Bringing Film into the life of High Schoolers April 27, 2007

One subject that has boggled my mind is the subject of Film. I am definitely not a movie buff and I am pretty much clueless when it comes to the latest movies and who is acting in them. Most importantly, I know nothing about movies that are based on books. This, I have learned, is extremely important for my future career as an English high school teacher. Turns out, as if we did not already know, students are extremely receptive to movies and there are a variety of ways to tie them into readings and writing assignments. However, in order for me to be an effective educator who is aware of the different versions of “Hamlet”or “Macbeth”, I need to get movie savvy A.S.A.P. Which is something that neither interests me nor do I have the time for.

We all know that students get impatient, grouchy, tired, uninspired, and just plain dramatic towards the end of the year. Which is why presenting them with a film project can be fun. Towards the end of May or beginning of June, it would be a good idea to present students with a project that involves making a movie out of a book or short story that all the students have read using either a Literal, Traditional, or even Radical approach. This would involve assigning various roles, such as actors, screenwriter, director, costume designer, lighting etc… Not only will students become extremely familiar with the play, book, or short story that they are basing their film on, they will also make some lasting memories. They may even remember you as the cool teacher who assigned them “that project” to keep them from falling apart the last few weeks of school.

Historical Account April 27, 2007

As I have done in the past,  I am going to post a piece of work that I wrote for a class. In our Advanced Composition class we have constantly been working on “voice”, which it seems the class has tragically failed to accomplish. But the point of “voice” is to write a piece that allows your audience to feel the tone of voice that you are trying to convey….such as if you were to write from a tragic, melancholic, or reflective point of view, which is what I tried to accomplish in the following piece. The assignment included writing a historical account and I appropriately chose to write on 9/11. What I have written is also based on a true story. My dear friend Lucy did almost lose her life that tragic day.

 

            The day started off as a beautiful and warm one. The children were back at school, the thoughts of summer dying down were starting to emerge, and the city was alive with people rushing back and forth to get to work on time or with tourists who wanted to enjoy the magnificent day. Lucy arrived to work as usual around eight o’clock and she followed her morning routine of taking the elevator up to the floor where she had been working on for a few years. Nothing seemed suspicious or different; it seemed like one of those ordinary September days that remain familiar in our minds. Lucy’s life however, changed the instant she decided to leave the building for a cup of coffee. She simply walked out with her wallet in hand, leaving behind her purse with all her documents, hoping she could grab something quick and make it back into the building before her short break was over.

            It was as she was leaving the building that she heard a plane flying up above. When she looked up she realized that it was too close to everything around her, but before she could even process the current happenings, it crashed into one of the Twin Towers. From this moment on, everything remained in slow motion! Running towards the nearest ferry boat, all Lucy could think about was how she was going to contact her husband without her cell phone. Every so often she would look around and take in all the chaos surrounding her. Here she was, a thirty year old female running through New York City with her shoes and wallet in her hands trying to push and shove her way to the nearest Ferry along with hundreds, even thousands of other people.            

Since everything literally went to a standstill after both Towers were hit and after both collapsed, the Ferry boats operated very slowly, especially since they tried packing as many people as possible into them. Lucy could only think about the massive destruction that was occurring. A sudden sadness, shock, and melancholy ran over her as the Ferry she finally got on, after hours of waiting, backed away from the dock. All she could see was the enormous cloud of smoke that hid what used to be beautiful Manhattan and the numerous amounts of injured people who cried out for help or for their loved ones. Her first instinct was to reach out to her husband; however there was no way of contacting him. Little did she know that he was attempting to get his way into the city just to go looking for her. Luckily, his attempts were effortless since security was not allowing anyone back into the city and after hours of anguish and constant worrying, they were both reunited at Liberty
State Park.

 However, it is that day and that moment that the first tower was hit that will always remain a part of Lucy. It has been integrated into her soul and into her heart. She will never forget the screams, the crying faces, the worried family members, the broken hearts, and the collapsed city. Although it seems as though New York City and Manhattan has gotten back to normal, it is people like Lucy that constitute the majority of the individuals that still understand how that day in history has affected and will continue to affect millions.

 

Helping High School Students to Write April 27, 2007

In my EMSE 3210 class, which is a class focused around helping future English teachers write and prepare lesson plans, we have been focusing on the writing process and what constitutes good writing. It is important for each individual teacher to determine what he/she believes constitutes good writing, but most importantly, each teacher must divulge this information with his/her students. If the students do not know what their teacher will be looking for in their writing, then they cannot provide the teacher with a paper that he or she will be satisfied with. The best way for an educator to prepare the students is by providing a rubric. It cannot get any more easier than receiving a rubric that specifically tells you what your assignment should not lack or what important details it should contain.

As I began writing my Writing Based Lesson Plan, I realized that I do not want to grade my students unfairly due to my lack of explanation. Therefore, I was sure to include more than one day that provided extensive explaining. Since I will be teaching middle/high school, it should not be necessary to pamper or hold a students hand through their writing process. However, I still felt that it was important to include Writing Workshops. Unfortunately, we can only expect the students in today’s society to have more difficulty with writing than the students in the past did.  Writing Workshops can always give them the necessary feedback that they need to improve their writing skills and it can also help them with their critical thinking skills.

First Draft of Wikipedia Article April 3, 2007

Since I have been posting on English related topics, I thought it would be appropriate to post the first draft of my Wikipedia article. When it is all set and done, then I will post the direct link to the article.

Direct link to full written article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Does_the_Bible_Really_Teach%3F

 What Does The Bible Really Teach?

What Does the Bible Really Teach?, a 223 page book published by the Watchtower Society in 2005, has been used by Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide to help in aiding those whom are interested in learning about the Bible. Jehovah’s Witnesses use the book during Bible studies with Bible students.  

Content

When opening the book, readers will come across a five-page preface that is meant to help the Witnesses start home Bible studies. The five page preface contains pictures and scriptures, along with a small description on how to locate Bible chapters and verses.  In order to reach and touch hearts, the book was purposely written very simply and clearly. It also contains many questions throughout that can help the student think about the content that is being studied. At the introduction of each chapter the student can find several questions that will help him/her understand what will be studied and what he/she will learn after studying the chapter. The illustrations that can be found throughout the book are meant to help the students grasp new ideas. If the student is looking the find new information, then they can turn to the Appendix of the book which considers 14 important subjects in greater depth.  

Using the Book The Bible Teach book is meant to help teach those whom are from different educational levels and from various religious backgrounds. When conducting a Bible study, the goal is to attempt to complete one chapter in one sitting. However, there is no rush in finishing the book. Therefore, if a student has no previous knowledge about the Bible, then it may take more than one sitting to complete the study of one chapter. The purpose is not to rush through the material, but rather to study it intently and understand it. If the Bible student does not understand the illustrations that are demonstrated, then they are explained with examples. Understanding the illustrations is just as important as understanding the content within the book. Before studying a chapter, the Bible student is encouraged to study the material before hand. This will help prepare the student for the Bible study, especially if the student has any questions that may arise as he/she studies the book for the first time. It is absolutely encouraged to have a Bible at hand since the book does focus on the Bible and its teachings. Although there are various ways to teach the book, Jehovah’s Witnesses like to read the paragraph together with the student and then ask the question that relates to that paragraph. The student and instructor will then look up and read various scriptures together that relate to the material that is being studied.

 

The Adventures of Writing and Posting on Wikipedia April 3, 2007

As part of our English 3080 course, we have to write an article and publish it into Wikipedia, an online Encyclopedia that can be edited by any reader. In the beginning it seemed as though finding a topic was going to be the hardest task. Every single topic imaginable has been talked about or posted on Wikipedia. There are also stubs, but most are on topics that are extremely hard or nearly impossible to write a lot about. I was actually able to find a topic of interest in order to write an article on. Little did I know that the hard part would be the actual posting of the article onto Wikipedia and then making it look like it is a credible article that belongs on an online Encyclopedia. Unfortunately, I think I lost my article somewhere on Wikipedia. It was posted but I cannot find the link to it. Seems as though I will have to try re-posting it on there.

I chose to write about a book that has been published by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Wikipedia has a few stubs on some of their publications, however it did not have a stub or a full article on one of their recently most used books, “What Does The Bible Really Teach?”. As a Jehovah’s Witness myself I thought it would be of great use to write about the uses of the book and its content. That way, anyone who is interested can just pop the name of the book into the Search and read up on it. This hopefully will spark some interest on the readers part. I still have some work to do with the article, such as providing citations, however I am waiting on the opinion of my fellow classmates. We are all critiquing each others work, which can give each person a new insight into their article. I am looking forward to reading up on their opinion’s on how I can make my article more useful.