Foot: Final Reflection

I think it is important for us as future teachers to be familiar with different types of modalities. I think this class did a good job at introducing us to different types of technology; however, sometimes I felt like this class was a review of information that I already knew. I already knew a lot of the information that was in the Costanzo book from taking Art of Theater and also participating in drama while I was in high school. I also didn’t like that book because it was really boring to read. I did like the activities that we did in class with film, but I don’t know that I would ever use it in my classroom besides a creative writing class. I had similar feelings about the Multi-genre Autobiography project. I liked that project, but I don’t ever see myself using that in a typical English class. I would use it in a creative writing class because it gets students thinking about different types of literacies and it allows students to be creative with their presentations.

I really like the idea of the canonical wiki. I think it’s a great idea to have many different types of multi-modal sources that we can use in our classroom. I had a really hard time with mine though because there wasn’t a lot of information out there about Puritan writers. I think one way to improve the wiki would be for the students who have a hard time finding sources about a topic to only find 10 sources instead of 20. That student could also look up another topic and find 10 sources on it so that it totals out to be 20 sources. I would rather find 10 good sources than find 20 sources, some of which aren’t that great.

Foot: Dancing with the Stars

When I have spare time, which is very rarely, I like to watch Dancing with the Stars. I love to watch anything that has to do with dancing. I started dancing when I was three old and I stopped taken dance classes when I was a senior in high school. My first experience as a teacher came through dancing. I was a substitute dance teacher for two years.

When I watch Dancing with the Stars, it reminds me of teaching dance lessons. It makes me think about how everybody learns differently and different students struggle with different obstacles. I think it’s interesting now that when I look at normal things that are a part of my life, I relate them to teaching.

Pytash: Final Reflection

I enjoyed our Teaching Literature class this semester. I learned a lot of valuable information that I plan on using once I become a teacher. In class, I benefitted the most from the literary theory classes. I loved the different ways we can teach literary criticism to a class. I think literary criticism is a hard concept for students to understand so that was one thing that I was worried about teaching. I think the activities we did in class were engaging and they really helped to simplify the concept so it was easier to understand. My least favorite assignment for this class and multi-modal was the canonical wiki. I think it’s a great idea and it’s really useful to have different strategies to incorporate in your classroom. I didn’t like this assignment because I had an extremely hard time finding information that I could use in relation to Puritan writers. As I was searching for links to use, I found myself comparing different websites to see which I disliked least. I did find some good sources and videos that I would use, but I had a hard time because there weren’t a lot of sources and some of them wanted you to pay. I think it would improve this assignment if the topics that are harder to find sources required then few hyperlinks. Maybe students could research two topics instead of just one then. Overall though, I really enjoyed this class. I like the idea of pairing classics with young adult literature. Over this summer, I plan to read many of the pairings that are on worksheet that we have.

Pytash: Chapter 7

“Literature frequently provides a context in which to examine moral dilemmas.”

I thought this was an interesting chapter. I smiled when Linda Evangelista said, “It was God who made me so beautiful. If I weren’t, then I’d be a teacher.” It made me think about the misconceptions associated with teaching. One section that stood out to me in this chapter was Applying Literature to Life. I really liked that she was trying to relate what they were learning to their own lives and the world around them. It reminded me of a high school journalism class. You are constantly asking “Why should I care?” or "Why should the reader care?" I think that’s an important point to remember when teaching. Why should students care about what you’re teaching them? I think students should be able to learn and gain new perspectives from the topics taught in a class. They need to be able to take something valuable away from the lesson. Otherwise, what is the point of teaching something if it will not affect the students?

I also liked Jago’s assessment for Julius Caesar. I really like discussion questions because it gives students more freedom in their answers. Students have to defend their thoughts. I also like this type of assessment because I think it allows the teacher to have a better understanding of how well a student understands the material.

Foot: Pleasure Reading

One of the books that I’ve had time to read this semester is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. When I first started reading this book, I didn’t think I would like it. I was happy with Jane Austen’s writing the way it was. I didn’t need any zombies randomly popping up in the text while I was trying to read a romantic novel. Once I actually got into the book, I really started to like it. It’s an easier read than Pride and Prejudice, but it still has the same plot and language that Austen uses in her book. In fact, a lot of the dialogue in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is straight from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I’m actually really glad that I decided to read this novel because I really enjoy it.

Reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies makes me want to go back and reread all of Austen’s romantic novels. I’m also a huge fan of the movies that have been made from her books so I’m sure I’ll be re-watching them soon as well.

Foot: Pinocchio and Naruto

Text and Dialogue
Narration: There is narration in both novels. The main type of text that exists in both books is dialogue.
Balloons: Both books use balloons when expressing dialogue.
Captions: I don’t remember captions in Naruto. I know that there was dialogue outside of balloons, but that doesn’t add information about the scene. At the very beginning of Pinocchio, there are some captions.
Emanata: Pinocchio didn’t have any emanata, but Naruto did use emanata in the book.
Labels/Signs: There are signs on some of the shops in an overview of town in Pinocchio. In Naruto, there are chapter-like pages that give information to the reader.
Lettering: Pinocchio’s letter is in a smaller font, but it is in all caps. Naruto’s font is also in all caps, but the font size ranges drastically. Some words are bold, while some words are outlined. The font type is also constantly changing.
Sound Effects: There are some sound effects in Pinocchio, but not as many as there are in Naruto.
Visual Features
Characters: The characters in Naruto are given a lot of human characteristics. The characters in Pinocchio have a much more darker/sinister tone to their features.
Objects: Pinocchio’s main object is his nose.
Icons: I didn’t notice any icons as I was reading both books.
Scenery: Both books show scenery in the panels. In Pinocchio, you can see the room he’s in or the town surroundings. In Naruto, occasionally you can trees in the background or there will be a panel of the city.
Depicted action: Both novels have a lot of depicted actions throughout the texts.
General Layout and Design
Borders: There are almost always borders in Naruto, while there are not as many borders in Pinocchio.
Gutters: There are gutters in both books. Sometimes in Pinocchio the gutters appear as black instead of white.
Panels: Both books use panels throughout the text.
Open panel: Both Pinocchio and Naruto contain open panels where the action bleeds on to another page.
Splash: There are quite a few splash pages in Pinocchio. I could only find one splash page in Naruto.
Angles and Frames
Bleed: In both books, there are scenes where characters bleed onto another page, although it doesn’t happen very often.
Close up head shot: Naruto uses a lot more close up head shots than Pinocchio does.
Head-shoulder shot: Pinocchio uses a lot of head-shoulder shots throughout the book. Many more head-shoulder shots are used in Pinocchio than in Naruto.
Full-figure shot: There were full figure shots in Pinocchio, but I didn’t notice any full figure shots in Naruto.
Longshot: Both books contained longshots, although Naruto didn’t use them as much.
Extreme longshot: Pinocchio didn’t have any extreme longshots in the text. I only found one extreme longshot in Naruto.
Reverse: Both books used reverse in the panels, but Pinocchio used it much more frequently.
Rhetorical techniques
Exaggeration: There is a lot of exaggeration in Naruto. Sound effects are exaggeration by the size and font of the word and the effect it’s trying to have. There is some exaggeration in Pinocchio, although not as much.
Empathy/identification: I think it’s harder to identify with Pinocchio because I see that text based off of a fairytale. Naruto seems more realistic.
Mood/tone: The tone in Pinocchio is much darker than that in Naruto.
Simplicity/complexity: Pinocchio is much more simple compared to Naruto. There is so much going on in Naruto that it makes it harder to understand.
Irony/satire: There was some satire and irony in Pinocchio. It’s ironic that he has to lie so that his nose will grow so that he can kill vampires. I didn’t notice that so much in Naruto.
Realism/icons/symbolism: In Pinocchio, his nose is symbolic of the lies that he tells. Naruto feels more realistic to me. When I think about Pinocchio, I always associate it with a fairytale.
Order/disorder: I think there is a lot more order in Pinocchio than in Naruto. There is so much going on in Naruto that it feels disorderly to me,
Juxtaposition: I think there was juxtaposition in Naruto during the fight scenes. It made it easier for the reader to compare what was happening in the fights. I found very few instances of juxtaposition in Pinocchio.
Relationships: In Pinocchio, there is opposition and conflict between Pinocchio, the vampires, and the townspeople at times. In Naruto, there is also conflict.
Point of View: In Pinocchio, the point of view is from Pinocchio. We take his side throughout the book and we know his thoughts. Naruto is told from more perspectives than just his.

Pytash: Chapter 6

I really liked this chapter because it had a lot of useful information about lesson plans and the Odyssey. I love the Odyssey so this chapter was fun for me to read. I liked that groups of students were assigned one book from the Odyssey to present to the class. I like the presentations because I think it forces students to really know and understand what is happening in that particular book if they have to teach it. I had to a project similar to the expert group presentations when I was in high school. My class was divided into groups and we were assigned three books to cover in the Odyssey. We had to create a children’s book based on the Odyssey and then teach the book to the first graders in the primary school. I had to know what the books were really about before I could teach them to someone else and I think the expert group presentations would work in the same way. I also really liked all the examples of handouts for the Odyssey in this chapter. I think the cast of characters, Greek gods, and map all help the student to understand the Odyssey in a better way. I think the handouts would help students clarify the different gods and characters from each other.

On another note, I did like the example of the Cornell notes and her notes on note taking. I think note taking helps the students to stay focused on the material. I think it could be useful to collect notes in some classes to make sure that students are following along and understanding the information.