Poetry Group

One of my favorite aspects of our presentation is that we had a lot of different ways of writing poetry. Most of us choose a poem structure that was less intimidating for students. When introducing poetry, i believe as a teacher, your main goal is to keep it simple to gain appreciation and motivation.
The first poem I believe would be great to create empathy from different perspectives. The I am poem describes a person and their experiences. I believe that it is very important for students to learn about different cultures and different experiences and then express them in their own words. One more important thing to learn about the I am poem, is that it would be a great example to use in a multi genre piece. You can use a person in history and write their perspective on a certain event in history.

The second poem the Found Poem, is a great way to increase creativity and brainstorming for poetry. It is a very fun exercise for students to cut and paste and socialize. It is interesting to see how students use this poetry to create some really amazing interpretations. This poem can also increase their personal vocabulary, as well as, their own personal diction.

The third poem was the Confession Poem. This would be great to interpret characters in a different way, other than writing an essay or report. At the same time, the students are allowed to interact with characters by getting inside their heads and creating a confession that would make the rest of the class recognize each character through their personality. This is also fun and entertaining, and it does allow a lot of room for empathy and creativity among different perspectives.
The fourth and final poem is a little more complicated and involves a lot more time and work. There is a process to complete a memory map and list poem. However, this kind of poem is a great example of how brainstorming can be used to produce amazing poetry. The most important part of the list poem is recreating places, events, and feelings using words and pictures. It is truly beneficial to use personal experiences to write poetry, because that is what students already know and understand.

As a teacher I would love to use all forms of poetry, because you can use all of them to achieve a lesson in any type of classroom. My personal philosophy is centered around empathy and learning through multiple perspectives. Each poem leaves room for creativity and actual facts. In my opinion each poem is great to get students energized about poetry and they also held reduce any anxiety centered around poetry.

Group Teach #2

I enjoyed this goups hard work and well represented team work. The first day was good and there was good class discussion. I think it resembled how our class has been going this semester. It was comfortable for us as a class to interact and responed in that way. However, I think the discussion did get a little off topic, and it is hard for me to remember what we did on that first day. But, I do remember leaving the class feeling like there was a well rounded discussion that was very informative.

The second day was my favorite. I really enjoyed the simulation. At first, i will admit I did not like it, because I had no idea what was going on. But, after some time I realized that was the point. I remember looking at my Police Officer and asking if we can go to the bank to get a building permit, and she said no and looked the other way. After five minutes of asking she said, " why? You are just going to rob the bank anyway." I was like what the-- Anyway, a couple more minutes went by and she finally allowed me to go get a permit, however when we got in line I was sent to jail by the sherriff, for no reason at all. This kind of beahvior towards my group got real frustrating and soon we just sat there. We just sat there because we could not successfully accomplish any of our goals.

After the similation was over, we all discussed the groups we were in. I felt this excercise would be great to used with college students but not high school students. The only way I would use this in a High School classroom is if I changed the groups to fit groups of people in my lesson. For example, Native Americans, French, and the British. It would be more "Safe" to use fictional or old unrelated groups to stop any kind of offensive behavior. Because kids can be so mean.

I think and activity like this needs to be administered with care, especially the talk after. It is really important for people to realize stereotypes and empathize with different cultures. However, many things that can be said, can be siad in a offensive way when they really weren't mean to be taken that way. All in all, this activity could work in my class someday, but i would prefer to change the groups from modern social and racial stereotypes to more of a historical empathy lesson.

Reflection on Group 1

I really enjoyed this groups presentation. I guess I could say I am more thankful than anything. I am taking my pre internship classes this semester. I have LS 3010 with Dr. Allison Baer, and in this class we are asked to explore multiple ways of presenting literature. One of her projects she has us do is building a multi genre peice on anything. After listening to her explanation I thought I understood what I was supposed to do, however, when I started the piece I was lost. As a result, coming to class and learning about multi genre pieces specifically helped to clarify most of the fogginess of the project.

I thought the group was impressively prepared. They came almost over prepared in case some tasks ran over on time, but there was always something for us to do. The groups gave examples and many prompts and materials to start a creative brain storm. Coinciding with thier prepardness and their organization, I learned a lot about multi genre projects.

Linda Christensen questions


1.) What were a few obstacles you encountered your first years of teaching, that you wish someone would have told you?

2.) can you talk about some of the methods you used in your book, on how to develop a class community?

3.) How do you correct some social injustices within your class?

"Untracking English"
Christensen Chapter #8

"Many students who come from remedial or regular classes are bright. But the abilities they bring to class often go unrecognized because they aren't the skills traditional education has prized: reading and writing" (171).
No truer words have been spoken. When I read this chapter I had to stop and say "WOW" when I read that, because I saw an example of this in real life just a couple weeks ago during my Pre Internship. I have been continusously blown away by this 6th grade boy in the English class. The topic of this quarter is "Loss", so the class was reading a short novel by Ralph Fletcher, dealing with loss. My mentor teacher asked the kids to take a piece of contrution paper and divide the back into three sections," National, local, and personal loss" then he had then list different kinds of loss. Then he had them flip over the paper and draw a picture representing loss. As I walked around the classroom peering over these kids shoulders I saw pictures of soldiers in Iraq, the tornado that hit Tennessee, and the school shooting at NWU. But, when I peered over this one boys shoulder I saw a beautiful displays of colors of mutliple designs within a circle, it was beautiful. I sat down next to him, and I asked, " what does this picture represent?" The boy looked at me and said, "This is how I felt when my brother died." I wanted to tear up right there, because I saw it. I saw the craziness of his mind when he found out, and every color had a different emotion that he felt. It was amazing!
If this boy had had a different teacher, and I am sure has had the traditional teacher and always will, I am not so positive that that drawing, that meant so much to him, would be accepted as a peice of literature. Or how many teachers would ask about it, rather than handing it back and scorned him for doodling instead of drawing the assignment. He is an amazing thinker and he is very intelligent becasue he thinks so abstractly, but how many schools, how many teachers notice or take the time to notice the potential of a non traditional form of intelligentce. My teacher and I had a great discussion about allowing students the oppurtunity to find thier own individual ways of learning and expression of learning. This had to be one of my favorite and most influencial moments as an intern and for a future teacher.

"So What's Your Story"
Gilmore Chapter #7

I like the way Gilmore expresses the differences in creative writing and research writing. They are like two different countries: the United States and China. Both are countries but both have their differences on how the country is ran and the government and economies are developed. This analogy is good for research writing and creative writing. Both are forms of literature, but how they are developed and the criteria for both are completly different.
I am definitly a better creative writer than I am a research writier, which sucks because I am a history major and all I do is write research papers. But, I actually enjoy writing creativly and I love researching, but I do not like writing about the research to the way WMU history department wants me to.
I don't know if i had mentioned this before, but my mentor teacher's teaching philosophy is amazing when it comes to reading and writing, and it compares to Gilmore's very nicely. Gilmore says that we had better make writing fun because, in turn, it will make students better at reading and writing. My mentor teacher explained to me that the hardest part for teachers when reading a book for class, is to keep the students engaged until the climax, because once they reach the climax of the book they are hooked and most likely will be motivated to read. However, he said if in your cirriculum there is a book to read and you find it boring and think it will not fit your class, DO NOT HAVE THEM READ IT! He said once you force them to read or write something that is boring, you kill reading and writing.

"You're Just My Type"
Gilmore Chapter #6

Yes, this chapter is a great chapter to allow me to vent! I like technology. I think it makes life and jobs a lot easier, to a certain extent. However, I definitely get frustrated with technology almost every single day. Gilmore had brought up some good points in his arguement for pro technology. How technology is used in classrooms is almost a bitter sweet experience. It provides a student multiple ways of learning, and is easier on the teacher to make different teaching methods easier and more fun for the students. Sometimes, however, technology fails and becomes more frustrating then easier and conducive to learning.
My mom is a 4th grade english teacher at Olivet Middle School. She has been teaching for 31 years and have one teacher of the year multiple times. BUT, the woman knows nothing about technology! She is great with students, classroom management, ect... but when it comes to technology she is lost. She tries to learn more about it, because it is her job requirement. She repeatedly keeps telling me that the more experience with technology I get, will be better, because education is headed down a technological advanced classrooms. EW!
I and the schools have to remember not every student has access to a computer at home or have a way to make it to the library to use a computer. As a teacher I have to realize the frustration that comes with assigning computer assignments. One more comment on having students send me thier papers via email... OH NO! I hate recieving emails, and I hate sending them. Unless the student is absent I think it is an aweful idea to send a paper through email... That is something I will not change... you loose the individual interaction and connection if your cirriculum is based around technology!

"Can We Leave Yet?"
Gilmore Chapter #5

The time has come in the semester when I go into freak out mode. It is a time where all assignments are assigned and you have the rest of the semester to figure out when you will work on each assignment and when you will complete them. This weekend, yes i am a nerd, I made a poster chart, because believe it or not this is my most stressful semester in college yet! I created a chart of assignments and dates, then I split them all up in three deadlines. I felt more at ease and less scattered once the list and organized assignments were right in front of me and hung on my wall. So, when Gilmore speaks of the importance lists are to a students education, he could not have spoken more true words.
Lists can help a student to become more organized, and once thoughts are organized it is easier to learn and remember, in my experience. Therefore, using lists to prep for AP testing, is a great way to prepare students in recalling the information were suppose to remember throughout their high school career.
One last remark, revison strategies can get complicated and slightly overwhelming for students, so having a check list to break down what needs to be done would make a student less frustrated with the assignment in general, as a result, the assignment will come back the way I had expected, instead of all thrown together in a frenzie!

Christensen: Chapter #7
PORTFOLIOS

There have been many times where I sit and think of sctivites and strategies to use in my future classroom, and portfolios were always a part of the thought process. I only thought it was a good way to keep up on the students work and teach them organizational skills, as well as, responsibility for keeping their work. However, reading Chirstensen chapter I have realized that one portfolio can be used in many different ways when used as an evaluation tool.

Christensen explains that each student keeps every written assignment, good or bad, in the portfolio, and at the end of the year they are to evaluate and analize their progression. I really enjoy this technique because it is during their evaluation that the student recognizes thier strengths, weaknesses, and most importantly their own individual writing style. All three: strengths, weaknessesm and individual writing styles, are great stepping stones in the progress process of a students writing.

One more positive reflection from this chapter is in doing this analyizing of your own work, students will have evidence right in front of them showing the reasoning of why they had to do what they had to do. Professors have stressed that you have to know why you making students do something, and that they have always said that at lease one student will ask "why do we have to do this, it isn't like we are going to use this again?" I think when students will look at the progress and write and evaluation the student will learn the answer to that question, and become a better writer because of it.

Gilmore #4
Getting It Together

I liked the parts in this chapter that ellaborated on getting offended and the ability to ask questions about your writing. There have been two very current and distenct instances this past week on my writing submissions for my classes. Two way different classes, two very different writing styles, and two way different professors: as a result, two way different suggestions.

I just want to say, when students eagerly look at the paper they poured hours of labor to create and find hundred of corrections or suggestions on the front page, our hearts sink. However, it is what these comments say that "make or break us."

I had to do this huge experiment and write a paper on my results. I got my paper back and saw a lot of writing, being that I am not a very confident writer in the first place, my heart sank. But this time it was different. This professor enjoyed my writing style and she actually said that. She made funny likeably comments, like it was actually fun for her to read my paper. Yes, there were some suggestions made, that will definitly help me with my next paper, but overall, I felt successful and confident to write that next paper.
On the other hand, in my other class, I had to research and present my research. Once again I saw a paper with hundreds of ink marks on my paper. Trust me, after awhile they just looked like markings on a piece of paper. i was so hurt by what was writtin and how it was written, it actually made me loose my previously new found confidence. It made me not want to write anymore papers for this professor, becasue deep down I felt I had done a fine job. But, in that one instant, I lost confidence in that class and in my writing.

These two experiences has shown me what kind of english teacher I want to be. I wont mark every little pointless correction just to make myself seem more powewrful or important then my students. I will not write little hurtful comments that did not need to be written. But I will help each student to be proud of thier own personal writing style, and to perfect it. Every one is different and it is reflected in thier writing, who am I to say that style is wrong. I am the one the students can come to for help thier writing style, not to change it!

Gilmore Chapter #3: Awk! Frag! (Revising Style)

I think it is true to say that students have been bred to fix the red errors and turn their papers back in and everything will be alright. We have been bred since elementry school to become lazy with revision. First no one wants to rewrite an entire paper after just completing and handing it in. Heck no! That would be the last thing I would want to do. As a result, when teachers only leave grammer suggestions and allow students to make the corrections and resubmit, they are stick to what the teacher wrote on their papers with thier red ink, rather than focusing on the content.

Content is the most important part in writing a paper, in my opinion. Content and effectively expressing the content. Which in my case is the hardest part. I can find, develope, and understand completly what I am writing about, however, effectively writing my arguement or expressing the facts in a nice flowing matter is my persoanl downfall. I took a history class one time and the very well known professor confessed that they had submitted a book they had worked on for years. The publishers didn't care too much about the content, and basically asked for them to redo and resubmit, which in their case meant starting from scratch. OUCH! I guess my point is, I did not find out that it is possible that you might want to start from scratch, in some cases, if you paper isn't effective and the content isn't persuasive.

Revision is important, and it is even more important to teach the different ways and levels of revision. We have to put the stop on the laziness of students and teachers with only stopping with grammer, and start focusing on what really matters, the actual messege the paper is offering!

Immigration
Chapter #6- Christensen

I obviously liked the beginning of this chapter because it is so PRO RESEARCH! YEAH! When I first read the title of the chapter I kind of thought to myself either the chapter will go one way or the other. The very first page was definitly what I expected, hinting changing cirriculum for the immigrants within our classroom. Though I sympathize, because it is my job to teach every student that is in my classroom. But, Christensen grabbed my attention, like always, when she said she wanted the students to research the topic. real research!
She wanted them to find "research that made them ask questions about immigration policies, quotas, and personal stories" (146).
Finding research that asks questions is the best kind of learning. Finding a controversial topic like immigration will always induce learning and understanding. If you give a student a analytical question that requires an analytical answer than that student is learning more about the topic than if they were to answer a true or false question.
Sometimes research is just black and white like thier textbooks students are forced to read. but, I believe it is the teachers job to teach the student to look at the black and white information and teach them to aske questions, asking questions and then finding more research to answer those questions is exactly what students need to fully understand an issue.

Is It Done Yet?
Chapter #2

Wow, what a flash back to high shool! Swapping papers was definitly the only kind fo revision i can remember recieving. Maybe becuse it led to my embarassment as a young writer and having a fellow student correct my mechanical errors did not help me with my content, and it only mad eme realize how behind I was with the other kids. As, a teacher I find it very important to have face to face conferences with each student to disscuss their progress and their papers. This is one way a teacher can make revision less scary for students.
Chapter discussed a lot about how to make revision scary, and I believe that is very important. But it has to go hand in hand with the lack of effort the studentwant to put forth. I was the student that refused to rewrite a paper, becuase I wrote it I didn't ever want to see it again. So, I believe having a sit down discussion with each student will be a good way to improve the content of the students paper, help with some mechanical errors, and set up time in class for revision after teaching ways to prove to the students it is not scary. Revision is extremly important to any kind of writing, especially to those who have to write for class or even for careers. Revision is key for a successful paper!

Is It Done Yet?
Chapter 1- Gilmore

Writing has always been difficult for me. I chose English as my minor so I could do more practice writing for my history major. However, after multiple English classes I have learned there is much more to literature than writing, it is about being creative, that I can do. Even though I have improved my writing skills a lot since the begininng of my college career, when a teacher says write a rough draft or a 5 page essay, I freak. I become so incredibly anxious, I have to set an entire weekend aside to write it, because I know I will need all of that extra time. What seems interesting to me, is the fact that I can put aside all this time write the paper, but I never set time aside for revision. After reading this chapter, I have realized it is hard work, but papers improve so much because of them. I think personally I have been critisized so much for my writing when it comes to revision I don't enjoy having people read my stuff, in fear of judgement, as well as, a snowstorm of corrections and suggestions.
I read the three parts to teaching revision: Revising is not only mechanical errors, this is an idea I only learned in college, the hard way. Secondly it is up to the author to revise, true because it is only them that will do the extra effort to improve their writing. Thirdly, how to revise, the word that stresses me out and haunts my dreams.
As a teacher, I will use these techniques. They were very informative, even though I am still not swayed, I personally am a lazy writier because i have been shot down so many times. Revision is up to me and I have learned that it is more than just making grammical errors, however I am lazy and I absolutly hate revising. After spending 6 hours writing a paper, the last thing I want to do is rewrite it, even though i am aware it should be done.

Poetry
Christensen Chapter #5

I love poetry, actually lately my life has been revolving around poetry. The Christensen chapter is about poetry, my classes in my internship are learning about poetry, and also my group teach lesson is on poetry. I have to admit, I wasn't a big fan of poetry when I was younger, possibly not until college. I think the lvoe for poetry hit me when i was reading a bunch of little sonnets by William Shakespear. I remember exactly where I was and who I was with when I read this one sonnet and I was just in shock, because finally there was a poem that held my interest and I understood it.
I was in my 6th grade advanced english classroom today actually and the students were suppose to bring in any poem that they really enjoyed. My mentor teacher's focus for the lesson is to have every student find a style of poetry that they like or appreciate. It was amazing to see what these students came up with. There is this one boy who chose a poem that was called "My First Love." He immediatly got red in the face when the teacher grabbed his favorite poem and read it aloud to the class. It seemed like a very erotic poem, talking about the circular motion of his fingertips upon the outline of the naked body, stuff. Well, immediatly the kid was embarrassed, but as i listened and as the rest of the class burst into giggles and laughs, the meaning of the poem was revealed. It wasn't an erotic poem at all, it was a poem about basketball. It was truly amazing to find out that this one student had chosen the peom and had seen it as more than just the words on the page, but looked for the deeper meaning within the words. What a great experience!
In this chapter the one poem that stuck out to me was margo Gay's poem about the Vietnam veteran. The vietnam War was the main reason I chose history as my major in school. The interpretation of the war itself made me fall in love with history and politics. It also helped because my father is a Vietnam veteran as well. reading her poem related to my feelings about my father. I am scared to find out what he had to do and I have grown acustom to his silence. He is a great man and I couldn't ask for a better father and best friend, but he doesn't say much, and I know because he is damaged in a way because of the war... and that could be part of that exterior that Margo speaks about. I loved this poem, but I didn't like the end when she said she couldn't let a murderer slide. That line angered to an extent I want to tear the page out. Many men were drafted because they didn't have the money to go to school, and these men were forced into the military at the same time they were forced to leave the states and go to a jungle and kill men and women before they kill you. How could you ever judge someone for trying to stay alive, and how the hell can you call them a murderer. That is almost the most insulting thing a person could ever say to a veteran of a war.

Cohesive Writing Matters
Jago #6

"Giving students a total choice of topics has never worked for me. At the same time, straightjacket prompts with little room for individual expression are also deadly" (Jago, 118). Like i had previously stated in my pror blog, revision is key, but the topic and the writing process coincides beautifully with revision. As a teacher I believe making suggestions on what to write about is good, becuase it allows students to become more creative with thier topic because they are excited about thier topic. On the other hand, Jago believes that there still needs to be structure to keep the student on track, which i agree with as well. Students will write to express themselves more so than writing to finish an assignment. I believe the end product would be more satisfying for the student as well as the teacher if the student was actually interested in the topic of choice and was able to express themselves EFFECTIVLY. Effectivly is key, and I will make that clear in my own classroom. Effectivly writing is the main concept in writing. A student will most definitly feel more proud of their work if they know they had put all of their thoughts together and organizing them to come up with a very persuasive piece of literature. Revision, revision, and revison are the most important way to achieve an effectivly organized paper or essay, becasue it cuts out the grammer errors and the feedback from peers and the teacher allows a student to make corrections on organization, resources, and structure.

Cohesive Writing- The Product
Jago Chapter #5

I really enjoyed Jago's stressed appritiation with revision. I personally should practise this process fo writing more often. if I chose to, I would most definitly be a much better writer. It is laziness combined with frustration. Laziness happens because most students just wrote the entire paper in that one sitting. The last thing they would want to do is re-read what they just wrote and critique it. Well, that is how i always feel. However, I always say I will read it over before I turn it in and make those corrections then... haha... yup that never happens either. That is laziness, and frustration comes from researching a topic for a month, finally putting a paper or essay together creating this massive paper establishing your thoughts and arguements... when i am finished with the paper, I never want to hear about the topic or read anything on the topic for at least 3 months. This is how I am and I assume a lot of students feel the same way about writing cohesivly.
I enjoyed Jago's Five - Day Writing Plan. It is a Five days where the students can focuse on revision in class and out of class, and they always will recieve feedback everyday. I know I would not write a rough draft on my own, every student should however, but many do not. If a teacher would make a rubric establishing due dates and teaching the ritual of writing an effective paper then this revision should happen in class and a process needs to be laid out for the students to abide by.

The Politcs of Language
Christensen #4

YES!!! I love the beginning of this chapter, bringing my two favorite subjects together, history and English. "When i taught literature without examining the social and historical framework, i condoned the biased social messages students absorbed." (106). YES, YES, YES, my thoughts exactly. This is why I chose my minor and major, they are so closely intermingled that it is so easy and fun to think of ways to build off a topic for both subjects. You can learn a great deal as a student if you can develop your English skills through history and vise verse. I know if a class were to read "Huck Finn" without discussing the social standings and southern culture of the time period students will be lost or be subjected to biases. I love the idea of teaching history through classical fictional literature, i think students can learn so much that way. Frankly I feel students might enjoy learning history and English through historical fictional literature. Another great thing about incorporating not politcally correct literature pieces to discuss in class may jump start many students' excitement for writing. Granted a teacher has to careful on what books to select... these are PUBLIC schools.

Writing About Literature
Chapter #4 Jago

I am a talker plain and simple. I can talk and talk and talk all day if i could and if someone would listen. I guess i am lucky in that sense because I never get stuck on what to write about. i just start writing down everything that I am thinking about and something comes up worth explaining. Introductions are not that hard, even though i hear that it is the most difficult for some people. I am not saying this to brag, but i am saying this because it was good for me to read this chapter. I have learned ways to help students that do struggle, or at least how to actually teach a logical way of how to start writing.
Not all essays are opinion questions, because if they were then they would be the easiest questions on the exams and everyone would do well. I really enjoy the simplicity and the graph on page 75. It breaks down how to write and essay on a piece of literature the way i enjoy to write. It starts with a quote and then an opinion. That is where i think people stop, but that isn't the case, sorry one persons opinion is not a well developed answer. Jago adds two more columns: What the quote says about the literature piece and what the quote says about the rest of the world. WOW! perfect... if every student can produce an answer with each of these columns filled out, their paper or essay is almost already written for them.

Teaching Narrative Writing
Chapter #3 Jago

My absolute favorite style of writing has to be creative writing. Creative writing is a way for me to express my thoughts. Sense I was real young I wrote mysteries and plays. I have no idea what got be started or what inspired me to start this kind of writing at such a young age, but I do know i had an incredible imagination and writing was actually fun. Just to put it out there and to admit it... I AM NOT A GREAT WRITER. I never have been a good writer and i will never claim to be a great writer either. I am horrible with gramme and sometimes runons and fragments insert themselves within my train of thought. I always got defeated with writing in school because of these problems. However, when i went home I could write down my own thoughts, plots, and ideas in a way that was comfortable to me, and they were good. Unfortunately, in school we do more than just creative writing and i lost a lot of my writing confidence.
I like what Jago said in the very beginning of chapter 3, "offering constructive criticism on a piece of writing so close to a student's heart is like navigating a minefield." With all the plays and stories i wrote i never let anyone read them, specifically for this reason. I had lost my confidence in school and lost my passion for writing because of the criticism, but i still possessed my passion for my own personal creativity, and i didn't want anyone to take that away from me.
All i have to say now is THANK GOD I AM GOING TO BE A TEACHER! I know i am not the best writer, but i love that about my writing, there is always room for improvement and it has nothing to do with my creativity in anyway, it is only the way i express it. I can teach that idea everyday in my class... it is OK not to be perfect, but if you have something brilliant to say and you are excited to share it, make sure it gets heard clearly.

Writing the Word and the World
Christensen Chapter #3

Wow, what a chapter. Now there were three parts to the chapter, there was a section on the read around method of class discussion, forgiveness poems, and then essay writing. Out of the three i really enjoyed the essay writing section. Which is strange to a certain extent, because i love poetry so I assumed that that section would hold my interests, however on the other hand, i am a history major so essay writing should be my forte.
The possible reason of why i enjoyed reading about how to teach essay writing the most, was because i love persuasive writing. I am a very stubborn, opinionated individual that loves to write about what makes me tick, and essay writing allows me to express this socially awkward quality. How I would start the class is finding out what each student is passionate about, what things make them tick. I believe the best way to get a student excited and motivated to write is to allow them to express their beliefs effectively. I would have them pick their own topic but I would provide examples, in case there are some students who believe they are not passionate about anything. Politics, social issues, famous people, a movie, a song, cars, make up, sports, etc... the list can go on and on, but there is always that one thing that someone can just stand up and rant and rave about something, and in this exercises students would be able to research this topic and learn how to express it in effective writing.
I did enjoy the poetry section of the chapter as well. I enjoyed reading the poems for one, they were very interesting to learn so much about the author with not so many words. I think it is important to give different strategies of how to write one kind of poem, this way the students have multiple ways to choose to structure their poem. Every teenager has at least one problem on their mind, at least one problem. Either it is a friend or family member a teacher or teammate or school or jobs there has to be someone in one of those categories that may need to be forgiven or just written about. This is also another tool for students to express themselves effectively, and frankly, that is one of the main reasons of why i love English. There are so many tools that can be used to express your thoughts and emotions so that others can read more into who you really are, it is an amazing thing!

"Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us: Critiquing Cartoons and Society"
- Christensen, Chapter #2

I have a father who will be turning 62 in May. He is a man that has lived his life to the fullest. He has built multiple cars, he has fought in a war, he owns his own business, and he is a great father to his family. Now, because this man has lived through so many experiences that when he starts to tell about the good ole days i sit straight up and pay close attention. He tells his stories of growing up in a small town where there was a soda shop where they went after school, he has shown me his paper route that he had that helped him pay for his first car when he was 12, he has shown me the multiple scars he has from car races and car crashes in old 1932 coups or 1953 trucks. I am convinced my dad grew up in a place like Mayberry, where everyone new your name and life was simple. Life was very simple back then, people didn't worry about lead base paint or how many germs are running through the water in your garden hose and where wearing your hair longer than your ears was being rebellious. ... life was simple.
Now you are probably thinking what does my fathers life have to do with this chapter... everything! People these days have gotten so incredibly caught up in changing things or finding things wrong with something. There are parents that would like to keep their 2 year old in a plastic bubble then let them play outside in the dirt, where god knows how many bugs and animals and germs they might touch or consume. But the fact is that is life... these experiences are what makes people and children who they are. As a result, i read this chapter with a humorous mind. I literally laughed out loud when the lady went up to the clerk in a toy store for none racist and none sexist toys. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! You have got to be joking. They are just toys, kids play with them they have fun with them they are their friends. Cinderella was my favorite! I am not kidding i had her barbie, her sheets, her blankets, her cups, plates, spoons, movie, swimsuit, etc... if my parents had not let me watch Cinderella, because there were no characters of different ethnicity, then i would have missed out on a great childhood friend. I respect peoples concern with the subject and i do believe, nowadays, cartoons need to shift to be more multicultural. However, life is too short and precious to be so analytical about everything that makes up our society.

Cohesive Writing: Teaching Informational and Persuasive Writing-- Jago Chapter 2

I really really enjoyed this chapter, mainly for the reason that I absolutely love writing persuasively. Right next to creative writing, persuasive writing is another way i can express myself. My mom has told me before I enjoy persuasive writing only because i am so stubborn and opinionated. I 100% agree with her statement as well. I believe my political, religious, and moral beliefs are a huge part of who I am, as a result, I can use these methods to achieve a great many things with my students. I, number one, will get a great outlook on who each student is individually and at the same time find out what they are most interested in. If a student is like me, and feels very passionate about something then the paper might be the best piece of literature they ever wrote. Most importantly, if that same student enjoyed expressing their opinion, then I just helped a student that might not have enjoyed writing previous, enjoy the powerful expression of literature.
Secondly, i would like to discuss her suggestion of using newspapers to help students with topics for writing. This is great in many ways. One way it helps them with a topic they would be more interested in finding out more about, secondly, it gets kids reading the paper. Current events is very helpful in English as well as History classes. So many lessons can begin or be carried out with the information that exists within newspapers, and getting a student to enjoy reading certain parts of the newspaper would help with their literacy skills.

Cohesive Writing: Jago Chapter 1

I really enjoy the set up in this book. In comparison to Christensen though, I would have to agree with Christensen a little more on how she has her own way of writing and communicating her ideas. It was interesting to have the assignment to find 3 resources and put them on our wiki spaces, because almost all of the really good websites i found had to do with jump starting your paper. Jago explains in her chapter the difficulties students have with the beginning of a paper. Starting a paper is the hardest point in writing, actually for any type of writing such as informative, essay, persuasive, and even creative writing. Jago gave ideas for prompts and different strategies to jump start a students creativity for their introductions. She came up with the idea to start the class with a free write proceeded by small group discussions. This would help so many students to receive peer ideas and further brainstorming.
Jago also explained a certain kind of paper writing to help students start writing. This is called the question paper. A question paper starts with a question and then the rest of the paper is dedicated to answering the question. This is a good method in the beginning... but as the year progresses, i believe they need to learn the correct structures of writing.

BUILDING COMMUNITY OUT OF CHAOS - Christensen, Chapter #1

I grew up in a small community and i lived amongst the middle class. My parents were and are still together and no tradegy engulfed my traditional American lifestyle. I have always known that I have been severely lucky in regards to my childhood and upbringing, however, my knowledge of this typical childhood is in some way a hindrance for my future. As i read chapter 1, just within the introduction, i sat wide eyed and shaken about wars between class culture lines, violence at home,within the school, and the on streets. The realization of one teacher knowing what is happening, but struggled to change the way it was brought into her classroom grabbed my attention. The author seemed to mirror how I continuously feel might happen to a white middle class girl with aspirations to become a teacher such as myself. But, the final line in the introduction kept me interested and blanketed my anxiety and fears. Christensen states that "...Students need more than an upbeat, supportive teacher; they need a curriculum that encourages them to empathize with others." (2).

Curriculum of Empathy
"Empathy is key in community building" (Christensen, 6). I 100% agree with the authors thoughts on methods to help these troubled students recognize the difference of circumstances in others, and the ending response not resulting in laughter but actual learning and empathizing. If i at some point in my career as a teacher I am able to have a class with these concerns, I most definitly will follow the authors suggestions and select literature that will show culture differences, hardships, and struggles like she did with the Filipino writer. In addition, the author explained that the students would keep a daily journal to write responses, and in my opinion is a great way for the troubled students to write about thier struggles in comparison to the characters within the literature piece. I strongly believe, amongst other suggestions, would help communicate and realate with a troubled classroom rather than just being a another teacher that struggles to understand and continuously supportive.