"Whoever you give attention to is who you give power to"

The subject line is paraphrasing from one of the things that Craig Scott said on today's episode of Oprah. He was making the point that in response to the VA Tech incident, the media has to focus its attention on the victims and the type of people they were. The news stations keep focusing on the shooter and "warning signs," "what could've been done," etc. While that is certainly important, too much focus on Cho Seung-Hui is wrong. That's probably what he would have wanted. Focusing on the shooter also might make other psychologically unsound students want to "be like" Seung-Hui and copy his actions. There have been Columbine copycat attempts and I worry that the media attention on the shooter might bring about more copycat incidents.

The strangeness of it all is that what happened @ Virginia Tech was fucked up, but not totally unsurprising. Yesterday John asked me, "Can you believe this happened?" and I immediately answered, "Yes. " The media does nothing but focus on every facet of violence. Even with the VA Tech shooting---some of the first facts mentioned were that it was now the "biggest school massacre" in history. Even use of the word massacre seems to sensationalize the event. Tragedy is a more accurate word and focuses on the seriousness of the issue. We talk about the psychological instability of the shooter, but not until it is too late and senseless deaths have occurred.

Craig Scott went to Columbine HS and his sister, Rachel, was one of the fatal victims of the 1999 school shooting. He now travels across the country and speaks about the topic of school violence. The website www.rachelschallenge.com is devoted to the cause of preventing school violence.

I'll end this blog entry with some of Craig's words that he spoke in an October 2006 speech. I think they're wise words to consider:

"I've grown up in a culture today that doesn't teach me anything of substance, of value, how it bombards me every day with messages of emptiness and shallowness. And the youth are crying for something to stand for, something to believe in. If it weren't for ……..my family, I possibly could have fallen into the lies that our culture tells us. But now I've traveled, I've spoken to over a million teens across this country. I've not always liked what I've seen in the schools. I've seen depression, anger and loneliness, students without direction or purpose. I've seen students who called themselves cutters, have cut themselves because that's the way they know to take out the pain that they're dealing with. I've learned a lot about my generation. And I've learned a lot since I lost my friends and my sister. And the main thing I've learned is that kindness and compassion can be the biggest antidotes to anger and hatred, and I believe the biggest antidotes to violence.

With the program my father started called, Rachel's Challenge……. we've seen bullying stopped, suicides aborted..How have we done it? We've done it with a simple story of a young girl who believed in compassion……. That was the story of Rachel Joy Scott. But my sister is not the only one who believes in kindness, and she's not been the only one in her brave stance against the injustice willing to stand up for the one who gets put down in school, to sit by the student that sits all alone at lunch, and to talk to or reach out to the one who is consistently ignored or made fun of. She literally has inspired millions of people to continue the chain reaction she started. A lot of those are students across the country.

I've read Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold's journals that were recently released, and basically Eric wrote in one of his journals, "If only you were nicer to me, maybe this wouldn't have happened."
I don't know who else is tired of band-aid answers, but I know band-aids aren't going to save kids from dying. I give every student out there a challenge my sister put down on paper a month before she died when she wrote for her class -- she said, "I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go." "

Spring Break, 2007, woo-hoo!

I can't believe that spring break is over already. Tomorrow is the start of marking period 4. I'm thinking of making some kind of countdown "structure" and hiding it behind my desk---you can't let the kids know you're that excited about the end of the schoolyear---gotta "play it cool."

I hate to be self-indulgent and write one of those "all about my vacation" blogs but, hey, blogs are pretty self-indulgent to begin with. So here we go: highlights from spring break, 2007--- 4 days spent in the lovely West Coast Florida town of Weeki Wachee....and we didnt visit the beach even once... still had fun though.

***Seeing a Dali exhibit in St. Petersburg--- we went along on a guided tour for awhile but soon left the docent behind. I don't need to know EVERY detail of Dali's life. In one painting, there is a double-image of two girls and Voltaire's head. I made the mistake of saying I didn't see the Voltaire image and the docent tried to guide me through it. She then asked, "See it now?" and I replied, "I feel a bit under pressure being in front of like 50 people. I'll look later." :)

***Canoeing! We went canoeing on a small river in Homosassa Springs. We decided to be adventurous and canoe in the "wilder" part of the river. We canoed to a pub and grille. When we docked our canoe, the looks on the pub's patrons was priceless! Ended up talking to some older gents who smugly made fun of us with every "NJ Girls" joke known to exist. Also-- on our canoe adventure, we passed this small plot of land that had monkeys on it--seriously! I also got painful sunburn---on my arms only---the stupidest looking sunburn I've ever had in my life.

***Going to Busch Gardens... You can buy this fun card thing for the same price as you'd pay for regular admission--- so we bought it. Then when you enter the park, if you have the fun card, they scan your fingerprint. I think Busch Gardens is linked to the CIA or something.

***Karaoking at the Pickled Parrot Bar. The stage had this sequined curtain behind it. It was kind of strip-bar-esque. Sang Hilary Duff with all my heart. Some older German guy bought us drinks and then proceeded to growl at Krystal and Jaime. Guess I'm not cute enough to get growled at---and I'm grateful. A poor man's version of Matthew McConanaghey also talked to us for a bit. There's something about a guy with a Southern accent--I kind of like it.

***Getting BBQ sauce confiscated at the airport---ridiculous! I bought this Anheuser-Busch bbq sauce for John's dad. It has beer in it! Since the new policy at the airport is no liquids or gels in carry-on luggage, they took it away. I was so pissed. But it makes for a good story.

Good times.

Pro-Ana/Pro-Mia, etc.

Fox 5 had a story on last night's news about eating disorders and websites that seem to be promoting anorexia and bulimia as certain "lifestyles." Because they didn't want to "encourage" any of their viewers to seek out the website, the news channel specifically stated it was not going to share any specific websites with the audience.

Well, people aren't idiots and can use Google quite easily. Even if you are an idiot, when you search through Google, the site does spellcheck for your search terms, etc.

I was curious about these sites and tracked some of them down tonight. The movements are called Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia, anorexia and bulimia, respectively. It's crazy- on the Pro-Ana site, there's all these daily testimonials from girls [didn't see any from guys] about low calorie consumption, taking speed, etc. One girl was proud of her accomplishment today: 1oo calories consumed. It's crazy. Pro-Mia websites were similar, but Pro-Ana sites seemed more abundant on the web.

I can't imagine obsessing over food like that so much... I mean, I tend to be an "emotional eater" and sometimes tend to overeat...but I can't imagine having food totally be such a focus point of my life. Sometimes I feel like I am borderline compulsive eater, but for the most part, I eat what I should. If I binge, it usually is when I am alone though---which I know is bad. Tonight I wanted a little "treat" of trail mix--I know that "trail mix" is not legitimately healthy when it contains M&Ms and other sweets like this specific mix did. I wanted a little bit-- I finished the bag. I don't get why those type of things happen or why I do them.

I wonder why eating disorders are so abundant in today's society--- I mean, there's a myriad of reasons and it certainly is a complex issue---I just don't know if I completely "get it." When can we be happy with ourselves? It's not an easy question to answer at all.... I was very large in high school, lost weight in college, and have recently gained a little weight back. It's frustrating. It's just food and it's just there to keep us alive and give us nutrition---but why is it such a huge facet of so many of our lives???

Arghs Galore

I need to run outside and scream "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" at the top of my lungs. I need to jog on the ground and pound my feet so hard on the pavement that there is a rhythmic booming sound. Throwing a few glasses and shattering them might feel pretty good now too.

This week has been crazy. Students have been off the wall and I have felt like this dazed person, just walking through this haze of craziness. Sometimes I feel so tired and strained from work that I don't react appropriately to misbehavior. I hate feeling out of energy that much. On Monday, I MUST kick one of those 8th grade bastards out of class. It's mainly two boys who are driving me crazy. They are rude and don't listen, despite being given TONS of chances. And that's my problem... I give chances, I make threats, and then I don't follow through. But Monday, someone has to leave. I don't know why I wait so long to kick someone out of class.

After work, I chaperoned the 6th grade social. Kids were running around like crazy. It's such a surreal experience too. The DJ was playing songs that I knew and liked...yet, I'm standing in the middle of the gym, "chaperoning." It's weird to see kids singing along to songs like "Since You've Been Gone." They huddle in groups and sing the song with such conviction---yet they're 12 years old. What heartbreak have they felt? They sing along to "1985"--a song about a housewife who misses the excitement of her previous years. These kids sing along with it, not realizing what the song is really about. And granted, it's just some stupid pop song...but I think seriously about stuff like that.

Tonight I'm meeting up for dinner with a friend. Tomorrow is poetry workshop. Not too exciting of a weekend. Can't wait for spring break.... I need to do SOMETHING, to be away from work and from kids. It's almost here...

Networking, 2007

Because of technology, social networking has completely changed. Ideas can spread so much faster through the use of email, websites, and social networking sites. It's as simple as copying and pasting text, forwarding an email, or saving/sending an image. Even those who are not completely tech-knowledgeable can participate in the process with little difficulty. Through use of search engines like Yahoo and Google, users can find online tutorials and learn more about technology.

Social networking makes me think of the phrase, "It's not what you know, but who you know." In the Wikipedia entry for this week, the entry states: "...power within organizations often comes more from the degree to which an individual within a network is @ the center of many relationships than actual job title." This idea also connects with how ideas can spread so quickly through the use of technology. For example, with Myspace--- if someone has a small circle of friends and forwards something to them, the forwarded idea/concept may have little effect. If the same user has many people on their friends list from many "walks of life" and from many different places, the ideas will spread easier because they are being transmitted to a wide range of users.

Due to this quick spreading of ideas, there are definite implications for teaching and learning. The one that concerns me most is this: since ideas can spead so quickly online, I get concerned about students who may see incorrect information about particular news or social issues. If one student "spreads" this idea to another and then so on, wrong information will be embedded in their minds. I know, for instance, there are websites out there that claim the Holocaust didn't happen. There's websites that make other ludicrous historical claims too. Because of the quick spreading of ideas through social networks (online), there are huge educational implications. As teachers, we have to teach students how to judge the validity of a site and how to properly search online for academic material.

renderings of Hopkin Green frog...hehe

If you go to http://www.lostfrog.org/index2.html and click on the main site image, it will constantly change into different "interpretations" of lost frog "fliers." Very funny. The site is worth a view....A few examples:






And my personal favorite...

"His Name is Hopkin Green Frog"

I am fascinated by what happens in others' worlds, even if those "others" are strangers. I love finding old grocery lists in the shopping cart that I choose @ the supermarket; I like finding middle schoolers' misplaced notes on the dirt-caked hallways of school; and I like finding past readers' notes in books that I check out from the library. I love book collections like David Rothbart's Found and Frank Warren's PostSecret.

In short, the Hopkin Green Frog story goes like this: Someone in Seattle posted a "lost frog" flier," even featuring an address! This occurred in Sept, 2003. In the end, it turned out that the lost frog was a stuffed toy and that its owner was an autistic teen.

I can see how Hopkin Green Frog spread across the Internet so easily. First off, the flier looks so innocent with its' hand-drawn frog and incorrect grammar/punctuation. It reels you in because you think of a little kid losing a pet, stuffed animal, ...anything. You don't know if the lost frog is a stuffed animal or actual frog...both scenarios seem absurd: posting fliers for a stuff animal vs. having a frog as a pet...

When I Googled hopkin green frog (no quotation marks), I got about 34,000 hits. When I then Googled lost frog (again, no quotation marks), I got over 1,500,000 hits. There's links to Mike Whybark's blog entry, "Hopkins Explained."

I guess the reason why this whole "thing" caught on was because it did fit into Dawkins' 3 characteristics for a successful meme. Without getting too crazily detailed:

"Fidelity, fecundity, and longevity": The lost frog flier was easy to copy (either xeroxing or saving the digital image and forwarding it to people)-- the information on the flier was simple to read, so the ideas would easily stay within the reader's/viewer's mind. Also, the wording was especially memorable, making for easy copying/spreading: "Him name is Hopkin Green Frog." It is particularly catchy --almost could sound like the name of some obscure band trying to be hip or ironic or something.

Additionally, the "lost frog" meme caught on even more when people started blogging about it. Individuals created domains like lostfrog.org and through the postings on a site called Metafilter, a user researched and concluded that Hopkin Green frog was a toy offered in a Mcdonald's Happy Meal. The whole Happy Meal connection makes the story even more hilarious--- this kid was posting fliers for some dumb Happy Meal toy? Furthermore, the Hopkin Green frog flier/concept lends itself to longevity. There are so many plays on the wording of the flier. It's easy to poke fun at too: "Hopkin Green Frog: Him pretty existential cool..." & "Hopkin Green Frog is the Holy Grail, the Fountain of Youth, the Luminiferous Ether, the Buddha on the Road..." (both from http://www.metafilter.com/43185/him-name-is-hopkin-green-frog-
this blog entry is from June of 2005; another member of the Metafilter community pokes fun @ this blog post, saying how the hopkin Green frog "thing" has been posted about 2x already---he must be a "cool hunter" and get mad when people regurgitate ideas that have already been on various websites/online communities before).

Another Metafilter member says he wouldn't be surprised if there were some lost frog flier tshirts surfacing out there. It wouldn't surprise me either!

I had never heard of Hopkin Green frog or this lost frog flier before. John hadn't either. Are we "uncool"?

Youtube thoughts

I discovered Youtube awhile back. John wanted me to see this video of a band playing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" on kitchen untensils and applicances! He didn't know the band's name but simply typed the song name into YouTube and we found the video quite easily.

I think Youtube is fascinating. I don't really use the website on a regular basis though. Even going to it right now and poking around, nothing interests me that much on the site to spend too much time there. Most of the videos are just random people (that's the point) but the videos aren't particularly entertaining.

The site is pretty easy to search. Case in point: last night on American Idol, during Sanjaya's performance, the camera zoomed in numerous times on a little girl who was crying in the audience...actually crying tears of joy, I think. Sanjaya has fans?!? The footage of the crying little girl lasted for about 30 seconds, inconsecutive seconds, but still a lot of camera time for some random audience member. I said to John, "I guarantee that footage will be on Youtube like crazy tomorrow." I just went to the site and searched with the term "american idol girl crying" and a few videos instantly popped up with the footage I was looking for.

Generally, I only use Youtube if I am feeling nostalgic...it's easy to find clips of TV shows from the 80s. One evening John and I must have played the Mr. Belvedere themesong (and sang along) 30x. Our downstairs neighbors must have loved that!

The second thing I go to Youtube for is "scandallous," gossipy news. Things like World Cup soccer fights and Britney Spears drama. It's like an interactive Star or US Weekly magazine.

I know some of my students have posted stuff on Youtube, which is pretty cool--the fact that they're making "creative" things and getting online audiences. What worries me about the Youtube era is that people are sometimes put on the site unwillingly--through someone else using a camera phone, digital camera w/ recording devices, etc.

A recent article in Radar magazine, "Prisoners of Youtube," best summed it up: "With 780 million camera phones sold worldwide in the last two years, no one is safe from senseless and random ridicule. The surveillance state we've been fretting about for so many years has snuck up on us. But it's not concerned with political control. It just wants to see people screw up."

I, like millions of others, like seeing people screw up... I just hope I don't end up being the screwed up one showcased on the site, for all the world to see.

Simon and me

I have one thing in common with American Idol judge Simon Cowell--- a deep love for dark grey and black shirts. I'm sure all of his clothing is Armani, Versace, and so, but he wears the same v-neck sweaters and clingy grey tshirts all the time.

I'm like Simon----I own tons of snug black tshirts--I layer them under clothing--- if a workshirt is too snug to button because of "winter weight," I wear a black tee underneath, keep the shirt partly unbuttoned, and all is well. Plus black underneath a layered shirt is "slimming"--I think.

This morning I could not find my "Personal Identity" (juniors section!) black tshirt. I love this particular shirt... light, cottony fabric...and it falls a little below my hip. It's perfect. When I bought it, I should have bought 7 others: same shirt, same color.

Tonight, the search continued. I walked around and around the apartment, searching under piles and piles of clothing...even putting away clean laundry (shocking!) to see if the black shirt had already been washed. My search was fruitless.

I just found the shirt a few minutes ago... beneath, what else, a pile. And a pile I had already checked! It's just a stupid shirt but I feel such relief. Sometimes I get obsessive about the tiniest things...like if I misplace a book...it drives me crazy...especially if I am in the middle of reading it. It's times like these that I realize I need to try to keep the apartment clutter-free.... I have this simple theory that a cluttered residence creates clutter in the mind...and not fun, wacky, creative clutter either...but annoying, overwhelming, draining clutter.

I'm working on fixing the clutter...isn't that like the new "American dream"? ---simplifying our lives and getting to a point where we are clutter-free...

Snowbound, corned beef, 300 ---all rolled into one weekend

Argh. I hate when snowy weather arrives before the weekend. Friday was supposed to be a 1/2 day anyway and they closed school instead. Not to be picky, but now that 1/2 day has to be made up as a full day during June...when the prepubescent 6th graders are running around all sweaty and stinky. Ugh.

Since it was pretty bad driving weather on Friday, I walked down to a friend's apartment and hung out there. Tried corned beef and cabbage for the 1st time and actually enjoyed it---not that I'd ever willingly request it at a restaurant or anything.

Yesterday, John and I were mallrats----went to Palisades Park Mall and spent the day there. Bought a pair of Converse All-Stars so that I can "recapture" my youth----everyone seems to be wearing them now! When they were in style, I wanted them so badly but for some reason, never got them. Got a book too. These were impressive purchases. John and I love malls but we generally never buy stuff. We just like the concept of the mall. Palisades Park Mall is like its own little city...it seems almost feasible that one day apartments could be built on top of the mall.

We also saw a late showing of 300 in the Imax theatre! First of all, 30 minutes before the show, the line outside the theatre was crazy--long...mostly male too. We bought our tickets at 3pm and the 4:45 and 7:15 shows were already sold out. The movie was amazing! I wasnt really that much into seeing it, but it was awesome. The visuals were stunning and I kept wondering how they made everything look the way it did. Everything was, of course, horrifically gory and gruesome but fascinating at the same time. I did see a Mom and Dad with two young girls entering the movie theatre---idiots. This movie is totally inappropriate for kids....

Since John's into weightlifting, he was curious to see what I thought of how the Spartans looked....We had talks about body form after we saw Batman Begins also--Christian Bale worked out like crazy for the movie. But the Spartans....



they're not too shabby.

It's a Bob Marley kind of afternoon

Well, it was 75 degrees outside yesterday, according to my car's thermometer. After work, I sat outside with the cats and my neighbors. Like three old women chatting on porch stoops, we sat outside for about an hour and a half, our cats being one of the main topics of conversation. I can't help it---I've been a "cat person" since childhood. They're grouchy, cranky, super affectionate, territorial, and so on--- I love the unpredictability.

I'm feeling a lot better, in general. Even this threat of snow doesn't bother me all that much...although i hope it doesn't "really" snow tomorrow evening...I'm supposed to go out fr St. Patty's Eve and I am jonesin' to wear my green.

Right now I'm listening to the good-mood album, Bob Marley's Legend. I love that practically the entire earth's population owns a copy of this album. Ask anyone, no matter what their music preferences, if they have Bob Marley's Legend and inevitably the answer will be "Yes."

Was reading a YA book yesterday and came across a hilarious piece of dialogue that is yearning to be shared:

"So say we' re at the Motel 6 on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel and we're having that threeway with E.T. Who gets to be on top and who gets to be on bottom?"

Nick answers, "No brainer. E.T. can't take the heat and heads off to the motel vending machine for some Reese's Pieces, and hopefully doesn't get caught in the crossfire of some crack deal gone bad while he's out there. I mean really, Norah, Motel 6 off the tunnel? Couldn't we class it up a little? Wouldn't the devirginization of E.T. merit at least a Radisson, at least Paramus?"
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

That's some of the funniest dialogue I've read in awhile. Good times.

wanted: happy pill

I don't know if it is simply that the weather outside still has remnants of winter or what, but I've felt "out of it" lately. It is something that I am continuing to perpetuate myself. I come home from work, have a "snack," watch tv, take a nap, and repeat the cycle again. Although not noticeable to anyone else, I feel like I have gained a little weight lately. It's so annoying. Essentially, weight maintenance is about self-control, and I guess that I haven't had that lately. I haven't been exercising either, which isn't helping the matter.

I can see how so many Americans automatically rely on pills for solving problems. Instead of taking the initiative and changing certain parts of their lifestyle, they simply take a pill. It seems so much easier. I, however, am also one of those people who thinks many Americans are overmedicated and/or misdiganosed. The thought of using medication to control any aspect of myself freaks me out. I feel like if I was under the influence of meds, then I wouldn't be putting myself out there for the world to see---it'd be an altered version of me.

Of course, some people and their emotional conditions need to be medicated --- bipolar people, for example. I'm not feeling that high or that low... just feeling a little down lately. Hopefully, it subsides soon. I go by the tenet that being sad or blue is actually not so bad...you can only go up, once you're down to a certain point.

Reading & robots?

I hate having HUGE blog entries, hence the reason why I've divided today's entries into two posts. Reading HUGE blog entries is distracting and annoying-- I can't do it--I'm assuming other online readers are the same way...Today's entries are still loooooooonnnnnng. Just call me Herman Mellville.

Anyway...The way I teach reading now is a combo of "let's read for fun" (free reading for 1/2 of the period on Mondays and Fridays, no questions asked) and more structured activities (context clues work for new vocab, study of prefixes/roots, timed reading, read alouds, notetaking, highlighting, pulling out quotes from novels, graphic organizers, booktalks-- both presenting them myself and having students present them). I try to have a wide range of activities to make the students realize that one sole method does not work for everything. You have to adjust as a reader, according to what your current reading material is and your purpose for reading that material. I also realize that not every child will LOVE reading--- for those students, I try giving them the newspaper to read or even instructional texts (origami, sketching, etc).

As for how future technologies might affect how I teach reading, in the future the reading material for my class might be expanded beyond "conventional texts." Right now, some of our schools' texts are online (not for my class, but for some other courses). I know that the teaching of material from these texts will be affected by the online availability of these texts. Sometimes, I have students do Post-it note activities in their literature anthologies. If most of the future texts are online, reading will become less tactile. I guess I could still teach notetaking though; they'd just be taking notes from a computer screen. Notetaking methods will have to designed to be aligned with readers' habits of reading online (different eye movements instead of conventional left to right, going to different links and opening up different tabs, etc). If laptops are more readily available in classrooms (per student), students might complete comprehension activities online (blogging in response to text, completing online quizzes with instantaneous responses, etc).

Overall, I know that technology will impact how I teach reading but at this point in time, my mindset is just that I will be "getting to the same ends but by different means." Whether or not this proves to be true, I guess I will find out. I can definitely say that I don't think I will be replaced by a robot or anything extreme like that...yet.

Life as a reader: past and present

Joseph Addision once said (by the way, I HATE starting out writings with a quote...), "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." Well, I can tolerate exercise but I'm not a huge fan of it. I would, however, describe reading as one of my passions in life.

As a kid, I read the "required reading" for girls of the late 80s and early 90s, The Babysitters Club. I loved those books and when the movie and tv versions came around, I got into those too. The books were similar to more current series like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Clique. Problems were simpler in the Babysitters Club though and there was a character for every girl to relate to. Even though I haven't read them in years, I still have a pretty clear recollection of the characters.

Other than Babysitters Club (which I read through 7th grade or so), I recall reading Sleeping with the Enemy and a biography of Pablo Picasso in my high school years. I wasn't really a reader in high school. I didn't mind reading novels in school, but books weren't something I pursued outside of school. My main love was writing.

When I got to college and majored in English, I found out that along with writing a paper a week, you had to read a paper a week. It makes sense-- in order to create written works, you have to have something to respond to. Quickly, I got absorbed by the world of reading. I found contemporary poets that I loved (Charles Bukowski, Thomas Lux, Stephen Dunn, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath) and authors that I loved (especially Hemingway and other post-WWII lit, and contemporary lit).

Since college, I've gotten into reading tons of different things. I read a lot of YA/teen books so that I can suggest them to my students. I've read a few graphic novels because of John's influence on me (no superheroes though, more realistic fiction graphic novels, especially Craig Thompson). I've read some non-fiction (mostly pop culture and sociology books). I've fallen in love with memoirists (Augusten Burroughs!!!). Reading has been enhanced by websites like amazon.com, where I can read user reviews and be led to links of other books that I will enjoy. i keep a journal of books that I want to read "someday"-- it quickly has been filling up. i hope I live to be 125, otherwise all the desired books won't get read!

I like to read because of my love of language. I also love reading because it is such a portable activity. I wouldn't describe myself as having ADD, but I do know that I HATE having nothing to do. I get antsy. I hate sitting in doctor's offices, etc. Reading helps with the doldrums of waiting.

No more Comic Sans

My hatred of the Comics Sans MS font is something that I am confronted with on a weekly basis. I was thinking about it this morning while walking in the hallway. I passed a sign that included that font and it annoyed me.

Seriously! We get so many emails, flyers, etc at work that contain that stupid font. I think it works for elementary schools---it has an animated, comic [duh], & fun look about it. At middle and high schools (and other places of business), I just think it looks lame. I hate when we get staff emails that seek volunteering for some type of event and the Comic Sans font is used... it's kind of like, "Let's use this cutesy font and more people will volunteer to chaperone a dance on a Friday night." A font won't make me sacrifice my Friday night.

And progress reports too! Why the cutesy Comic Sans MS font? "Here's your F... it's ok, don't be too sad about it. "

Along with notebook shreds on the ground, loud chewing, and throat-clearing I guess it's just another pet peeve of mine.

My preference? Century Gothic and Verdana all the way...

[Oh my gosh- out of curiosity, I googled "no comic sans"--Take a look!!] There's bumper stickers available!
http://bancomicsans.com/home.html

"Kids get stoned to this movie-how can you not 'get it'? "

I admit it--I am reluctant when it comes to watching movies that are not part of my "favorite" genres. I'm the same with new music and new books.

The Matrix is a movie I wanted to see for awhile--when it came out it was really popular and I recall some people being obsessed with it...most likely, these were people that I came into contact with @ the comic book store where John used to work. I never got around to watching the movie though.

Started some of it yesterday and finished it up today.

2 things transpired through the watching of the movie:
1] Last night, I told John that I was kind of confused by the movie. He said, in a smartass/cute way, "Kids get stoned to that movie. How could you not get it?" That statement kind of motivated me to give the film more of a chance... sure, it may be complex but it isn't incomprehensible.

2] While I think the film requires a second viewing (which isn't a bad thing, necessarily), there were still a lot of ideas that were brought up in it during the 1st viewing that got my mind's wheels turning.

The concept of "what is real" interested me... how Morpheus tells Neo that what is real is really just electrical signals interpreted by the brain. The movie brought up the question of how we perceive/feel things. I mean, when someone dies, our sadness is REAL--the loss of that person is REAL-- but how do we know that their existence was real in the first place...or if our existence is real ?

Another thing that got me thinking was the way in which Neo was trained. Programs were simply downloaded to mind and suddenly he was an expert @ martial arts. Toward the end of the movie, Trinity gets Tank to download a helicopter pilot tutorial to her mind. This got me thinking about education in the future. Imagine if knowledge could just be downloaded. The possibilities would be endless, but wouldn't people lose their individuality? Nothing would be amazing or astonishing anymore because if you truly wanted to know how to do something, you'd just have to get access to the right software program.

There's tons of websites devoted to The Matrix and scholarly books/essays have even been written about it. While I was viewing it, thought of novels like 1984 , Brave New World, & Fahrenheit 451 were in my mind. When those books were published, the ideas/concepts in them probably seemed ludicrous to most readers. In 1984 Big Brother watches over the earth's inhabitants...makes me think of security cameras; for some reason, i am specifically thinking of the security cameras that I saw all over the place when I visited London. The intricate worlds of those books may not be so impossible afterall.

We're a little less than 200 years away from the date/setting in The Matrix. I don't imagine that all of the elements of the film will be a part of our future lives but I am sure that some facets of the film could be a reality.

At the end of the movie, Neo says, "Anything is possible." In an age of technology, no other words could be more appropriate.

Read Across America Day!

I'm a word-nerd, obsessive-blogger, however you want to categorize me. Maybe getting this Internet up and running again wasn't the best idea.

I'm scrapping my lesson plans for tomorrow...kind of. I was going to have the students do this prefix game and then independently read. However, tomorrow's Read Across America Day- even though I don't teach the litl' ones, I still feel like I should celebrate with my students. Just spent a little while doing a Powerpoint with Dr. Seuss trivia and statistics about readers in America. after making the Powerpoint, I thought to myself, "Have I ever read Cat in the Hat?" I don't know how I missed out on this childhood rite of passage, but I swear that I have never read it or had it read to me. I remember Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak and that's about it.

Tonight after "A.I.," I am going out and buying a copy of Cat in the Hat. Tomorrow I plan on reading it to my students. Hmmm...the 6th graders will probably go for it...7th probably won't mind...and the particular 8th grade class I have will actually most likely enjoy the read-aloud. Now I just have to read the book for myself and get familiar with it. Childhood rite of passage 20 years later: yay! I love when I feel "excited" about a lesson.

Thursday thoughts.

Well, John had his physical agility test on Monday. He did awesome with the pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, etc. He didn't train outside for the 1.5mi run and didn't do as well as he hoped. I said to John, "Is is that hard to become a cop? How does everyone else 'get it'? " His response was "Connections." It's so frustrating--I think he'd be so good at the job. He has a good sense of fairness and morals, and much more. He finds out the results in a month.

Our Internet was down yesterday. I don't know--it was kind of refreshing. I ended up going to a Step Aerobics class last night, reading, and watching some TV. This Step class is proof of how uncoordinated I am...but at least it's not like gym class when I was in gradeschool. I used to hate gym class and feel so embarrassed b/c I wasn't athletic. Now, I kind of revel in my lack of athleticism. For instance, when we did the turn on the steps, I was totally facing the wrong way. I didn't care; I just smiled. I can't say I was totally calm though...during the sit-up/stretch time, I mouthed the letters F-U-C-K quite a # of times... they say during exercise you should breathe consistently...those 4 letters said over and over represented consistent breathing.

Nothing planned for the weekend...maybe go to the movies. What's out now? Ugh. Post-Oscar time is tough.

Will watch The Matrix for class--- I'm excited about it. I've always wanted to see this movie but never took the time to sit down and watch it. Honestly, I've always felt like it'd be one of those futuristic movies that I wouldn't understand. We'll see...

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.

exercise, schmexercise.....

Agh- haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks...and feel okay about it. My sister stopped going to the gym 3 months ago...she has since lost 10 pounds...she eats Mcdonald's [not all the time, but sometimes] and is not a "dieter." We sisters formed a theory...we think that people who exercise sometimes tend to overeat because they assume that they'll just burn off the extra calories...but maybe in reality, they are consuming way more than they are burning off.

So... I just haven't gone to the gym lately. I feel like I am at a plateau. I am always the same weight. I think I eat a healthy diet and refuse to count fat, calories, or do some tedious points system. I don't have unrealistic weight goals... I just want to get out of this too-big-for-size-10, too-small-for-size-12 pattern. It's annoying. I can never find pants for work. I was on a pants boycott for awhile but, come on, it's now winter. There's no way that I am wearing skirts to work.

The skinny women at my job annoy me. Not only are they skinny but they're so fashionable---hair, makeup, accessories, purses, shoes. I'm too lazy for that. Sometimes I feel like I am in some lame 1980s movie and the "popular girl clique" consists of my co-workers. I guess I just have to put my thoughts aside because in actuality, who really cares?

Might go to the gym tonight... I slightly miss it. It's fun to play my Ipod and jog. Sometimes I really get into a song and either "mouth" the lyrics or use minimal hand gestures that go in rhythm to the music. People who see me must think I am a bit loony.

Also- where is the snow? I'm not accustomed to these 5-day work weeks. I watch the weather channel so obsessively that one would think I am obsessed with meteorology.

pondering the mall

Went to the mall today to buy a dress for a wedding that I am attending tomorrow. Tried on three dresses but nothing "was right." I hate dress shopping. Everything has beads, baubles, and attempts at unique designs. I just want a non-clingy, empire waisted dress [preferably olive green, but I'll go for other colors too]... doesn't seem like a lot to ask for but is near-impossible to find.

I ended up leaving the mall with nothing but a cinnamon-sugar Wetzel pretzel in my hand. Soft, sugary pretzels always make me feel better about failed shopping expeditions.

While sitting in my car and eating the pretzel, a few mall-thoughts came to mind:

1] Why do people get out of their car and light a cigarette when they are on their way to entering the mall? I saw a guy do this in the parking lot. It doesn't make much sense... in about 500 steps or so, you'd be at the mall entrance and would have to put out the cigarette anyway.

2] Why do women bother to take their husbands/boyfriends shopping with them if it can be clearly seen that the guy hates shopping? I saw a girl walking around the dress department and overheard her say, "No, this dress is like the other one I wore to a different wedding, only this one is more pink" [or something like that]. The guy just seemed perplexed about why she would be buying a dress similar to another dress that she owns at home. In general, he didn't seem to be into the whole shopping experience. So why bring him along?

3] Why do people drive around and around the parking lot numerous times, just to get a "good spot"? The time that it takes to find a "good spot" and wait for a car to pull out is far longer than the amount of time it would take to park at a more desolate spot and walk a little farther.

4] Why do the perfume spritzers act like fragrance assassins? When I walk into a dept. store, I immediately veer away from the spritzer people. They're quite pushy. It's annoying. I do this same veer-away process in any store where the salespeople are a little pushy. Then again, if no one tried to greet me at the door and ask me if I needed help, I'd bitch that the store sucked. I guess there's no way to win for question #4.

Tomorrow will resemble a Mission Impossible movie. Wedding is at 4pm, travel time to wedding is 45 minutes, must find dress before wedding--can it be done?

hopes, dreams, and technological schemes

Today's generation of kids have more mass communication devices at their fingertips than any other previous generation. They can send a photo by cell phone to a friend, instant message another friend, talk on the "old fashioned" phone to someone else, and talk to "the world" by posting to their blogs or Livejournals...all at the same time. All of these technological tools frighten me. I'm not a Ted Kaczynski anti-technology type but I feel that over time a] technology makes people farther apart from one another [emotionally] and b] technology makes people feel that they can (and should) have things instantaneously. Of course, the teacher side of me thinks that technology will lead to a future generation of academics attempting to use words like 'cuz, 'wuz, and luv' in scholarly papers, having no qualms about it. Then the other side of me thinks, "So that's wrong with that?" We've gone from words like thee and thou to me and you... the more things change, the more they stay the same, and blah, blah, blah.

I guess that's where this course comes into play. It's easy to have a child sit in front of a computer screen and do some type of skill/drill program. However, that's not "integrating" technology---you're simply giving the child an interactive, flashier worksheet. I feel that a lot of teachers try to use computers to differentiate their teaching methods, but instead they just end up doing the same thing--but instead of using a chalkboard, they're using a computer screen and interactive pen. Instead of handing out xeroxed copies of a poem, you can project the poem onto a "Smartboard." And so on.

I don't stand here innocently. I'm guilty of showing the kids "picture prompts" on a Smartboard screen. I'm guilty of posting a poem on the laptop screen instead of making photocopies. But i don't know what else to do.

Part of the problem lies in teacher training. If teachers aren't trained to use the technology in new ways, then they're not going to. Ultimately, some will end up using it in new ways, but others will need the extra "push" to get used to the technology.

I hope that this course will show me how to use technology in more innovative ways. The idea of blogging interests me. I think it'd be great to teach a novel unit and set up a blog discussion board. Kids could start different threads, connecting the novel to contemporary movies, etc. For some reason, kids are fascinated by computer screens, fonts, colors, etc. That's okay with me---if it makes them more excited about writing and blogging, then that's fine.

Additionally, I also think it is extremely important that kids know HOW to find information online but also how to distinguish between valid websites and illegitimate websites. Also-- students need to understand that appropriate credit needs to be given to writers and artists whose information students use for papers, etc. Most of the time, Language Arts teachers concern themselves with the plagiarism issue and drill the word/its meaning into students' minds. In the tech age, I think all teachers need to make their students extremely aware of plagiarism. Just because it is the World Wide Web doesn't mean anyone can credit the information as his/her own.

Mainly, I am looking forward to seeing how we can use technology in productive ways with our students. That's a pretty simple statement for a fairly difficult task. Can't wait to see the results. I also like the idea of the unit plan project---it forces some of us non-tech-saavies to figure out how to immediately use technology and new literacies in the classroom.

Here comes the ballad of Hurricane...

Have been having my students read/study Robert Lipsyte's Contender. I love this book... it's about an African-American boy, Alfred in 1960s Harlem. He is trying to "be somebody" vias the means of professional boxing. If Lipsyte took a different route, the book could have been very artificial, without any lasting power. There's so much more to the book than simply sports though... There's the race relations in 1960s America, gangs, black nationalist movement, single parents, drug addiction, etc. I've been watching/reading a lot of material about 1960s America, in addition to information on professional boxers since covering Contender.

Last night I watched Hurricane, the 1999 movie with Denzel Washington. It was amazing. I never had heard of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter before and during the entire movie, the gears of my mind kept turning. I never even knew that the Bob Dylan song "Hurricane" was connected to Rubin Carter.I can actually say I don't think i ever paid much attention to the lyrics.... It's amazing how you could hear a song over and over and not realize the seriousness of the song's implications.

I tracked down a copy of Carter's autobiography THE 16TH ROUND. It's near impossible to find...out of print online...available at places like half.com for 65 dollars or more... and a scant few copies available. Found a copy of it at MSU's library. I realize that films can move us and sway our opinions and make us come to conclusions/realizations...but I don't think the learning should stop at a film. I've looked around online and have seen some websites claiming inaccuracies in the film. I am even more aware of the fact that online sites/sources can sway people's views/include false statements... Now, I want to read Carter's autobiography, his actual words, and learn more. I'm also now more interested in other overturned trials/convictions ... looking to read John Grisham's [nonfiction]: The Innocent Man- Murder and Injustice in a Small Town...

getting back into the swing of things, kind of.

I am like an ansty little kid. If I don't "go out" [we're not talking clubbing or anything requiring strategic planning and dress codes], then I just stay inside and sleep. Case in point: last night, we were watching episodes of The Office. I went into the bedroom to "rest my eyes." Didn't wake up until 8 this morning. A wasted night.

Sleep has recently been interrupted by the constant sunshine/mild weather affecting the tristate area. Winter is not supposed to be like this. If I want to be lazy, I should be able to roll the covers over me, slightly adjust the shades, and go to sleep. Instead, I find myself waking up and feeling the need to put the A/C unit on. And sunlight seems to be constant.

I want cold air that makes my throat hurt when I breathe. I want mini snowflakes forming on my window panes.

65 degrees in January is so annoying.

Am trying to get back into the pattern of work again. Waking up at 5:30 is not for me. I wish I had to wear a uniform to work everyday. It would make the whole morning process much quicker. I know people that have to wear uniforms to work tend to say the exact opposite: they want to wear their own stuff, express themselves, blah blah blah. I just want to be able to sleep in a little more.

Plus, if there was a dress code, I wouldn't [possibly] have to hear the "clackers" walking down the hallway every morning. Their heels are so high; there's this click-clack sound pattern you hear when they're walking around the halls. We're on our feet all day at work- why would you wear high heels? Masochists.