Blogging=Freedom

I honestly think that blogging can be an extremely helpful thing for an English class at the high school level or higher. After all, I feel it would give each student the chance to share any thoughts that might have related to the reading material. I know that I many times after a class discussion, I personally end up gaining a new perspective about the material. Unfortunately, since I usually end up realizing it after class, I have nobody to share my thoughts with. So if students are given the opportunity to blog, they can post any thoughts that came to them after class.

I also think that blogging might also be helpful for students, like me, who are too shy or embarrassed to speak up during class discussions. Many times I have a lot of thoughts and opinions on the material, but I never say anything since public speaking makes me nervous. So I’ll keep it to myself and I’ll feel bad because maybe I had an opinion that was different from the ones discussed in class. I’m also well aware that there are many other students who have similar experiences. Now if each student in the class were required to keep a blog, then this would give the shy/nervous students a chance to share their thoughts. Therefore, it would be a good idea to give participation points for blogging.

Even though blogging is a good idea for higher grades, I am not so sure about using it in the lower grades. While a class blog might be taken seriously in an honors level class, I’m not sure if that would be the case in regular classes. So, I personally think that I wouldn’t considering using a class blog for middle school students.

Analyzing Fiction Vs Writing Fiction

Even though I have read and analyzed fiction in the past, this is one of the few times that I have ever actually written it. All I can say is that it was actually a pretty fun experience! After all, even though we had to write within a certain context, the assignment still allowed me to be creative. I came up with a story that answered the question “Under what circumstances would someone kiss a credit card?”. All I can say is that in an attempt to answer this, I had a lot of brainstorming to do. This was pretty good though since I ended up coming up with a silly story about a girl whose mother is a complete health food and exercise fanatic. So, because of her crazy obsession with weird foods, the girl pretty much refuses to eat. In the end, when her father secretly gives her a credit card, the girl kisses it since it means that she can finally have a decent meal. I know it may seem silly, but if it wasn’t for this assignment, I probably never would have thought of it.

I think that whenever I do a literary analysis, I always try to find hidden meaning in the text. I also try to pay attention to symbols, foreshadowing, characterization, and all the good stuff that a story contains. By writing my own story and having the opportunity to do peer editing, I realized that other people also seem to look for these things. After all, one of my peer editors realized that the diet health nut mom in my story was actually a satire of all the crazy dietary and exercise trends that women submit themselves to. Meanwhile, while analyzing another group member’s story, someone noticed that she had a recurring theme involving whistling sounds. She had also made very good use of imagery in her story, and I thought it was very clever.

Overall, I think that in teaching fiction, I think it is a good idea to let students see both ends of the spectrum. Most students are taught to do a literary analysis, but very few are actually given the opportunity to write their own fiction. So I think that by giving students the chance to both analyze and compose fiction, they will get a chance to better appreciate both the work of others and their own.

Creating a myth vs studying a myth

Even though I’ve always enjoyed learning new myths, creating my own myth was an interesting experience. Normally when I study a myth, I simply sit down, read it, and then think about what I have read. I also really enjoyed the mythology presentations that we had in class. Not only were the presentations informative, they were also quite enjoyable. Yet, when it comes to the study of mythology, I always feel like an outside observer. After all, it feels like I am peering through a window and seeing someone else’s work unfold before my eyes. I guess I can almost describe it like when I go to see a movie. Yes, I enjoy what I am seeing and I usually learn something, but I always feel like I’m simply a spectator. Well, that was no longer the case when it came to creating my own myth. I felt as if though an unseen hand picked me up and tossed me into a director’s chair. Suddenly I was in complete control of what took place in my myth. How exciting!

This isn’t the first time that I’ve been assigned to write a myth since I had the exact same assignment in the eighth grade. Even back then I remember that I was really excited and that I couldn’t wait to get home and write my own myth. Sure reading Greek mythology was fun, but creating my own myth was even more fun. After all, it gave me the chance to look at something in the world and come up with my own explanation for its existence. Then again, that’s probably the same thing that ancient people did when they came up with different myths. Even though the assignment was fun, I suddenly came to realize that a lot of thought and creativity goes into creating a myth. I guess it really made me appreciate the complexity of the myths more than ever.

I felt that this assignment was a lot of fun and I would really love to share it with my future students. Even though I’m sure that many students would enjoy studying mythology, others might not be too thrilled. They too might feel like outside passive observers when reading a myth. Perhaps by letting students come up with their own myth , it would give them a chance to be in control and show off their creativity.

Writing About Poetry Vs. Writing Poetry

When it comes to either writing about poetry or writing poetry, I must admit that I feel intimidated. After all, when it comes to writing about poetry, it involves taking a look at another person’s work. Many times it is often tempting to look at a poem and look for some form of authorial intent. After all, it is very tempting to assume that a poet might be influenced by something that took place in their own life. Yet many times this isn’t the case. Sometimes poets, like authors, like to create situations and places that have absolutely no relation to their own life. It is simply a product of their own imagination and creativity. While there are some poems that are directly influenced by a poet’s life, it is best not to approach a poem with this assumption. I think I was guilty of this for a very long time, but now I feel it is better to pay attention to the words themselves. Even though I admit that my interpretations of poems are off many times, at least I gain a better understanding of the language. Yet if there is something more daunting that analyzing a poem, it must be writing one!

Since I’ve never really been a fan of poetry, I’ve honestly never attempted to write it. I always felt that poets were either creative individuals or tricky ones who speak in cryptic ways. It was kind of hard to imagine that a poet could be anyone. Yet after hearing some of the poetry written by my classmates, I realize a poet could be where I least suspect. So even though at this point in my life I’ve gotten used to looking at other people’s poetry, writing my own was almost unfathomable. After all, what could I possibly write about that would be interesting? Eventually, with a few examples, I found myself able to quickly come up with a few poems. So, even though my poems dealt with topics such a bus rides and cockatoos, it was nice to see that a poem doesn’t necessarily have to be about sophisticated things. Poems can be about anything as long as the poet has a willingness to say something.

I think that this experience has taught me that when it comes to writing about poetry, language is important. After all, if I were teaching my students poetry, I would rather have them focus on the words themselves. I wouldn’t want them to think that they have to know every single detail of a poet’s life in order to understand the poem. Now if I know that the poem does relate to a historical event, then perhaps I would take a slightly different approach. As for actually writing poetry, I am now aware that it can feel intimidating. I am also sure that there are some students who might feel this way as well. If I did have my students write poetry, I would encourage them to try and write about things that actually interest them. Hopefully that would help to dispel any fears or discomfort they may have

Wrecking the First Person Poem

Okay I'm not sure if I actually did this correctly, but here is the "wrecking the first person" poem I came up with in class:

I rode the bus to Las Vegas in the stick sweltering summer heat.
The bus was old, slow moving, and nothing like the swift canine after which it was named.
Could it be?
Could it possibly be that I inadvertently hitched a ride on a turtle as opposed to a hound?
I camped out in the desert with nothing but a chair, a telescope, and my cat.
I gazed up at the night sky in search of constellations,
galaxies,
and green men?
Yes, I always wave at those nice little men as the cruise by on their way to Jupiter.
I am Edgar Allen Poe,
lover of ravens and of the beautiful green fairy.
Ah!
She is the muse who helps me in my hour of need.
Never again do I want to be without her,
Nevermore!

Here's the scoop on me!

Hello everyone! My name is Cindy and I'm a student Cal State Northridge. Like many other students at CSUN, I transferred from a community college. Even though I don't lead the most exciting life, I still try to have fun in my own ways. There's nothing I love more than going to the movies, visiting the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, and catching the latest episode of "Ghost Hunters" on the Sci Fi Channel. Also, when I have time, I'll have lunch with a few of my friends from high school. Well enough about of how I spend my free time. You're probably wondering what I'm doing at Cal State Northridge, right? Well maybe not, but I'll still go ahead and tell you why.

I'm currently attempting to pass the English Subject Matter program in hopes of eventually becoming a middle school or high school teacher. Even though I remember what a tough time some kids gave the teacher back when in school, I still want to be a teacher. I have to admit though that I'm well aware that not every student will like my class or care what I have to say. This may be because they think that English is a boring subject. After all, many figure that it consists of nothing but reading "boring" stories. Then again, I can't blame some of the students for thinking this, especially with the tendency of some schools to use the same stories over and over again. Despite this though, there are some students who will fall in love with reading and may even go on to be the teachers of tomorrow! There are other students though who may never have read a non-school related book before. There are also some students, who might do the reading but feel confused and are too shy to speak up. Even though I don't want to sound idealistic, I think that it is possible to reach out to different learning ways in which students learn. Luckily technology is able to lend a hand.

Aside from reading out loud or showing film clips, Power Point presentations may combine the best of both worlds. A Power Point presentation can allow a teacher to put up not only written text, but visual and auditory text as well. I'll never forget how helpful it was when my Shakespeare teacher showed video clips from the play "Richard III". Not only was it entertaining to see the action and hear the dialogue, but it helped me to better understand the play. So through the use of a Power Point presentation that consists of pictures, video clips, and audio clips, a teacher might be able to better help their students understand the text. So even though I'm not exactly the most technologically saavy person, I hope I can learn enough in order to create Power Point presentations that will help my future students.