FOOT - Final Reflection

     Looking back on my past blog posts, I can see that I have come up with a variety of ways to increase the use of technology and multi-modalities in the classroom. In most of my entries, I seem inspired by something that sparks a future teaching idea in my head. I plan on using this blog to look back on in the future. Some of the main ideas that we did in this class that I plan to take with me in my teaching career are the multi-genre autobiography, blogs, film and the use of facebook. Here is how I plan to implement these strategies, as well as what I thought about the way we did them:

Multi-Genre autobiography - I plan to use as almost an icebreaker in the beginning of the year. I would model the idea, like Miss Foot did, and have my students jot down their ideas of their own personal texts from the past and the present as they are inspired. One thing I would include that we did not do would be a "wish list". Their wish list would be at the end of the presentation, and it would be texts that they have not but wish to see/read/utilize. They would show these texts, and we could see what they see in their possible future. I would encourage my students after all of the presentations to get their hands on these items and write about them in their blogs over the course of the year. I would also include a segment on what they would like to read and learn about this year. I would review their presentations at the end of the year and see if they achieved what they wanted to.

Blogs - I like the idea of using blogs in the future, but probably not as aggressively as we did in this class. I would encourage them to write about their pleasure texts as well as their thoughts on the course.  I might also include a few longer assignments like we had the compare and contrast essay as well as the Firestone responses that were fairly lengthy. I would not punish my students for blogging in the same week, because sometimes life and work get in the way and it is hard to do that. All assignment would have due dates, most certainly, but as long as they did them by that date, I wouldn't care. For example, I work about 30 hours a week and I am taking a full course load consisting of six classes. I only have two nights off a week, and when I come home from work at one o'clock in the morning, it is unrealistic for me to blog then, or in the thirty minutes I have between school and work during the day. I tend to do an entire weeks worth of homework in one night because that is really the only time I have. Therefore, I would not punish my students for doing more than one entry in a day/week.
     I do like what Dr. Kist said about students and blogs in his text. He writes "But they haven't seen blogs used a platform for learning, as a way to reflect about what they're learning in a public way, and in a way that allows for feedback not only from the teacher but from their classroom peers" (Kist, pg. 61). I couldn't agree more. Being the teacher, I think I would have a blog and have all of the students follow me on it. I would post reflections about class and assignments coming up/being due. This way, if a student is absent, they will be able to contact me or see what we did that day.

Film - I plan to use a variety of films in my class, such as movies, perhaps tv segments or clips from YouTube. I want my class to be exciting, but at the same time, I will be focusing more on the literature versus the films. I plan to show the movie (like I stated in a past blog entry) almost as a reward for my students. I will not tell them we are viewing it, because I know sometimes students will skip the book and refer to the movie instead. If they watch the film after their major assessment for the text, such as a paper or test, they can enjoy it and they will not be able to use it as a method to skip reading. At the same time though I am conflicted, I might do a compare and contrast of the book and the movie, so I would have to show it before the assessment in that case.
     The film studying we did in class was not something I would use in the future. Maybe if I taught an elective, such as literature in film or something, I would use these techniques, but they seem too far fetched to use with high school students. I mean this because they focus too much on how the film was made, and it just doesn't fit to me. I suppose it helped me understand film better to teach it, and that is nice, but I don't think I will use these methods in the future unless they apply to the text I was teaching.

Facebook - I am really enjoying the facebook project. I actually think that some of the high school students have grown in their responses. They used to write very basic responses without much thought, but now, after reading ours, they seem to respond more in depth and it is really nice to see. I love literature circles, and I believe that facebook is a pretty neat way to do it, because kids are used to it. I like my idea that I posted earlier in my blog about using it for kids in your various classes. For example, kids in period one might do a literature circle with some students from period six, and so on. I like this because they might feel more inclined to be honest while typing. Also, they might get to work with some of their friends. 

     In conclusion, I learned a lot this semester. I learned a lot of new ways to incorporate technology, and I will use some in the future. I still believe that the main idea about teaching language arts through books, novels, antholgies etc. is the most important part, but I am not opposed to using technology to aid myself and my students through it. I plan on keeping Dr. Kist's text, and using some of his ideas in it when I teach. I believe that this class paired with Dr. Pytash's class made for an interesting semester. It was almost like The Classics vs. Technology, which my group and I sort of address in our video. I think that the two classes were both insightful and I learned a lot, but I did not like how barely anything was due in the first half of the semester, and then it was all due later in the semester at once. It was kind of hard because I felt like I was rushed in the end. I understand that part of this was because of the Firestone project, but still, there was a lot of work at the end of the semester. I would rather have had the amount of work spread out more than it was. Regardless, I learned a lot and will take a lot of what I learned with me when I student teach as well as when I teach my own class.

FOOT - Lie to Me

     I recently found an incredible show through Netflix instant streaming. It is called Lie to Me, and stars one of my favorite actors, Tim Roth. He plays Dr. Cal Lightman, a behavioral psychologist who is basically a human lie detector. He works with three other scientists and they work with the FBI and the police to help solve various mysteries and/or crimes. I know it is a few years old, but my boyfriend and I have been obsessed since we found it. Dr. Lightman studies micro-expressions, which are expressions hidden beneath other expressions that people are trying to hide. He also shows us how real expressions are universal, and we can't help it when we make them. The show  constantly compares the expressions of the people on the show who are lying to celebrities or political figures who make the same face. It is very interesting, and Tim Roth is a complete badass in the show. I have included the trailer, and encourage anybody to check it out. It's funny, entertaining and fascinating!

 

PYTASH - Final Reflection

     This class has helped prepare me to be a teacher more than any other I have taken thus far. I enjoyed the fact that we were able to work with a text that we will probably be teaching one day. I was able to look at it as a teacher instead of a student. I am certain that I will be able to apply some of the lesson ideas that I saw in class when the expert groups presented. That was something that I enjoyed as well. I was glad that I got to get up from my seat and teach. Parts of this were difficult, such as the subject matter because we all know the book inside and out, so none of our lessons were very challenging to us, but I am sure they will be to our future students. 
     I was also thankful that I was able to write a lesson plan, and read some standards. As much as the standards irritate me (they are so vague, yet so complicated), it was nice to have to use them because I will when I teach. I suppose that this class actually acted as a trial for student teaching to us, and I am thankful for that.
     One thing that I must say is that I really missed reading young adult lit this semester. The class that we had with Dr. Pytash last semester was one of my favorite classes I have taken yet, and it exposed me to a lot of texts that my students would enjoy reading. I do appreciate the final project we will have, where we apply a canonical text to a young adult text. I have not yet started compiling the paper, but I am sure it will be interesting.
      I am also thankful for the closer look at the canon. There are many books that I have not yet read from the canon, but I do not dread the idea as much as I used to. I now seem to read with teaching in mind.
     Overall, I learned a lot this semester about how to be a teacher. I believe Carol Jago's text was helpful as well. I look forward to expanding on her ideas when I student teach as well as when I have a classroom of my own. Once again, Dr. Pytash succeeded in creating some pretty good pre-service teachers this semester.

FOOT - Comparing and Contrasting Graphic Novels

The two graphic novels both feature a young hero, fighting for a cause they believe in. Here is a close look at the differences and similarities between the two graphic novels, Naruto Vol. 1 by Masashi Kishimoto and Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer by Van Jensen.

Text and Dialogue

Narration: Pinocchio primarily is told through dialogue. There is very little outside narration with the exception of in the beginning when the authors set the story up. Naruto is the same way. Both texts depend on scenery views to change the location of the scene. 

Balloons: The balloons in Pinocchio are basically round and consistent throughout the novel, whereas Naruto contains some round and many different ones with jagged edges that represent the character yelling/and or feeling pain.

Captions: Neither of the novels contain captions, unless captions are considered the text depicting a scene. If that is the case, Pinocchio has them only in the beginning and Naruto does not.

Emanata: Both graphic novels have emanatas. Pinocchio has 'sweat drops' when he is embarassed after talking to the girl her likes. That is was the only example I could find in Pinocchio. Naruto has many different ones, such as "!!" on page 179, which depicts shock or surprise. These exclamation points are used a lot throughout the graphic novel. Another example is the tiny cirlces that say "puff-puff" on page 143 depicting being out of breath and over-exerted. One last example in Naruto would be the use of little lines coming off the head, showing shock or anger, which is used frequently.

Labels/Signs: Pinocchio does not use any labels or signs, except for the door mat that has Geppedo's name on it. Naruto shows labels and signs written in Japanese on the buildings of the towns.

Lettering: The lettering in Pinocchio is a consistent Comic Sans font, and only grows into big, blocky letters when there is a lot of action, such as a sound effect. Naruto on the other hand uses all kinds of different styles and fonts. They vary greatly from page to page, and grow in size and boldness.

Sound Effects: Like the lettering, sound effects in Pinocchio are written largely and few and far between. Naruto has more action in it, so it uses plenty of different sounds and writes them out. For example, the sound effects in a fight scene around page 170 all show gigantic sound effects that fill up the whole box and make the people doing the action smaller.

Visual Features

Characters: There are fewer characters in Pinocchio than there are in Naruto. They are less detailed and darker in Pinocchio, meaning the mood is so dark that they look sinister at times. In Naruto, there are many different characters.
Objects: The stake/part of Pinocchio's nose is a very important object in this novel. It is the source of his power, and shown often in many different ways. In Naruto, the symbol on his headband is important. It shows us who he is and is shown everytime Naruto is shown.
Icons: I suppose the nose and symbol could be considered icons as well, because they let us know they are important by their frequent use, and they both represent their characters.
Scenery: The scenery in Pinocchio is dark and somber, looking unpleasant and scary due to the circumstances of the vampires intruding. In Naruto, the scenes range from crowded towns to forests, and appear more pleasant than those in Pinocchio.
Depicted Action: Pinocchio shows internal action through his expressions, and external through the fight scenes with sound effects. The same goes for Naruto. They both show us what is going on internally through their facial expressions, and externally through the literal action that is taking place.

General Layout and Design

Borders: Pinocchio uses plain white borders through most of the text, but sometimes black borders are used in dramatic scenes. Also, sometimes there is a large picture in the background, creating the border for the boxes on top of it. In Naruto, the borders are inconsisten. Sometimes they are all around the outside of the pictures, and sometimes the pictures bleed off the page.
Gutters: The gutters are the same as the borders in Pinocchio. They are primarily white, but sometimes are black or have a picture behind them. In Naruto, the gutters are primarily white and vary in size from very small to thick.
Panels: The panels in Pinocchio read from left to right and/or top to bottom. They are generally a large panel and small ones sprinkled in on the top and bottom. Naruto is all over the place. They change from whole pages to many small ones to medium in size. Both novels contain 'whole-page' panels as well.
Open Panel: The only thing that leaves the panels in Pinocchio in the balloons. In Naruto, characters split the panels and go over two of them a lot. On page 139, Naruto is blown up in size and breaks the gutter.
Splash: Pinocchio has a few splashes that show a new scene, or a dramatic scene. In the beginning of Pinocchio is has a splash full-spread picture after he kills the first vampire. Naruto, on page 145, has a splash that is almost a spread between the two sides of the book, but does contain smaller panels under it. The different chapters contain one large picture though.

Angles and Frames

Bleed: Pinocchio does not use bleeding too much. Like I said before, the balloons are really the only thing that leave the panels. In Naruto, letters from sound effects, characters as wel as balloons will bleed over into different panels.

Close-up: Pinocchio uses more medium-shots, whereas Naruto uses a wide range of shots, including close-ups, but more long shots or medium shots.
Head Shot: Pinocchio uses many headshots when the characters are talking. Naruto does the same, such as Naruto himself on page 59.

Head-Shoulder Shot: Pinocchio has a head-shoulder shot when the fairy is talking to him. Her hand is on his shoulder and we can see half of his face. Naruto has few of these. On page 86 he can be seen looking in the mirror over his back.

Full-Figure Shot: Both novels use these shots frequently. Sometimes the characters are in the distance and sometimes they are not.

Longshot: Longshots can be seen in both novels as well. In Pinocchio, in the first few pages, he can be seen from far away in a long shot walking the streets. In Naruto, an example is seen on the first page.

Extreme Longshot: In Pinocchio the first few pages also show extreme longshots, and in both of the graphic novels you can see these when the scene changes quite often.

Reverse: Both of the graphic novels use reverse shots. Naruto uses more of them, where the character is looking off panel at another person.

Rhetorical Techniques Applied in Text, Visuals and Design

Exaggeration: Both of the graphic novels use exaggeration. The characters are able to leap to extreme heights, fight unrealistically and deal with unrealistic elements, such as vampires.

Empathy/Identification: The readers might feel empathetic for Pinocchio due to the loss of his father. For Naruto, they may feel for him because he is an outcast and really does not have many friends in the world.

Mood/Tone: The mood in Pinocchio is dark. It is shadowy, scary and sinister. The mood in Naruto is energetic, light and sometimes humorous.

Simplicity/Complexity: The stories are both simple. They both deal with the protagonist having a goal. Pinocchio wants to avenge Geppeto's death and Naruto wants to be the head ninja in his village.

Irony/Satire: Pinocchio demonstrates irony because of his nose. When he lies it grows, and is what he uses to kill vampires. This is ironic because it is almost as if his killing is a lie because he uses the nose to do it. In Naruto, I could not find an example of irony, except for the fact that he was alienated and is successful in the middle.
Realism/Icons/Symbolism: Neither story is realistic at all, besides their feelings. The symbolism in Pinocchio is his stake, like I mentioned before, and in Naruto, the nine-tailed fox that is trapped within him is symbolic of him fighting his inner demons.

Order/Disorder: The two stories deal with disorder due to their main characters. They are both seen as outcasts, and their stories are kind of bizarre.

Juxtaposition: The stories are both set up in a way that flows easily, and they were easy to follow the way the panels led to the next. Naruto was confusing sometimes in the action scenes though. Both stories are good versus evil, in Pinocchio, literally, and in Naruto, within himself.

Relationships: In Pinocchio, he is close to his two friends, and feels like an outcast with the rest of the people because nobody believes him. In Naruto, he is the same way. He is close with his instructor, but that is it. Also, there are so many characters that it was confusing.
Point of View: In Pinocchio, you have an inside view to his feelings and his story. In Naruto, you feel a bit detached. You don't get to see what he is thinking or feel what he is thinking, but you do get to see his emotions.

**Pinocchio had no page numbers, so I did my best to describe where things happen and what I was talking about.

PYTASH - Literature, Knowledge, and the High School Graduate

    "Teaching is an organic process. This is one of the things that make it such a challenging profession" -pg. 155

    In this final chapter of Carol Jago's insightful text, she discusses many different ideas on how to deepen the students' understanding of Julius Caesar. She tells us that spending all of your time planning quizzes, tests and other forms of assessment can be pointless. Teachers need to focus on the critical thinking skills of students, or else they are not going to progress anywhere academically. She also mentions that there are plenty of pre-made tests and quizzes online that are free and available for use. She seems to encourage the use of these materials, and have your students focus more on their thoughts and understanding. I agree with this mostly, but at the same time there are certain things I would want to address that will not be on an already made assessment plan on the internet.
     One of the things that I really enjoyed about this chapter was the assignment that she had about making one of the characters in Julius Caesar a presidential candidate. I think that this will require plenty of thought and planning on the students' part. You could even have the students split into three groups, depending on the class size, and team up with other people who share their same belief about who would make the best president. The students would have to defend their reasoning, and you could even act out a debate with three students in a Fish Bowl activity. Each of the three students would play either Caesar, Brutus or Cassius, and have a debate about becoming president. The students would debate and then return to their groups for coaching on what else they could say. I think this activity would be fun as well as important because the students would have to know their character inside and out in order to portray them and/or coach others on what they think the character would do.