The Professor and the Madman

Okay, I'm guilty. I am guilty of committing a crime no English teacher should ever commit. I JUDGED A BOOK BY ITS COVER. I know, it's terrible. But, I could not even fathom reading another book for school looking like this:

I do admit, now after reading, I could not put this book down. It was so exciting, interesting, and unlike other things I have read for Dr. Kist's class. It was suspenseful and I cannot wait until I finish it!

I like how the stories are told. For example, in the chapter titled "The Dead of Night in Lambeth Marsh" there was a murder mystery. The reader got to learn about what happened, the background information of the victim and the murderer, and what happened in the court trail.

This is definitely not what I was expecting when I picked up this book to read it. It goes to show

Image Grammar Chapter 5

One thing that I really enjoy about reading the works of Harry Noden is that he gives examples. This is something I have yet to find in other books talking about teaching strategies. For example on page 101 he states, "Hyperbole seems to be a favorite device of many sports writers. So, sports columns make great sources for classroom analysis. Bob Chieger and Pat Sullivan (1990), who have cataloged hundreds of snappy comments in their Football's Greatest Quotes, provide a rich source for hyperboles." Then he goes on to show some of the quotes these sports writers have used with hyperboles. From this information, teachers can do their own research, find a local sports writer students might be familiar with, and use this to their advantage when teaching hyperboles. Many times, Noden also includes work done by students. These are great examples as well.

I also love the strategies at the end of this chapter. The "Play with Fragments and Run-ons" strategy is something I can see a lot of students being able to easily grasp and get creative with. I also greatly appreciate how Noden always uses a model for students. Especially if students are doing an activity like this for the first time, they need to be shown though a model what the expectations are.

10-Day Unit

I just wanted to briefly talk about some of the things going on in my 10-day unit. I decided not to post my journals because I talk about specific instances during class and I would rather not post them online.

My class had a debate about Abigail Williams from The Crucible. I was so proud on the day that so many students were able to come up with a bunch of supporting evidence. On the day of the debate, I told the students they would receive a point for each valid point they could make towards their argument, and receive an additional point if they could find supporting evidence for their claim in the text. This was a good call by Ms. Covelli because the students were flipping through the pages of their text books throughout the debate in order to find evidence.

I was very proud when a few select students came up with points I hadn't even thought of! This day was extremely rewarding for me.