Snapshot of Me as a Character

Yesterday I subbed for my CT.  This is the second time I've subbed all day, completely alone.  It went well.  During the first part of the block, I had students draw a picture of themselves in their writer's notebooks.  Of course when I first mentioned that we were drawing I received a variety of responses--"What?", "Nooo!", "I can't draw!", and "Yes!"  It was quite amusing.  Once I told them they would have most of the period to draw, they calmed down a little bit.  In their drawings they had to be doing something, and they had to label traits about themselves (appearance, actions, speech, thoughts/feelings, what others say, setting).  All of these traits are ways authors characterize a character in a book.  This lesson provided an opportunity for my students who like to draw in class to use their skills to really learn something in language arts.  After they finished labeling and drawing, I gave them 5 minutes to write a story about their drawings.  After the first class, I learned to have them turn their drawings over so they wouldn't be tempted to draw during this time.  Once the five minutes were up, I asked for a few volunteers to come up, display their pictures on the projector, and read their stories.  Some of the drawings were amazing.  I have a lot of creative students in my classes.

Writings of a Little Girl

I was rummaging through my closet last night and came across an orange sheet of paper folded up.  When I opened it up I knew immediately what it was.  Back when I was in elementary school, I would sometimes sit with my mom in the big sanctuary instead of going to Sunday school with the rest of the kids at church.  This was back when our church services were about 2 hours long, so I would sometimes scribble, draw, or write for fun.  The folded piece of paper I found was an old sheet of paper where church members could write sermon notes, but I decided to write a story on it.  I scratched out the words "Sermon Notes" on the top and decided to write a story about a penguin.  If you can't read the picture version, here is the story with all original spellings and punctuation included:

Once there was a penguin named little penguin.  He was smart, and had a green beake.  His friends made fun of him because he was different.  One day he saw some yellow paint.  Maybe if I paint my beack yellow they woun't know that my beack is green.  So he painted his beack yellow.  The other peguins diden't even know who he was.  Then one day he was watching a cook fixing lunch.  Then all of a sudden the cook acxadently took the pepper and threw it out the window.  Little Penguin sneezed all the paint off his beack.  His friends were very mad at him.  He was sad.  Then one day a girl came to his house.  Her beack was green too!  She asked him if she could stay with him because the penguins did not let her stay with them.  He said sure they won't let me either because I have a green beack too and they lived happily ever after.

I showed my mom this and we had a good laugh about it.  She said that you can tell I read a lot of books when I was young.   The Ugly Duckling, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and Disney princess movies/stories are all being channeled here :)   And, the name Megan and the grade A+ is on the sheet because I used to play "school" when I was little and would pretend to grade the papers of my students which were actually written by me.  Obviously I thought this was a fabulous piece of writing.  Yep.  Major nerd.

Renaissance Festival

Today I went to the Renaissance Festival with the 7th graders!  Medieval accents, period costumes, giant turkey drumsticks, and hilarious entertainment were everywhere.  And, a million school children from all around Ohio littered the festival as well.  We had a lot of fun.  I chaperoned a group of five girls.  Four of them were friends and stuck together, while the other one was glued to my side the entire time.  My cooperating teacher has a bad back right now, so she did not end up coming with us.  I had one parent take the other half of my class for the day.  Sitting on the bus with a group full of twelve to thirteen-year-olds is LOUD.  They love screaming out the windows to the people on the other buses.  A group of them were eating Skittles and passing them around during the trip.  They tweaked the lyrics to Taio Cruz's song Dynamite by singing, "I throw my Skittles in the air sometimes, saying AYO, taste the rainbow."  I have to admit, that was hilarious.  When the buses arrived and parked, a woman with a medieval costume and accent entered our bus and explained the rules:  no food, bags, or weapons in the area.  After lining all the 7th graders into a single file line, we marched them back into time.  I made sure that I took my group straight to the arena where the jousting entertainment was about to start.  Thankfully we got early enough before all the seats filled up.  Queen Elizabeth and her minions walked into the arena and were placed in the box seating.  A funny man on a horse came out and introduced the jousters and really got the audience involved with cheering.  It was a blast.  Later, we watched two comedian swordsmen put on a performance.  We mostly walked around and enjoyed all the shops.  Overall, the kids had a blast and were able to learn a lot about the time period.  I highly recommend going at least once.  It's an awesome way to really experience the medieval era while being extremely entertained.  I definitely want to go back with friends or the fiancé.

Booktalk Competition

For my English Education class at Wright State, each group of two people had to come up with one Young Adult book to pair with Romeo & Juliet.  My group, consisting of Heather and I, was given the theme of manipulation to pair up with R&J.  Now what you have to understand is Heather and I are a little obsessed with the YA book, The Hunger Games.  Maybe the word "little" is putting it too lightly.  We've read it at least 4 times, have already made lesson plans on it, and own two Hunger Games t-shirts.  So, Heather demanded that we choose Hunger Games to booktalk to the class, to try and persuade them to read and pair with R&J.  Because not everyone in the class has read it and because it has every theme R&J has, we thought it would be a good idea.  Heather and I are overachievers as well.  If something is due in a week, we'll have it down in two days.  Anyway, to persuade our peers to pick Hunger Games to read, we decided to write and chant a rap/poem to go along with a video we made, instead of doing your normal pick a quote and give a synopsis of the book booktalk.  Here is that video.  Enjoy, haha:

Lost Generation

My pastor showed this video at church.  I refuse to believe that I am part of a lost generation, or that my students are part of a lost generation.

Rock Star Day

Because Bellbrook Middle School "rocks," all teachers and students were encouraged to dress up as rock stars a few Fridays ago.  Well, it ended up being that all the teachers dressed up and only a hand full of students.  My teacher had the best costume by far in the entire building.  She dressed up as Kate Pierson from the B52s.  She had the red bouffant wig and an amazing 80s multicolored jacket to go with her knee-high black leather boots.  All the students from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade were coming down our hall and peeking in the classroom.  She rocked!  I wasn't a specific rock star, but more of a Beatles fan/rocker.  The kids loved it.  It was a fun day.

1st Teacher Inservice

I attended my first teacher in-service yesterday.  It was...interesting.  I've decided that teachers are the worst students.  At WSU and at the in-service, teachers cannot sit still and often complain when they are forced to sit and listen to someone else teach!  My professor at WSU says the same thing, lol.  The teacher in-service had every teacher from the district in the middle school cafetorium.  Someone from the district came with a crappy PowerPoint and showed/explained to us the schools' report cards and test scores...for 4 hours!  It was rough, but the
teachers I sat with were hilarious!  Especially the ones from the high school.  They were moaning and complaining the entire time.  Their argument is that because they are the ones in the classroom, they know the most about what's going on and what's best for the students.  They do not need someone coming in from the district telling them how they are doing.  I see both sides.  The teachers do know best when it comes to students, but I think that teachers need to be able to understand and use the data provided by the district as well.  Overall, it was a long, boring day, but it will give me some professional development credits.

Found Journal

There is only one class that I look forward to at Wright State this quarter: Studies in English Education. There are about 14 of us in the class, including our professor. I know and love everyone in the class, and our professor is someone we've know all throughout undergrad. She is extremely down-to-earth and nothing but encouraging and helpful to us student teachers. If we ever have a problem, we just let her know and we have an answer within 24 hours. She's willing to drop whatever she has planned to help us out. You have no idea how awesome that is!!!

Right now in class, we are reading a book called The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer. I've only read the first two chapters, but so far it has been telling us how important it is to be reflective about how who we are, because it affects our teaching. Palmer says, "Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one's inwardness, for better or for worse." We teach who we are. If we are extremely grumpy people, we will be extremely grumpy teachers. If we are visual learners, we will more than likely design our lessons for visual learners. Instead of writing a typical journal response to our readings, our professor is having us keep a "found journal." A found journal is a journal where we collect and paste an object from the classroom into our journal and connect it to Palmer's writings. If the object cannot be put into the journal, we have to describe the object. People have written about Band-Aids, detention slips, bulletin boards, and gum wrappers. My friend wrote about a gum wrapper that was signed by a student. The student told her that one day he was going to be a professional football player and that his signature would be worth a lot of money one day :) She is in a 7th grade classroom as well. All in all, it's a great way to reflect on the book and a great way to keep a scrapbook of our time student teaching.

Motivation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmTxr7OsPj0&feature=player_embedded

One word: AWESOME

Subbing

So on Thursday and Friday, I enter the world of subbing--as in completely alone with the students all day. Yikes. I'm excited, but a little nervous about how the kids will act. I guess it's time for me to really lay down the law, lol. How I act and teach on these days will really set the tone for how I will be perceived by them throughout the school year. So, it's a little nerve racking, but I'm sure it'll go great. I imagine they'll be a little hard to quiet down in the beginning. I can hear it now, "Miss Bennett! Miss Bennett! Where's Mrs. Bakita??" I'm sure they'll sound just like my preschoolers at church: "Miss Bennett! Miss Bennett! Miss Bennett!" Oh, and speaking of preschoolers, the class I teach at church really confirms my belief that I should not teach elementary. The saying my name every 5 seconds and high-pitched voices are cute for about a minute and then I have a headache :) Not to say I don't love them, but I could not handle all of them all day, haha. So, everyone wish me luck this week!!!

Word of the Day & Sentence Stalking

Two of the activities I have been in charge of at Bellbrook is the Word of the Day and Sentence Stalking. For the Word of the Day, we introduce one new vocabulary word to students on the overhead. The image we show includes the definition, the part of speech, and a question for students to answer about the word. Instead of bogging students down with a huge list to memorize, we only have students learn one word a day, and test them over the words on Friday. However, students will be asked to remember these words for the next week and so on. If students use the vocab words in their writing, they get one point per word they use that goes towards the class score. Our three classes are in competition against one another. If students come across vocab words in their free reading and show us, they each get a point per word as well. We've already had at least three students do this.

Sentence Stalking is an activity where we teach students about grammar and the mechanics of great writing. Instead of giving students a sentence full of errors and having them correct the errors, we give students an awesome sentence from the Jerry Spinelli book we're reading to the class. The idea is to have students mimic great writing. We learn by imitation. We learn to talk, walk, play sports, cook, clean, etc., by watching and mimicking those around us. Therefore, we are hoping that students will mimic the great sentence we show each day. When the sentence is shown on the overhead, I ask students what they notice about the sentence. I encourage them to participate and that their observations cannot be wrong. Sometimes they think they have to give a genius answer. So, every day students will comment on the obvious: the capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and the period at the end. Then students will start to venture (which is one of their vocab words :) ) and comment on different things they observe such as the apostrophes, the commas, the word choice, the repetition, and the alliteration. The other day, when asked, "What makes this a sentence?", a student commented, "Because there is a subject and a predicate". I was amazed! They actually remembered what they had learned from last year. Each day it seems that students are noticing more and more details about the sentence. Sometimes we will even have students stop and use the technique the author used to write their own sentence. Oh, and this is called Sentence Stalking because students are "stalking/creeping on the sentence :)

Digital Booktalk & Neighborhood Map

2 weeks of school down, a lot to go. My cooperating teacher is amazing and the students are great. I've already learned so much. While looking on the Web for information about the YA book Nothing But the Truth by Avi, I came across the website http://digitalbooktalk.com/. This website is awesome! It has video booktalk of several YA books for grades K-12. I found a cool booktalk for Nothing But the Truth, which I think my 7th graders will love. I'm hoping it will get them excited about reading the book. If you register on this site, you will be able to get ideas for helping students make their own book trailers in class.

In class, my cooperating teacher and I are reading a chapter from Jerry Spinelli's autobiography, Knots in My Yo-Yo String each day. In this book, the author has drawn a map of an aerial view of the neighborhood he grew up in. The stories from this neighborhood are what inspired him to write his autobiography. So, my teacher, who had my professor at Wright State for a Writing Workshop a few summers ago, decided to use one of the professor's ideas in our class. We handed out sheets of drawing paper to each student and asked them to draw an aerial view of the neighborhood they grew up in. The map had to include many different places where students have a lot of stories from. For example, neighbors homes, a school, a creek, a basketball court, a swimming pool, a bike trail, etc. After students were done drawing, we asked them to place three Sticky Notes on three places on their map which they could write a great story about. After students finished this, we had students write in their writer's notebooks about one of the places for three minutes. After the three minutes were up, students had another three minutes to write about another place/memories. The kids loved this! They were so quiet and engrossed when they were both drawing and writing. This is a great way to prompt students to write something meaningful and something from the heart.

The Writing Process

My CT did an amazing exercise today for our students to better understand the writing process. The point of the exercise was to show students how writers are just like sculptors. At the beginning of class, each student was given a small container of clay. After they had their clay the teacher gave these directions and made the following analogies. I paraphrased the directions from the website http://forums.atozteacherstuff.com/showthread.php?t=62544:

1. Close your eyes and knead the clay and get a feel for the clay--A writer must know the material before he or she begins to write. Words are the materials of writers which can be found in dictionaries, thesauruses, and books.

2. Play with the clay. Bend it, stretch it, pile it, press it. Don't make anything out of it. Just play--Writers need to play with words by writing in journals or writing notes.

3. Today you will create something. You will put it on display for your peers to see. It is important for writers to know who their audience will be, because it can affect what they create.

4. You cannot create something unless you know what the purpose is, just like writers need to know why they are writing. Today you will make a pencil holder--something that will hold a pencil on your desk.

5. Create the first of many ideas you will come up with for the pencil holder. Don't decide on the final idea yet. Instead, experiment with your ideas, just like a writer experiments with how he or she may want to say something.

6. OK, mush up your dough and create another pencil holder. There are thousands of ideas where that one came from.

7. Now mush that idea up and start again. Try something new and different from your last design.

8. OK, now mush it up again. Now we need to come up with a way to evaluate your pencil holder. (Have students come up with a rubric).

9. Create your final draft keeping the criteria in the rubric in mind.

10. Look at your final creation from different views. Look at it from the top, the side, the bottom. What revisions can you make to make your creation even better? Just as you need to look at your sculpture from a new perspective, a writer needs to look at his or her writing from a different perspective: read aloud the paper or ask a peer to read the paper.

This exercise is a great analogy for the writing process, and the students really enjoyed it.

Engaged and an Eagle!

I wasn't going to write about it on here, but I thought why not? This blog is sort of turning into a journal/memoir of my life right now, haha. I am engaged! To my best friend! Jake proposed to me on 8-9-10; therefore, we'll always remember the date. I've been dating him since 4-18-04. He ended up proposing to me at the fossil beds in Caesar's Creek--the place where he took me on our first date. It was awesome because my family was in town from Seattle and was able to see my ring. Right now the plan is to get married in June 2012.

I am an official Eagle right now as well! Today was the teachers' first day at Bellbrook Middle School. The school had a continental breakfast for all the teachers in the district, followed by a district meeting. Then, the district meeting was followed by the middle school meeting, and the middle school meeting was followed by a meeting with the Intervention Specialist for 7th grade. So it was a long day. But, I'm really excited to meet my students tomorrow!

7th Grade Book List

So I met my CT the other day. She gave me a tour of the school and introduced me to some of the staff. Everyone seems really nice and the school is great! I love the room I'm going to be teaching in. My CT is very modern with her teaching ideas and has a teaching style that really suits me! She let me look at the 4 units we will be teaching this year. Each unit will have students reading a book as a class. These books will include Stargirl by Jerri Spinelli, The Giver by Lois Lowry, The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, and a book that I choose to teach at the end of the year. My CT said that it could be any book I wanted, but that she would like to be able to fit it into a culture unit about beliefs, values, rituals, heroes, etc. I have not read a lot of YA books that have these themes, so I started looking up different books on Amazon.com. I found another book by Jerry Spinelli called Maniac Magee that might work. I'm reading it right now to see if I like it. The book is written like a folk story about the legend of a boy named Jeffery Magee. Jeffery runs away from his aunt and uncle who he lives with after his parents die. He ends up having many different adventures in two nearby cities called East Mill and West Mill and ends up getting the nickname, Maniac Magee. The people in these cities are very segregated by race and do not mix very often. However, when Maniac shows up in both cities he confronts the racism by socializing with everyone, all while trying to find a place to call home.

So far it's a really great book, and I think I could teach about tolerance, homelessness, and how legends and folktales are often used to pass on the values and morals of a culture. Maniac is certainly a hero in the story and becomes a legend to the characters in both East Mill and West Mill.

The Race to Nowhere

My uncle from Seattle told me about a documentary coming out called "The Race to Nowhere." In the trailer for this movie, it discusses the stress that students undergo in order to succeed and meet the expectations of society. Achieving good grades, passing standardized tests, being involved in a variety of extracurricular activities, getting into college, and making a lot of money are just some of the pressures students face. The trailer mentions how students are experiencing anxiety and depression while some are committing suicide when the stress becomes too much.

This obviously is a major problem. Our society's obsession with success and achievement forces schools to eliminate all the fun in learning. Teachers are teaching to the test in class so that their students pass the required standardized tests. Many districts' fine art and music classes are being cut because they are "not needed" and are too expensive. I think this is crazy. All students need the chance to be creative in school. What student did not like to play with crayons and paint when he or she was little? We all have a creative side, but schools do not always allow this.

The pressure of success is another problem. Although students need goals and should shoot to succeed at what they do, the expectation to always succeed and never fail has got to go away. My pastor at church just finished a series entitled, Fearless. He talked about how many of us have the fear of failure. I will admit, the thought of failing and not being good at teaching is definitely something I think about. Even though I have done well at school my entire life, I still feel the need to be successful at everything I do. My pastor says that often times failure precedes great success. Abraham Lincoln had several failures before he became one of the best Presidents of the United States. In fact, he ran for at least 10 different positions in the government and was defeated at least 10 different times. The point is, even in the midst of defeat, he kept trying. Students do not realize that failure is often a great thing. We can learn from failure and defeat, and if we try again we have a better chance at succeeding.

Overall, I think failure needs to be discussed in schools. Students need to be aware that putting in effort and failing is not always a bad thing. Instead, it makes us stronger and allows us to grow when we push through the failure and try again.

To read more about The Race to Nowhere, here is the website: http://www.racetonowhere.com/

Subbing License

Just called the Sugarcreek Board of Education to see about getting my subbing license. I figured I might as well get paid when my cooperating teacher is absent during my student teaching. This way, if I don't get a job right after my master, I can still sub in the Sugarcreek district.

Animoto

During my Phase I observation in a 9th grade class, the students made a 30 second video of their research instead of writing a paper. Their videos had to have text or pictures that represented their 6 sub topics. The students used a website called www.animoto.com. This website allows you to create a video by plugging in pictures, music, and text. The site takes these things and adds cool transitions to complete the video. The end product is really cool. You can pay $30 to have a year subscription if you want to make videos that are longer than 30 seconds. Here is one I made of Jake and me:

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

SO True

Friend of mine posted this on Facebook, lol.

Hunger Games Travel Brochure

My ILA Cohort has designed a Wiki space for us to post lessons and information during the school year. I've been going through the lesson plans I've made during my undergrad and found this travel brochure I made for a guided writing assignment. Yes, I'm a little obsessed with The Hunger Games, but it's such a good book! The lesson asks students to make their own travel brochures for the Hunger Games. They are allowed to have a little freedom in the information and attractions they include, but they must have information that is tangent to the book. The pictures above can be printed out and folded into a brochure.

Facebook for Literary Characters

Having students create Facebook pages for literary characters is one of the coolest teaching ideas I have heard of. What do students love more than anything? FACEBOOK. So why not use it in the classroom? Students can individually or in groups either make an actual Facebook page online (which would be strictly monitored by the teacher and having several privacy controls), or students can fill out the poster shown to the left. What's awesome is that students have to really know their characters to correctly fill out the About Me section and the Interests section. Here a link to where you can buy the posters: http://www.teachersdiscovery-english.com/item_details.php?item=150+300+P0000822&SBJ=English

2 Grad School Classes = DONE

I'm finally done with two of the most stressful and tiring weeks of my life. Two 16-week courses shoved into 9 days. However, I have learned more than I have ever learned in any 16-week course in my undergrad. In my Classroom Management class, I learned a lot about ways to get students to behave in class. What I learned is that students do not always need rewards and incentives to do so. In fact, there are many things I can do before class even begins to prevent misbehavior. I actually watched a video this morning that sums up what I learned. One of my classmates had it posted on her Facebook. Here is what I learned:

Students need a sense of autonomy, challenge, and purpose in class:

Autonomy--Students are more engaged when they have some say in class. Whether it's choosing which books they read, what topics they write about, or what final papers they turn in, students like having a choice. Of course, their choices can be overseen by a teacher, but students don't really think of that. They have to be interested in what they do, so why not have them choose?

Challenge--If what I teach is too easy for students, students will be less likely to pay attention in class. Research shows that students really do want a challenge. However, they also need a teacher who believes that they are up for a challenge. Testing students for their prior knowledge is a great starting place to do so.

Purpose--If what I am teaching them does not relate to their lives outside of class, students will undoubtedly misbehave. It makes sense. If students do not see a benefit and find my lessons boring, why should they be engaged and behave? I think as an English teacher it can be very easy to relate my subject to their lives. Having them write about something they are interested in and teaching them how to fill out applications and how to write a resume, are all things that students will need to know how to do in the real-world.

Here is the video I was talking about. It's a little long, but I think all teachers should watch it.
http://fora.tv/2010/01/27/Daniel_Pink_The_Surprising_Truth_About_What_Motivates_Us

This Book's Gonna be a Good Book

I needed a laugh and I got one from this video. If only all students were like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6D9jiEYxzsWatch

Glogster

Today in my Classroom Management class, a peer used www.glogster.com to create a poster for her presentation. This website is really cool. It allows you to create posters with different text, images, videos, and music. This could be a great tool in the classroom. Check it out!

Stress Week!!

I can't believe I have time to write this right now, but somehow I do. On Monday I started my two 9-day classes. That's right. Two four-hour classes each day, for only 9 days. The President of the Education Department came into our class today to explain why we are having these classes in such a short amount of time in the summer. We are doing this so we will be able to have a little break before school starts up in the fall and so we will be able to graduate in the spring with our masters and licensure. That makes me a little appreciative of the classes...a little.

Anyway, right now I am taking a Classroom Management class and a Measurement & Assessment class. It's extremely funny, awkward, and interesting at times because these classes contain future high school teachers of all subjects, including social studies, math, and English. It's so weird because we haven't had classes with education majors outside our content, and we all kind of sit in our own secluded groups according to subject. Here is what I have decided, Math people think VERY differently than English people. Most are very literal and absolute when it comes to ideas about education, while a lot of us are more figurative and open-minded. It makes sense though. 2+2=4 is very absolute and literal, whereas analyzing an article...not so much. Although we sometimes disagree, it's interesting to hear things from their perspective. To be honest, if I would have been a Middle Childhood Education major, I would have chosen English and math as my two subjects. I guess I have a little bit of a literal mind also :)

Teacher Jackpot!

My friend Heather and I definitely hit the jackpot at Target yesterday. We were rummaging through the $1 bins at Target and found all kinds of teacher stuff! After serious searching and contemplating, we each ended up buying a pink rug that says "Hi!", a perpetual calendar, stamps galore (including ones that say "Great Job!," "Late," "Follow Directions," and "Super!"), an apple timer, and magnet clips for our filling cabinet. I think the calendar is a little juvenile, but high school kids need to know the date too, right? With that said, all of these items are for classrooms that do not exist. However, it is still fun and we like to be prepared :)

Writing with Passion

Every college professor I have had in my education classes has told me that I have to have students write about things they are passionate about. Guess what, they're right! I was going through this huge binder I have of all my old papers I wrote in high school, (Yes, I have all of them. I guess I knew I was going to be an English teacher, haha) and I found a lot of papers about VOLLEYBALL, something I was definitely passionate about. One of my favorite ones is entitled, "3 Types of Volleyball Players." I wrote it in 11th-grade. It's pretty funny. Here it is:

At the Kettering volleyball camp for children twelve and under, at the Kettering Recreation Center, many different types of children appear. Most of the players still need to learn all the skills of the game. More concerned about having fun rather than developing any real talent, they try to play volleyball. Each one of them has his or her own unique personality, which makes the camp fun and interesting. At a little kids' volleyball camp, three types of players exist: the all-star, the drama queen, and the cheerleader.

Every year at the volleyball camp, that one kid who has been blessed with athletic talent and excels at everything shows up. This child, known as the all-star player, makes all the other campers look bad. More than likely she has had an older sibling who has played volleyball before or she comes from an athletic family who has been working with her since day one. Dressed in a t-shirt from a previous camp and spandex, her Adidas kneepads protect her knees. She can bump, pass, and spike better than any other child in the gym. When taught a new skill such as serving, she immediately tries it out and practices it over and over until successful. This camper tries to help everyone else by telling them what they have done wrong by demonstrating how to do it the right way. All the other players look up to her and want her on their team when asked to scrimmage. It is her parents who come a half hour early to pick her up just to watch and see her improvement. At the end of the week, the Camper of the Week award goes to her for her amazing talent and athleticism.

The drama queen meets the requirements of the most annoying camper who usually ends up driving the coach crazy. Being the shortest and skinniest girl in the whole gym while looking scared and timid all the time, she stands away from everyone else. With her tiny framed glasses and pink flowered outfit, she always looks around cautiously while she stands and bumps a volleyball to herself. While playing volleyball on the court this girl stands with her hands together waiting for the ball, but when it comes to her, she either swings and misses or steps out of the way. This usually irritates the other campers who already want her to leave. No matter where this player stands in the gym, no matter what this player does, the ball will always hit her when she least expects it. Her whole body, especially her head, attracts all the flying balls that travel throughout the gym. Of course, when this happens, she will go up to the coach gasping for breath crying about how her new titanium glasses almost broke and insists she should get to sit out for awhile. The only parent who comes in at the beginning of the camp every day to talk with the coach about her daughter and how worried she is is this camper's mother. At the end of the day, she runs into her mother's arms and tells her about her dramatic experience.

The last type of volleyball camper, who enjoys camp the most, is the cheerleader. As the social butterfly of the camp, she wants to be everyone's friend and sometimes is overly friendly. Every day she wears a different bow in her ponytail. Usually full of energy and hard to control, she runs throughout the gym wherever she goes. She loves being the center of attention and always wants to be the best friend of the high schoolers who help out. Whenever the helper enters the gym she jumps up and runs to give them a huge hug and hangs onto their arm the entire rest of the camp. While playing on the court, she shows off her gymnastic talent by doing cartwheels all over the place. She starts all the volleyball cheers that can be heard throughout the gymnasium. When the coach passes out t-shirts to all the campers at the end of the week, she makes sure that everyone signs the back of it with her cool pink Sharpie.

Each of these campers, the all-star, the drama queen, and the cheerleader, make the volleyball camp unique. It wouldn't be a normal group of children if all the campers acted and learned the same. Instead, they all have their own distinct personalities that make the week fun and interesting. They all come to camp to have fun and meet new people. Hopefully in the end, they leave with good memories and even learn a little bit about volleyball. :)

Tribute: Michael William Klenk

Here is a tribute I wrote for Michael.

Tribute to Michael William Klenk
February 27, 1988-December 16, 2008

Today we honor the incredible life of Michael Klenk, a wonderful son, a loyal friend, and an inspiring individual. From the time Michael was young, to his life as an adult, he chose to live his life doing the things he loved to do. Going to school, hanging out with friends, playing sports, fishing for squirrels, and attending Nascar and INDY 500 races, were just some of the many ways he enjoyed life. Even though his breathing was often short and his lungs were often weak, Michael did his best to never let cystic fibrosis hold him back. When deciding what extracurricular activities to participate in while growing up, Michael chose to play the rigorous, demanding sports of soccer, football, and baseball. When the decision came down as to what instrument he wanted to play in middle school, he chose the trombone, an instrument which required one to breathe. When deciding what to do during his first trip to Palm Springs, California, he chose to hike up to the top of a mountain. It was clear that CF was not going to hold him back.

Saying that Michael lost his battle to cystic fibrosis could not be farther from the truth. In fact, I believe it is the other way around; I believe that Michael is the one who defeated cystic fibrosis. After being diagnosed with a chronic illness, there isn't really a physical battle to be fought. Michael had no impact whatsoever with what his body would do or how it would react over the years. Instead, he had an impact on how he mentally handled his situation. With his positive attitude, perseverance, and determination, Michael stayed strong till the end and won a mental battle. He never stopped fighting, even when the light at the end of the tunnel was hard to see. Michael once sent me an e-mail, explaining how he got through the hard times. He plainly wrote, “I just have to look at the positives when things start to get hard and it reminds me how blessed I am to have been given what I've got. God is good. I have a great family, sweet friends, and a lot of nice people here at the hospital that take good care of me.” Michael, who was born with a horrible, life-threatening disease, who had endured many long, hard surgeries, and who was practically living in a hospital, miles away from home, called himself blessed. That remark speaks for itself and relays exactly how Michael looked at life; it was something worth treasuring.

Sometimes it's hard to understand why Michael was taken from us so soon. He was only twenty and had his whole life ahead of him. However, if we look at the time Michael did have here, it was pretty great. He was able to experience just about everything a boy his age should have experienced. He played, he loved, he laughed, but more importantly he lived.

I hope that people are inspired by Michael's story and become encouraged to never take life for granted and appreciate the things we have. With that said, I'd like to thank Michael for his inspiring lessons, his fearless courage, but more importantly his faithful friendship. He was an amazing person who will forever live on in the hearts which he so deeply touched.

Journal Entry

Here is a journal entry I wrote from Michael's perspective.

Dear Journal, May 12, 2008

All right, I'll admit it. Today sucked. Lately things have been going downhill. I just don't seem to have much of an appetite anymore which is extremely painful because I absolutely love to eat. Not being able to chomp into a thick piece of juicy steak really stinks. The docs keep trying to get rid of my nauseousness, but nothing seems to help. I figure if I've dealt with it this long though, I can endure it awhile longer. My shortness of breath is still causing me some trouble, but that's nothing new. Right now the ischemic injury in my lungs is what's causing the most trouble. Basically, certain blood capillaries were damaged during the transplant, restricting the oxygen supply to my lungs.7 If you ever try holding your nose while breathing in and out of a straw, that's pretty much what it feels like for me to breathe right now.

I was extremely nervous and felt sick to my stomach when Dr. Trulock came into my room today. Bad news was bound to be coming. He plainly stated that the only thing that would help me at this point in time would to be re-listed for another duel lung transplant. My heart dropped when I heard the news. I felt sick to my stomach. Memories of long, grueling hours in the hospital, extreme chest pain, and anxiety attacks came flooding back.

It's beyond frustrating that I will need another transplant this soon. Getting my chest ripped open once was enough for me. But, if that's what it'll take to get me back to my old lovable self, then that's what I'll do. At least I'll know what to expect this time around....

The days are going by in a blur. Time seems to go by so fast here, between all the stays in the hospital. I'm losing track of the days. My life seems to be passing me by. All I want to do is go back to my home in Kettering and wrap up in a big blanket on top of the heater in our family room. Now that would be amazing. Relaxing and keeping warm on the heater is something I miss a lot. However, it's my friends and family I miss the most. It's hard being away from my dad, Erin, and Robert, but I'm blessed to have my mom here with me. It's lucky that we both get along so well or else this situation in St. Louis would really suck. She's been beyond wonderful though, and I can't imagine what I'd do without her.

As bad as my situation may seem right now, I know that it could be a lot worse. I am still alive and will therefore continue to fight. I owe that much to my family, friends, and to the person who donated these current lungs. Saying that I'm ready to start living again is an understatement. These lungs are making me feel trapped, and are holding me back from just living my life. I feel like I'm a ball of potential energy ready to explode if I could just get that right set of lungs.

Thankfully, my mom and I are going to surprise my dad in a few days with a trip back home to Ohio. A little visit before I'm re-listed is very necessary. I'm so excited to see everyone and to simply be at my REAL home for a few days.
~Michael

Stream-of-Consciousness: Breathing Deep

I wrote this piece to tell the story of how Michael felt right after he received his new lungs. He really had to relearn how to breathe. There is no punctuation on purpose in this piece.

Breathing Deep

it didn't work the transplant didn't work I'm still gasping for air trying to thrust as much oxygen as I can into my tiresome lungs it's as if all the air in the room has been cruelly vacuumed out and I'm left with nothing to breathe in this cannot be happening I'm supposed to feel completely new I'm supposed to be a brand new man and be able to run a marathon—okay so maybe that's a tad extreme but really I should be able to breathe again not that I remember what that feels like anyways but still the whole point of this transplant was to improve my respiration not keep it the same I feel like crap no I feel like I was just run over by a semi-truck and I guess I should feel like that since I just had my chest sawed in half my lungs ripped out and new ones shoved in but why can't I breathe any deeper than before it's like these new lungs are purposely being cantankerous and refusing to accept the puffs of air I whiff in this seriously can't be happening please tell me that I did not just go through all of those long grueling days of waiting for nothing there is no way I just went under the knife in an extremely risky surgery for lungs that aren't even going to work please tell me that the incredibly giving person who donated these lungs did not do so in vain I don't know if I could go through all of that waiting and pain again so now what do we do I don't even want to think about that right now the nurses keep insisting that I'm not breathing right that I need to relearn how to breathe okay I'll admit that we all know I pretty much suck at the whole breathing thing but that's not my fault I'm not an idiot I know how to inhale and exhale it's really not that hard to figure out I know that I'm blessed to even be alive right now but since I am alive shouldn't I feel some kind of improvement I mean I know rejection can take place but this soon and if my body was rejecting these lungs wouldn't the doctor or the nurses have said something to me by now oh why can't things just be easy for once oh yeah that's right for some reason I always decide to do things the hard way just ask my family—huh—what was that—what do you want me to do breathe deeply from my abdomen well fine I'll do it just to show you how much this whole surgery and transplant didn't work...

Deep Breath In—Deep Breath Out

...whoa I can breathe I can really breathe

Poem: Sounds of My Life

Here is a poem I wrote about the sounds Michael always heard in the hospital:

Sounds of My Life

Beep—Beep—Beep
Goes one of the many meticulous, medical, machines,
Monitoring every pulse, heart rate, and oxygen level in my problematic body.
Its constant ringing in my ears and flashing of lights in my eyes seem to never stop,
Constantly accompanying me during the long, dull days in the busy, bustling hospital.

Baa—Baa—Baa
Go the herds of white coated interns (or so I like to joke),
Scurrying around from room to room like anxious sheep in a tight-knit flock.
Their sheep-like appearance and frequent gatherings in my small, cramped room,
Regularly provide comic relief for my Mother and I as we try to stifle our snickers.

Cough—Cough—Cough
Go my ever-infected, mucus infested lungs,
Projecting up whatever goo they can in order to clear my overly obstructed airways.
My continual coughing is like a natural instinct for survival, not a simple reflex,
Determinably fighting to purge my body of the clogging secretions in order to breathe.

Tap—Tap—Tap
Go the keys on my laptop computer as I chat with friends from far away,
Connecting me to my life back at home—to the world I should be in right now.
The two-way contact, keeps me up-to-date on the latest gossip back at my Ohio home,
Continually giving me something to hope for and look forward to.

Hiss—Hiss—Hiss
Goes the face-covering bi-pap machine which forcefully shoves air into my lungs,
Allowing me to rest my enervated muscles and catch up on some much-needed sleep.
The medical facemask, hardly like my high school football helmet back at home,
Thankfully protects me from the imminent ventilator, instead of ferocious linemen.

Vroom—Vroom—Vroom
Go the roaring race cars down the first long turn at the Brickyard 400,
Zooming around the track in a blur of colors as they bring the screaming fans to their feet.
Even though I am forced to watch from my hospital bed this year, I still faithfully tune in,
Energetically yelling at the 6” T.V. set as I cheer on Jeff Gordon and boo Tony Stewart.

Click—Click—Click
Goes the thin, clear feeding tube, in my thin, flat stomach,
Pumping the non-appetizing meal of liquid food into my lean, lanky body.
The nausea I constantly experience painfully curbs my appetite,
Cruelly preventing me from chomping into a savory slice of juicy steak.

Ha—Ha—Ha
Go my labored laughs which frequently turn into coughing fits,
Attempting to express my amusement in the jokes made by my ridiculously funny friends.
Their visits give me enthralling entertainment as they animate my beloved stuffed animals,
Magically transporting me away from the hospital and into a world of jokes and laughs.

Newspaper Article: Fairmont Senior Inspires Many

Here is a newspaper article I wrote for my project:

Kettering— Fairmont High School senior, Michael Klenk, was honored last night at the football end-of-the-year awards ceremony. The local athlete's inspirational story of overcoming obstacles has made a deep impression on coaches, teachers, and students in the Kettering area.

At the end of the 2005 football season, the Fairmont coaches collectively decided to honor the strong work ethic and positive attitude of one of their most inspiring and dedicated players, Michael Klenk. The Michael William Klenk Award, named after its first recipient, is said to be given to the athlete who possesses the qualities that Klenk so thoroughly displayed throughout his years playing football: selflessness, commitment, dedication, and loyalty.1

Klenk's strong work ethic and positive attitude while playing football shines through the personal challenges he continues to face every day. The seventeen-year-old suffers from the genetic disease, cystic fibrosis (CF), which affects the lungs and digestive system. Although there is no cure for this disease, Klenk continues to focus on the positive things in his life and works hard to overcome the obstacles thrown his way.

Fairmont head football coach Brian Blevins recalls the dedication Klenk displayed while both practicing and playing with the team.

“He always gave 100% out on the field,” Blevins said. He never let his disease hold him back and worked hard to support his fellow teammates.”

Lawrence A. Vitulano, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Yale Child Study Center, discusses how chronically ill students usually find it hard to participate in extracurricular activities, and that “the ideal of sports success presents some inherent problems because of limitations of strength endurance, and time commitments” (590). For Klenk however, dealing with shortness of breath, going to the hospital for routine tune-ups, and taking aerosol treatments in- between plays, did not appear to hinder his success in sports whatsoever. Friend and fellow teammate, Jake Fannin remembers Klenk's intense commitment to attending all practices during their training in the summer.

“I remember several times where Michael would come to practice straight from the hospital,” Jake stated. “He was having a hard time breathing this year, but made it a priority to attend every practice anyways. Even if he couldn't run, he would always be there on the sidelines, supporting the rest of his team.”2

Klenk's dedication in both attendance and success is also carried over into the classroom. According to Dr. Vitulano, “academic achievement may be more difficult to attain for chronically ill children...because of frequent or extended absences from classes caused by compromised health” (588). However, even though Klenk has missed several school days due to health related complications, he keeps up with his schoolwork and makes good grades by working on homework and studying in the hospital.

Even though his CF has intensified this year, Klenk still plans on continuing his education after high school. He was recently accepted into the Engineering program at Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, where he will be attending in the fall of next year.

Along with football and his studies, Klenk also participates in baseball and plays the trombone in Fairmont's symphonic band.

“He has always been active,” remarks Fannin. “He continually works through whatever CF throws his way, and enjoys life.”

The Michael William Klenk Award will forever hang in the Fairmont Field House, reminding its players of the remarkable Firebird who fought and persevered.

Multigenre Project

For Nancy Mack's Writing Workshop class, I was assigned a folklore multigenre project. I had to do interviews and research on the stories of others and write different genre pieces, such as a journal entry, a newspaper article, a poem, a short story, etc., to compose one whole project. This type of project is a wonderful alternative to the boring, dry, painful research paper. Instead of forcing students to write about boring topics they don't care about, with the multigenre project students can choose topics that are meaningful and relevant to their lives. It also makes writing the research paper more interesting and creative with the different genres included. Students are still doing what they would be doing with a regular research paper (researching, interviewing, citing, taking notes, checking for grammar, punctuation etc.), but are able to approach it in a more interesting way.

I decided to write about the stories of my dear friend Michael Klenk, who passed away in December of 2008. I worked on this project starting in January, right after he passed away. It was hard to do, but fun at the same time. Learning more about his life by interviewing his mom and dad was so inspiring. I miss Michael so much. He was an amazing friend and person. I thought I would share some of the pieces I wrote for the project in the notes section on my profile.

What do teachers make?

This is for all my teacher friends. You might have read this before, but it's worth reading again. I got this from my cooperating teacher. :)

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education.

He argued, "What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers, "Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach."

To emphasize his point he said to another guest; "You’re a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?" Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make?" She paused for a second, then began.

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor."

"I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can"t make them sit for five minutes without an iPod, Game Cube or movie rental." She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table, and continued, "You want to know what I make?"

"I make kids wonder."

"I make them question."

"I make them apologize and mean it."

"I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions."

"I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn’t everything."

"I make them read, read, read."

"I make them show all their work in math. They use their God-given brain, not the man-made calculator."

"I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity."

"I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe."

"I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, one nation under God, because we live in the United States of America."

"I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life."

Pausing one last time, Bonnie continued, "Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn’t everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make?"

"I make a difference."

"What do you make, Mr. CEO?"

His jaw dropped, and he was silent.

The Hunger Games

If you haven't noticed, a lot of young adult books have been making their way to the big screen. Twilight, Harry Potter, The Lightning Thief, The Chronicles of Narnia etc. This just shows how intense and entertaining teen books can be. There is a great series right now that I believe is up there with Twilight and the Harry Potter books. Supposedly, the book is going to be made into a movie--I hope they don't screw it up. The Hunger Games trilogy is something I was introduced to in one of my ILA classes at Wright State. My professor did a booktalk on it and said that we all HAD to read it. I was a little skeptical about the plot line and did not read it till a few months later. I LOVED IT. It totally got me hooked on dystopia fiction. The author, Suzanne Collins, has not yet released the third in the series, but I know it will be great. I loved the second one as well. The series includes, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and The Mockingjay. Here is a summary/review I gave the first book, The Hunger Games on goodreads.com:

In the future, North America has been split into 12 districts, making up the country of Panem. The Capitol, full of futuristic fashion and technology, is the home of the rulers of Panem. To prevent uprisings from the Districts, where poverty and strict regulations exist, the Capitol has devised an event called The Hunger Games. Every year, one boy and one girl from each district is chosen from a lottery of names to represent their district in the Games. The chosen boys and girls are thrown into a horrifying arena where they must try to survive and fight one another to the death. The last person alive is the winner. The Hunger Games are televised 24 hours a day as viewers watch this horrifying event. The main character Katniss has taken her sister's place in the games. Will she be able to make it out of the Games alive, or will her family have to watch as she meets her untimely death on TV?

This book was the best page-turner I have read in a long time. I loved the main character Katniss. She is such a strong heroine, and her sarcastic voice had me laughing out loud several times while reading. There's action, adventure, romance, mystery, and horror in this amazing book. Along with the characters, readers question what is right and what is wrong as Katniss enters the Games. The ending is a cliffhanger so be ready to go out and hunt down the second book as soon as you finish the first one. I recommend that young adult and adults go out and read this book immediately!

Vocabulary Cartoons

Right now I am observing at a local high school. In my 9th-grade classes, my cooperating teacher (CT) uses vocabulary cartoons to help teach students new vocabulary words. I asked her where she gets the cartoons from, and she said that they come from a book entitled, "Vocabulary Cartoons," by Sam Burchers. Each cartoon gives the definition of the word, along with a funny cartoon. The word is then used in a sentence that includes a rhyming link word that explains the cartoon. I think it's a great tool for teaching vocabulary. It's especially helpful for visual learners. My CT usually introduces two of these cartoons on the overhead projector each day. The cartoons are also displayed on the wall in the room.

Book Soundtrack

For one of my listening lessons I had to compose this quarter, I taught the concept of tone. Tone is the emotional feeling or attitude the composer or author has towards the subject of a song or a book. Throughout the song or book, the tone can change. A great way to introduce this concept to students is to have them listen to different songs from current movie soundtracks. By calling attention to the tempo, volume, and overall sound of a song, the teacher can model for students how to identify tone in music. After having students break into groups and identify the tone of different movie soundtrack songs, the teacher can assess what they have learned. To tie this back to the classroom novel they are reading, the teacher can have the class come up with a book soundtrack. After selecting key scenes from the novel, the teacher can have students listen and pick appropriate songs that convey the tone of that scene. To go even further with the book soundtrack idea, students can design an appropriate CD cover for the soundtrack as well.

Flocabulary

I just want to say that I love my fellow classmates in the Integrated Language Arts program. They find the coolest websites/ideas to use in the classroom. One of them just introduced me to the website www.flocabulary.com. This website gives ideas for incorporating hip-hop in the classroom. There are ideas for every grade-level and for several subjects: vocabulary/reading, writing, social studies, and math. It has some free videos on the website for teachers to use, but their main products are for sale. Flocabulary is like the equivalent of School House Rock, but with hip-hop music! I've only watched the free Edgar Allan Poe videos of The Pit and the Pendulum and The Cask of Amontillado. I had my sister, who just read The Cask of Amontillado in class, watch the video and she loved it. She said it really helped make sense of the story.

Candor by Pam Bachorz

Here is a journal entry I wrote and presented to my class as a booktalk. I wrote it from the point of view of the main character, Oscar:

Dear Journal,

I can't believe I'm actually resorting to writing in a journal right now, but things are that crazy. And all because some girl has decided to move into Candor and shake things up. Okay, I'll admit it: Nia is not just some girl. She's only the most beautiful and refreshing person I've ever met in my life--but that's beside the point. What is she thinking riding a skateboard around Candor?! No one even owns a skateboard around here. Skateboards are for rebels, kids who go against the grain--kids like me. But those kids aren't allowed to exist in Candor. If only my dad knew. It won't be too long before dad's brainwashing messages start seeping into her brain. With all the hidden speakers around town, it won't be long till her total personality changes. These messages will convince her to drop all her rebellious behavior to become a perfect, obedient child and citizen of Candor. Everything that makes Nia Nia will be gone. And that's exactly why I'm going crazy. For some reason, I can't bear to see her changed. I don't know why--I've seen dad's messages turn every new kid that has moved here into a cookie-cutter clone, who eats healthy, studies for fun, and strives to please his parents. But, I can't see that happen to her. So, I think I'm going to save her. I'm going to feed her my own messages--the messages I listen to to keep ME in control--the messages that my dad doesn't know about--the ones that tell me to stay strong and to stay in charge. I've gotta be careful though. If dad were to suspect that I or Nia knew the truth, or that we were fighting his messages, we'd be sent to the Listening Room. Then we'd be goners for sure.

Wordle

At the top: Words from the lyrics of "Amazing Grace."
On the bottom: Words from the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet.

Some classmates introduced me to this website: www.wordle.net. On this site you can copy and paste any amount of text into a box which scrambles the words up into a "word cloud." The words which appear the most often are made larger than the words which appear less frequently. Once it creates the word cloud for you, you can mess around with the layout, font, and color of the cloud. This could be a simple and creative way for students to artistically publish their papers; it could possibly serve as a cover to their actual paper. If students have a problem with repeating the same words over and over again in their papers, this could be a great way to help them identify which words they keep repeating. It's also interesting to plug the words of your favorite speech, poem, song, or short story into the box to see which words appear the most often. Try it out.

Pairing YA Lit with the Classics

Since taking the Young Adult Literature class at Wright State, I have been deeply interested in pairing young adult (YA) books with the classics. Let's face it; the classics are hard to read. Even I find it hard to sit down with some classics and read them strictly for pleasure. What makes these books hard to read for students? Well first of all, almost all the classics were written specifically for an adult audience. The majority of them contain archaic language, adult characters, and situations that teens just can't relate to. This is where YA books come in. YA books, written specifically for teens, with teenage characters and relatable situations, can be paired with any classic and used as a tool to help students read the harder texts. There are many ways to pair YA books with the classics; however, I think the easiest way to do so is to pair books according to their similar themes.

I did a final portfolio project for my Young Adult Literature class on YA books to pair with George Orwell's, 1984. The YA books I chose to pair with 1984 were the following: The Declaration, by Gemma Malley; Candor, by Pam Bachorz; and Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. Each of these novels contain dystopian societies where the themes of mind control, the abuse of power, and conformity are explored. These themes can also be found in Orwell's 1984. By having students read one of these YA books, before reading the classic, they will be able to experience similar themes in a context which is easier for them to understand and relate to. In this way, students will be prepared to read the harder text and will hopefully find reading the classic to be much more bearable.

GoodReads & The Glass Castle

I know I'm going a little blog crazy today, but being the English major that I am, I have a lot to say. Plus, this is a great tool, along with Facebook, to distract me from getting my work done during finals week! Speaking of Facebook, I found another addicting site at www.goodreads.com. My English Education teacher at Wright State suggested this site to all of us in class, so I decided to start an account. On your profile, you list all the books you have read and rate them on a 1-5 star rating. You can even write your own reviews about the books. It contains book summaries and book reviews. Similar to Facebook, you have friends on this site and can comment on what they are reading. This could be a great tool for the English classroom. The teacher could require students to make their own profiles and post reviews on the books they have read.

Right now I am reading Jeannette Walls's memoir, The Glass Castle. I don't usually read a lot of memoirs and biographies, but this one really has me captivated. In the beginning of the book, Jeannette is looking out the window of her cab in the middle of a traffic jam, on her way to a party in New York City. She sees a homeless woman rooting through a dumpster and realizes it's her mother. Scared that her mother will recognize her and shout out to her, Jeannette tells the cab driver to turn around and take her home. The next chapter begins to tell the story of her childhood. Jeannette, along with her two sisters and brother were brought up by a drunken, inventive father and an eccentric, artistic mother. Time and time again, these parents uproot their children to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. At times, this family lives in cars, run-down shacks, cardboard boxes, and relatives' homes. Although the reader gets the sense that these parents really do love their children, their irresponsible and sometimes insensitive actions do not always show this. I'm about half way through the book right now and still cannot decide whether or not I understand Jeannette's parents. It's been a great read so far, and I recommend it to everyone!

Booktalks

One book that has greatly inspired me is Nancie Atwell's, The Reading Zone. This book explains different ways in which teachers can incorporate free reading into the classroom. So many times, students begin to lose interest in reading when they enter high school. Reading becomes the equivalent of writing papers and completing worksheets, which understandably squashes any teenager's love of reading. In this book, Atwell discusses the idea of booktalks, where students and teachers suggest great book titles to one another. Atwell states that, "Booktalks are short, direct, and mostly enthusiastic: endorsements of particular titles, not oral reports" (67). I believe that this is a great way for students to hear what their peers are reading. Some of the blogs I post on here will be in the form of a booktalk. I suggest Atwell's book to any teacher of reading. It has some great ideas to turn students into life-long readers. I have already been buying books for my future classroom library. (Half Price Books is great place to buy gently used books) I've really been trying to buy a variety of books from every genre to suit the needs and interests of all my students. If I can do one thing as a teacher, it would be to instill a love of reading in students. Hopefully by incorporating Atwell's idea of the Reading Zone into my own classroom, I will be able to do so.

Diving into the World of Blogs

Hello everyone. So my dad inspired me to start a blog of my own. I've actually been planning to do this for awhile, but never got around to it. When I start officially teaching I would like to have a website for students to visit for book suggestions, helpful websites, homework information, contact information, etc. For now, I'd just like to use this blog to share my own book suggestions, my new teaching ideas, and my life as a college student. Hopefully I'll have time to keep this thing up. Enjoy :)