Cleveland Free Tech Conference

On February 10th & 11th, I attended Smart Ed's Cleveland Free Tech Conference. I was eager to take advantage of this opportunity-- because this was ENTIRELY FREE. However, you do not get what you pay for. In fact, you get so much more.

I have been working with Smartboard and Smartnotebook in my classroom at Coventry. It has been a trial and error kind of learning experience. It was wonderful to have these enthusiastic representatives there that could answer all of my questions and give me so many great ideas.

Aside from Smartboard, I was also eager for my 7th grade team to hear Dr. Kist speak. He demonstrated many strategies from "The Socially Networked Classroom" and presented several lessons and projects that were brand new.

One of my favorite presentations was about teacher websites and wikis. I am so excited to use these new technologies in my class and use them to supplement my instruction!

Professor and the Madman

• I can honestly say that I've always wondered how on earth the dictionary was produced. I always wondered how every word could be thought of and defined. I was intrigued to find that volunteers contributed. This will help when I compose my slang dictionary for our final. I can ask my students for slang words that they use, however, I have observed several. Just by talking with them and listening to them in the hallways, I can pick up on so much. I love my students and I love talking with them about their interests. I honestly communicate with them as much as I can. It is always school related, but some students like to just talk to me about their home or family, which I welcome. I will have no trouble composing my dictionary, so I doubt I will need to call for volunteers!
• At the beginning of this story, I kept thinking: "How did this lunatic become a doctor?" But then I realized, people are shaped by their environment and experiences. I do think that there was always something a little bit off about W.C. Minor and I think that was apparent since he was a child. However, his life undoubtedly caused his insanity. I was particularly saddened by his parental situation: his mother dying when he was child must have affected him psychologically and being sent away from his travelling family back to the United States is troubling. He must have felt horribly neglected and unwanted. I think that we need to be aware of these situations with our students and always make them feel welcome and appreciated, because horrible outcomes come from these feelings. It seems that the war was the biggest cause. I just read Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" for another class and I have concluded that absolutely nothing good can come from war. I was saddened when I read that even the author seemed to think that his madness was "triggered" by his experience as a surgeon where the brutality of war was visible.
• On a more positive note, he really was smart! I think that I can actually learn something from his genius. Clearly, I already know that reading increases vocabulary and I am obviously an advocate for the power of reading. But I was surprised to see that you can likely link Dr. Minor's intelligence to literacy and exposure to ethnic diversity as a child. Winchester says that "his father's printing tasks gave him access to literature and newspapers" and that he traveled a lot as a child, which resulted in learning many languages. Even in his room at the asylum, he built up a library and never stopped his interest in literature. I think it is incredible that one man compiled that many words to contribute to the OED. I guess he really stayed busy in there until his Schizophrenia got the best of him. How sad! However, that is an interesting history for his extended family to discover!

Follow-Up on "The Help"

I have finished! A while ago, I posted a blog about the book that I was currently reading, "The Help," by Kathryn Stockett. What an incredible story. My aunt, a school administrator, has requested that I tell my fellow INLA majors that she strongly advises you all to read this book, because many schools will be requiring students to read this for summer reading or even implementing it into their curriculum.

The story of these women and the mystery that unravels is just compelling. This is undoubtedly one of the best books that I have ever read. The movie (of course there is a movie!) is set to be released in 2011. The cast is composed of stars such as Twilight Saga: Eclipse star Bryce Dallas Howard, Sissy Spacek, and Emma Stone.

Please read! I promise, it won't let you down!

Image Grammar Ch. 9

• · Noden gives a scenario: Ms. Latimeer says, “Be sure to proofread. I won’t accept anything that isn’t thoroughly edited,” student Harvey Sloopwater glances at his three-hundred-plus-page grammar handbook in horror. I think that this happens to often! I remember teachers saying: “Make sure you proofread!” But we need to teach students how, using all of the “essential dimensions of revision,” and not just edit for conventions.
• · The short checklists were phenomenal. Noden provides the reader with so many tools. The combined checklist was great. I know that my students at Coventry would love this, because they LOVE knowing exactly what they have to do to get an A!
• · I wanted to point out that Mark Jamison, the teacher Noden talks about on page 185, is a teacher in Coventry, where I am student teaching. Although I am at the middle school and he is at the high school, my cooperating teacher has arranged for me to observe him for a few days. My cooperating teacher has told me that he is a phenomenal teacher, so his KSU student teacher, Sarah Beth, will go to my class and observe while I am in her class. Just an interesting little factJ.
• · Out of the strategies given, I loved strategy #2: Punctuate That That Is Is That. I think that my students would love this and it truly inspires thinking. This would really allow students to think about the meaning of a sentence and how punctuation shapes a sentence.

Image Grammar Ch. 5

• · The opening “experiment” on page 94, in which the reader is supposed to “mark the sentence as either C or I,” is so fun for the reader. This activity would be a fun way to show students that when you know the rules, you can break them. The sentences are great examples of how authors add power to their writing by playing with punctuation to create special effects
• · I’m not a professional writer, but I tend to use dashes for effect. I use medium separation (the dash) in emails, text messages, blogs, and informal writing
• · I have used maximum separation (the period) for dramatic effect, especially in Creative Writing stories. Last semester I wrote: “I looked at him. He looked at me. Tears filled my eyes. And he knew that I knew.” Clearly, I am no pro, but I think that breaking the rules helped me to create this special effect.
• · I love these strategies. All of them. I think that he makes it so easy for all of us who want to teach grammar in a fun way. My favorite from this chapter was Strategy 1: Play with Fragments and Run-ons. My cooperating teacher has a similar activity, because this is great for using description! Also, knowing how to use run-ons and fragments for effect may help students to understand when they are not appropriate to use.

Image Grammar Ch. 1

• · Noden states that “writing is not constructed merely from experiences, information, characters or plots, but from fundamental artistic elements of grammar.” I have been wondering for a while when we were going to really dive into this element, rather than focusing on generating writing and creativity. Noden says that students can employ the five basic brush strokes (1. The participle 2. The absolute 3. The appositive 4. Adjectives shifted out of order 5. Action verbs) to learn “the art of image grammar.” My cooperating teacher really works on adjectives and action verbs with our students. We play “verb charades” and write descriptive paragraphs that elaborate on a simple sentence, such as: “The kitchen was dirty.” Mrs. Sukie always welcomes my ideas, because she wants to make grammar as interactive as she can. This book and its strategies will be a great help to me!
• · Strategy 2: Explore Images from Films of Best-Selling Novels is such a fun activity. I’ve found that students really get excited when you incorporate movies, internet, or gaming. I used a Youtube clip and did a project using Facebook in my class, which really excited them. I loved seeing my students that energized and eager to learn. I liked the example using Jack London’s “Call of the Wild,” because it is something I’ve read! Since my students will be reading Rick Riordan’s “Lightning Thief,” it would be really fun to use the new movie, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” I’m sad to see that it won’t be released until the summer, but I can always find a great clip from the theatrical trailer!

Hungry Minds

• v This article shocked me when it stated that 1 in every 6 are hungry. How sad! One day when I was in second grade, my teacher asked me why I looked so sad and couldn’t do my work. I told her because I was “starving.” Honestly, there’s no way I was starving. My mother would never have sent me to school without feeding me. However, I remember the feeling! I had a headache because I was so hungry and all I could do was stare at the clock and wait for it to be lunch time. Mrs. Bosko didn’t allow that. She sent me down to the cafeteria with $.75 and told me to buy a cookie and some milk. Now that I am teaching, I think about Mrs. Bosko very often. I need to try to be that attentive to my students and know that they may be too hungry to sit in class. Perhaps it is just because they were super active the day before, or maybe they are in need like the people who went to the soup kitchen. I know many schools provide breakfast for this purpose, but the school I am placed in currently does not. If I do notice a student who cannot focus or tells me he is hungry, I can always give them a “Chewy” bar! They’re yummy, have nutritional value and are inexpensive!
• v I was interested in the proven topics that they wrote about in the workshops. I would have liked to see more of those.
• v I think that writing can be very therapeutic. I think that by using writing as a way to let my students relieve feelings, I will be better able to know them and meet their needs more efficiently.
• v Finally, I loved how they use a writing workshop to “kindly criticize” one another’s writing. That’s truly how you improve and build your writing. Also, a class anthology of students’ work is a great idea. Students can keep it to remember their own work, read the final works of their peers, and I could use it as modeling in the following years.