Bright Ideas

The Bright Ideas Conference 2008 was a great experience, that exceeded my expectations and disappointed all in the same day. I had never been to anything similar before and I wasn’t sure what was in store.

Before the conference, I hadn’t a clue who Chris Crutcher was or why he was important to education. This all became very clear shortly after he began speaking. His keen and honest insight to adolescent issues are reason enough to hear him speak and certainly motivated me to read some of his work. I think honestly is something seriously lacking in our education system. When our schools make controversial subjects that students are already exposed to a taboo, our students are alienated. It wouldn’t be a stretch to even suspect that we insult their ability to handle these issues. Mr. Crutcher spoke eloquently about a number of subjects including censorship, creativity, writing and even embarrassing sports injuries. If you ever get a chance to see him speak, do not miss it.

I also really enjoyed Cathleen Cara’s Session titled “Hearing Voices: Engaging Students in Conversations about Their Lives Using Multi-voiced Literature.” Cathleen used The Brimstone Journals for this session. The story had (If I remember correctly) 21+ characters that were all equally represented through journal entries. This was a very effective method for teaching critical thinking and increasing the odds of a student finding a character within the story to identify with. I became very interested in including multi voiced literature in my future classes.

In the session titled “Human Faces of War” we were introduced to the concept of using responses to literature about realistic depictions on war as a classroom assignment. I found some good nuggets of information but, unfortunately, I did not realize that the session was geared toward middle school students and it seemed that the session was cut short because of time.

I think I was slightly disappointed because I had unrealistic expectations. I was hoping to experience a day filled with inspiration and gained confidence that I could in fact excel in Education. I received the inspiration, but I still worry somehow I won’t have “the right stuff” when it is time for me to step up.

How to get a couch potato to read.

I am a geek. I find it funny that when I say this to people that don’t know me very well, they think that I am displaying some sort self esteem issue. They usually reply that I am “out going” or something un-geeklike. What they don’t know is that I wear my geekness as a badge of honor. I love that I take pleasure in analyzing things that most claim to be uninterested in.

As my dear old Dad used to say, rest his soul, “I told you that…. so I could tell you this…”

Below is a link to an npr pod-cast about Darth Vader. It is completely relevant to Teaching Writing….. Honest!…. well, it might be.

I was born in 1970, which means I was seven when Star Wars first hit theaters and that seemed to be the perfect time to forge the uber-geek that would eventually be me. Like a lot of kids at the time, I was entranced by the special effects and charactors that I would later discover were mythical archetypes similar to ones that exist in mythologies across that globe. If you aren’t quite geeky enough to have heard of this concept before, here is a video of the king nerd himself, George Lucas, speaking on the subject.

These type of characters captivated my imagination and I became hungry for them. I didn’t matter if it was on the big screen, television, or comic books I began to consume heroic/fantastic tales like they were junk food. (Many say they are.)

What made a difference in my life was when one fateful day in my elementary school they decided to play an animated version of “The Hobbit” (A film, No there was no VHS yet, now let grampa finish his story). I went home thinking, “Wow! That’s like a brand new Star Wars!” An much older friend set me straight right away telling me that it was, in fact, a novel that had been around for quite awhile and that it was a prequel (not sure if we knew that term at the time) for the Lord of the Rings. I was at the library in a flash. Was it quite a jump to go from spider-man comics to Tolkien? You betcha! I took in what I could and move on to book after book until I couldn’t deny that I loved to read.

I believe Christensen when she says that she can reach students whose lives have been effected by violence, by writing about it. It is very important to reach students who have these experiences. But what about those who do not. We want to reach them as well, right?

I happen to know many young people who never voluntarily read a book. Even worse, they never voluntarily think about what they read or feel comfortable sharing there innermost feelings. I think reading and writing about things that students are excited about could be a doorway to deeper reading and writing. Now if I could just find some info on the subject.

Fictional Characters that inspire.

Npr is accepting submission for essays on Fictional Characters that inspire.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18491526

I really am not a fan of the example. I don’t watch “24″ so I am clueless about Jack Bauer. I am, however, interested in using pop culture as a doorway to reading and writing. I was pretty bored in English class as a high school student, but the thought of writing about Movie or tv characters would have set me on fire.

However, as we have discussed in class, pop culture is filled with images that promote stereotypes, consumerism and so on. How far should we go to try to create interest? Should we use for example, manga, as a gateway to reading for a student obsessed with anime? Or should we reject it because of it’s gratuitous violence and insist that he or she read Twain?

I find I am of two minds on the subject. I do agree that Pop culture can have a negative effect on impressionable minds. But, canit’s power be used for good?

Inflating Grades?

A top San Diego school is accused of “inflating” grades to get students into colleges. Check out this pod-cast.

After talking about critical pedagogy in class, I found that pod-cast to be very interesting. I wonder if private schools for the wealthy get audited in this way and if they are, would they Conversely, we have all heard about the injustices that occur in with tracking, no child left behind etc. Could that motivate educators to be dishonest in an effort to “level the playing field” for their students? What do you think?

Changes in No Child Left Behind?

An interesting interview about revamping No Child Left Behind. Pretty interesting stuff.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17804526&ft=1&f=1013

I applaud the effort to improve education, but obviously this isn’t working. The big focus of the above discussion seems to be trying to predict what changes may come about if any.

I do believe there should be accountability, but the performance problems that students having aren’t really going to be solved by punishing schools and teachers. This program need to look at all the issues. Some children need extra help and many schools do not have the necessary funding to help. The phrase is “no child left behind”. Not “no teacher unblamed.”

Ta Dah!

So this it, my blog! Excited? I knew you would be. I am very new to this new fangled blogging technology. I am still upset about the guy who took my photograph last week. I am positive that those camera contraptions steal your soul…

The name “Six Might Really Be Nine” came to me because I was at a loss for a title and happened to be listening to Jimi Hendrix’s Axis Bold as Love while I was staring at the screen. The song that was playing was “If Six Was Nine.” My interpretation of his lyrics would be that if every thing turns upside down, that is just fine by Jimi. My thoughts  led me to “Six Might Really Be Nine”. What I am implying is that during the learning process one should be open to ideas that are new and perhaps even contradictory to what we once believed. This is a good thing. Some call it flip flopping. Psssh.

On to the subject of topics. Hmmm. I really wish that I would have thought of the idea that the one chap in class had about graphic novels. I’m a huge comic book nerd. (by huge, I am referring to the size of my interest, not my mutant like physical stature/gut). But I do have a strong interest in censorship, banned books, using pop culture as a gateway to interest students in literature and encouraging creativity in school. Hopefully, those interests will gel into a solid topic soon.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.

Lonnie