'Arry Potter!

The magic and torment of the movies through a homemade trailer (not mine!)

The BIG DAY Is Coming!!

GRADUATION DAY!
I must say it has not been easy, but this is something I've always wanted and I would not stop until it was mine!!! It has been worth it. It is the key to my future. My Destiny. I will be a teacher! I can't wait! I am taking this time to thank a few very special people who have been there for me the whole way.
Jon Bou- You are my Love, my Everything, my Life. You have inspired me, pushed me, made me laugh and have endured my "tooniness" Thank you my Love.
Mom- You have helped me in so many ways and your pride in me is all I ask for- Thank you
Dad- You have always been proud of me and helped find my way- Thank you
Jessica- While we were having fun it is no surprise we found our strength- Helping others. Congratulations on your accomplishments.
Beverly- My Mentor. Thank you for giving me a taste of what it is like to be a teacher. You are a kind, loving and fun teacher, three things that I will take with me.You are a wonderful friend.

Thank You Jon, Mom, Dad, Jessica, Beverly and to all those who were there along the way to make me keep going!!!

Bloggies!!!

What is a blog? This strange new word is something I added to my vocabulary only about two years ago. It sounded kinda stupid. Kinda cute. When I learned what it was I said "Oh Ok." Since then they have slowly creeped into my life. And other people's. I'm sure kids already are as familiar with these things as with coca crispies and ipods. So why not use them in a classroom to get kids even more involved with them?

There are so many things you can do with blogs! It would be a really fun classroom tool. I have a few examples that may be effective. One is I would like the kids to use the blog as a journal like this class does. Of course it will be read by everyone, so it would have to be a respected, and carefully considered tool. The journal entries could be anything that the kids are willing to share with others or based on something they learned in class. The purpose would be for them to get comfortable with writing, communicate with others,and reflect on concepts they learned in class. I like how this class uses blogs with prompts and I would like to do something similar to that.

Another idea is that the kids can make blogs of made-up characters from the books or texts they are given- someone told me about this idea and I've seen them on the internet. What they can do is pick a character from a story, and make a profile on he or she- or it, along with entries of what they imagine the character would write. For example, if they were to do a blog on Miranda from The Tempest, they could write a made-up entry on a day she spends with Ferdinand based on what they understand from her character and their relationship. I think this would be a fun way to access their understanding of the characters on a deeper level.

The idea of making a blog of a character can also be extended as a group project that uses a series of characters who communicate to each other as we do with our blogs in class.

One thing I can't help worrying about is what kids if get out of control on these things and start writing really scary stuff or worse attack each other on what they say? Will they get inappropiate? I may require "approval from the teacher" before blogs are posted, so they have a sense of what is allowed and what isn't.

To me blogs are about experimentation. They are informal and personal, but also widely shared. They are great tools for learning to communicate without being formally evaluated for things like grammar. They give students a chance to be creative and write freely. If used wisely, they can help students practice writing, and communicating in a comfortable and exciting way!

Fiction: Writing about and Creating

Writing about fiction has always been a part of my career as an English Major. It is required in almost every class I've taken, since my emphasis is literature, after all. I always look at literature differently after I write about it. If I simply read a story, certain things jump out at me, and I either enjoy it, hate it, or feel sick to my stomach after reading it. But when I write about a story, I really start to think about why it gave me such a reaction and I appreciate or hate it even more. Or even better, I change my opinion completely because I find things in it that I never noticed before and fall in love.

When I wrote about the short story "Nurse Cora," I really started to think about it in depth. Who is this boy in the hospital? Why did I look at him differently depending on the points of view? So that is what I wrote about. How we get to know Pablo through different perspectives. And in this way I really started to appreciate the author's talent in writing a unique story.

Writing a creative story is a challenge, I'll admit. But for me, it gives me license to lose myself in the moment. I write whatever comes to my mind and I know its okay because creativity does not have limits, when it comes to reality vs fantasy. Of course if you share this story, you must be mindful that you respect your audience and try not to offend them. I really did not like my creative story at first. I called it names and thought I have to share this? But it really went over well with those whom I shared it with.

Writing a creative story is a very personal thing for me. As a teacher, I will give my students lots of freedom with it. It should have certain criteria, such as character and plot, but for the most part it's all about imagination. I really am thankful we were given prompts for this one. Otherwise, I would have never thought of my story. I will give my students appropriate prompts to work from and also have them illustrate the story with a picture, because I think it will help them visually see what they are writing and make it even more fun.

Star Wars... are there any answers in life that it can't give?

Lovely Exit Interview

Like all inevitable things, the day had to come whether I liked it or not. The day of the Exit Interview. I woke up that morning I would meet my destiny with a pain in my stomach that I had not felt in at least ten years. It was the pain of intense anxiety. Even though I had convinced myself that I would pass without question, my body was telling me a different story. I needed to believe in myself now more than ever.

The weekend before, Jon sat for an hour listening to me while I chopped through some poetry. The most amazing part about studying for the Interview was I realized that I knew a lot. I have been doing this for years, after all. There were even a few things that I never really understood that I do now- like accented and unaccented syllables! Yet my confidence was my biggest challenge. I needed to find it and fast.

I had everything ready to go. I packed a thesaurus, a dictionary, two literature books,and one poetry book. I arrived at Karin's office on Tuesday, 12:00pm in a daze. The floor felt like it was moving under my feet. I slumped in a chair and waited. A few minutes later Karin handed me my packet and I was off. The short story was two pages -yes! and the poem was divided up into two rows of stanzas that took up the entire page- oh my. The three student essays were two paragraphs each- :). I had never seen anything in this packet before, but as I read the material, I focused on conventions and it started to make sense.

It was a pleasure to meet my interviewers, two lovely ladies whom I've never had as teachers, Drs. Bourgeois and Mclave. I didn't know until the moment I sat down how I was going to go about this Interview. But somehow everything I wanted to talk about came and so much more. I felt like I had a power in me that I never knew was there before.

After the Interview, I felt happy. I told Karin it was fun. I heard the two professors laughing as they came up the hall to her office. They told me all the good things I did, and I shook their hands. After they left, I asked Karin "Did I pass?" She said, "Yes!" My confidence still needs some work!

I thank all of those people who supported me and who were involved in my interview process. I feel blessed.

A tale about tails

For me, creating a myth isn't easy. Last semester, I took a class on classical Greek mythology. I loved reading the stories and studying the characters. However, now when it came time to creating my own, I was almost too surprised at how perplexed I was over the idea. Where did my imagination go??? I was almost too angry at myself for not coming up with something brilliant right away. It sounded like a fun idea, and something that should come to me quickly, but what would make a good myth? I spent a whole Saturday trying to write one, but it didn't sound right. A wise little voice (my boyfriend Jon who was tired of me pouring over ideas to him that didn't make sense) told me to just not think about it and it will come.

Studying creation myths in English 495 class really helped. Since the concepts were fresh in my mind, I thought perhaps there is where I should begin. When I think of myths, I think of how something started-- or ended. So that was what I decided to do-- write about the beginning of time and tell how something came to be. These are common concepts that I learned from studying creation myths in class. Now I needed a good story. I took Jon's advice and did not think hard about what to write. Instead, I let my mind wander about things about the world- people, animals, and nature. How bubbles came to be? Where does fog come from? What does ahhhhh! I don't know. . .why don't humans have tails? Okay. So just letting my mind wander with some ideas led me to this one. Now I had an idea that I liked. I went to bed. When I woke up the next day, suddenly like magic the story was in my mind.

I think that analyzing myths is a lot easier than creating one. Reading them and then discovering the motifs and details were not so hard for me to do for our class myth presentation. It definitely helped me create one because I was aware of what my story needed to qualify as a myth. I am happy with my myth and now that I did one, I think it wasn't so bad and I would be happy to to it again!

I definitely thought of my future students when working on this assignment. If I was having a hard time, then at least some of them would too. I don't know how I would have got along if I did not study myths before writing my own. Knowing this, I will have my students read and study myths before writing their own. I will also give them topics to help them along. For example, I will give them a list of possible myth ideas- why grass is green, why dogs bark, how the rabbit got long ears etc. for them to choose from, or allow them to come up with their own. I will also share with them a myth that I wrote or even write one together as a class. I think that writing myths is fun once you have an idea and believe in it!

Analyzing and Creating Poetry

Writing about poems, I think, is a bit challenging. What is this poet trying to tell me? The words and their arrangements, structures and conventions are the only clues. The beautiful thing about writing about poetry is that as long as you support the words and conventions of the poem, your interpretation can't be wrong. It's a puzzle that can be solved in so many different ways.
The same thing you may ask yourself when writing a poem- what am I trying to tell my reader? You must also accept that as a poet your reader may not interpret your poem exactly the way you intended it to be interpreted. It's neat to think that your writing may mean something different to someone else and still make sense!

The difference between writing a poem and writing about a poem is that when you write about a poem, you are trying to excavate a deeper meaning. The words, metaphors, alliteration, structure, tone and all the other things poets like to use must be taken into consideration. And you must make sure your argument is clear as to why you interpret the poem in a certain way. When you write a poem, you are trying create the meaning with words, conventions, structure, but you already know what that meaning is, now you have to word it poetically.

Writing about Shakespeare's sonnet 116 informed my own poetry in a number of ways. It inspired me to write my own sonnet! I took note of the use of metaphor, alliteration, and rhyme scheme and used it in my own poem. I found iambic pentameter to be a bit overwhelming and decided to try it in the future after I practice a bit with it first. Writing my own poetry informed me that it is challenging to find the right words to fit when you are following a specific structure, especially with rhyming and iambic pentameter. Metaphors are also really fun to play and come up with, but I already knew that. I know I could have made the meaning flow a bit better in my first person poem. When writing about Shakespeare's 116, the theme flows throughout and that is something I must practice a bit more on this particular poem.

I think that in the future, I will have my students write about a poem with the same style as the one I assign them to write. For example, I will have them write about a haiku and then have them write a haiku. This way they can analyze the conventions of the particular poem, and then use that knowledge when they write their own.

something about me

Hi everyone,

My name is Laura and I am, of course, studying to be a teacher! I currently work in an elementary school as a T.A. I enjoy this job immensely and I have even given thought to becoming an elementary school teacher instead. I am however in my last semester so there is noooooo way I will change my major. I love kids of all ages and my job has helped me to get experience for the future. I've learned that you must be passionate, understanding, energetic, humorous and careful when you are around kids. You just never know what to expect from them and I have soon found out that I am more than an assistant to their academic learning, but also a doctor, therapist, advocate, psychologist, and the list goes on forever! It is fun and also hard work.

As a teacher, I hope my students really enjoy the literature that I teach them and learn how it can apply to their own lives to make it better. In other words, literature is about lessons in life, written by people who want to share things with the reader that could save them from making the same mistakes, or to take the opportunity when it comes, etc. Now of course a book alone cannot do this and it will not do this. We all read stories, get inspired, and then forget about it a day later and go do our own thing. That is my fear of teaching. That it will fly right out the window as my students move on to something else. However just by being aware of the power of literature, their own power to express themselves and by their own experiences, I hope my that students will learn invaluable lessons in life and be more wiser for the ware. And maybe there is that one story out there that will touch their lives , that they will seriously connect with.

Another fear I have as a teacher is dealing with students' issues. I know how their own personal lives can interfere with school and how many don't work to their potential. Many people also tell me I would be too nice for junior high! With the young kids I work with now, people agree that I am nice but firm with them, which is a good balance. Kids going through that transition from elementary to junior high go through all sorts of adjustments and many times need tough love and yeah it will be an adjustment for me too.

My reason for becoming a teacher is simple. I care about people. I want them to succeed. I know I have the ability to make this happen for my students, if they want it. I also want to make sure my students are given the opportunitiy to be prepared for the next level of their lives. I will work with them and try different ways to help them comprehend and learn the material whether it be group work, class discussion, self reflections, etc. Also, what's the point of going to school, if kids don't enjoy at least something about it? My seventh grade teacher used to give my advanced English class awesome projects that relate to the literature and allowed us to use our own imaginations and creativity, which I will be sure to keep in mind. To this day, I can remember almost every book we read in that class and many of the themes and lessons.

Technology- good one. I don't own an ipod, my cell is five years old, I ride my bike to school (Okay, I do drive to work and parties baby!) what else- oh my last video game up-grade is a super nintendo. Yet I do love technology when I get it and I am looking forward to learning blogs and power point so my kids don't think i'm some kind of freak ( that actually might work though)and so I can give pretty neat-o lectures! Neat-o!

My concern for the teaching profession lies in the misunderstanding of a partnership between parents, kids and teachers. Not one of these elements alone will help the student succeed. As an employee of LAUSD and a first hand witness to the classroom, I see that this concept is not stressed enough. Several times child's success is left up to the teacher to handle alone. Sometimes it's the students lack of motivation from the teacher. Whatever it is, if all three elements are working together as a team the student's chances are much brighter, as my observations show me.

Well this has actually been fun to write and reflect and if you actually read this all, congratulations, and thanks for listenting!

- Laura

Hiya

Nice talkin to ya