napster

Day by day
near the chatter of daytime television
I rest my eyes
and cover in homemade blankets.
Clutching my pillow,
right leg exposed
with gentle breeze
and ceiling fan 'click.'

The Sun Lot

The abyss of campus,
This lack of creativity.
A throw up circus
of black asphalt,
pasty yellow beams
and 'school pride' brown steel.
An overly discussed destruction of funds.
Eyesores are hardly a place
for a seat.

Group 2 evaluation

Planning and Organization

The goal of our group was to have students play around with and invest in a good deal of creative writing to produce a multigenre paper. Explaining the concept, getting them to research a topic and producing a multigenre paper seemed like a lot of work, but we thought it was conceivable. It simply didn’t turn out how we wanted it. I believe the planning and organization of the presentation was the part were most concerned about and spent the most time focusing on as a group, however, I think we realized, once in front of class, that what we had planned simply was not going to fit the time schedule. I still think day 1 was effective, however, also I think we bounced back nicely for day two. I thought day two was very meaningful towards the role of the teacher in evaluating multigenre papers, as well as, what they provide the student academically.

Team Investment and Participation

As an individual I believe I contributed a fair and equal amount to that of the other group members. All of us as a group worked well together and all contributed good ideas to the process of the presentation. I think we all owe John a thank you for constructing our packet. The times we met were constructive to the process, and definitely revised and crafted what we had come up with in the last meeting. Personally, I was a bit saddened by my participation in the final meeting, as I showed up late due to traffic issues. I think we were all pretty open and agreed on where we wanted this thing to go. I was very pleased with everyone’s input and investment in the project.

Teaching Presence and Authority:

This is where all our organization and planning met the realities of a classroom. The misunderstanding of our ‘engaging question’ provided that the students lose time in the beginning finding a topic and performing research. I also think that we were a bit unclear in how the students should conduct research, as students we over performing in that area. For creative writing, the research should have been a small concern, just something to get going. Once the project got going, I was very happy to see us observant and helpful to all students of the classroom. Students requested us for help, and we were the over seeing eye to jump in when needed. The second day I thought we ran a quality discussion, going off track here and there, but overall I think people understood the power of the multigenre paper and it’s place in the classroom.

Incorporation of Writing

For this lesson you guys blew me away with what you produced. I was extremely impressed with the quality of the work I saw. Also in hindsight, the time spent on one or two pieces, rather than the 4 or 5 we had hoped, still shows the unbelievable effort you guys put forth during out teach. Thank you all for that. The honest efferts you gave really provided us with evidence of why multigenre papers should be utilized in the classroom. It was really wonderful to see people get excited about what they wrote. Day one really provided reasoning to let kids write creatively in ANY classroom.

Meaningful Connection with students

I think we were all very observant leaders of the classroom on both days. During research and writing we aided students who needed help, and encouraged everyone to keep up the good work. That is not to say we were the necessary ingredient, you all could of produced the same wonderful work without us, but I think we played a good role in day one. Perhaps maybe more forceful on the timing of the day, but we also shouldn’t of expected so much in so little time. Day two I think we had a decent performance motioning you guys toward the connections we wanted to be made in class towards the subject matter. I think the issues of creativity, grading, and significance were relevant to the class and useful towards us as future teachers. I wish we could have all had a little more time to speak and more completely wrap up our discussion, but overall I think we did a good job.

Overall Grade: 90
Personal Grade: 87

Thank you all so much for your participation throughout our presentation. You guys were both great writers and great thinkers.

Sharon's Q's

How can we develop a community of writers inside our classrooms? What characteristics exist in a classroom that has created a community of writers? What are some specific ideas and techniques we can employ to create a community of writers in our classrooms that are engaging, meaningful and useful in our students' lives?

Honestly I think there is a very simple response to these questions. Share, share, share. You could witness it through our own 4790 class. The more we started writing the more we started commenting on each others post or what they read out loud. Creative writing in the classroom produces a reflection of the writer and their life experience. Encouraging children to write and share their work builds a class of writers and thinkers.

Boyz

Why are boys reluctant readers? If you want to classify boys as being reluctant readers in the classroom, I think it's because of a vast range of reasons towards why most adolescents challenge authority, social norms, and even themselves to 'discover' something. Reading in the classroom, or at least my high school experience, was very structured, and while I could connect with and enjoy a lot of the material we were reading, a lot of my friends would often refer to it as 'pointless,' 'stupid,' 'dull' and so on. I think it comes down to connecting with student interest and the whole concept of an adolescent. It almost seems like going with the flow of things is wrong and rejecting anything given to you by an adult is cool. Student choice in the classroom, definitely the English classroom, should be encouraged. Who reads like they did in school when they are an adult? You don't wait for someone to assign you a book, you tell a friend or vice-versa; or you seek one out. Very few times in school I was allowed to choose what I wanted to read.

South Cak Warped Tour

I was maneuvering through the crowd to return to my two friends; sliding, squishing and squeezing my way through any available crevasse just to get closer. Wave after wave of people ignoring my polite "excuse me's" and "could I get through's?" to led me to receive pushes, elbows and 14 year-olds wanting me to help boost up their friend so he could live out some Avril Levine induced fantasy. "Not today good sir." Stepping on toes, trash and 'whatever that was' I reach my destination of exhausted friends and sweaty companions only to wait in what now looks like rain. This is what I came for.

What's in a name?

Brian Edward Schiller. Common, but it kind of has a flow to it. I keep a card in my wallet about this specific name. 'Brian' in bold, black letters at the top informing me I'm 'strong and sincere,' and it being of 'Celtic origin.' I'm not sure why I'm even named 'Brian,' or why exactly I carry this card. There's something so arbitrary about a name, but yet I cannot picture myself by any other. My name is me. It represents laughter. It means being laid back and always having another Brian to associate with. It's a life of being asked "Did you say 'Brian' or 'Ryan?'" and "Is that 'Brian' with an 'I?' It's hard to imagine another name with so much experience attached along with it.