Herrington

I chose to work with chapter 6 because of the relevancy, I feel, it has to my position in an urban school. "To teach reading and writing in a global world, we need to follow our students' lead into a new understanding of media as text," (Herringon 93). My initial impression of working in an urban setting had me thinking that many of these kids would not have access to technology (camera phones, personal computers, etc.), but boy, was I wrong. I realized that they may not OWN all of these gadgets, but they certainly are resourceful enough to find access. I discovered this the day after an out-of-school fight was being investigated and it came out that a few of the students recorded it on their phones and uploaded it to the internet via YouTube.
This got me thinking about a way in which my students can be reached. I'll be going down a tiny rabit-hole with this tangent, but bear with me. Many students are either late or absent, causing their parents to pay heavy fines due to truancy laws within the district. By using technology, why not give the students an option to log into a webinar or some type of online medium (YouTube, etc.) where they can still view the lesson and at least reduce the amount of fine for their parents. There should be lots of verifications regarding the student's participation (quizzes, writing an essay, etc.), but it is sad to me when a child doesn't care if their parent goes to jail because of their truancy. I'm done.
Now, in dealing with poetry, I have a unique niche because many of my students love rap music, which is really poetry set to a beat. By using rap as a gateway to other forms of poetry, hopefully students will be able to see the connection between the two and understand that without poetry, there would really be no rap. The following objectives Herrington listed can be applied to my setting:
Appreciation of the art, as well as the pleasure of poetry: What do they enjoy about poetry (or rap music)? How does it make them feel? Does it make things easy to memorized if used as a test-preparation strategy?
Understanding of how sound, image, and words are integrated in poems and videos: How do the images used in rap videos affect them? Do they inspire? Do they offend? How do they represent their culture? Is it accurate? How have these images influence their cultures?
Ability to interpret and analyze poetry: What does this song mean to you? Could it mean something different to someone else? Symbolism?
Ability to write and talk about poetry: Students may write their own raps and use software to create a beat. They can then present them to the class for extra credit.
Confidence as writers and readers of poetry: Discuss their insecurities. Brainstorm what we can do to help them build from that.
I hope that regardless of my age, I can always stay relevant with and to my students. I think that once teachers float into that out-of-touch atmosphere, it becomes dangerous and the possibily of "losing" students can become a reality. By allowing them to learn from mediums that interest them can only benefit both teacher and student by making teaching easier and learning less intimidating.

Chapter 5 got my attention, mostly because of our "lives" blogging in this class. I have to wonder, though- we have been blogging in a postsecondary setting, so how will this work in secondary settings? As I have mentioned, not all of my students have personal computers, so logistically-speaking, this may have to be an assignment they complete in computer class. Although, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea, considering writing across the curriculum (wac) is becoming a huge trend in schools. The way I may incorporate this assignment into my classroom would start with something less personal: perhaps allowing the students to choose prompts from our "Unjournaling" book. After they understand how bloggin works, we can move to more personal topics such as personal reactions to texts or discussions in class.
I believe there IS a place for blogging in the classroom, but it must be understood that certain ettiquete must be present and respect for others and self still apply. I hope that with more grants for urban schools to buy laptops, that this blogging assignment will become more realistic, because I think students would benefit from seeing others writing, as well as putting theirs out to their peers for feedback and reflection.