Literary Analysis

I read an interesting article tonight titled "How I screw up the literary analysis essay" which hurt - that's what I've been doing. But I'm not sure I'm any closer to helping my grade 12s prepare for their final exam, as I continue to press them to practice, practice, practice how to write a critical-analytical piece. It's torture for them and for me.

Where can I go next?

Pondering

The NCTE Blog post Writing for Our Students my students and their writing ability. My school is not a "school of choice", but rather the only option for most of my students. It is a constant struggle for me to balance teaching what I know they need to know and teaching what they should know (aka the basics). While these two areas, I think, should be the same, I find that I am battling more and more with students who are not where they should be in terms of reading/writing...speaking/listening...viewing/representing... etc. This is frustrating. This is hard.  One-on-one seems to be the best way that I can meet the needs of my students individually, but is there enough time in the day?!

Poetry SLAM!

It gave me goosebumps to watch the following a year ago...

and a week ago, I chuckled when I watched this...

and then I watched my students performing for our Project Week SLAM.

In the words of a colleague, my "teacher heart grew"! This is what it is all about.

Survivor Macbeth!

Hello beginning teachers! Welcome! You have chosen a fantastic profession to be a part of - though it will stretch you and frustrate you some days, you will find endless rewards as you work with the students along your path.  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask for help!

Survivor Macbeth Unit Plan

• Rules of Survivor Macbeth
• Scorecard
• Logo/graphic
• Characterization Project

Activities & Other Resources

• Penguin Teacher Guide
• Macbeth in prose
• Clan Challenge questions (sample)
• Creative Project & Rubric
• Crossword
• Vocabulary Matching
• Macbeth & The Simpsons

Break a leg!

Proof Reading & other such, you know, like stuff - Taylor Mali

Proof Reading!


Sound like you KNOW what you're talking about!

H/T to a colleague, SS.

Google for Teachers

I am very excited about a new project I'm undertaking with the English team at our high school. We are utilizing Google Docs in our classrooms for things such as essays, lit circles and more. I really the accessibility of Google Docs - anywhere, anytime. Not only do I NOT have to take a pile of marking home with me, but I can also check in to see how students are doing, track information, and access it from anywhere.

There are a few websites I am relying upon for this endeavour:
Google for Educators - powered by Google

Free Technology for Teachers - an all-time favourite site for ideas to use in my classroom. I use it constantly!

Guide to Google - again, but Free Tech... and who can turn down FREE?

Young Adult Books

At the conference I was at this past week, Dwayne Jeffery held a session about young adult books. WITHOUT NOTES he rattled off plots, characters, suggestions, ideas, etc for over 100 books. I was blown away by his memory! Thanks for the suggestions Dwayne - I look forward to reading many of these titles as well as sharing them with my students.

Dwayne Jeffery - blog

Photo by gibsonselectric

CEATCA Resources

Photo by James Jordan

Handouts, etc:

• CEATCA Handout

• Google Lit Trips Code Tips

ELAC information:

• TNET Login for your no charge membership - needs to be renewed annually however.
• ELAC Membership Application Form (Printable) - if you would prefer a "low tech" version
• Central ELAC's Webpage - RSS capability coming soon!
• Conference 2011 - Celebrating New Heights Registration - Banff, AB

Thank you for attending our session! See you soon!

With Easter on its way...

GOO!

The Other Side of the Bridge

When our school librarian says "try this!" I usually push aside what I'm currently reading to check it out. Yet again, I was not disappointed. The Other Side of the Bridge by Canadian author Mary Lawson, held me captive - I did not want to put it down for even a minute. I agree with our librarian's sentiment - this book will very likely end up on our next "Recommended Books" list.

 From Publishers Weekly (www.amazon.ca)

In this follow-up to her acclaimed Crow Lake, Lawson again explores the moral quandaries of life in the Canadian North. At the story's poles are Arthur Dunn, a stolid, salt-of-the-earth farmer, and his brother, Jake, a handsome, smooth-talking snake in the grass, whose lifelong mutual resentments and betrayals culminate in a battle over the beautiful Laura, with Arthur, it seems, the unlikely winner. Observing, and eventually intervening in their saga, is Ian, a teenager who goes to work on Arthur's farm to get close to Laura, seeing in her the antithesis of the mother who abandoned his father and him. It's a standard romantic dilemma—who to choose: the goodhearted but dull provider or the seductive but unreliable rogue?—but it gains depth by being set in Lawson's epic narrative of the Northern Ontario town of Struan as it weathers Depression, war and the coming of television. It's a world of pristine landscapes and brutal winters, where beauty and harshness are inextricably intertwined, as when Ian brings home a puppy that gambols adorably about—and then playfully kills Ian's even cuter pet bunny. Lawson's evocative writing untangles her characters' confused impulses toward city and country, love and hate, good and evil. 

Google Lit Trips

It was hard for my grade 9s to picture London today, let alone London of the 16th Century. However, I was able to use Google Lit Trips as a springboard for showing them where our character, Richard, in The Playmaker lived and travelled. For many, they had those "ah-ha!" moments or "oh my goodness - are you kidding? HE WALKED ALL THAT WAY?" moments.  The interactivity provided through my Smartboard took it that step further.

Google Lit Trips
Make sure to check out the "Getting Started" tab for some how-to videos.

How to have students create them!

A PDF with some suggestions for how to have students create them for the purpose of a book report.

Magnetic Poetry

One of my favourite past-times has been creating "Magnetic Poetry" - now I can do it online!

Magnetic Poetry Games

Photo by glindsay65

How PowerPoint is Killing Education

I constantly have to remind myself: technology is just a tool.

Educational Leadership published an article last month that highlights this idea as well:

How PowerPoint is Killing Education, Marc Isseks

Photo by michigancommunities

Since it can't be accessed without an account, here are a few highlights:

The Root problem of PowerPoint presentations is not the power or the point, but the presentation. A presentation, but its very nature, is one-sided. The presenter does everything-- gathers information, eliminates extraneous points, and selects the direction and duration of the presentation. The role of the audience is to sit and absorb the information. Yes, they may ask questions, but typically only those queries that directly relate to the slides are deemed worth of responses. What happens to thoughts and ideas that are not part of the presentation? 

The article goes on to discuss this downfall in simply relying upon the dumbed-down, bulleted lists created by teachers for their subject. However, it does present an alternative to the bulleted list:

Remove many bullet points. Class notes should be derived from discovery and discussion, not a predetermined list of facts. Create presentations that are rich with images, videos, political cartoons, diagrams, and maps - presentations that feature questions rather than answers.

Suddenly I'm thinking back to my last PowerPoint presentation, and I'm wondering...how could I make it BETTER? And I don't mean with fancy transitions and sound effects.

No wonder our students want to be spoon-fed, that's what we're doing with PowerPoint. Let's teach our students to think for themselves!

International Children's Digital Library

Children's books in a variety of languages, recommended for ages 3 to 13.  Who says books have to be on the bookshelf? I see this as a fantastic opportunity for smaller schools/smaller programs to be able to access books in a variety of languages and from cultures around the globe.

International Children's Digital Library

Digital Story Telling

Utilizing technology in the classroom is definitely one of the "musts" these days - I often encourage my students to look-up definitions or information using their phones (my computer is always open to the student(s) who don't have that technology). Why do I have to be the fountainhead of knowledge? (I often don't know myself!)

Another exciting idea is "digital story telling" using mobile devices and computers.

Last year I gave my students a poetry project. In groups they composed a poem or a message, then using their phones, they were to take photos of words throughout the school, community, their homes, etc to compose their poem/message. They added music and other transitions that they wanted to. Wow. I was blown away by the work they did! Where they started and where they finished were miles apart. It was one of those moments as a teacher when I was very, very proud of the "learning" going on in my classroom.

iPads are all the rage, especially with Apple releasing the iPad 2. Here are some ideas for the iPads, but often iPhones/iPods and other computer devices are capable of the functionality as well.

Digital Story Telling with the iPad

H/T Free Technology for Teachers

Good Teaching Practices

I am always on the look out for new ideas and suggestions for "good teaching practices". I was impressed when I stumbled across Berkeley's website. I used to become frustrated when I was in university and I felt that what we were being taught compared to what was being practiced were light-years apart! Even though this is for university instructors, much of it can be easily adapted to the high school classroom.

Here is some of what I found:

Tools for Teaching excerpts

"A compendium of classroom-tested strategies and suggestions designed to improve the teaching practices of all college instructors, including beginning, mid-career, and senior faculty members. The book describes 49 teaching tools that cover both traditional practical tasks--writing a course syllabus, delivering an effective lecture--as well as newer, broader concerns such as responding to diversity on campus and coping with budget constraints."

Assessing Student Learning (from the Office of Educational Development)

I particularly liked "The One-Minute Paper" suggestions.

Motivating Students

I think every teacher struggles with motivating the unmotivated from time to time. I am particularly interested in strengthening self-motivation as well as balancing assessment.

Inception

I saw it and it made me wonder. It hasn't yet won me over yet, but some ELA teachers were discussing ideas for using it. Any ideas?

Ideas for use?

Right now, the idea of "paradox" comes to mind. Camera angles could definitely be another "angle" on the movie (haha). I'll keep mulling.

The Truman Show

Poster by Jim Carrey Online

Film Study ideas:

Lesson Plan #1

Includes some "time saving" ideas

Lesson Plan #2

Overview & some discussion questions

Lesson Plan #3

Discussion ideas

Assignment ideas

Mr. Smilanich's ideas for short assignments & major essay

Ideas for use?

I teach The Truman Show for my ELA 10 class; it provides an awesome introduction to camera angles, symbols, allusions, etc.

The Lion King - Be Prepared (colour and symbolism)

I love learning...and I love having those "Ah-ha!" moments while I'm learning (as Despicable Me comes to mind, "Light bulb...")

For me, I was at a Conference last year when I discovered the uses for a single song from The Lion King:

Ideas for use?

-consider the use of colours (and the transitions)

-camera angles (demonstrating power and submission)

-SYMBOLS! (my students told me they will never watch the movie in the same light!)

UP!

A cool idea for a sweet, sweet film:

Up - Colour Script

Ideas for use?

I love to teach about COLOUR in movies. What a great idea for introducing the use of colour and the symbolism that goes with it.

Grade 9 novel study ideas...

I'm in the midst of planning for next semester. I am wrestling with novel study ideas for my 9s. Normally the three thematic units I like are:

• "Where do we come from?" (intro Shakespeare, pictures, fairy tales, mythology, etc)
• "Who am I?" (right here, right now)
• "Where are we going?" (futuristic, space, goals, dreams)

For the "Who am I?" unit, I am looking at having literary circles for the following:

• The Book Thief - Zusak
• The Boy in the Stripped PJs - Boyne
• The Diary of a Young Girl - Frank
• ??? - something with a strong male protagonist

I'm a little stuck with the fourth one right now... think...think... think...

Blog repurposed!

Some great resources to begin with:

ReadWriteThink

NCTE's website with lesson plans, discussions and plenty of resources...

Teaching Film in High School English Language Arts

Brad Smilanich's film study website - a personal hero!

Web English Teacher

Awesome internet resources for a variety of pieces of literature.

Film Study @ Web English Teacher

Just to get a little more specific....

Let it begin!