The Professor and the Madman

James Murray ("The Professor") and William Chester Minor ("The Madman")

The Oxford English Dictionary is just one of those things, like The Bible, that has always been around. No one stops to think about where it acme from, who the person who wrote it actually was, etc. I don't know if it is just me, but I never realized that it was created with the help of contributors. I guess now that I look back, I realize that thinking one man literally came up with every single definition all by himself is a bit crazy.

However, who would have thought that the title of this book was actually true!? It gives me a whole new appreciation for the dictionary, realizing that a lot of the dictionary that everyone so often takes from granted, was originally created with the help of a crazy murderer. It really makes me stop and think how odd it is that some of the worst people are geniuses when it comes to other things. He was insane, murdered people, yet was unbelievably gifted when it comes to the written language.

Image Grammar

My favorite part of Harry Noden's Image Grammar is the section on parallel structure. Noden titles this chapter, 3, "The Artist's Rhythms." He talks about how you must "listen for the beat" (50). He writes that the "structures give prose a musical quality that adds emphasis and sound to central images" (50). I'm really interested in ways to incorporate music into the Language Arts classroom. During my 10-day unit, I used music to teach rhyme scheme, similarities between poetry back in the day and current music, the difference between tone and mood, and so on. I was actually a bit disappointed in myself for failing to see how grammar could be mixed with music in the classroom. This is one of the very first times I have heard of a non-lame way to teach parallel structure. Haha

On the next page, he talks about the rhythm of repetition. He shows an example from a letter that repeats the same phrase over and over, creating "an echo, a trancelike refrain" (51) This letter was most likely unintentionally using literal repetition. However, then he goes on to refer to Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and how he repeatedly wrote "but the noise steadily increased" (51).

Noden continues on a few pages later to talk about the music and rhythms in political rhetoric. I took a rhetoric class last year and so I recognized the examples he cited, such as J.F.K.'s Inaugural Address. He writes that these speeches can serve as the best examples of parallel structure in the classroom, and that their rhythms "create the illusion of profundity" (59). I'm not into politics at all, but this actually made me look forward to the possibility of teaching a speech class!

Modern Library Writer's Workshop: Chapter 7

I really liked chapter 7 in Modern Library Writer's Workshop on "Working and Reworking." First, I like that he mentions that there should be as many drafts as are needed when writing. It's something that should be emphasized to students. Many students are taught that one first draft is necessary, peer-editing or editing of some sort should take place, and then they should create a final draft and hand it in for a grade. In this case, students who may not get a good grade after that one first draft and revision are going to begin to think they are poor writers. If we as teachers emphasize that there should be multiple drafts that just keep happening until the piece of writing is what they want it to be, students may realize that there are not just innately "good" writers, and that it takes everyone practice and perseverance. If it's not great the first time, or the second, or the third, just keep writing until it is!

I also loved his "10-percent solution." Koch recalls that Fred Astaire told a young film-maker, "Make it as good as you can. Then cut ten minutes." (174) That really is such great advice that would not occur to me as a perfect way to teach students to cut "wordiness" and redundant points, etc. This ensures that everything is concise and that everything that is in the paper, story, whatever it may be, really is necessary and adds to the piece -- not just makes it the required length assigned.

"Hungry Minds"

The really, really enjoyed the article "Hungry Minds." You always read about all of the different programs done to help out the homeless, but none really seem worth any while to me except the physical fitness ones, where men or women have started running clubs for the homeless. And now, this one, as well. There are so many options for those who are seeking an education. They could go to the library, where all the knowledge they could ever desire is at their hands for free, to educate themselves. Learning to write well, and having an avenue to share that writing and gain insight and praise for it, cannot be found from books. A writing workshop seems like such a fantastic way to help these people out by improving their writing skills, improving their moods, and creating a network of support.

My absolute favorite quote from this article was on the final page:
"The alchemy of writing gives everybody who’s been in the workshop an extra dimension: along with possessing a name and a face, each is also the particular person who wrote whatever. Somehow, writing even a few lines makes the person who does it more substantial and real. In geometric terms, it’s like the difference between being a point and being a plane."
They share this writing at the end with all the parishioners or people from other writing group, and hearing these homeless men and women must have such a profound effect on them. It turns a person who we usually see as a statistic or a stereotype into a real person with stories and hopes and grief and loss.



I'm going to hold onto this article. It seems like it could even possibly be a good way to inspire future students to write by making them see what a great way it is to share your story.

Writer's Workshop: Chapter 4, Characterization

I really enjoyed the activity we did on class this past Monday with the puppets. Each student wrote a short 2-3 sentence story about a puppet they had picked from a bag at random, and then we passed them around and reviewed them based on plot alone. Then each group picked one that they felt was the best and created a skit for it that they presented to the class. My character was Olive Oyl and I had written a short story about how Olive Oyl and Popeye had gotten into a fight because he spends all of his money on spinach and never buys her a new dress, and our group decided that would be an interesting one to make a skit about.

This activity would be such a great way to teach plot and characterization in a classroom. It was also interesting because the next day in my Health and Learning class we were exchanging lesson ideas and adapting them to whichever concentration we are in. A girl who is studying Deaf Education presented a very similar idea because apparently students who are hard of hearing have trouble with reading comprehension, so when things are acted out they become much clearer to them. In Kist's class we tied this activity into Chapter 4 of Modern Library's Writer's Workshop. Stephen Koch writes that characterization is all about the little things, not the big things, that the characters do. The car chases are less important than the everyday actions they do that make the characters easily related to by to their readers.

The author writes that Edith Wharton, who says there is a big difference between "novels of situation" and "novels of characters and manner." The author elaborates on that point, explaining that in the first the characters are created after the situation, while in the second, the events come after the development of the characters. The example he sites as a "novel of character and manner" is The Catcher in the Rye and Holden Caulfield. I have read that novel and remember relating to it so well. I loved Holden's character, and the reason that novel continues to be such an undeniably great piece of writing is because of Holden. I only hope to be able to teach The Catcher in the Rye to my students in the future.

Preparing for my Unit and Pleasure Reading

As I'm forming my ideas and lessons for the 10-day unit I'm going to be teaching beginning November 1st, I'm really starting realize how beneficial the activities we have done in Dr. Kist's and Dr. Pytash's classes are. I'm taking so many ideas from the things we have done in those classes.

I'm teaching my unit on poetry, with an emphasis on Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. I've got most of my ideas planned out, but a major concern of mine is what to do if I have allotted too much time for a certain lesson. I wanted to come up with an idea for what to do at the end of class with extra time. When Dr. Kist brought all those notebooks to class and said they were 15 cents at Walmart, I went out and bought a bunch of them. I'm really glad I did now because I decided that I'm going to paste a different Whitman or Dickinson poem in each of them. If there is extra time at the end of the period, I'll pass them out and have the students reply to the poem, or reply to the post of the person who wrote in that notebook prior to them, like we do with our random topic journals at the end of Teaching Literature and Composition most weeks. I won't assign a large grade to it, but it will at least keep the students busy until the end of the period and hopefully strengthen their analysis skills.

I also want to mention that Dr. Pytash really inspired me to begin reading more young adult fiction. First, that class encouraged me to read the Twilight Saga, which I had been given for Christmas, but had been reluctant to read. I loved it, of course. When we had our final assignment at the end of the semester, one of our options was to read a series and write papers on it. I chose to read the Uglies series, and of course, again fell in love with it. I had forgotten how relaxing and stress-relieving it could be to read something for fun rather than because you HAVE to. So this semester, when a professor assigned a Chris Crutcher novel, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, I was psyched to have an excuse to read a pleasure novel as homework. We didn't have to have it read until November some time, but I was so excited, I decided just to read it the second week of the semester. It's so refreshing after the challenging texts I feel like I am always reading for my college courses.

Recitation and Report

I found it really interesting on page 64 how Barbara Finkelstein was only able to find three sorts of teachers in the 1880's: "Intellectual overseer", "Drillmaster", and "Interpreter of Culture." The first one made students memorize material and then punished them for errors. The second one led their students through their lessons in unison. The last one, which it was mentioned she found hardly any of, explained ideas and material. The last one still does not even sound that great to me. It's sad that most students were taught either by being forced to memorize things or by being led in recitation. How boring and pointless!

On page 69, the author talked about how teachers sorted their students by race, gender, class, achievement, etc. All of the things they chose to sort students by are things we would never even think of doing to our students today. The author said that this helped contribute to social inequalities. However, that part does seem sort of relevant to today. There are so many studies that talk about how minorities and those who are economically disadvantaged do worse in school, but many teachers/districts do nothing to help this because they listen to these studies and thus, expect less from those students, as well as fail to challenge them. When no one believes in these supposedly academically disinclined students, why should they believe in themselves?

Only the most wealthy, usually white and male, students made it to graduation because they were the ones with families that could afford the materials and services necessary for the students to excel in school. That just seems so unfair. But again, it's not so far off. Our schools today are punished financially for not excelling on standardized tests, taking away funding. How is less funding supposed to help these students in already disadvantaged districts to do better in school? My first instinct reading these things was to be shocked, but then I really thought about it and some of it seems too familiar. It's not as serious and drastic as it was then, but we do still have a weird race/wealth/success cycle going.

The Freedom Writers Diary

Like so many of the others in our program, Freedom Writers is one of my all-time favorite movies. It makes me want to cry every single time I see it. I had been meaning to read the book for a long time, so when it was on the optional reading for the class, it was the perfect time.

I absolutely loved it. Some of the students' entries were so unbelievably open and honest that it was hard to believe they were true. It really reminds you as a teacher to remember that your students can be going through some things you can't even fathom.

I have always thought I would like to work at a school like the one Erin Gruwell taught at, or even a detention center. It was amazing to see the lengths she was willing to go to in order to ensure that her students got the best books to read, got to go to places they wouldn't have had the opportunity to otherwise, and met the heroes of the autobiographies they were reading. She made everything so real and tangible for her students and they clearly learned from it and appreciated it.

There were so many entries or passages from this book that I loved, but my favorite quote from the book was actually from Anne Frank. On page 274, in the epilogue, Erin Gruwell quotes Anne Frank when talking about how Anne's words and struggle inspired the students:

"...we have the opportunity to get an education
and make something of ourselves.
We have many reasons to hope for great happiness,
but we have to earn it. And that is something you
can't achieve by taking the easy ways out.
Earning happiness means doing good and working,
not speculating and being lazy."

If anyone ever finds that on a poster, please let me know. I'd love to hang it in my future classroom!

In the Middle: Chapter 4

First, I want to remark on the fact that Donald Graves told her that the reason she is a great writing teacher is because she is so "damned organized." How many times have we been reminded by our professors that we will fail as teachers if we are not organized? Apparently, they didn't just make that up. Haha

Atwell's practice of making her classroom a reading and writing workshop is really great. It seems so much more appropriate to title the class a workshop because I feel it promotes participation and responsibility in the classroom. It's not a lecture, where they are being talked at for an hour. Workshop implies that everyone works together, working and learning from one another, so the students would be much more excited about the class. I wonder how realistic this is when applied to real classrooms with such strict curriculum at most schools, standardized tests to prepare for, and limited time.

On page 100, Atwell mentions that one of the resources of her classroom (along with things such as her library of books on writing, writing supplies, examples of various genres and forms of writing) is a "publication center" that she sets up to help writers enter into contests and look into publication. I really feel it is important to make sure that your classroom is not only about writing for research or book review purposes, but encouraging individual expression and ownership of their writing.

However, I strongly disagree with what Atwell writes on page 101 when she states that she will not buy series books. While she is right that some of them do have poor character development, some are also awesome ways to get students reading, especially the students who do not typically enjoy it. I have read some young adult book series in the past year trying to get in touch with what my students are going to be familiar with, including the Uglies series and the Twilight saga, and have obviously read some Harry Potter in my time (who hasn't?) and I really feel that they can make readers out of students who usually wouldn't. I have a friend, for example, who read Twilight, and is now the most avid reader imaginable because she just reads anything that seems to relate to Twilight, either because it is vampire-related or about an odd romance like that. Sometimes students need to be taught that they can love to read, and if that is necessary by giving them a cheap, cheesy romance novel such as Twilight, so be it in my opinion.

In the Middle: Chapter 2

It was very interesting to me to read the list of 21 things Atwell combined that teachers demonstrate to their students about reading. They all seem so true. While a few do not apply to me as a high school student (only because I loved reading before I even entered school), so many of them are things that I definitely can say all of my English teachers demonstrated. Specifically the first two about how reading is such a serious thing, as well as dreadfully painful. It made me laugh because it really is true. So many teachers introduce students to a piece of classic literature and begin the unit by telling the students how difficult the book will be and how hard they will have to work to participate in the discussions during class, as well as how their grade will rely on their understanding of and ability to analyze the work.

I was also shocked by the statistic that states that the United States is ranked 49 out of 158 in literacy. That just seems so disgraceful for me. But who is to blame? It definitely is not teachers alone, although I'm sure some poor teachers do contribute. I remember reading somewhere that the average American reads at only a 5th grade reading level or something around there. To me, that is embarrassing.

On page 36, Atwell talks about revisiting some of the classics she suffered through in high school. I feel a lot of us are doing this right now, trying to re-familiarize ourselves with the works we barely remember or, in my case for some, finishing them because Spark notes were just so accessible. She says, "Although I dutifully turned the pages, I never read, in any genuine sense of the word, most of the school-sponsored literature on which i fixed my teenage eyes..." That is exactly how I feel about myself as an English student in high school. I loved reading and writing, but on my terms. I often found it very hard to understand why I had to read what they wanted me to and why I couldn't just pick the works I found most easy to relate to. I feel that is one thing I want to work towards in my classroom- making sure every student feels some way to relate to the work we are reading.

In the Middle: Chapter 1

I was sold on this book beginning on page 4 when the author writes, "This book tells stories because it's the best way I know to reveal myself, my students, and my subject: helping kids put written language at the crux of their emotional, social, and intellectual worlds." That right there is what first inspired me to become an English teacher. I had some rough times throughout high school, and the best form of therapy I ever found was in writing. It didn't matter if it was journals, poetry, creative writing, etc. I pride myself on the ability I have to write some darn good research papers, but (since I came out of those rough times) I do not credit myself as a great poet or creative writer. However, in high school, I wrote poem after poem after story after story. And I read novel after novel because they were the only place I felt I could find anyone who understood me. I feel that a lot of high school students feel the same way, or would if they had the proper English teacher who could show them what an outlet or tool writing and reading can be.

I also liked that first on her list of "orthodoxies" she teaches by was "Minilessons should be between five and seven minutes long." I remember learning that 7 minutes is the maximum that high school students should be expected to focus on one topic in one of our education classes. I also like that a lot of her rules seem to revolve around encouraging students to own their work, which will create pride in their work.

Teaching Literature: Chapter Seven

The part in chapter seven that I really enjoyed was her way of teaching Julius Caesar. She has her students decide who they think would make the best president and then use examples/quotes from the text to support their opinions. This reminds me of what we did in class for The Great Gatsby when we took either Daisy or Myrtle's side and rallied for who we thought was in "the right" with Tom. I think it's a really great way to get students to think about the characters viewpoints, as well as the plot in general, from different point-of-views that may not be the straightforward intention of the author.

My favorite quote was from the end of the chapter when Jago writes, "In the brave new world that I envision, students will graduate from high school able to read and understand the best that literature has to offer...In the process students will discover the heroic dimension of their own lives." It is so important that we teach our students in high school to understand and, thus, appreciate literature's best. If we don't give them those tools as high school teachers, they will not go into college, or just the rest of their lives, being able to really "get" this old literature that sometimes seems so outdated. I know there are still things I read in college that I don't really "get" well enough to understand. I want to be able to teach my students to look deep enough to get meanings for everything they read for themselves.

This was my favorite textbook I have ever read, and actually one of the few I did not dread reading. Carol Jago has such wonderful ideas and opinions regarding the classroom. The lessons offered up as examples in her book for teaching great works such as The Odyssey and Julius Caesar are things I will remember going into my classroom.

Teaching Literature: Final Reflection

I have acquired so many valuable skills throughout this past year, and specifically, this past semester. At the beginning of this semester I was really feeling a little lost in terms of becoming a teacher and did not feel like I knew nearly enough to be given a class in the spring. However, I feel so much better prepared now. I have seriously made headway when it comes to how nervous I get speaking in front of the class. I used to get so anxious, but now it is totally manageable. Granted, it probably helps that I have had classes with 80% of the same people for at least the last year, but it's still something that really makes me feel a lot more at ease as I go into the next year.

The activities throughout this semester have been so helpful in teaching me how to construct a lesson. I particularly enjoyed the random Q&A sessions we would have in class where you would just answer all of our random questions that are not necessarily built into the course's curriculum, but are still so important to all of us. For example, when you explained how to field difficult questions or how to decide how to grade an assignment based on what your goal was for that assignment. It was especially great how you and Dr. Kist combined assignments and tried to intermix what you were teaching. We could always relate things in one class to the other and it just helped to really reinforce everything I learned.

The book we read this semester was also a great help. I always return my books because I'm a poor, struggling student, but I think I'm actually going to keep Classics in the Classroom. Her example lessons, like the one on how she teaches the Odyssey, were so great that I want to keep the text in order to model my own future lessons after them. The book was not only helpful, but easy to read because it was so interesting and applicable.

After this semester, I feel so much better equipped for this upcoming year. I really enjoyed having you as a teacher for the past two semesters and feel as if I have learned more that is relevant to my future career in the past semester than I have in the other three and a half years I have been at Kent State. It's been great having you as a teacher.

Multi-Modal Literacies: Final Reflection

This class is hands down the most valuable class I've taken this semester. High school English class can be such a boring subject to learn about if the student has not already developed a love for reading on their own. I always knew I wanted to figure out ways to make class more interesting, fun, and exciting, but I was never entirely sure how to do that. This class has left me with endless ideas as to how to liven up the English classroom, specifically involving technology.

This facebook project, in particular, is a concept that really interests me. Additionally, in Dr. Pytash's class last week, we reviewed different lesson plans from Read Write Think for Shakespeare. One of them included a lot of different options for projects, one of which was creating a blog or facebook from the character's point-of-view. One of the potential arguments was that creating a facebook from a character's point-of-view could be a very easily blown-off assignment, but we discussed the option that they created facebooks/blogs as the characters and then interacted with each other as the read the book in class, commenting on the main events and sharing the character's inner thoughts. If facebook continues to become more popular in high school classrooms, I would also love to create a class facebook group for students to discuss assignments and deadlines, where they can help each other and I can help them. I think an online portfolio could also be a great way for student's to maintain their body of work from the semester, as well as easily look back over it.

Looking over all my journal entries from both Multi-Modal and Teaching Literature, I have learned so much this semester. I know so much better now how to construct lessons and lesson plans. Also, as I mentioned in one of my blog posts for Multi-Modal for blog check #2, I have really made some headway in terms of speaking in front of classes. I have much less anxiety over speaking to the class, and especially about leading a discussion.

Multi-Modal: Autism

I really enjoyed the speaker that came in last week, Michelle Cahoon. She has a son with autism, among other learning disabilities, and has learned all that she needs to know about it on her own. She works with the Akron Rotary Camp in Akron. Her presentation inspired me to try and volunteer at the camp myself. I sent her an e-mail and and told her about my experience with learning disabled children/students, expressing my interest at volunteering. She forwarded my information to the camp's director, who called me back and let a voice mail. I called back, but have yet to hear back again. I think it would be a wonderful experience to volunteer with that camp. I could learn so much about working with children with autism and other learning disabilities.

My younger brother has ADHD. He was adopted from Albania when he was two-years-old, and had not learned any English or Albanian. Thus, he is socially and school-wise stunted two years. He has trouble with school, and also making friends. He does not always understand when kids are making fun of him or when they're goofing around. I have always tried to help him study for tests and do his homework, not always helping. He is part of the reason I'm entering the education field, I'm sure. After I have graduated and worked a year, hopefully then I will begin working toward another degree in Special Education, Speech Pathology. or School Counseling. Volunteering with the Akron Rotary Camp would help me to get more experience with special education children and decide whether or not that degree is something I would like.

Multi-Modal Literacies: Facebook

I am really enjoying the facebook project. The thing that has struck me the most about participating in these discussions is that the students are willing to voice their opinions, even when they disagree with what us college students are saying. I am afraid that when I was in high school, I was not sure enough about my skills analyzing literature to go against what a college student was saying. I would have seen their opinion as more valid and educated, and thus, just assumed they were right. The high school students are going to be way ahead of the game when they get to college because they are already learning the skills to debate points of literature in a mature way.

The prospect of helping present at the NCTE conference is really exciting, as well. It's amazing to me that you have provided us with the opportunity to present at the conference on such a great subject. What other teachers just beginning in the field are going to be able to say that they have already presented at a national conference. It will also be a great opportunity for us to hone our public speaking skills, in terms of large audiences.

Multi-Modal Literacies: Compare and Contrast

When comparing and contrasting the two graphic novels, American Born Chinese and Naruto: Volume 1, I would have to say that I liked American Born Chinese better. However, even after having read more graphic novels (the only other one I have read was one about 9/11 in Pytash's class last semester), I still have to say that I really do not enjoy them very much. I will always prefer the old-fashioned text books.

American Born Chinese was easier for me to follow than Naruto: Volume 1. It's plot was easier for me to understand, and the organization of the book seemed better. The bubbles were not as confusing for me as they were in Naruto. Most importantly, though, American Born Chinese read from left to right like most books I read. It took a long time for me to get past reading a book that goes the entire opposite of everything I have always known and read.

American Born Chinese is a book I would consider teaching my own future students if I chose to do a graphic novel. Not only was the plot easier to understand, but also easier to relate to. It is set in high school, and revolves around issues that high school students face, such as feeling left out, wanting to fit in, etc. The story told about high school politics, as I like to refer to it, and that is something all students can relate to. Naruto on the other hand, was harder to follow. I always have difficulty when there are a lot of odd names involved, but the plot was also harder for me to follow.

Each graphic novel utilized gutters and black borders. For some reason, American Born Chinese's layout was easier for me to follow, possibly because of the illustrator's choices. It seemed to have more pictures of their faces close-up, and not just of everyone in the entire scene. Also, Naruto had a lot of fight scenes, so that may also be a reason the illustrations confused me so much. I really liked that American Born Chinese was illustrated in color, as well, because without the color, everything sort of just blurs together onto this giant newspaper-looking page that is much harder to focus on.

Naruto used much more exaggeration, for example, when it came to the sound effect choices in the novel. American Born Chinese was more of real-world issues so exaggeration was not as necessary. The mood of American Born Chinese was also more positive. From the get-go, looking at the cover, I had a better feeling about American Born Chinese. The main relationships in both graphic novels had to do with power, in some way, but in American Born Chinese, it was more of a power struggle that we all understand: the power of fitting in and being able to identify with those around us.

Teaching Literature: Preparing for Student Teaching

I was discussing our upcoming student teaching experiences with a few others girls from our 11am class, and realized I'm not alone in this, but I am slightly afraid of public speaking. Speaking to children or teenagers is not really what scares me, but presenting to my peers, and having my performance judged (as will be the case with our cooperative teachers and the Kent State men and women that will come to observe us) makes me super nervous. I chose to be a teacher, not because I am a great public speaker, but because I have had experiences with my younger brother and his learning difficulties that inspired me to do so, as well as the belief that there are just not enough high school teachers that genuinely care about their students' well-being. All along, I have just felt that things would fall into place and kept the mindset that "you can't be nervous speaking forever."

However, I have realized over the past semester that my anxiety over speaking in front of classes, both in our Teaching Literature class and my other classes, has dramatically decreased. I kept slightly nervous still, but once I start talking and get comfortable at the front of the room, I feel so much better. I really like that we have already taught two lessons in this class, one where we led a discussion on Yvonne's teaching and one where we taught our own lesson on Gatsby. The repetition of presenting a lesson to our class is what is making me so much more comfortable speaking, and is also giving me a greater confidence is my future ability as a teacher. I particularly liked the lesson we taught on Gatsby since we were given so much freedom on what direction we would take the lesson in. Working with partners, in my case, Erika, makes it so much easier, too.

Honestly, I'm actually beginning to get excited for student teaching, something that I have heard such horror stories about from all the women I waitress with who have yet to find a permanent teaching job. The direct quote from a waitress I know, Natalie, was "it really will be the best time of your life and the worst time of your life"...not exactly something that made ecstatic to get out there and teach a classroom of high school students. Now, though, I can't wait to get my phone call telling me where I could be student teaching so that I can start getting even more excited and ready to go.

Teaching Literature: Classics in the Classroom, Chapter 5

One of the things I really liked from Chapter 5 was on page 88 when she wrote about "The Difficult Poem". No one ever seems to really know why they love Shel Silverstein so much, but it makes sense that it would be because it's so easy, and that the reason no one appreciates the more difficult authors as well is because it takes so much effort to get as much out of them. Charles Berstein has to approaches to reading difficult approaches that include "It is not your fault that difficult poems are difficult," and "It is not the poem's fault that it is difficult."

For the first approach it said "Not being able to make sense of a poem at first glance does not mean there is anything wrong with you." That would be a great way to approach poetry do a class, I think. So many students find poetry difficult and at first problem, give up or feel that they are stupid for not understanding it. Telling students at the beginning of a poetry unit, and reminding them throughout, that poetry is difficult and that it is not them is great. I would probably elaborate on them to add that if the poetry is difficult, it means the exact opposite, and it means that they are smart. It is difficult because one must discern the hidden meanings in the poems, and if you are intelligent enough to understand that it is not straight forward and that you must dissect the poem, you are doing your job correctly.

Another part of Chapter 5 that I enjoyed was the part about Wordsworth's "The World is Too Much With Us". I read that poem last year for Literature in English II, and really liked the ways that Carol Jago relates it to her class with the question of "Do you find that electronic devices like cell phones cause the world to be too much with you?" The poem is not too difficult to discern the meaning of, but the idea of wanting to return to more primitive times and a larger appreciation of nature does sometimes seem like such a far-removed idea from the current generation of school-aged children and teenagers.

Multi-Modal Literacies: You'e Leaving a Digital Trail

The article from the New York Times, You're Leaving a Digital Trail was very interesting, but also kind of disturbing. I feel that the internet is the best representation there is of someone's habits, publicly and secretly, and that being able to look at those would help someone get to know who you are more than even being married to them for twenty years would.

The part that actually made me really mad was the part where they say that insurance companies can use your internet records to find out about any health issues you have and use that information to deny you coverage. First off, I do not believe one should be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, but basically sneaking around people's internet history to find out about that stuff is downright unnecessary.

Don't get me wrong- the technology advanced discussed in the article are amazing, such as the ability to track people throughout stores. It could serve as a great way to catch shoplifters in the act somehow, and can help businesses prosper by being able to study shopping habits, etc. However, it does seem dishonest in a way, that a business can become successful by having almost this secret knowledge rather than just being successful on their own. It almost makes me wish for the old days.

Multi-Modal Literacies: Great Films and How to Teach them, Chapter 9

Reading Chapter 9 of Great Films and How to Teach Them by William V. Constanzo really got me thinking about how I would incorporate films into my classroom in the future. He writes that before doing anything, a teacher must consider their motives, teaching philosophy and goals for the class overall. When I thought about it, I think that showing films in class is a great way to get students excited about a text that they might otherwise not want to read.

However, simply showing it is not enough. When I show a film, I want students to be able to actually appreciate the artistry of the film, including the lighting, editing, acting, writing, everything that goes into it. I will expect them to be familiar will all the aspects of creating a film, as well as be able to draw similarities, differences, and comparisons between the film and the text. I watched a lot of films in my English classes in high school, and it was always a blow off. A teacher needs to hold students accountable for actually getting something more than entertainment out of a film in the classroom.

I think the film review study guide that we used for our review of the film we saw at the Cleveland Film Festival would be a great guide for teaching a film in my own classroom. It addresses all the important things that go into making a film great, and they are things students should learn about and be able to appreciate, not only for the class, but also to serve their appreciation of films in the future. It would be a good guide for students to jot notes on while watching to look back on later before whatever project/paper/mode of assessment the teacher decides to use following the film.

Multi-Modal Literacies: Film Review of The Elephant in the Living Room

Personal Issues: The thing that struck me most in this film was how these exotic animals being kept in domestic homes, or being set free in our own cities, can result in horrible, unexpected deaths, but at the same time they are just like domestic dogs are in terms of what companions they become to their owners. Some people really do know how to take care of them and these animals become like best friends to them, but some people are so uneducated on how to take care of them and are ruining it for everyone else. It seems so unfair.

Technique: The thing I liked best about the film was its editing. The viewer would be watching Terry and his beloved lions, and then it would cut to Tim Harrison in his car on the way to go capture another escaped exotic animals, and then next would be a clip of a news station reporting on the death of an owner by their escaped venomous snake. By doing this, all the possible views of this issue were presented and the constant switching ensured that viewers were never bored. It also kept up the suspense for what would happen next when they switched back to Terry, Tim, or to another news story.

Acting: There was not necessarily any acting in The Elephant in the Living Room because it was a documentary. However, the principal roles were Tim Harrison, an advocate for not keeping exotic pets, and Terry Brumfield, a man who owns, and adores, his two adult lion pets. Because the issues were real and not acted out, and also because all viewpoints of the issue were presented, their performances were very credible and non-biased.

Plot: Tim Harrison is a policeman and paramedic who works with an organization called Outreach for Animals, which encourages people not to keep exotic pets. One of the projects he is working on is convincing Terry Brumfield not to continue keeping his two adult lions, who later give birth to three cubs, as pets. However, Tim is torn because he sees how much Terry loves his lions and what heartbreak it causes him to lose them. I think this was very original and compelling because exotic animals as pets is not a very often discussed topic. The way the movie played out made it compelling because it was always switching between Terry, Tim, Terry and Tim, or news stories about deaths by exotic animals. By doing this, viewers were always kept in suspense, waiting to see what would happen or what was going to be shown next.

Themes: The main issue of the film is whether or not to keep exotic animals as pets. There are no laws prohibiting it, but because so many uneducated people do it, and eventually set them free or don't take proper care of them, deaths occur all the time.

Genre: The film is a documentary. While I do not watch a lot of documentaries, I cannot list other film that is resembles, but I think documentaries are gaining popularity today because there are so many topics that people feel strongly about, on both sides. This film was great because it did what a lot of currently popular documentaries don't do- it presented it from both sides and did not lead the viewer to lean towards either side.

Representation: The film focuses on two groups of people: those who are advocates and keeping exotic animals as pets, and those who discourage exotic animals as pets. It does not represent either group in a clear-cut way, though. Tim Harrison, who works as director for an organization that discourages it, also shows obvious sadness over removing Terry's lions from him. Terry, who loves his pet lions, realizes the danger that occurs when his male adult lion breaks free from his pen and ends up in a popular interstate, so much that he places them in a trailer where they cannot get free and cause more danger until he has decided what to do with them.

Ideology: The film challenges the cultural belief that we should be allowed to have pets, and takes the issue farther to raise the question of "when do we stop?" People in this country love their dogs and cats, some love their critters and birds, who has the authority to say people can't have wild cats or venomous snakes? They accomplished a presentation of this issue in a non-biased way by presenting both sides of the issue in a diplomatic, as well as emotional at times, way.

Multi-Modal Literacies: Cleveland Film Festival

I attended the Cleveland Film Festival on Friday, March 26th, originally intending to see Handsome Harry because it was earlier in the day and I had to be back at home in Pittsburgh for work that night. However, due to parking difficulties, my boyfriend and I missed that film, which was showing at 11:45am, and chose to see The Elephant in the Living Room at 2:20 instead. I'm glad we missed the first film, because The Elephant in the Living Room was great. The film followed Tim Harrison, a policeman and paramedic with a specialty in capturing exotic animals in neighborhoods or nearby parks that have been set free by their owners, or are the result of animals set free by their owners breeding. He works for an organization that encourages people not to keep exotic animals as pets because he sees all to often what happens when they become too much to handle.

The film also follows a man named Terry Brunfield, a man who owns to adult lions, a male and a female. Tim is trying to convince him to hand the lions over and cease keeping lions as pets. When the male lion gets free and ends up in the middle of the interstate, Terry is forced to put the two adult lions in a trailer, although the lion injured no one. However, this causes further difficulties, because the two mate and bear three cubs. Tim and some of his friends assist Terry in building new cages with more space for all the lions, but the film ends sadly when an electrical surge of some sort ends up killing the adult male lion, finally leading Terry to relinquish over his remaining four lions to live in a reserve where they will have much more area to roam and can still remain together.

There are no laws forbidding people from owning exotic animals as pets. The reason I enjoyed this film so much, aside from the absolute cuteness of all the cubs, was that it investigated the issue from both sides. You saw how often Tim was wrangling exotic animals near neighborhoods where they could possibly have caused damage, and the film would periodically show news footage of different instances where exotic snakes as pets killed a member of the household or other similar stories. However, you also saw how much Terry loved his lions and what a large part of his life and happiness they had become. Viewers of the film are left to form their own opinions as to whether laws should be created forbidding exotic animals from being kept as pets, whether there should be more restrictions on it, or if it should be allowed freely as it is now.

It was a fun today, overall, but something has got to be done about the limited parking availability (and the disorganization of the parking lot in general).

Teaching Literature: Classics in the Classroom, Chapter 4

One of the things I really liked from Chapter 4 was Freytag's Pyramid, which serves as a way for students to chart the structure of the stories they are reading. Carol Jago writes that she will often use it within her classrooms when studying different stories, or plays, such as Shakespeare. Having students map out the different aspects of a story in terms of its "Rising action" or "Denouement/Resolution" helps them to learn the different terms that apply to the different parts of a story, but also helps them to commit the story's plot to memory. Becoming familiar with those terms will help enrich their discussion of literature, and becoming so familiar with the plot of the story will obviously benefit them when it comes time to take a test or discuss it in class.

There was also a quote in Chapter 4 on page 67 that I really liked. Carol Jago quotes Daniel T. Willingham's article about the research confirming that students remember what they think about, "If 'what ends up in a learner's memory is not simply the material presented- it is the product of what the learner through about when he or she encountered the material', then books that demand hard thinking on the part of a reader are more likely to be remembered than those students breeze through." I think that information speaks volumes about the importance of rich, in-depth class studies, often through discussion, of the complexities of a novel's characters or themes, even if they are difficult. So many of us remember many of the classics we read in high school fondly, many of us even citing them as the reason for our love of literature. The classics we remember are the ones that are rich in symbols, themes, complex characters, etc. We had to work to get to the bottom of everything in those books, and so they have remained with us throughout all this time, often leading us to re-read them.

Teaching Literature: Classics in the Classroom, Chapter 2

I was looking forward to reading Chapter 2 because teaching vocabulary has always been an aspect of teaching an English class that has always worried me. There is nothing fun or enriching to a student about vocabulary quizzes, but the list of Do's and Don't's on page 32 were very helpful to me and offered many great suggestions for incorporating vocabulary into the classroom without killing my students with boring, weekly vocabulary quizzes.

My favorite from the Do list was "Use personalized examples when defining new words. 'I wonder if Wendy's doleful expression is a result of not having her homework completed.'" It would be difficult to remember to incorporate those words into your own speech if you're not used to them. Even if you're not using words that are being used in the class readings, simply having a diverse vocabulary will benefit your students. I think it is very important for a teacher to have a large vocabulary because hopefully a lot of the words you use will rub off onto your students anyways.

My second favorite point that Carol Jago made throughout Chapter 2 a few different times was the importance of teaching prefixes, suffixes, and roots. That's one thing I don't remember being focused on very much in my own high school classes, but that I wish I had a better knowledge of. I was always an avid readers, so I do know most of the commonly seen ones, but not as many as I wish I did. Teaching students all of the prefixes, suffixes, and roots would be so important because it will help them out not just in everyday reading, but would also serve them very well on the SAT and state standardized tests where there are words that are not commonly seen, or where questions about prefixes, suffixes, and roots are addressed.

Teaching Literature: Classics in the Classroom, Chapter 6

The part of Chapter 6 that I found most interesting was "Lesson Study in Japan." Carol Jago writes about "kounaikenshuu, a series of activities that make up a comprehensive process of school improvement." (100) It is pretty widely agreed among teachers that our education system in this country is lacking, but very few teachers take the necessary steps to improve it outside their own lesson plans. The teachers in Japan get together to "design, implement, test, and improve what they call a "research lesson." (100) Not only do they create the lesson, but they teach it to a class, make revisions, and then share the results with their colleagues. They even hold "lesson fairs" where they come together to share and observe these research lessons.

I think this is something that our schools could really benefit from. Each school, as Dr. Hutchison told us last semester, has "star teachers," but they are few. If these "star teachers" were put together with groups of other teachers to work on lessons where their ideas and input could be contributed, everyone would learn from them. Their lessons could be viewed at "lesson fairs" and then even the worst teachers out there would at least have access to great lessons. In my opinion, it's better for a terrible teachers to at least attempt a great lesson, then to teach the mediocre lessons they are probably already creating.

Finally, I learned a lot from reading over her lesson plan for Homer's The Odyssey. In particular, I love the idea of having students assigned to groups that will teach books from the last half of the epic. It is a great way to incorporate the constructivist theory of learning into your classroom, and the students will learn so much more from the hands-on aspect and the freedom that goes along with formulating their own ideas and then figuring out how they want to teach the rest of the class. It's so easy to get away with not reading the novel and relying on Spark Notes in high school literature classes and having the students teach it forces them to learn the material. That is definitely something I will incorporate into my own lessons as a future teacher.

Teaching Literature: Classics in the Classroom, Chapter 3

I really liked the way that Carol Jago organizes her semesters, by offering a list of twelve books that they can choose from and then having them choose five to read every three to four weeks. One of the things I hated most in my own high school literature classes was that we would focus on the same book for so long that it was impossible to enjoy it. I consider myself a pretty fast reader, so it was difficult for me to remain interested. I either read the book quickly and then was totally over it by the fifth week of reading it, or I would pace myself to the rate the teacher assigned, but it was too slow of a pace for me to remain interested in the book.

Jago also wrote that the students meet in literature circles to discuss the book. I remember literature circles from last semester, and think they are a great way to allow students freedom and a level of comfort that will encourage them to speak up and contribute ideas. As a whole class, it is easy for shy students to get away with not contributing, but when it smaller groups, each student is forced to contribute their fair share.

The other idea I really liked from this book was her idea of keeping a portfolio that includes a log of all the books they read in and out of school. This is a great way to help students realize their patterns- what they read a lot of, what they should look into, and where their variety of books may be lacking. Viewing a completed log of all the books they have read would also give them a sense of pride, seeing how much they really have read and possibly helping to make students who don't see themselves as "readers", as readers.

Teaching Literature: Classics in the Classroom, Chapter 1

Before reading Chapter 1 of Classics in the Classroom, by Carol Jago, I had mixed opinions on teaching only the classics. I thought that there was merit to canonical texts, but I had little basis for that opinion other than that they have stood the test of time, and thus, earned their right to still be around and still be taught. However, after reading the first chapter of this book, I see that there are many more positives.

• One, they enrich students' vocabulary. It seems that so many authors use simplistic vocabulary in order to reach a more diverse audience. If they are using words that half of their potential audience will not understand, the likelihood of their book selling and/or being enjoyed goes down.
• Second, these books teach metaphorical thinking. This is something Carol Jago points out that is used daily in dialogue among us, but usually goes so unnoticed. If a teacher can make that relation from a student's every day dialogue with their friends to the metaphors and symbols used in the canonical text they are studying in class, they will be doing a great deal to help students relate to and enjoy the text.
• Third, many of the classics taught in high schools are drama, such as Shakespeare. Things like that just don't happen anymore. Normal, sane people do not go around avenging family members' deaths or killing themselves because they cannot be with their one true love. The fact that so many of these books are very dramatic, and outdated, as the students may see it, makes students find it even harder to relate to them. But Carol Jago made a great point when she said they our students will be voting on whether or not to go to war at some point in the future, or serving on a jury for a murder trial, and by reading these books, they are learning knowledge about the world and the basis for those future decisions.

Those are just the main three points I liked from Chapter 1 about why canonical texts are so important. These texts increase vocabulary, but also teach students about the world in which they live and about politics.

Multi-Modal Literacies: The Socially Networked Classroom, Chapter 4

Out of all the activities throughout The Socially Networked Classroom the one I really liked the most and would love to incorporate into my own classroom, even though it may be a bit difficult in a Literature class, was the Great Debate of 2008 project on pg. 86. I'm a big believer that high school is not simply for learning academic skills, but also life skills and how to become a contributing member of society. So many high schoolers, and people in general, are not up to date on current events or even aware of some of the political issues that are ongoing. I myself am even guilty of this in some instances. If I don't find something interesting, I find it hard to go looking for information on it or to convince myself to read the latest newspaper article describing the newest developments.

This project, on the other hand, makes learning about political issues fun. First, it is based on the web, which automatically makes it more interesting to students. Second, it involves students from schools other than just their own. In this case, the project ended up including students from 8 different states. The project opens students up to other parts of the country, and thus, other viewpoints. Finally, the students have a certain level of freedom in regards to this assignment, which Dr. Hutchison taught us last semester is one of the top motivators for high school students.

I imagine it would be hard to keep up with the monitoring and assessment of an assignment that is so large, but if I could manage it, I can't think of another way to merge politics, writing, internet, social networking, and researching all into one large project that students will find challenging and fun.

Multi-Modal Literacies: "How the Web Was Won"

I thought this article was an absolutely perfect assignment for a class titled "Multi-Modal Literacies." Never before had I read an article online, that included print (in interview form), photos, and audio. Because the article was so lengthy, even with it being broken up by sub titles, the photography and audio were necessary to keep a reader's attention. It seems to me that this is where the future of journalism is heading anyways. Nearly all magazines have their own web site that offers some of their feature stories, additional stories, interactive quizzes and activities, etc. Journalism is heading from print, to the internet. As these articles, and the news, as a major example, become so available on the internet and on devices such as the iTouch, consumers are going to be so much less likely to purchase subscriptions to these magazines and newspapers. It is great that the article was about the history of the internet, as the article was making even further history of the internet.

Like Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, some of the technical terms and references went right over my head. That aside, though, a lot of it was so easy to relate to because I did grow up during this. They talk about Earthlink, and I remember when my family got our first laptop and we would take turns using it to keep in touch with our friends from a summer camp my family was involved in that was located in Ontario, Canada. The e-mail service was Earthlink; it seems like so long ago.

I also found it fascinating to read about the specific people who started different online businesses, such as Craig's List and eBay. On a day-to-day basis we just take the fact that these sites exist for granted, but we don't even think about what a creative, ingenious idea they were when they were first invented. The article is one that everyone could benefit from. My age group can benefit from it because we can not only learn from it about the history, but relate to aspects of it. Those who are younger than myself can benefit from it because it reminds them that the internet is an invention that became popular not so long ago. And finally, our parents can learn from it because some of them still see the internet as such a foreign concept and "How the Web Was Won" is written in a way that is enjoyable and educational, and shows how far the web has come in it's layout, too.

Multi-Modal Literacies: Little Brother

I really enjoyed reading Little Brother by Cory Doctorow for many reasons. First, it is a book that I would never have picked out for myself, or read for long enough to actually enjoy, had I not been assigned it for class. I can use computers and do some basic HTML and things like that, but I have never understood anything more in depth than those basic understandings. I don't understand anything about hacking or coding or the way governments can survey us beyond cameras and tracking our spending, so this book was a really different type of read for me. I didn't understand a lot of what I read, but it was eye-opening in that I can enjoy books that are typically catered towards tech-savvy boys. If I simply skim over those parts, or try not to get frustrated when I don't understand them, then I can still enjoy the book for the other plot points and the characters that it has to offer.

The other, and the main, reason that I liked this book was because it reminded me of 1984 by George Orwell. 1984 was one of my favorite books that we read in high school classes, even at the time. I think it's even more relevant to us, as people and as students, whether in high school or in college, today. After the September 11th attacks, the whole issue of freedom and personal privacy came up. Many people did not feel it was fair that the government should be able to keep tabs on us to the degree that many feel they do, in order to prevent terrorists from planning or entering the country. I think this book really puts all of those issues into perspective, and would really help high school students to understand them. One quote from the book I really liked was ""Funny, for all surveillance, Osama bin Laden is still free—and we're not. Guess who's winning the 'war on terror?'" I can't find the exact quote, but I also really liked when he called Homeland Security the terrorists, since they were scaring the citizens as much as the actual terrorists did, if not more. It seems to capture the way a lot of people felt following the attack on September 11th. This book would really make a statement, not only in literature classes, but also in government classes. I would definitely teach this book in my class if the districts would allow it because I think it's a great way to merge real life issues with the books students feel they are "forced" to read in their classes.

Multi-Modal Literacies: Multi-genre Autobiographies

The assignment of creating a multi-genre autobiography has been a really enjoyable one for me. At first, I was afraid I was not going to even be able to remember enough of the book and television that I enjoyed growing up, but as soon as I started, they just coming until I realized I had over 100 slides and was trying to condense them. It was so interesting to begin to make the connections between how all of the different genres affected my interests and personality throughout the rest of my life. It also made me realize there is a connection between so much of the things I like from all of the different genres. For example, I have always loved quotes. I keep a document on my desk top that is just page after page of saved quotes from television shows, books, movies, blogs I follow, and so on. I love the way that a few sentences can capture a specific emotion or feeling or event so perfectly, and as I was making my autobiography, I realized that was the exact reason I loved photography, and almost made it my career. Photography, like words, captures emotions and events and feelings like nothing except, in my opinion, words can. That, I feel, sums up where my love of literature comes from.

Further, this knowledge is what is going to affect my teaching so much, whether it is what I draw from the texts we read as a class, what texts I choose to begin with, or how I tie them together and into the students' individual lives. Coming to that realization was a real epiphany for me. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and that I loved literature and all forms of capturing important feelings, etc., but I never knew how that love affected the way I want to teach until now.

Dear John

On February 5th, the movie I have been dyiing to see to see for weeks comes out: Dear John. Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried star in it. I have only seen Amanda Seyfried in Mean Girls as the ditzy sidekick friend, so I think it will be interesting to see her in a more serious role. The same goes for Channing Tatum, who I have only ever seen in previews for the movie Fighting or whatever it was called. I hope both of their acting abilities live up to the hype that is being created about this movie.

Dear John is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks, who most know is also the author of The Notebook. The Notebook is one of my all-time favorite movies, as cheesy as it may be. There is something about movies that are made out of books by respected authors that really make me want to see them. It is such a do or die sort of thing. These movies are either much better than the book, or so much more terrible than the book was. At least that is my opinion. Waiting to see these movies creates a sense of suspence. Is it going to be as well-liked as Nicholas Sparks' books are, or will it crash and burn.

The third reason I am looking forward to seeing this movie is for the music. The song featured in the movie's trailer, "Set Fire to the Third Bar" by Snow Patrol is one of my personal favorites, so obviously I had to look into the rest of the movie's soundtrack. It did not disappoint. There is a range of different music featured and it will be interesting how they all fit together in one movie.

Little Brother

I found Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, to be a very interesting insight into the way technology affects our lives currently, as well as the impending effects it could have in our not-so-distant futures. Last semester I took a rhetoric class, in which the teacher was constantly stressing the importance of thinking for ourselves and realizing that there is a bias to everything we see and hear, especially in the media. This book really brings this concept home in a way that everyone can understand, specifically high schoolers. For example, when Marcus finds himself being questioned by police for simply riding public transportation in a way that aroused suspicion. Another example that really disturbed me was the idea of high schools have systems that monitored students' gaits, and computers that kept tabs on them.

These things seem so far-fetched, but how far-fetched are they really? In today's society, almost everything can be achieved through technology. Just think about the itouch and skype. These are concepts that some of our parents would not have even imagined. And following the attack on 9/11, many people have already been questioning how long we will maintain our freedoms and rights, especially privacy, in the past years. High schools have been forced by school shootings to install metal detectors, while others, like my own high school, are contemplating large fences surrounding the campus to keep students in and others out. Many web sites are blocked through the schools' computers. It has already been established in the courts that students "check their rights at the school doors." Where does the line get drawn if the threats just keep coming, intimidating and scaring law enforcement and school administrators into actions such as these. This book presents examples of what our future could look like if we continue down the paths that we have chosen so far.