Creating Films in the Classroom

In my junior year of high school, my English teacher was a first year graduate from Kent State. She was phenomenal. We had so many activities that enhanced my experience and made plays like Macbeth and Hamlet much more memorable. For Macbeth, we were assigned to make a movie. We creatively made a newscast from Scotland, incorporating the plot and the characters. We had so much fun making the film together and I think that this is the reason I remember the film so well.

We did not pay much attention to shots, angles, lighting, and overall quality of the film.. However, it was the 2005-2006 school year. Honestly, times were different! Not everyone had a laptop with cool movie editing programs. We certainly did not! However, we made the film and loved it. We thought we just hilarious and the assignment was incredibly meaningful.

As for Hamlet, we watched the version of the film with Mel Gibson. I don't remember any special assignment that went along with the movie, but I did watch it and like it. When I came to college and took Intro to Shakespeare, I was an expert on Macbeth and Hamlet and more eager to read Othello and King Lear.

I think that making movies is a very meaningful activity that I will want to use with my students. The possibilities today with technology are endless. There is so much room for creativity. I can't wait to hear what Dr. Kist has to say about film in the classroom!

Costanzo- Chapter 1 and 2

The very first two sentences of this chapter intrigued me. Costanzo asks: Why see the movie if you've read the book? Why read the book if you've seen the movie?

The elements of discouse: light, color, framing, motion, sound, transitions, and acting tells the story in a more "sensory experience." I think that I am going to relate this to Twilight (big suprise, I know). New Moon is undeniably by favorite book of all time. When the movie came out, I was expecting to like it as I liked the first movie. But I didn't. I loved it. I adored it. It was a sensory experience like no other. There were many drastic changes that Chris Weitz, the director of New Moon, made from the original film by Catherine Hardewicke. The lighting, color and framing were different. Hardewicke used a blue-ish tint to make the actors look pale and that really bothered me! I was thrilled to see that disappear in New Moon. The movie was brighter, in a more realistic color that the original. The motion was more realistic, too. Yes, Vampires are insanely fast in the novels, but Hardewicke used it so much that it was hardly believable. Weitz subtly incorporated this into his film, making vampires a bit more realistic. The music in Hardewicke's film was creepy and eerie. I hate it. There was not supposed to be anything creepy about their love story. I was so happy to see that this was gone in New Moon, but they kept the theme, "Bella's Lullaby," which was softer and romantic. The acting improved, also. I was not a big Kristen Stewart fan at all after the first film. Her acting chops are not outstanding by any means, but I honestly believed her in New Moon. In Twilight, I didn't believe that she was Bella, but in New Moon, I loved her.

The Socially Networked Classroom-- Blogging

I love the endless possibilities with blogging. I would love to use blogging as a part of my teaching. It is fun, easy and a great way for me to keep up with my students and to possibly assess their work and understanding.

"The Socially Networked Classroom" gives so many ideas for blogs as a part of classroom instruction. I particularly liked chapters 3 and 4, because they gave specific activities and rubrics for blogging. I think I prefer to use Blogging as a response, as I am doing now! As for blog responses, I will definitely use the rules for blogging found on page 55. Response was something I was concerned about, but he ground rules are simple, it's all about respecting the classroom community!

What I love the most about this book is that it offers very specific activities. Since I have yet to teach, I need these ideas! Eventually, I'm sure my creative juices will begin to flow and I will be able to create fun activities with these. But until then, thank you Dr. Kist for giving such fun activities to use in my future classroom!

Twilight Has A Strong Internet Connection

If anyone claims to know me, they know I love Twilight. I became a woman obsessed in Fall of 2009 and I eagerly anticipate the release of "Eclipse" on June 30! Although I basically know everything there is to know about Stephenie Meyer, I love reading about her. I love that she is so connected to her fans, because she has a ton of them! She tends to be so upfront with them about everything, which I know I surely appreciate. Meyer openly talks about "Midnight Sun", which is "Twilight" from Edward's point of view. She openly discusses how she let only three people read the draft, but one of those people illegally leaked the draft onto the internet far before it was ready. Meyer was personally hurt by being exploited by someone she considered a friend, that she delayed completing "Midnight Sun."

On her site, Meyer includes the links to her fansites. She talks about her characters, what inspired her to create them, how she named them, and what actors she imagined would play them in the movies. One of my favorite things that she does is includes a playlists that she listened to as she wrote. Every question that a "Twilight"er (or as I like to call us, Twi-hards) would have.

Jago Chapter 6- Lesson Design for Classical Literatureq

This chapter was long and it had a lot of information in it. This was one of the most valuable things I have read. I am getting nervous about teaching in a fun and effective way, but reading this chapter and taking in all of Jago's ideas comfort and inspire me.

On page 142, the advice on how to read the Odyssey from previous students could be used for any difficult text at all. That is something I will give to my students and reinforce every day that we read a difficult text. Hopefully, students will give and take advice from each other, even though I will be doing my best to accomplish these in class!

The comprehension tools were valuable to me. I read "The Oddyssey" in high school. Even though I was considered to be an advanced reader, I could have used some of these tools. The chart of of Greek Gods would have been useful, especially if it was "prominently displayed in the classroom for easy reference," the way the one in the book was. The list of characters, character web, and map of Odysseus' journey were great activities that will help not only struggling readers, but the advanced readers to better comprehend the text.

The activities for analyzing were great, too. The activity titled "Understanding Epic Similies" was great, because students worked together in a way that allowed them to really think deeply about the characters and events in the story. This is the reason why I liked all of Jago's activities.

I also liked Jago's grading philosophy and use of quizzes. I know that I will be keeping this book for sure, but this chapter really reaffirmed this decision. I can use these activities for any text, really. These activities also encourage me to create some on my own that have the same relevent levels of thinking.

Jago Chapter 3- Choosing Which Books to Teach

Choosing which books to teach has been something I have been contemplating for about a year, now. In high school, I only read about a handful of these texts that we talk about in class. I've also been worried that I'm personally biased towards the ones that I have read, therefore, I may be more inclined to teach them if I loved them. From reading this chapter, I have learned that it may be okay to do this. As long as I have a solid belief of why my specific students should read this book, then I will have the "stamina," as Jago calls it, to pull students through the difficult text and "reach the heart of the matter," (p. 39).

Jago gives a good list of criteria when deciding to teach a text, if it is not already decided for you. I think that the most important qualities of classics are: "expose students to human dilemmas," "include compelling, disconcerting characters," and "challenge readers to reexamine their beliefs." However, all of the criteria makes the classics exactly what they are: classics! I have come to the conclusion that I need to get to reading! I have never read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I guess I should! I hope to read everything on these lists so that I can be as prepared as I can be!

Jago Chapter 1 - Seven Guiding Principles for Literature Teachers

I want to begin by saying that I really like this book. Everything she is saying is everything I've been wondering!

One main idea that hit me came from Jago's second guideline: "Don't confuse reading for pleasure with the study of literature," (p. 4). Jago sees popular, young adult fiction as mirrors, because they reflect "students' own experiences with parents, peers, sex drugs and alcohol," (p. 5). It is my personal philosophy that students need to see that they can identify with these characters in order to recognize that they are not alone in the struggles of adolescence. Also, as Jago notes, it is better to have students reading popular fiction than to not be reading at all.

However, Jago says that students also needs books that will act as windows, that "offer readers access to other worlds, other times, other cultures," (p. 5). This is exactly how I have always felt about reading the classics. Yes, reading Twilight is an obsession of mine and I do enjoy most young adult books, but the classics have made me a more well-rounded person. Because of books like "The Grapes of Wrath," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Native Son," "The Old Man and the Sea," "The Great Gatsby," "Pride and Prejudice," and "Wuthering Heights" that have made me criticize politics, society, religion and human nature. When I say "criticize," it is not necessarily a negative thing. However, I have formed my own educated belief system and opinions mainly based off of books.

This is why I want to have a fair balance between books that serve as mirrors and books that serve as windows. Both are so important to the students that I will teach, because I want them to enjoy reading and find comfort in literature, but I also want them to become more critical society in order to form their own beliefs and opinions the way that I did.

I hope to incorperate Literature Circles into my classroom as a way of reading young adult novels. This is a way to get students to read the books that serve as mirrors, but to also scrutinize a text and look for important literary elements.