Language Arts

I have a favorite author today because he made my students feel important.

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a typical interaction between someone else and me about favorite books—>

PERSON: So, who is your favorite author?

ME: I can’t pick one favorite author. I have many favorites.

PERSON: Well, if you HAD to pick one, who would you pick?

ME: I CAN’T! There are too many books. Too many writers. There is so much good writing in the world.

PERSON: Just pick one.

ME: Would you ever demand that I choose a favorite child?

PERSON: Seriously. Just pick one.

ME (shrieking): I TOLD YOU. I CAN’T PICK JUST ONE!!! (At this point, I turn into a werewolf and devour everyone in sight.)

However, today, if you asked me who my favorite author was, I would, without hesitation say, “Daniel Woodrell, author of Winter’s Bone.” (Winter’s Bone was made into a movie that starred Jennifer Lawrence pre-Hunger Games.)

 Last week, I got it in my head that I wanted to tell Daniel Woodrell about the inspired work my students were doing after reading Winter’s Bone. I searched for and maybe even found his home address (but I wasn’t 100% sure). After some thought, I decided that would be creepy of me to send him a letter to his home anyway (and maybe a waste of time because it might not have even been the right David Woodrell), so I searched for an email address. Nothing came up for him, but when I searched “contact Daniel Woodrell”, I found his literary agent’s assistant’s email address and decided that this would be the most professional way to approach an author with whom I am personally unacquainted.

On Friday, I sent an email to David’s agent’s assistant that explained the project and provided a link for them to go take a look-see.

To give you some background, Winter’s Bone is about Ree Dolly, a 16-year-old girl taxed with looking after her mentally ill mother, and two young brothers, on next to nothing, after her dad goes out one day and doesn’t return. The family lives in the Missouri Ozarks and the action begins when the local sheriff rolls onto Ree’s property to inform her that her father put their house and land up for bail the last time he was arrested (for cooking meth). If he doesn’t show up for court, the house and land will be sold to the highest bidder and Ree and the rest of her family will be living in a cave. Ree has no choice but to go looking for her dad, and in doing so, must face family members who live very rough lives, by some very harsh rules, and one of those rules is that you best be minding your own business, if you know what’s good for you, girl <insert chest poke here> so this poses a challenge for someone who needs information.

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In the assignment, the students found Dolly Family Rules either stated outright or inferred from characters’ dialogue and actions in the text. They each selected one rule and took a picture that somehow represented that rule. Then, using the Aviary app, they overlaid the text with the rules (or the text and the inferred rule) on the photo. They sent the finished products to me and I posted it to an Instagram account I created specifically for this purpose.

Today, I was very pleased and surprised to see that Daniel Woodrell sent us an email!

Today, I was very pleased and surprised to see that Daniel Woodrell sent us an email! He told us that he loved to know that his lonely words found companions in us. He also said that he likes the project and complimented my students’ photography. Then, he revealed that he spent some time in Nebraska back in the 70’s. He even made mention of Aksarben. Needless to say, this simple 6-sentence note that Daniel took the time to sent made ten students and one teacher very happy today. <Swoon.>

Here is my Contemporary Literature class’s Instagram account: DOLLY FAMILY RULES.

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You make a post. I make a post.

027 Trees in the fog
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: nebojsa mladjenovic via Compfight

My students are all playing a variation of the 11 (wo)man/sunshine award game that I played with some friends over this past winter break. In the spirit of sharing, and playing by my rule of “If I ask them to do it, I should probably try it on for size too, I told my young bloggers that they could pose some questions to me too. The results are below.

Trevor C:

What do you like about being a teacher?

This is a hard one because I like many things about being a teacher. One thing is that I get to hang out with young people all day Monday through Friday and it is hard to rival the spirit of a young mind. The other thing is that one of my favorite things to do is learn. Working for an institution of learning is a dream come true for me. In this job, I am always learning–from my students, from my colleagues, from books, from successes and from failures in the classroom.

Colleen A:

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

I decided to do a little research on this because optimally, if I was faced with eating one food for the rest of my life, I would want to survive for as long as possible. After discovering the answer, as confirmed by several savory and unsavory sites in a wide range of credibility, I discovered that milk is probably my best bet. However, I STRONGLY DISLIKE MILK. Gag. This caused me to change my approach. Since this is a hypothetical question, I will answer it hypothetically, and just choose a food that I love. I’m going to go with pasta. It’s delicious and you can sneak interesting ingredients into it. It also comes in a wide array of shapes, which would help with the boredom factor of eating a single food for the rest of my life. However, if this situation came to fruition, it seems that it would result in my eventual organ failure, which, frankly, does not sound like a good time.

Jessie G:

Have you always wanted to be a drama teacher?

Since I was a child, I enjoyed both “playing school” and going to the theater. My mom was a 4th grade teacher, so I grew up valuing education and learning and my parents did right by me in exposing me to all sorts of artistic experiences. However, the idea of TEACHING THEATER really did not occur to me until it was right in my lap. Due to a set of circumstances I could not have predicted, the drama classes and fall play director position opened up, and due to my appreciation of theater and (some very limited) experience in theater, it seemed like a good opportunity, so I took it. I am really happy I did.

Connor D:

Why did you become an English teacher?

I love reading and I love writing. I also think teenagers are the coolest, so it seemed like a perfect fit.

If you didn’t want to be come a teacher what would your profession be?

Most likely, I would be a writer or an artist (or both). I would also most likely be very poor.

Cheyenne M + Mack B:

What is your favorite movie and why?

One of my favorite movies is Beetlejuice because it’s funny and macabre. Another is Tommy Boy because it is so funny. I also love the movie Dancer in the Dark because it is like no other movie I’ve ever seen and it ingeniously captures the beauty of musical theater in a very tragic way. Shawshank Redemption is a another marvelously clever and heartbreaking movie.  The Princess Bride is one that I could watch over and over and never tire of it–same goes for The Neverending Story and Elf.I have so many favorite movies. I cannot pick just one! I could do a whole blog post about favorite movies … maybe even a whole blog …

Joe N:

What would you do if you were givin 10 billion dollars?

I would take care of my church and family. Then I would open a school with a focus on student interest and fine arts integration–with a hand-picked staff. Then I would try to give away as much of it as I could as fast as I could to help as many people as I could.

Jordan R:

What’s your least favorite thing about teaching?

In all honesty, it’s the grading system. I want students to learn for the sake of learning and I see so many of my students stressing themselves out about getting the A. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate students who are eager to achieve, but it makes me sad to hear a student say that s/he crammed to get an A on the test, but afterward can’t remember a single thing that was on it. I wish I could inspire more students (and parents and colleagues) to be in it for self-improvement and learning.

Rachel S:

What is your favorite body part?

I think eyes are super cool. They are a really complicated part of the body and play such an important role in conveying body language.

Michelle K:

If you could modify a snail to go faster, how would you modify it?

If the goal is to get the snail to go faster than it normal goes, I would give it a good meal and some warm words of encouragement. I would modify its attitude.

Susan S:

Would you rather be on the stage or work backstage?

I’ll take a behind-the-scenes position over a performance position any day of the week. I like to contribute to artistic endeavors, but I would prefer to do so without a spotlight trained on me.

How did you get the name Xiola for, well, Xiola?

It’s from a song.

What is your favorite color?

BLACK. Some people say black is not a color, but I say, I can see it; I know what it looks like; and I love it. Strangely enough, black has been my favorite color since I was a wee lass. My grandma asked me what my favorite color was when I was 4 and I told her “black.” She said, “No it’s not!” I said, “Yes it is. I love black licorice jelly beans and I love the color black.”

What is your favorite musical?

This is another one of those “choose your favorite child” questions. I have many, but as of late, I’m really digging Wicked. I’ve been fortunate enough to see it twice and the music is astounding. It hits me right in the heart. The message is beautiful too. Incidentally, I used to HATE musicals. I also used to hate onions. Now I love them both.

Of all three one-act plays you have done, which was your favorite and why?

I would have to vote for The Happy Prince. It was challenging and the message was quite meaningful to me. It was also the most artistic of the three I’ve directed.

Taylor B:

If you could travel to any place in the world, where would it be?

I would probably pick Belize because my husband and I intended to go there over 12 years ago when we were first married, but we were unable to. It would be nice to finally take our honeymoon.

Danny C:

Have you ever invented your own words?

Oh yes indeedly-do. Shakespeare did it. So can I!

Jacob W:

Why do you think that there are mimes in the world? What purpose do they serve beyond entertainment?

Mimes were put on earth to express things that cannot be expressed in words. (Where did you come up with this question? Hahaah!)

If anyone could get their stories published and printed regardless of social status and quality of work, what impact would that have on modern literature?

Well, I hate to say it, but there would be a whole bunch of bad literature out there. Honestly, online/self-publication has made this possible. This is sort of happening right now. However, it also allows people with high quality work that, for whatever reason, hasn’t received the notice it deserved, to get recognition. Therefore, like most things, there are pros and cons.

Jenna W:

Why do birds always fly into your window? Do they like really love you or do you they really hate you?

I would like to think that it has nothing to do with love or hate or really anything about me at all. I believe they fly into my window because either A. our custodians have done such a nice job of cleaning my windows that they don’t realize there is glass there, OR B. the trees outside my window are reflected in the glass and the birds believe they are landing on a tree branch. The signs that I put up seem to be doing to trick as of late … or maybe it’s the papier-mâché albatross that a parent made for our fall play that has stopped the senseless bird concussions.

Josh H:

If you could choose to either be a play director or a teacher what would you choose and why?

Luckily, I don’t have to choose, because I can be both in my current position. That being said, I wouldn’t mind a career change at some point in my life and directing would be a possibility. This won’t be happening for a long while though. You’re stuck with me for now.

 

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Relationship Is King! (A Beginning of the Semester Sharing Activity)

 

Big Heart of Art - 1000 Visual Mashups
Photo Credit: qthomasbower via Compfight

Building relationships is king in my teaching philosophy. It trumps content every day of the week. If a student doesn’t trust you, it is very hard for them to learn (what you want them to learn) from your class.

That is why when we come back from break, whether a class is semester-long with all new students, or year-long with returning students, I like to focus on building new relationships or strengthening existing ones.

Yesterday was a cold day. In other words, we got the day off because it was so cold–so like a snow day, without snow, and probably colder than the average snow day. I spent the day catching up on housework (ugh) and reading articles that people from my PLN posted (yay!). One of the things I stumbled upon was this NPR article: These Are A Few Of Your Favorite Things. After I read it, I knew that I wanted to do this as an opening activity with all of my students. Good thing school was called off yesterday or this might not have happened.

I’m sharing the article with them today through my Twitter feed. My requirements for the assignment are as follows.

FAVORITE THINGS ASSIGNMENT:

  1. Read this NPR article: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things.
  2. Choose 5-10 items to photograph.
  3. Arrange them, artfully. (See the article for examples.)
  4. Photograph them with your iPad.
  5. Write a brief description of each item and why you selected it.
  6. If you want to, tweet a copy of the photo, using our class hashtag: World Lit = #phsWORlit; Contemp Lit = #phsCONlit; Forensics II = #phs4N6; Drama = #phsDRAMA; A.P. English Lit and Comp = #phsAPeng.
  7. Submit your photo and writing to our shared Google Drive folder.

As usual, I will be participating in this assignment as well. If I am asking my students to expose personal facts about themselves, I must do the same. After all, relationships are for taking, but the giving is the most important part.

When I have completed the assignment, I will post my photo and writing here. If my students give me permission, I will post some of their photos and writing here too. Stay tuned.

 

UPDATE: Here are the results of the assignment:

#phsWORlit #phsCONlit #phsAPeng Favorite Things Assignment–> Desk: One of my favorite places to be is school where so much learning takes place, so I chose a desk as a backdrop. Top Hat and Rabbit Ears: As a drama teacher, I appreciate what a simple bit of costuming can do for an actor or even a non-actor. Modge Podge: In my (very limited spare time) I like to dabble in art–specifically mixed media art and one of my main ingredients is Modge Podge. Hagrid Figurine: I am a Harry Potter nerd. Literature Anthology: Reading books is one of my favorite things to do and I can’t pick just one favorite, so I chose this anthology since it is full of a variety of stories and poetry. Note Card: My Fall Play cast gave this to me in a bouquet of flowers after our show wrapped this year. My students are very important to me. Skull: The image of a skull represents many things to me: theater, the fragility of life, decomposition and a return to the Earth. Pencil: I love to write and sketch with a pencil. Ticonderogas are the best. Photo: These are my three favorite people -> my husband and my two daughters.

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This Feels Like Failure: Why Are So Many Students Dropping My Advanced Placement English Class?

I teach an Advanced Placement English class. It’s a challenging class. It’s hard. Really. There are times when it’s not fun. High school me would’ve struggled with it. Undergrad me probably would’ve struggled with it a bit. Shoot! Come to think of it, there are days when I would struggle with it now, if I were juggling what my students are juggling.

The students have to learn difficult vocabulary–words that show up frequently in classic literature–and they have to use said vocabulary in context. They have to learn how to identify AND write in sentence structures that I didn’t learn about until college or after. They have to read challenging, sometimes dense, sometimes archaic, sometimes confusing (but beautiful! controversial! poetic! lovely! wonderful! universally truthful), texts, rife with figurative language, dripping with irony, loaded with difficult-to-decipher symbols (but that have withstood the test of time). They are in charge of leading discussions. They are responsible for analyzing literature through writing.

I view this class as not just a way to prepare for the Advanced Placement test they will (hopefully) take (and DOMINATE) in the Spring, but to prepare them for college, and more importantly, to ready them for the cruel world after college. In it, they are exposed to rich content, but even more importantly–they practice and (usually) master transferable skills that they will use for the rest of their lives: effective writing in multiple modes, critical thinking, creativity, idea generation, collaboration, decision-making, time management …

They blog. They analyze. They interact face-to-face. They interact digitally. They do or do not hit deadlines (and there are consequences for both). They write. They speak. They think. They think. They think. They think and think and think!

They are currently synthesizing their skills in the form of a mimesis–an assignment that requires them to create an original short story that mimics (in more than one way) the work of a famous author, whom they have studied in depth. It is–to use one of their vocabulary words–arduous. It is hard work. It takes time. It takes tenacity. It’s not something most people can write in an hour and half (though I have a student who claims he did … !)

And, at the end of last week and today, nearly half of them brought me paperwork to drop my class at semester.

Herein lies my feeling of failure.

Some of the students have legitimate-sounding excuses for dropping the class. Some of them do not. However, underneath all these reasons–legit or not–is a nagging question: What did I do wrong?

I want this class to be rigorous. In fact, it’s required, by College Board standards to be rigorous. My district requires it to be rigorous. However, I don’t want to be so rigid as to drive away my students. They are, after all, some of my favorite people in the whole world! Don’t get me wrong: I realize that not every students is cut out for Advanced Placement English, and it is a typical event for some of them to drop at semester, but the sheer number of drops this time around has me in a bit of a stupor.

As a result of these drops, I’m not feeling like the greatest teacher. Not that I ever feel like I am THE greatest teacher, but today, I am feeling pretty down. It is my instinct to keep these feelings to myself or maybe to whine a little to one of my mentors, but I have decided to reflect here–”out loud”–because I don’t think we lament enough in public. It’s important to put our best selves forward to the world when we can, but it’s also okay to reveal the moments that are the most trying. This week has started out with a fizzle, but this anticipated mass exodus of students has deepened my resolve to continually improve myself as a teacher. But for today, I’m going to take some time to marinate in this feeling of disappointment and to labor over my aforementioned question, along with these:

  • What can I do differently to retain more of my students?
  • What can I do to impart–to students and their parents–that what you learn in a class is more important than the almighty grade?
  • Is this class’s level of rigor befitting a entry-level college English literature and writing course or have I taken it too far?
  • Are my expectation too high? (I don’t think so–but believe me–I will think about this.)

I’m holding onto the hope that tomorrow and the next day and the next day will be better days–as a result of reflection and time. I’m holding onto the hope that next semester, I’ll be a better teacher–as a result of this semester’s events and as a result of this public reflection on some very raw feelings.

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Make a young person’s day by leaving a simple comment on a blog! #comments4kids

*Updated from my April 2013 post

My students, like many writers, crave feedback! Here is a LINK to a roster of their blogs: https://morgetron.edublogs.org/my-students-passion-blogs/  If you have the time and the *positive* energy to share, please visit one or more of them and leave them a little (or big) message. It will make their day!

The best types of comments are
A. questions that extend the conversation
Why do you believe the unicameral is such a positive thing?
OR
Do you believe that this will change the way we do business in America?

B. observations about the content or style of the post
I noticed that you are very passionate about aliens!
OR
I’d never thought about deer habitats from the perspective of a deer before I read your post.

C. counter-points to a position (done respectfully)
As someone who has experienced hunger first-hand, I disagree with your stance on welfare.

D. personal or observational connections you made to their post
This reminds me of the time I made my teacher laugh so hard, she cried.
OR
Your writing reminds me of David Sedaris’s!

E. compliments!
Wow! This is some dandy writing!
OR
Keep writing! This is goooooood stuff!

In all honesty, though, I believe ANY comment–even brief ones–can encourage students to continue writing. Just knowing they have an audience will propel them.

Thank you for your time!

 

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Retelling the Canterbury Tales

For my World Literature students:

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Now that we’ve read “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales, “The Pardoner’s Tale” and the “Wife of Bath’s Tale”, you are going to (re)tell a tale yourself.

You and your partner(s) should choose from the tales posted on this Google doc and sign up by telling Mrs. M. which story you have selected.

Goals

-To creatively and accurately interpret a piece of classic text.

Follow these steps:

1. Choose a tale. (Skim the tales HERE, so you get a feel for what you’re signing up for.)

2. Read the tale (and the intro, prologue and/or epilogue, if applicable).

3. Write a summary of the tale and show the summary to Mrs. M for approval.

4. Plan out a retelling—> How do you want to present it? Who will play which character? What format will you use? When will you practice it?

5. Create a TEASER with the VINE app. Here’s an example of what that might look like.

6. Create a LIVE retelling of the story to present in class. You should present your tale in either a modern OR a medieval way (your choice) and you should bring the character(s) to life through VOICE, COSTUME, and BODY LANGUAGE. In some cases, this will mean that you will be playing more than one character. You might present it any way you wish though. For instance, you may go into “story time with <insert your name>” mode OR  you might pretend to host a talk show about the tale of your choice. You will also be judged on the accuracy of your retelling.

This is the single-point rubric I’ll be using to grade your project: CTretellingRUB.

Here are some ideas from 2013’s first semester class.

The Reeve’s Tale: This pair presented their tale in the form of a newscast. One student was the news reporter and he interviewed the other student who was in character as The Reeve. The reporter asked The Reeve leading questions and The Reeve gave an accurate account of what happened to him from his point of view.

The Monk’s Tale: This student worked alone and she presented each of the mini-tales within The Monk’s Tale in the form of sing-songy poetry. It was a very clever way to summarize this overwhelming tale.

The Friar’s Tale: This pair presented their tale in the form of a kindergarten story hour, which was interesting, considering the dark topic. They asked for audience participation and assigned roles to their classmates as they told their tale. They also asked lots of questions and taught their peers the meaning of some of the more archaic terms and language. They also asked in which style the “children” would like the tale to be told, to which one of the “children” (me) asked them to do it in a Southern accent. This had nothing to do with the story, but it added an element of fun and it helped to engage the audience.

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WRITE AN EPIC MONSTER STORY!  

monstahhhh

EPIC POEM BASICS

  • The HERO is an nationally (or internationally) important (often legendary or historically significant) figure who is (usually) physically imposing and/or attractive.
  • The SETTING is vast — it may span the nation, the world, even the universe (or in our case, it might be local — as in the school or Springfield.
  • The QUEST consists of good deeds, bravery (sometimes at a supernatural level), supernatural powers and interference or assistance from forces beyond the realm of humanity (“the gods,” angels, or other heavenly–or otherwise–forces).
  • The writing STYLE is one of grand simplicity and is told objectively.

ASSIGNMENT

YOUR story MUST have

  • a HERO (like Beowulf) and
  • a SOCIAL PROBLEM, as represented metaphorically by the MONSTER (like Grendel and his representation of the Devil or anything that worked against Biblical teachings).
  • Your HERO must accept a QUEST and
  • some sort of supernatural interference or powers must be present somewhere in the story.
  • Your STYLE may be presented objectively, or you can approach it in a more contemporary narrative style.
  • It is okay to exaggerate the social problem for the sake of increasing your story’s excitement.

The paper should be TYPED, and DOUBLE-SPACED.

Image Credit:

“The New Guy.” Florida Center for Instructional Technology. Educational Technology Clearinghouse. <http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/ 86500/86537/86537_the-new-guy.htm>. September 10, 2013.

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Custom Summer Reading List

One of my students, who graduated this year, asked me to come up with a summer reading list for her. Keep in mind that this list is for a student whom I know well, (and I know her family well also), and who is heading off to college next year. This list probably wouldn’t work for every student. There’s some pretty edgy titles here, but I thought I would share, in case you’re looking for that sort of list. Click on the link to travel to the SMORE where I’m housing this list.

READ! READ! READ! READ! READ! READ! READ! READ!

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(Vine + Vimeo) X (Macbeth + Make-believe) X (Costumes + Cadence) = Engaging Excercise

Shakespeare’s work is a tricky thing to teach to high school students. The main barrier is the difficult language. If you can get them past that, or used to that, or to understand that, or to accept that–you’ve made quite an accomplishment.

When I was in high school, Shakespeare really wasn’t even on my radar (for the aforementioned reasons paired with my inherently distracted nature). In college, I TRIED to understand Shakespeare and had moments of clarity, but still … not much sank in for me. In my younger years of teaching *I* didn’t even *LIKE* Shakespeare’s work, which made it really hard to teach effectively. After nearly a decade and a half of teaching Shakespeare’s plays (Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Hamlet, and Macbeth) I have grown to LOVE his work — FOR the LANGUAGE, no less (!!!), for the genius characterization, for the uncanny (and timeless) portrayal of human nature and universal themes, and for its amazing relevance TODAY. Right here. Right now.

But the language …

*whiny voice*

… it’s sooooooo harrrrrd.

We make baby steps. If you can get the kids to playyyy with the language, they begin to build confidence in it. If you can show them that it–STILL, to this very day, after 14 years of teaching, two college degrees and the purchase of your very own bust of Shakespeare, YOU have trouble with it sometimes, YOU have to look up the meaning of a word or stare blankly into the abyss sometimes, or ponder the word order of a sentence sometimes–they feel less fear towards it. If you give them access to silly wigs and costumes and beg them to use zany accents (relevant OR irrelevant OR reverent OR irreverent to the original play itself) they can have fun (even just a little … they MIGHT even admit to said fun–GASP!) with the universality of it all.

Very recently, I was turned on to an app called Vine, which is a simple iPhone video capturing service (which links and embeds nicely with Twitter) that also is compatible with the iPad. It features a “hold and shoot” style video camera that maxes out at seven seconds, which (obviously) limits what you can fit into a clip. When you are trying to build students’ confidence in Shakespeare, this is a welcome limitation. If you ask a student who is hesitant to read Shakespeare to make a five-minute video portraying an scene, that might overwhelm him or her. Methinks pretty much anyone can handle 7 seconds of Shakespeare. The “hold and shoot” feature also allows for easy “special effects”. It’s hard to explain, but you will see what I mean when I show you a handful of example videos.

The assignment was as follows.

MACBETH VINE

1. Pick your favorite character from Macbeth thus far. (We had read through Act III at the time of the assignment.)

2. Pick your favorite line that character has delivered thus far.

3. Think of how that character would deliver that line.

4. Try to “become” that character. (Costumes were available in the classroom. I am the drama teacher, after all.)

5. Using Vine, have a classmate capture you delivering that line.

6. Tweet me your vine, including my Twitter handle (@morgetron), the class hashtag (#phsWORlit), the character you chose, and let everyone know it’s from Macbeth.  If you don’t tweet, send me the video via email and I will tweet it on your behalf. If you don’t want your video posted on the web, say so in your email. (I HAVE to respect my students’ desires to stay off the web and some parents are not crazy about their kids online either, which is understandable.)

Now those were the instructions I gave, but, as most plans do, these plans changed, particularly when we got to numbers 5 and 6.  Number 5 became an issue for students who either didn’t want to or couldn’t download another app on their machine for whatever reason or students. Vine crashed on 2 of the 23 students involved during the process. This issue was easily solved by reverting to the built-in iPad camera and then students just emailed me their videos. The only challenge with that was that the students had to make sure that they remained under 7 seconds.

Once students realized that in order to tweet me their vine link, their video would be showing up in their own Twitter feeds, some were reluctant to tweet. This is where we hit the first snag with number 6. One student even said, “If I send this to you, YOU can post it, but I don’t want to post it to my followers.” In response, I offered the email option to ALL students, even Vine users. (If you allow Vine access to your photos, it will store all of your Vine videos in your iPad’s camera roll.) A secondary snag for number 6 came into play when I realized I could no longer embed the students’ videos into a tweet as a vine, so I had to upload the emailed vines to another video sharing service. (It would be nice if Vine added an email option.) I chose Vimeo.

Once the videos processed, I tweeted the links to them, tagging each tweet with our classroom hashtag. (This makes it easier when I send information to parents who want to see what’s going on in class.) The problem with this, I found out after I had posted a handful of tweets with Vimeo links is that even though they appear to embed within the tweet, unless you are a paid Vimeo Plus member, they do not embed. This is annoying because, as I previously mentioned, they APPEARED to embed and they showed up on my profile with a thumbnail view of each video, but when one clicks on the tweet itself, a message appears stating, “Sorry. The creator of this video has not given you permission to embed it on this domain. This is a Vimeo Plus feature.” If I had known this prior to going through the process of uploading a slew of videos to Vimeo, I would’ve gone the Youtube route. LESSON LEARNED.  This was only a minor annoyance though. People who find themselves staring at my tweets promoting my students’ work can still click on the link itself and will be redirected to the Vimeo site where they can watch the video hassle-free. No bigs.

Since Vine was a new app to most of the students, some of our time was spent exploring Vine’s offerings, which includes looking through the videos housed in Vine’s collection. (It is a video sharing service, so there are countless videos available for perusal. Some redirecting was necessary. The “hold and shoot” feature is different than the usual “click and record” function of the iPad camera, so this took some getting used to as well.  To some, this might feel like time wasted, but I view it as “frontloading”. What I mean by that is, it’s time spent wearing the newness off the app in addition to learning how to use it.  In the long run, it’ll actually save us time because I won’t have to deal with (as much) covert video-watching, or (as much) explanation of the app’s features.

The resulting videos were overall fun and demonstrated a playful attitude towards Shakespeare’s difficult language. What follows are a couple of examples.

This one is posted on Vine, while the other ones are posted on Vimeo.

Kyle as Multiple Witches from Jodie Morgenson on Vimeo.

Michelle as a Weird Sister from Macbeth from Jodie Morgenson on Vimeo.

Payton as Macduff AND Lady Macbeth from Jodie Morgenson on Vimeo.

Emily as Lady Macbeth from Jodie Morgenson on Vimeo.

 

Posted on by morgetron | 10 comments

Want to make a kid’s day? Comment on his or her blog post. #comments4kids

A while back, William Chamberlain, a teacher from Noel, MO started the #comments4kids backchannel, which was devised for students and their teachers to promote their blog posts and garner eyeballs! (He wrote a blog post about it back in 2009 when he first planted the seed.) We’ve been using that hashtag for a couple of weeks now and it’s working! I’m glad I asked William about this concept because he pointed me in the direction of the aforementioned blog post and he told me about this resource –> COMMENTS4KIDS, which has many other resources for teachers/students seeking comments for student blogs. Also, I didn’t know that WEDNESDAY is the official #comments4kids day on Twitter, until I read his post. I’ve been using it indiscriminately … on all sorts of days of the week … and probably will continue to do so, because it seems that folks do check that backchannel on other days too because … like I said: It’s been working! (My Twitter followers have been helping too. THANKS DOOOoooOOooOods!)

Want to make a kid’s day? Comment on his or her blog post. If you have the time AND the *positive* energy to share, please consider visiting one of the following blogs to post some constructive comments of either encouragement or dialogue extension for my students.

Keaton D. * The love of my life, softball *http://conlitkd.edublogs.org/
“You’ve been gripping the ball this whole time.. To find out it was the other way around.”

Danny C. * contemporary literature blog * http://conlitdc.edublogs.org/
“Sponsored by Crosgrove Industries… Do NOT look us up”

Xiola K. * Passion Fashion Blog * http://phsapengxk.edublogs.org/
“fashion you can use”

Destiney H. * Tattoo Blog * http://phsapengdh.edublogs.org/
“all about tattoos”

Shelby T. * Seeing Red * http://phsapengst.edublogs.org/
“A young redheaded woman’s view on heated topics and government”

Kody S. * Kody’s Food Blog* http://kodysfoodblog.edublogs.org/
“food, food, and more food”

Truman S. * Aliens * http://conlitts.edublogs.org/
“What? Who? Where? Why?: Aliens”

Camden P. * Basketball Blog * http://conlitcp.edublogs.org/
“blog about all levels of basketball”

Nicole C. * Don’t worry. Be happy. * http://phsapengnc.edublogs.org/
“everything that makes me happy”

Jessica B. * Bitter Blonde * http://phsapengjb.edublogs.org/
“my pet peeves”

Megan I. * Pinterest Tutorials * http://phsapengmi.edublogs.org/
“seeing which/how Pinterest tutorials work”

Kylie M. * Important Problems * http://phsapengkm.edublogs.org/
“anything that I feel is important to discuss”

James E. * Farming * http://conlitje.edublogs.org/
“the farming life”

 

Posted on by morgetron | Leave a comment