Cold #2

I rarely get sick. Usually during the schoolyear, I get one cold which actually requires me to go to the doctor's office. This cold is usually UN-diagnosable. It never will be strep or bronchitis or anything like that; I'll simply feel extremely miserable and beg the doctor for a prescription for Zithromax. Been there, done that already this year.

Now I have another cold. I seriously have been inside of the apartment since Friday. Yesterday i didnt wake up until 1pm and then I watched five episodes of Six Feet Under Season Three---which did turn out better than I thought it would, thank goodness. I missed Rainn Wilson on SNL last night and am pissed about that--think I can rewatch the episode on nbc.com though or find it on Itunes...... I've been taking Nyquil, throat spray, cough drops, and drinking plenty of tea. I definitely feel out of it.

While all of this has been going on, I've been trying to make sure John doesn't catch my cold. Tomorrow night, he takes the physical agility test in order to apply for the police academy. I keep telling him to take Airborne and drink tons of orange juice. I want him to be able to do his best on the test; everytime he tries to hug or kiss me, I say, "Stay away from me," in the most loving tone possible.

Facebook Experience

Am multi-tasking and watching American Idol AND working with Facebook at the same time. On an "A.I." note, I am smitten with the two Chrises: Chris Richardson [a blonde cutie--and I hardly ever find blonde guys attractive--thought his song choice was kind of cheesy but was performed "fairly" well] and Chris Sligh [cutie in a pudgy, adorable way---GOOD singer]. Besides The Office, American Idol is one of the only shows I watch on a regular basis. It seems like a show I'd never watch b/c it is kind of cheesy, but I love it nonetheless.

I already have a Myspace account, so I decided to set up a Facebook account and see what that experience was like. Although Myspace isn't the easiest sites, in terms of navigating and setting up your profile, help is generally easy to find. The onsite tutorials are horrible. When I've been stuck on the site, I've just gone to random profiles-- after deciding if the person looked "nice" [normal photos posted, nothing creepy on their profile] I sometimes emailed her and asked about how to fix pictures, layouts, etc. Most people's profiles come from a layout site that is advertised on their profile. It's easy to look at someone's profile and find links to valid layout websites. Even though I am not that much of a tech person, my Myspace profile has a special layout, Youtube videos, a song, and tons of photos. This was all done pretty easily. There's also tons of tutorials if you do a Google search.

Facebook felt like it was more difficult to navigate. I set up my profile with the general profile information and a photo, but did not know where to go from there. I'm wondering--do you have to have a college email to register with the site? I'm guessing you do, because that's the email the site asked for. The site seems like it gives you less freedom, in regard to designing layouts, including music, etc on your profile. It also seems less ideal for non-undergrad students who are interested in social networking. On Myspace you can easily browse through different profiles,but it seems harder on Facebook, as if you have to have a "plan" before you start your search. I'll keep experimenting with it...

[after A.I. !!]

Lit "in conversation" with each other

In my undergrad years, I had a lit professor who would always talk about pieces being "in conversation" with each other. Seriously, the gateway to a good grade would be those two words.

Aside from that class, connections between different works interest me. I also love modernizations/revampings of classic lit. The Hamlet movie with Ethan Hawke was cool-- he gives his "To be or not to be" speech while walking down the aisle in Blockbuster store. I like when musicians reference literature too. Just the whole mixing together of lit, music, and film is something that fascinates me. On a less scholarly note, I found a music video on YouTube. The song is called "Sweep the Leg" [Karate Kid reference] and William Zabka, the bully from the movie, appears in the music video... I love pop culture.

Got a cool CD via my public library. It is called Songs Inspired by Literature: Chapter One, Artists for Literacy. There are tracks inspired by Tolstoy, Robert Frost, and John Steinbeck. There's also more contemporary pieces that are referenced. Aimee Mann's "Ghost World" is a song inspired by the Daniel Clowes graphic novel, the graphic novel being an inspiration for the feature film. I had heard this Aimee Mann song before but never even connected it with the graphic novel. Looking at the lyrics, the song definitely is "in conversation" with the graphic novel. Listening to the song makes me love the graphic novel and film even more.

Living in the 2007 world where anything can be found online, I think it is fun when we connect these pieces of lit for students. I'm not a Robert Frost fan but hearing David Lamotte's "Dark and Deep" makes me want to go back and reread Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening."

3:33pm and @ home:)

I saw Amy last night. I love how after all these years we now actually get along. I can remember when we were growing up she would call me "Fat Pimple Face" and I'd call her smut names. We'd chase each other around the house and because of my girth, well, yeah, she'd usually catch me. Those were definitely the worst of times.

Now we totally get along. I like going out with her because she gets along with everyone and always seems to put everyone in a good mood. Last night we went to Segra's in the Ironbound part of Newark. On Sundays, they have karaoke. My voice is HORRIBLE --but, hey, that's the type of singers karaoke is for. I love standing up in front of the crowd and singing. I never would have done karaoke years ago but when you're a teacher it definitely forces you to come out of your shell. You can't be overly shy and be a successful authority figure.

This might have been when I was singing "It's So Easy." That song is lame. I never realized that the whole song is basically the chorus, over and over.



Today I bought John a V-day gift. I don't know--I think Valentine's Day is stupid. He came home last week and was so excited because he bought me a gift that he thought I would love. He reminded me of a little kid, coming home with a gift for mom and dad and being super excited about it. He got me a beautiful bracelet that I actually love...and I hadn't gotten him anything. I know he doesn't care but it actually made me feel bad---so today I went out and bought him a few surprises.

2 more days left of break... Netflix DVDs, please arrive soon! I'm tempted to switch to Blockbuster's service b/c you can return DVDs to their store and get new ones from your queue but... i hate Blockbuster.

Dinner talk continued...fanfiction, anime, Mary Sue, where are you?

Over dinner, I mentioned the fanfiction article to John. This article made me think about the "outsiders" when I was in high school---the kids who were not in the major cliques and who generally did their own thing, or tried to act like they did their own thing. At my school, they were called "freaks." In retrospect, I think this is a horrible term for a clique-- I'm sure "freaks" has been replaced by terms like goths, punks, emo kids, etc. All the kids I knew that were "freaks" had one thing in common: their utter LOVE for music--dressing, talking, and looking the part. When I was in high school, I was a circulator...just kind of went back and forth between my "freak" friends and the girls I knew from Honors classes. It was an interesting dichotomy.

Rhiannon and Eileen reminded me of the outsiders from when I went to high school. I think in a 2007 world, they'd probably be less of outsiders because I know of several students who have mentioned anime like Gundam Wing to me.

The key issue in the fanfictions article was the fact that these two girls were being outstandingly creative in how they were responding to anime texts. They were putting themselves into storylines and interacting with anime characters through their own original fiction. They even were illustrating their storylines!

Whereas most teachers would LOVE to hear about students voluntarily constructing complex storylines in their free time, this article mentions how Rhi and Eileen kept their writings out of the classroom. The article specifically mentioned how most students are trained to construct creative writings with definite beginnings, middles, and endings. Since Rhi and Eileen were composing fanfiction under the assumption that any readers would not need a specific introduction or concise conclusion (because of anime knowledge), Rhi and Eileen did not include those aspects in their writing.

This article makes me think of NCLB and how we always put standards on students' writing. Even with my own students, I always emphasize that their Reader's Responses MUST have an intro sentence. Emphasizing all of these requirements can make students feel like there is no place in school for their other creative writing endeavors. Much like the article mentioned, if the girls had brought their fanfiction into school and had showed it to a teacher, they could have at least gotten help with learning word procressing programs and learning how to edit within a program like MS Word, which they were both unfamiliar with. Rhi and Eileen's unfamiliarity with word processing programs brings up another good point--- I think that far too often teachers assume that students know how to do things like email attachments and edit Word documents. This is where our role as teachers can come into play. We know that students can update profiles and download songs easily--but they could actually use our help when it comes to instruction on MS Word editing and emailing attachments. I remember last month I was shocked when I found out my students did not know about MS Word's thesaurus feature. Many times, kids don't know as much tech stuff as we think they do.

Discussing classroom implications for anime fanfiction brings me to my next finding. When I told John about the fanfiction article we had to read, he mentioned Mary Sue. Wikipedia (information bible) states that Mary Sue is: " (sometimes shortened simply to Sue) is a pejorative term for a fictional character who is portrayed in an overly idealized way and lacks noteworthy flaws, or has unreasonably romanticized flaws. Characters labeled Mary Sues, as well as the stories they appear in, are generally seen as wish-fulfillment fantasies of the author." The term first came into "vogue" in 1973 when Paula Smith, a Trekkie, wrote a fanfiction story in connection to Star Trek. In stories, Mary Sue characters are generally exceptional, either in personality traits, appearance, or both. I guess one could say Mary Sue characters are something along the lines of wishful thinking----someone attempting to put themselves into a fiction situation and paint him/herself in the best light possible.

As teachers, I think that the Mary Sues of fanfiction have a lot to offer. Nowadays, I think that a lot of teachers assume that kids are simply obsessed with video games, music, and surfing the Net (but not necessarily doing anything "productive"). Fanfiction not only shows a high level of creativity but it also brings higher level thinking skills into play. If students are able to put themselves within a complex storyline, that means they have formulated an organized way to recall the storyline's plot, setting, conflicts, main characters, and so on.

I don't know of many recent students who have mentioned Gundam Wing. I know that many of my female students read Fruit Baskets; one of my 8th graders is reading a series called Happy Hustel High. I want to find out more about manga and anime--- I read Princess Ai (by Courtney Love, and others) but I do not know much more about manga. Something is telling me Courtney Love is not a manga afficionado. I want to find out more. Any recommendations?

PEW findings...

John and I went out for "Valentine's Day" tonight. We hate crowded restaurants so no matter what, we would not have gone out for the real Valentine's Day anyway. We went to Rincon Spain in Wharton... lots of paella and sangria...mmmm. I made the foolish choice of ordering rice pudding for desert-- John laughed. Of all the things to order in a Spanish restaurant, I chose something that most likely came out of a Kozy Shack plastic container.

Our dinner conversation actually involved the readings for this week. I was telling John about the PEW/Internet survey and the fanfiction article. The Internet survey results did not really surprise me that much.There were two facts that most interested me: how much students are blogging and how much percentages of students in urban populations have self-created content online.

According to the findings, 27% of teens who use the Internet daily also have their own blogs (p. ii). To me, this is astonishing because this is a large part of the teen population. I imagine that most teens who have Internet use at home go on daily anyway; the fact that they are blogging shows that although they may be less engaged with conventional literacy practices (i.e. reading in books), they are still engaged with other literacy practices. It's almost like teens are having their own mini-writing workshops at home. According to the findings, bloggers are also more likely to have self-created content (either their own original work or their work "meshed" with someone else's). This is not hard for me to believe. For instance, as a Myspace user I have found myself intrigued by the ability to change profile layouts, profile songs, images, etc. Being that I blog on the site quite often, I feel this need to figure out how to do these new things.

The amazing thing about "Web 2.0" and this concept of "collective intelligence" is that, many times, even if you have no clue about how to do html or layouts, you can Google the information and find tutorials. In this respect, the Internet seems to be making users more self-reliant. Instead of merely saying, "Oh, I have no idea how to do layout," users can search online and figure out things for themselves. They can get as much information they want about a topic, or as little information they want. I am on the latter side of the tech scale. When I want a new layout, I simply paste in html codes from sites like freeweblayouts.net. Still though, there is some aspect of independence to what I am doing.

Secondly, in regard to the PEW findings, I was interested in the fact that "articistic content creators are slightly more likely to report living in urban areas...40%" (p. 2). For me, this fact raises the fact that although there is a digital divide (access/Internet speed that a majority of users have), teens in urban areas are still using the Web to express themselves, even moreso than teens in suburban and rural areas. The fact that urban teens are turning to online resources to express themselves makes the Web a source of empowerment for them.

I was not surprised at teens' views on copyright/sharing of music. I actually One aspect of the findings that interested me were the comments by two particular teens about when they will buy music CDs vs. when they will simply download songs. For example, one teen commented that she will BUY music from artists that she truly enjoys, however she will download songs of artists whose only songs she likes are the major hits (p. 15). This kind of reminded me of myself and music downloading. I don't use Kazaa or other programs because I am worried about viruses (one of the concerns some teens mentioned in relation to using peer-to-peer networks), but I will get CDs from the library and download songs of artists who I don't think are "worthy" of spending the 15 bucks for a CD (um... my most recent example would be American Idol winner Chris Daughtry). However, if an artist is "worthy (in my mind), then I will spend the money and buy the CD. My students have told me, "Why don't you just buy and download the CD?" I respond by saying that I am a tactile person and like holding the CD, case, and liner notes in my hands. They look at me like I am crazy.

It's nice to know that some of the teens in the survey share the same "belief system" that I do.

Ice Storm, 2007

I KNOW that the news stations are loving the storm/Valentine's Day combination. I can imagine countless news anchors saying things like, "On this icy Valentine's Day, snuggle up and stay warm with the one you love."

We got a snow day---yay! I personally think the work week should consist of a Monday/Tuesday combo, Wednesday off, and Thursday/Friday combo. I detest Wednesdays.

John still had to work today and that's ok. I'm really not into the whole Valentine's Day thing. The past two years we've gone out to eat at Indian restaurants for Valentine's Day...we never make reservations and V-Day is when restaurants are crazy-crowded, so we started this Indian food tradition. There are so many Indian restaurants in the Parsippany area and it doesnt seem like the type of cuisine people are jonesin' for on V-day.

Have done absolutely nothing today, and I guess that's what snow days are all about. I always try to get into this snow day mindset where I will accomplish things---clean the apartment, do laundry, get reading done [whether leisure or school-related]...that never seems to happen. I have been doing dishes in between commercial breaks though--- a semi-accomplishment.

Now I have officially reached a low point in my snow day-- am watching Lifetime Channel. There's this Lifetime movie on called Valentine's Carol. It's a Valentine's version of Christmas Carol. The first hour was actually tolerable; now I simply have it on in the background. Also watched How to Make an American Quilt...either on We channel or Lifetime. I like that movie-- I had forgotten that so many well-known actors were in it.

It's so amazing how a day full of doing nothing can pass by so quickly. If you're watching movies, most are at least 90 minutes long...after a few movies, your day has already passed by you. Might trek out of the apartment later...maybe.

Sunday Laziness

I tend to be quite lazy on Sundays...sometimes to the point of not seeing daylight all day. This is the case with today--it's 3:40 and my biggest accomplishment of the day has been watching the 1st two episodes of Six Feet Under, Season Three. I'm annoyed though--the first two episodes sucked. I LOVe Peter Krause but I refuse to continue watching the seasons on DVD if the rest of the seaosn three episodes are as bad as this one.

On a side note, I have no idea how I will cope with Sunday laziness when I have kids. Will Sunday laziness cease to exist? I hope not....

I feel proud of myself though- actually "did stuff" this weekend. On Friday, saw my friend from "down the Shore" [i am originally from "down the Shore" and it cracks me up when people use that phrase up here in North Jersey] and we saw a cover band. This eccentric guy (not IN the band, but an audience member) was dressed up as Albert Einstein; I guess that was his schtick. He was walking around the bar and dancing. Funny thing is I told a friend about this guy---she said that she saw this guy at a show (same cover band) last year... he must be a pseudo-groupie!

Last night, I went to see a metal band. My friend bought tickets and had no one to go with-- I offered to go. She's always so sweet and generous-- if she wanted to stare at the ceiling for 3 hours and wanted a friend to be there with her, I'd most likely say "yes." The band was called Mastodon and although I plan on never listening to their music in my free time or buying any of their CDs, it was AMAZING to watch them on stage. Watching kids crowd surfing was interesting too. Two kids circumvented the security guards who were catching the crowd surfers---these two kids ended up on the stage---the security guards held them by their necks (like it was right out of a movie) and "tossed them out."

If I wasn't a teacher, I think I'd make a good "professional people watcher." I get entranced by watching people and seeing how they interact with one another.

Also--- note to any single people out there: metal shows are the PLACE to meet men. The ratio of men to women was somewhere in the range of 50:1. Most of the guys at this show were fairly good looking. We're not talking 'bout 80s hair metal fans...I don't know what kind of metal Mastodon is known for... but in the crowd I mostly saw guys with nice, normal hair and good goatees :) I saw this one guy who had on a 70s-ish yellow cardigan with cordoroy pants. He definitely stood out a bit.

Is there a "Web 1.5"? If so, that's me.

The notion of literacy is expanded even more in ch 2 of New Literacies 2.0. Knobel and Lankshear explicate the different mindsets prevalent in 2007: Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. The most important point of this chapter is that "We are presently at a point in the historical- cultural development of literacy where we don’t really know how to deal educationally with these new literacies." School-sanctioned activities/lessons indeed seem to be separate entities when compared to students' home lives and the literacy activities that engage them in their private lives.

The biggest challenge is that our Web 2.0 students are mostly being taught by Web 1.0 teachers. Even though the chapter mentions that anyone 35 or under would be classified as Web 2.0 (me!), I still feel like a Web 1.0 teacher. Instead of writing Do Nows on the chalkboard, I project the images onto the Smartboard. Instead of handing out Xeroxes of a poem or photo, I use the laptop and Smartboard. Instead of having students always create posters for group projects, they use Powerpoint and Clipart. It's just a different means to address the same end. In other words, I am really not doing anything different than I have previously done.

The "old wine in new bottle" metaphor is perfect for the current challenge in education, in connection to new literacies and teaching to those new literacy forms. In the study within chapter 2, students were given laptops for supposed productive class activities. The teacher seemed to conclude that the laptops were for notetaking. While she analyzed a poem and occasionally sought student input, most students were Iming each other or reading blogs. While the multitasking is "okay," perhaps the teacher could have included multitasking elements into her lesson (example: giving students lists of Robert Frost links, giving students links to other related poems, etc in order to let them multitask in connection to the task at hand). My above idea is best summarized with the phrase, "Easier said than done."

I think the issue for teachers nowadays is the "fear factor." There are a lot of productive activities that students could do online and through use of technology, but there's always that fear that they might Google an inappropriate site or image. As said in chapter 2, filtering does not always work because you might be restricting students' searches too much, resulting in students being frustrated.

Additionally, although today's students may be able to multitask well, as teachers it is uncomfortable to think they text message friends and fully hear us at the same time. I know when I teach and see a student drawing or doodling, many times (despite having read articles that say this is fine so long as the student is also managing the task at hand) I tell the student to put the pen/pencil down. How do I monitor whether he/she is addressing the task at hand each second that he/she is also drawing? I also feel like a hypocrite sometimes. While I chastise students who are drawing while I am teaching, here I am typing out this homework assignment. At the same time, I am listening to music and going to Webpages every few minutes. Yet, I am still on task.

Web 2.0 members are part of "collective intelligence." As literacy teachers (all of us, no matter what core subject we teach), it is difficult to know how to handle the Web 2.0 generation. We obviously aren't going to handle all the reins over to the students, but how do we let go of our we-are-the-expert/authority mentality and mix in opportunities for students to show collective intelligence?

This chapter especially influenced me through the examples of Amazon.com and how that company has changed the shopping experience. Experts on entertainment value of particular titles are now not only New York Times reviewers; the experts are also the general public. I can't even count how many times I have gone to sites like Amazon and had the experience of user reviews either persuading or dissuading me from buying a product. This is a different experience from previous generations because instead of relying on "experts" (for example, professional book reviewers), we are relying on each other. If I could somehow convert this experience to the classroom—where I wouldn't feel the need to show MY expertise on topics, but instead would allow my knowledge to combine with students' knowledge (knowledge from their own background experiences and knowledge from Web resources that they find).

This chapter makes literacy seem like an even more complicated maze than I ever thought. I am looking forward to reading chapter 3 because even though I have seen the word "new literacies" over and over, I still do not know if I "get it." My Web 2.0 mind (I'm a little of column A, a little of column B--- in connection to Web mindsets) is telling me to Google "new literacies" and get some more knowledge.

'Til I write again…

New Literacies 2.0, ch 1: What IS Reading?

When I got my first teaching job (still my current job), I was told that the open position had changed from Language Arts to a Reading position. I was asked if that would be a problem, while simultaneously being told that the Reading class was basically the same as Language Arts. Fresh out of college and looking for a job, I replied, without much thought, “Yes, I’m still interested.”

And here I am 5 years later.

At my school, “Reading” class was created because they switched to block scheduling and if they didn’t create a pseudo-Language Arts class, two L.A. teachers would be out of a job. I am “allowed” to use the content area/on-fiction selections in the Prentice Hall text (most of which are painfully boring and selections which middle schoolers can’t connect to). I have since added in tons of illegal photocopied stories and a novel J .

To me, Reading is so much more than decoding, comprehension, writing, and oral reading fluency. Literacy is also much more than the above skills. To me, literacy is the simultaneous viewing, understanding, interpreting, and interacting with text of any kind…and trying to address the implications of that specific text.

In ch 1 of New Literacies 2.0, the complex views of literacy seem to have one similarity: the idea that literacy is not an independent, individual act--- it involves one’s social/cultural interactions with another person, group, or institution. Freire’s concept of literacy stated that it was necessary for people to “read the word and the world.” With Freire, reading was more than looking at words on a page and being able to pronounce them. Words could allow people to be critically aware of oppression and even attempt to change it.

[ I wish I had the Freire/Macedo book in front of me. I used Literacy: Reading the Word and the World for a course last semester; somehow that book and a Paul Gee book are currently “missing” from my bookshelf—I have this fear that I somehow accidentally returned them to the MSU library---I’m a pretty calm, laidback person but it frustrates me to no end when I lose/misplace books]

Gee saw literacy as being able to participate in many discourses, both primary and seconday. While Freire and Gee’s notions both involve the “reader’s” participation in the world, Freire’s notion seems to be that if your discourse is considered less dominant then you should use your knowledge and try to raise awareness about the oppression.

With literacy, there is more at stake. Literacy is not just decoding novels and knowing how to read the newspaper. Literacy is taking a critical look at texts and figuring out how they fit into the world and considering additional texts that people need to be exposed to.

Further complexities of literacy were shown through Green’s (1988) three-dimensional model, with the most important point being that “no one dimension has priority over the others.” Green’s concept seems close to Gee’s idea that a powerful literacy is not necessarily one specific type of literacy; rather it is a “fluent mastery of languages uses within…secondary Discourses” (p.17).

Nowadays, literacy is more than reading a book, knowing the answer to a comprehension question, or using website information. Literacy is maneuvering in our current world, both “physical space” and cyberspace. Literacy is maneuvering between those worlds and knowing how to interpret information/knowing which information is not worth interpreting. Literacy is being able to use information to control or change
one’s world.

Literacy in the 21st century is multi-faceted--- it makes me think of a tree with various branches breaking off from one another into smaller branches, which eventually then somehow intersect with one another.

Bullshit news

I have been in a good mood today. When I left work, as I walked down the hallway, I could feel a huge smile spread across my face. Went and worked out- nothing big--just walking on the treadmill and listening to some good music.

All this stuff about the death of Anna Nicole Smith was on...CNN! Although CNN tries to be "real news," they're just like any other major news channel...succumbing to gossip. It cracks me up to watch the news...turn on different stations and they basically have the same segments on at the same time. Yesterday, CNN and Fox News Channel both had something on Lisa Nowak, the astronaut who tried to kidnap/kill another woman who was in love with an astronaut that she [Lisa] also loved...so soap operaish...and difficult to express with correct syntax. One news station entitled their segment, "Lunar Love Triangle." Another station had the headline title of "Astro-nut?"

Sometimes I think it would be fun to work for news stations and think up witty feature story titles...then I snap back into reality.

The Anna Nicole Smith coverage is ludicrous. I guess it is "sad" that she died and, yes, she is a pop culture figure but who really cares? While on the treadmill, I saw all the Anna Nicole footage...you couldn't miss it. Tomorrow they are doing an autopsy. I don't think I'd be surprised if the death was somehow connected to Trimspa and all that crap that she took to lose weight. I know weight loss stuff is "supposed" to be safe [or so they say], but all of that metabolism-increasing stuff has to be bad for you....maybe some type of heart condition/attack. It could have been some type of overdose too...

Regardless, is it really necessary to have this all over the news? Tonight's Larry King is devoted to Anna Nicole Smith. Thank goodness it is Thursday night and NBC rocks- I will have no temptation to switch over to Larry King Live. I try to stay away from the pointless "news" crap but it's hard when it is on every channel...

Grade grubbing

We just switched to a new semester last week---so I got new students. It is truly refreshing. I can toss lessons/policies that do not work and start all over. Since my 8th graders never take "Do Nows" seriously [I kind of think they're lame too], I am instead having them do 5 minutes of freewriting. Though it isnt that much time, it certainly feels like a LONG time to them. The kids are enjoying it, thus far. I have a writing prompt website that I show on my Smartboard and they can respond to whatever they want--or they can write something else unrelated to the prompts. The topics are ludicrous and fun... for example: what would you do if cows gave root beer instead of milk? Since the students also have Language Arts class in addition to Reading [and since LA is considered core and my class is "supplemental,"] I can basically do whatever I want with the curriculum. The focus of the freewriting is not grammar, paragraphs, etc. It's just a way to get them focused for class...and it is working so far! I also use the time to write---although I find that my writing is choppy and UNeloquent. I want my creativity back!

Today at the end of the day, a student from last semester came to my classroom. I instantly said, "Let me guess- you want to know about your grade." This is a student who is "smart" but has been lazy in my class. I gave him several opportunities to hand in a very important assignment [I even sent a handwritten message to his new teacher for this semester] and he never did... this resulted in his final average for marking period two coming out to a C. I HATE how students think a C= an F. Furthermore, I am very clear with my expectations for my course. If a student gets a C or below, he is either having tons of difficulty with my class and NOT doing homework or he is doing nothing at all.

I explained why he got the grade and of course he gave me "puppy dog" eyes, saying he handed in the work to the Absentee bin in the classroom this past Monday and blah, blah, blah. I asked when he dropped off the papers and he said, "You weren't here; the lights were off but your door was open." Hmm...interesting coincidence...I just so happened to be out of the room when the work was handed in. Then he continued talking and had the audacity to say, "Maybe you lost the papers I handed in." I ended the conversation by telling him that I saw no papers in the Absentee bin and, additionally, the marking period ended last Friday so if he handed in the papers on Monday, then I was not under any obligation to even accept the work.

It doesn't surprise me that this student came to see me about his C average. This is the same student whose mother, upon him being written up for disruptive behavior, stated that I have a "personal vendetta" against her son--- ridiculous!

The whole situation just pissed me off. I get more and more of these grade arguments all the time. Kids have a thousand excuses--- so do their parents.

What makes me even more upset are the kids who are doing poorly in my class [D/F] and whose parents I call...sometimes the parents don't call back or just sound nonchalant when I say, "Your child is failing."

Being a parent is a hard job, obviously...but there has to be a middle ground between the passive, non-chalant parent and the ridiculous, excuse-making parent.

Searching for a hobby

I had my clothing all ready for the gym- everything was packed and in my car so that when I left work, I would drive directly to the gym, get changed, and work out...

1 omelette and half a hamburger later, here I am... oh well, there's always tomorrow.

I think that I need a hobby. I do "things" with my free time, but I don't do anything that is particularly active. I also do not do too many things that require someone else to be present. Watching movies, jogging on a treadmill with my Ipod on the highest volume, obsessively playing Tetris, reading...these are all fairly solo activities.

I tried taking a jewelry making class 2 years ago. I got frustrated...I couldn't figure out how to make the stupid clasp for the necklace and the teacher wasn't much help- she would just finish the project for you. I hate that!

I've done teacher poetry programs through the Dodge foundation...that's enriching and everything but... I'd like to do something else.

My friend, Jaime, can do everything-- she makes stain glass designs for her apartment...she can fix things...she can put up sheetrock! I feel like I am so passive... and I don't know why I whine...if I want to change, it is up to me...and it is not really even an issue of changing...just of being more open to things. I've been known to work hard at things and put effort into accomplishing tasks--- but usually I am working hard at things that I am normally good at... I usually quit doing something once I am not too good at it... maybe I will have to give the clasp-making a 2nd try. [cue cheesy inspirational music...]

Technology and today's children

Last night, I went to the public library for a program about papercutting. The program was led by a man named Homer Hansen. He has created papercutting designs for years. By simply folding a sheet of paper into a square and making various cuts, he is able to create intricate designs.

I got to talking to Homer and asked him if he had any grandchildren. He told me that he didn’t have grandchildren. However, he often teaches papercutting programs for children at various libraries and schools. He said he doesn’t like the idea of video games where children are being exposed to killing and violence; he likes to show them simple papercut designs so that they do not get frustrated and will at least attempt to create a work of art.

Homer is an interesting man because despite being 8o years old and doing “old school” activities like papercutting, he incorporates technology into his life. He uses email to correspond with libraries and schools. He also has his own newsletter that he prints “whenever he feels like it” (that’s what it truly says on one of the newsletter covers). One of the newsletter covers was made through the process of scanning fabric!

I think about Homer and then I think about the children of today--- two vastly different generations.

I can’t say that the findings of this week’s readings surprised me. In the article, “Children Online,” I liked reading about the researcher’s experience of learning about an online community called Gathering of the Elves. The online community reminded me of the type of clique you’d see at a middle or high school. I didn’t think rejection could really occur in online forums, but the article gave the example of a girl who would post to awkward,off-storyline threads to the discussion board. For awhile, she was shunned and her posts were ignored. Finally, Elianna stepped into the situation and discussed the posts with the young girl. One could even say that Elianna intervened in a bullying situation.

While I can see how online communities are social arenas and while these virtual worlds provide opportunities for critical thinking and creativity, children still need to see one another face-to-face. I like the idea of the online community but it would be nice to imagine all of these online players meeting at a coffee shop once in awhile, bringing their laptops and planning out storylines and dialogue together, in person.

In connection to the findings of the Henry J. Kaiser foundation, what surprised me was that despite being told by professionals that children under the age of 2 should not watch any television, during a normal day 68% of all children use screen media (a majority use screen media in the form of a TV). While I think that it seems near-impossible for a parent to not have their child watch any television (99% of all homes own tvs, afterall), I worry about the television that parents do allow their children to watch. I work at a public library and parents are constantly coming in and taking out Leap Frog and Baby Einstein videos. I think to myself, instead of having your kid plop down and watch TV, why not give her enriching experiences like going to a children’s museum or walking around a park? The article even used the word “babysitter” in connection to some parents’ use of television.

The Kaiser article’s assessment of how proactive toddlers are in connection to technology makes me think about how many of today’s children seem to have this attitude of “Me, me, me!” When today’s toddlers and preschoolers are turning on TVs themselves, loading CD-Roms, and asking for favorite DVDs/videos, I have to ask myself, “Who’s the head of the household?” 54% of respondents said that they always enforce media rules within their household. What about the other 46% of parents/respondents? I also wonder what the specific media rules are.

Out of the entire Kaiser Family study, it was satisfying to see that reading/being read to is mostly a constant part of children’s lives, despite the advancements of video games and children’s entertainment. Although the article cited reading as a constant part of children’s lives, I think that it is safe to say that technology still plays a greater role in the majority of children’s free time. Things may reverse though---who knows? Things tend to work in the way of cycles. I recently read an article about math in schools and a “return to the basics.” While technology will always be a part of our lives, I have this idealized vision that eventually kids will be like the man who I met last night---mixing new technologies with simpler, yet valuable activities. A world consisting of countless Homer Hansens wouldn’t be all that bad.