Well, hello there America,
Yes, I'm happy to see you too! Today I would like to take a look at a section from chapter 8 (Finishing) of Stephen Koch's book, The Modern Library Writer's Workshop. The subheading that I was most particularly interested in from this chapter is Other People's Advice. In this section, Koch discusses the importance of relinquishing your paper to someone else's editorial advice, which is not to be confused with criticism. Koch explains that the difference between editorial advice and criticism is that editorial advice "is there only to help improve your work, and it has no more right to ignore your interests than a doctor has the right to ignore a patients interests" (191). This is very much different from criticism, as Koch writes, "Criticism is an intellectual enterprise--and a branch of literature--that owes you and your writing nothing" (191).
I found this section of the book to be important because of the Writing Workshop activities that we have been working on every Monday in class. After reading this section I have been able to take a look at the way in which I offer my editorial advice to the other members of my group, and how I take their advice about my work. I've realized that most times people do not want to be overly critical of another person's work for fear of hurting that person's feelings. Equally, people do not (in most circumstances) want a person to be overly critical of their own work. Koch addresses this issue by telling his readers that it is a good idea to preface any editorial advice they are about to give on a person's writing with a warning. Koch writes, "It is a perfectly legitimate--and often vital--part of editorial advice to alert a writer to the kind of criticism she or he is likely to face" (191). This way, your reading is braced for the kind of feedback they are going to recieve.
Koch then states that a writer must go over his own writing through the eyes (lense) of his imaginary "worst enemy". This allows the writer, if he/she is truly trying to see their writing critically, to analyze their writing from an objective viewpoint. By doing this, the writer is able to better identify their weaknesses and make the appropriate adjustments/corrections.
For all of you out there in TV Land who are considering way to facilitate writing workshops in your own classrooms, I would highly recommend that if you only read one chapter of The Modern Library Writer's Workshop that you make it Chapter 8: Finishing. There is a lot of helpful insight into the processes of finishing a writing piece. For many of us out in the field, this will end up being the primary focus of the writing workshops that we have our students do anyway. So, Chapter 8, check it out!
And, as always... KeEp It ClAsSy KeNt StAtE!
-Sam P.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Blog #4- Inventing Your Style
Hello agian Everyone,
So, I've been reading Stephen Koch's The Modern Library Writer's Workshop, and have come across chapter 5: Inventing Your Style. I liked reading this chapter because of the of the general truths that he brings to light about the nature of one's style in writing. I agree with Koch that a writer's style takes many forms- corresponding to the type of writing that the writer is doing. Just like speaking, writing requires a person to take a different approach and a different voice according to the intent of the writing. Obviously, I wouldn't speak to a close friend the same way that I would speak to a job interviewer. I think that it is important to teach students that they, too, must develop different writing voices for the different types of writing that they do. So, I think that it becomes the job of the teacher not only to teach the student about the different types of writing, but the appropriate voice pattern that goes with each type of writing.
The example that comes into my mind are cover letters and resumes. If I were (which I will) teach a unit on writing cover letters and resumes, I would want to spend some time helping the students to understand the audience to which they are writing, and the voice they need to use with that audience. Before I ever began to teach student the format and techniques of writing a cover letter/resume, I would make sure that I had spent ample time going over voice and audience with them.
Well, these are my thoughts for today. So, until next time- Keep it classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
So, I've been reading Stephen Koch's The Modern Library Writer's Workshop, and have come across chapter 5: Inventing Your Style. I liked reading this chapter because of the of the general truths that he brings to light about the nature of one's style in writing. I agree with Koch that a writer's style takes many forms- corresponding to the type of writing that the writer is doing. Just like speaking, writing requires a person to take a different approach and a different voice according to the intent of the writing. Obviously, I wouldn't speak to a close friend the same way that I would speak to a job interviewer. I think that it is important to teach students that they, too, must develop different writing voices for the different types of writing that they do. So, I think that it becomes the job of the teacher not only to teach the student about the different types of writing, but the appropriate voice pattern that goes with each type of writing.
The example that comes into my mind are cover letters and resumes. If I were (which I will) teach a unit on writing cover letters and resumes, I would want to spend some time helping the students to understand the audience to which they are writing, and the voice they need to use with that audience. Before I ever began to teach student the format and techniques of writing a cover letter/resume, I would make sure that I had spent ample time going over voice and audience with them.
Well, these are my thoughts for today. So, until next time- Keep it classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Blog #3- Administer the Grammar Income Test
Good day to all of you,
In today's blog I would like to discuss the University of Mottsburgh Occupational Inventory of Grammitical Knowledge found on page 195 of Harry Noden's book, Image Grammar. When I came across this grammar knowledge inventory I was immediately intrigued by it; so, I decided to try my hand at it and take the test. I discovered that the test results projected my income to be between $90,000-$150,000 (upper management). What am I doing in teaching?! Just kidding Dr. Kist.
Overall, I found the test to be very interesting, but I wonder how accurate it would be when administered to high school students. Granted that I've been in college for several years and have taken courses that concentrate on grammar, I did fairly well; but, I don't imagine that your typical high school student would do quite as well. So, my questions are this: Can this test be considered an accurate assessment for high school students? And, to what level of education is this test designed for?
For those of you reading this and are curious to test your grammatical skills, I recommend that you take the test yourself. You can find the grammatical knowledge inventory on either pg. 195 of Image Grammar, or you can click on the link above to take the test.
Happy testing, America. And, as always, Keep it classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
In today's blog I would like to discuss the University of Mottsburgh Occupational Inventory of Grammitical Knowledge found on page 195 of Harry Noden's book, Image Grammar. When I came across this grammar knowledge inventory I was immediately intrigued by it; so, I decided to try my hand at it and take the test. I discovered that the test results projected my income to be between $90,000-$150,000 (upper management). What am I doing in teaching?! Just kidding Dr. Kist.
Overall, I found the test to be very interesting, but I wonder how accurate it would be when administered to high school students. Granted that I've been in college for several years and have taken courses that concentrate on grammar, I did fairly well; but, I don't imagine that your typical high school student would do quite as well. So, my questions are this: Can this test be considered an accurate assessment for high school students? And, to what level of education is this test designed for?
For those of you reading this and are curious to test your grammatical skills, I recommend that you take the test yourself. You can find the grammatical knowledge inventory on either pg. 195 of Image Grammar, or you can click on the link above to take the test.
Happy testing, America. And, as always, Keep it classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
Blog #2- Keep a Writer's Sketchbook
Hello Everyone,
I'm calling upon my troops of INLA cohorst for help on today's blog issue. I've been reading through Harry Noden's book, Image Grammar, and have found myself asking several times, "how do I use these strategies in a real-life classroom with all the time constraints and pre-determined curriculum objectives?" Oh, and by the way, check out the link above if you want an online source for the book that breaks down the concepts and strategies into an easy-to-follow format.
Because it is an activity that I find very interesting and could see being an effective strategy, here is the example that I would like to focus on: Keep a Writer's Sketchbook (pg. 85). Now, the activity itself is easy enough to facilitate, but the amount of time required to do this strategy in its entirety is four weeks (that's a lot of time), not to mention the amount of time that it takes to familiarize students with the process of using more description in their writing. What I have to figure out is how to make the time that it takes to facilitate this activity. I could either find a text in the curriculum that has great examples of "professional sketches" that I could have students search for, or I could condense the whole activity down into a couple of class sessions. Or, I could consider whatever suggestions all of you out there in TV-Land can throw my way...
So, all my INLA Allies, check out the activity in Image Grammar, pg. 85, and throw me back your comments and ideas.
-Sam P.
I'm calling upon my troops of INLA cohorst for help on today's blog issue. I've been reading through Harry Noden's book, Image Grammar, and have found myself asking several times, "how do I use these strategies in a real-life classroom with all the time constraints and pre-determined curriculum objectives?" Oh, and by the way, check out the link above if you want an online source for the book that breaks down the concepts and strategies into an easy-to-follow format.
Because it is an activity that I find very interesting and could see being an effective strategy, here is the example that I would like to focus on: Keep a Writer's Sketchbook (pg. 85). Now, the activity itself is easy enough to facilitate, but the amount of time required to do this strategy in its entirety is four weeks (that's a lot of time), not to mention the amount of time that it takes to familiarize students with the process of using more description in their writing. What I have to figure out is how to make the time that it takes to facilitate this activity. I could either find a text in the curriculum that has great examples of "professional sketches" that I could have students search for, or I could condense the whole activity down into a couple of class sessions. Or, I could consider whatever suggestions all of you out there in TV-Land can throw my way...
So, all my INLA Allies, check out the activity in Image Grammar, pg. 85, and throw me back your comments and ideas.
-Sam P.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Blog #1 - The Dark Knight Rises
Hello again Everyone,
Yes, I know... I've missed you too! Well, to start off this new volley of blog posts I thought that I would begin with something that we can all enjoy... Batman. I, like so many of us, love the new vision and aethestics that Director Christopher Nolan has incorporated into the most recent chapters of the Batman saga. The latest edition to the Dark Knights story is going to be titled The Dark Knightt Rises and will feature the same cast of good guy characters. Yet, the verdict is still out on who will face-off against the winged hero as the movie's ultra-villian.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pumped. The movie is set to be released July 20, 2012. But if that is too long a wait for you (and you've got a couple grand to throw down), you could always cruise over to the Netherlands where the movie will be releasing July 19th.
So, mark your calenders, folks, cause I can guarantee you that you will know where to find me- standing in the ticket line to see what will probably be the most anticipated movie of summer 2012.
Well, that's it for me today. So, like always, keep it classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
Yes, I know... I've missed you too! Well, to start off this new volley of blog posts I thought that I would begin with something that we can all enjoy... Batman. I, like so many of us, love the new vision and aethestics that Director Christopher Nolan has incorporated into the most recent chapters of the Batman saga. The latest edition to the Dark Knights story is going to be titled The Dark Knightt Rises and will feature the same cast of good guy characters. Yet, the verdict is still out on who will face-off against the winged hero as the movie's ultra-villian.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pumped. The movie is set to be released July 20, 2012. But if that is too long a wait for you (and you've got a couple grand to throw down), you could always cruise over to the Netherlands where the movie will be releasing July 19th.
So, mark your calenders, folks, cause I can guarantee you that you will know where to find me- standing in the ticket line to see what will probably be the most anticipated movie of summer 2012.
Well, that's it for me today. So, like always, keep it classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Blog #4 - In the Middle
Hello again, Everyone!
I would like to touch briefly this morning on a point that Atwell brings up in chapter 6: Minilessons. Atwell begins by talking about third graders and how they begin to become aware of their audience when they are completing creative works and how instead of creating work that is based in their creativity and spontaneity, they begin to create works that they believe are acceptable to their audience (i.e. teachers, peers, parents, etc.). Piaget refers to this phase of a child's development as sociocentricity. Whereas when they were second graders- free to express themselves with creativity and little fear of judgment- by the time they hit this state of sociocentricity they cater their work to the criteria they expect their work to be judged by.
Now, skipping ahead ten years. How do we get students to re-capture that creative flair they had in their youth and undo years of writing to please the teacher. Well, the anwser is: We don't. You see, there is no way to go back and change ten years worth of influence and adjustment. YET, there is still something that can be done as a high school teacher to undo some of the damage. We can create assignments with rubrics that are clearly understood by the students that call for a recapturing of that creative spark of the students' youth.
I understand that not every assignment can be a creative assignment. There is still the need to teach and assess students' understanding of formal writing styles such as book reports. But when we do assign a creative project or writing piece, we can establish clear expectations in the rubric that creativity and spontaneity of thought are important elements of the grading system for that assignment. If a teacher is able to show the students that these sorts of assignments are not just a trick to give them a bad grade, but a chance to really let their creativity flow unhampered, I believe that we may see more success when trying to get students to show some of their creative flair in their assignments. Once again, the key to this, I believe, is giving the students a rubric that shows how heavily stressed creativity is and then reiterating in class the large degree of creative freedom they have to write/present creative works. This may give them the confidence and security they need to relax a little and let their creativity flow.
These are my thoughts. Tell me what you think. And, as always, Keep it classy Kent State.
-Sam
I would like to touch briefly this morning on a point that Atwell brings up in chapter 6: Minilessons. Atwell begins by talking about third graders and how they begin to become aware of their audience when they are completing creative works and how instead of creating work that is based in their creativity and spontaneity, they begin to create works that they believe are acceptable to their audience (i.e. teachers, peers, parents, etc.). Piaget refers to this phase of a child's development as sociocentricity. Whereas when they were second graders- free to express themselves with creativity and little fear of judgment- by the time they hit this state of sociocentricity they cater their work to the criteria they expect their work to be judged by.
Now, skipping ahead ten years. How do we get students to re-capture that creative flair they had in their youth and undo years of writing to please the teacher. Well, the anwser is: We don't. You see, there is no way to go back and change ten years worth of influence and adjustment. YET, there is still something that can be done as a high school teacher to undo some of the damage. We can create assignments with rubrics that are clearly understood by the students that call for a recapturing of that creative spark of the students' youth.
I understand that not every assignment can be a creative assignment. There is still the need to teach and assess students' understanding of formal writing styles such as book reports. But when we do assign a creative project or writing piece, we can establish clear expectations in the rubric that creativity and spontaneity of thought are important elements of the grading system for that assignment. If a teacher is able to show the students that these sorts of assignments are not just a trick to give them a bad grade, but a chance to really let their creativity flow unhampered, I believe that we may see more success when trying to get students to show some of their creative flair in their assignments. Once again, the key to this, I believe, is giving the students a rubric that shows how heavily stressed creativity is and then reiterating in class the large degree of creative freedom they have to write/present creative works. This may give them the confidence and security they need to relax a little and let their creativity flow.
These are my thoughts. Tell me what you think. And, as always, Keep it classy Kent State.
-Sam
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Blog #3 - Myers Article
Hello again, Everyone.
I would like to begin today's blog by saying: It's good to see how far we've come. In Myers article sent to us via email from Dr. Kist, an excerpt from Changing Our Minds: Negotiating English and Literacy, Myers writes about some of the more antiquated tactics (to say the least) used by teachers to teach discipline and naturalization of American culture to students.
Myers writes that a very popular role of the teacher was "Drillmaster", a role in which the teacher would lead students through the lesson- providing the students only with the information the teacher deemed appropriate. Much more interesting than the role of the teacher in the classroom were the methods that teachers of the time employed to teach their lessons to students.
One method Myers gives us is called the "toe-the-line" method. This method required that students stand perfectly erect, with good posture, and read aloud to the class. This exercies was intended to increase students' mastery of volume control and oral recitation. And while yes, this is a somewhat silly sounding exercise, I believe that we still see its subtler applications in schools today. I remember many times when growing up when I would have to read aloud to the class for a length of time, whether it be for an in-class reading activity or reciting our papers to the class, we had to read aloud on many occasions throughout the school year.
Another tactic used by these "old-time" educators was a method used for voice control, called the "spelling board". The spelling board was a chalkboard, fixed on a fulcrum and able to spin, that the teacher would use to facilitate spelling lessons. If the board were positioned upright- students were to spell words quietly to themselves; if the boad was angled- in a low voice; if the board was flipped- students were allowed to shout the spelling words as loud as they liked. This kind of concept seems strikingly similar to methods I've seen used since I've began my student teaching. I haven't busted out any of my old pedigogy texts to sift through countless pages in order to bring this method's name to light for all of you; but I can describe it to you. The main idea that I see in this "old-time" method and what I've seen in our modern schools is this: It's a good idea to let students to raise a ruckus on occasion when it is discretely sanctioned by the teacher to do so. In other words, students often tend to be restless and easily distracted in school. If they are allowed to relieve some of that restlessness they will be more apt to pay attention when they are brought back to focus by the teacher. So, the teacher permits, rather encourages, the students to be loud and boisterous for a controlled length of time.
The third tactic used by the teachers of yester-year were mouth-movement exercises. This was an exercise in which the students would move their mouths to form all the basic sounds of the English language. Students with the best "mouth wagging" abilities would be complemented on their good form.
The interesting thing about all of these strategies in how "lower-order" they are in relation to Bloom's Taxonomy. Basically, the ideas only require that students be able to recite text, complete basic oratory motor functions such as voice control and sound articulation, and recall basic facts or lines of text from memory. These srategies reflected the notion of education at the time: Teachers are distributors of knowledge and students are to retain what they are taught and be able to recall it.
I think that it's safe to say that, in general, today's teachers have come a long way since the "oldin-days" of education. Thank goodness. Although, you will see a lot of similar exercises still used in modern ESL classrooms.
Keep it classy, Kent State.
-Sam
I would like to begin today's blog by saying: It's good to see how far we've come. In Myers article sent to us via email from Dr. Kist, an excerpt from Changing Our Minds: Negotiating English and Literacy, Myers writes about some of the more antiquated tactics (to say the least) used by teachers to teach discipline and naturalization of American culture to students.
Myers writes that a very popular role of the teacher was "Drillmaster", a role in which the teacher would lead students through the lesson- providing the students only with the information the teacher deemed appropriate. Much more interesting than the role of the teacher in the classroom were the methods that teachers of the time employed to teach their lessons to students.
One method Myers gives us is called the "toe-the-line" method. This method required that students stand perfectly erect, with good posture, and read aloud to the class. This exercies was intended to increase students' mastery of volume control and oral recitation. And while yes, this is a somewhat silly sounding exercise, I believe that we still see its subtler applications in schools today. I remember many times when growing up when I would have to read aloud to the class for a length of time, whether it be for an in-class reading activity or reciting our papers to the class, we had to read aloud on many occasions throughout the school year.
Another tactic used by these "old-time" educators was a method used for voice control, called the "spelling board". The spelling board was a chalkboard, fixed on a fulcrum and able to spin, that the teacher would use to facilitate spelling lessons. If the board were positioned upright- students were to spell words quietly to themselves; if the boad was angled- in a low voice; if the board was flipped- students were allowed to shout the spelling words as loud as they liked. This kind of concept seems strikingly similar to methods I've seen used since I've began my student teaching. I haven't busted out any of my old pedigogy texts to sift through countless pages in order to bring this method's name to light for all of you; but I can describe it to you. The main idea that I see in this "old-time" method and what I've seen in our modern schools is this: It's a good idea to let students to raise a ruckus on occasion when it is discretely sanctioned by the teacher to do so. In other words, students often tend to be restless and easily distracted in school. If they are allowed to relieve some of that restlessness they will be more apt to pay attention when they are brought back to focus by the teacher. So, the teacher permits, rather encourages, the students to be loud and boisterous for a controlled length of time.
The third tactic used by the teachers of yester-year were mouth-movement exercises. This was an exercise in which the students would move their mouths to form all the basic sounds of the English language. Students with the best "mouth wagging" abilities would be complemented on their good form.
The interesting thing about all of these strategies in how "lower-order" they are in relation to Bloom's Taxonomy. Basically, the ideas only require that students be able to recite text, complete basic oratory motor functions such as voice control and sound articulation, and recall basic facts or lines of text from memory. These srategies reflected the notion of education at the time: Teachers are distributors of knowledge and students are to retain what they are taught and be able to recall it.
I think that it's safe to say that, in general, today's teachers have come a long way since the "oldin-days" of education. Thank goodness. Although, you will see a lot of similar exercises still used in modern ESL classrooms.
Keep it classy, Kent State.
-Sam
Monday, September 20, 2010
Blog #2 - In the Middle
Hello again Everyone,
Today I would like to talk a little about what Atwell has to say in Section 4 of her book, In the Middle: New Understandings about Writing, Reading, and Learning. Atwell begins the portion in section 4, Establishing Expectations, by saying that she has been teaching long enough know that a teacher shouldn't expect students' writings to be at the level of an adult. She says, "Although it would be nice some year to have perfect classes that intuited how to engage as writers and readers... it hasn't happened yet, and I'm not holding my breath."
Then, much to my suprise, Atwell extablishes an extensive list of expectations for writing that are hard even me, an adult and proficient writer, to grasp the breadth of. A few of the expectations are what I would consider to be reasonable for high school students: Find topics and purposes for your writing that matter to you; try new topics, purposes audiences, forms, and techniques; listen to, ask questions about, and comment on others' writings.
But I noticed that she a couple of expectations that seem pretty weighty for high school students. These include expectations such as: Produce at least three to five pages of rough draft each week; create a handbook of writing and reading minilessons, recorded chronologically, with a table of contents; keep an individual proofreading list that you check your writing against when you edit and proofread.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel that some of these are asking a lot of students. This would definitely be a blog that I would like to see replies to because I would like to see what the rest of you think on the matter.
Sam P.
Today I would like to talk a little about what Atwell has to say in Section 4 of her book, In the Middle: New Understandings about Writing, Reading, and Learning. Atwell begins the portion in section 4, Establishing Expectations, by saying that she has been teaching long enough know that a teacher shouldn't expect students' writings to be at the level of an adult. She says, "Although it would be nice some year to have perfect classes that intuited how to engage as writers and readers... it hasn't happened yet, and I'm not holding my breath."
Then, much to my suprise, Atwell extablishes an extensive list of expectations for writing that are hard even me, an adult and proficient writer, to grasp the breadth of. A few of the expectations are what I would consider to be reasonable for high school students: Find topics and purposes for your writing that matter to you; try new topics, purposes audiences, forms, and techniques; listen to, ask questions about, and comment on others' writings.
But I noticed that she a couple of expectations that seem pretty weighty for high school students. These include expectations such as: Produce at least three to five pages of rough draft each week; create a handbook of writing and reading minilessons, recorded chronologically, with a table of contents; keep an individual proofreading list that you check your writing against when you edit and proofread.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel that some of these are asking a lot of students. This would definitely be a blog that I would like to see replies to because I would like to see what the rest of you think on the matter.
Sam P.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Blog #1 - In the Middle
Hello again all,
I know, I know- it's been way too long since we've conversed. But the good news is that now we're back in full-force, and ready to become full-fledged teachers!
In my first blog of the new school year I would like to address the very first page of Nancie Atwell's book, In the Middle: New Understanding About Writing, Reading, and Learning. No, this is not a ploy meant to avoid any type of lengthy reading. It just so happens that I feel that the book opens with one of the most important point to learn when trying to become a better teacher. And here is that point, as recollected by Atwell in her book:
"I didn't learn in my classroom. I tended my creation (her curriculum). Today I learn in my classroom... I've become an evolutionist."
The reason that I believe that this quote is so important is because I have spent the last several weeks witnessing first-hand the validity of this statement. Watching my cooperating teacher do her lessons, and even facilitating a few lessons myself, I have seen that no matter how much myself or my superior may feel that a lesson is going to be a smash hit, sometimes it may crash and burn in epic flames. This is why it is so important to be able to adjust and evolve your lesson in mid-stride. I've even learned that in certain circumstances it may be necessary to completely scrap a lesson and head in a entirely new direction with it. The reason good teachers will make these adjustments to their precious, sacred lesson plans is because: It is not about you as the teacher. It is about the student and their learning.
If an element of a lesson is not working, and you know it, it is an injustice to the students to continue without making some attempt to make the lesson work for the students. This definitely takes a little bit of humility and quick thinking on a teachers part, but ultimately it is a teachers job to do what it takes to make sure that the lesson is learned, not just taught. At least that is my take on it anyway.
Signing off for this week, this is Sam P., and as always- Keep it classy Kent State!
I know, I know- it's been way too long since we've conversed. But the good news is that now we're back in full-force, and ready to become full-fledged teachers!
In my first blog of the new school year I would like to address the very first page of Nancie Atwell's book, In the Middle: New Understanding About Writing, Reading, and Learning. No, this is not a ploy meant to avoid any type of lengthy reading. It just so happens that I feel that the book opens with one of the most important point to learn when trying to become a better teacher. And here is that point, as recollected by Atwell in her book:
"I didn't learn in my classroom. I tended my creation (her curriculum). Today I learn in my classroom... I've become an evolutionist."
The reason that I believe that this quote is so important is because I have spent the last several weeks witnessing first-hand the validity of this statement. Watching my cooperating teacher do her lessons, and even facilitating a few lessons myself, I have seen that no matter how much myself or my superior may feel that a lesson is going to be a smash hit, sometimes it may crash and burn in epic flames. This is why it is so important to be able to adjust and evolve your lesson in mid-stride. I've even learned that in certain circumstances it may be necessary to completely scrap a lesson and head in a entirely new direction with it. The reason good teachers will make these adjustments to their precious, sacred lesson plans is because: It is not about you as the teacher. It is about the student and their learning.
If an element of a lesson is not working, and you know it, it is an injustice to the students to continue without making some attempt to make the lesson work for the students. This definitely takes a little bit of humility and quick thinking on a teachers part, but ultimately it is a teachers job to do what it takes to make sure that the lesson is learned, not just taught. At least that is my take on it anyway.
Signing off for this week, this is Sam P., and as always- Keep it classy Kent State!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Teaching Reading in S.S. - Final Reflections
Hello again,
As the semester quickly draws to an end I look back and see that is has been quite a great year. I've had the opportunity to learn a lot from all of my professors, I've gotten to know a few of my fellow classmates a little better, we've had some great in-class discussions and educational assignments throughout the semester.
My Teaching Reading in Secondary Schools has definitely been one of the classes that I have gained a lot of very important information from. I found the most interesting assignment that we worked on in class this semester to be the unit on preparing to teach F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby. I remember reading this novel back in high school and not being all that enthusiastic about it, but having a chance to come back to the text and re-read in in college has been awesome. Having the chance to evaluate my prior experiences with the novel and apply it to how I would design my classroom instruction for the novel has been a very enlightening and educational experience for me.
I also learned a lot of other, very valuable information from this class that will be very beneficial as a teacher. For instance, the time that we spent studying ways to facilitate more productive classroom discussions will come in extremely handy as a teacher. I felt that it was a very good idea to spend time on this subject. Preferably, I would have liked to have spent even more time diving into that subject a little more in-depth.
We also took a look at the different things that comprise the classic literary canon. It was interesting to study the different elements that define what qualifies a novel as classic canon. It makes me ponder the books that are being published today that will one day be considered classis literary masterpieces. I will be very interested to see what books are required reading in schools by the time I reach retirement. My hope is that in addition to some of the timeless works of writing that students read today we will see some new titles being read and studied in the classroom of the future.
Overall, I would have to say that Dr. Pytash's class, Teaching Reading in Secondary Schools, has been one of the most interesting and enjoyable classes I've had in a long time. This is saying a lot considering that class begins at 7:45am. I learned a lot of very valuable information in this class and had fun while doing it. To Dr. Pytash and all my fellow classmates - thank you for a great semester. Best of luck to all of you in your future endeavors!
I'll close this class's blog with the same sign-off as I have in my Multi-Modal class... You don't have to go homepage, but you can't stay here. And as always, keep it classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
As the semester quickly draws to an end I look back and see that is has been quite a great year. I've had the opportunity to learn a lot from all of my professors, I've gotten to know a few of my fellow classmates a little better, we've had some great in-class discussions and educational assignments throughout the semester.
My Teaching Reading in Secondary Schools has definitely been one of the classes that I have gained a lot of very important information from. I found the most interesting assignment that we worked on in class this semester to be the unit on preparing to teach F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby. I remember reading this novel back in high school and not being all that enthusiastic about it, but having a chance to come back to the text and re-read in in college has been awesome. Having the chance to evaluate my prior experiences with the novel and apply it to how I would design my classroom instruction for the novel has been a very enlightening and educational experience for me.
I also learned a lot of other, very valuable information from this class that will be very beneficial as a teacher. For instance, the time that we spent studying ways to facilitate more productive classroom discussions will come in extremely handy as a teacher. I felt that it was a very good idea to spend time on this subject. Preferably, I would have liked to have spent even more time diving into that subject a little more in-depth.
We also took a look at the different things that comprise the classic literary canon. It was interesting to study the different elements that define what qualifies a novel as classic canon. It makes me ponder the books that are being published today that will one day be considered classis literary masterpieces. I will be very interested to see what books are required reading in schools by the time I reach retirement. My hope is that in addition to some of the timeless works of writing that students read today we will see some new titles being read and studied in the classroom of the future.
Overall, I would have to say that Dr. Pytash's class, Teaching Reading in Secondary Schools, has been one of the most interesting and enjoyable classes I've had in a long time. This is saying a lot considering that class begins at 7:45am. I learned a lot of very valuable information in this class and had fun while doing it. To Dr. Pytash and all my fellow classmates - thank you for a great semester. Best of luck to all of you in your future endeavors!
I'll close this class's blog with the same sign-off as I have in my Multi-Modal class... You don't have to go homepage, but you can't stay here. And as always, keep it classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Multi-Modal - Final Reflections
Hello everyone,
It's been a great semester where we've been able to learn a lot of great ideas and tactics for teaching. But unfortunately, like all good things, this semester must also draw to an end. So, this shall be my final Multi-Modal blog hitting the blogosphere. I will conclude our cyber communications with a final reflection of our Multi-Modal class.
The first aspect that I would like to discuss is the different multi-modal forms that I liked and why I will consider using them in my future classroom. the first thing we learned in class that I really liked was the blogging. I like this activity and will consider having students in my classroom maintain prompted blog entries because I like how it is one more way of getting students to expound upon ideas that are being discussed in class. I also that it is good for getting students to interact with and react to eachothers ideas. I also liked the Wiki assignment that we did this year. I don't believe that I will have students in my future classroom create Wiki's, but I will definitely come back to the one that we created this year for lesson ideas and supplemental materials if I end up teaching any of those books in my classroom. I am also a big fan of the video assignment we are currently working on. It can be kind of difficult to get everyone's schedules alligned, but the project is a lot of fun to work on.
I feel that this course has helped to teach me a couple of new ways to interact with people. I've realized that technology can be a great way to communicate what you are trying to teach to students in different audio and visaul ways. For students who may be visual or audible learners, technology can be a great resource for helping them learn the materials. Also, just through sharing ideas and opinions in our class discussions I have gained more confidence in my ability to speak in front of a group.
After reviewing my blogs throughout the year I can see that I was very intimidated by the idea of using technology as a teacher at the beginning of the year. Thankfully, though, as the semester progressed I noticed that my blogs started to seem more like critical reflections on the technologies that I did and did not like, instead of rants about how I don't like technology. So, I would say that this semester has done a great deal to improve my confidence and comfort in the idea of incorporating technology into my future classroom.
Well, it's never easy saying goodbye. So, I'll leave you all with this: You don't have to go homepage, but you can't stay here!
To all of you, I wish you safe and happy summers! And, as always... Keep it classy Kent State.
-Sam P.
It's been a great semester where we've been able to learn a lot of great ideas and tactics for teaching. But unfortunately, like all good things, this semester must also draw to an end. So, this shall be my final Multi-Modal blog hitting the blogosphere. I will conclude our cyber communications with a final reflection of our Multi-Modal class.
The first aspect that I would like to discuss is the different multi-modal forms that I liked and why I will consider using them in my future classroom. the first thing we learned in class that I really liked was the blogging. I like this activity and will consider having students in my classroom maintain prompted blog entries because I like how it is one more way of getting students to expound upon ideas that are being discussed in class. I also that it is good for getting students to interact with and react to eachothers ideas. I also liked the Wiki assignment that we did this year. I don't believe that I will have students in my future classroom create Wiki's, but I will definitely come back to the one that we created this year for lesson ideas and supplemental materials if I end up teaching any of those books in my classroom. I am also a big fan of the video assignment we are currently working on. It can be kind of difficult to get everyone's schedules alligned, but the project is a lot of fun to work on.
I feel that this course has helped to teach me a couple of new ways to interact with people. I've realized that technology can be a great way to communicate what you are trying to teach to students in different audio and visaul ways. For students who may be visual or audible learners, technology can be a great resource for helping them learn the materials. Also, just through sharing ideas and opinions in our class discussions I have gained more confidence in my ability to speak in front of a group.
After reviewing my blogs throughout the year I can see that I was very intimidated by the idea of using technology as a teacher at the beginning of the year. Thankfully, though, as the semester progressed I noticed that my blogs started to seem more like critical reflections on the technologies that I did and did not like, instead of rants about how I don't like technology. So, I would say that this semester has done a great deal to improve my confidence and comfort in the idea of incorporating technology into my future classroom.
Well, it's never easy saying goodbye. So, I'll leave you all with this: You don't have to go homepage, but you can't stay here!
To all of you, I wish you safe and happy summers! And, as always... Keep it classy Kent State.
-Sam P.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Multi-Modal - Compare/Contrast Naruto Vol. 1 & American Born Chinese
Hello Everyone,
In today's blog I am going to do a little compare/contrast of two popular Manga books: Naruto Vol. 1 The Tests of the Ninja by Masashi Kishimoto and American Born Chinese by Gene Lucn Yang. Both books are of the Manga, Graphic Novel genre and are directed towards young readers.
Text and Dialogue:
I found the narration in American Born Chinese to be very easy to follow and very well written. This is in contrast to Naruto, which I found to be harder to follow and poorly translated. Whereas American Born Chinese was written in very good English, Naruto seemed to be a more crude translation to English, and often the wording didn't make sense.
The Balloons in American Born Chinese were very easy to follow and it was very easy to distinguish who was speaking because the balloons had leads that pointed directly to the speakers. Yet, in Naruto I found the balloons to be very hard to follow because the balloons were often times not even close to the speaker and the little arrow leading off of the balloon did not point to the speaker very distinctly.
I took notice in American Born Chinese that Emanata was not used to show internal thoughts of characters, but was used in a kind of "classic Batman" kind of style in which actions such as busting loose from a pile of stones would read: crumble, or wack or whomp. In Naruto I noticed that emanata was most used for the main character, Naruto, to emphysize his internal thoughts and emotions. This includes !!!'s and !?? kind of actions above the characters heads.
One similarity between the two books was the fact that there lettering was done in a San Serif font, making the text in both books easy to see and read.
Visual Features:
I found the characters in American Born Chinese to be not quite as "cartoonish" as the characters in Naruto; with the exception of Cousin Chin-Kee of course. The characters in Naruto for the most part, all had the typical anime haricuts that are spiked and unusual, whereas the characters in American Born Chinese looked more like normal people. I also felt that the objects and scenery in American Born Chinese were less cartoonish than those of Naruto. Also, having color pictures in American Born Chinese did a great deal to improve the visual appeal of the book. Perhaps if Naruto were illustrated in color it would have been much more enjoyable to look at.
When taking a look at the depicted action in Naruto I noticed that it was often very difficult to follow what was going on in the pictures. It seems to me that this is because the pictures are in black and white and the typically, the pictures depicting action were very hecktic and hard to decode.
General Layout and Design:
I noticed in both novels that the borders around the panels were a simple, black border. Also, the gutters in Naruto were significantly larger/wider than those of American Born Chinese. For the most part, both books had very standard, rectangular panels. Yet, there were a few scenes in American Born Chinese that made interesting use of space by using different shaped panels that fit together to form one, larger picture. Yet, i noticed the use of internal splash pages in Naruto, as well as the use of Open Panels.
Angles and Frames:
In American Born Chinese I noticed a good mix of different frame shots. There were many different shots represented including: close-ups, head shots, full-figure shots, longshot, etc. Yet, there was a lot of close-up and head shots used in the book. In contrast, there were more longshot and extreme longshots used in Naruto. There were very few close-ups used in Naruto, but there were many uses of Head-shoulder shots.
Rhetorical Techniques applied in text, visuals, and designs:
In American Born Chinese there was a lot emphasis put on identification and empathizing with individuals have a defining characteristic that makes them different from those around them. I believe that the main lesson to be learned from American Born Chinese is to learn to be OK with who you are, not trying to become something that you are not. This story also uses a somewhat complex combination of seeming unrelated story lines that don't come together until the very end. This aspect of the novel made it very interesting to follow the stories, wondering when and how the stories would come together.
American Born Chinese is a graphic novel that has aspects that make it very realistic and others that make it somewhat satirical. The issue being addressed, being comfortable with who you are, is a very real issue people face and something that readers can relate to. Also, although the illustrations are done with cartoon style characters, they are relatively realistic in their appearances. Yet, the character of Chin-Kee, Danny's cousin, is portrayed as a very satirical rendition of an Asian person. Also, the Point of View of American Born Chinese is mostly that of an outsider, someone who doesn't feel as though they belong.
There were several rhetorical techniques employed in Naruto Volume 1 as well. For example, once again some readers will be able to empathize with the Naruto's character, who is an outcast and outsider. Naruto finds himself in an oppositional relationship with most of the other characters in the novel. Because he is shunned by the entire community for having a nine tailed, demon fox contained within him, Naruto sees no other option than to attain power and skill greater than all others in the clan to prove his worth within the group.
The structure of Naruto follows a fairly simplictic order, although there are some instances when there are references to aspects of the Shinobi ninja arts that are not explained until later in the novel. This aspect of the novel adds a little bit of complexity and disorder to the story line of the novel.
Overall, American Born Chinese and Naruto Volume 1 are two very different, but very enjoyable reads. I think that students would probably enjoy reading both of these books. As a teacher, I would probably not put a lot of emphasis on teaching proper writing structure, syntax, grammar, etc. into this book. Rather, I would probably focus more on themes and symbolisms in the book that could be used for literary analysis. Final thoughts: These are two very books that make for an enjoyable and fast read. Being so easy to read, these books could be good for struggling readers to help them become more enthusiastic about reading.
Stay Classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
In today's blog I am going to do a little compare/contrast of two popular Manga books: Naruto Vol. 1 The Tests of the Ninja by Masashi Kishimoto and American Born Chinese by Gene Lucn Yang. Both books are of the Manga, Graphic Novel genre and are directed towards young readers.
Text and Dialogue:
I found the narration in American Born Chinese to be very easy to follow and very well written. This is in contrast to Naruto, which I found to be harder to follow and poorly translated. Whereas American Born Chinese was written in very good English, Naruto seemed to be a more crude translation to English, and often the wording didn't make sense.
The Balloons in American Born Chinese were very easy to follow and it was very easy to distinguish who was speaking because the balloons had leads that pointed directly to the speakers. Yet, in Naruto I found the balloons to be very hard to follow because the balloons were often times not even close to the speaker and the little arrow leading off of the balloon did not point to the speaker very distinctly.
I took notice in American Born Chinese that Emanata was not used to show internal thoughts of characters, but was used in a kind of "classic Batman" kind of style in which actions such as busting loose from a pile of stones would read: crumble, or wack or whomp. In Naruto I noticed that emanata was most used for the main character, Naruto, to emphysize his internal thoughts and emotions. This includes !!!'s and !?? kind of actions above the characters heads.
One similarity between the two books was the fact that there lettering was done in a San Serif font, making the text in both books easy to see and read.
Visual Features:
I found the characters in American Born Chinese to be not quite as "cartoonish" as the characters in Naruto; with the exception of Cousin Chin-Kee of course. The characters in Naruto for the most part, all had the typical anime haricuts that are spiked and unusual, whereas the characters in American Born Chinese looked more like normal people. I also felt that the objects and scenery in American Born Chinese were less cartoonish than those of Naruto. Also, having color pictures in American Born Chinese did a great deal to improve the visual appeal of the book. Perhaps if Naruto were illustrated in color it would have been much more enjoyable to look at.
When taking a look at the depicted action in Naruto I noticed that it was often very difficult to follow what was going on in the pictures. It seems to me that this is because the pictures are in black and white and the typically, the pictures depicting action were very hecktic and hard to decode.
General Layout and Design:
I noticed in both novels that the borders around the panels were a simple, black border. Also, the gutters in Naruto were significantly larger/wider than those of American Born Chinese. For the most part, both books had very standard, rectangular panels. Yet, there were a few scenes in American Born Chinese that made interesting use of space by using different shaped panels that fit together to form one, larger picture. Yet, i noticed the use of internal splash pages in Naruto, as well as the use of Open Panels.
Angles and Frames:
In American Born Chinese I noticed a good mix of different frame shots. There were many different shots represented including: close-ups, head shots, full-figure shots, longshot, etc. Yet, there was a lot of close-up and head shots used in the book. In contrast, there were more longshot and extreme longshots used in Naruto. There were very few close-ups used in Naruto, but there were many uses of Head-shoulder shots.
Rhetorical Techniques applied in text, visuals, and designs:
In American Born Chinese there was a lot emphasis put on identification and empathizing with individuals have a defining characteristic that makes them different from those around them. I believe that the main lesson to be learned from American Born Chinese is to learn to be OK with who you are, not trying to become something that you are not. This story also uses a somewhat complex combination of seeming unrelated story lines that don't come together until the very end. This aspect of the novel made it very interesting to follow the stories, wondering when and how the stories would come together.
American Born Chinese is a graphic novel that has aspects that make it very realistic and others that make it somewhat satirical. The issue being addressed, being comfortable with who you are, is a very real issue people face and something that readers can relate to. Also, although the illustrations are done with cartoon style characters, they are relatively realistic in their appearances. Yet, the character of Chin-Kee, Danny's cousin, is portrayed as a very satirical rendition of an Asian person. Also, the Point of View of American Born Chinese is mostly that of an outsider, someone who doesn't feel as though they belong.
There were several rhetorical techniques employed in Naruto Volume 1 as well. For example, once again some readers will be able to empathize with the Naruto's character, who is an outcast and outsider. Naruto finds himself in an oppositional relationship with most of the other characters in the novel. Because he is shunned by the entire community for having a nine tailed, demon fox contained within him, Naruto sees no other option than to attain power and skill greater than all others in the clan to prove his worth within the group.
The structure of Naruto follows a fairly simplictic order, although there are some instances when there are references to aspects of the Shinobi ninja arts that are not explained until later in the novel. This aspect of the novel adds a little bit of complexity and disorder to the story line of the novel.
Overall, American Born Chinese and Naruto Volume 1 are two very different, but very enjoyable reads. I think that students would probably enjoy reading both of these books. As a teacher, I would probably not put a lot of emphasis on teaching proper writing structure, syntax, grammar, etc. into this book. Rather, I would probably focus more on themes and symbolisms in the book that could be used for literary analysis. Final thoughts: These are two very books that make for an enjoyable and fast read. Being so easy to read, these books could be good for struggling readers to help them become more enthusiastic about reading.
Stay Classy Kent State!
-Sam P.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Multi-Modal - Guest Speaker Michelle Cahoon
Hello Everybody,
This Monday we had a guest speaker in our Multi-Modal class. Michelle Cahoon, Rotary Camp counselor and mother of a child with autism, came in to class to teach us a little more about Autism. She provides us with a lot of valuable information about the condition that may be helpful for us when we become teachers. I believe that probably the most important point that she discussed with us was the way that children with Autism should be accomodated in the school system. She also gave us a lot of tips for handling the issues that can come up when working with a child who has Autism. Tips included: listening to the parents of autistic children, talking to previous teachers, teach to the kind of learner they are, etc. Being the mother of a child with autism, it was apparent that Cahoon is very passionate about serving students with special needs. She expressed her opinions that it is very important that teachers do everything possible to accomodate students with autism in their classrooms. Yet, a member of the class raised a very important point. How much should a teacher do to accomodate a child with autism before it becomes unreasonable and unfair to the teacher? I think that this is a very valid question to ask. As teachers it is our responsibility to try to reach and educate every student that comes into our classroom. Yet, at what point does the extra time and effort being dedicated to one student start to rob other students of the attention and energy that they too deserve from their teacher? That is why I believe that in cases where exceptional students with more severe disabilities are in an inclusive classroom there should be an aid there to give the one-on-one attention needed by said student so that the teacher can focus on all students fairly. The teacher should still be making curriculum adjustments to accomodate the student with special needs, but matter of behavior modification and one-on-one attention should be the responsibility of the personal aid. This way, the teacher and the aid work in collaboration to give the student with special needs what they need, while the teacher is able to focus equal attention to all other students in the classroom.
This Monday we had a guest speaker in our Multi-Modal class. Michelle Cahoon, Rotary Camp counselor and mother of a child with autism, came in to class to teach us a little more about Autism. She provides us with a lot of valuable information about the condition that may be helpful for us when we become teachers. I believe that probably the most important point that she discussed with us was the way that children with Autism should be accomodated in the school system. She also gave us a lot of tips for handling the issues that can come up when working with a child who has Autism. Tips included: listening to the parents of autistic children, talking to previous teachers, teach to the kind of learner they are, etc. Being the mother of a child with autism, it was apparent that Cahoon is very passionate about serving students with special needs. She expressed her opinions that it is very important that teachers do everything possible to accomodate students with autism in their classrooms. Yet, a member of the class raised a very important point. How much should a teacher do to accomodate a child with autism before it becomes unreasonable and unfair to the teacher? I think that this is a very valid question to ask. As teachers it is our responsibility to try to reach and educate every student that comes into our classroom. Yet, at what point does the extra time and effort being dedicated to one student start to rob other students of the attention and energy that they too deserve from their teacher? That is why I believe that in cases where exceptional students with more severe disabilities are in an inclusive classroom there should be an aid there to give the one-on-one attention needed by said student so that the teacher can focus on all students fairly. The teacher should still be making curriculum adjustments to accomodate the student with special needs, but matter of behavior modification and one-on-one attention should be the responsibility of the personal aid. This way, the teacher and the aid work in collaboration to give the student with special needs what they need, while the teacher is able to focus equal attention to all other students in the classroom.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Multi-Modal - Review of Clash of the Titans
Hello Everybody,
So last week I took my girlfriend to see Clash of the Titans. Unfortunately, it was not in 3D, but it still rocked! I am continually impressed with things that they are able to do with special effects these days. It was really cool to see how in the movie the Gods sat upon thrones that hovered above the worlds, yet it is as if the world of man is just a game board on which the Gods just sit and observe. Also, having seen the original 1981 version of Clash of the Titans it was really cool to watch for the differences and similarities in the two versions. I thought that the new movie followed the story line of the 1981 version pretty well. The only major differences that I noticed, besides a more developed explanation of the motivations of the Gods' actions, was the equipment that Perseus has at his disposal in the film. In the new film Perseus' shield was made of Scorpian armor instead of Gold, and he did not take the mechanical owl with him on his journey in the new version of the film.
It was easy to see the things that would have really popped out if the film were shown in 3D, so I've got plans of going back and seeing it again in 3D. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good action/adventure film. The special effects were amazing and the story line explaining the motivations of the Gods' for their actions was very in-depth and interesting. If you haven't already, go see this movie!
-Sam P.
So last week I took my girlfriend to see Clash of the Titans. Unfortunately, it was not in 3D, but it still rocked! I am continually impressed with things that they are able to do with special effects these days. It was really cool to see how in the movie the Gods sat upon thrones that hovered above the worlds, yet it is as if the world of man is just a game board on which the Gods just sit and observe. Also, having seen the original 1981 version of Clash of the Titans it was really cool to watch for the differences and similarities in the two versions. I thought that the new movie followed the story line of the 1981 version pretty well. The only major differences that I noticed, besides a more developed explanation of the motivations of the Gods' actions, was the equipment that Perseus has at his disposal in the film. In the new film Perseus' shield was made of Scorpian armor instead of Gold, and he did not take the mechanical owl with him on his journey in the new version of the film.
It was easy to see the things that would have really popped out if the film were shown in 3D, so I've got plans of going back and seeing it again in 3D. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good action/adventure film. The special effects were amazing and the story line explaining the motivations of the Gods' for their actions was very in-depth and interesting. If you haven't already, go see this movie!
-Sam P.
Teaching Reading in S.S. - Importance of Literary Analysis
Hello again,
In today's blog I would like to talk about the importance of literary analysis as discussed on pg. 149-150 of Jago's, Classics in the Classroom. According to the American Diploma Project, a group developed to create a set of standards outlining what high school graduates should know and be able to do upon graduation, graduates "should be able to analyze the complexity of moral dilemmas in historically significant works of literature, as revealed by characters' motivation and behavior" (Jago, pg. 149). Also, Jago raises an important point about teaching literary analysis, she reminds the reader that it takes years of practice with literary analysis to master the skill. I believe that this is completely true. Yes, this skill may come easier to some than to others, but in order to sharpen one's ability to analyze text and deduce meaning and significance from it - it takes practice and repetition.
The reason that becoming proficient in analyzing literature is so important, as Jago puts it, is that "As students grapple with the decisions characters make they explore their own values" (Jago, pg. 150). There is an old proverb that states that "A wise man learns from the trials of those close to him. He values their instruction." I believe this to be as true with the characters that we read about in books as I do the people that we encounter in real life. I'm sure you can all relate to what I mean; sometimes you read a book and by the time you reach the last page it's as if you've known that character for years. Reading and analyzing the characters, situations, moral dilemmas, reflective rhetoric, etc. of stories can provide us with knowledge and wisdom that we might not otherwise have the opportunity to gain in life. Furthermore, going back to what Jago said, literature can help us to have a clearer sense of who we ourselves really are. Yet, the personal benefits of literature stay locked away in the pages unless the reader has the keys to unlock the knowledge and wisdom that lie within the print. The key to unlocking the vast wealth of knowledge contained in a person's readings is Literary Analysis. And this is not to say that subject like math and science won't help you to succeed. They most certainly will. But no math equation or chemistry problem in the world is ever going to help you figure out the intricacies of who and what you are.
I found it amazing to read on and to see where some people believe, and will argue "that only students bent on pursuing careers in university English departments... need to develop the ability to analyze literature" (Jago, pg. 150). What kind of blasphemy is this?! All I have to say in rebuttal to these peoples foolish argument is this:
"Virtue is an Angel, but she is a blind one, and [she] must ask Knowledge to show her the pathway that leads to her goal." -Horace Mann
It is my belief that as teachers it is our duty to do more than just teach students how to use semicolons properly, or the definition of a prepositional phrase. It is our duty to equip students with the tools that it takes to make their own respectable ways in life. We should be working towards turning out students into the world who have the wisdom to discern what is right, and the power that Knowledge affords to make good lives for themselves and those around them. This is one of the truest sources of how lives change.
Alright, I'm sure you've all heard enough of me on my soapbox for one day. So, until next time - Keep it classy Kent State.
-Sam P.
In today's blog I would like to talk about the importance of literary analysis as discussed on pg. 149-150 of Jago's, Classics in the Classroom. According to the American Diploma Project, a group developed to create a set of standards outlining what high school graduates should know and be able to do upon graduation, graduates "should be able to analyze the complexity of moral dilemmas in historically significant works of literature, as revealed by characters' motivation and behavior" (Jago, pg. 149). Also, Jago raises an important point about teaching literary analysis, she reminds the reader that it takes years of practice with literary analysis to master the skill. I believe that this is completely true. Yes, this skill may come easier to some than to others, but in order to sharpen one's ability to analyze text and deduce meaning and significance from it - it takes practice and repetition.
The reason that becoming proficient in analyzing literature is so important, as Jago puts it, is that "As students grapple with the decisions characters make they explore their own values" (Jago, pg. 150). There is an old proverb that states that "A wise man learns from the trials of those close to him. He values their instruction." I believe this to be as true with the characters that we read about in books as I do the people that we encounter in real life. I'm sure you can all relate to what I mean; sometimes you read a book and by the time you reach the last page it's as if you've known that character for years. Reading and analyzing the characters, situations, moral dilemmas, reflective rhetoric, etc. of stories can provide us with knowledge and wisdom that we might not otherwise have the opportunity to gain in life. Furthermore, going back to what Jago said, literature can help us to have a clearer sense of who we ourselves really are. Yet, the personal benefits of literature stay locked away in the pages unless the reader has the keys to unlock the knowledge and wisdom that lie within the print. The key to unlocking the vast wealth of knowledge contained in a person's readings is Literary Analysis. And this is not to say that subject like math and science won't help you to succeed. They most certainly will. But no math equation or chemistry problem in the world is ever going to help you figure out the intricacies of who and what you are.
I found it amazing to read on and to see where some people believe, and will argue "that only students bent on pursuing careers in university English departments... need to develop the ability to analyze literature" (Jago, pg. 150). What kind of blasphemy is this?! All I have to say in rebuttal to these peoples foolish argument is this:
"Virtue is an Angel, but she is a blind one, and [she] must ask Knowledge to show her the pathway that leads to her goal." -Horace Mann
It is my belief that as teachers it is our duty to do more than just teach students how to use semicolons properly, or the definition of a prepositional phrase. It is our duty to equip students with the tools that it takes to make their own respectable ways in life. We should be working towards turning out students into the world who have the wisdom to discern what is right, and the power that Knowledge affords to make good lives for themselves and those around them. This is one of the truest sources of how lives change.
Alright, I'm sure you've all heard enough of me on my soapbox for one day. So, until next time - Keep it classy Kent State.
-Sam P.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Teaching Reading in S.S. Blog 3 - Lets take a look at Freytag's Pyramid
Hi Everybody,
So, while reading Jago's text, Classics in the Classroom, I took particular interest in the section that begins on pg. 65 discussing story structures. What caught my interests was the rundown on a literary structure called Freytag's Pyramid. Freytag's Pyramid is used as a graphic organizer commonly used to describe a story's structure. It's probably pretty clear from it's name that this model is of a triangular shape. One begins at the bottom left corner of the triangle (exposition) and works their way up toward the peak (climax). The rise towards the climax of the story is called Rising Action. Then, there is what is known as Falling Action that occurs as the story moves away from the peak down the right side of the pyramid. The final stop on this thrill ride is the Denouncement/Resolution of the story.
Now, this is a good and all, but I know for a fact that not every story follows this perfect equilateral-triangle model. I would imagine that some stories sway the pyramid to the left, and even more to the right as one approaches the end of a story. Also, a question that I pose is: How does one account for climactic events that take place in a story, such as an action packed flashback? These are things to consider if you choose to do this activity with your students. I would even go as far as to say that I've read some books that would look more like a flat line across the page because not one interesting or climactic thing happens in the whole dang book! So, this is my conclusion: No two story structures are exactly alike and you can't expect every story to form a perfectly symmetrical Freytag pyramid.
-Sam P.
So, while reading Jago's text, Classics in the Classroom, I took particular interest in the section that begins on pg. 65 discussing story structures. What caught my interests was the rundown on a literary structure called Freytag's Pyramid. Freytag's Pyramid is used as a graphic organizer commonly used to describe a story's structure. It's probably pretty clear from it's name that this model is of a triangular shape. One begins at the bottom left corner of the triangle (exposition) and works their way up toward the peak (climax). The rise towards the climax of the story is called Rising Action. Then, there is what is known as Falling Action that occurs as the story moves away from the peak down the right side of the pyramid. The final stop on this thrill ride is the Denouncement/Resolution of the story.
Now, this is a good and all, but I know for a fact that not every story follows this perfect equilateral-triangle model. I would imagine that some stories sway the pyramid to the left, and even more to the right as one approaches the end of a story. Also, a question that I pose is: How does one account for climactic events that take place in a story, such as an action packed flashback? These are things to consider if you choose to do this activity with your students. I would even go as far as to say that I've read some books that would look more like a flat line across the page because not one interesting or climactic thing happens in the whole dang book! So, this is my conclusion: No two story structures are exactly alike and you can't expect every story to form a perfectly symmetrical Freytag pyramid.
-Sam P.
Teaching Reading in S.S. Blog 2 - Yeah, I like Poetry. So What?!
Hello again everyone,
I've decided to fess up and admit to the world that I am indeed a fan of poetry. There, I said it! Man do I feel better. So, I would like to talk a little bit about Chpt. 5 of Jago's, Classics in the Classroom. I was taking a look at the poem on pg. 79, The World is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth. I don't have a lot to say about the poem itself. I agree with Jago's points that poetry can help to reintroduce students to many Literary terminologies as well as get them thinking about the text and the memories and emotions that they raise, then applying those perspectives to their own lives.
What I want to offer to all of you is the poem that immediately popped into my head while I sat, reading Wordsworth's words (that's a tongue-twister) of reflection on a world that is far to powerful and timeless for us to master. So, for your reading pleasure:
On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness
by Arthur Guiterman
The tusks that clashed in mighty brawls
Of mastodons are billiard balls.
The sword of Charlemagne the Just
Is ferric oxide, known as rust.
The grizzly bear whose potent hug
Was feared by all is now a rug.
Great Caesar's bust is on a shelf,
And I don't feel so well myself!
So there you have it folks. I've shared with you one of my favorites; a simple,yet insightful poem that I hope makes you laugh a little - even if only to yourself. I also hope that you will take the time to think about what this poem and the Wordsworth's poem on pg. 79 are saying about the passing of time and the relative insignificance of humans in the grand scheme of the universe.
So, until we meet again... keep it classy San Diego.
-Sam P.
I've decided to fess up and admit to the world that I am indeed a fan of poetry. There, I said it! Man do I feel better. So, I would like to talk a little bit about Chpt. 5 of Jago's, Classics in the Classroom. I was taking a look at the poem on pg. 79, The World is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth. I don't have a lot to say about the poem itself. I agree with Jago's points that poetry can help to reintroduce students to many Literary terminologies as well as get them thinking about the text and the memories and emotions that they raise, then applying those perspectives to their own lives.
What I want to offer to all of you is the poem that immediately popped into my head while I sat, reading Wordsworth's words (that's a tongue-twister) of reflection on a world that is far to powerful and timeless for us to master. So, for your reading pleasure:
On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness
by Arthur Guiterman
The tusks that clashed in mighty brawls
Of mastodons are billiard balls.
The sword of Charlemagne the Just
Is ferric oxide, known as rust.
The grizzly bear whose potent hug
Was feared by all is now a rug.
Great Caesar's bust is on a shelf,
And I don't feel so well myself!
So there you have it folks. I've shared with you one of my favorites; a simple,yet insightful poem that I hope makes you laugh a little - even if only to yourself. I also hope that you will take the time to think about what this poem and the Wordsworth's poem on pg. 79 are saying about the passing of time and the relative insignificance of humans in the grand scheme of the universe.
So, until we meet again... keep it classy San Diego.
-Sam P.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Teaching Lit. in S.S. - Looking at Jago Writing About Literature Article
Hello again to all you good people, out there in TV Land. Tonight I would like to talk about an article by NCTE President-elect Carol Jago, Crash! The Currency Crisis in American Culture. To give you an overview, this article confronts issues facing the today's educational system as it pertains to the importance of analyzing texts of depth and writing papers arguing points based on evidence from the text. I highly recommend to anyone that is interested in knowing why it is important that students read texts that require critical thinking processes : Read this article!
In the first section of Jago's article, Prepared to make a living, make a life, make a difference, she writes about the need for students to develop critical thinking skills early on in life because they are a set of skills that will be needed for a lifetime. Jago argues that as people read a text critically they vicariously experience the characters' victories and failures, providing valuable insight into making the difficult decisions facing them in real life. Jago also brings up the point that literature gives us great insight into the human condition. Literature can inspire us, lead us to new understanding, give us the strength to push forward. In A Voice from the Attic, Robertson Davies describes literature "not as a manifestation of fashion, not as a substitution for life, but as one of the greatest of the arts".
The whole rest article (which I'm not going to go into the labor of covering) goes on to discuss several great point arguing the need for essay writing as a means of developing students' critical thinking and writing abilities. She also brings up some points about incorporating Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development into your teaching methods to enhance the quality of lessons presented to students. Yet, the one point that I didn't necessarily agree with Jago about was that she seems to feel that the types of analysis and critical thinking used to analyze texts seems to be most important in classical texts. I differ in my thought in that I believe that it is possible to accomplish the same ends through different means - i.e. the incorporation of newer materials with the classics.
I conclusion, I just want to come back to the points being made in the opening sections of Jago's article about sharpening students' critical thinking and decision making skills through literature in order to make students' into more successful citizens and free thinkers. I just think that everything she says in Prepared to make a living, make a life, make a difference section is Gold for any education major or professional. It may seem a bit idealistic, but it is in my mind the ultimate goal to to striving for as an educator: to turn out students intelligent students capable of making strong, educated decisions, and then be able to logically argue those decisions to others.
This is a great article. Check it out!
-Sam P.
In the first section of Jago's article, Prepared to make a living, make a life, make a difference, she writes about the need for students to develop critical thinking skills early on in life because they are a set of skills that will be needed for a lifetime. Jago argues that as people read a text critically they vicariously experience the characters' victories and failures, providing valuable insight into making the difficult decisions facing them in real life. Jago also brings up the point that literature gives us great insight into the human condition. Literature can inspire us, lead us to new understanding, give us the strength to push forward. In A Voice from the Attic, Robertson Davies describes literature "not as a manifestation of fashion, not as a substitution for life, but as one of the greatest of the arts".
The whole rest article (which I'm not going to go into the labor of covering) goes on to discuss several great point arguing the need for essay writing as a means of developing students' critical thinking and writing abilities. She also brings up some points about incorporating Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development into your teaching methods to enhance the quality of lessons presented to students. Yet, the one point that I didn't necessarily agree with Jago about was that she seems to feel that the types of analysis and critical thinking used to analyze texts seems to be most important in classical texts. I differ in my thought in that I believe that it is possible to accomplish the same ends through different means - i.e. the incorporation of newer materials with the classics.
I conclusion, I just want to come back to the points being made in the opening sections of Jago's article about sharpening students' critical thinking and decision making skills through literature in order to make students' into more successful citizens and free thinkers. I just think that everything she says in Prepared to make a living, make a life, make a difference section is Gold for any education major or professional. It may seem a bit idealistic, but it is in my mind the ultimate goal to to striving for as an educator: to turn out students intelligent students capable of making strong, educated decisions, and then be able to logically argue those decisions to others.
This is a great article. Check it out!
-Sam P.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Review of Paper Man
The following is a review of Paper Man. Directed by Kieran & Michele Murloney. The film revolves around Richard (Jeff Daniels), a failing writer who forms an unconventional friendship with Abby (Emma Stone), a mixed up teen. Richard must also overcome the issues facing his life using the help of his imaginary superhero friend, Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds).
Personal Issues:
The issue that struck the most responsive chord in me was the theme of simple, virtuous living as it eluded Richard in his quest to write his next book. I deduced from the film that the things that Richard was starving for in his life were the fundamental joys that so many of us fail to recognize and appreciate. Richard longed to do something meaningful with his hands; to create something that would solidify his worth as a man that has created. Also, it becomes obvious that Richard feels void because he never had any children. Watching the film I realized that Richard desired something in his life that he could be totally selfless towards. A child that he could give his whole world to as an offering of love. As a struggling writer with no children, Richard realizes that his isolation from the world lies in the fact that in his mind he has contributed nothing lasting to the world around him. Like the extinct pheasant that is the subject of his next book, Richard realizes in the film that when he dies he will take his place alongside the forgotten bird as an extinct creature lost in time. To me, this film is saying: A man defines himself by the fruits of his labor. It is the things that we pour our life, blood, and love into creating that make our stay worth while. Being a man with no children to love and having nothing to create with his hands -Richard is empty.
I believe that people can generalize this film any way that they want to. There are a lot of aspects to this movie that are of great depth and requiring of reflection. I don't know how many other people would have taken the same thought process as me about the movie, but I'm sure that if I argued my case, they would see the evidence backing my point.
Technique:
Considering how this was a film that required no really flashy special effects or clever editing, the emphasis of this portion of the review is on the music, camera work, and dialogue of the movie. I felt that one of the finest points of this film was the soundtrack. The whole film had a very "Indie" feel about it that was reflected in the soundtrack. There was a lot of simple acoustic guitar melody throughout the movie that helped to carry the feeling of quirkiness that is reflected by Richard's character. The camera work also added a great deal to the feel of the film. There were a great deal of mid range shots that were still or very slow panning during the movie. Also, a majority of shots involving dialogue between the main characters consisted of low-angle, close-ups of both characters.
Acting:
The main roles in the movie were: Richard (Jeff Daniels), a failing writer struggling with issues of worth . Richard regrets his life of lonliness and scorns the fact that he has no children, no tangible contributions to society. He fears the reality that he is the last of his bloodline and will one day become extinct and forgotten. Abby (Emma Stone), is a sharp and witty teenager who gets to know Richard when she agrees to baby sit Richard's non-existant kids. She is a rebellious youth who struggles to find a place of acceptance and love. The tragic death of her twin sister haunts her daily, as a reminder of a time when she was deathly sad with no explanation of why. Abby forms a friendship with Richard and begins to view him as the screwed-up but loving father figure that she wishes she had. Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds) is the imaginary superhero that aids Richard in his journey for wholeness. Captain Excellent speaks as the voice of reason for Richard as he tries to make sense of the new relationship he has formed with Abby. Reynold's character adds a great deal of the comic relief in the movie, adding witty suggestions and advice to Richard as he goes. I felt that all of the characters were very well cast, with Ryan Reynolds being the only actor that I felt was type cast his role because of his comical skills and superhero physique. I felt that all of the characters did an excellent job of capturing what I felt to be the essense of each character.
Plot:
The plot of the story follows Richard as he tries to get over his writer's block and write his new book about an extinct species of pheasant from the New York area with the help of his imaginary friend, Captain Excellent. Richard also takes on the task of figuring out what he is missing in his life and why he feels so unsubstantial as a man. When Richard rents a cottage in Montauk, New York he stumbles into an unlikely friendship with Abby, and confused and lonely teenager. The two of them begin hanging out together as they work together to find companionship and meaning in their lives. The two of them learn from one-another until they finally reach a place where they are able to continue on their seperate roads with a new found realization about life and what it means to be happy.
Themes:
I believe that the main theme of this film is that we all have a need in our lives for a relationship that means more to us than we matter to ourselves. As a man, Richard realized that he wasn't complete because he had nothing substantial to give to anyone. And what's worse, he had no one to whom he could give his love and dedicate his life. Richard lived a life of isolation that left him seperated from the the types of meaningful relationships that he so desperately longed for. This film also carried a message of people shedding their old crutches and eliminating things from their past that enable them to continue living in isolation.
Genre:
The first descriptor that comes to mind when I try to describe this movie is uniquely an "indie film", which it is, but I know that that doesn't really suffice as a genre. So, I would have to classify this film as a drama. There are a lot of very funny moments in the film that add a great comedic element to it, but the struggles facing the characters definitley qualify it as a drama. In this film, like many drama, we see a lot of dialogue and reflective monologues that give a great deal in the way of character development. This film also captures the internal struggles of the characters, something characteristic of a drama. I believe that this genre is popular today because of the way it allows the audience to, at the very least, understand the character, if not sympathize with them.
Representation:
This film is very narrow in its representation of different groups of people. All of the characters depict fairly stereotypical white people who are neither extremely rich nor extremely poor. Yet, the movie does a good job of desciribing the character types of a middle aged man in a mid-life crisis struggling with his identity, and the typical rebellious teenage girl.
Ideology:
I believe that this film challenges the cultural belief that people find true happiness in having monetary security and a life of privelege and ease. This film tries to show audiences that true happiness comes from the things in life that we love and invest our love and energy into, such as: a skilled craft made with your hands and hard work, or a child whom you can love more than anything else in the world.
Overall, Paper Man, directed by Kieren & Michele Murloney, is a very enjoyable movie. The film is loaded with moments of witty humor and insight into life. I would highly recommend the film to anyone who enjoys off-beat films with a deeper meaning. I hope the rest of you enjoyed your respective films as well!
-Sam P.
Personal Issues:
The issue that struck the most responsive chord in me was the theme of simple, virtuous living as it eluded Richard in his quest to write his next book. I deduced from the film that the things that Richard was starving for in his life were the fundamental joys that so many of us fail to recognize and appreciate. Richard longed to do something meaningful with his hands; to create something that would solidify his worth as a man that has created. Also, it becomes obvious that Richard feels void because he never had any children. Watching the film I realized that Richard desired something in his life that he could be totally selfless towards. A child that he could give his whole world to as an offering of love. As a struggling writer with no children, Richard realizes that his isolation from the world lies in the fact that in his mind he has contributed nothing lasting to the world around him. Like the extinct pheasant that is the subject of his next book, Richard realizes in the film that when he dies he will take his place alongside the forgotten bird as an extinct creature lost in time. To me, this film is saying: A man defines himself by the fruits of his labor. It is the things that we pour our life, blood, and love into creating that make our stay worth while. Being a man with no children to love and having nothing to create with his hands -Richard is empty.
I believe that people can generalize this film any way that they want to. There are a lot of aspects to this movie that are of great depth and requiring of reflection. I don't know how many other people would have taken the same thought process as me about the movie, but I'm sure that if I argued my case, they would see the evidence backing my point.
Technique:
Considering how this was a film that required no really flashy special effects or clever editing, the emphasis of this portion of the review is on the music, camera work, and dialogue of the movie. I felt that one of the finest points of this film was the soundtrack. The whole film had a very "Indie" feel about it that was reflected in the soundtrack. There was a lot of simple acoustic guitar melody throughout the movie that helped to carry the feeling of quirkiness that is reflected by Richard's character. The camera work also added a great deal to the feel of the film. There were a great deal of mid range shots that were still or very slow panning during the movie. Also, a majority of shots involving dialogue between the main characters consisted of low-angle, close-ups of both characters.
Acting:
The main roles in the movie were: Richard (Jeff Daniels), a failing writer struggling with issues of worth . Richard regrets his life of lonliness and scorns the fact that he has no children, no tangible contributions to society. He fears the reality that he is the last of his bloodline and will one day become extinct and forgotten. Abby (Emma Stone), is a sharp and witty teenager who gets to know Richard when she agrees to baby sit Richard's non-existant kids. She is a rebellious youth who struggles to find a place of acceptance and love. The tragic death of her twin sister haunts her daily, as a reminder of a time when she was deathly sad with no explanation of why. Abby forms a friendship with Richard and begins to view him as the screwed-up but loving father figure that she wishes she had. Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds) is the imaginary superhero that aids Richard in his journey for wholeness. Captain Excellent speaks as the voice of reason for Richard as he tries to make sense of the new relationship he has formed with Abby. Reynold's character adds a great deal of the comic relief in the movie, adding witty suggestions and advice to Richard as he goes. I felt that all of the characters were very well cast, with Ryan Reynolds being the only actor that I felt was type cast his role because of his comical skills and superhero physique. I felt that all of the characters did an excellent job of capturing what I felt to be the essense of each character.
Plot:
The plot of the story follows Richard as he tries to get over his writer's block and write his new book about an extinct species of pheasant from the New York area with the help of his imaginary friend, Captain Excellent. Richard also takes on the task of figuring out what he is missing in his life and why he feels so unsubstantial as a man. When Richard rents a cottage in Montauk, New York he stumbles into an unlikely friendship with Abby, and confused and lonely teenager. The two of them begin hanging out together as they work together to find companionship and meaning in their lives. The two of them learn from one-another until they finally reach a place where they are able to continue on their seperate roads with a new found realization about life and what it means to be happy.
Themes:
I believe that the main theme of this film is that we all have a need in our lives for a relationship that means more to us than we matter to ourselves. As a man, Richard realized that he wasn't complete because he had nothing substantial to give to anyone. And what's worse, he had no one to whom he could give his love and dedicate his life. Richard lived a life of isolation that left him seperated from the the types of meaningful relationships that he so desperately longed for. This film also carried a message of people shedding their old crutches and eliminating things from their past that enable them to continue living in isolation.
Genre:
The first descriptor that comes to mind when I try to describe this movie is uniquely an "indie film", which it is, but I know that that doesn't really suffice as a genre. So, I would have to classify this film as a drama. There are a lot of very funny moments in the film that add a great comedic element to it, but the struggles facing the characters definitley qualify it as a drama. In this film, like many drama, we see a lot of dialogue and reflective monologues that give a great deal in the way of character development. This film also captures the internal struggles of the characters, something characteristic of a drama. I believe that this genre is popular today because of the way it allows the audience to, at the very least, understand the character, if not sympathize with them.
Representation:
This film is very narrow in its representation of different groups of people. All of the characters depict fairly stereotypical white people who are neither extremely rich nor extremely poor. Yet, the movie does a good job of desciribing the character types of a middle aged man in a mid-life crisis struggling with his identity, and the typical rebellious teenage girl.
Ideology:
I believe that this film challenges the cultural belief that people find true happiness in having monetary security and a life of privelege and ease. This film tries to show audiences that true happiness comes from the things in life that we love and invest our love and energy into, such as: a skilled craft made with your hands and hard work, or a child whom you can love more than anything else in the world.
Overall, Paper Man, directed by Kieren & Michele Murloney, is a very enjoyable movie. The film is loaded with moments of witty humor and insight into life. I would highly recommend the film to anyone who enjoys off-beat films with a deeper meaning. I hope the rest of you enjoyed your respective films as well!
-Sam P.
My reaction to the Cleveland Film Festival
Hello again All,
So, I attended the 34th Annual Cleveland Film Festival this past friday the 26th. The whole day was a very rushed occasion; with packing for break, going to class, and attending the film festival- it was a pretty busy day. But enough about me, lets get to the festival. And of course, lets discuss first things first...Parking!!! From the direction I took, the streets were walled with taken spaces, leaving no place for my friend and I to part. Finally, we got into the Tower City parking deck, only to be charged $10 when leaving because they wouldn't validate. But enough about parking.
The film festival itself was pretty cool. Although I must admit that to me navigating the Tower City center to get to the festival entrance was liking walking a maze. When inside the doors, there was a couple of booths set up with information, places to vote for the winning movie, a place for souvenirs, etc. but I noticed that overall, the theatre the festical is held in seemed kind of small. I had imagined some place bigger for the festival in my mind.
As for the festival itself, I thought that it was very cool apart from the parking situation. To have something like this where people can come and enjoy some obscure movie selections that they wouldn't be likely to see in normal theaters. Looking through the film festival's information packet I saw a lot of very interesting looking movie choices. It's a shame that I didn't have time to see more of them. I am already looking forward to next year's 35th Annual Cleveland Film Festival!
Hope you all enjoyed your movie selections!
-Sam P.
So, I attended the 34th Annual Cleveland Film Festival this past friday the 26th. The whole day was a very rushed occasion; with packing for break, going to class, and attending the film festival- it was a pretty busy day. But enough about me, lets get to the festival. And of course, lets discuss first things first...Parking!!! From the direction I took, the streets were walled with taken spaces, leaving no place for my friend and I to part. Finally, we got into the Tower City parking deck, only to be charged $10 when leaving because they wouldn't validate. But enough about parking.
The film festival itself was pretty cool. Although I must admit that to me navigating the Tower City center to get to the festival entrance was liking walking a maze. When inside the doors, there was a couple of booths set up with information, places to vote for the winning movie, a place for souvenirs, etc. but I noticed that overall, the theatre the festical is held in seemed kind of small. I had imagined some place bigger for the festival in my mind.
As for the festival itself, I thought that it was very cool apart from the parking situation. To have something like this where people can come and enjoy some obscure movie selections that they wouldn't be likely to see in normal theaters. Looking through the film festival's information packet I saw a lot of very interesting looking movie choices. It's a shame that I didn't have time to see more of them. I am already looking forward to next year's 35th Annual Cleveland Film Festival!
Hope you all enjoyed your movie selections!
-Sam P.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Line has been drawn on Linear: Revisiting Linear vs. Nonlinear
I got a chance not too long ago to read the comments on one of my earlier blog posts, How Nonlinear is too Nonlinear, where I talked about the idea of assigning chapters of a novel to a group of students, but all out of order. Then trying to get students to use deduction and inference to put the pieces of the story together: back to their chronological order. Well, I want to give props to Kyle J. for the ideas he had. They are most certainly blog-worthy. He suggests that instead of assigning the whole book to students, you could try assigning a different chapter, or grouping of chapters, to each student. Then, the teacher allows the student to figure out the plot of the story by working together as a class to arrange themselves in the correct order.
Kyle goes on to bring to light a couple of key benefits about this idea that are in need of mentioning. By having students figure out the order of the plot by discussing their selection of chapters and how theirs fits amongst those of their peers'. To do this effectively they have to communicate details about the plot, characters, settings, themes, etc. It can be difficult to build community and foster thoughtful discussions, all of us are aware of this. But it's obvious that an activity like this really challenges student to work together, and requires the use of several functions found much higher on Blooms Taxonomy than the typical memorize and recall assignments we see in many classrooms.
The other great point that is raised is the fact that you could cover a lengthy text in a much shorter time. Going along with Kyle's point, I figure that if you've got a text that even you as the teacher can't stand - this would be a great way to make the unit a little quicker to get through; and more enjoyable for the students.
Props to you again Kyle. I hope you don't mind that I discussed your comment post, but you brought a great idea to the table with some great points backing it. I feel that it is definitely an idea worth putting out there for others to see and use!
And until next time, stay classy San Diego.
-Sam Pearch
Kyle goes on to bring to light a couple of key benefits about this idea that are in need of mentioning. By having students figure out the order of the plot by discussing their selection of chapters and how theirs fits amongst those of their peers'. To do this effectively they have to communicate details about the plot, characters, settings, themes, etc. It can be difficult to build community and foster thoughtful discussions, all of us are aware of this. But it's obvious that an activity like this really challenges student to work together, and requires the use of several functions found much higher on Blooms Taxonomy than the typical memorize and recall assignments we see in many classrooms.
The other great point that is raised is the fact that you could cover a lengthy text in a much shorter time. Going along with Kyle's point, I figure that if you've got a text that even you as the teacher can't stand - this would be a great way to make the unit a little quicker to get through; and more enjoyable for the students.
Props to you again Kyle. I hope you don't mind that I discussed your comment post, but you brought a great idea to the table with some great points backing it. I feel that it is definitely an idea worth putting out there for others to see and use!
And until next time, stay classy San Diego.
-Sam Pearch
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Teaching Lit. in S.S. Blog #3 - Reading with Empathy
Hello all,
As I continue my reading of Carol Jago's Classics in the Classroom I came upon the section on pg. 51 titled Reading For Empathy. In this section, Jago talks about the way that reading literature can have benefits for people who are not necessarily studying in a literary field. Doctors, lawyers, and other professionals can learn a lot about the people who they are serving by reading texts that offer insight into the human psyche and heart. Jago talks about how doctors can gain a lot in the way of compassion and understanding for their patients by reading texts like Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyth. Furthermore, people in the field of social work could gain a lot of insight into the plight of abused children by reading books like The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison.
I absolutely agree with what Jago is saying in this section. By reading about characters and stories of circumstances we have never experienced, and therefore cannot relate to, we are able to better understand those situations through our ability to relate to the characters in the story. By emerscing ourselves in the story, it can allow us to better understand the way that people in similar circumstances may be feeling and what they may be thinking. One of the most important aspects of working with people is being able to understand where they are coming from and what they may be going through. Being able to empathize with their situation will better allow you to help them.
As I continue my reading of Carol Jago's Classics in the Classroom I came upon the section on pg. 51 titled Reading For Empathy. In this section, Jago talks about the way that reading literature can have benefits for people who are not necessarily studying in a literary field. Doctors, lawyers, and other professionals can learn a lot about the people who they are serving by reading texts that offer insight into the human psyche and heart. Jago talks about how doctors can gain a lot in the way of compassion and understanding for their patients by reading texts like Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyth. Furthermore, people in the field of social work could gain a lot of insight into the plight of abused children by reading books like The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison.
I absolutely agree with what Jago is saying in this section. By reading about characters and stories of circumstances we have never experienced, and therefore cannot relate to, we are able to better understand those situations through our ability to relate to the characters in the story. By emerscing ourselves in the story, it can allow us to better understand the way that people in similar circumstances may be feeling and what they may be thinking. One of the most important aspects of working with people is being able to understand where they are coming from and what they may be going through. Being able to empathize with their situation will better allow you to help them.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Teaching Lit. in S.S. Blog numero dos - The Classics
Hello again,
While looking through Jugo's, Classics in the Classroom, I took interest in Chpt. 3 Choosing Which Books to Teach. On pg. 40 there is a list of books that are popular, if not required, canon for high school English curriculums. These texts include: Romeo and Juliet, Huckleberry Finn, Julius Caesar, Lord of the Flies, The Great Gatsby, so-on and so-forth. And while yes, I have read all of these texts, I didn't necessarily enjoy reading all of them when I was just a young buck, back in high school. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to reread many of these texts in college and have found them to be much more enjoyable this time around. Furthermore, I've gained a lot more from them this time around. The point that I'm trying to make it that for whatever reason, I didn't gain everything that stood to be gained in these books. This may have been because I wasn't mature enough to to appreciate the text or maybe my teachers didn't do the best job teaching them; but whatever the reasoning may be- I only got a fraction of what there was to gain from these books the first time I read them.
Having this list of books that are considered to be classic canon has made me start questioning what the "classics" will be in another 25 years; and, should the classics still be what are taught in the classroom. Will they still be the same books that I read or will they be books that have been written in my lifetime? Will the canon of the futute still have the same values of "rereadability" (I don't even know if that's a real work, but it sounds good. Is Webster's hiring?) Anyway, on page 41 of Jugo's text she outlines some of the criterion for being considered a classis. This includes things like: providing a treasured experience for those who read, and re-read them, provides as much a sense of discovery as the first time it was read, a text that helps you "define yourself in relation or even in opposition to it", etc.
Even with all of these qualities for what makes a "classic", because of my experience with not really being able to appreciate these classic novels, I'm not convinced that they should continue to be taught in high schools. While they are indeed great books, I don't know that the typical high shool student is mature enough in their reading to really appreciate all the intricacies of these classic texts. The way that I feel about the issue is that students should be reading things that relate more to their lives and interests, I.E. - Young Adult Novels. While some may argue that this newer genre of books doesn't contain the depth and value of some of the classics, but as long as students are reading, does it really matter what they are reading? This is within reason, of course. I wouldn't want my students reading smut and saying, "oh, well Mr. Pearch says it's OK as long as we are reading something". Young adult literature has alot to offer in the classroom. Many of the topics are more appealing to students, and there is still a lot that can be learned about reading and writing conventions by reading young adult books.
At least that's what I think about the matter.
-Sam
While looking through Jugo's, Classics in the Classroom, I took interest in Chpt. 3 Choosing Which Books to Teach. On pg. 40 there is a list of books that are popular, if not required, canon for high school English curriculums. These texts include: Romeo and Juliet, Huckleberry Finn, Julius Caesar, Lord of the Flies, The Great Gatsby, so-on and so-forth. And while yes, I have read all of these texts, I didn't necessarily enjoy reading all of them when I was just a young buck, back in high school. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to reread many of these texts in college and have found them to be much more enjoyable this time around. Furthermore, I've gained a lot more from them this time around. The point that I'm trying to make it that for whatever reason, I didn't gain everything that stood to be gained in these books. This may have been because I wasn't mature enough to to appreciate the text or maybe my teachers didn't do the best job teaching them; but whatever the reasoning may be- I only got a fraction of what there was to gain from these books the first time I read them.
Having this list of books that are considered to be classic canon has made me start questioning what the "classics" will be in another 25 years; and, should the classics still be what are taught in the classroom. Will they still be the same books that I read or will they be books that have been written in my lifetime? Will the canon of the futute still have the same values of "rereadability" (I don't even know if that's a real work, but it sounds good. Is Webster's hiring?) Anyway, on page 41 of Jugo's text she outlines some of the criterion for being considered a classis. This includes things like: providing a treasured experience for those who read, and re-read them, provides as much a sense of discovery as the first time it was read, a text that helps you "define yourself in relation or even in opposition to it", etc.
Even with all of these qualities for what makes a "classic", because of my experience with not really being able to appreciate these classic novels, I'm not convinced that they should continue to be taught in high schools. While they are indeed great books, I don't know that the typical high shool student is mature enough in their reading to really appreciate all the intricacies of these classic texts. The way that I feel about the issue is that students should be reading things that relate more to their lives and interests, I.E. - Young Adult Novels. While some may argue that this newer genre of books doesn't contain the depth and value of some of the classics, but as long as students are reading, does it really matter what they are reading? This is within reason, of course. I wouldn't want my students reading smut and saying, "oh, well Mr. Pearch says it's OK as long as we are reading something". Young adult literature has alot to offer in the classroom. Many of the topics are more appealing to students, and there is still a lot that can be learned about reading and writing conventions by reading young adult books.
At least that's what I think about the matter.
-Sam
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Teaching Lit. in S.S. Blog #1 - Takin' it to a higher level
Hello all,
So I've been reading through Jago's, Classics in the Classroom, and came upon something very early on in my reading that I felt was important to address. On just the second page of Jago's book I noted that she was talking about two observers of two different classrooms, and 5th grade and the other 10th, who compared their observations and discovered that they had viewed very similar lessons despite being five grades apart from one another. Jago brings up a good point with this example: too many teachers stick to a very low level of instruction and students very rarely get to exercise higher level processes like analysis or synthesis. So, instead of students getting the chance to develop skills and abilities like analyizing underlying themes, develop opinions of the text, or simply debating in class, students are taught to skim the surface, memorize and then regurgitate, anwser "who went where and did what?" kinds of questions.
To be honest, I don't find it suprising that these are the kinds of things that observers see in the classroom. I realize that a lot of teachers probably don't even realize that they need to take their instruction to a higher level, but I'm also confident that a lot of teachers just don't want to invest the extra energy into taking in to the next level, so to speak. Or, maybe these teachers simply have never heard of Bloom's Taxonomy, but I doubt that. It just erks me I suppose, that something so simple to do- like asking students questions that take a little bit of reflection and thought is too much to ask of some teachers. And like Jago mentions in the book, it's no wonder that students do poorly on standardized reading and writing tests that look for analysis and comprehension of the text.
Yet, what more can I say about it. I can't really change anything about the way things are until it's my turn to teach my own students. That's the thing that I don't understand, though... I'm actually looking forward to trying to get students to really analyze texts like George Orwell's, 1984 and discuss topics from class like, "does having money and status add to the way Daisy and Tom Buchanon live recklessly in Fitzgeralds, The Great Gatsby?" That stuff excites me! Maybe these other teachers have grown just a little too long in the tooth to be effective teacher. But I digress.
So, until next time, this is Sam saying, Thank you and good morning!
So I've been reading through Jago's, Classics in the Classroom, and came upon something very early on in my reading that I felt was important to address. On just the second page of Jago's book I noted that she was talking about two observers of two different classrooms, and 5th grade and the other 10th, who compared their observations and discovered that they had viewed very similar lessons despite being five grades apart from one another. Jago brings up a good point with this example: too many teachers stick to a very low level of instruction and students very rarely get to exercise higher level processes like analysis or synthesis. So, instead of students getting the chance to develop skills and abilities like analyizing underlying themes, develop opinions of the text, or simply debating in class, students are taught to skim the surface, memorize and then regurgitate, anwser "who went where and did what?" kinds of questions.
To be honest, I don't find it suprising that these are the kinds of things that observers see in the classroom. I realize that a lot of teachers probably don't even realize that they need to take their instruction to a higher level, but I'm also confident that a lot of teachers just don't want to invest the extra energy into taking in to the next level, so to speak. Or, maybe these teachers simply have never heard of Bloom's Taxonomy, but I doubt that. It just erks me I suppose, that something so simple to do- like asking students questions that take a little bit of reflection and thought is too much to ask of some teachers. And like Jago mentions in the book, it's no wonder that students do poorly on standardized reading and writing tests that look for analysis and comprehension of the text.
Yet, what more can I say about it. I can't really change anything about the way things are until it's my turn to teach my own students. That's the thing that I don't understand, though... I'm actually looking forward to trying to get students to really analyze texts like George Orwell's, 1984 and discuss topics from class like, "does having money and status add to the way Daisy and Tom Buchanon live recklessly in Fitzgeralds, The Great Gatsby?" That stuff excites me! Maybe these other teachers have grown just a little too long in the tooth to be effective teacher. But I digress.
So, until next time, this is Sam saying, Thank you and good morning!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
How Nonlinear is Too Nonlinear
Hello all,
So, I've been sitting here catching up on some reading in Dr. Kist's book, The Socially Networked Classroom, and took special interest in an activity outlined on pgs. 17-19. This activity discusses the way that sometimes readers tend to read a text in a "nonlinear" fashion; sometimes jumping around a text from the beginning to the end, then back to the beginning or the middle, etc. Anyway, the idea of doing this is to get students thinking about their own reading habits and the benefits of sometimes reading nonlinearly. The activity used to demonstrate this is having students arrange themselves in order of their birthdays without talking. Coincidently, I just did this task in another class this past friday.
The idea/question that I have about nonlinear reading is this: Can you have students read an entire book, assigning chapters in a random order? What I don't really know is if this activity would be counter-productive to the goal of doing the activity described in Dr. Kist's book. Here's another question I have to ponder... by assigning students chapters to read in an order that seems random to them, can you teach them anything about the pro's and con's of reading linearly and nonlinearly? I imagine that my idea for adapting this assignment may do more to create a disdain for nonlinearly reading since it probably wouldn't make sense to the students why it is that I was having them read this way for an entire novel.
Anywhoo, any of you out there in the blogosphere- feel free to let me know what your thoughts are on teaching an entire novel in a nonlinear fasion.
-Sam
So, I've been sitting here catching up on some reading in Dr. Kist's book, The Socially Networked Classroom, and took special interest in an activity outlined on pgs. 17-19. This activity discusses the way that sometimes readers tend to read a text in a "nonlinear" fashion; sometimes jumping around a text from the beginning to the end, then back to the beginning or the middle, etc. Anyway, the idea of doing this is to get students thinking about their own reading habits and the benefits of sometimes reading nonlinearly. The activity used to demonstrate this is having students arrange themselves in order of their birthdays without talking. Coincidently, I just did this task in another class this past friday.
The idea/question that I have about nonlinear reading is this: Can you have students read an entire book, assigning chapters in a random order? What I don't really know is if this activity would be counter-productive to the goal of doing the activity described in Dr. Kist's book. Here's another question I have to ponder... by assigning students chapters to read in an order that seems random to them, can you teach them anything about the pro's and con's of reading linearly and nonlinearly? I imagine that my idea for adapting this assignment may do more to create a disdain for nonlinearly reading since it probably wouldn't make sense to the students why it is that I was having them read this way for an entire novel.
Anywhoo, any of you out there in the blogosphere- feel free to let me know what your thoughts are on teaching an entire novel in a nonlinear fasion.
-Sam
Friday, February 26, 2010
One More Go-Round on the MultiGenre Autobiograpy
Hello again,
I just wanted to touch base on the MultiGenre Autobiography assignment one more time to talk about some things that I didn't mention in my last blog post. It occured to me to discuss briefly my thoughts on using this assignment with my future classes. This an assignment that I will most definitely like to use with my students of the future. It is a great way to get students involved and serves the purpose of getting students to know one another and start building community. I realized from what I saw of the other presentations that we are not all different from one another. Sure, we all have very different, and distinct choices in entertainment, but I also saw a lot of repetition in the movies, music, and TV shows that we liked to watch growing up. Perhaps students in a high school classroom doing this sort of assignment would find that they and their classmates share more commonalities than they thought, and this could be huge in fostering new friendships!
Now for the foreseeable (sp?) undoing of this assignment. I would imagine that this assignment may be difficult to facilitate for reasons such as: students not having steady access to computers/internet, helping students with technical difficulties, listening to students excuses of how they can't get it done because "XYZ" didn't save, and so on. Yet, I still think that this is an assignment that could be a ton of fun for students, and I see it as being a wonderful community builder exercise.
Until next time, stay classy San Diego!
-Sam
I just wanted to touch base on the MultiGenre Autobiography assignment one more time to talk about some things that I didn't mention in my last blog post. It occured to me to discuss briefly my thoughts on using this assignment with my future classes. This an assignment that I will most definitely like to use with my students of the future. It is a great way to get students involved and serves the purpose of getting students to know one another and start building community. I realized from what I saw of the other presentations that we are not all different from one another. Sure, we all have very different, and distinct choices in entertainment, but I also saw a lot of repetition in the movies, music, and TV shows that we liked to watch growing up. Perhaps students in a high school classroom doing this sort of assignment would find that they and their classmates share more commonalities than they thought, and this could be huge in fostering new friendships!
Now for the foreseeable (sp?) undoing of this assignment. I would imagine that this assignment may be difficult to facilitate for reasons such as: students not having steady access to computers/internet, helping students with technical difficulties, listening to students excuses of how they can't get it done because "XYZ" didn't save, and so on. Yet, I still think that this is an assignment that could be a ton of fun for students, and I see it as being a wonderful community builder exercise.
Until next time, stay classy San Diego!
-Sam
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Reflections: An Analysis of My Multi-Genre Autobiography
Hello again to all of you,
Today's topic is all about ME!!! Muhahahaha!!! Well... kind of, anyway. I've just finished my multi-genre autobiography for Multi-Modal class. This assignment required us to compile a collection of medias that catalog our progression through "pop culture" and other societal factors that have shaped who we are today.
The most interesting thing that I found about this assignment was the amount of reflection that was needed on my part to complete the assignment. It is easy for us to forget all the things that we loved growing up, at least for me it was. Yet, this assignment made me dive deep into the memory banks to uncover things that I hadn't thought about in years, literally. For example, up until recently I had forgotten just how much I used to love the Power Rangers. Is that important to you? Probably not. But for me, Power Rangers used to be a pretty big deal!
So, hopefully tomorrow everyone will get a kick out of seeing just how much of a goof I used to be, and in ways- still am. Good luck to the rest of you as well. I know that this project turned out to be much more time consuming than I had orininally anticipated. So, if you read this today and haven't finished up yet (this is to my fellow procrastinators), Get Busy!!!
Today's topic is all about ME!!! Muhahahaha!!! Well... kind of, anyway. I've just finished my multi-genre autobiography for Multi-Modal class. This assignment required us to compile a collection of medias that catalog our progression through "pop culture" and other societal factors that have shaped who we are today.
The most interesting thing that I found about this assignment was the amount of reflection that was needed on my part to complete the assignment. It is easy for us to forget all the things that we loved growing up, at least for me it was. Yet, this assignment made me dive deep into the memory banks to uncover things that I hadn't thought about in years, literally. For example, up until recently I had forgotten just how much I used to love the Power Rangers. Is that important to you? Probably not. But for me, Power Rangers used to be a pretty big deal!
So, hopefully tomorrow everyone will get a kick out of seeing just how much of a goof I used to be, and in ways- still am. Good luck to the rest of you as well. I know that this project turned out to be much more time consuming than I had orininally anticipated. So, if you read this today and haven't finished up yet (this is to my fellow procrastinators), Get Busy!!!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Was There Immigration Control in the Land of Oz...?
Hello all, I hope everyone's enjoying all the fresh snow we've gotten. So, I've been thinking about the activities we did this morning in Multi-Modal class. The activity where we grouped up according to the character type we identify with most... brilliant! I really enjoyed that activity and think that by getting students to relate to a character, possibly multiple characters, teachers should have much greater success getting students to enjoy what they are reading, and relating to the condition of the characters in the story. Also, it was kind of fun to see who related most to what characters from The Wizard of Oz. Yours truly is the Tin Man.
Secondly, the immiration selection simulation is a very in depth, higher-level task when you really get to thinking about it. This group task calls for thoughtful communication and many of the verbs that you only find on the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. This assignment requires a lot of Evaluation (prioritize, assess, discuss, debate, decide, select, rate, etc.). This assignment also got me reflecting alot upon myself. It definitely serves as a big eye opener in recognizing and addressing some of your own prejudices, and hidden biases when your asked to decide something as big as who deserves to gain entry into the U.S. This is a great thought provoking activity.
Well everyone, until next time, enjoy the snow!
-Sam
Secondly, the immiration selection simulation is a very in depth, higher-level task when you really get to thinking about it. This group task calls for thoughtful communication and many of the verbs that you only find on the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. This assignment requires a lot of Evaluation (prioritize, assess, discuss, debate, decide, select, rate, etc.). This assignment also got me reflecting alot upon myself. It definitely serves as a big eye opener in recognizing and addressing some of your own prejudices, and hidden biases when your asked to decide something as big as who deserves to gain entry into the U.S. This is a great thought provoking activity.
Well everyone, until next time, enjoy the snow!
-Sam
Friday, February 12, 2010
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Hello again everyone. Let me begin by admitting that last weeks blog entry: Little Brother, Oh Brother was indeed a little harsh. I can't say that I dislike the book, because that wouldn't be true to say. The only thing about this book that doesn't appeal to me is the idea that Marcus and his friends could possibly whind up in the situation that they did. I imagine that the DHS is just as terrible and ruthless as described in the text; I just don't believe that they are so dumb that they can be out-maneauvered by a couple of teenagers.
None-the-less, Doctorow has done a good job of swaying my opinion of his writing back into his favor with his writing on pgs. 235-238. I must admit that that was some pretty powerful writing. I especially like the reference made on pg. 235 to the right of the people to overthrow a tyrannical gov't. as outlined in the Constitution of the United States. There are many parallels that can be established between the state of oppression San Francisco is left in under the rule of the DHS and the actual reality of our country, post 9/11. We as a society live in a nation where our rights to freedom of speech and privacy are being invaded by the gov't. by such legislation as the Patriot Acts (2001). The main point that I guess I'm trying to segway into is this: in an effort to stop terrorism and keep it's people safe, the DHS has in fact become the terrorists, insighting just as much terror and fear as the terrorists responsible for the bridge bombing. The one thing that makes them even worse than typical terrorists is this: once they have a reason to take more control and rule through fear, the gov't. is never going to let that power go. They will forever continue to insight fear and doubt in the minds and hearts of it's citizens until ever last person has submitted to their will. That is, until someone such as Marcus and his group of rag-tag patriots, and real people in our society, stand out against the injustices being committed by the U.S. gov't.
What Doctorow is saying vicariously through Marcus about the reality of the DHS, and ultimately the federal gov't. in our country, on pg 237 is very accurate in my opinion. But that is just one man's opinion. Here's to you Doctorow! Good work.
-Sam
None-the-less, Doctorow has done a good job of swaying my opinion of his writing back into his favor with his writing on pgs. 235-238. I must admit that that was some pretty powerful writing. I especially like the reference made on pg. 235 to the right of the people to overthrow a tyrannical gov't. as outlined in the Constitution of the United States. There are many parallels that can be established between the state of oppression San Francisco is left in under the rule of the DHS and the actual reality of our country, post 9/11. We as a society live in a nation where our rights to freedom of speech and privacy are being invaded by the gov't. by such legislation as the Patriot Acts (2001). The main point that I guess I'm trying to segway into is this: in an effort to stop terrorism and keep it's people safe, the DHS has in fact become the terrorists, insighting just as much terror and fear as the terrorists responsible for the bridge bombing. The one thing that makes them even worse than typical terrorists is this: once they have a reason to take more control and rule through fear, the gov't. is never going to let that power go. They will forever continue to insight fear and doubt in the minds and hearts of it's citizens until ever last person has submitted to their will. That is, until someone such as Marcus and his group of rag-tag patriots, and real people in our society, stand out against the injustices being committed by the U.S. gov't.
What Doctorow is saying vicariously through Marcus about the reality of the DHS, and ultimately the federal gov't. in our country, on pg 237 is very accurate in my opinion. But that is just one man's opinion. Here's to you Doctorow! Good work.
-Sam
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Little Brother... Oh Brother!
As I read Doctorow's, Little Brother, I can't help but be irritated by the amount of spelling and grammatical errors that I am finding throughout the text. I wish I had marked one example in particular when I first read it, but unfortunatley it has been lost to the pages of black ink from which I refuse to tediously scower in search of one ridiculous error. Regardless, if all of you out there in the blogosphere are willing to take my word for it I will tell you this: The word "talking" should not be misprinted as "taking" in more than one instance. It should not even happen once in a text in this day and age. None-the-less, this is not where my grievances with this book end. I have found thus far that while the idea of being wrapped up in an unfortunate event such as a terrorist attack is very plausible. And dealing with the ever-tightening kneuse of "Big Brother" slowly constricting it's ever-vigilent grip on society is a topic that has been around for a long time; including classic canon such as George Orwell's, 1984. In my opinion, this book takes the idea of one kid being singled out as the "rebel who must challenge the status quo" way too far. I understand that it probably appeals to readers to imagine themselves in the shoes of the main character, fighting the establishment and saving us all from Big Brother. Seriously though, come on!!!
I find it very unlikely that Jolu would ever get hired into Spleen-net at the age of twelve, or that the DHS would spend their time tracking a couple of kids with laptops. This makes the DHS look very naive and foolish in their methods, something that i highly doubt is the case.
But, whatever Doctorow... Call it how you see it. Just don't expect me to buy what your selling!
-Sam
I find it very unlikely that Jolu would ever get hired into Spleen-net at the age of twelve, or that the DHS would spend their time tracking a couple of kids with laptops. This makes the DHS look very naive and foolish in their methods, something that i highly doubt is the case.
But, whatever Doctorow... Call it how you see it. Just don't expect me to buy what your selling!
-Sam
Monday, February 1, 2010
Little Brother #1 (pg. 1-103)
I am very excited because next week there are a couple of potential block-busters hitting the big screen. The best part is that they release on my Birthday. I intend on seeing The Wolfman when it hits theatres. The trailers for this movie look very, very exciting. Also, I like the fact that the Wolfman in this movie somewhat resembles the original wolfman portrayed by Larry Talbot in the 1941 release of The Wolfman.
-Sam
-Sam
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