Week 8 Challenges

Prompt: Create a map of your neighborhood 

Growing up my whole family lived on the same land. My grandpa and I used to ride on a red Honda four wheeler through the cow pastures. There was a creek in the cow pasture that we used to glide through on the four wheeler, and he would always scare me going over it. I used to think that the creek would swallow us up, but it never did. In that same pasture I learned to shoot a gun, and where to find the best and juiciest black berries. 

Pick a prompt you didn't get a chance to explore: 4. Sounds Map: Go somewhere.  A park.  Or, a people-rich environment.  Or, somewhere with the best ice cream.  Choose a place you want to be and that feels satisfying (for at least 20 minutes).  Using your notebook, create a sounds map of this space.  What do you hear?  Where does it come from?  Describe the sound.  Capture as much of it as you can.  Emplace us there with you.  (Note:  Do not do this one again if you used it in week three.)

I am at Home Depot with my dog on a busy Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia. Someone greets us at the door, "Welcome to Home Depot how can I assist you". My dog barks, because she sees another dog off in a distant isle. There are people speaking other languages, and I think it is Spanish that I am hearing. A woman is talking loudly on the phone about tape to someone, and I hear the humming of men in their element. There is a beeping noise coming from somewhere, and it is quite annoying until I figure out that it is coming from a forklift backing up behind me. This noise disrupts my dog and she whines. 

Week 7 Challenges

            2. Hello, it’s me letter

Hello Mrs. Michaels, it’s me.

I am writing this letter to you, because you were influential in my life. You were hands down the best teacher that I had in high school. I was very lucky to be able to experience a teaching class in high school and to have you as a teacher. You encouraged me and believed in me as a future teacher even before I began my journey in college. I will never forget the day that I received my college acceptance letters you hung them up in your classroom wall. You are the kind of teacher that I hope to be, a teacher that invests in their students.

 Writing Prompt: write a poem

Divorce

When we are young it is easy to overlook the subtle change

That shifts the core of a family. To us they were the superheroes of our childhood

And superheroes are always busy; meanwhile letting blame

build up. What I did not know then was that distance can make or break a family

And that fading kisses are the first signs of dissipating love

And before they knew it, less and less time was being spent together

When this song plays I flash back to the day we all sat at the dinner table together

This was the day that our whole family dynamic was forced to change

We sat there as they explained it as simple as they could, but nothing is more complex than love

The superheroes had been defeated by divorce and it took a blow to our childhood

Dad choking on his tears claimed we would always be a family

And crying mom said no one is to blame

When situations like this happen outsiders love to judge and place blame

but now it is easy to see that they did not have their own homes together

They were too busy judging us that they forgot about their own “perfect” family

They forget it could happen to anyone because feelings change,

and a dark cloud of tears lingers over your children’s childhood

And valuables get divided down the middle even the products of your love

So many times I caught my parents crying over lost love

Now here I am ten years later and it seems so silly to hold onto blame

when they were trying their best to give us a decent childhood

I know now that love is not enough to keep two people together

Sometimes the hurt is too great, and courage means understanding the need to change

They said you will understand when you have your own family

But the mere thought of creating a family

Makes me think twice about falling in love

Because I have witnessed how easy feelings change

And how quickly sweet whispers turn into screaming blame

Being in the same room is impossible together

Task 2

            My experience in the classroom at the middle school so far has taught me so much about student writers. The students in my classroom are working on a multi-modal project over the course of several weeks. They have just completed an annotated bibliography on a research topic of their choosing. While giving feedback on the annotated bibliographies it was easy to see that there were many opportunities for feedback, and I was concerned with a few of the student’s progression of the project. The mentor teacher was very clear that she is focused more on process than the final product. Patty McGee states, “We need to ignore the instincts that move us to protect our students from risk taking, vulnerability, and failure, and create safe opportunities to try, fail, and try again without shame in order to learn” (McGee,2017,104). The students in my class are being challenged to create writing that is more advanced and out of their comfort zone, and they are able to complete the tasks asked of them. They are able to complete these tasks because the teacher has created a safe space for her students to take risks without fear of failing, and this is a principal that I want to carry into my own teaching. My mentor teacher has also demonstrated a classroom that is full of choices in writing, and she is promoting creativity by allowing it. The students are working on phase 2 of their project and they are writing a podcast script based on the research of their topic. This unique type of writing is engaging to the students, and it also allows a lot of choice in writing. This type of assignment also teaches the students to write for different types of audiences and it breaks the traditional “writing rules and single-minded structures” (McGee,2017,165). I hope to use multi-modal projects such as this one in my own classroom, because I feel that the students in my class have responded well to this approach. The students get to learn more from the process of completing these writing assignments and they have more choice in a multi-modal approach.

References

Mcgee, Patty. Feedback That Moves Writers Forward - How to Escape Correcting Mode to Tran. Sage Publications Inc, 2017.

Week 6 Challenges

A gladiator in Rome.

A leaning tower of Pisa, but wait what if it were pizza?

Prompt 4: Unusual Words 

Cachinnation: A loud and hysterical laughter

Inaniloquent: Speaking foolishly or saying silly things

Capernoited: Slightly intoxicated or tipsy 

You know you have a real connection with a friend if you become capernoited simply by being inaniloquent with them. A person's laugh and ability to make another person cachinnate is the definition of a true friend. 

Multigenre Research Project

Project Proposal

         As a future writing teacher in a secondary education setting I would like to focus on integrating technology in my classroom. I am choosing to focus on this for my project, because I want to expand my knowledge of technology in the classroom as a way of engaging my students. I am literate in most forms of technology, but I want to explore methods of teaching writing through multimedia platforms. This is an area that concerns me as well, because many schools are switching to chrome books or iPads. I want to become more literate in the devices that my students will have access to in the classroom and research ways to effectively incorporate writing in a way my students are most comfortable in. 

Week 5 Challenges

Writing Territory: Letter to a dead loved one

Hey Memaw it's me,

It has been a while, and a lot of time has passed since you left us to be with the lord. A lot has happened in the time since you have passed away, and I just wanted to take a second and check in with you. You left us in when I was in the 6th grade and now I have just a short amount of time left until I graduate college. Over the years I have had a lot of accomplishments and a lot of challenges to overcome, but you have always stayed on my mind. What weighs the most on my mind is the possibility that you may be disappointed in me and in the family you left behind. You spent your whole life building your sons, grandsons, and great grand children up in that small baptist church. I went to church twice a week with you every week until you passed away, and I will always be grateful for the lessons that I learned there. I fear that you may be disappointed in us, because while that church was your home it wasn't for our family after you went to the lord. We let you down, because none of us go there anymore. I do not go to church anymore at all. It actually hurts for me to tell you that, because I know how much church meant to you. I hope that you find comfort in the fact that I still believe in God, and I want you to know that I always will. I will get there again, but sometimes God needs to be a companion for me, and not an organized meeting each week. I am so thankful for the times that we had together, and every bit of who I am today reflects back to you. 

Love you always,

MeKay

Prompt 4: Found Words at Starbuck's

1. "4 shots of espresso"

2. "I don't want to go to class today"

3. "Stressed"

4. "Weekend"

5. "Disney World"

6. "I'm hungry"

7. "I have a date"

8. "I love you"

9. "Middle English sucks"

10. "What does this even mean?"

11. "How do you translate this"

12. "Have you finished the reading?" 

13. "Look at this video"

14. "I can't even"

15. "Wanna hold hands" 

Task Two: In what way are you noticing about the writers with whom you'll be working line up with or possibly disturb the Bomer chapters we read this week. How do both coming to know your student and the professional reading inform your practice as a teacher of writers? 

This week at  school has been a great start to the weeks to come. In my mentor class we are observing students that are starting a research paper and annotated bibliography. I have not been able to really see any writing from the students quite yet as they are in the beginning stages of their research topics. This week they have chosen a research topic, and they are starting to research their topics. Bomer states, "A writers voice points to the heart and soul of what a writer wants to express" (Bomer 59). On the first day I was able to go around and ask the students about the topics that they have chosen, and I was surprised at what they are pursuing. I definitely think that the students are choosing topics that reflect their voice, and I am excited to see how their voice stands out in the writing of these topics. Some of the students are choosing topics that really mean a lot to them, and some of these issues are more advanced than I predicted they would pick. One student in particular chose to do their research paper on the #Metoo movement, and it really shocked me that these complex issues are on their radar. Other students are writing about suicide prevention, shoes for Africa campaigns, and football injuries. The choices that these students are making and exploring are important, and this reflects the interests that they have on a deeper level. Bomer also states, "As teachers if we paid a heap more attention to the words in our students writing we would also be teaching them about voice, structure, grammar, and punctuation" (Bomer 67). As the semester moves forward at the school I want to do as Bomer suggests and pay close attention to the word choices the students make in my class. It will be interesting to see where that takes my learning process and in theirs. 

Works Cited

Bomer, Katherine. Hidden Gems: Naming and Teaching from the Brilliance in Every Student's Writing.       Heinemann, 2010