Post from Nice Net: Digital Writing Workshop& more...

In chapter six, there are the charts on pages 110-113 about effective writing. I find it so interesting that the old idea of Know, Need to know, and learn or Questions charts are still being taught and revised. I remember in the first grade, second grade maybe learning about KN charts. Know and Need to know charts. Its great to see how this old idea has evolved into such an extensive new idea in hicks writing. He gives so many helpful tips for writers to use as the prepare to write and what I think is interesting and NEW to the chart is the AFTER You Write topic heading. This is something that I wish I had read and been taught a long time ago. It makes you think about what big ideas we were taught in first and second grade that we could turn into new big ideas and elaborate on?
I also think it is interesting how Hicks suggest that as teachers we ask a student or our students to take us on a tour of their social network site and ask them to show us how they create a personal profile using text, pictures and videos. I find this interesting because first off this is something that you most likely would not be able to do in school because the school would probably block face book. But I do wonder how open some students would be with this project. How comfortable would you feel doing this project?
You know what is on your and your friends face book page...Would you want to see what is on your students?

Something that I find interesting about Hicks is that he can relate to a wide range of people. He reaches a lot of different levels in his text. As silly as it sounds, when I read sometimes I feel I am in certain moods were I am in still in the mind set of looking at things a student in a chair looking at the chalk board. Other times when I go back and read Hicks I fell I am reading with the mind set of a teacher and I am sitting at a desk with my balk to the chalk board, yet I can still relate to the text on a different level and gain full knowledge from his text.( that may just be my dyslexia kicking in lol)

A quote that I LOVE. is on page 7, "Teach the writer, then the writing." This quote seems to match my feelings about teaching writing. The way I take it is that you first have to teach the student how to write properly, until the student understands how to write correctly. Then you can correct their writing and form and morph it into what you would like it to be.

Inspiration

I guess when reading the story about Micheal Phelps the whole time I had been looking for inspiration for a goal that I no longer am trying to achieve. When I finished the book I realized that I found a new type of inspiration from this story. Growing up I faced many of the same struggles that Micheal did. He explains that he was always picked on for being really tall, picked on because he could not read, spell or write well. I found that having these same struggles and the same passion for swimming and hard work ethic that he does that we are alike in more ways the one. The main idea that I pulled from all this that I can connect to the classroom and my future classroom is that when it comes to students with learning disabilities sometimes it is not the best idea to single them out in front of everyone but to pull them aside and show them what is wrong with them but on top of that show them what skills they have that are outstanding. In Micheal's case it was swimming and sports. When most teachers (from personal experience I am saying this) deal with students like myself and Micheal they always forget to leave the kids with a positive note about themselves. That I find is most important. Kids who get picked on because of their disability are more apt to quit school or fall into a depression quicker than the average student. Both of my older brothers went to the Gow school, which is a boarding school for dyslexic boys.Being very involved with their lives there. I began to pick up at a very young age what many of the teachers were doing every day that made their students so successful. I actually got to have one on one first hand experience my self by going to their summer school there to hone in on my specific needs to prepare me for high school. What you find at a school like Gow is that the teachers sit right next to you in a class room with no more than 6 kids in it and help you one on one. And no matter what ever if you get the problem or question wrong you will be the one to fix your won mistake because you can. Not because your wrong and wont know the answer because you do not understand math. Modern teachers do not know, feel or understand what it is like to struggle with a disability. Until they have sat in a class room with students who are breaking down the problems and sentences their way. Who knows maybe if Micheal Phelps went to the Gow school he would be leading a whole different life right now because he would have gotten the help and attention he needed in high school growing up. He would not have just passed by. My inspiration that I now took from Micheal Phelps is to not go out there and swim for the gold but just to go out there and make it apparent that kids with learning disabilities no matter the strength of the disability learn 100% different than every other student in the class room and deserve a fair chance to get the grades the deserve and the help they deserve so they do not just pass by.

The Untold story of a Champion

I started reading the Untold Story of a Champion. It is the auto biography of Michael Phelps. Three summers ago I was introduced to his book No Limits and read and re-read it many of times before my senior swim season of high school. This book not only motivated me to finally kick my butt in to gear again for my last season of swim but kick my teams butt’s in gear so that we could all make it together. I was planning on making it to states that year and after reading about the struggles and triumphs that Michael went through to get to where he was now I was pretty damn sure I was going to get there. It was interesting to me that he started out just like any other kid taking swim lessons in a small town pool. I was so inspired that I brought my relay team to sectionals and I Was so well trained and determined that I made it to states that year. I made it all the way to states with that book in my bag. I do not know why but it is the only book that I have ever actually re- read more than 3 times. I can honestly say that a novel and not a poem, quote or lyric inspired me to get up and do something. So now I decided to read the auto biography. It’s the perfect time seeing as I have to read an auto biography and now that is three years later and I am in need of some new inspiration and a little follows up. As I read the first few pages of just simple background information about his family. I started to realize that our family is really what makes us or breaks us. Having only his mother to raise him and take him to and from practices while taking care of his sister and be a lot on a mom, especially when she does not know that she is raising an all-star Olympic swimmer. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of this novel and hopefully get the inspiration and follow up I need.

Back to The Hanging Tree

I took a break from the hanging tree becuase I got caught up with other books I was reading for diffrent classes and I finally picked this book back up and read a few more chapters and it is starting to get really slow.. unfortiounatley. SO there is really not much to blog about except that I am a little disapointed that the book is getting slow becuase I am getting less and less intrested and I just want to know what happend to Gracie and who Hung her or if she hung herself. So I am trying not to jump ahead but just read faster through the boring chapters that do not really give much excitment to the story but just meaning less fluff.

A Raisin in the Sun.

Recently (this weekend), I had the chance to read a Raisin in the Sun. I was always supposed to read this book but never had the drive or determination to read this book.  Until I needed to read it for Drama & Film. I was kinda on edge about reading this book just because I never wanted to read it and now I HAD too so I put my eyes to it and read it. After finishing this play I had the same feeling I did when I started it. Ha plain. I did't really feel a connection or an extreme intrest in this book but When I got to class we are reading the play with the movie Everything is Illuminated. Which we have not watched yet but I have heard really good things about so maybe this will brighten the play more for me and can create more connections for me but right now it is just a play about a man trying/dreaming to be wealthy and to me thats over done and it just seems like a play I have read over and over agian.It reminds me of another less mentaly crazy verzion of Death of a Salesman.

Reply to Post

I Really do enjoy reading Mysteries they are one type of book that really keep me reading. That and poetry. I have never really read a series of books except for The face on the milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney. I read just about every mystery book by her in elementary school! Loved her! As of right now I have not found any connections to lynching but it is something I will keep an eye on and see if I can make a connection. Recently, My grandmother was admitted into the hospital and I went to visit her last night before I returned to school when I was talking to her she was telling me in short burst about her roommate who she had stay there with her. Her story that was fading in and out of her memory some how reminded me of the book. Her story was this; "Well El, I had this sweet quiet old lady (older than me ya know.) she was about 90 years old she came in yesterday. Spent the night. Then she paused to take a drink of water, and restarted her whole story O Ellie did I tell you about my roommate she was about 90 years old she came yesterday afternoon and spent the night after they got her stable. we watched some westerns and we fell asleep when we woke up we had some S*** hospital breakfast and as I was coming out of the bathroom she was being wheeled out for a test and the last thing she saw before she died in the hall way was me smiling like a big goon head with my gown wide open saying Ill see you where the sun only shines. It reminded me that no matter how the character died in this book maybe she wanted to die or maybe it really was just her time to go. My grandmother at 75left happy thoughts in a 90 year old women mind before she died. It makes you wonder that no matter how sick someone is be it the charterer in this book if she was mentally crazy or just a pot head? Or be it someone like my grandmother who has accelerating Alzheimer no matter what it may be death is always around the corner for everyone so no matter our state of mind and no matter what anyone says we should just take the day as it comes and follow the sun where it always shines with a smile like my grandmother does. 

The Middle

Reading further into The Hanging Tree I have found a lot more out about our victim Gracie. However it is not pleasant information for example we find out that she is a very big alcoholic who smokes a lot of pot. This makes the story a lot more interesting because it makes you wonder if she was depressed or under the influence when she died. We also learn that there were a lot of family hardships between Gracie the mother and the detective. I started to wonder If the author could be projecting his childhood through this book because the way some of the childhood memories about the victim the detective and Darlene the girlfriend/best friend are explained with such great detail and out of this world stories one would have to think that a human being could only come up with that if it was real and had actually happened to them. The signs of abuse that the author relays through Gracie’s actions and shaky words as a child is sad and depressing but also work as huge clues towards her death and case. I am still only half way through this book and I can’t help but go back and re- read pages because it feels like I have missed something. This book has got me tangled into it and I love it! I do wonder if Gracie was murdered or just wanted to go out with a big bang.