Very excited to be in Chicago for the NCTE 2011 National Convention!
This year, I’m presenting on how digital literacy narratives bring a classroom together [and how Third Space Theory is intertwined in our students’ reading/writing practices].
Will definitely be sharing things that I learn with you all once I have time to reflect and write:]
I am SO impressed by the creativity of two local area high schools and their students’ videos. As quoted in this Get Schooled post, these ARE examples of what the best “spirit cheers” look like today. You can check out the original video in this “battle” here and the response here.
For me, these videos show just how multiliterate our students are and all of the neat ways in which they are reading, writing, and engaging with the world around them. These videos use rhetorical strategies, rhymes, video angles, music — and this list only continues — all to help show their school spirit. And, I love the fact that they pull in lots of different members from their respective student bodies to be a part of the banter.
No matter which school wins the game, the main point is that these two videos have just under 400,000 hits (combined) in two weeks. Where these students’ voices heard? [I think so!]
As you all know, I feel very strongly about helping kids understand how to create and why to create positive digital footprints. I’ve thought about this topic a lot, and yet it’s something that is still weighing heavily on my mind. [Maybe it’s because the means in which we work digitally is constantly changing???]
Anyway, I’m seeing more and more kids not understanding what their digital footprint is all about and how it can/will affect them now and down the road. I know that I stress it a lot when I work with my students and try to emphasize it’s not about culling their creativity, but a way to push them to think critically and post information that is appropriate (and in a way that still gets their point across). So, I’m curious…how are others helping their students develop positive digital footprints? How can we keep kids motivated to produce and stress to them they can still “own” that digital space (without them not being “googled well”)?
It’s funny that I was just talking about Banned Books Week today, and then I happened to see a post from one of my former students regarding censorship. The energy I felt from this student’s writing reminded me just how important it is to value every thing (and every one for that matter).
This post reminded me that the lack of open-mindedness plays a huge role with things that get censored. When people don’t “get” things, things get censored. I also thought about how fear plays a huge role, too. When people fear things, they push them away. Out of sight…out of mind. However, some of those things that we fear might just be the light that another needs.
Though I am sad to know the confusion/anger/pain associated with this post, I am also breathing a breath of fresh air. The fact that there are kids out there who want to make a difference, who want to stand up for what is right, and who have open-minds to appreciate the diversity that surrounds us today is a beautiful thing.
Thus, in honor of the upcoming BBW (and the post I read tonight), I wanted to share with you all (again) beautiful words from the talented Ellen Hopkins. Her “Manifesto” is hanging in my office, and I hope it moves others as much as it moves me. Enjoy!
After a long day at school (it’s our benchmark testing week) and an even longer few hours at the gym (I’m just now realizing how incredibly out of shape I am…and I have a half marathon the first weekend of October, ha!), I came home to this note from a former student:
I just wanted to say thanks to you for helping me with my writing. I wasn’t aware of how much your class has helped me until I had to peer-edit essays for other students in my English class. The essays for these other students are horrible. They have problems ranging from multiple sentence fragments to not even having a thesis. I am super thankful for the education that you have given me to make me a better writer.
[Made my day.]
I’ve been intrigued with the idea of a “digital essay” ever since Jim Burke posted an example of one awhile ago. When I asked him what his assignment sheet included, Burke said that he didn’t really have a “formal” one and just told the kids to create. I think the biggest reason I’m drawn to the idea of a “digital” essay and what that “format” might encompass (beside my love for rhetoric and comp!) is the fact that I see this format as one that would be more real-world applicable in many ways versus a traditional essay for English class.
When I tried it out with my students Continue reading
I’m always interested in how others handle the paper load that comes with being an English teacher. I’ve tried many different techniques myself ranging from jing videos to tablet pc mark-up options and Word commenting, as well as good old fashioned pen and paper (oh, how I LOVE my teal pens!). I also have had to learn to curb my copy editor mode and bite back the frustration of seeing a draft paper with all of my copious remarks land in the trash can 5 minutes after I hand the essays back.
As I think most teachers do, I strive to find new techniques to test out here and there especially if I think one might help with a particular assignment or even class. (I also like to get feedback from the kids on what Continue reading
I keep thinking about two specific comments from my AP Lit workshop that I am struggling with in regards to adolescent reading and writing practices today. When I first started researching new literacies and the ways in which students (and really all of us) are becoming increasingly multiliterate, I truly believed that “Literacy as we know it is not in a crisis, but instead evolving as we know it.” This belief still holds true today as I think the majority of kids are reading and writing, a lot, just not in ways that the traditional classroom has always valued.
With my belief in place, I think many of you will see why the two comments below got my attention… Continue reading
I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to teach Lit this year! However, at first, I was a bit nervous about the differences between AP Literature and AP Language. And then I reminded myself: reading is reading and writing is writing!
One of the things that my students struggled with the most (particularly in regards to Lang): the multiple choice questions. One of the key words that always messed them up involved picking the “best” answer. Many would talk themselves around the correct answer. In my opinion, stressing MC strategies is helpful; however, I think it all comes down to Continue reading
Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day which ties into National Poetry Month. And luckily, our first annual Writers’ Week coincides with all of this! Our version of Poem in Your Pocket Day (which lots of people are talking about) consisted of writing on our class blog and either 1) sharing a poem with everyone or 2) creating a poem to share with everyone.
The two poems I picked to share were by Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni. I picked “Dreams” because it’s a piece that has always stood out to me since the first time I heard it…we all have to have a purpose or continue to reach for a new dream. I told my students that I always try to make myself better/learn something new in some small way each and every day (because I personally believe that if I don’t, there’s no real purpose to what I do).
During my time at Virginia Tech, I was fortunate to have Giovanni as one of my professors. I chose her poem on the events of April 16th because that is a day that has forever changed me. And even though it’s been almost 4 years since those terrible events happened, I still feel like it happened yesterday…I can still feel the bitter cold of the wind of that day as I crossed the Drillfield…I can still see the reporters shoving their cameras in our faces…I can still remember being trapped on campus…I can still hear the sirens…That day still gives me chills and makes me cry.
Though I know this day will forever bring up emotions words could never describe, Giovanni’s words remind me of how powerful writing is and reinforces how truly proud I am to call myself a Hokie.
English Teacher, too. 