Good Reads

Last year, I created a Goodreads account. Essentially, Goodreads is an internet site where one can discover new books, read/write reviews, and keep track of your own personal reading collection. This became handy because for 2012, my New Year's resolution was to read 50 novels in that year. I discovered that they had a nifty counting widget that would track my reading to meet my 50 book goal. I could just log a book into my account with the date I finished it, and counted into my list. Unfortunately, this busy semester has left me with little leisure reading time, so my book count is 36 at the moment. By some miracle, I'd love to read 14 more novels by January 1, 2013!
Anywho, for anyone interested in a site to discover new novels and be a total bookworm, Good Reads is the place to go!

NCTE

This may sound bad..but even though I know what the NCTE stands for, I had never really looked into the organization. This afternoon, I took sometime to look through their website, and I found some really interesting information! They have all sorts of resources, from lesson plans to professional development. It's definitely worth checking out.

Graphic novels were never a part of my life growing up. No one I knew read them...and I always sorta skipped that section in the bookstore. Yet this summer, my books for this semester started arriving in the mail...and three of them for World Literature were graphic novels. I'll admit, I kinda scoffed at the sight of them. Reading them was a totally new experience for me. Honestly, if I hadn't been required to read graphic novels this semester, I don't think I would've appreciated this quite nearly as much.
I really do think incorporating graphic novels into the curriculum is a great idea. Students don't learn in a uniform, singular way, so we have a responsibility to accommodate this. I want both the struggling and advanced reader in my class to enjoy, appreciate, and grow from what they read.

Problem.

I have developed a serious beef with the Ed department at Slippery Rock. For the most part, I find our required classes extremely useful. Of course, it's important for us to learn and discuss the canon, because we will eventually teach it in a few short years. These classic authors definitely have value, whether it be Shakespeare, Hawthorne, etc. This week in class, we had a discussion about education of the canon. In "Comics, the Canon, and the Classroom", Carter explains the need for a variety of literature in schools. "Rather than being an exclusive sphere encompassing for the most part only white, European males, it became more a plane for multiple voices and experiences.." (57).
This past week, I registered for my spring classes. After meeting with my adviser, I learned that the English section titled "Diverse Literature" is not required for our major. This section includes African-American Literature, Literature of the Women's Movement, Native American Literature, Latino Literature of the US, and Eastern Literature. Honestly, this pisses me off. In our education classes, we learn about the necessity of inclusion. Yet, our program does not practice this. I'm tired of seeing people labeled as a superfluous "special interest" groups, whether it be through literature or even politics. Women, African-Americans, the LGBTQ community, etc. represent millions of people who deserve their place in literature. For years, these groups have been severely underrepresented. How are we as future teachers expected to teach diverse material when even our college deems it less important than the canon? I think it's vital that students read literature from a variety of different cultures. Exposing students to diverse literature is an important step towards eliminating ignorance. I want my students to be able to personally identify with novels I choose. In an article written by Ellen Oh, she explains the necessity to fix the problem with YA literature. She writes, "We need to teach our youth the beauty of diversity. Beauty does not come in only one color. It does not come in only one size and one shape. And maybe when our teens grow up exposed to diversity, then they will grow into adults who embrace it." 

Today I stumbled upon this really awesome photography series by Dinah Fried. Each photo is a representation through food of a famous novel. I loved it, so I thought I'd share it with all of you!

Videos!

I enjoyed our week of video-making more than I expected. It brought me back to the sweet days of high school. While covering the Canterbury Tales, our class had to create some sort of video to correspond with our readings. My two best friends and I decided to create a video in which the characters of Canterbury Tales were at a movie premiere of their film adaptation. While dressing up with costumes and accents with friends is a hilarious experience, I do believe it had educational value. Understanding how to portray the character really displayed your comprehension of the text, in a way that was more creative than writing in on a short answer test.
Likewise, I loved making the video in class. I really like the process of individual story boarding first, then doing a final copy as a group. It was interesting to see what scenes my peers focused on, which were occasionally different than mine. I think it's an important way for each member of the group to contribute in a unique way. Overall, I would definitely use video making with my students. Of course, the assignment would have to be tailored according to age group (I highly doubt anyone would let their 15 year old student roam anywhere in the building to shoot!), but I'm certain it has a place in the curriculum.