don't get a story, you get just words.
Another thing I noticed as I read this article is that the "cell-phone-novel" is centered around women. As explained, Love Sky is about sexual mishap and focuses on how "sex leads to all kinds of pain, and pain is at the center of a woman's life." In Japan, men are the dominant sex, so through the "cell-phone-novel," women can communicate their feelings. However, the idea that through this mean of creating a novel, most authors stay annoymous. If I ever wrote a book, I would definitely want my name and face on it for credit! But perhaps the women of Japan respect their culture of male dominance and want to remain annoymous as a sign of their cultural norms. This article is definitely cultural, but it scares me because what is our world turning into? I enjoy text-messaging short messages, but I can't even imagine writing an essay or novel through the means of a cell phone.

New Literacies in Action

I really like Dr. Kist's book and his experiences in different school settings. It is amazing how technology has been advanced and humorous how Kist explains what he grew up with. I'm eager to see how technology advances when I am a teacher and to tell my students what I grew up with--I'm sure they will get a laugh out of this just as I did with Dr. Kist's technological experiences.

In chapter 2, I liked reading about "The Monument Project." The first thing about this project was that students were in groups and were given time in class to work on it. I am FOR group work as long as time is given in class. I've always hated teachers & professors who assign group work allotting no time to develop ideas or creations in class. It seemed like students had an easy time with the monument project, but those who struggled seemed to get no attention or help from the teacher. The Walt Disney Group were struggling and were lacking motivation in their completion of the assignment. I wish that the teacher would have done something to motivate them! They were taking their anger out on the class a whole, saying, "I hate this class." And this is probably because they were struggling.

As a teacher, I think it is important to be supportive of each and every individual student. Yes, you will have students who don't like the content area or who struggle, but I think our job is to try to maintain some interest and avoid the students from saying "I hate this class." I think a student can dislike a subject area, but still like the class & its structure, its variety & of course, its teacher!

Graphic Novels

I've never been a fan of comic books or graphic novels, but today I realized how useful they could be in the classroom. For example, Dr. Kist told us that the Batman graphic novel could be useful with Beowulf. I also heard some classmates say that the V for Vendetta would be useful with 1984. I bet students would really enjoy this type of activity because it isn't just a plain ol' boring lecture.
I really feel that graphic novels are useful to the classroom for 2 very important reasons:
1. Some students have an inability to visualize--How many students do you think have a hard time visualizing during reading? I bet these graphic novels can help those students out a lot.
2. Some students do not read for pleasure at all. Perhaps the format of the graphic novels may appeal to these students and provide a type of excitement and motivation.

I haven't skimmed through Persepolis yet, but Dr. Kist mentioned that the summer reading for incoming freshman next year is going to be this graphic novel. I was really surprised. I read a book called A Hope in the Unseen, about Cedric Jennings who wants to escape the inner city life and go to a well-established college. Did everyone else read this too? I am very interested in leading discussions for Persepolis for the incoming freshmen, if I like it, that is! I hope Dr. Kist has more information. Did you know that Persepolis was made into a movie? Check out this trailer! Looks really interesting!

Cleveland Film Festival

I went to the Cleveland Film Festival on Wednesday and I made a total day out of it. My sister and I went shopping at Tower City and saw a short film series. I have to say it wasn't at all what I expected. I can't even explain what I envisioned, but everything about the festival was different. Maybe it is in the word "festival--" I may be thinking of a carnival related event! However, the films we watched were decent. Some were really weird and even quite random, but out of 9, I enjoyed 4 of them.
I was taken aback at the price of the tickets--$10. They must have made some good money because when I went there were at least 150 people in the formation of lines. I didn't expect to see a classmate, but I saw Caitlin across the way, but we didn't see the same film. At my film showing, at the end of it, the audience was asked to rate them on a sheet of paper and I felt bad because a lot of people walked out ignoring their request.
Overall, my experience was not bad, not excellent, but worth the try. I got to speak to some people waiting in line who were actually members of the board of education somewhere (I forget), but it they were really interested in talking to me about how the education department at KSU is and what kind of classes I am taking in preparation of teaching. I always love to brag about myself and my plans for teaching especially to actual professionals in the field!
The films I viewed were definitely not suited for children and I was surprised about a lot of the humor and concepts. In the short film I wrote about in my Film Review, I wrote about Pig, and a brief synopsis can be found here. Basically, the film is called Pig because a woman, Ines, after about 20 years of being raped, confronts her rapist at his house with his pregnant wife and daughter, only to end up carving the word "Pig" in his thigh. It was extremely dramatic and hard to predict.

A must have movie(s)

I recently just purchased four movies that reflect on great teachers and how one person can make a difference in the classroom. They include Freedom Writers, The Ron Clark Story, Lean on Me, and Stand and Deliver. This weekend I watched Freedom Writers and I can't help but be so motivated and touched by this movie. I'm also a huge fan of Lean on Me. I absolutely love Morgan Freeman's character in this. He is so powerful and stern with a purpose. This movie brings tears of joy to my eyes!
Last semester I was observing a freshman English class and the teacher actually showed the movie Freedom Writers in class. I wasn't sure where she was going to go with this in a lesson because I wasn't observing her class for the first half of the movie the previous day. She actually incorporated an activity that was done in the movie where Mrs. G (Hiliary Swank) puts a line on the floor in her classroom and asks a series of questions. If the question applies to the student, he or she must step onto the line. Mrs. G asks things such as--Step on the line if: you own the new Snoop Dog CD, you know where to get drugs, you know anyone in a gang, etc. The teacher I observed actually changed up the questions a bit, of course, and students had a lot of fun with it. They wrote a little self-reflection about it to state a purpose to the activity. This activity definitely shows that even though there is a diverse classroom, people still share the same interests and hobbies. Mrs. G in Freedom Writers was trying to prove this point because of the hard feelings each race had on each other. I think that acknowledging diversity in the classroom is SO SO SO important!
In my Sociolinguistics in the Classroom class, we have talked a lot about acknowledging diversity in the classroom. We've talked about how students may have different dialects and ways of learning based on their cultural backgrounds and how it is important as a teacher to work with them to the best of your ability. Rather than assuming they lack intellect in your content area (mine being integrated language arts), you should take into consideration their cultural identity and work around it. I think that language is power and students have what is called "language capital" in the classroom. If they are expected to take on a language role that is unfamiliar to them between their school life and home life, this "language capital" is destroyed. I think students with cultural differences in the classroom should always feel powerful because what a useful tool they are to the students and teacher!! I've known teachers that always ask interesting questions to students with cultural backgrounds to compare it to what other students are used to. I remember having a student from India explain in a psychology class I took in high school how things are so different in the United States schools. The one thing I vividly remember is how this student explained the toilet situation. Apparently, in his culture, toilet paper was not an option, in fact they had those toilets that sprayed water upwards, a bidet. I remember being so fascinated by this fact and a whole lot of other things he had to become accustomed to in this new culture. I think this kind of thing definitely keeps the classroom exciting and engaging!! I not only want diversity, I need diversity in my classroom!!

So much to do, so little time

Well I figured I'd spare 5-10 minutes in this hectic life I am living to reflect on a number of things. First of all, I really thought that taking 18 credit hours was going to be unbearable, but I'm finding that taking it day by day and staying completely organized has been helpful.


I'm so glad I met with Dr. Kist about class substitutions & the issue with Lit in English II because otherwise I'd be stuck taking 18 credit hours again next fall! Even though I am certain I could pull it off, I'm relieved that I will have one less thing to worry about.


I really am enjoying this semester and most of the materials I am reading. Right now, I am pretty focused on The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (in fact, I am writing a critical analysis for it for Lit in English II), Charles Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil (dislike), and of course, textbooks for various classrooms. I'm finding my text Classics in the Classroom for Teaching Literature in the Secondary Classroom to be a very useful book. Carol Jagos, the author, has some top notch teacher advice and learning methods that could easily be applied to the classroom. One noteable thing is how in her classroom she keeps a list of all literary terms posted for students to refer to and develop their vocabulary. This gets the students talking in "literary jargon" in the classroom and I think this is a great idea--I will definitely use this technique. Jagos recommends that all English teachers own the book A Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H. Abrams. It can be found cheap on Amazon!


I'm looking forward to the Cleveland Film Festival--I'm surprised how many people outside of class have heard about it and even plan on going. I've had a couple friends ask to see the magazine of all the movie listings because they were interested in going...People love the multi-modal world!! I've decided that I am going on Wednesday March 25 and I am going to see the short film series. They all seem interesting! Before this starts, around 4pm, I'm actually going shopping at Tower City! (Way to kill two birds with one stone, right?)


I've been trying to follow up on a number of educational blogs, but one stuck out to me--The NCTE Assembly of Media Arts. There is a blog about comic books and how Harvard classrooms are incorporating the use of comic books as part of the curriculum! For example, there is an article titled Hitting the Comic Books that tells all about it. They talk about the recent movie Watchmen which was first a comic book. Professors at Harvard are using it as an example to "expresses timeless, fundamental concerns with the corruptive nature of power." This is great! The idea of taking something students read or watch to apply it to a lesson. A little something called real-world application. I am a firm believer in this idea. If you take something artistic, entertaining, modern, and relative to a student's life, the better retention and comprehension the student will have for your lesson. And even better, they will have FUN learning!! This is what I call education!!

Project Reaction

Everyone in Multi-Modal class did an awesome job with their projects! Although it took a long time, I had a fun time reminiscing on memories and relating to my classmates. There are a lot of things that were mentioned by classmates that I've never read or watched so I wrote down things that seem interesting. Some of the items I wrote down include: O Brother Where Art Thou, Native Son, Rambo, Where the Heart is (book), and Shawshank Redemption. I was also surprised to see that Jimmy Buffet had written some books--I wonder if they are any good?

I really think this project reflects teaching aspects in a number of ways. Literature can be applied to technology, media, books, magazines, fashion, etc., hence the word 'Multi Modal!' Students in the classroom can develop skills using technology in response to literature and actually have fun with it.

URL about film

I am required to bring in a URL to class about film. I wasn't too sure if it has to be about film in the classroom, film in general, or both. So, I did both! This URL is short but sweet and contains information about why film in the classroom is useful, how to make it useful, information about people who make film, and who is involved in making film. I'm interested in learning a little more--specifically about how to incorporate film as lessons in my classroom. I think that if any of the novels we read have films I will definitely be showing them! I already have two movies so far: Beowulf & The Kite Runner, so I'll be happy to add to my collection.

Finished Project Cont.

I was just looking at a classmate's blog, Melissa, and I really like how she put her project up on the web. Due to the fact that YouTube wouldn't let my music go through because of copyright issues, I am going to attempt it on here!
This project reminded me of another video I created for the classroom which was a synopsis of the play Antigone. I think that this type of assignment would be great for the classroom--After my students read a novel or play, they can recreate it visually as a video. It actually turned out really good.. I will post it too so you can see what I mean!

A finished project

For Multi-Modal Literacies class, I finished my autobiographical project which includes a collection of my favorite books, films, shows & music growing up. I titled it, A Collection of Favorites, and it can be found on YouTube by clicking the link. The only problem I incurred was the music being uploaded to the video via YouTube. I was bummed out about that because I spent a lot of time working on it all! So when it comes time to present it to class, I will be happy in saying I succeeded in uploading a video to YouTube, but I failed to get the music to load. Therefore, I will have to present the old fashion way by either bringing my jumpdrive or burn it to a cd. I look forward to seeing other's projects--I had a lot of fun thinking back to childhood memories. It reminded me when I was a young girl and I used to read books aloud to stuffed animals pretending that they were in school and I was the teacher! Things like that make me think back and wonder if that was some unconscious relation to my future..Ha, Ha.

One paper finished, yet another to start

Well, I finished paper number one for this week, Pere Goriot. Now I need to begin my paper on William Wordsworth. I'm writing about his poem called, The Tables Turned. Has anyone read this one? This is my favorite poem out of all of his. It's about putting books aside and enjoying nature. It also tells readers that nature gives us wisdom that books cannot provide us. I'm having a difficult time finding a lot of sources and deciding what exactly I'm going to analyze, but give it time. It's due on Sunday by 7pm, but I really want to try to turn it in early! (I wonder if professors are impressed by this?) I know that when I am a teacher and if I have a student turning in papers early, I will be absolutely thrilled!

P.S. William Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads is one of the hardest things I've ever read. I cannot get through it!

The beginning of a thought adventure!

Allow me to welcome myself aboard. I am currently in the program for Secondary Education, Integrated Language Arts at Kent State University. So far, I have had an excellent experience gaining more and more anticipation of beginning my profession as a teacher!

Today in my Multi-Modal Literacies class, we learned many examples of things we can use in the classroom and one really stuck out to me. It is called "List Six" in which students must answer in list form. For example, "list six characters in the novel." It included the students forming a circle while one remained in the middle. The middle student closes his or her eyes as the students in the circle pass around an object. When the middle students says, "stop," the student in the circle with the object in hand must answer the question posed by the middle student. If answered wrong, students switch places and the game continues. This can be used as a review game before a quiz or test.

My friend Randi, Mike and I were talking about how we could tweek this exercise because students may have trouble thinking of questions. Also we figured that this game could be used for short answer questions rather than lists. We would have the teacher could put several questions into a hat that students can pull out or students could even write down review questions that they may not know the answer to into the hat to provide answers for them anonymously. I think I will definitely use this in my classroom!

Today our class also discussed a controversial topic. Should professional people have personal pages such as Myspace or Facebook? I know a lot of people do indeed have these sorts of pages to stay in touch with old friends, relatives, etc. I used to have a Facebook, but I deleted the account because it was really consuming my life. I think networks like these become almost an addiction because we want to "stalk" other people's pictures, latest news and gossip, and again keep in touch. But I think if you get to the point where you intend on spending 10 minutes on there which turns into an hour, that is a problem. And that was my problem! I could have been doing homework for class or exercising!!*** I highlight exercising because it is so hard for me to make time for exercising, I am so busy studying and working, that exercise has not been a major priority lately. And to think, I spent that hour on Facebook...

Well those are my thoughts for today. I have two analytical papers to write this week. One about Pere Goriot and one about William Wordsworth.