Good Discussion...now about curiosity...

Good discussion yesterday morning about our friend, Ralph Waldo and his ideas about education.  We stayed on track - looking at tone, sentence structure, pronoun usage - until we digressed. 

Sorry about that.

So if I am paraphrasing correctly, this is some of what I heard:

School + Lack of Curiosity = BOR-RING

Am I on the right track?

Teachers must take responsibility for squelching some of the curiosity each of you had in your little five-year-old selves. The system, I would argue, must also take some responsibility because putting kids through "mass production" education is cost efficient, yes, but is it really a savings we can afford?  Students should also take some responsibility because those who find a connection to the subject matter will be engaged in learning.

A sense of curiosity is nature’s original school of education.
Smiley Blanton

And there is a very cool poem I'd like you to read called Curiosity by Alistair Reid.  Read it a couple of times.

See what I mean?

Now, about today's class.  I promised I would provide the link to the post Race ya. in case you want to share it with friends, frenemies, or foes.  Maybe you want to write your own post about race, race relations, and racism, and want to link to it.

I appreciate your ability to talk about the techniques and rhetorical devices she used in her post as well as the dialogue we had about her subject matter.  Good job.

Blogs - the good, the bad, the poorly written

I’ve admitted I’m not a big blogger – but I’m trying to change!  

“If Ms. Frye doesn’t blog, how can she tell me what to do?” 

“Because I’m the teacher, Because I said so, Because if we ignore the pretty pictures, the hyperlinks, the videos – what we have is writing.  And I do know a little about that. 

To see some award winning blogs, click here scroll down.  Be ready to suggest a few of your favorites from this list.

Observe.  Take notes.  Get ideas. 

Blogging Benefits

Some of the posts I've read from this year's crop of bloggers are pret-ty good; I am going to be learning so much I didn't know I should know!

As someone who has not been a big reader or writer of blogs, I am working to incorporate the benefits of blogging into my own writing - the effects of having a deadline, of connecting to current culture, of writing for a wider audience.  Of attempting to bring a fresh perspective to the topic de jour.

During the discussion today over Andrew Sullivan's article Why I Blog and What Bloggers Owe Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell, it seemed as if there is some thinking about the purpose and benefits of blog writing - at least we've started the conversation.  A couple of points coming out of today's discourse (and a few things that didn't come up yet, but I hope will after students start reading my blog) are things we all need to keep in mind:

Write!  Yes...I can write about anything - but I must also be a reader of what others are saying about my topic.

Anticipate what other folks might have to say about what I'm writing - everyone is a critic.
Honor the reader's time.  With a mind-boggling number of on-line sources available (blogs, magazines, newspapers, videos) why should anyone read what I have to say?  I am pret-ty sure a blogger gets, oh, maybe one time to impress the reader.  (Everyone is a critic.)

Refrain from regurgitating.  We aren't owls, and we aren't cows.  If you are going to write about Derek Jeter's farewell game - STOP!  How many people have already written about it?  Were you there?  Are you a personal friend of Derek's?  Are you clairvoyant?  I didn't think so.  (Now you could use Jeter's "farewell tour" and compare it to another famous one...or explain why these "lasts" are so important to fans....or...)

I won't become a better blogger/writer if I don't consciously try. Well, duh. I realize I state the obvious - but on Monday nights, when the deadline looms and the word count is only 843 for the week, is the writer focusing on genuine improvement, or simply meeting the word count?  Word count.  Duh.

We'll continue this conversation.

From Mundane to Marvelous

As the first full week of blogging is coming to a close, I am worried.  As the last two years of teaching AP Language and Composition has shown, I should be.  And as the students have their first at-home writing assignment due tomorrow, I am especially anxious.  For them.  For me.

Writing a thoughtful post, about a meaningful topic, that doesn't sound or look like a diary entry, an entry from Wikipedia, or a Pinterest item, is hard - I know!  I've been working on this post for, like, an hour - and it is bad.  How to bring a voice?  an angle?  a perspective? to a topic that hasn't already been posted  a thousand times, and done a thousand times better?  That is the question.

The first week of class we watched ""The Best Coin Ever Spent" because I wanted students to get a grip on how many angles are out there - especially if there is a conscious effort to make connections to other sources and texts.  I like poetry and want to make a link to my topic?  Then I'll throw Ludwig Van Beethoven's Return to Vienna by Rita Dove into the pot, and Bam!  Now what new inkling has started to take shape?

Good writing is hard to do.  Interesting writing is even harder.  As I start to read the blogs, I hope I'll be able to offer suggestions that will help students go from the mundane to the marvelous.  (Maybe that is a bit of alliterative hyperbole, but I can hope, can't I?)

Write on!!!

The Honeymoon is Over (Welcome to AP Lang)

My neighbors across the street are splitting up.  It really doesn't matter what the cause is - none of my business, really, and like most divorces, there is rarely a single reason.  But I mention this because they just recently bought the house, lived there together for about six months, got married last October, and this past Saturday, she moved out all of her things.

They hadn't even been married a year.

I know they had planned a honeymoon - probably to some exotic location like so many newlyweds do these days - but I don't think they ever got to take the trip.  Their marriage didn't even last through the official honeymoon period, the first year.

I wonder if like many couples, the idea of marriage was more appealing than the reality.  It is understandable.  When issues arise, each partner resorts to how they saw their parents deal with confrontation or disagreement, and often the two styles are unsuitable for a satisfactory resolution.  One person gives in, or one person gives the silent treatment, or one person yells - however it plays out, I'm pretty sure that at least one party isn't satisfied with the outcome. 

And the resentment builds.  Maybe it dissipates for awhile during a smooth period, but if at the next rough patch, the same behavior occurs, nothing lasting gets resolved.

I'm feeling like the first big blowup in AP Lang is about to happen.  The relationship between the students and the rigors of AP Language and Composition is about to be tested.  The commitment previous LA classes required, compared to the work AP Lang needs, is like the difference between an elementary school crush and the first college boyfriend who is invited home to the family Christmas party - it is huge!

Students who think AP Language and Composition is nothing more than a junior high fling are going to be heartbroken.  This is a class that requires thoughtful interaction, attention to every assignment, a desire to become a better reader and writer - it requires a long term commitment.  A serious, long term commitment.

When the honeymoon is over, it doesn't have to mean the marriage is in trouble.  It just means both parties involved are going to find ways to work through the difficulties, find different and better ways to communicate, and make a commitment everyday to bring the best each has to offer.