Persepolis

THIS MOVIE WAS FANTASTIC! As a major fan of the graphic novels, I was really pleased with the way the movie portrayed the story. I was immediately blown away by the beautiful way in which the animation feel somewhere between 2 and 3 dimensional but still kept very much to the artwork used in the graphic novels. The movie added to the novel's appeal by taking it from being a linear moving animation to one that twisted and turned. As certain parts went forward others went backward, and while some went up, others went sidways. For me, the most impressive part of the entire movie was the war scene where there were characters using gas masks as the black and white screen demonstrated explosions and public chaos.

The story itself is completely amazing that a leftist revolution was turned into one run by religious fanatics. I feel like that was the most intersting part of the story to me because it was so incredibly horrifying. Just that in the absence of government, many people with many interests will attempt to control the will of the people. This reminded me of V for Vendetta in the way the government was set up there after the fall of the British government, but it was made so much more terrifying in that this was real. I had wondered before how a group of young people who were educated students could have created such a represive regime, but after seeing this movie and reading the graphic novels, I was able to see the seperation that is often lost in Western media.

This movie's stunning visual affects combined with its heartwrenching story were more than enough to make this movie a complete success for me. Later that night I had a conversation with my boyfriend about how terrible I felt it would be to see your country come to the footsteps of freedom and see the progress you worked so hard for be stolen by someone else without the interest of the people in mind. It helped me to put into perspective the discontent I have with America and gave me a better insight into the Iranian revolution.

Group 4

Ah, Harry Nodden. Nodden really knows how to teach grammar in a way that goes through the much debated into areas that are easily taught in the classroom. I actually did a presentation before on the very chapter that the presenters did on Greek terminology in grammar. The group was very professional and the entire set up with the french theme, music, and 'wine' was a great touch that would help to get the students' attention before the lesson was started.

Although I really don't put too much stake by the test that we took, I feel like it is important to give upcoming teachers a bit of a reality check on their own grammar skills before they go into the classroom. While there are areas that future teachers will need to keep in mind that they still have work to do, I'm sure they will still have a great deal to offer to students in the way of grammar instruction.

After working at the Writing Center I've definitely come to see how 'grammar' is used as a catch-all for many students who are looking for help with much greater needs or ones that are completely different. When a student says the 'need help with grammar' they could mean many different things. For instance, in this case, a student might mean that they are struggling with specific word choice, or they might be having a hard time construcing sentences properly. Maybe they recieved a mark on their paper that said 'akward'. The fact is, many students say 'grammar' when they just don't know the terminology or exact problem they really need help working with. So, I feel like group presentations like the one from this group really help teachers to understand the variety of things a student could mean they are having issues with.

Group 3

Found poems are great tools for the classroom. For those students that are somewhat unsure about their abilities as poets, these poems can help them to get their feet wet. So, the use of Found poems in this group was a really great idea. I thought the use of various mediums was also a great idea as it would give students more options to get a better understanding of how they could utilize popular culture in order to get their point across.

I wonder if it would be going beyond the label of Found poem if students wanted to take some part of the speech or address a person had done and incorporate it into a poem. Perhaps if they had used a transcript in order to do this, then there would be some wiggle room provided. This could then be something really useful for making poetic reflections on things that politicians and political leaders had said in order to contrast them with the public's reactions.

I would definitely use Found poems for teaching English to students, but I would also be able to use them to help students learn more about politics. I believe that one of the greatest ways to get students involved is to give them a medium that is accessible. Found poems definitely make literature, poetry, english, and for that matter, political science more accessible and would help to keep students interested in the material that was being covered.

Group Presentation 2

I was so impressed with this group presenations on communities! Rather than relaying tired information about how communities work, this group worked incredibly hard to set up a scenario that students would be able to really get into. This experience would help to build student empathy with those that have difficulties getting further in the cities they live in, and the resulting divisions, bitterness, and resentment that can sometimes build because of this.

While communities are usually formed to put a positive connotation on someone that has been ostracized before, I feel like they can sometimes be detrimental to unity while they are at the same time trying to help. The word 'community' tries to build a unification between people who share certain beliefs, ideals, motives, hopes, etc, but they can work to try to mold people and create division if they focus primarily on one aspect. The way we use the terms 'black' 'white' or 'hispanic' community are greate examples of this. While these groups attempt sometimes to use the word 'community' as a reaction to the negative connotations they somtimes recieve, at the same time, they can be used to exclude if someone within or outside of the group fits some of the issues held by a majority of people but wants to speak out with a different opinion or interestin mind and they are labeled as being an outisider who is not valid as a representation of that community. Oneof the greatest examples I've seen of this was when I was talking to my friend Michelle. She was talking to me about how she was basically disowned by a lot of her friends and family because she is a black American who went off to college and is percieved as trying to be something she 'is not'. She asked me once if I felt she met my definition of what a 'black person was'. I almost had a heart attack over that question, and answered that we need to not look to stereotypes to define how we think of entire people because it becomes a self-fullfilling and devisive situation.

Anyway, I would definitely use this exercise in the classroom because it would help students to get some sort of understanding as to how a group of people come together under certain shared interests to try to better their lives in regard to acquiring services needed for survival. I thought the group did a fantastic job and they gave the class a great tool to use in the future.

Christensen Chapter 8

Alright, the last chapter. Quality education is one of the most important things to me as a teacher and I really strive to create a better learning environment that gives more to my students and provides them with more opportunities to learn. Christensen couldn’t have said it better. This coincides nicely with my SPED 4290 class that stresses providing the best education relative to their special needs and issues. This is critical to proving fantastic and equal education for all students.


Tracking is an interesting thing. I was certainly tracked for the higher level classes and this is something I feel really benefited me and helped to shape my learning in high school. I can't say that getting rid of tracking would be the best thing or that it would be detrimental, but I think there's definitely a middle road to be explored.

Ultimately, I feel that students need to be addressed from different levels often to help them get to one that is acceptable for their grade level, age, and place in society. Either than that, I'm still exploring this stance.

Gilmore Chapter 7

Revision again. Well, it is important, and incredibly overlooked often times by yours truely dear reader. There are many ways in which revision differs from project to project and ways where the process is similar. Revision could maybe be done more if there was class time given to either doing the revision process for a piece of work or by working activities that help students to see the benefits of revision into the classroom.

Of course, this is all well and good, but revision is still something that I and I'm sure other students fail to do. The most I've been doing lately is forcing myself to do a read through which, although beneficial, is not the end all.

Gilmore Chapter 6

Ah technology, the bane of my existance as I get older and older. There's so much to keep up with. I don't know how to download from itunes or use an mp3 player.

Yeah, I know this is bad, especially for someone who grew up in the technology boom. I remember when I was the go to techie for my house when I lived with my parents, and now that honor is bestowed upon my brother who knows his way around his xbox and all its various gadgets quite well. However, I realize I need to get better at this in order to help my students in their work. Sometimes technology can be great for getting a message across, and can be used as aides in the classroom. I just need to get better with technology outside of the overhead, VCR/DVD player, and powerpoint presentation. This will be esecially true if I'm teaching social studies where there are many things like podcasts that will greatly benefit classroom learning.

Sometimes technology can engulf a classroom, but I think there are ways that it can really be great for learning when it's done in moderation.

Gilmore Chapter 5

Gilmore presented severall great ideas to choose from in this chapter. The one that stuck out for me is one that I really wish I had followed through more with in high school. The revision checklist was something I really wish I had used. Organization in any way that involves school usually benefits the quality of work overall.

For some reason, I just refused to get organized in this way in high school and it really came back to hurt me grade wise. My backpack was my folder, and this led to less spectacular grades all around sometimes. However, checklists are really great for organization in writing and help me to make sure I get everything I need to.

Organization and revison checklists are tools I'll really try to hammer in for my students to make some of the smaller problemsm they are facing with their school work go smoother to affect the larger aspects.

Christensen Chapter 7

English portfolios can be extremely beneficial to students who are trying to see how they have developed. There are a great deal of elements students can observe when they are forced to look back upon their previous work. Of course this all is relative to how much a student does learn within a class and how much they have incorporated new skills and ideas into their writing. If a student does a great deal to change thier writing, the development will be obvious and this will enable them to compare and contrast their writing style.

I think this is what happens in English 1050 in some cases. I had a roommate once that had to save all of their work and hand it in later with a paper on how they felt their writing had developed. I feel like there have been some English classes, where upon completion I didn't feel like I learned much. However, I always feel I've learned after a class with Jon Adams and work there definitely reflects growth. A portfolio would definitely benefit from me in that class.

Gilmore Chapter 4

Student workshops for writin are a great idea. This takes the writing/revision process a step further beyond peer review and establishes a time and place where students can bounce ideas off of each other in a positive way. I think these workshops are definitely in the way of peer revision but they do more to help students get a deeper focus on their writing in a more comfortable but professional environment. The term workshop really helps to drive home the idea that students should be acting in a professional manner.

Alone, the tone of the environment can really help students when they are looking at how to go about giving feedback and collectively construciting papers for their peers. This can especialy be difficult when dealing with students who know each other fairly well and have worked together for a long time in an extremely casual environment. Making them take peer revision to the next level can really change this.

Gilmore Chapter 3

Wow, I really liked this chapter. One of my biggest priorities as a teacher is to give students the greatest ammount of information that I can in order to make sure they can do as well as possible. Everyone knows that differnet teachers have different writing styles, expectations, pet peeves, ect. So, to give students a better idea of what is expected of them right off the bat is a great idea.

Too often I think teachers forget that there are guidelines that should really be used in order to instruct students as to what they should be doing in their writing. The rubric should come before the assignment is turned in, not after, and you should decide whether your students are going to be more motivated by broad or specific requirements. Either way, giving students a look at the grading criteria will really boost moral and the quality of the papers.

Gilmore Chapter 1

Revision should definitely be hit upon as a critical part of writing and the entire process. Often when students get done with their writing they are extremely reluctant to go through it again. Even a final read through can be daunting when the paper is exceptionally large or time is being crunched before class time. So! I really enjoyed Gilmore's discussion on the importance of revision because I felt like the points it made were calling me out on my own bad habits with writing. There were a number of good points on the principles of revision and there was a great point made in students being able to know how to probably revise. Like I said, revision is not my thing, but it's certainly something I always look at after I've turned in my paper where I think "man I wish I had more time to revise"!

Christensen Chapter 5

Poetry is one of the most interesting elements of writing and English to teach because of the reluctance that students in middle and high school often have. Poetry is definitely stigmatized as a subject by many at that age and it can be difficult to get the students involved. But I agree with Christensen that poetry can be one of the most greatest things when teaching English. I think it can really help to get people who think they are not good with subject to feel they can maybe put out a poem that is only a few lines long even if they feel they can't write a fantastic essay. Likewsei, they'll feel like they can deal with some of the poems that are shorter in length than reading material that is longer. Poetry is a great gateway into other forms of writing and expression and can help students develop more of who they are by giving them a medium that is in some ways less intimidating.

Jago Chapter 6

Subject and topic usage is somethings students really struggle with. While subject topics should leave room for a student to inject their own opinion and ideas, they often struggle with were to begin if they are not given any direction.Therefore, I feel it's completely useful to give students some idea of what they should be attempting to do with their subject. Extremly open-ended topics can be useful in higher level writing classes, but they are tough on students who are just learning how to write with a constructed argument. There's always that fear from students that goes something like: "I want to know what the teacher wants me to write". This is somethings that's dangerous, but understandable at the younger writer level and should be given some mercy on. For this reason, students should be given questions that help tolead rather than one's that are ambiguous.

Jago Chapter 5

Free writing is one of the most crucial and useful tools students can use as writers. While there are some key elements that can not be seen in free writing, it is a great place to start for the student who is struggling to get started. Often free writing can be used as brainstorming method or as a very very rough draft. If free writing is done in the classroom, there will be more time for the students to be working on other parts of their papers when they are at home. Since they already have a good amount of writing done, they will probably feel better about where the are with their work and be less intimidated by the project as a whole. For this reason, free writing as Jago suggests is key to helping students when they are concentrating on writing their papers. It is a core element that is often skipped or completely overlooked. Students especially seem to disregard free-writing

Christensen Chapter 4

Standard English is a complete myth. Granted, there are some good qualities in characterizing a language as something concrete when helping students learn how to use it. But, for the most part, telling someone they are defaulting on standard English can be another way of saying: "Your culture, family, friends, past, and accomplishments have no place in the English." Having different dialects and voice should not be something that is saved only for creative writing projects like poetry or short stories, rather, we as teachers should really re-evaluate what 'formal' English does and should mean because even within those more constraining limitations in formal writing, we encourage our students to have a 'voice' and 'style' yet, can that be obtained when that is not polished into 'standard English'? English as we know it is a complete mess next to that of the motherland for our national language, grand ole England, and for that reason, we have to distinguish it as American English. Yet, for all the 'melting pot' and 'salad bowl' theories we hear, there is still an effort to tell students they must conform to the dominant Caucasian Midwestern dialect and usage. I believe there are a number of people, who when confronted with the question: "What is an American?" would go for the diversity answer, and yet, that could easily be translated to: "What is American writing?" we just have to make that step for formal writing as well as creative. I feel like only allowing students to write differently on those special occasions still makes them feel like they're only outlet in English is the sub-genre rather than the entire subject.

Narrative Writing

You are dozing through math class when all at once the teacher begins to bark, “What is the matter with everyone in here? Why does everyone seem to think it is alright to fall asleep during math class? Contrary to what you may believe, I am not here for your amusement. I am here to teach you Advanced Algebra. Because you all seem to have gotten some rest now, I’m sure you’ll be well rested and able to stay up late for all the extra homework I’ll be assigning you for tonight. You can also spend some of that time contemplating how much fun it would be to have this type of class every day if your attention doesn’t improve. Now pack up and wait for the bell to ring. Your extra homework will be…”

God I hate school, Jeff thought as he left the old brick building that day. To him, school was a place you had to go to prove you knew what they decided to teach you. A place to play the game, a place to spend your hours doing something practical rather than preparing yourself for the probable. There was so much more, he thought, he could teach himself. So much more that mattered to him that wasn’t going to every show its face within those walls plastered with posters that told him “A mind is like a parachute, it works best when open” or “Never give up”. Yeah, maybe he was putting himself up against the world, but that was just the way it was going to be.

Jago Chapter 4

Sure students can write about their own opinions and experiences, but one of the most interesting points in teaching writing is teaching students to apply their writing skills to a work of literature. I love this part of teaching so much more than personal narratives or opinion papers because students are forced to work with evidence in their arguments. Too often I feel students are told that their opinion or ideas always correct. So, being able to let students at least focus on a more concrete agreement on events, ideas, places, and characters where there is a more identifiable and laid out expectation for the students' writing.

Jago Chapter 3

This chapter on narrative writing was very good for breaking down the pieces of the process and the benefits that can be seen. As Jago points out, bringing characters to life by constructing them beyond static characters is vital to teaching students how to best create a narrative when developing their stories and writing. Jago also points to setting and point of view that really stand out as key points in the construction. Overall, there are really fantastic points in this chapter for narrative writing apart from the informational and persuasive writing that was mentioned in the previous chapter. The examples of both the story as well as the college essay gave good diversity in the versatility of narrative writing.

Christiansen Chapter 3

Essays are one of the most difficult things students can tackle in their English classes, but especially outside in other classes. Most notably, classes in the humanities category see this struggle the most. Therefore, it is critical to get students to be comfortable in writing essays in English so they can then be more comfortable in other classes. For me, I felt that being a decent writer was one of the most important and beneficial characteristics I had to offer when it came to writing essays for teachers in other classes. Not only is essay writing critical for demonstrating one's knowledge in a subject area in a knowledgable manner, their comfort in what they are writing can allow a student to attain a greater level of understanding on subjects they may have not been as enthusiastic about before. Once a student is able to hash out their ideas properly, they can really get a whole lot more out their learning experience.

Chapter 2 (Christensen)

What Christensen hits upon in this chapter is so important. Our media in America is filled with stereotypes and false presentations of culture, history, perspectives, and people, while it also does a disservice to race and gender in particular. The Disney movies highlighted in the chapter are a good start especially when dealing with teenagers. However, there are certainly other classics that can be looked into as well (Gone with the Wind, Birth of a Nation, etc). Critically analyzing cartoons are a great way to get students interested in critical thinking. While some may lament the days when they could watch a kids movie without giving it a second thought, ultimately the exercise is good for them and will enable them to see how stereotypes have been used to create perhaps what their own perceptions are toward particular groups. Ultimately this is a fantastic thing to be putting attention on, and will greatly increase the length to which a student can recognize prejudice and discrimination.

Chapter 2 (Carol Jago)

During my A.P. Literature class I remember doing the essay reading mentioned by Jago here. While I feel this is a great idea in some respects, I think there can be some legitimate concerns here. I've certainly read some essays that make for great example essays on formation and organization. However, I've also read some essays, by accomplished writers, who do not get to the point they are trying to make until nearly the last paragraph. So, as an instructor, I think its important to decide where the direction of the class is going to go in that respect before assigning essays as examples of good writing. If as a teacher one is trying to be more open-minded, they should consider giving examples from both ends in order to show the dichotomy in writing styles and show that even sometimes people who aren't good writers, but make good points can be published. This would be good to address especially with regard to persuasive writing as the organization and presentation is very critical to argumentative papers.

Chapter 1 (Carol Jago)

The most illuminating part of this chapter was in the advice Jago gave on getting reluctant writers to get through the writing process. Most notably, the idea to incorporate free-writing into the equation as a pre-draft was interesting to me. Not only would this, as Jago points out, foreboding requirements (like 1,000 word essays), but it would also allow the writer to go back and see where they are getting stuck. If students see consistencies in where they begin to repeat words, they can see where they begin to loose momentum and ideas. This will allow them to further understand where their weaknesses are as writers and where they need to go back to do more. Also, free-writing allows students to be able to see how much they know already and thus, they may feel less intimidated.

Since poetry can also be very daunting for some students, it is good for Jago to address this component of the average English class as well. The Question papers are a great idea because they allow students to formulate their questions into a visual part of the equation where they do not have to organize purely within their own mind. This would be great for students who are not sure in which direction to even start attempting to decipher the meaning of a certain poem.

Constructing useful prompts is also very important to helping students work their way through writing. Often times students can be intimidated by a messy or convoluted question. So it is the role of the teacher to ensure they are enabling the student to feel secure in answering the question presented to them. Setting up prompts like the ones shown in the chapter allow the students to go in many different directions with their answers while they are still informed as to what is expected of them. This is characteristic of a good question as well as good teaching.

Chapter 1

Overall I thought this chapter did a great job discussing name introduction as a means toward beginning a story. Personally, I feel readers are more likely to identify with a story when they have a character to identify with. The story is given a more human element and thusly readers are more apt to engage with what is being presented to them.
Additionally, I felt the ideas for classroom learning were beneficial as well. My favorite suggestion would have to be the read around process. However, I would want to make sure this read around was also coupled with discussion so as to better assist students in analyzing what they are reading. The suggestions to use 'where I'm from', 'Sweet Learning', and 'childhood narratives' while also maintaining discipline were alright as well. The problem I see in these circle around the concern that perhaps some students have moved around a lot and are not sure where they're from, haven't had a good childhood, and don't feel close to their family. For those students, these activities might prove to be embarrassing to them, so the class should probably be gauged first.