Foot- Pleasure/school reading

I am currently reading Unwind for the pairing project in Dr. Pytash's class, and I must say that it is really good. I would definitely recommend it for your summer reading lists. For the project, it is paired with Brave New World. It is about futuristic America after a civil war known as the "The Heartland War." It was fought between the pro-life people and the pro-choice people. In the end, both sides lost and the Bill of Life was passed. This made it so that a child could not be killed from the time they were conceived until the time they turned 13. From 13 to 18, parents can choose to have their children unwound. This means that all of the child's organs, limbs, etc. would be harvested and used to help others. The child would remain living, but inside other people. The story is about three Unwinds: Conner, Risa, and Lev. It follows their journey as they escape from their fate.

This book asks a lot of questions about the value of the individual. Many of the characters ask if it is such a bad thing when troubled kids are unwound to help others survive. It is a book that confronts a lot of difficult questions about the worth of the individual. I think I would definitely consider using it in my classroom.

Foot: Romeo and Juliet

After talking about Romeo and Juliet in Dr. Pytash's class on Tuesday and hearing multiple references to the 1996 modernized film version of the play, I decided to watch it on Netflix. I did this for two main reasons. The first reason was because I was intrigued to see if it would be something I could use in my future class. The second reason (and possibly more importantly) was because Leonardo DiCaprio is in it, and he is pretty much really hot. 

As soon as the movie started, I was surprised to hear the Elizabethan English being used in this modernized version of the play. At first it seemed very out of place for the time period the movie was taking place in, and I was sure that they would revert to the more modern English at any moment. When they didn't, I was very surprised. As I watched the film, I saw how pairing the Shakespearian language with the modernized story really helped to understand the language used in the original play. I think that this is something that could really be used in a high school English classroom because it can help students get a better grasp on the language.

I also think it was good to use the original language because it lets students see that Shakespeare really is universal. He is not an old dead guy whose literature doesn't mean anything anymore. Even with the modernized setting, his original words still made sense. I think this shows that his literature is still relatable to today's audience, and students will really benefit from realizing this. 

After watching this, I think that I will use this film in my classroom. When I was in high school, my teacher used the old version that is set in Elizabethan times. I did not enjoy this version when I was in high school because, although it added a visual to the confusing language of the play, it was still not something I could relate to. By setting it in a modern time, the newer movie gives students a view of the play that they can relate to. It is also very fast-paced and at times funny, so it is something that they are used to. 

Foot- Graphic Novels

Text and Dialogue

Balloons- In Naruto, there was two different types of balloons. Round balloons seemed to be used for normal conversation. When the characters were shouting or excited about something there were no balloons, or they become jagged. In Pinocchio, all of the speech balloons are round.

Captions- In Naruto there was a couple of captions but not really anything substantial. In Pinocchio they were a little more prevalent, and they were in square boxes. They were used when Pinocchio was narrating what happened to his father.

Emanata- These were used more in Naruto. I think that this is to be expected with manga. In my experience, I have noticed that manga use a lot more of these than regular graphic novels. Naruto used a lot of lines to indicate force, anger, or action. Also there was a lot of clouds and smoke used when magic was being used. In Pinocchio, the same sorts of things were used. Swirling smoke was used for when vampires died.

Labels and signs- In Naruto, there were some signs throughout the town in Japanese letters. In Pinocchio, there was a sign above Geppetto’s shop. Signs and labels were not a big part of either of these stories.

Lettering- Much like the balloons, Naruto has different lettering for normal speech and excited speech. For normal speech, the lettering is consistent in size and boldness. When characters get excited, however, the sizing gets inconsistent and it becomes bold. In Pinocchio, all of the lettering in conversations is consistent. In both books, the lettering for sound effects is artistic and large. In Naruto, the lettering for these sound effects actually takes on the appearance of the sound being portrayed.

Sound Effects- Like most manga, Naruto has a ton of sound effects for everything that the characters are doing. This includes sounds like slurp, much, thunk, glug, and sizzle. There are also sounds that don’t really make sense such as SHF, FWP, HMF. In Pinocchio, not as many sound effects are used for random things. The sound effects in this book are used to emphasize the fighting, which is the main aspect of the story.

Visual Effects

Characters- In Naruto, the characters are very detailed and have very strong facial expressions. In Pinocchio, the characters are very shaded and dark. Their expressions are always full of fear, anger, and hate. Both of the books use the appearance of the characters to help set the mood of the story.

Objects- The objects in Naruto are very detailed. Readers are able to see a lot of the minute details of things like clothing and even toilet paper and milk cartons. In Pinocchio, objects aren’t detailed as much. As a matter of fact, there aren’t a lot of objects to be seen. The main focus is on the characters. The main object seen in this book is Pinocchio’s nose. I think this is because the main thing the reader is supposed to focus on in this book is the anger and hate in the characters.

Icons- The main icon in Naruto is the symbol on the headband. This represents what Naruto wants more than anything else—to become a ninja. In Pinocchio, the main symbol is his nose. I think it really represents the innocence that has been taken away from him through the vampire attack. He used to be this cute puppet whose nose would grow if he lied. He now has to take this and use it to fight to the death.

Scenery- Naruto focuses a lot on scenery. The scenery is very detailed. Many of the panels are extreme long shots of this scenery. The setting seems to be very important. This is opposite of Pinocchio. In Pinocchio, the scenery isn’t shown as much. A lot of times, the panel behind the characters is completely white or black. I think this is, again, to emphasize the characters.

Depicted Action- Both of these books have a lot of action in them. Naruto, for me, was sometimes hard to follow at times because of this. Many panels would be close-ups of punches or kicks. In Pinocchio, the action is much more violent. There are staked and burning vampires all throughout. This adds to the mood a lot.

Borders- The borders in both books are pretty uneventful. In Naruto, the borders are plain, black thin lines. In Pinocchio, they are thin and black, but they are not perfectly straight.

Gutters- Once again, these are fairly uneventful. In Naruto, they are all white. The horizontal ones are thick, while the vertical ones are thin. In Pinocchio, they are either black or white (contrasting with the images on the page).

Panels- In both books, panels are varied sizes of squares and rectangles.

Open Panels- The open panels are the images that I think look the coolest. They are used in both books. In Naruto, it seems that a lot of action happens in these open panels. In both books, things that are shocking or exciting appear like this. I think this is because this is where the reader’s attention focuses because it is different from the rest of the panels.

Splash- This seems to happen more frequently in Pinocchio. Much like the open panels, scenes that were overly shocking or exciting were the ones that were given this treatment. An example of this is when the Pinocchio is hung from a tree or when he stabs a vampire through the throat as he tells a lie. In Naruto, this does not happen as much. The most readers see this is in the chapter titles and when there is an exciting battle scene.

Angles and Frames

Bleed- In Naruto, there is a lot of bleeding from regular panels. There will be a panel with three distinct sides, with the fourth bleeding off the side of the page. In Pinocchio, the only time the reader sees any bleeding is when there is a full page splash.

Close-up- In both books, close-ups are used to show extreme emotion. They are also used to show action such as punches and kicks in Naruto and vampires being staked in Pinocchio.

Headshot- These seem to be used in both books when focusing on one character when they are speaking. They are also used to show emotion just like the close-up.

Head-shoulder shot- These seem to be used for the same reasons as the headshots.

Full-figure shot- In both books, full-figure shots are used when there is more than one character in the frame. Also these are used when there is some sort of action.

Long shot- In Naruto, long shots are used a lot to look at the scenery around the character. As there is not a lot of scenery in Pinocchio, the long shots deal a lot with the action of the plot.

Extreme long shots- These are used a lot more in Naruto. There are many times where there is an extreme long shot when two characters are talking. This shot is so long that the characters cannot be seen—just their speech bubbles are present among the trees or building tops.

Reverse- Both books use this technique a lot. It is used largely when there is an emotional scene where the characters are conversing. This reminds me of a movie scene where the camera is going quickly back and forth between the two characters.

Rhetorical techniques applied in texts, visuals, and design

Exaggeration- Both texts used a lot of exaggeration. In Naruto, like in most manga, emotion and sound were exaggerated by emantas and sound effects. In Pinocchio, the hatred and anger felt by Pinocchio were exaggerated by the extreme shading used in the graphics.

Empathy/identification- I think that the reader can identify with characters in both books. However, I can see this happening more in Naruto. In this book, readers can identify with Naruto’s feelings of isolation and his lack of friends. Everyone, at some point, has felt left out and unloved. In Pinocchio, I think the main thing readers would be able to identify with is the loss of a loved one and the feelings of sorrow that come with that.

Mood/tone- The mood/tone of the two books are completely different. Naruto, although it has some intense moments, is very playful and funny, while Pinocchio is very dark and menacing. This mood is portrayed wonderfully by the illustrations and shading.

Simplicity/complexity- I would say when comparing the two books, Naruto is definitely the more complex story. The mythological backstory and number of characters can get kind of confusing. This complexity is illustrated in the graphics as well. Characters, objects, and settings are drawn with a lot of detail. Pinocchio, in my opinion, is a much simpler story. While there is a small backstory, it is extremely simple and does not cause confusion. The illustrations are simple as well, using two main shades and focusing mainly on characters, with few objects and background images.

Irony/satire- In Naruto, the irony comes when the child that is hated by the townspeople and does bad in school is discovered to have great power. In Pinocchio, it is ironic that Pinocchio has to lie to do good and save those he loves.

Realism/icons/symbolism- I don’t really think that either of the story had a lot of realism. I guess you could say that some of the issues that the stories dealt with were realistic. I think that the nose in Pinocchio was symbolic, like I said before, because it represents the children’s story and shows his loss of innocence. I also think that in Naruto, the fox inside of him represents the things that he can’t change about himself.

Order/disorder- Both of the main characters have disorder in their family lives. Naruto has no family and doesn’t even have a lot of friends that he can rely on. I think that him trying to become a great ninja can be seen as him trying to create some order in his life. Pinocchio also has no family because the vampires “killed” his father. Once again, I think that the revenge that he seeks is his way for looking for this order in his life that he doesn’t have.

Juxtaposition- I believe that both books deal with the juxtaposition created between the relationships of good and evil. In Naruto, this can be seen within the main character himself. He has both good and evil inside of him. The nine-tailed fox is the evil part of him that no one likes, but he is also a very loveable young boy. In Pinocchio, the good verses evil is much more evident with him fighting vampires. I also think the ending of this book introduces a very interesting aspect—love for his father, but hate for what he has become.

Relationships- Naruto is hated by almost everyone in his village, which is one main cause of conflict. Only a few people such as Iruka and Konohamaru really seem to like him. I am interested to read the rest of the books to see how these relationships progress. Pinocchio’s strongest relationship is gone. With his father dead he is almost all alone except for the carpenter and the fairy. I think that this causes a lot of sorrow for Pinocchio.

Point of View- Naruto is told in a very childish sort of way. The personality of Naruto is the main reason for this. Sometimes it also seems like part of the story is coming from the 3^rd Hokage when background information is told. In Pinocchio, the hate and revenge can really be felt in the narration. Even when getting background information, the reader can hear the sorrow for what was lost.

Pytash- Chapter 7

It is sad that a lot of people think that "only students bent on pursuing careers in university English departments need to develop the ability to analyze literature" (150). It is even worse that many professional people believe this as well. In one of my literature classes, I learned that colleges and universities are beginning to cut the liberal arts requirements for students--some schools cutting classes down from over a hundred to less then 50. I think this is appalling. Literature can do so much for you, even if you don't plan to be an English major.

As Jago says, "literature frequently provides a context in which to examine moral dilemmas"(150). Literature, in my opinion, is the conscience of society. It raises issues that many people many not think about otherwise and brings attention to problems involving things like sexism, racism, etc. If students are not subjected to this kind of moral examination through literature in a time where morals continue to be trampled upon and many times are not taught in the home, where will they get it?

I also think that the ability to analyze literature can help students in their overall academic lives. It takes a certain kind of thought process to do this kind of work. Jago stresses the importance of focusing on things like literature analysis instead of other, sometimes more appealing assignments. She says that doing literary analysis helps students to "think analytically and to marshal thoughts in an organized fashion" (154). Assignments such as these also help to develop in the students the ability to construct arguments, which will be helpful all through their lives.

Pytash- Final Reflection

It is hard to believe that the semester is almost over. Our class has really helped me become more confident with my teaching skills as I approach student teaching. Before this class, I had never written a lesson plan, and that bothered me. It was nice finally getting to do this. I think it really helped doing this with a text that most schools have their students read and that we will most likely teach in our careers. It gave me a much better handle on the text we read and made me see how I can do this with other texts. It was also really nice to see the groups present their lesson plans to get different ideas on how to present the text.

Just like last semester, we had a pretty good textbook. I didn’t enjoy reading this book like I did Beer’s text, but I did learn a lot from it. I liked how she had an example for everything she was talking about and shared lessons and activities she used when teaching a text. I found that I didn’t agree with her on everything. After spending so much time looking at YA novels last semester, I was kind of upset at her feelings toward the genre, and I thought she was a little extreme at times in her opinions at times. Overall, however, I think reading the book was beneficial.

Comparing this class to last semester’s class, I must say that I did prefer YA lit to this one. This, however, had nothing to do with the teaching style or activities. I just liked the subject matter better last semester. I did learn so much, though, and I definitely feel more prepared for student teaching because of this class.

Foot- Final Reflection

Many of the things that I have learned in this class will help me in my future career as a teacher. I can really see myself using the multi-genre autobiography. I think that this is a great way for students to see how texts have affected their lives. I also think that it is a great way to introduce the students at the beginning of the year. Also, after reading Dr. Kist’s book, I am a lot more open to the idea of using technology in my class. I now know how to use blogs, wikis, and nings in my classroom, and I definitely think that I will—especially blogs. They can be used for responses and portfolios for students. One thing that I really like is the use of Facebook. At first, I thought that this was really unprofessional, but I thought that I could at least start a Facebook group to alert students to homework and tests. After participating in the Facebook discussion groups, I can see the bigger projects that it can be used for. Overall, I definitely view technology in the classroom as more doable. I don’t think it will all come at once, but I would like to use some of these strategies in my classroom. Students are using these modes of communication in their everyday life, so why not incorporate them in their school life? It might even make class a little more interesting.

I think using these multi-modal means can enhance communication with both students and their parents. The Facebook group that I mentioned above is a great way to keep students reminded about different classroom activities. It also gives students a space to ask questions about class. I also think that blogs are a great way to keep in touch with students’ parents. Announcements and information about what their kids are doing in class would be interesting to them. Students’ work could be posted on the blog to share with family members at home. I really do believe that using these forms of communication can keep both students and parents in the loop and interested in what is going on at school.

Looking back at my blog posts and reflecting on my blogging experience, I see that I have become a lot more comfortable blogging. It doesn’t seem as forced anymore, or at least it didn’t until the end of the semester quickly approached, and I had a million other things to do. I see that as the semester went on, I began to include a lot more multi-modal aspects into my blog. I have videos, pictures, and links. I realize now how easy it is to send viewers to different parts of the web that relate to my posts or even bring those parts of the web directly to my blog.

I also have started to see blogs as things that I can get great teaching information from. In my blog about my Firestone experience, I mention such a blog. Also, when I was looking for links for my Wiki, I found a few blogs where teachers talk about their classes. I think that this is a great way to hear from other teachers and find out what worked for them and what didn’t.

Looking at the class as a whole, I must say that it was extremely complicated. Out of all of my education classes, this had to be the one that made me the most stressed—which I thought was really unneeded. Some of the assignments were much more complicated than they needed to be and I feel as though even though I learned from them, it wasn’t enough to make the tediousness of the assignments worth it. Although I felt like this for many of the assignments, I did learn some valuable things. 

Pytash- Canonical Wiki Reflection: 1984

Making this Wiki was extremely frustrating. The site was very buggy, so it was hard to adjust the format and make everything work. Also, finding 20 different lesson plans was tough. There were so many times that I thought I had found a great website for lesson plans, and I had to pay to get on it. I don’t think this is right. Reading Jago made me realize that teachers should be more open with their lesson plans and that we should all get ideas from each other.

Other than those two difficulties, I really think that I learned a lot from this project. The lessons I found would be fun and engaging for a large number of students. They aren’t just discussions and papers. Some are projects involve the internet, interactive role-playing, or projects involving art and creativity. I was discussing some of the lesson plans I had found with a friend who is a senior in high school and he said, “Why can’t our teachers find fun ways like those to teach the novels we read.” This made me really happy and I realized that there might be ways to get students into books that they may not necessarily want to read. The lessons that I picked can also easily be paired with the Ohio education standards and they are very diverse.

I learned a lot about my book while doing this as well. I learned about the climate of the world when Orwell wrote the novel. I also learned about a lot of things that are going on today that fit with what Orwell wrote about in 1984.

One thing that I learned about teaching this text is that it doesn’t have to be dry and boring. Some of the lessons I picked out I would even like to do because they sounded fun and educational. I am really excited because my cooperating teacher at the school I am student teaching at told me to think about some books that I would like to teach. I will definitely recommend 1984 now that I have all of these great ideas.  I really think that they would engage students and make them appreciate the novel more.  

Pytash- Classics Chapter 6

This chapter started out “promising,” saying that education is the only profession “that eats its young” (95). This did not make me very confident. What I learned, though, is that teachers need to learn from each other. I really like that Jago said that it is okay to take good lessons from other educators. This made me a lot more confident.

I really like the detail in which she described how she teaches The Odyssey. I think that giving background information of the type of story students will be reading and the time in which it takes place is extremely important. I also like the visuals Jago gave them while reading. I always hated trying to keep track of long lists of characters and their relationships and the places they traveled. Giving the students charts of characters and maps to show the setting is really helpful. This way they have one less thing they have to worry about understanding. In tenth grade, I had a teacher that actually let us bring in pictures of actors to represent the difference characters.  She hung them on the bulletin board so that we could refer to them. This helped a lot of students to picture the characters.

A lot of Jago’s lessons involved interactive activities for the students and I really liked them. One that I thought was cool was when she let them experiment with the language used by the author. This helped the students to become more comfortable with the difficult language. I also liked the idea of assigning groups of students to dissect different epic similes. I think the more comfortable the students are with things like this the easier it will be for them to understand and enjoy the text.

Pytash- Classics Chapter 4

This chapter really helped me to understand how to help students understand a difficult text. What surprised me was that to do this, one thing you can do is to help them understand the basic structure of stories in general. Thinking about it, I realized that it made complete sense. If a student can see that all stories are constructed in the same ways, then the student can at least understand the basic set up of the novel that they struggle with. If they understand this, it is one less thing they have to worry about, and they can go on to think about the deeper meaning of the story. Understanding the basic building blocks of a story such as story elements and action really helps reader to understand the story as a whole.

I also like that Jago said that understanding literary devices “gives readers power over text” (67). It gives them a way to talk about text and explain what they observe. I like that she says not to turn it into a game of trivial pursuit and start having students go on a treasure hunt through the text to find them for the sake of finding them. My tenth grade English teacher did this to us while we read All Quiet on the Western Front and I HATED literary devices for quite some time afterwards. Jago wants her students to be able to use literary devices naturally to make them more articulate when discussing literature.  

Pytash- Classics Chapter 2

This chapter addressed a problem that I believe many of us will see as teachers—students with poor vocabularies. I think that this is going to be one of the biggest hurdles that we will see when teaching high school students. This is especially true for students who are struggling readers. One of my fears is how to get struggling readers through the classics that we have to teach. Jago says, “for reasonable reading comprehension a student needs to know 90-95 percent of the words” (22). This seems like a lot. If they can’t understand even the words on the page, how are they supposed to understand anything else that the literature has to offer?

Chapter three shed a little bit of light on this for me. Jago has some really good ideas for building students’ vocabulary while reading classics. One of the ideas that I really liked was the vocabulary bookmarks. These are nice because students can pick out words that they personally don’t understand. It also gets them to actively read and not pass over words they don’t know without thinking about them like I have seen many students do.

Another thing that I liked about this chapter was how Jago picked a few strong key words from the text her students were reading, in this case Julius Caesar. She chooses words that will benefit the students and teaches them in depth what they mean as well as teaching the literature. I thought this was a great idea because she really got the students using the words, which is the only way that they will actually remember it.

Foot- Cleveland Film Festival Review

The ways in which the lives of humans and animals intertwine was carefully considered in a documentary directed my Lisa Leeman entitled One Lucky Elephant. The film follows the story of David Balding and his Elephant Flora as David tries to find the best home for the elephant he has raised as a daughter since she was brought to America as a calf. After raising Flora in the circus for 16 years, David begins to realize that she no longer enjoys acting and starts to question what really makes her happy. So begins his long journey to find an appropriate home for his “daughter.” After sending her back to Africa falls through, David begins looking in America for a zoo to take her in. Following a number of disappointing rejections and setbacks the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee agrees to take Flora in.  Here, following violent outbursts from Flora, psychologists diagnose her with post-traumatic stress disorder due to her violent capture in Africa. Questions of whether or not David should be allowed to continue to visit Flora are raised when those who care for her at the sanctuary think that it will worsen her PTSD to have him constantly coming and then leaving her all over again. To this day, Flora lives in Tennessee and the workers at the sanctuary have continued to refuse visiting rights to David. The plot of the film was very compelling. The audience is brought into the life of David and Flora very effectively. The lovable elephant captures the hearts of those watching, making it hard to not care about the outcome of her journey to find a suitable home.

Being a documentary, One Lucky Elephant was not like most movies. It followed the actual events of David’s search for a new home for Flora. According to Leeman, it took 10 years to film. This filming occurred off and on as the search progressed. It resembled a special that could be seen on Animal Planet or National Geographic. I think that films like these are popular because they let viewers see into a world that they would not get to see otherwise. They get to see the wonders of the world, such as magnificent elephants, and hopefully learn a little bit about them.

Because of the film followed the lives of those involved, no professional actors were in it. David, Flora, and those zookeepers and sanctuary workers were all the real deal. Many times throughout the film, different people were interviewed about what they experienced and how they felt about Flora’s journey. Their performances where very genuine because they were actually there. The emotions portrayed were real and that made the film even more memorable. The star of the show was most definitely Flora. She, among all those in the film, was the only “professional” actor. She did it for 16 years in the circus that was named for her. Seeing her was the highlight of the movie. She was extremely curious and constantly trying to reach out and touch things, including the camera!

The technique used in One Lucky Elephant was that of a documentary. No special effects were used because it is meant to be real life. They didn’t try to hide the fact that it was being filmed. Sometimes you could see the camera moving as someone held it or hear an interviewer asking questions out of view. While this is common for documentaries, sometimes I wished that I hadn’t noticed these things. I was really into the film and then that would happen, and I would be brought back to the reality that I was sitting in a theater. But at other times this was a good thing because it was much more down-to-earth. One thing I really liked was the use of home videos from Flora’s past. I think it added authenticity and made the audience feel as though they knew Flora personally. The dialogue did not feel scripted at all. It made the relationship between David and Flora seem more normal. Sometimes the camera would just follow them around their normal day. It showed how comfortable they were together. Because it wasn’t scripted, sometimes the thoughts of David made him seem like he didn’t know a lot about what was good for Flora and that he was being selfish. I think that they may have edited the film to show him acting like this near the end when Flora had moved to the sanctuary to stress that the common person does not necessarily know what is best for exotic animals.

While watching this film, heartstrings were definitely pulled at. The mixed feelings that David has about his relationship with Flora are very conflicting. This conflict is conveyed to the audience. He realizes that treating Flora like a human and not as an elephant may have been a mistake. His love for her and his desire for her happiness makes this realization an even harder thing to handle. He realizes too late that raising her without the company of other elephants was a mistake because she now lacks the social skills to interact with individuals of her own species. The difficulty that she has adjusting to her new environment when she is separated from David is heartbreaking. Despite the cross-species distance between Flora and the audience, the viewers can easily identify with her uneasiness and fear. They can also understand the difficulty that David has watching the elephant that he views as a daughter “grow up” and leave the nest.

The theme that this documentary hits on is the nature of human relationships with animals. It makes the viewer question the ownership of something that was once wild. Should an animal such as Flora be a pet or even daughter to someone who has no experience with exotic animals? What influence does human interaction have on animals like Flora? The film looks at how elephants are violently captured in the wild and how they are treated in circuses, showing videos of how Flora was forcefully trained to preform for Circus Flora. In the end the viewer is left to his own opinion if the best thing for Flora is not to see David and even if what David did in raising her was wrong. Although it ends with questions, I think this is exactly was the viewer needs. These relationships need to be called into question. No one can say for sure what is right, but we need to at least be aware of what is happening.

With these questions about what is right for Flora, came questions about David. How he is represented is really interesting. At first, I identified with David. The film made him seem like a loving parent to Flora and only wanting what was best for her. By the end however, this identification vanished. Once she was in the sanctuary, he became agitated and angry. While it is understandable that he would be unhappy with not being able to see her, he made it clear that he wanted what was best for Flora. Although psychologists and elephant specialists were saying that her not seeing him was best for her, he refused to see it this way. It made him seem very ignorant and selfish. At about this time in the film, information on how circus animals are treated was discussed. Elephants are tied with chains and ropes and pulled into the positions that their trainers want them in—over and over and over again. They did this by showing a home video of this exact thing happening to Flora. The film also showed news reports of elephants attacking humans in circuses, saying that little things can set of PTSD in elephants that have been violently taken from their mothers. By casting circuses and David in this way, the film really makes the viewer question whether of not elephants should be raised by humans and forced to act to entertain us.

One Lucky Elephant calls into question our ideology as humans that we are the commanding species on the earth and, therefore, must dominate all other species. The film stresses cooperation between humans and animals and makes the viewer realize that what we may think is best for the breathtaking animals that walk this earth may not necessarily be true. 

Below is the trailer to the movie and a link to The Elephant Sanctuary website's profile on Flora.

The Elephant Sanctuary

Foot- Cleveland Film Festival Experience

Going to the Cleveland Film Festival was a blast. It wasn't hard for me to choose a movie because as soon as I saw one about an elephant I knew I had to go to it. I invited my brother to go along with me and we had a great time. I had no idea where the festival was, so I was shocked to pull up to Tower City when my GPS said, "You have reached your destination." Had I known it was so close to Progressive field and the Q, I would not have worried as much about getting lost.

When we got there, we walked around and looked at all of the booths set up for the festival until it was finally time for the movie to begin. When we sat down there was a man sitting beside me with a name tag that said "Director" on it. My brother told me to ask him if he was a director, so I did. He proceeded to tell me that he was the director of the movie we had come to see, One Lucky Elephant. Unfortunately, he was just kidding, and I was so embarrassed for asking and then believing him. He then told me that you could by different passes for the festival. He bought the director pass and could watch movies opening and closing night as well as get into multiple movies a day. I thought that this was pretty cool if you were staying in town and wanted to watch a lot of the movies. The passes were pretty expensive, though.

When the movie started, the sound was awful. You could tell that only the front speakers were working, and they were extremely quite. They ended up restarting the movie 3 or 4 times to get it to work and a lot of people left frustrated. I am glad Aaron and I decided to stay because it was an awesome movie.

The movie was really good. It was about an Elephant named Flora who was raised by a man in charge of a circus. As she and her owner grow older, questions start to be raised about what is best for her and a journey to find her a new home starts. It was a documentary.

After the movie, we were able to sit and listen to the director talk about the movie. She had just arrived in Cleveland while the movie was playing. It was really interesting to hear her take on the film and what inspired her to make it.

The Cleveland Film Festival was a really good experience for me. It is definitely something that I will be hopefully continuing to go to throughout my life.

Pleasure "reading"- Godspell

Last night I went to New Philadelphia high school's production of "Godspell". It basically was a musical about the book of Matthew in the Bible. It took place in a dump and Jesus taught the people living there the parables and stories from the Bible. I thought it was amazing. They told the stories in funny, inventive ways. Going to it, I thought that it was going to be a spoof on the Bible and possibly make fun of it a little bit. This wasn't really the case. The musical taught main points from the Bible and even had a very religious ending. Being religious myself, this did not bother me, but knowing how much schools fight against anything religious I was extremely surprised that it was allowed to be done. In the end, they actually had Jesus saying goodbye to all the people he had spent time with and he was "crucified" during which he sang this horribly sad song. It was extremely emotional. There were tons of people crying in the audience and afterward the cast started singing a song saying over and over "Long Live God." I would love to find out the school's opinions on doing this musical. It just seemed very religious for a school. However, it was extremely good and the acting was great!

Here is a video from a college that did this scene in a similar fashion to the high school that I went to:

What do teachers make?

I had to post this after I saw that my sister-in-law posted it on Facebook. She is an English teacher in Canton. There is a little bit of language at the end, but I think what he says is extremely powerful :)

Foot- Pleasure Reading: The Hunger Games

Thanks to spring break, I have FINALLY finished the Hunger Games and all I can say is OMG. Literally. If anyone is on the fence about reading these books, hop that fence, run to your nearest bookstore, and get to reading. The story is amazing. The characters are lovable. The issues the book makes you think about are chilling. Also be prepared to cry a lot. I bawled for the last three chapters of Mockingjay. As much as I wish that I could write about what I thought about this book in detail, I wont. Doing so would ruin the books for you, and I refuse to do that. So all I can really say is that they were amazing.

I am really excited for the movies to start coming out next year, but I am also very nervous about how they will portray the books. So many movies made from books have been completely disappointing and some have even ruined books altogether for me. Looking on the bright side and hoping that the movies will be just as amazing as the books, thought I would share my picks for actors for my two favorite boys (team Peeta all the way:)

Alex Pettyfer = Peeta

Gaspard Ulliel = Gale

One of my favorite characters in the book is Haymitch. Although he is a drunk and is inebriated through a good portion of the novels, he is amazingly loveable. I think that he cares a lot about Peeta and Katniss, and although he makes them mad a lot, he always has their well-being in mind. Besides the main characters, I am really interested to see who plays Haymitch. They need to cast someone that can get his character just right because I think he is extremely awesome and important to the story.

Firestone Experience and Multi-Modal Test Prep

I think that there is a lot of tension between the role of a modern high school and standardized test preparation. In the digital age, teachers and schools are becoming more aware that being able to read and understand novels and other forms of traditional writing is not enough to be literate anymore. Students need to know how to look at and understand all kinds of texts, including the Internet. When teachers have to focus so much on preparing students for standardized testing, I think that it is harder for them to keep this broader definition of literacy in their minds and involved in their classrooms. How is a teacher to incorporate multi-modal literacies into their classroom when they have to make sure students will pass the OGT? When I first thought about it, I literally could come up with nothing to combine the two. Because of this reason, I do not see standardized test preparation as something that could easily be merged with multi-modal literacies.

At Firestone this complication was seen. I am sure it is the same at most high schools. Students are given OGT packet after OGT packet and expected to answer the questions. The questions presented are ones that are not easily paired with multi-modal learning models. The kids read a story and answer the questions, over and over again. The boredom in their faces is not hard to detect and their boredom is followed closely by their detachment from the material at hand.

For this reason, it is extremely important to shake things up a little while preparing for the OGT. If we bore students to death everyday leading up to the actual test, I believe that they will have a huge chance of being burnt out when test time arrives. Including multi-modal aspects into test preparation would be very beneficial because the monotony of the preparation with packets would be alleviated, plus the broadening definition of literacy could still be addressed. The question is, how do we do this?

As a future teacher, I have several ideas for this that I could use in my future classroom. The first idea is online test preparation. While thinking about multi-modal literacies and test prep, I found a blog focusing solely on OGT test preparation. It is aimed towards school districts, high school curriculum directors, superintendents, teachers, and parents. Although the bloggers profile is kept confidential, by the professional nature and detailed knowledge about the test, I assume that the blogger is high up in the educational field. This blogger suggests using online test prep for the OGT. Her reasoning is this:

“In today’s times the lives of many students consist around the internet. Online learning is one on one instruction. Online practice test products give students another avenue for learning. Because the OGT is required to pass in order to get a high school diploma every thing that can help students to pass should be used.”

After giving reasons for preparing online she mentions a source that teachers can use. It is called IQ-ity. On this site, teachers can customize content for each student. The teacher and parents can then view the student’s progress and help the student in class and at home. Although the program is available nationwide,

“IQ-ity’s tool for online practice test help is completely aligned with Ohio’s state standards and benchmarks of the OGT. The tool was written by Ohio teachers that have years of online teaching experience. It also features a simulated OGT test that uses ODE tests blueprints. The test system can also be customized for schools. Students will also find study tips and test item strategies.”

Other software test preparations that can be used are programs such as Bright Education and Study Island. These also allow students the freedom to prepare for the test at home.

One thing to take into consideration when signing up for some of these programs is that many of them cost money. There are also several ways to prepare for the OGT multi-modally without any cost. One way that I thought of has already been discussed in class and in our textbook. That is blogs. In my classroom, I could put questions that I think the class would benefit from on the blog and have them answer online. This would get them in the digital community while still responding to traditional OGT questions. It would also be a break from the constant packets.

Another thing I thought of was to apply some of the tasks that the OGT asks students to preform in an alternative and multi-modal way. While doing this the teacher would still need to make sure that the students will be able to understand how to do the same thing traditionally on the OGT. I think that this kind of modification would be suited for the writing portion.  One thing I thought would be interesting to do would be to write a letter to the editor on the website of a newspaper. This would be good because a lot of times on the OGT students are asked to write to an editor or superintendent of their school and state their opinion on an issue that is currently being debated. Writing to the editor of an online newspaper about a current issue would let them practice the format of such a letter. It would also let them be part of an online community and interact with others with similar or opposing opinions.

As I said before, fusing multi-modal literacy and standardized test preparation is not easy, but it can be done. Above are only a few examples of ways the two things can work together. To do so teachers need patience and creativity. Also, schools need to be open to alternative test prep and discontinue the constant packet work. Although standardized testing is not always a teacher’s favorite thing to prepare for, it needs to be known that it can be altered from the traditional ways and other skills besides how to pass the OGT can be learned from it.

 (1008 words)

Foot- Date a girl who reads

Just found this as I was stumbling and thought you all would like to read it.... Enjoy.

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve. 

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow. 

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book. 

Buy her another cup of coffee. 

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice. 

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does. 

She has to give it a shot somehow. 

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world. 

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two. 

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series. 

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are. 

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype. 

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots. 

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads. 

Or better yet, date a girl who writes." 
— Rosemary Urquico

Foot- Extra Credit

I have learned so much about how to make my classroom more multi-modal. I think that this is really important because our students are becoming more and more immersed into a technological world. We need to do our best to include that into school so that what they learn can relate more to their lives. I loved the idea of the multi-genre autobiography. Before doing this project, I never thought that the texts that I grew up with really could be considered an autobiography. I see this now. Doing the project, I saw how each of the texts I talked about influenced my life. I think this is something that our future students need to see as well. They also need to understand that literacy is not just about reading books but reading all kinds of texts. I think that this project does this. I think that it would be a great way to start a class. Not only does it help the students get to know each other and their similarities and differences, but it will also teach them the things I have mentioned above.

One thing that I now want to do in my classroom because of this class is integrate social networking into lessons and the class in general. I never would have thought that this was possible. Looking at blogs and nings in class has opened my eyes to a whole new community and the possibility of bringing that community to the classroom. I think that getting students online is such a good idea because it is teaching them literacy in a Web 2.0 world. They need to know how to communicate online and the consequences of doing so. In my classroom, I want to have the students' finished work posted online. I think this is important because they can share their writings and projects with more than just the class. I could set up a class wiki or Google site, and students could put reading and writing portfolios on it. Dr. Kist talks about this on page 65 of his book The Socially Networked Classroom. One other smaller thing that I want to do in my classroom with social networking is have a Facebook page for the class. I would use this for reminding students about tests and projects that are due. It could also be a place were they could post questions to each other about class assignments. This way I could see their questions, and if they couldn't answer them among themselves, I could.

Before this class, I would have never thought about using social networking to such extents in my classroom. Although I am excited to implement these things, there are many challenges as well as benefits to using them. Some of the benefits I have already talked about. Students need to be literate in a technological world. Using social networking can help them with this. They can see what it is like to put their work out there and have others who they might not even know respond to them. It can also get students more interested in class projects because they will be using the technology that they use outside of class as it is. Although these are really good reasons to use technology in the classroom, there are many things that could hinder this. The most obvious to me is the schools themselves. In my school, I couldn't even get on Youtube. Some school are slowly getting away from anti-technology views, but some have a long way to go. Dr. Kist's book takes this into consideration, as it is divided up into sections based levels of technological access in schools. Another challenge is student safety. Along with the positive aspects of being out on the web with others, also comes the realization that not all of the people using the internet are nice and safe. Students' safety need to be a major concern. Teachers should fully research and be aware of safety issues. Because of the safety issue, parents will be another challenge. Teachers should be fully aware of parents' wishes concerning social networking and keep them in the loop at all times.

These are just a few of the things that this class has got me thinking about. There are so many ways to implement technology into the classroom. I think it is such an important thing to do. There is no escaping the prevalence of technology, so we might as well embrace it.

Foot- the Economy of Film

The things I read in Chapter 5 of Great Films didn't surprise me one bit. I think that today we see this mix of film as art and film as economy all the time. A movies production costs and earnings at the box office are things we talk about frequently. Our society is not in the dark about the millions and millions of dollars spent on movies. We are also very aware of the merchandise that accompanies said movies. These are things we have come to expect from movies.

In our recent past we have seen one major effect of film being a largely economic industry: the writers strike. In 2007, the Writers Guild of America went on strike because they believed that they were not being paid enough for the amount of money the film industry was making (sound familiar... charlie sheen *cough* *cough*) This is obviously an issue that deals with the economics of Hollywood. This chapter reminded me of this and made me realize how controlling the economic side of film really is.

I really liked how this chapter mention independent films as well. I have not seen a lot of independent films, but reading a little about them got me excited for the film festival!

Foot- Pleasure Reading: LOST

All this talk of Lost got me in the mood to try and re-watch it. When it was originally on T.V. my brother and I watched it and LOVED it.... for the first 2 or 3 seasons. I would literally cut out all of the articles and pictures about lost from the TVGuide and posted them all over my room. Then I stopped watching it. I really don't know why. I think it had to do with how confusing it got. But now I have started it again, and I just finished season one about an hour ago. I dragged my husband into watching it with me and he is addicted as well.

After watching the clip in class the other day, I am more aware of how the show was made and the things that happened behind the cameras. I am more aware of how the scenes are shot and the sound effects that are used. It is a wonderfully made show. It would be great to use in a classroom when talking about film like we did in Ms. Foot's class. It has great examples of how the director and people behind the scenes can make a show or movie great.

Pytash- Classics Chapter 5

Through much of high school and college I hated poetry. I didn't want to take the time to interpret it, and I thought it was really boring. The only poems I really liked were by Poe. It wasn't until recently that I really started to enjoy poetry. In my first American literature class we looked at Emily Dickinson's works. I really liked her poems. Then when I took Creative Writing, I started to like poetry even more. Because I have dealt with hating poetry for a while, I can see why high school students would shy away from it. It is not as straight forward as prose. You have to think about it much more to really get the full meaning of what the poet is trying to say.

I really liked how Jago deals with difficult poems in her class. She starts by not asking questions about the meaning of the poem itself, but the imagery within it. I think that this gets the students dissecting the different parts of the poems without them really realizing what it is they are doing. Looking at the individual pieces of imagery takes away the uncertainty of taking on the poem as a whole. Once the students understand the imagery, they can more easily see the bigger picture in the poem. I also like how Jago makes sure to have the students reread the poem again after they have done all of this. It shows them how the poem has literally transformed for them. They will see that they can really understand poetry. It will show them their progress.

As a side note, I really liked the last small section in the chapter about Poe. I think the fact that he discussed how he wrote his poetry and the thought process behind it is something that students could really learn from. I learned something new from reading this! I had no idea Poe used a raven in his poem because they could talk. I thought he just randomly personified the bird. Being the curious person that I am, I looked talking ravens up on youtube... enjoy!

Pytash- Classics Chapter 3

One thing that I really liked about chapter three is the discussion about what makes a book good for a high school classroom. It seemed that the books that should be very thought provoking. This is demonstrated by the criteria that Jago lists for picking a book. Some of these are:

• expose readers to complex human dilemmas
• explore universal themes that combine different periods and cultures 
• challenge readers to reexamine their beliefs (47)

These three points show the importance of books that will make the students think. Good classic pieces of literature do this. Jago backs this up by saying, "Great literature deepens our experience, heightens our sensibilities, and matures our judgement" (47). If this is true, I believe that students will also gain critical thinking skills from dissecting the classics and relating them to their culture today.

Another thing that I learned from this chapter was how much effort Jago asks her students and herself to put into her classes. The list of literature that she has her classes read is staggering. Her sophmores alone read twenty books! This seems like a lot to me. Jago is upfront with her students about the effort that it will require. She says, "I am forthright with my students about the fact that they are going to have to give up some of their TV and telephone time in order to complete their reading. Students have the time for longer books. They just need to be persuaded to reallocate minutes from other pleasures" (48). 

She also expects a lot from herself when it comes to reading these pieces of literature. Jago spends twenty-four or more hours on a book before presenting it to her class for the first time. She says, "It is not simply a matter of generating new handouts or creating a day-to-day plan [...] but, rather, a deep knowledge of the book itself that I needed to acquire" (50). Twenty-four hours is a lot! She stresses how important it is to have a solid knowledge of the literature that we teach, which is so true. We also need to develop a strong love for the books that we teach in our classrooms. How can we expect the students to even use their free time to read the books if we do not show an excitement for them ourselves? 

Foot- Video Games in the Classroom

This article was extremely interesting. Although it seemed strange at first glance, I can see some major benefits to having a school mentally centered around a video game. One reason relates back to what Dr. Kist talked about in his book. Both he and the founders of Quest to Learn acknowledge the fact that schools are lacking in technology in general. In a world where technology dominates our student's out-of-school lives, why is it almost nonexistent in schools? I think that the Quest to Learn school recognizes this fact and wants to make school relate more to the students lives in the Web 2.0 world.

Another good thing about this school is that it seems very challenge-based. Students are using critical thinking skills to make and create games and other multi-modal things that will help them in their lives. Quest to Learn also seems to combine different subject areas in the student's classroom. They learn how things can be interdisciplinary. This will help them make connections that they would not be able to otherwise and help them in real life situations.

One thing I did not like about this school was the extreme way in which they used technology. I think it is important to remember that while technology is becoming increasingly important, it is not all there is out there. One quote in the article really upset me:

"Why memorize the 50 states and their capitals? Why, in the age of Google and pocket computers, memorize anything?"

How can they say this? Should we rely on technology alone for knowledge. I think it is very wrong to think this way. What if, God forbid, a student didn't have access to technology? How would they gain information. I often think of what a mess I would be in if I were in need of help from a friend or family member and my phone was dead or not there. Because I have become so dependent on my cellphone where all I have to do is push one button to call anyone, I don't know anyone's phone number. This would be the same way with basic information if we neglect teaching it because we have technology to rely on.

Foot- Publish or Perish

This Christmas, my husband got an iPad from his father, so I have got to play around with it a little bit. Because the e-reader aspect of the device is just one small part I had not really given it much thought before. This article got me thinking about how big of a change the iPad and e-readers in general have changed publishing. 

Once again while reading this, I came to realize how many people that are in the technology industry are big jerks. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and now the people at Amazon. It was distressing to see what they were doing to publishers. Publishers are such an important part of an author's writing life, and they are trying to take out this important middleman. It makes me wonder what the consequences will be if they succeed at doing this. 

Looking at e-readers from the point-of-view of someone who loves to read, I am now starting to see the benefits to their existence. The hatred that I have had against them since the beginning is slowly starting to wear away. In the article one statistic really shocked me, and hurt me as a future English teacher. Steve Jobs said, "Forty per cent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year." This broke my heart. It is rare for me to not be reading a book at all times and I usually get through one a month, even with my busy schedule. Reading is such a huge part of my life that I can't image that many people not reading. Later in the article it is said that "Kindle users 'buy 3.1 times as many books as they did twelve months ago.'" That is a big jump! E-readers are really helping people to read more!

Foot- I Heart Novels

Reading this was really interesting to me. These novels reminded me a little bit of fan-fiction. It is a way for amateur writers being able to write to an interested audience. What surprised me the most was the popularity of these novels among the young people of Japan. It's amazing that it is getting people to read in a way many people probably have never thought possible. It is also encouraging young people that want to express themselves through writing and receive feedback for their efforts. While some of the people in the article didn't like the idea of the popularity of these novels, I really don't see anything wrong with it. It gets people reading. At the end of the article, Kiki admits to not reading a lot but mentions that there was one book that she could really relate to--"Deep Love," a cellphone novel.

Finding this article interesting, I thought I would do a little research. I went to the Maho i-Land website to check it out. Unfortunately, it is all in Japanese and as much as I wish I could, I can't read it. So I Googled American cellphone novels and found textnovel.com, an American cellphone novel website. Pretty interesting stuff...

Seeing the popularity among young adults in Japan with these texting novels, I started thinking about reading on mobile devices in general. It made me wonder if we have students that are on cellphones all day anyways, could we get them reading by encouraging them to use their mobile devices to read? Not only can phones be used for these texting novels, they can also be used to read literature. Many smart phones now feature Kindle and Nook applications that are free to download. Classics in these forms are extremely cheap, and can be downloaded straight to these apps. This may be a way to encourage students to read in a way that they are becoming more used to as it is.