Thank You and Good Night (hm. should these be two words? hyphenated?)

This semester felt slow at times, but overall I am surprised that it is turning into the second week of December (Mondays are the beginning of the week in my mind).  


     Thank you to those of you that commented on my blog, although required as part of the assignment, I feel that the comments were helpful, thoughtful and friendly.  This assignment made me feel part of a community of thinkers, rather than just a class.  It is nice to interact!  As Mackenzie pointed out in her last blog, teaching can be a lonely profession. It is lovely to have the discussions and interactions of this course to file away.  I also like to think that the loneliness can be held off by creating a class room environment in which your students feel they can actively discuss and discover their own writing.  
    I am actually writing my Praxis paper on the blogging assignments- and how my perception changed over the semester.  I was very apprehensive about being back in the classroom, feeling a bit out of place and overwhelmed.  I felt like a nameless soul among people who already knew each other, and the blogging give me the opportunity to get to "meet" my classmates.  I only wish we had gotten to hear more of the memoirs!  Those and the One-pagers were the other windows into each of our personalities.  


Thank you!   

I had a Teaching Moment!

Last week I was watching my niece for an afternoon and she wanted to work on her special story book.  She has this kit that came with a big empty book with stickers and glitter and ribbon all with a fairy/princess/magic theme.  She had already written one story, but was very unhappy with how the ending had been written.  I told her that it was her story and if she wanted to change it, she could.  She was the author.  This big grin spread over her face and she ran to a marker.  She made Drew beat Harry in the battle, thus Drew won her hand in marriage and not Harry.  There was a big X over Harry's name, and in the margin she wrote "I changed the story because I can".  Love it! Love her! 

I need your help!

I am working on a project right now, and I really need all of your help if you will give me a couple minutes of your time.  In the comment section, if you would please include the titles of books that you remember being required reading in Jr High or High School, or ones that you are currently running into as required reading in your practicum experiences...I would so very much appreciate it!


Thanks!  

My bio

Here is my bio- I wasn't understanding that it was to be shared with my sophomores, and I think this affected my writing purpose.  This is interesting to me, as I find that I do self-edit what I am willing to share with what group of readers.  New lesson learned about my self!

Once upon a time, on a hot and humid day in late August, a little girl was born. She was born in the capital city in the middle of Iowa.   She was named Jackie after the Grandfather who held her first on the day of her birth. (He, she subsequently learned, was named Jack after a very good horse of upstanding nature and work ethic).  The family Jackie joined lived in a yellow brick house on a numbered street in a suburban life. 

Her mother taught Jackie the joys of squishing toes in the mud and eating watermelon by the slice so that juice would run down her chin onto her dress (she never liked to wear pants).  Her father taught her how to stand at the edge of a room and observe the ebb and flow of life and how to appreciate the advice and conversation talk radio gives.  Her older sister taught her how to be a good listener and friend, how to sneak late-night reading in under the covers, and how to deal with the heartache of crushes.  Her older brother taught her how to laugh at herself, how to give bear hugs and to appreciate the storytelling of video games.  Jackie would hang from the tree in her backyard and think about when she grew up she would be a ballerina.

Jackie thought:  I will be a grown up when I don’t have to finish my milk. 

            Her days were full of books and playing pretend and visiting her grandparents who lived 2 blocks away.  Her grandma taught her how to make spritz cookies, use a typewriter, and introduced her to literature.  Her grandfather taught her how to weave a good story, believe in wishes and to find a rabbit’s nest.  She would meander down to their house, thinking about how when she grew up she would be a dolphin trainer. 

Jackie thought: I will be grown up when I get to buy the kind of cereal I want at the grocery store.

              When she was 14 her place as youngest child was shifted when her little brother came into the world.  Her little brother taught her how to be patient, read a story with gusto, and how good it can feel to be needed.  Jackie would walk her brother to feed the ducks in the cemetery behind their house and think about how when she grew up she would be a history teacher.

            Jackie thought: I will be grown up when I get to go to bed anytime I want.

             She continued to do what was expected, and it was what she wanted. Jackie graduated high school and went to a small college, only to transfer the next year to a large University. She would walk the streets of Iowa City and think about how she perhaps, maybe, wanted to be a journalist.   With so much independence but no definite plan, she felt grown up, but not an adult.

            Jackie thought: I’ll be an adult when I live in an apartment.

            Despite the love and unconditional support of family and friends, Jackie felt there was more to see in the world.  She wanted to go to the places in the books she read. She wanted to see landscapes that were different from that of Iowa. Colorado taught her the beauty of mountains and freedom of wilderness. Wales taught her that people can be so similar yet live in such different places.  Boston gave her the courting years of her marriage, taught her how to commute.   She would watch the swan boats and think about how she was almost done with her training to be a librarian.  How she wanted to be a Children’s Librarian. 

Jackie thought: I’ll be an adult when I have my own cat.

            When she moved to New Hampshire she had no idea what to expect, but it gave her so much.  It was here that she had a career.  She spent her days reading books with gusto, teaching kids to believe in wishes, and sharing the power of literature.  It was while here she married her love who taught her how to appreciate a meal, how to be herself, and that a perfect day can exist.  She loved her job and felt that the only way it could get better was to be near family. 

Jackie thought: I’ll be a real adult when I have a washer and dryer of my own.

            Now she has returned, returned to the state where her family is.  And although she is still at times that little girl, she is now a better version.   Now she has memories of how the wind feels at the top of a mountain, sleeping on a ferry crossing the ocean, riding a train without having a place to be. She has photos of the fish in the bottom of the sea. She can taste the fresh seafood off the coast of France and smell the sea air.  She has pocketfuls of experiences both shared and private to reference when needed.  She now wants to be a school-librarian so she can work with classes of kids and guide them to their own answers. 

            Jackie thinks:  I will be a real adult when I stop experiencing new things.

            Jackie thinks: I hope this is never.  

More on LeAlan and Lloyd

Our America was incredible.  It drew me in, to hear the words of those boys is to hear truth spoken. 
I wanted more after watching the movie last night, so I took to the web.  


If you want to hear the original audio from the show:http://www.soundportraits.org/on-air/ghetto_life_101/


Here is a great overview, with links to additional audio sources: http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/LeAlan_Jones.php


LeAlan is running for Senate as a Green Party Candidate in Illinois!  http://lealanforsenate.org/


It is harder to locate what Lloyd is doing currently, as the last interview I can find is from 2001.  But maybe he wants it that way, and I can respect that.

Grammar makes me break into hives

I am at a loss. I am in need of a beginning grammar lesson!  I was trying to understand the examples in "Breaking the Rules"  but, well, me and i- I mean my and me- I mean.  I am confused.  My head doesn't understand the "right" answers.  I exaggerate a bit, but sadly not a lot. I am enjoying reading this. I honestly want to understand.  I wish I had knowledge of the tenses and what the terms mean, it would help me learn other languages. I feel like this should be a few weeks of readings and lesson examples! 


Here are the rules I do remember (and still use):


I before e, except after c. Or when sounding like A in neighbor or weigh.  


To find a prepositional phrase.  Use the sentence: The squirrel went ________the tree.  If it makes sense, it is a prepositional phrase.  (To, from, up, in, out, around...)  (This is a questionable one)


Conjunctions= FANBOYS
For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet and So 


 I am really, really good at Mad Libs.  So I have that going for me.  


We should bring this style of teaching back: 

Thank you!

            I am compelled to write a big thank you to you all for being such an amazing audience last night.  I haven't shared my personal writing in a long time, and I told myself that I need to be brave and just read it.  I didn't think I would get so emotional, and I appreciate you all being the respectful audience one dreams of in a class.  The notes you wrote me are so thoughtful and positive- I feel like I received a bundle of little hugs!  
            I really enjoyed this class, and definitely want to use this exercise in my classroom.  I feel like we were a unit, a team.  It was incredible to hear everyone's pieces, to be taken into the world of  each classmate's mind.  More so than the blogs, this was a chance for us to get to know a real part of each other.
            I look forward to next week and getting to hear more!