Jago Ch 4 - How Stories Work

Ch 4: How Stories Work of Jago's text really gave me further insight into what kind of books to choose for my classroom. Jago gave me how to teach story structure and use literary devices. Jago not only does this, but she showed me how to let my students come up with the story's meaning by themselves, rather than me showing them.

I like how Jago wants her students to learn how to disect stories, rather than the teacher doing all the work for them. Her quote "I want students to see that identifying literary elemnets can serve as guidposts to understanding" (Jago 61). Another quote I liked was "They [students] may not be able to read this book [The Call of the Wild by Jack London] without your help, but with critical attention to the elements of literature, students can enter London's fictional world" (Jago 65). I learned from these quotes the importance of the elements of literature. I need to make sure that I impart to my students the elements of literature and how to use the elements to understand literature.

"The language of literature helps readers express what we see in what we read" (Jago 68) is, what I believe, a great quote. Knowing terms, such as simile, alliteration, and irony help students delve into a stories meaning. I want to make sure that my students understand all the literary terms found on pages 69 - 71 of Jago's text so they can start to understand more complex literature.

Film Festival Experience

I went to the Cleveland Film Festival with my boyfriend on Friday, March 26th to go see the film Paper Man. I did not really know what to expect when I went to the film festival, but I really did enjoy myself in the end. Everyone was really nice and they were really into what was happening. It seemed like one big family of movie goers. Probably my favorite part was that everyone was extremely respectful during the movie. Normally I always sit annoyed that someone is talking, playing with their cell phone, etc., but not this time. I heard or saw nothing distracting. It was a great experience.

Because of a time constrant I had to leave quickly from the film festival because I had to be back to close the building I work in. I did not really stop to look at merchandise, but it all looked really cool. Overall, I thought it was a great experience, I wish I had more time and money so I could check out other movies. Oh well, there is always next year.

Jago Ch 2

Classics in the Classroom Chapter 2: All About Words is about exactly what it says it is about. In this chapter Jago helped me to see how to use vocabulary from literature. I thought Jago's idea about giving students bookmarks to write down words they do not know was a great idea (see page 24 for an example of the bookmark.) Jago continued to talk about how she breaks down the words, such as prefixes and suffixes to show students the meaning of a word. I had never really thought about taking apart long words to help students understand vocab. It was a great idea.

I have always been nervous about vocabulary because I never knew exactly what to do with vocabulary in my future classroom. So the do's and don't Jago listed on page 32 was extremely helpful and it will be helpful. I learned that handing out crossword puzzles for vocab because it takes away valuable instruction time. She also said vocab quizzes that are not helping the student, but giving them a D or F is a BIG don't.

I 'Heart' Novels

"I 'Heart' Novels" by Dana Goodyear and I was quite impressed by the information. Before I go on with anything, I could never write a novel via my phone, I get annoyed when I have to text for long periods of time. It would never work out for me. This article showed me how the world is advancing with technology. I mean people are writing novels are their cell phones! Pretty soon we won't even need laptops anymore, just cell phone.

I found two things very interesting while reading this article. The first of which was that the keitai showetsu is an outlet for Japanese women. It gives the women of Japan a voice when they are normally not allowed to speak for themselves." Like professor Satoko Kan said, 'it is a feminist perspective in a male-dominated culture.'

The second thing I found interesting was that the Japanese are extremely private when it comes to their Internet activity. "The Japanese Internet is dominated by false names and forged identies," and almost all of the authors keep their identities hidden. I feel like Americans can learn from this because according to the article "You're Leaving a Digital Trail" our privacy is changing and on its way to becoming non-existent.

Great Films by Constanzo

Great Films and How to Teach Them by William V. Constanzo has really opened by eyes to film. I remember in high school we would watch a movie after we read the book (To Kill a Mockingbird, A Separate Piece, The Great Gatsby, and Of Mice and Men). I honestly thought that was the only time you could show a film in class. But Costanzo has taught me otherwise.

In my Multi-Modal class, Dr. Kist has us watch a clip from the film North by Northwest and watch the different shots, notice the lighting, the sounds etc. I viewed the film in a totally different way. This is how Costanzo shows how to teach film in his book. My favorite part of Costanzo's text was The Technology of Film chapter. It amazes me how lighting can truely effect the mood of a movie. For example, most comedies use high-key lighting to brighten the mood of the film, while horror films use low-key lighting to create an omnimous atmosphere.

3-D movies... really?

It seems like movies are beginning to be generated towards 3-D. So far I have seen 4 movies in 3-D at the theatre: Disney's A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey, Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, and even Spy Kids 3 back in the day. I will admit it was different to experience a movie in 3-D, but after the first 5 minutes or so I hardly noticed it was in 3-D. I always come out wondering why I have those ugly glasses on my face, thats how much I would forget the movie was 3-D.

Now you may be wondering where I am going with this... but it seems to me that the directors created shots in the first few minutes of the film specifically to entertain the 3-D hungry audiences. Then after those few minutes... whoever was in charge of special effects got lazy. I mean the 3-D is not so obvious or fun for the rest of the movie, only during specific climaxes. So it makes me ask myself... is it really worth the extra $3 to see 3 minutes of really cool 3-D and then 2 hours of crappy 3-D? Being an extremely poor college student... not really.

I guess when I think of 3-D, I expect the amusement park type 3-D. I know when I would see the 3-D shows at SeaWorld, Disney World, etc. the 3-D was always exciting because a cannon ball seemed to be like an inch from your face. Am I crazy for wanting movie theatre 3-D to be more exciting? I guess I was just expecting so much more from these 'amazing' 3-D pictures.

Ch 6 of Jago's Text

Even though this Chapter was quite long, I got a lot out of it. I learned how to use comprehension tools to better understand texts and I felt it was really important for me to see a lesson plan laid out for me. I also liked the idea of giving a quiz after homework reading. Like Jago, I would make sure that the quizzes do not hurt any grades, but allow the students to 'worry' their way into reading. There were 3 topics/points made that I found to be most interesting and important to me.

1. I have been extremely nervous about my lesson plans and planning weeks ahead. I know that things change like students learn the material faster or it may take the students longer. It made me feel better that Jago said on pg. 103, "Even after 29 years in the classroom I still can't write lesson plans more than a week in advance. Teaching is an organic process, deeply dependent upon relationships between students and their teacher, students and the content, students and one another. Not to be responsive to the ever-changing demands of the young minds in my care is to abrogate my responsibility as a professional." This quote made me realize that it is ok if I need to change my lesson plans each week than what I had originally planned. I need to make sure my lesson plans cater to the needs of my students rather than just trying to push them along whether or not they are ready to.

2. On pg. 127 Jago says, "I have found that giving students less time than they actually need to complete the task (and then giving in when they beg for 5 more minutes) is a better plan than allotting too much time for group work." Jago has answered the question that has always been on my mind, how long do I allow students to work or discuss? I think that giving a shorter time period will force the students to work on the task or discussion and not be distracted from their work.

3. I have to say I have a love-hate relationship with students taking over the teaching. I love it because it allows students to "move their Zone of Proximal Development one stage further along" (Jago 138). I hate it because I know I have had to do this in the past and I did not read anything that I was not assigned to teaching. I do not want my students to take the easy way out and read just their assigned reading. That is my only problem with that idea because I would have no way of knowing if all the students' read or not.

I Don't Want to Leave a Digital Trail

After reading the article "You're Leaving a Digital Trail" by John Markoff, all I could think about was the book Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. The technoloical advancments in Little Brother worried me about American's future, but then this article by Markoff showed me that apparently it is a possibility. I do not know how I feel about the goverment or just other people in general being able to watch my every move. I would never be able to allow researched read my ever text, know what music I listen, just to get a smartphone. Call me crazy, but my privacy is much more valuable than any piece of technology.

Markoff's article really scared me. I worry about my Facebook privacy all the time, but according to the article the definition of privacy is changing. This article really made me sad because I feel like when I go into student teaching, try getting a job, or working at a school either my future students, my future principal, fellow teachers, and even parents are going to be watching my every move via technology. I mean we can just take a look at the quote from Dr. Malone, "Privacy may turn out to have become an anomoly." I know I do not want this. Does anyone really? Then why are we allowing techonology to go that far as to stalk people? I guess that is the question I really want to be answered.

Jago - Ch 3.... oh the mixed feelings

I must say, after reading this chapter, I did not really agree with all of Jago's opinions. Now do not get me wrong, she has some great ideas when it came to "Choosing Which Books to Teach," but some of her concepts are not my style.

I will be nice and start with the postive. I agree with Jago that we, as teachers, need to look for books with literary merit. I also found her list of text critera on page 47 to be very helpful. I also agreed 100% with her quote, "Great literature deepens our experience, heightens our sensibilities, and matures our judgement." Reading good literature can do wonders for students, I know it has done wonders for me and for many others.

Sadly, besides taking apart Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to prove it is a great piece of literature to use in the classroom, I did not find much else helpful. There were several instances in the chapter where Jago talks about the students reading more. At the very beginning of the chapter, Jago says "I argue that students should be twice as many books as they currently do." She did bring up good points, but she came off as almost crazy. She said that she has her 10th grade student read 20 books a year. If I had to read 20 books for just 10th grade when I was in high school, I probably would have cried myself to sleep every night. (This is coming from someone who LOVES to read.)

At one point, Jago says "I am forthright with my students about the fact that they are going to have to give up some of their TV and telephone time in order to complete their reading." I might sound rude, but I wanted to slap Jago for saying this. I, personally, would NEVER tell my students that. I would never want to intentionally try to ruin their free time and then tell them about it. If I were a student, I would lose all respect for my teacher and would block out whatever she tries to tell me. I just think that teachers need to respect students in order to receive respect back. I might be totally wrong, but it is how I feel.

I think what really upset me most of all is that last semester in my Principles of Teaching class, I was told to not give homework, unless I absolutely have to. Wouldn't making the students read 20 books a year give them unnecessary homework? I guess I feel confused. Am I supposed to be obnoxious about the students reading more or should I try to be fair and give students a reasonable amount?

Oscars 2010

The Oscars last night was quite a memorable night. I was really excited because one of my favorite actors Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for his role in Crazy Heart. (Here is a video of him winning the award.) Another memorable moment happened, as well, Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director, she is the first female director to win this award. It was great to watch this because I am proud of my females getting out there and showing that women are just as awesome as men. (I thought it was super funny that Kathryn used to be romantically involved with James Cameron, the director of Avatar, and she totally kicked his butt with her film The Hurt Locker.)

Even though I do love Christoph Waltz's performance in The Inglorious Basterds, I feel that Tobey Maguire should have nominated for his role in Brothers. He did a wonderful job and he should have been recognized. Just watch him in this clip from the flim. After watching just this short clip, it is very obvious he should have been nominated.

Being Digitally Close

I read the article "I'm So Totally, Digitally Close to You" by Clive Thompson of the New York Times with my mouth dropped open. This article was like a reality check for me. It made me realize how much of my facebook information and tweets are being viewed by so many other people. It really makes me feel nervous and want to constantly check myself so I do not write post anything that I would not want others to read. The Internet makes it so easy to post anything that you want, and feel that it makes it just as easy to forget that everyone is watching.

I do agree with the article that Facebook and Twitter are great resources to keep in touch with long lost classmates and friends. I like being able to keep in touch with my friends back home or at other schools. Its fun to also learn about old friends getting married or having babies. This is all good fun, but the article also talks about how your information is much more accessable to others, which can be a bit scary.

I know after this article, I immediatly made a second facebook account. I wanted a more professional account where I can put people who I know on a more professional level. Even though I check my facebook daily to make sure it is appropriate. I still want to separate my future students, current and future bosses, etc. from my friends.

Ch 1 of Classics in the Classroom

I did enjoy reading the first Chapter of Carol Jago's Classics in the Classroom. The first chapter talked about the seven guiding principles for literature teachers. The first principle was that Students Must Read. Before I read on to the next principle, I had to agree with the principle of Students Must Read, because reading helps students with vocabulary, writing, critical thinking, and even just the study of language itself. I do believe it is important to encourage students to read, whether it be a sports magazine or a trashy teenage novel to classics like Pride and Prejudice or The Great Gatsby.

However, Jago presented me with a new idea in her second principle, Don't Confuse Reading for Pleasure with the Study of Literature. Jago claims that "classical literature possesses qualities that popular fiction does not" (Jago 5). The more I thought about it. I had to agree with Jago, classic literature allows a student to explore different dimensions of character, plot, theme etc., while some non-classical literature does not.

I did take into consideration Jago's theory that there are two different kind of books students shoudl be reading. "One kind of acts as a mirror - reflecting students' own experiences with peers, parents, sex, drugs, and school..... Students also need books that act as windows. These stories offer readers access to other worlds, other times, other cultures" (5). This perspective gave me a better idea of what to look for in novels when I chose them for a classroom text. Books need to reflect the student experience because they need books they can relate to. Students also need books that will expand their horizons.