Pytash: Jago Ch. 1

To my surprise, I really enjoyed this book. I was truly dreading having to read and now I can't keep the concepts Jago introduces out of my head. In the first chapter I really connected with the story about the similar lessons in the third and eighth grade classrooms. I am horrified to say I have personally witnessed this even on a college level! I have an acquaintance that just recently was accepted to KSU and in his College Writing 1 class they had to go over how to write a paragraph and a paper before they could get started discussing what the paper topics should be. This too me is outrageous and unacceptable, even in grade school, and I couldn't agree more with Jago that this should not be occurring at any level of education. I also found it interesting that she discusses the differences in the consistency of the curriculum with the content of the standardized tests. Like much of the statistics in today's society the lower class and lower income kids get the short end of the stick. This was not surprising to me, but it did lead to some thought on why it is this way. Parents in low income families are often busy trying to handle the trials of their lives and may not be able to constantly help their kids and the schools in these districts often can not afford good teachers in the schools. Beyond this many teachers fear being placed in these schools that cater to low-income families. All of these elements boil down to one conclusion for the students: they don't learn as much or as well as their middle and upper class counter parts. The biggest disappointment in the situation, however, is this problem could be fixed if teachers paid attention and followed their training. I think if teachers followed or utilized many of the things we are being taught now, such as reading strategies and more fun classroom activities, they could make learning fun and easy for all involved. This means we must stop asking level one questions and challenge our students with something more involving and thought provoking. That to me seems as simple as changing a couple questions, so why can't all teachers do it?

Also in this chapter I enjoyed Jago's points on what literature means to people and how it helps in human development. Too many times when I tell people I am training to be and English teacher or if I mention that my focus in English, I get a reaction like, "So you just read really good." This statement while very close to some truth is not very close to what reading means to our society. Jago points this out in many sections. My favorite point in this section of the chapter is that literature gives background knowledge. When Jago discusses London's novel White Fang and where she acquired her background knowledge for the understanding and imagining of London's fictional world I couldn't help to think about where I got much of my knowledge especially about places I have never been, books and literature. Mind you books haven't provided all of my background knowledge and I don't believe they can replace an experience of the real place, but they can give you a pretty accurate description and provide a unique experience that you can later refer to when thinking or discussing the area or thing you read about. Again I think so why is this not emphasized in the classroom? Sure teachers ask about where the characters are and may even have students look up what the area looks like, but what about the image the students see when they read? That's just as important as the real thing and provides more of a connection and reference for the student to go back to than some research project can create. 

Finally I must say I disagree with Jago in this chapter when she says common non-reading activities must be used sparingly and always with a writing activity. I agree they should not be the full focus of a class; however, I think these activities, when done properly, can expand the students knowledge just as much as writing activities and/or reading. In fact things that she mentions, like storyboards, require an understanding of the material and involve writing. And as we are experiencing in Multi-Modal Literature class now, film is a form of literature it simply needs to be treated as such, instead of it becoming a free day for the teacher and students. The amount of learning being accomplished is a direct result of how it is being taught and how interesting the material. That is our job as teachers, teach well and make it interesting.

FOOT I'm So Totally, Digitally Close to You

         This article really spoke to me on many different levels. The first is when Thompson is discussing  people's views on sites like Facebook and Twitter. One of the many ideas I share with others about this form of social interaction really shows that I was born 40 years old. On page 2 of his article Thompson says "For many people — particularly anyone over the age of 30 — the idea of describing your blow-by-blow activities in such detail is absurd. Why would you subject your friends to your daily minutiae?" This is really how I have felt about all of these sites for a long time and really still do feel about these sites. I have never really understood, until recently, why these sites were so popular or why they should hold any importance in my life and my career. I couldn't have been more wrong. While I admit I am still not comfortable or even good at speaking through these sites and making connections on them, after reading "I'm So Totally, Digitally Close to You" and after many of the activities in class I see how this could fit in with both. I don't think digital connections should or ever will take the place of face to face interactions, face to face is still the best way to teach and communicate in my mind. However, in the classroom if we utilize the students need to connect using tools they know and enjoy everyday and take advantage of our “ambient awareness” of them, the classroom could be a more exciting place to learn more than we have been able to teach in the past.

        From what I see social sites such as Facebook and Twitter can be great tools in the classroom to get to know everyone in the class and to allow them to get to know you, especially if you are the new teacher. These sites allow you to take a glimpse at things in people's everyday lives that you may not otherwise be able to see.  For example, your student Jane could be going through a hard break up and is randomly bursting into tears during class. If you had been able to read her Facebook status which states the situation, you would not have to ask her in class and would be fully aware of how to handle the situation. This does get complicated when addressing students privacy and how much do you as the teacher really want to know, but there are ways around that too. Like we have discussed many times in class we could easily have the students create a separate account for class use only. Now we are talking about how to use this in the classroom. Again I didn't see any use till recently and even now find my ideas to be weak, so I hope I discover more during the course of this class. However, this gives the students something they know how to use, something they enjoy, and shows them that you are just as multi-modal as they are. Also I really like the multigenre autobiography we did for the class and will probably use this activity as a starter, but the biggest use of these sites I see being good and possible is in the discussions of books. Sometimes in class everyone doesn't get a chance to speak or is too afraid. This medium eliminates the problem of time by allowing them to post anytime before during or after school and eliminates much of the fear of being instantly scrutinized over your comments. And it allows the students to follow more people than they normally would have the brain capacity to, according to Thompson's article. In the article Thompson talks about Shannon Seery and how he followed her blog and what she felt like following others. On the third page Thompson talks about the experience of getting to know your digital friends, "Like many people who live online, she has wound up following a few strangers — though after a few months they no longer feel like strangers, despite the fact that she has never physically met them." If this is the way many people find friendship in strangers, why not in people they see everyday? I believe that online interaction could lead to physical interaction and friendship in school. This could, admittedly this is optimistic, bring together the bully and the victim in friendship. I think this something we can all relate to and hope for.

Grease - We Go Together (Film Version)

Foot Grease

I just saw one of the best productions by the Kent State Drama Department today, GREASE!!!!!!
I really love the movie and have seen it in play form many times but have not yet seen one this good. I really enjoyed the entire experience and really wish I had seen it last weekend so I could get the word out sooner that you should see it if you can. Unfortunately tomorrow is the last showing in the Stump theater on campus. (If anyone doesn't know where that is I can give directions if you need/want.) Tickets are $8 for students $16 for the general public. The theater department puts on two plays a semester and they are almost always good. (So far I have seen Oklahoma!, Grapes of Wrath and Grease.) Hamlet is being performed this April if anyone would like to go. It really is great fun and it helps the theater department if you go see it. As future English teachers I think this opportunity to see another form of literature, especially since this is a multi-modal class, is a great one. Click the link to the theater department above to see what events are coming up if you are interested and explore the site I know many of my friends didn't even know KSU had a theater. And just for fun watch the video above to put you in a good mood with good memories, hopefully, of high school.

My First Project Medium

Vader Dances to Hammer You Can't Touch This Dance: Star Wars weekends 20...

Here something for Star Wars fans. Sorry I'm a total dork.

The Picard Video

I have to much of an obsession with Star Trek. If you like it too here's a great funny video!

Cory Doctorow: Show us your "Little Brother" HOWTOs (BBtv)

This is something I found on YouTube when searching for answers on possibilities for future technology like in Little Brother. Come to find out the author is a Co-Founder of Boing Boing Tv which is a whole series of vids on YouTube. It's interesting to hear the author challenge people to create his imaginings maybe someone could participate who enjoyed the book and its technology.

Foot Bi0

Well... I think this will be my last post tonight because I have to work on the very thing I am discussing, the multigenre autobiography. Mine is going well I have everything gathered and am enjoying the process of remembering all the things I loved and lived for as a kid. I am questioning how far to take my interpretation of the assignment though. We have talked a lot about what to include that has affected our lives such as music, plays, cartoons, tv shows, books, comics, etc. but what about things like sports do they count? Also I am having issues with making mine interesting to watch and easy to upload online. I really want to use a movie making or dvd making program but can't find a way to upload it. If anyone has done this already please help a little I'm sure I could figure it out but I am not sure I have the time to and I really want this to be more interesting than just a project that needs done.

Foot 1Nt3rN3T

After reading both articles involving the internet and Facebook and using both in class I am very interested to find more ways to use the internet and Facebook creatively in my class. I think both of these articles offered a great look into the true purpose of both of these additions to technology and what we as a culture have made it. i think both were made to allow easier and faster communication, luckily this is what we use it for even if it is for trivial daily updates on where we are and where we are going. I am interested to see if the movie The Social Network is anything like the Rolling Stones article. Hopefully I will be able to find out soon. I also found it interesting that both of these articles were in magazines, which are often thought to be simply entertaining. This is proof to me that everything can be used when teaching and that maybe we have been ignoring perhaps our best tools with which to teach.

Foot N3tw0rk3D

I am totally excited about reading Dr. Kist's The Socially Networked Classroom after having done some of his suggested activities in class. I love the new and inventive ways to form groups that we have done recently and will be using them in my classroom. My favorite activity was having us write down names of groups that are famously put together and form groups after figuring out what names go together. This allows the choosing of groups to be completely random and is fun. The other activity that we did on our opinions was a great way to start discussion but isn't very predicable or controllable until you really know your students. It is also a good way to show students how many different opinions there are on every topic. Sometimes it may be good to do this with students once everyone knows each other well to see if they know each other as well as they thought. His could help dispel rumors that are heard within the school or to simply show that people choose what to tell and show you and it isn't always the truth. This could be a useful way to lead into character analysis or a lesson on reading between the lines.

Foot Reading!!!!!

Okay... so... Little Brother... I know I am probably going to get slammed for this but I hated it. It just wasn't the type of relevant problem I am concerned with right now and would prefer not to concern myself with. This novel was well written and very inviting to read, I know because my fiance read it and he never reads anything that isn't Orson Scott Card or Shakespeare. But it simply wasn't me. I found a lot of the novel to be hard to wrap my mind around, such as parts regarding the school's surveillance. I also found it to be a very heavy topic and possibly a frightening topic to some readers. I think I may use this in the classroom but only as a choice read. I wouldn't force someone to read this.

On another note it really did a good job of illuminating some key issues in multi-modal literature. We are always trying to come up with new innovative ways to keep students entertained and learning but often it simply turns into them teaching us. When we want to use different formats to teach we need to make sure we know about the technology we use. In Little Brother the adults in the school seemed clueless when it came to the technology the students were using. This can't happen if we want to be multi-modal in our classrooms. On a good note this novel showed a good way to involve technology without using it, read a story about it!!! It's a great idea but I don't know that this was the best book for it. I have not had a good chance to look at Doctorow's blog and hope it offers some clarity on his writting. I would love to try another piece by him to see if I like it better.

Louis Armstrong - Hello Dolly Live

Foot HR

I almost forgot I've been listening and watching a lot of Harlem Renaissance music lately and found this vid of Louis Armstrong, one of the all time best and my favorite jazz musician, and found it very interesting what some of the comments were that accompanied the vid. Check it out here then look at it on youtube and see how far America has really come in acceptance with the comments people left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfeKUNDDYs

Foot {M3NtA1}

So illness, exhaustion and extreme homework overload have kept me from posting till now, (sorry to all of those following me and hoping to comment for our grades), but at least all of these things have given me plenty of time to do plenty of non-involvement in pop culture. I have been lucky enough to catch the final chapter in one of my favorite movie series, Saw, and that's about all and I totally suggest watching it. In the book department I have read a few interesting novels for my classes but nothing that really sticks out in my mind as great. The best thing I have read so far though was the story of Eminem (the rapper) in Rolling Stones this month. Nothing shocking in it but it was very interesting to see how things began with him especially knowing he is one of the best rappers out now in my opinion and has had a very interesting career. I'm hooked on Nikki Minaj right now and also find myself listening to a lot of 80s music, probably because of the autobiography we have been doing. In any case nothing terribly important or fun in this end of Kent. 

Chapter 9

Okay this chapter addressed a problem I have been very concerned about even as a student in high school... vocabulary. Like most students I had the weekly 20 words and the weekly test and at home my dad made me write out the words and their definition fives times each. This was horribly boring work and very tedious, also I am sure I learned little to nothing from it. Just like the teachers described in this chapter most of the words assigned I have used very little, if ever, and certainly forgot after the test I had to have them memorized them for. By shortening the list of words and making the words useful to students the teacher can easily TEACH student vocab SUCCESSFULLY!!! I feel that interaction added to information always allows a student to learn better. So why not do it with vocab? As I believe I have said in this blog before, making the material useful and important to the students is key to teaching them the information. There are always ways to interact with the information. Specifically I think strategies such as synonymous words and picture representation of those words allow most learning types to intake the information needed. I realize that vocabulary is inherently dull but part of our job as the teacher is to be creative enough to teach all things to all students.

Also in this chapter I feel Kylene Beers made an important point on page 202 regarding involving students. It is important to ask specific questions about what the student knows. This forces the student to consider, accept and report their experience, this is information many students do not have and can not access. More importantly this is information you as a teacher rarely have access to and can be key to helping that student succeed. However, if the right questions are not asked the student can not give the right information. Beers states that this information is important to know about the students word knowledge but I feel it is applicable in every aspect of teaching. 

Chapter 8

Scales...wow. I wasn't even aware that these were an effective way to grade students understanding let alone help them create meaning. As far as I was concerned these were strategies only used on annoying surveys. However, Kylene Beers explains and shows their use very well and has proven in this chapter that they can be used and be effective. I especially like the Semantic Differential Scale which is used most often to track character development. This scale not only shows how a character can change but how the readers opinion and view of the character can change. This strategy also allows students to debate over the text which often leads to new ideas and better understanding. When a point of view has to be proven and especially when you feel strongly about your opinion, you do research in order to prove your opinion. In this case research means you read the text and reread it sometimes, making notes isn't out of the question and often these things are done voluntarily. The more this is done and the more the reader has to recall information the more likely it is to "stick" in their head and because they have done it mostly voluntarily the student shouldn't even notice the amount of work they did.

Also in this chapter there is a summary on a strategy called Somebody Wanted But So. I thought this was a truly brilliant strategy and wish my teachers had utilized it in my high school years. This strategy helps the reader to closely analyze characters and the text itself. It also seems like a great conversation starter. I personally can not wait to try this strategy in a real classroom! Finally I feel this will be a chapter I often refer back to in my teaching career.

Chapter 7

This chapter has been the most important to me thus far in our reading of this book. Constructing meaning is what all literature teachers hope students do before, during and after reading any literature. Also the constructing of meaning is probably the most important skill students need in the world outside of school. Things such as contracts, agreements and even e-mails need to be able to have meaning before they have any importance. What I mean is if there is a word or phrase in any of the above mentioned pieces of writing that a student doesn't understand and they do not know how to make it make sense and have meaning they may sign something or not sign something maybe even say something that could conflict with the piece of writing. To be a little less confusing without this skill someone could easily and unknowingly agree or disagree to something that may later get them into trouble. This may not seem to matter much in the school setting but in all honesty school is preparation for life outside of school. However concerns in the classroom setting are that a student may fail to complete or simply fail an assignment because they couldn't figure out the piece of literature.

I know a lot of this seems geared towards "Uh-oh no one can do this" but this chapter also helps point out that not everyone has major issues with making meaning. This is important to know and utilize in your classroom. On page 103 of "When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do" there is a great example of a student who has great strategies for reading and understanding things she didn't understand when she read it the first time. These students can help show, through strategies also mentioned in this chapter, others how to make meaning. These strategies such as Say Something may even spur great discussion that may not otherwise take place.

Chapter 5

This chapter really allowed me to view other ways in which readers of all levels read. I was always the kid that sat in the class who saw something a little different than most people but never really understood why. Through inference as explained in this chapter many different reasons for events or even actual events can be different for every reader. The passage regarding the popcorn story and how the students viewed it gave a very clear view into how inferences are made in different ways depending on what you have focused on in the passage. I also found it very interesting how the students focused in on details, such as the price of the movie, and made inferences based on experience. This defined for me what the true definition of an inference is: A conclusion based on some facts of the piece of literature and a lot of information based on what the readers experiences have been.
Also in this chapter I found (after trying it myself with a student I tutor outside of school) the comic strip strategy very useful when helping a student see how they make inferences. For those who have not read this book the comic strip strategy is utilized simply by choosing a comic or cartoon out of a newspaper, cutting it out and having the student verbalize the hidden humor. For example, if there is a muscular man about to sit in a tiny chair we infer that the chair will break because he is larger than the chair. Because this is such an obvious fact to the reader we also infer that he should know what the outcome will be and therefore laugh at him when he sits down anyways. I did not realize how many small inferences we make based on the tiniest details. Many strategies, other than the comic strip strategy, such as It Says- I Say can be useful in showing the process of inferring too. To me this is one of the most important parts of comprehending any piece of literature and is also the most invisible making this part visible is crucial to students success.