Boy, I learned a lot!

For about an hour in class, we listened to Michelle Rhoades Cahoon, a woman who has a son with autism. I think the stories she told to our class are ones I will remember for the rest of my teaching career. I learned more in this hour session, than I learned in my entire exceptionalities class. I feel I did learn more because the experience was personal. Michelle told us stories from a parent's perspective, which made them a lot different from others I have heard.

I am very grateful for the packet she gave us with information in it. I plan to read some of the book recommendations she made for us this summer. I learned, as a teacher, all I have to do is ask. I should ask the parents what works best with their child. I do not have to try and figure it out all on my own. I also learned about taking small steps to try and help the students in my classroom. Michelle mentioned using pictures instead of words and other small things that can be done (such as "how-to" charts) to make life easier for my students.

Naruto is Not for Me.

After reading American Born Chinese and Naruto, Volume 1, I feel I have some experience with reading graphic novels. I can say with one hundred percent certainty I enjoyed American Born Chinese the most.

In American Born Chinese, all of the text was in balloons and tiny captain boxes. I liked this because it was easy to follow. The balloons were easy to understand because they pointed to who was speaking.

I had some confusion while reading Naruto. The balloons used in this novel were not as easy to understand. Sometimes, I did not know which character was talking. Eventually, towards the end of the book it became clearer to me as I began to recognize the characters and what they were most likely to say. Naruto also had some text not in balloons. During different sections of the story, the author would jump in and start talking about his success with drawing the characters. I thought this took away from the story because it was an interruption. There were some great sound effects in Naruto though. Although, I must admit, I did not understand some of them because characters were either standing if front of the words or they were in Japanese.

I found the characters in both novels to be interesting. I could relate better to the characters in American Born Chinese. I feel that this book dealt with many of the issues children and teens deal with. Being left out, embarrassment, and young love were all themes. I liked how the book used color ink. This helped me easily identify characters throughout the story. The illustrations in this novel were great. I thought the ones of the school seemed very realistic and were able to paint the picture of the story along with the words. The actions of the characters are internal and external. The characters had a problem, but then acted out externally to try and solve it.

In Naruto, the characters were sometimes hard to identify because they were in black ink. In the beginning, I was a little bit confused with this. This story took place mainly in a school and outside. Some of the pictures were great, while others were not clear in what they were supposed to be. A lot of the action in this novel was external. The main conflict at end, where Naruto was trying to get a ball, was the part that drew me in the most.

American Born Chinese used panels with gutters in-between them. Most of the panels had a think black border surrounding them. Naruto used paneling with think black borders as well. In this novel, the panels are of different sizes on each page. There are also gutters on some of the pages.

I feel that most of the pictures in American Born Chinese were close-ups. The majority of the pictures were of a character from the shoulders and up. But, there were also pictures using just about every other shot. Naruto has some close-up shots as well, but there is more longshots than anything else.

I found the mood of American Born Chinese to be fun and enjoyable. I would not mind reading more books by Gene Luen Yang. The stories were rather simple in the beginning, but they became more difficult as the reader continued on and found out all of them were related. There was some foreshadowing in this novel and I feel it teaches some great morals.

I did not feel the same about Naruto. I did not personally like any of the characters, so I felt disconnected from the reading. All of the characters were fighting for power, but none of them were likeable. I feel that this story started out more complex and then became easier to understand as the reader continued. I feel the material in this novel was more sexually explicit.

I enjoyed getting the opportunity to read some graphic novels because they are not something I would have initially picked up for myself to read. I can see how they are addicting for students because they are so quick and fun to read.

I learned from a student on Facebook!

While working on our Facebook projects with the high school students, we were told to introduce ourselves. I started off by giving my name and telling the students where I go to school. I told them I am a huge Cavs fan and also mentioned I like to fish.

Then I asked for some suggestions for teaching English. After all, we are working with high school students. They would be the ones who know what they want to learn and what their ideas of fun are.

So far, I have received one comment from a high school girl named Katie. She suggested that students have the freedom to speak in class when something comes into their minds. Instead of having to wait to be called on, she enjoys the freedom to respond when she feels she has something important to say. Katie is very well-spoken and I appreciate her suggestion. She also told me to have my students thinking outside-the-box. I think she is a very intelligent girl and was very pleased with the response she gave me.

wiki wiki wiki

I loved learning how to use a wiki. Although I feel the site can use some upgrading, I think by using this, it is a great way for students to be excited about learning. Since many students go home after school and are online, why not have a project there? It can fit in with a student’s normal schedule and is cool! I think this will be the new way to have fun with students. Using the site can allow students to apply team working skills, or can allow them to accomplish something individually.

I found this project to be one of the most meaningful things we have done in class this semester. I can always turn to my class wiki to get some great resources while teaching books from the canon. I also learned a lot about how others want to teach from their selections. I especially enjoyed Dave’s mini presentation because I would love to use some of the ideas he shared.

Dr. Pytash (Chapter Seven)

I liked reading this chapter because it summed up the entire book. It was nice to learn about some ways in which literature can relate to students. In high school, I remember thinking the same things Jago's students do. "Why are we reading this? It has nothing to do with me." One of the great parts about teaching is that as teachers, we are able to show students how the classics relate to their lives. It can help them question their views, make good decisions, and know that someone out there is feeling the same things they are.

I liked the idea Jago described for her project. She was going to have students pick a character from Julius Caesar to be the president. Students would have to defend their character with evidence from the text.

I also liked how she give out quizzes to test the comprehension of students. Jago commented on group projects not working well because there are always students slacking off and putting their work on another student.

Dr. Pytash (Chapter Five)

I'll have to admit, I am one of those students who really does not enjoy reading poetry. I think a lot of it is very hard to understand and I have never been able to come up with the meaning to it quickly. In short, I am like the students Jago described. I do not like poetry because I think it is hard.

This is one area that I feel I could use some improvement in.

I liked how Jago talked about images in the poems. She let students work together and share what they thought. This is a great way to scaffold the class into a larger discussion of a poem.

On page 91 there is a chart I feel would be helpful for students beginning a poem. It enables them to write something down about the poem having to do with sensory images.

I also liked how Jago began this chapter. She brought up something everyone can relate to: Music. This really hit home for me because I love my country songs. When thinking of the lyrics as a type of poetry, I realized how important it was to my life. I feel this same technique can be done in high school, so students realize they can relate to and already like poetry.

Dr. Pytash (Chapter Four)

I thought that this chapter was interesting because it gave some pretty good reasons of why students should know the common literary terms. I found this to be some great information because I will now have an answer for students when they ask me why they need to know this stuff.

Jago says that students should be able to use these terms to discuss a text. By knowing these words, a reader is able to understand form, author intent, and the story itself.

Jago also says graphic organizers are great for students dealing with texts out of their minimal effort zones. It is so important teachers use books that could not already be read by their students. Teachers should be pushing forward for students to raise their personal effort zone bars.

I plan to buy the book Jago mentioned on page 71. I believe it will not only benefit my students, but also myself.

I Heart Novels

I thought it was interesting to read about the new craze of people writing books by using nothing but their cell phones. It amazed me that some people would rather type on their phones than on a computer. It would definitely be more convenient for those to use their phones because of space and accessibility.

I never knew people actually wrote books from using their cells. Maybe I'll give it a try.