Sunday, July 25, 2010
Blogging to Present Slideshows
Blogging is a great way to present pictures of a recent project or trip. Students should be encouraged to start blogs. Some programs in education like Moodle allow students and teachers to have a private network to share their blogs. Posting pictures with captions in addition to text posts give students multimedia ways to show knowledge.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
I am listening to the audio book Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. He also wrote Angela's Ashes.
It tells about his thirty-year career as a high school teacher of English in New York City. I identified with many of the passages about teaching in the classroom since I taught high school English myself. The student responses during the classroom discussion are classic.
The following is an excerpt of a discussion he has with his Creative writing class while he is teaching at Stuyvesant High School, one of the most prestigious high schools in the New York School system. They are discussing "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke.
McCourt: Jonathan?
Jonathan: What I like about this poem is there it is a simple story. Oh no wait a minute, it's not that simple.There's a lot going on. There's a before and after. If you were to make a movie about this poem you'd have a hard job directing it. Would you make the opening scene have the kid and the mother waiting for the father or would you just show the opening lines where the kid is wincing over the whiskey?
McCourt: Ann?
Ann: I don't know. Theres a lot in here afer we talk about it. Why cant we just leave it alone. Just take the story and feel sorry for the kid and the mother and not analyze it to death?
McCourt: David?
David: We not analyzing. Were just responding. If you go to a movie, you come out talking about it don't you?
Ann: Sometimes. But this is a poem.And you know what English teacher's do to poems. Analyze, analyze, analyze. Dig for the deeper meaning. That's what turned me against poetry. Someone should dig a grave and bury the deeper meaning.
McCourt: I asked you only what happened when you read the poem. If nothing happened, its not a crime. You don't have to respond to every stimulus. If "My Papa's Waltz" leaves you cold, then it leaves you cold.
Ann: That's one thing, Mr. McCourt but we have to be careful. If you say soemthing negative English teachers take it personal and get mad. My sister got in trouble with an English professor at Cornel over the way she interpreted one of Shakespeare's sonnets. He said she was off the mark. She said a sonnet could be read a hundred ways otherwise why would you see a thousand Shakespeare criticism books on the library shelves. And he got pissed of and told her to see him in his office. This time he was nice to her and she backed off and said maybe he was right and she went out to dinner with him. And I got pissed off with her for giving in like that. Now we only say hello to each other.
McCourt: Why don't you write about that Ann? Its an unusual story. You and your sister not talking because of a Shakespeare sonnet.
Ann: I could. But I have to get into the whole sonnet thing. What he said, what she said and since I hate getting into deeper meanings and she's not talking to me anyway. I don't have the entire story.
McCourt: Daved?
David: Make it up. There are three characters here Ann and her sister and the professor. And there's the sonnet that is causing all the trouble. You could change the name,get away from the sonnet. Say its a big fight about "My Papa's Waltz" and the next thing is you have a story they want to turn into a movie.
McCourt: Jonathan?
Jonathan: No offense to Ann. But, I can't think of anything more boring than a story about a college student arguing with a professor over a sonnet. I mean Jesus(excuse the language) this world is falling to pieces people starving etc. And these people have nothing better to do than to argue over a poem. I'd never buy that story and I wouldn't go to the movie if they let me take my whole family for free.
Ann: Mr. McCourt
McCourt: Yes, Ann
Ann: Tell Jonathan he can kiss my ass.
McCourt: Sorry Ann, Thats a message you'll have to deliver yourself. There's the bell. But remember you don't have to respond to every stimulus.
It tells about his thirty-year career as a high school teacher of English in New York City. I identified with many of the passages about teaching in the classroom since I taught high school English myself. The student responses during the classroom discussion are classic.
The following is an excerpt of a discussion he has with his Creative writing class while he is teaching at Stuyvesant High School, one of the most prestigious high schools in the New York School system. They are discussing "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke.
McCourt: Jonathan?
Jonathan: What I like about this poem is there it is a simple story. Oh no wait a minute, it's not that simple.There's a lot going on. There's a before and after. If you were to make a movie about this poem you'd have a hard job directing it. Would you make the opening scene have the kid and the mother waiting for the father or would you just show the opening lines where the kid is wincing over the whiskey?
McCourt: Ann?
Ann: I don't know. Theres a lot in here afer we talk about it. Why cant we just leave it alone. Just take the story and feel sorry for the kid and the mother and not analyze it to death?
McCourt: David?
David: We not analyzing. Were just responding. If you go to a movie, you come out talking about it don't you?
Ann: Sometimes. But this is a poem.And you know what English teacher's do to poems. Analyze, analyze, analyze. Dig for the deeper meaning. That's what turned me against poetry. Someone should dig a grave and bury the deeper meaning.
McCourt: I asked you only what happened when you read the poem. If nothing happened, its not a crime. You don't have to respond to every stimulus. If "My Papa's Waltz" leaves you cold, then it leaves you cold.
Ann: That's one thing, Mr. McCourt but we have to be careful. If you say soemthing negative English teachers take it personal and get mad. My sister got in trouble with an English professor at Cornel over the way she interpreted one of Shakespeare's sonnets. He said she was off the mark. She said a sonnet could be read a hundred ways otherwise why would you see a thousand Shakespeare criticism books on the library shelves. And he got pissed of and told her to see him in his office. This time he was nice to her and she backed off and said maybe he was right and she went out to dinner with him. And I got pissed off with her for giving in like that. Now we only say hello to each other.
McCourt: Why don't you write about that Ann? Its an unusual story. You and your sister not talking because of a Shakespeare sonnet.
Ann: I could. But I have to get into the whole sonnet thing. What he said, what she said and since I hate getting into deeper meanings and she's not talking to me anyway. I don't have the entire story.
McCourt: Daved?
David: Make it up. There are three characters here Ann and her sister and the professor. And there's the sonnet that is causing all the trouble. You could change the name,get away from the sonnet. Say its a big fight about "My Papa's Waltz" and the next thing is you have a story they want to turn into a movie.
McCourt: Jonathan?
Jonathan: No offense to Ann. But, I can't think of anything more boring than a story about a college student arguing with a professor over a sonnet. I mean Jesus(excuse the language) this world is falling to pieces people starving etc. And these people have nothing better to do than to argue over a poem. I'd never buy that story and I wouldn't go to the movie if they let me take my whole family for free.
Ann: Mr. McCourt
McCourt: Yes, Ann
Ann: Tell Jonathan he can kiss my ass.
McCourt: Sorry Ann, Thats a message you'll have to deliver yourself. There's the bell. But remember you don't have to respond to every stimulus.
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