"Every Day is a Winding Road"

As I make the last final turns on the road to becoming an English teacher I realize that I'm always thinking about new lessons and units that I should plan. I'm also always applying the things that I do to my future classroom. For example, I was watching "Edward Scissorhands" and started thinking about how cool it would be to watch that after reading Frankenstein, not only thinking about similarities/differences between the novel and the movie, but actually reading the film. "Donnie Darko" would work great if I were teaching Freudian psychology (which sounds really exciting! but not practical for a high school classroom).  I'm now coming up with ideas and activities on how I could incorporate movies, t.v. shows, video games (yes, video games) into the classroom. I was working on a reading assignment for class and decided that I should plan a real life issues unit because that would be a unit that a lot of high school students need (the assigned book I was reading had nothing to do with the idea of this unit).

Along the same lines of applying everyday life to pedagogy, as I make the last final turns on the road to becoming an English teacher, I have to write a philosophy paper. What I am doing is researching Foucault's philosophy and applying that to the English classroom. I'll be thinking about how his philosophy (postmodern) will fit into critical theory when looking at Literature. I hope, too, that his philosophies can also be applied to more technical aspects of the classroom, but I'll just have to see what Foucault's belief systems were.

I hope to keep writing an update on this paper. I know- I usually get excited about my next paper, or writing project that I think of, I hop on the blog and post, then I don't go through with the upkeep  (or the project). I really want to get into the habit of meta cognition - thinking about what I'm thinking about (and writing about for that matter). This topic is something that I'm committed to, and I have to write the paper for a class, so there is no going back. I hope that I can keep up with it; knowing that I'm not disappointing anyone does not really help with getting myself to post.

Lyrics for my Bro

My little brother is a natural at the guitar and he's awesome at it. I've come up with some lyrics for a song, and he's working out a tune to go with it and I'm working on making it longer. This is what I have so far:

I've got this guitar in my hand
and I'm makin' my plan
Go ahead and tell me I can't
I'll just show you I can

I'm on my way to the gold
I've got plenty of goals
I won't give in 'till I've won
Won't stop 'till I'm done

I've got this guitar in my hand
and I'm growing into a man
So let me be who I am
I've gotta take a stand

Whether you like it or not,
This guitar's takin me places
Even if I'm movin in little spaces

I'll keep truckin' a long
'till I find a place where I belong
I won't be a nobody forever
Won't be a nobody while
this guitar is in my hand.

I've got this guitar in my hand
and it's takin' me places
I'll travel the country
you'll see my name in big lights

and even if you don't
you'll know that
I've made somethin' of myself
With this guitar in my hand

I've made somethin' for myself
With this guitar in my hand

Update on My Fantasy Story

I've been thinking about some of the major characters, and I've decided to change the Prince of Innoruuk's name to Zornn, it's German for wrath. Also, more work on Zornn is forthcoming. I wanted to make him a more complex character, so I've created a background to round him out a bit. Then I realized that I'm 50 (thats a guess) pages in, and now I have to go back and critically read those pages so as to make sure everything lines up and there are no contradictions with his character. I'm also changing Luclin, the moon goddess to Neonah, and I'm working on a new name for the gods of Tunare (forest gods). I hope that I get a chance to make these changes soon and expand my story. Spring break isn't too far away; however, my professors like to assign papers during spring break. We'll see what happens.

The Wordless Novel

What are you doing when you study a wordless novel? You can't read it because there are no words; however, the process entails a lot of decoding and interpreting, especially when your "reading" novels like "Graphic Witness" (a composition of four stories drawn as woodcuts by four different artists). There is a lot of blank space that the viewer has to fill on his/her own, which requires an imagination, and critical thinking. Most people would agree that these skills are useful to (high school) students who will soon go out into the world on their own.

Aside from the educational experience, I think it is fun to "read" a wordless book. It can be frustrating at times because one has a difficult time figuring out the artist/author's intent of the story line, but don't we, as readers, usually twist the story line anyways to fit which ever lens we are viewing the novel with anyways? For example, if you are taking the Freudian approach to a novel, you have to really look in between the words to relate the story to the aspects of a Freudian reading. That's besides the point -- "reading" a wordless novel is a challenge, but a challenge that I enjoy. I wouldn't sit and look at one for leisure unless  I were in a book club, or had a few friends in which to discuss the novel with because I think that's what really makes it: Discussing one's views on how to interpret the pictures and the spaces in between. It is also really cool if you are into art. There is a history behind the art of woodcuts, and they are nice to look at. I think wordless novels and graphic novels are becoming apart of our culture as far as books and art goes and everyone should at least try it out.