I chose this chapter as my first article because blogging is something that has intertwined itself into the lives of most school-age individuals. It's a tool many people already know how to use, and I like that this article is about integrating this already well-used medium into a classroom setting.
In my view, classroom blogging is a hit-or-miss activity. I can think of three separate instances (not including this class) where my classmates and I have been assigned weekly blogs as part of the course. The first time I used blogs in the classroom was in high school in my American History course. If I remember correctly, it was open to the general public, but no one outside of our class ever commented. I'm not sure exactly why, but I was drawn immediately to this idea of blogging as part of the class. I remember checking the blogs repeatedly for new updates that I could comment on and new ideas to discuss with my peers. In hindsight, the only reason I can think of as to why I might have been so drawn to the idea was that the posts were informal and open-ended. We could post about any topic in the chapter, anything we discussed in class, or any questions we might have. The posts were only expected to be a few sentences long, too, which helped because we could say what we needed to say without having to fill space for the sake of filling space.
The second instance I remember was part of an education course. That one, at least for me anyway, flopped. I didn't care one bit about that blog. We were expected to comment on very narrow subjects that weren't really open for interpretation. Each week my posts were nothing more than me going through the motions. I got nothing but a weekly nettle in my side out of that assignment.
The third time it was used, my reaction was a mixture between my two previous experiences. It was a literature course, and each week, after reading the assigned book, we had to comment about what we thought of the work (what stood out to us, what we liked or didn't like, why we felt the way we did, etc.). I preferred this over my previous instance because it was more open-ended and we had more room to work with.
Looking at these three experiences together makes me realize that if I use this in the classroom, I have to give the students room to breathe. I can't limit the topics and I have to choose something that doesn't limit students' thinking processes. In the article, I like that the teacher lets the students choose their own topics. As is the case for our I Searches, most (if not all) of us prefer writing about topics that we choose, are interested in, and/or know a great deal about. If the blogging aspect itself is the aim, I see nothing wrong with letting students choose their own topics. If the aim of the blog is specifically content-based, then I can understand limiting the content to pre-chosen subjects.
6. Poetry Fusion: Integrating Video, Verbal, and Audio Texts
Interpreting poetry in the form of a video. I like this. I agree with the author when he puts forth the assertion that a reader gets a more holistic view of a poem when it's read aloud. On a personal level, even though poems are easier for me to understand when I'm reading them myself, poems that are read aloud have much more depth to them. For example, in the first link I've posted, the poet's work incorporates gestures. If I was reading this poem, I wouldn't get the whole meaning of the ending because without seeing the gestures I wouldn't know what he means by "this." By viewing it, I do see what "this" means. I also like that the inflection and tone in his voice adds to the meaning of the poem as well. That effect would not be obtained simply by reading it on a page.
Def Poetry - Taylor Mali - "What Teachers Make" (I chose this poem because it is written about teaching by a teacher, which directly relates to many of us. I also chose it because Taylor often speaks with his hands. If anyone is interested, second example of him frequently using gestures to get his point across can be found in the poem called "Like, You Know." Tone and inflection, too, are crucial to the understanding this poem.)
A second topic that the chapter explains is the idea of creating a visual representation of a poem by using video. In the video below, read by E. E. Cummings himself, the creator of the video incorporates visual images into the reading of the poem to add to it's significance, to show the youtuber's own interpretation of the poem, and to visually enhance the meaning expressed in the audio of the work.
It seems to me that students would enjoy this type of video-centered poetry lesson. In high school I did a project similar to this in my photography class, but I used still images instead of video. Back then, before I had any real appreciation for poetry, I would have gotten quite a bit out of making a poetry video like the ones explained in this chapter. I think this idea could be a fun addition to an English class.
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