Foot: How this class changed my life

Besides all of the useful and practical educational strategies that I learned in this class, I gained something I find more enjoyable than multi-modality. I don't believe it was even Miss Foot's intention, but after she showed us the first five minutes of "Lost", I was hooked. I was aware of this show while it aired, and I knew that it ended last summer. But I never had any reason to watch it. I thought it was one of those shows that got dragged on for a long time so those involved would continue to profit off of "Lost" even after it lost its original essence, and to some extent it was one of those shows, but in the beginning it was one of the most exciting, suspenseful ,and thought provoking shows I ever saw. The different characters all brought something to the table, except Shannon, and in the beginning the show had a great focus, and begged excellent questions. "Lost" originally dealt with the idea of tabla rossa, blank slate, the idea that everyone can start over, and when these individuals came to the island they were starting over. Then there was the issue of science versus faith, John Locke against Jack Shepard. The was the story line went back in time was great for about the first two seasons. The only real complaint I have with the show is the time travel storyline, and the Desmond storyline, these two story lines have nothing to do with the main characters and the stories surrounding them, the writers only introduced these characters and phenomenons to be able to pump out 20 episodes a season,and keep getting paid. Nevertheless, I love this show, it was better in the beginning, but most shows are, I am about to start the last season now that I'm done with this post. Hopefully it all comes together in a faishon deserving of a show of its caliber.

Foot: Reflection Over the Semester

I genuinely enjoyed coming to this class over the past months. I am not a 'computer' person, I have always tried not rely on technology in my day-to-day life, so before this class I had not paid any mind to the relevance of how I am part of this new generation of students who grew up using technology. I think it was that since about 4th or 5th grade computers have been commonplace in my life, that is why I never saw the significance of using technology and multi-modal source in education. But after going through my earlier education classes and hearing little about multi-modality, multi-modal teaching strategies seemed like the education of the future. Th multi-genre autobiography caught my attention, I truly enjoyed this project and the nostalgic feelings that came with it, I had a type of realization when we began to discuss movies, music, and television as "texts'". I will use this when I get my own class because I need to open up the channels of communication with my students before I can become some who is able to motivate these students as individuals. I will use the soundtrack assignment to reach out to the class' experiences and knowledge of music. Depending on my students, I would consider creating an online discussion board for my class, I think it is innovative way to make sure students are doing the readings, but it lacks some academic rigour. I learned a lot from blogging and discussing class work online, I was so fascinated by "The History of Facebook" , how the different players involved kept turning on each other and trying to create new online ideas to manipulate our society's new found obsession with online socialization. I felt like I got a lot off of my chest with the Firestone post, it gave me a chance to talk honestly about my experiences and how I performed as a teacher and how I could grow. I changed as a pre-service educator during this semester by becoming adept to the most effective and practical multi-modal teaching strategies, I believe if I never needed to use any of the strategies or sources we review din this class, then I would be able to properly lead the class using multi-modality..

Foot: My Opinion on Toni Morrison

Every year I am forced to read Beloved by Toni Morrison and listen to teachers talk about how she is such a great author. I'm not commenting on her writing skills, but her message is that of broad sweeping generalizations and a never ending debt. What has Toni Morrison ever done to improve race relations? Nothing, she profits off of racism and discrimination, she needs for peoplle to believe that racism is alive and well to continue to do what she does. She wants us to believe that all white people are guilty for rich settlers did hundred of years ago , "She has unleashed a firestorm of vituperation against white America for the suffering of black slaves and their descendants"(McMichael, 2008). Her only goal is to convince all her readers that today's Black's lives are dictated by the actions of slave masters hundreds of years ago. I'm sure any politically correct person out there reading this is thinking I am a bigot, this couldn't be further from the case, but I can tell an author trying to manipulate people into believing what they want them to. It just bothers me that she is so against racism and slavery, yet she has made a career out of convincing people that these subjects should dictate peoples' lives today. Also, her analogy of killing a child to protect it from slavery bothers me, a mother should never kill her child, it is the most backwards thing that defies nature to the core, Morrison uses the shock effect in all of her work to burn ugly images of white people into the minds of her readers. Toni Morison is racist against modern white people, if any white author made a career out of talking about how inhumane aspects of former black culture were they would be labeled a racist, if she wanted to make a difference for the better she would try to mend fences between the races instead of placing blame.

Foot: Compare / Contrast Entry

Text and Dialogue: The narration in Naruto was right to left, which made this extremely confusing to interpret. The narration in Pinocchio was the best narration I have ever read in a graphic novel, it flowed according to the exact same rules of western reading. In both of the graphic novels they used balloons to express, however in Naruto they used balloons and just put text in the background. There were some captions in Naruto, but only balloons in Pinocchio. There was emanata in Naruto to show different emotions, none in Pinocchio. There were no labels or signs in Pinocchio, but in Naruto there was a sign to say where to begin reading on each page. The lettering was all the same in Pinocchio, it looked to be comic sans, the lettering was uniform in Naruto, but the emanata had many different fonts. Both of the graphic novels had sound effects written in text outside of balloons to show physical actions.

Visual Features: The visual features in Pinocchio were much better than those in Naruto. All of the characters in Pinocchio were unique and very different from each other, and more importantly represented some type of person from Italian history. All of the characters in Naruto looked the same, with the exception of the antagonist. The objects in Pinocchio varied from scene to scene, in most of the Naruto scenes characters don't have objects because the scene is focusing on the facial expression of the character. In Naruto a headband seems to be a n importnat icon that all characters posses, in Pinocchio the wooden spears that the puppets have is a constant icon. The first page of Naruto has an excellent scenery, then it just goes back and forth from characters' faces, the scenery in Pinocchio changes from scene to scene, at the end the illustrator does an excellent job drawing the ocean, also they do a great job drawing the different parts of Italian cities. The depicted action in both of these graphic novels was fighting, but I think all of the different facial expression could be classified as depicted actions.

General Layout and Design: The borders in both of these graphic novels are strait thin lines, These graphic novels also both comprised of mainly scenes with borders and white gutters, but in both graphic novels there are about three or four pages that have a dark background that fills in the gutters. Both graphic novels only used squares and rectangles for panels, Pinocchio had better spacing of panels so that it all looked in sync. Both graphic novels opened up with open panels and had open panels near the end, But Naruto definitely had many more open panels, I enjoy the open panel scenes, they are quite artistic and interesting to look at. Both of the graphic novels used splashes, Pinocchio more than Naruto.

Angles and Frames: The bleed was never used in Pinocchio, because although there were splashes, the action never went into the next page. The bleed was used in all open panels in Naruto. Pinochio used close ups sparingly, whereas Naruto used close ups of characters faces to tell the whole story. Pinocchio used more head shots, head-shoulder shots, and full figure shots to shows the characters' emotions to move the story along. Of course Naruto had head shots, head shoulder shots, and full figure shots, but mainly it was close ups. The longshot an extreme longshot was used in the beginning of Naruto, and the end of Pinocchio, it is meant to introduce the audience to a new setting or to say goodbye to setting. The reverse was used sparingly in both of the graphic novels.

Rhetorical Techniques applied in text, visuals, and design: Both of these graphic novels use exaggeration, I think all graphic novels do, but Naruto uses exaggeration much more than Pinocchio. In Naruto the audience is suppose to identify with the main character, a young defiant rabble rouser, in Pinocchio we identify with all three of the different main male characters who are longing for their respective ladies. The mood of Pinocchio is that of a vampire film, the darkness of the living dead overtures the whole story. The tone of Naruto is that of defying authority and playful ninja fun. Naruot was founded in the simplicity anime, whereas Pinocchio was a much more complex graphic novel that explored the depths of each unique character. The only symbolism I saw a lot was the wooden spears that the puppets use to kill vampires. Naruto was told completely in order, Pinocchio used flashbacks and went a bit out of order at times. There was no juxtaposition except for Naruto and Pinocchio being so much smaller than all of their opponents. The relationships in Naruot was that Naruto was looked down on ,and not thought highly of, so he defied authority, In Pinocchio our main charters was beloved by his followers and thought highly of. Both points of view were an outsider looking in.

Pytash: Final Reflection

This was a very busy semester, but every single college student says this, so who is to believe? I can't' allow for myself to get caught up in frantic nature of the end of the semester, this cycle has occurs so many times, that I feel I have it down to science, it's like riding a bike, after doing it for so long it becomes like second nature. I am glad to say that this semester was not like going through the motions. I feel that I grew the most when working with my student at Firestone, hands down, that experience felt like I was getting a taste of the rest of my life, the reality of it scared me at first, but then I began to feel a pride that came along with being responsible for my student's growth, not just academically, but as a person. I knew that if I could feel proud of what I did with my students, then I could enjoy being in the classroom for years to come. I hope I don't sound picky in this post, I would take any teaching job just to feel the satisfaction I assume comes with being a real teacher with responsibilities. The Language as ..... theories allowed for me to fully understand the different schools of thought on what we ought to be doing as teachers. As I stated in class many times, I would behave as a teacher who employs the Language as a Social Construct theory, I want my teaching to help shape young people so they will be ready to deal with the issues and questions of our society. I didn't gain too much from the Yvonne Hutchison. She had a very willing class that wanted to engage in discussions based on critical thoughts, all she had to do was guide them and make sure they didn't get out of line, I didn't see her motivate any student that wasn't already engaged. The text book for this class was good, I feet I will use a good amount of this book when preparing for lessons. I like how Jago had high expectations, she really pushes for her students to reach their potential, but I think at times she would put too much of a work load on her students. I appreciated how the this class was aligned with Professor Foot's class, the only comment I have about both of these classes is the fact that we only meet 15 or less times a semester, I have always learned better in classes that meet more than once a week, at times it felt like a string of seminars. I know that Dr.Kist, Professor Foot , and yourself have a lot of experience and wisdom to offer in your classes, and just seeing you all so briefly over the semester was convenient for work and running, but I think I would have learned the material better had we met more frequently. I loved that we dealt with The Great Gatsby all semester, I feel ready to go out and teach it right now, I know that one day I will get to teach this book, and I am know armed with many different resources for teaching it. Overall, this was a great semester, I always looked forward to coming to your class, and always felt like I would be learning worth while material from someone who has experienced the job I want to hold. So have a good summer, and I will see you around White Hall.

Pytash: Chapter 7

I found this final chapter to have a very uplifting message, that as teachers we can mold these students into young people ready to deal with the issues and tasks of our society that require the spoken or written word. This chapter rekindled the emotions in me that brought about my desire to pursue a career in preparing young people for the world. The issue of standardizing graduation requirements across the nation has very valid points on both sides, I always tend to believe that states and communities should be allowed to govern themselves, but in this situation if there is no consistency across the board as to what a 'high school diploma' constitutes, then this leaves our society with a huge problem. I hear from older people that back in the day not everyone went to college, that a high school diploma could land a hard worker a decent living. This is not the case today. I really liked the way the diploma project described the language arts academic expectations for students to graduate. I liked how the chapter dealt with the question students might pose, "Why should I care about this book? It has nothing to do with my life", the author's answer is exactly what I would say, she just did it more elegantly. Teaching persuasion, rhetoric, the essential questions of being a human in the Western world, these are all actions that give me self-efficacy as someone who hopes to change students lives in the future. The election lesson idea was brilliant, when I get a class I will defiantly do this every election year, it is a such a perfect example of how literature and famous characters can effect the populous. Also, the five paragraph/essay prompts for the final test was a much better way for students to demonstrate and be assessed on their ability to produce critically thought out opinions on literature and rhetoric.

Pytash: Chapter 6

I look forward to teaching clasical literature more than I look forward to teaching writing or poetry or grammar, so I was very intruiged t osee what our author had to say on the matter. At firt I though tto my self "what am I going to learn from Japanesse teachers, they dont have to deal with the poverty that American teachers do, Japanesse students coem from families where socail success is valuedabove all esle, the student doesnt want ot dishonor this or her family by failing at school, so the Japanesse teachers are dealing with a completely differnet school system and studnet than American teachers are dealing with. But I found that I liked some of things they are doing, they are beign much more productive and getting results or inforamation from all of their teachers. By allowing teahcers to view their job as research more than teaching, then the teacher feels like they are valued by the school system, teachers learn from each other and together when they plan and critique their lessons together. However, I don't like that Japan has a national curriculum, It is as if they are having all of their teahers experiment with different lessons in hope that theywill hit the jackpot and then have every teracher in Japan terah that golden lesson that every Japanesse student will respond to. I totally agree with how a teaher should handel the outset of teaching The Odessey , The teaher needs to spend time explainging what an epic is and provide modern dayexamples of epics, the teacher must stimulate the students' minds to think about mental constructs theyhav about storys that have influnced them in the past. I would mention superheros whem describign the epicand Odsesius. I would want to read the whole story, not the abridged one that they usually use in high school, the complete verison is only longer because it has more episodes, but it is just as easy to comprehend as the abridged. If I am going to teach someone the greatest epic of all time, then we're goign to do it as the stroy has been handed down to us in its entirity. I would assign the reading as I saw fit, I woudl stop at sreasonable stopping points, I think it woud be worth mentionign how the epic works in an episodic fashion, it is a long story comprised of smaller tales. We would do the common activity of chartting the gods, that would be a day right there. I would print out maps of Mediteranian to show the students the actual loactions mentioned in the story. I would have daily rading quizes over the readings, and I really liekd the authors idea for a test and having the studnets preapre the review for the test for their classmates, I would definlty do this in class and will use this in my student teaching. The students will be broken into groups and each group will be responsible for teahcing the class a short review session on their assigned chapters, afeter each groop goes the whoel slcass should be preapred for the entire test,and each student has taught, the reciproacl process empowers the students and teaches them about academic responsibitlites. I am glad that the author used The Odyssey to demonstrate lesson plans for classics, there were a lot of good ideas in here, but I am sure that createing a lesson planis not this simple it will require experince and trial and error experiments if I will create effective lessons plans that I will carry out.

Pytash: Chapter 4

This chapter was alright, I didn't like how the author spent the first page talking about how the average language arts teacher is doing things the wrong way, and that she is perfect ,and expects nothing but the best from her students, aparently she has never had an off day or ever setteled, she's never been complacent or satisfied, she siply strives to be the best. However, I don't see any new ideas in this chapter about how to teach the elements of literature to students. The list of most commonly used literary elements was what I would have expected. I like that the author used The Call Of the Wild to show the differences between first and thrid person points of view, I was taught the differnce using Jack London, and I hope to one day teach the difference using Jack London. I agree with the authors thinking regarding the notion that students rember what they think about- the teaher demands harder thinking about complicated texts- therefore studetns will rember these complicated stories that they were assigned because they invested their thinking into the text. I, like the author, want a student of mine to remeber the classics rather than meaningless assignments that don't challenge the students. I wonder what percent of language arts teachers teach literary elements by giving a defintion matching quiz with words and their definitons, that is how I leanerd the literary elements and I know them all very well, but it seems so dated and against what I have been learning in my education classes. However, I belive students today will be a bit more motivated to learn some of these literary deivces, like figurative language, 99% of the hip hop/rap that they play on the tv and radio today is figurative language, Lil Wayne is strickly metphors in most of his songs (not that I would ever listen to him).

Pytash: Chapter 2

I really enjoyed this chapter; all of the information in chapoter 2 I will use when I get my chance in the classroom. During my time at Firestone last semseter and tutoring this semseter I saw how vocabulary acquisition was so crucial for students to be able to read, comprehend and express themselves. I always took vocabulary acquistion for granted, my dad stressed my learning new words all the time, he would come home and throw out these new words and expect me to know them. Today I love to learn new words and use them as soon as I get a chance to, I have noticed that in comedys they now use outdated vocaulary that most peopel don't know to get laughs. I believe that people who value learning are inately intruiged to learn new words in their lanugage. So when I teach I am going to need to motivate my students to see the benifits of having large vocabulary, this will enable them to intruiged by new words, because the students belive they will benifit at some level for learning these new words. The work done by Stahl and Shiel done in 1992 points out what I believe are the keys for an individual to be able to acquire new vocabulary when one incounter a word they have never seen before. They found that vocabulary instruction must be productive for the learner by stressing the following: teaching prefixies, suffixes, and roots; teachign students to derive meaning from the context; and teaching words as part of semanitc groupings. I'm not claiming to be as bright as Stahl and Shiel, but before I ever read this I was teching my student to decipher new word by noticing prefixes, suffixes and roots, and telling him to derive meaning of the new word by understandign the context it is being used in. I told my student to do this becasue this is how I have always figured out what new worsd mean, I feel fro mmy own experiences that this is the best wayto learn vocabulary, but this doesn't cover all words some words have roots that an average person wold not have a clue aout, so students do at one point need to be introduced to these words strait up and told what they mean. I was really proud of myself for beign able to comprehend that passage from "The Fall of the House of Usher", but I know that there are a lot of students out there that would not know where to start with this passage. I was insipred by the author's idea that this passage was all about setting the mood for the restof the story, so the students ought to investigate what words are meant to set the mood, adn then investigate those words. When the author posed the question"what vocabulary words should we teach?", I was a bit confused becuse I thought that teachers were probably assigned vocabulary lists from the department head or the state. I would probably teach vocabulary words that we will run into throguhout the semester in literature, but not only in my class, I would talk to other teahers of studnets in my classand see what advanced vocabulary they have been using and try to work it into my class to show the students that learning new words will positivly impact them in life. Lastly, I will probably keep this book becuase of the great ideas it has in it, one in particular is the vocabulary activity the author uses with Julius Caesar . Going in-depth into four new voaculary words that describe human characteristics, have the students apply these desciptive words to people they know(not other stuents unless positive), then write about how they display one of these new words, then have a scale for ecah of the new words and have the student place themselves on each scale. This activity will creat understanding of new words,and has students apply these new words to their lives.

Foot:Pleasure Reading

This spring break me and five of my friends went down to Eden, North Carolina and went on a 4 day/ 3 night canoeing/camping trip. We covered 60 miles altogether over the 4 days, it was an amazing experience, I've done this twice before on the Green River in Kentucky and the Shoal Run in Tennessee, I love going into the wilderness for a couple days, it makes you really appreciate how good we have it nowadays. Whenever I go on one of thee trips I always bring some litterateur to read, always short stories. This year I brought "The Best American Short Stories of 2008", and the store I read as I floated down the river and lay in my canoe was "The Year of Silence", by Kevin Brockmeier. It was about how busy the city was and how everyone was in a hurry, and then one day every one fell silent for a moment, and the people of the city realized they loved the peace and serenity, then these bouts of silence kept coming over the city, and the people would rejoice whenever they occurred. Eventually, the people tried to artificially create these bouts of silence by planning them, but they never work, someone is always making noise. The story was an interesting narrative about how we all seek rest, and I really appreciated this story after being in the woods for 4 days, getting a a bed with cushions and pillows was seriously one of the best feelings ever, we always go and stuff our faces at Cracker Barrel when we get out of the woods too, the food you eat once you get back into civilization after camping is always amazing.

Foot: Cleveland International Film Festival Film Review

On Monday night I went to see "Whirligig", it was directed by Chaz Thorne, and stars Gregory Smith (Small Solders, Everwood) as the main character. Overall, I was satisfied with this movie, I probably won't remember it in a year, but for Monday night it sufficiently satisfied my mind. The personal issues in the movie were interesting, the most prominent issue was the main character, Nicholas, being 25 years old and going nowhere in life, he has failed at everything he has attempted in life, and returns to his parents home to try to find himself. Most college age people can relate to this because of the stress that comes with going into the job market. The story is actually supposed to be a representation of the director's own fall to rock bottom and rise up. It also deals with the issue of adultery, as Nicholas beings to have an affair with the wife of the only neighbors within miles. The technique was unique, it followed the same structure as most independent films do. the music was all instrumental using the same instruments, I can't recall what instruments were used, but all the scores were united. The acting was pretty good. I didn't realize till after the movie that there were only 6 actors in the entire movie. Gregory Smith was convincing as a 'loser', the neighbor that Gregory smith was cuckolding was my favorite character, he was a self-obsessed actor who had retired to the nearly remote shores of Nova Scotia. The plot was as follows: Nicholas is a 25 year old male who returns to his parents house on the shore of Nova Scotia, Nicholas is considered a failure, he has failed at his two former jobs, his parents don't want him in the house, so they allow him to stay with them for one month. Nicholas meets this family's only neighbors when he crashes into their mail box while learning to drive. The two families becomes friends, Nicholas begins having an affair with neighbor's wife. The two families remain friends with the underlying tension created by the affair. Nicholas befriends the neighbor's child, and they have adventures with archery and growing cannabis sativa (the 10 year old kids is the one growing it and experiments the finished product on Nicholas, it's hilarious and done quite classy). However, the 10 year old discovers that Nicholas has been having an affair with his mother, and then Nicholas gets a call from an old girlfriend he had at his last job, he moves away back to his old job to try and raise a child, the end. It was all good until the end, I thought it was the writer taking the easy way out. The themes that I picked up were the idea that one can always start over, one must forget the past and move forward, friends are temporary but family is forever. The genre was definitely independent film, it was a life struggles movie trying to be a comedy. The film represented families that are successful but have offspring that rent successful, so the family has to take care of the offspring. Both rich and poor were represented, however the film only dealt with 6 characters who were the only residents within miles of the shore, so only the 6 characters were representing. I did not see any ideology in the film, as it was a story of the director's own experience with hitting rock bottom. There was no trailer for this movie, but here is the website that has a lot of info on the movie Here is a trailer for the only othe movie that Chaz Thorne has made, it has a lot of the same actors from "Whirligig"

Foot: Cleveland International Film Festival Experience

I really enjoyed going to the Cleveland International Film Festival, I had never been to a film festival before Monday night. It was a great experience, I would gladly do it again, maybe take a girl to the film fest a on a date to get her to think I am artistic. I loved that it was in Tower City, as a child my dad brought me to Tower City before Indian's, Cav's, and Brown's games, when I went into the office with dad we would always go through Tower City, when I use to cut class in high school I would take the rapid transit down to Tower City, I got a lot of memories there. So right after I parked and got onto the elevator and saw Tower City again I was overcome with sensory memories from my past, the sights of how enormous the inside of the building was, the smell of the different foods, the sound of chatter, footsteps, and the water running of the fountains, unfortunately I didn't get to taste any of the food. I was pumped to see my movie, I felt like a high rolling adult, coming down to Cleveland, going to Tower City, and taking part in a artistic endeavour. I got my ticket from the will-call stand, the elderly man who gave me my ticket sang me an old Broadway tune about someone named Sam, he kept singing "Sam, you made the pants to long", does anybody know this song? Then I walked around Tower City for about 20 minutes taking in the scenery, until it was time to line up, I got a decent seat, and before the movie began, a Canadian diplomat talked to the crowd about how important Ohio and Canada are to each other because of how much we trade. The movie I went to see, "Whirligig", is a Canadian film.

Foot:Publish or Perish / Video Games in the Classroom

These articles were both very pro-technology, I am not. If I were having high school students read these articles, then I would tell them to identify the various instances of author bias. It is always important to know the authors motives for writing before reading that author. In the case of the "Publish or Perish" article the article wasn't biased towards Amazon or Mac, but rather biased towards the notion that books becoming more prevalent in electronic form is a good thing. The author went as far to infer that publishers of physical books will eventually become obsolete because of the electronic book craze, "Asked about publishers’ efforts to raise prices, a skeptical literary agent said, “You can try to put on wings and defy gravity, but eventually you will be pulled down”". I like electronic books because it makes books more accessible, this is the only aspect of electronic books I like, poor kids dont get access to electronic books, you don't have the sense of ownership that you get from buying a physical book and carrying it around and keeping it with you, you don't get that new (or old) book smell form electronic books. Lastly, I hate to see computer people profit from the hard work of literary people. The "Video Games in the Classroom" article was such a far stretch, unless you are teaching a class specifically on how to design video game software (which they were in the class in the article). The author completely ignored the most important question pertaining to video games in the classroom "how would a video game help a student become a better reader and writer?", The educational merit I have seen in video games throughout my life is that video games help the player foster some problem solving skills. But to have students come into school and play video games instead of doing academic work is ludicrous. The teacher who started this class made himself sound like an idiot (at least to me) " He talked about all the wasted energy that goes into teaching things that students don’t need so much anymore, thanks to the tools now available to them. Why memorize the 50 states and their capitals? Why, in the age of Google and pocket computers, memorize anything? “Handwriting?” Doyle said. “That’s a 20th-century skill.”" I apprecate this guy thinking of new ways to help teach students, but when the New York Times tries to present his ideas as something that could be implemented in any classroom it is misleading the reader.

Foot: Great Films and How to Teach Them

I went into this book thinking that I would most likely already know what the author had to say, I was wrong. Personally, I think Costanzo is putting too much emphasis on the importance on the act of students viewing movies, at least for the average high school English classroom. I honestly think there is a lot of chapters in here that I won't ever teach (unless I'm teaching some Special topic class dealing with film adaptation of literature). I had to sift through the first nine chapters to find theories and information that I will use when I teach. When I think back to the film adaptations of litterateur I viewed in high school I think of the modern day version of Romeo & Juliet with leo, Hamlet with Kenneth Branagh, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the Simpson's adaptations of literature, and of course To Kill a Mockingbird with Gregory Peck as Atticus ( I have always wanted to name my children after characters from literature, and Atticus is at the top of list for a boy). From skimming through the upcoming chapters I see Costanzo and I have similar taste in media, but it would be naive to think it is just Costanzo's own personal opinion of these movies that is the reason they were selected for this book. These movies were selected because they are the bet film adaptions of litterateur created to date, these movies have transcended time and are still played on the television today, and will be watched for generations to come, hopefully. Personally i only found the theories and information fro chapters 1 and 7-9 to be 'real' concepts that I will use in the classroom, but I am really looking forward to seeing how Costanzo would approach each of these 14 classics in the coming chapters. Check out this list of 100 best film adaptations This is my favorite scene in my favorite film adaption of a book

Foot: "I (heart) Novels"

I found this article interesting because I know very little about what drives young Japanese girls literary desires. Turns out it is not much different from what drives the interests of young girls all over the world; of course I'm talking about the traditional elements of a love story with multiple obstacles for the young lovers to overcome. The only differences that separate these low-brow love stories from country to country are cultural defences. The Japanese value Chastity and virginity much more than we do in America, so their love stories have the issue of a girl losing her virginity, and the shame it will bear on her. In American love stories it is no big deal if the girl does or does not have sex with her lover. In American and Japanese loves stories young girls value the idea of having a boyfriend, but in literature love doesn't follow these stereo typical guidelines created by the media and perpetuated by trendy young people. These love stories only hit the edges of what it means to be in a real relationship. The only good that I see going on in this article is that young people are writing, perhaps they haven't realized what makes a relationship yet, perhaps they are writing about the only things they know, what they see on the tv and in movies. I appreciate that people are at the beginning stages of learning how to express themselves through the written word, even if I don't like what they are writing. But I wanted to end on the comment that the original author of "Eternal Dream" said about the genre she helped create, "I regret almost everything I’ve ever published,” she said. “I could have done a lot to cover things up and I didn’t. I feel a profound responsibility about that.” The label of writer, she said, is unsuitable both to her and to the genre. “If I were some super-famous novelist, I would be running around saying, ‘Hey, I’m a novelist.’ But I’m not. I’m treated as this lame chick who’s written one of those awful cell novels. Do you think I can be proud of that? It really depends on which side the public is going to join. I’m considered a total loser for having done it, and I myself think that, too.” Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes glittered. “People say these horrible things about cell-phone novels, and I’m not sure they’re mistaken. They say we’re immature and incapable of writing a literate sentence. But I would say, so what? The fact that we’re producing at all is important.”

Foot: Firestone Experience

I feel that during my time spent at Firestone I learned invaluable lessons about the realities of teaching language arts in a high school. I saw good and bad teaching practices; I saw how students responded to their teacher’s actions; most importantly I saw how much of an impact the teacher has on the class. I saw how each classroom is like a blank slate, and it is the teacher who makes the difference not the students, after going to Firestone I promised that I would always hold myself accountable for how my classes turned out (unlike some of the teachers I saw, who constantly complained about their students and blamed the students for not learning). I’m not going to lie; I saw absolutely no multi-modality in Firestone, except for movies being shown in classes, and the fact that parents could check their child’s progress online. I think the best way that one could use multi-modality to prepare students for a test is to use an online service like vista, which allows for students in class to login into a site and discuss with other classmates, digitally turn in assignments, and take tests. But what I am suggesting is that on a class site like I described there be practice tests that are representative of how questions will be presented. This would allow for students to practice at home, and all students want to get good grades on test, but not all students want to study, so if you told the student they had a chance to take a practice test I believe they would be much more motivated to take the practice test than to prepare for the test the traditional way. Making practice tests that students can take over the internet at any time would be an effective way of using multi-modality to help students effectively prepare for a test.

I say that I learned invaluable lessons at Firestone because what I experienced will definitely have a huge influence on how I teach once I get in front of a class. I was able to connect with my student very well because I had the time to listen to him and understand his situation. When I get a class I will make sure each of my students knows that I know them well, and that I have his or her best interest in mind. I saw how I had to walk a line between coach and peer, although I shared experiences with him in conversational manner, like one would with a peer, I believe that this allowed for him to see that I knew what it was like to be a teenage boy. But I also got tough with him when he didn’t want to do work and showed him that I would make sure he was giving his best effort, I think this made me coach like figure to him, and after reflecting on that for a while, I decided that’s how I want my students to see me, like a life coach. I feel that I did a good job of teaching my student test taking skills like using the test question to figure out the correct answer using context clues. Lastly, I saw that modeling my own thought process for answering an OGT test question was helpful for my student when he went to answer a question. I know that not all of these tutoring skills will translate to being in charge of a class, where one has to evenly disperse their attention and efforts, but the experience of being responsible for a student’s academic success is an endeavor that I would love to take on again.

On one hand it is important that the state governments can prove that their schools are producing capable students, but this creates issues in the schools. Principles and super intendents get recognized as ‘exceptional’ when their schools have a high percentage of students passing the OGT regularly, so since the boss of the building gets a pay increase and recognition when students pass the OGT, they have their teachers focus on OGT. The problem lies in that not all OGT test prep allows for a well flowing class that goes over many different aspects of literature and writing. Teacher must teach novels like To Kill a Mockingbird, and students learn good lessons that are society values, however, all the time spent doing To Kill a Mockingbird, won’t aid the student when they are taking the reading portion of the OGT. I do believe that teaching writing for a class directly helps students while taking the OGT, so while a language arts teacher is teaching composition for an essay on To Kill a Mockingbird they are preparing that student for the writing portion of the OGT. In my opinion, after a teacher has had a student for a whole year they should have taught that student everything they need to know for the OGT, whether or not that student retains everything isn’t completely dependent on the work of the teacher, it’s a two way street.

The biggest issues I observed at Firestone was that some of the teachers were completely worn out and it lead to them leading repetitive classes where the students were completely disengaged. One of the language arts teachers I observed did the same thing every day for three weeks while she ‘taught’ The Crucible (a play that none of the students related to, the class seemed like a waste of time to everybody involved). She had the students read the play in class, and that was all; no discussions, no talk about the deeper meaning and issues and how they could relate to the students lives, no writing activities to help them prepare for the OGT, no group work, nothing. All the while I’m thinking she is probably getting paid more than a good new teacher because she has been around for so long, and how there are so many young college graduates in Ohio that are eager to get into the classrooms and go above and beyond at a chance to teach, but Firestone keeps the terrible teacher around because of tenure and teacher’s unions. I think that the Ohio department of education could help students study for the OGT in a multi-modal manner if they were to have on their website a place where students could take practice tests and see least years test and from taking these practice tests the student will begin to see what the people at the OGT are looking for and how they ask questions. They might already y have something lie this at their website, but nevertheless, this is the best way I can think of to use multi-modality to help students have ready access to test preparation for standardized test.

Pytash: Chapter 5

I am one of the people who does not appreciate poetry. I know that it is the foundation for lyrical music, and that it discusses human experiences and issues through the written word. However, many others and I get no satisfaction from reading it. My feelings aside, I want to be a high school language arts teacher and I must know how to keep my personal feelings inside and present poetry in the most intellectually stimulating manner. I never want to be that teacher who reads a line... discuses it... reads another line.... discuss it.. etc., and I really like the advice that the author gives, I think it is a sure proof way to get through a poetry lesson.

My favorite poetry was William Blake's, his stood out to me among the all of the other Romantic period poets. If I ever teach the Romantic period I will focus much more heavily on Blake than the other poets. I think high school students would be very intrigued in his poetry and paintings. My senior year I had my best experience with poetry so far, I got to do a project/presentation on Blake and the time period, and after I went over the poems I turned out the lights, put on Vivaldi's Son De Spritza, which was written during Blake's prime, and played a slide show of about 20 Blake paintings. Everyone in the class was amazed by the presentation, the music in coordination with Blake's poetry and paintings was a moving experience.

The think aloud requires motivated students, it would be very important that the teacher pairs up stronger readers with average readers. I would definitely model how a think aloud goes for my students until they clearly understood how to ask the right questions when analyzing a poem. I like how the author pushes the students further to think critically about the poem, she does not stop once she creates a dialogue about the poem, she has them write personal reflections about the poem and the think aloud. I also liked the sensory imagery board she made, she students will be able to find sensory images regardless of reading ability, but once they can pull meaning of these sensory phrases they can relate physically to the poetry. The one aspect of poetry that scares me is that one day I will have to teach something that I don't relate to wholeheartedly, but I am confident that I can get through it, it will require a lot of extra studying after school, but I can do it.

Pytash: Chapter 3

At the beginning of this chapter I was reminded that when a rookie teacher joins a school's Language Arts department they usually have no say in the literature they will be teaching. There is limited time with students to get through the classics and prepare for standardized state tests in a year or semester. The list of the most assigned texts in high school didn't surprise me; I had read almost all of them at one point in my life. After looking at this list and thinking "what do all of these works have in common?", I concluded that these books stay on mandatory high school reading lists because their messages transcend time. Books like To Kill a Mockingbird, Huckleberry Finn, Of Mice and Men, and most of the other books on the list I have revisited since my initial reading of them in high school. Every time I go back I see something new, or figure out a way to apply the dilemma or theme of the book to my own life. This most recently happened in our class, when I reread Gatsby over winter break I a reflected on how some of my 'old sports' back home embodied the characteristics of 'old money', how they felt such an entitlement because of they way they were raised. I saw how I am like Nick in that I am not going to make lots of money relative to those I grew up with, and I am like Nick in that I don't worry about how much money I will make relative to those I know. I looked back on the women I have met in college and how there are still some out there that behave like Daisy, being wrapped up in material possessions and social status, and how there are women out there like Myrtle who are never satisfied with what they have and live a life of jealousy. I remember why I got into literature when I see how a classic can relate to the readers life and have a profound impact on them. The author gives us the reality of dealing with a mandated reading list and how to harness the power of the classics.

I admire the author's ambition, but I think that implementing all her theories on choosing literature and assigning it would not work for students who are not familiar with vigorous academic work. She says that teachers should be assigning 20 books a school year for their students, she says that the length of a book should never matter. For the latter criteria to work the students would have to be extremely dedicated, not be on athletic teams, and not have jobs. I hope that one day I am a veteran teacher like the author and can motivate my students to get through 20 works, she acknowledges that students will occasionally use spark notes and cliff's notes, and that it is hard to sell students the idea of giving up tv time for reading. In our education classes we learn to never use a 'one size fits all' approach, but the author sometimes thinks that all students have the same capabilities, like reading speed, she says that it will take a student 10-12 hours of vigorous reading to finish Black Boy, (430 pages small print), it took me twice that time to read it, I'm embarrassed to think that I wouldn't be able to keep up in one of her high school classes. A student must have some intellectual curiosity to be sold on the potentials of reading great literature, Jago makes a great stamen "I believe that teenagers want to have these experiences but have not realized that reading books can provide them" (47). She make a s very inspirational point that I will use one day to motivate my students, I will present a book not as an assignment, but as an experience.

Pytash: Chapter 1

All seven guiding principles discussed in chapter one are very true statements. From what I have seen at Firestone I can say that all of these principles deal with the student and teacher related issues that are directly related to a student's success in language arts. The first principle is so important because from all of my experiences in high school and college I feel that about only half of the students are doing the assigned reading. In Firestone I saw about a quarter of the students did their nightly reading, and they were the only students that participated and actually learned from being in the class room. I admit in high school I was not a consistent reader, If a book looked too long, then I would get the movie or read cliff's notes. But my freshman year of college in college writing 1 I had a professor who remedied the the class' not reading; he gave us daily reading quizzes over happenings in the book that wouldn't be on spark notes. I failed the first quiz or two, and decided I want to make it in college, so I made time at night for the reading. When my students start to show that they are not reading I will use this daily quiz approach to get them reading.

The second principle really opened my eyes to the debate over YA literature and the classics, I think this would be a great section to have INLA students read in Teaching reading with literature. This section got me to think about YA lit in a way I have never thought of it before, I now see (or remember) how reading mysteries and suspenseful books was one of the first times I ever associated reading with rewarding. We must begin to incorporate YA lit or exciting lit into the high school curriculum to create life long readers. Also, while reading this section I found myself agreeing with Oprah for the first time ever. I see how the INLA program is trying to incorporate a lot of these seven guiding principles in the program, like the idea of having a 'mirror' book and pairing it up with a classic, I don't care if scholar say that this will 'dumb down' the classics, if a student is actually trying to make connections between his or her life with a classic piece of literature, then we should be encouraging it no matter if some intellectual says we aren't teaching Shakespeare the proper way.

After reading section three I had my own idea about teaching difficult books and not assigning them. It is definitely important for a student to deal with the rigors of getting through a thick book at least once, but if we want to teach more than just one thick classic in a semester we could have the students only read the most important parts of the text and go over the theme of the text and other important parts. I know some one could say this is just like having students read cliff's notes, but if the teacher can guide the student through an important piece of literature that usually takes weeks to get through in one week, then think of how much more literature a teacher can cover in a semester, when we don't read a vary wide array of literature ,we focus in on the one area that the department has decided to focus on, we ought to throw many different types of literature at the students in a organized fashion, and see what they are interested in.

I like this how the author writes in this text book, I feel like her advice will translate in the classroom way more than some of the other advice I get from education gurus. She obviously has spent a lot of time teaching language arts, and her guiding principles are the issues we will have to deal with in the classroom, I feel that this text book is good preparation.

Foot: Make-Up Assignment

So far in this class I have learned some interesting technology-based techniques for teaching adolescents. My favorite idea I have picked up has been the Multigenre autobiography; I think this project has a much higher chance for completion and success because students will want to complete this assignment. There are parts of Language arts that some students find as pointless and boring, therefore some students simply don't do the work or readings and can't participate in class, with this assignment full participation is almost guaranteed. However, 100% participation wont make this project a success, it is what the students take from the project that will determine if it is a success. The main point if this project is getting students to realize what 'texts' have influenced them over time, and how these 'texts' have shaped the person they are today (or whenever project is done). After watching all of the presentations in our class, the only thing I could think to improve this project would be a very strict time limit on presentations, so everyone gets an equal chance to display their autobiography. I wouldn't assign this in student teaching, just because I don't want to overstep my boundaries, but If and when I get my first teaching gig I will definitely use this project to get to know my students and to let them get to know me.

The other aspect of this class that I have been introduced to this semester is the idea of having the whole class connected by a social website. To be completely honest, I don't like the idea of meshing social network websites that students use for fun with school work. I think that having a class connected through the Internet is a great idea, but through a neutral system, like how we use vista at Kent. Online discussion boards allow for the shy to have a voice, and it also encourages the students to think about the course material outside of school. If i teach at a district where I know all students have Internet access, I will definitely set up a wiki (if I trust my students) or some type of web site where they can post their thoughts and reply to classmates. The notion that movies, music and shows are 'texts' has changed my thinking. I see now how these areas are all interconnected to one's overall outlook on the world. So as much as we stress literature as important texts, we ought to pay attention to the media our students take in as well. So far this class has given me some great ideas for practice.

Foot: You're Leaving a Digital Trail

Technology has been good to me so far in life. In the movies we see the idea of "big brother" and government surveillance affecting the individual, but I suspect that if this trend of monitoring our web activity continues and becomes accepted by the public then it is the public that will suffer. The government won't use this technology exclusively to track down 'bad guys', but it will be one big marketing ploy, they want to know what interests us, what motivates us, how they can get our laborers to spend their money. The only good part I read was the idea of using this tracking technology to track the spread of disease, Dr. Pentland recalls that if the technology was around a few years ago it could have nipped SARS in the bud "If I could have looked at the cellphone records, it could have been stopped that morning rather than a couple of weeks later,” he said. “I’m sorry, that trumps minute concerns about privacy”. Those freshman at MIT who let researchers see their every web move are sell outs who are willing to give up their privacy to be in the good graces of the esteemed researchers at MIT, and if someone wanted to do research that reflects that movements of the average American, then why in the world would you use 100 freshman at MIT as the sample group, it is not random at all, and the people at MIT are very different than the average American.
Here is a video clip about how the FBI can listen in on your conversations even when your phone is off. click here

Foot: I'm So Totally Digitally Close to You

This article dealt with a very serious issue that is prevalent in young people culture that doesn't get any media attention. However, the way the author dealt with the emerging trend of constant news feeds and ambient awareness only represented one side of the issue. Cline recognized that peoples' Internet dependency could lead to people becoming anti social, but for the most part he put in quotes and arguments that said "its okay to be obsessed with twitter and facebook because every body else is doing it". He didn't mention the notion that peoples' need for quick Internet socializing stems from the fact that people are bored with their own life, so they go on twitter and facebook to supplement the lack of activity and spontaneity in their own lives. Also, I was offended that this article tried to justify those people in relationships who feel the need to text each other every minute, that isn't affection or love, that is compulsive behavior that occurs when someone is so brainwashed by thew media and what they see on the new dramas that they think it is normal and required behavior for couples to text every minute. People who try to say that news feeds from facebook and twitter updates create a more 'connected world' don't realize that these quick little messages with no meaning are deteriorating our society's definition of socializing, the Internet is creating superficial relationships among people who have never even met, and by doing so it is devaluing real face to face relationships. I will close with my favorite line from the article, said by the founder of Flickr " These technologies allow you to be much more broadly friendly, but you just spread yourself much more thinly over many more people".

Foot: History of Facebook

I have never liked Facebook, Myspace or any other social networking website. They are causing my generation to value superficial relationships over genuine interactions, these social networks are working towards making our society anti-social by encouraging computer use over face to face interactions. People confuse social network websites for some new innovation that has brought about a new way to 'stay in contact', the only legit reason for social network sites is for lifelong friends and family who are physically separated. The instant gratification that Facebook offers makes the relationships it fosters less meaningful because real relationships take time and effort. Facebook has made my generation more impersonal like its founder. I may dislike Facebook, but I loved the article "History of Facebook". It was a modern tale of entitlement, new markets, young entrepreneurs, greed, and taking our fellow man for granted (I am going to see that new "social network" movie now that this article has grabbed my attention and thoughts).

I was reluctant to read this story at first, but I'm glad I read it. It is so much more in touch with our reality than the average user while posting on Facebook. The story doesn't surprise me all that much, Mark Zuckerberg was a prep school boy with an overwhelming sense of entitlement who only knew computers and the concept of 'getting ahead in life by sitting behind a computer'. His social ineptness and isolation allowed for him to develop into a callous person who didn't value real relationships (he is the father of superficial relationships). I dont have anything against computer geeks who get rich from some new idea, more power to them, but I do have a problem with people who work with others to create a new product and then cut out the others. Mark's overwhelming greed and inability to keep collaborate and give credit make Mark an easy target for the media. The way Mark used his friends and their ideas time after time is definitely illegal, but the very 'loose' way in which they created Facebook allowed for Mark to cut and run every time he got a better opportunity to bolster Facebook. As I was reading this article it was playing out like a Greek tragedy where the main character's hubris leads to their downfall, but we haven't reached the point in time where Mark's overweening pride and ambition lead to his downfall.

Foot: Multigenre autobiography / pleasure reading

I have revived many nostalgic feelings inside myself while doing my multigenre autobiography. I am going to break it into sections according to the stages of my life (childhood, middle school, high school, and current) and when I look at how far I have come from my childhood I can't believe how many different shows, books, movies, music and people have had an impact on my development. I like to think of my self as an independent person who has shaped their own experiences, but this multigenre autobiography really has shown me how much myself and others are impacted by the culture we live in. I have also been in contact with my parents and lifelong friends to talk about this project, our different recollections of the past and what I was reading, watching or listening to has sparked some debate, perhaps we all like to remember the past in the way that brings us to peace with the present. This experience of reflecting on my past experiences with literature and pop culture and public discourse has been wonderful, when I become an English teacher I would most definitely assign a project like this to my class at the beginning of the semester or quarter. A project like this may not be academically rigorous, but it promotes self-reflection and will bring the student to a clear understanding of how they have become the person they are today. I believe the main objective of this assignment is to get the student to come to a self-realization of what has shaped them into their current person, it is a very worthwhile activity that should be encouraged in the schools.

During the summer and winter breaks I like to read, but while I am in school I have no time for pleasure reading ( I can only enjoy reading for about 2-3 hours a day, any more and it becomes work). However, the other night I was bored and had no homework so I picked up one of my collections of old short stories, this particular one was my Hemingway collection, and what I like to do is randomly run my finger across the index and whatever story my finger lands on I will read ( this is my lame attempt at fate directing me to great literature), this night my finger landed on The Three-Day Blow . This is one of Hemingway's Nick Adams stories, Nick Adams is a very innocent impressionable adolescent that is the main character of a number of Hemingway short stories. The story was interesting, there wasn't any climax, but Nick and the other character give into their temptations at the very end by "getting really drunk". The main idea of the story (at least in my eyes) was about how our pasts always catch up with us and how some of us are destined to be like our ancestors.

Foot: An Oral History of the Internet

I always knew that the creation of the Internet involved many different people, companies and government agencies, but I never imagined that so many different parties took part in developing the web. The article clarified for me the controversy of Al Gore saying that he created the Internet. Apparently Al Gore made sure that the government funded different projects that led to the creation of the Internet. However the article was very drawn out and its unique style of using different people's opinions about issues that they all had biases on made for a story that was not true to the facts, but rather people's personal feelings about how they were involved with the creation of the Internet. It would have been better if the article took more of a summarizing approach rather than being 100% personal narrative. The story of how today's Internet came to be is an important story that we all should know, because we all are directly affected by the Internet.

Students could learn from this story because it shows the true nature of human greed, and how when there's a will there's a way, and how our government will step into the the field of technological research in order to keep the American society at the top of the pecking order. The story shows the concept "big fish eats the little fish" through Microsoft using its threshold over the computer software market to make sure that no one else created new Internet browsers or operating systems. A teacher can teach his or her's class about how Microsoft and other monopoly like companies are like the mafia with their unethical business methods. Students can also learn about the market place from this story with how once the Internet became huge everyone started investing in .com companies and how most of the .com companies eventually failed because there were so many different .com companies competing with one another, and how today everyone seems to use the same 2 or three websites to buy most things from (ebay, amazon, etc.). Living in a society where the Internet reigns supreme, the public ought to have a clear, unbiased explanation for how the Internet came into existence.

Foot: Little Brother / Socially Networked Classroom

Before I started reading Little Brother I thought that I was not going to enjoy it, I was wrong. This modern tale of an overbearing government that is always scrutinizing and surveying its citizens is great for the high school classroom because it deals with real societal issues and does not have any political bias. Personally, I don't like technology any where near as much as the main characters in Little Brother, I try to avoid technology if I am able to. However, an increasing number of youths are becoming engaged in technology related hobbies like RPGs (role playing games) such as World of Warcraft (which is the basis for the Harkuja Fun Madness game they play in the story). This story has a large target audience because of our society's shift to a Internet based society, young 'techno-geeks' would be drawn to this book because the protagonists are representative of the smart and resourceful aspects of the 'techno-geek' sub culture ( the book conveniently avoids how technology based games are extremely anti-social tools that cause their users to spend all their time alone and in front of a screen). If I were a teacher and had students who spent all their time in front of a computer, I would definitely recommend this book to them. This book is very intriguing though, I couldn't put it down, and I don't say that about any book, this book could be a great read for anyone, one doesn't have to be part of the 'techo- geek' sub culture to like this story. My only problem with the book is that it doesn't acknowledge that some government surveillance is necessary in a society of our magnitude, there are limitations of course, but national security is the government's responsibility, and they have to be as aggressive as those that want to harm America. The actions of the government and HLS are meant to show an extreme scenario of a government surveillance state, not what is happening in reality.

I flipped through The Socially Networked Classroom and as I was looking at the different activities I see that the multi genre autobiography is the first activity, I think this would be a great activity to have students do at the beginning of a semester to get them thinking about their own experiences with literature and popular culture and how these experiences have shaped the person they are today. The second activity caught my attention because I did this exact assignment two years ago for my Art of Theatre class, and like in Dr.Kist's example I did the activity for Julius Cesar. This activity gets students to link their knowledge of music and it's meaning and apply it to the story they have just read. Both of these activities go beyond literature and a text, they make students realize how the text fits into their lives and into our culture.