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!  

When a Portfolio Keeper is a Reluctant Writer

  The additional chapter I read was "When a Portfolio Keeper Is a Reluctant Writer". This chapter consists of two mini case studies of Jerimy and David, two reluctant writers of different ages.  Like with most suggestions to help those struggling student, there were points made that I feel apply to more than just the reluctant writer:  
    " The tutoring portfolio was so successful because it was 'underinvented' by his tutor; that is, she made few requirements, few interventions beyond serving as a highly interested and supportive audience."
    
   I can see how giving freedom within an assignment would give reluctant writers more control over the process and make it more appealing.   I can also see how this would appeal to a lot of students.
  
   Yet, when I look at myself as a student, I find that I struggle with this framework.  I wish I was more free with my writing- in that few guidelines would allow me to find a voice.  But I struggle with what is "expected". This horrible affliction of wanting a good grade trumps any freedom I may feel.  Even with this blog entry, the memoir and portfolio- I feel like there are unspoken expectations.  I need to be a bit brave and just go with it.  I may surprise myself with what I read in my own writing!

A chunk of memoir

I am having a hard time feeling like my memoir is telling a story.  What do you think of the beginning?

We were best friends. Jackie and Gwen. Guinevere and Jacqueline.

We met in Sparks- the preschool level of Camp Fire- and were fast friends.   We continued to be in the same Camp Fire group all through school and we spent all of our play time together.  Gwen and I dressed up in matching clothes each summer at camp so people would think we were twins. We signed up for camp craft and made fires side by side.  We slept in cots on wooden platforms side by side. We steadied each other when the mud got slippery as we creek walked side by side. Gwen was scared of spiders and I would grab the legs of the always present daddy-long legs and fling them out of sight. I was petrified of thunderstorms, and once we were on the camp bus on the way to a roller rink when a storm of Iowa-proportions hit.  The thunder shook the bus and the bus driver pulled to the side of the road and led us in singing songs at the top of our lungs to be heard over the smashing rain on the metal sides.  I sat trembling in my seat, and Gwen calmly took my hand in hers and squeezed.  She pulled me into the next verse of the song, swaying with her as she acted like a yodeler helped me forget my fears.  

My cat is attacking my homework

For real.  I like to sort and work on the floor of the living room, while he enjoying thundering romps across the room to pound his paws on my paper, leaving little crinkle dips in my homework.  So, some bits of my application to the TEP program are a bit disheveled.  Honestly-it was my cat.  I am just glad he has not taken to chewing on the corners, like he does the newspaper.

Admiral Dewi is a good topic for the blog. I got him about four years ago from a shelter in Bedford, New Hampshire.  He picked me out at the shelter, I have been told animals often do this. He was labeled "non social" and had been there for four months, never approaching a person.  I was admiring a very vain cat when a paw from the cage above tapped me on the arm and meowed a gentle hello. After a good 15 min cuddle and head butting session (and disbelief from the staff at the shelter) Bonzai II was part of my family.  He was renamed Admiral Dewi soon after.  He has fantastic strips that line up when he sits at attention, so he needed a title.  The name came from a song we used to sing at camp, the connection to the organizer of the modern library was a coincidence:

Dewey was the Admiral at Manila Bay
Dewy was the grass on the early morning may
Dewy were her eyes as she kissed her love anew
Do we love each other?
I should say we do!

Admiral has adjusted well to Iowa City, we have had house guests about five weekends already, and he has proved to be a good cat host and makes cuddle rounds in the middle of the night.  He had never done this before, and I am not sure why his personality has changed a bit, but it is amusing.  Admiral walks around chirping and talking.  He has been acting younger and more playful as well- and loves the bird and squirrel watching from our windows.
 I close this blog with two pics of the love:

Sent to publisher?

First Off:  I really need to handle a concrete portfolio in my hands. I am having a hard time with the "concepts" of rubrics and active learning exercise without handling them and experiencing the process first hand.  


 Secondly, I cannot get over a hang-up I have with the Wilcox article. 
Why are things "sent to a publisher"  What magical publisher is Wilcox sending student homework assignments to that they are getting published- let alone READ.  Has Wilcox figured a way past agents, slush piles, lengthy response time?  Is Wilcox sending writing to publishers as a reward?  As if to say "wow, this is really good. Let's send it to a publisher" ....whom you may or may not hear from before you move on to the next grade?  


Yes- this is a cynical response.  and No- I should not let this one method sway my opinion of the entire article, but I can't help but distrust the article.  Is the point that the teacher is doing something with the piece, rather than pinning it to a wall?  Why can't it be shared within the context of the school? Why can't the amazing piece be part of a compilation of amazing pieces to be shared via a printed mag or a website?  Why can't the active part be sending it to a Literary collection for teens?  Why "a publisher"?  


Actually, I think at that age, I would have more pride in the paper stuck to the fridge than sent off never to be seen again.  In fact, I want to make a giant refrigerator door on my class room wall. I will hang the stellar pieces up with magnets.  You are never too old for recognition.  I don't think this is passive if you encourage others to read the work.  Actually, if you can give the students the power to pick what they are proud of to be fridge work.  Proud to share with their peers. 


And yes, being published would be amazing. Beyond amazing.  But a bit of reality is needed as well.  What are the markets to which Wilcox sends the writing?