Thoreau

Article posted April 25, 2005 at 06:14 PM GMT • Reads 189

Thoreau is a strange writer.



I have a really hard time understanding him most of the time, unless I really sit down and break him down. For example, in the class excerpt from "A week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" he says, "To an extinct race it was grass-ground, where they hunted and fished, and it is still perennial grass-ground to Concord farmers, who own the Great Meadows, and get the hay from year to year."



What the heck does that mean, come on!



So I have to break it down:

When he says "extinct race" he clearly means the Native Americans. So when the native americans were here, the area around the river was all grassy- not trees or anything- and we know this from reading Changes in the Land. And, he says, they hunted and fished there- but he makes a connection to his own time to say that the land around the river is still grassy because farmers use it to grow hay-



That's what I get out of it...

Poetry

Article posted May 2, 2005 at 07:25 PM GMT • Reads 38

Oh no! Not a poetry unit...!



I was just as upset about the thought of a poetry unit as you all were. I mean, I love poetry- to read it, to discover the deeper meanings, to talk about it with students.



But to teach you how to write it? I don't even know how to write it myself, so how can I teach it to you?



That's a good question? HOw can someone teach something they don't know how to do themselves? Well, teachers do this all the time, that's why we call ourselves teachers. We are perpetual learners- we were either students who struggled in school and wanted to make a difference for others in the same boat, or we were born with the gift to teach- to be able to impart knowledge, to work closely with others, to work with kids. So, I also have to learn how to write poetry in order to teach it to you. And the easiest poetry to write is poetry that models itself after good poets. It is poetry that has a formula. And that is the type of poetry you have been learning.



I can write THIS kind of poetry- I can do it because it has a model,

because is is clear,

because it has repetition,

because it is fun.

animals and babies

Article posted May 17, 2005 at 03:12 AM GMT • Reads 39

When I first read "Under the Snow" by John McPhee I skimmed the first part where he talks about holding his children, as babies, close. I skimmed it because it didn't seem important and I wanted to get to the "good stuff". But after I read the rest of the story, I went back to the beginning. And I found that it was really important.



In the two descriptions, he focuses on the experience- "she would stick there like velvet" or "I wondered if her veins were full of ants"- both of these examples involve metaphors that make the experience he describes seem real- I can feel the baby "stick like velvet" or envision the "veins... full of ants". And I really like these descriptions.



But what made me go back to these two descriptions was because of the rest of the story- the part where he talks about holding the baby bears. "I kept her under my vest. She seemed content there and scarcely moved." (687)

This quote doesn't go into detail, but we know that he is comparing holding his infant daughters to holding this female bear cub. So I make the comparison, too. And then, suddenly, I too can feel what it is like to hold a bear cub close to my skin.



I love it! Good writing makes us feel with the writer and this is exactly what McPhee does with this story.

FRUSTRATION

Article posted June 1, 2005 at 01:19 AM GMT • Reads 39

Okay,



It's June now...



So I am pretty frustrated with my class... they are great kids, I mean really great, but they just don't seem to get it- that I want them to work in class AND be able to talk to their friends. Somehow, when I was in high school we could get our work done and talk to others. Not all the time, mind you! We worked a bit, talked, worked a bit, then talked some more. But we did most of our socializing outside of class- at lunch, between classes, etc. I learned a lot in school and my classes weren't half as interesting as the ones I teach now.



I hate it when I have to threaten and raise my voice to get students to quiet down. I have tried laying back and doing nothing- and what happens is that only a few get anything accomplished. Like today- I had three whole tables of students get absolutely nothing accomplished- even though I talked to some individuals. It is funny they say "I want to pass this year" but when it comes down to it they would rather waste time talking in class than getting the work done- I know what they are thinking- "I'll do it later" but I know, and they know, it doesn't happen! Life gets in the way.



So I am left no other option but to call some of them on it. I will have to start making phone calls... to parents, to kids... to get them to work. It is my last resort. There is no summer school and many of them are chatting their chances to gateway next year away- like leaves blowing away in the wind.



There are only 13 more real days of school left! That isn't enough time to accomplish what they have to accomplish... and they just don't realize it!



Take a deep breath, sit back, relax...

End of the year

Article posted June 29, 2005 at 07:49 PM GMT • Reads 39

Well, it is the end of the year~! Finally!



I think this exercise in blogging has been pretty successful.



I have heard my students say that this is much more interesting to do than a regular reading log- plus they get almost immediate feedback.



I think if I were going to do this again, I would set deadlines for submissions. Becuase here it is almost a week afterschool got out and I am still reading the darn things- not that I mind, really, because most of them are interesting, but they could do this all summer- although... I do have to submitt my assessments next week!



ANYWAY, I would love to hear comments from the students as to whether they liked doing the blogs... so hopefully some of them will comment on my article here...

Welcome

Article posted December 27, 2005 at 10:31 PM GMT • Reads 39

Hello to Team 70!



For most of you this is your first experience with a blog.



It is a great place for everyone, including you, to express ideas and dreams.



There are blogs of all kinds out there- about all kinds of subjects. Most people use them to simply express themselves. We are going to use blogs as a way to submit and share ideas about what we are reading. Many of you are researching the same topics and will benefit from the sharing of your ideas and information.



I hope that all of you will take this seriously and use it the way it is intended.



Look for blogs about topics that you are interested in- try sites like www.blog.com

and www.blogger.com



Good luck and have fun!



And by the way, you should all check out my previous blogs and see what my former students have to say about them!

Deadlines looming

Article posted January 14, 2006 at 01:54 AM GMT • Reads 38

The January and February admission deadlines loom ahead!



This time of year I always feel that mid-year slump when classes seem duller and it is sooo difficult to drag myself out of bed in the morning, especially when it is dark and cold outside. I want to hibernate, not get up and work.



I go to my son's room in the morning, and he is warm; he smells like sleep, and makes me want to snuggle down into the blanket with him. But I can't, of course.



At work, the teaching drags and I try to find new ways to invigorate the classroom. To me, this is the best time of the year for try the blogs again. It's different. It unites computers and technology with what we are learning. Deep down, I know that this is a good direction to go in. But I am worried about it. I know that with my younger students, I had to give them a very prescribed format for the blogs- it was really just a tool. And that is what I am doing now, but hopefully, after they have gotten used to "Blogging" we will be able to expand and free their use of the blog. I hope that we can have an interactive forum for ideas. As they write their stories, I will want them to reflect on their experiences, on their thoughts, on their problems and difficulties. If they can learn to use this space as a real forum for ideas, for sharing problems and solutions, etc. then I will have achieved my goal.



We will work at it... even in the depths of winter when none of us want to get out of bed- blogging means they can be at home, sharing ideas, in the darkness.

Another Year is Almost over

Article posted June 7, 2006 at 03:38 AM GMT • Reads 63

I just looked back at the end of last year and realized that I teach a cycle. Not that I didn't realize this already, but I really do teach in a cycle.



My level of stress and frustration becomes critical... right around the beginning of June...

Hmmm...



I imagine a world where:

-My students meet deadlines

-I have all the time in the world to correct the stack of papers I bring home everyday

-Each student takes as much time to read the comments I write on their papers, as I take to write them!

-I can read a student paper and not have to make a single mark

-No one is pressuring me to put my marks on the report cards

-parents call me, interested in how their children are doing in class

-my school district allows my students to email me their work when they are at home

-my students have a chance to be children and don't have to grow up so fast



"I think to myself, what a wonderful world."