I'm rather disappointed I had to miss this week's class, because after going through the assigned readings I would've loved to hear the discussions that took place. Ah, well.
The reading that struck me the most was Kist's chapter, "Short: Social Networking in a Low-Tech Environment". I felt like I was "star-ing" something on every page! At the moment, I'm really interested in working with low-income schools in more urban areas, so I really enjoyed this section. I absolutely loved the activities suggested in the book. As a student in grade/high school, I never minded simple writing assignments because, well, I love to write. I love analyzing text, writing responses, etc. However, I'm fully aware that my students may not share the same sentiment, or have had writing introduced in a way that excited them.
My favorite idea was the "List Group Label With Found Poetry". I write poetry in my spare time, and love reading it when I get the chance. I actually wish we incorporated it more into my curriculum more in high school and college. I really liked the book's idea because it removes the stigma around poetry that it has to rhyme or resemble Shakespeare. The activity gives the students some direction by providing a "key word", but then allows the students freedom. I was always really shy in grade/high school (I still kind of am...), so when imagining ideas for class, I always try and keep in mind that not all students will be excited to speak out or show their work to the class. This activity has a great mix of both--allowing students to showcase their originality by having their own words on the poster corner, but combining their words into one collective poem.
Overall, I'm pretty excited to see what other ideas the text offers for the classroom.
Hi Brandy...we did miss you. After reading both of your posts I'm wondering if you want to consider doing something with poetry or spoken poetry for the final project in this class. I don't see too much poetry in my classes, so that might be refreshing. And I really value how you noted that poetry doesn't have to rhyme or model Shakespeare. I think sharing and even doing live or recorded poetry readings would be very encouraging to high school students. Consider podcasting. However, if you are in low income schools....you might see if students have cell phones, as often students do. They can be used to record video and uploaded to a class wiki or something like that. Just some thoughts.
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