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People still seem to visit these blogs I used to use, but I must admit I quit using Edublogs when

1. The service became unreliable
2. Ads began appearing as hyperlinks that disrupted the content and mislead readers.

I will not be back. I began using other tools, like wikis, to connect students together, and found it much more reliable and affordable.

One of my favorite passages in all of literature is Puck’s speech at the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After he has caused all the mischief that and conflict that drove the play, he apologizes to the audience–sort of. Actually, he suggests how the audience should think of all the things that have just occurred if they happen to be offensive or disturbing — think of them as a dream. And since Puck is a fairy, he could then fix all the offenses, eventually.

At the end of a year, after you have been subjected to the antics, the odd projects, the technology, and the exercises that I call my teaching, I often feel I need to deliver just this speech. I am convinced many of you enjoyed your experiences in this classroom; if you didn’t enjoy me, I can see you enjoyed each other. But even if you have not enjoyed your experience with me, I offer my hands to you and at least suggest this: you’ll get another teacher, and eventually, this will all seem like a dream. In that vein I adopt Puck’s words as my own:

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend
…
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

That said, I’d like you to take 30 minutes and to write me a letter of reflection on your year. I will set no word length if you will discipline yourself to write earnestly for the entire half hour (Please do not count the time it takes to log in to your blog). You are writing to me, but this does not need to be about me. While I am interested in what your thoughts are concerning English, I am also interested in your broader reaction to your year. That means for many of the thoughts, you might share your experience in English but then broaden the thought to include your whole life.

I list these questions to help you get going. You need not work down them like a checklist, but you are welcome to do so if you don’t want to think about it.

• What have you learned?
• How have you changed?
• What has influenced you?
• What will you remember when you think back on this year?
• What did you enjoy about class?
• What did you find most challenging?
• What did you learn about yourself as a student this year?
• What lesson was most important to remember for the future?
• What is the story of your year? (You might consider telling me the story of your year and include the landmark events that summarize the whole.)

You may write this at home or during your final exam block, but please make sure it is posted to your blog.

React, respond, and share your best thoughts about A Separate Peace. Write 300 words, minimum. This is a personal reflection, which means I want to know what YOU think and how YOU react to what we read.

For help knowing what to write about, use the Study Guide you helped create as we read. Look particularly at the list of themes to know what the book was “about.”

The first assignment for you to complete as you read A Separate Peace is to predict what you think will happen. In one sense, predicting is an easy thing to do, since it’s hard to be criticized for being wrong when you’re trying to predict the future. Who among us can predict the future with confidence?

In another sense, though, it’s not that easy, because you want to predict well, to make logical sense; you want to predict the future based on what you know from the present, not separate from it. If a weatherman came on TV and told us it was going to be 98 degrees tomorrow (Jan. 30), we wouldn’t believe him unless he could explain what he’s seeing in the present that makes him think it will be so hot. Or, to jump into the sports world, if an ESPN analyst were to predict that BHSU is going to win the NCAA Tournament in March, we’d think he was a loony who should be fired, because his prediction ignores the current information that suggests otherwise.

All that said, how do you make your predictions legitimate, and how do you stretch them out to 250 words? The key is to base your predictions off what you know so far. You’ve read three chapters of the book, so explain what you know, and then project from there.

There are two basic ways to organize your article. One is to say, “These are some key things that have happened so far” and list them. Then, having said those things, you transition to a batch of predictions: “Having said those things, this is therefore what I think will happen.”

Another way to organize this article is to explain and predict one element at a time. This would be like saying, “Here is one detail I’ve read so far, and here is what I predict will happen, given that detail.” From there, you move to the next detail, and so on: “Here is another detail I’ve read, and what I think will occur based on that detail.”

Still having trouble understanding how to arrange it? Maybe this diagram of those two ways of writing will help you.

One important tip I want to mention is that you do not want to over explain what you know and end up summarizing everything you’ve read for us. That’s boring for us to read, because we read the same thing and are well aware of what happened. The point of your article is to predict, not summarize. I would think that around half your article should be devoted to predictions and not explanation of plot events that have happened.

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Attribution:

Original image: ‘And We Have A Fast Moving Front Of Funky Grooves Approaching The East Coast…‘ by: Alex Erde

Original image: ‘let-me-out!‘ by: Esther Simpson

A Teacher Talk podcast for my students wondering if they have yet experienced the odd feeling of looking back at your life and seeing something in the past that you didn’t see when it was the present.

Teacher Talk 5

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Image Attribution:
Original image: ‘untitled‘ by: Ibon

Another edition of Teacher Talk, wondering where some of my students’ motivation goes.

Where has your motivation gone?

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Image Attribution:
Original image: ‘Peter Extends His Hand‘ by: DoubleSpeak

Another weekly podcast, this time lending an open metaphor. I invite you to lend me the other end of it . . .

• Teacher Talk 3

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Attribution:

Original image: ‘The Silvas’ Christmas Tree I‘ by: Anderson Silva

Music: Kcentric’s Roaches (Keep It Down) By: Abhi S.V. Retrieved on November 30, 2007

Another weekly podcast, this time wondering about expectations.

• Weekly Gab 2

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Attribution:

Original image: ‘Elements of Light‘ by: Fort Photo

Music: Kcentric’s Roaches (Keep It Down) By: Abhi S.V. Retrieved from: http://ccmixter.org/media/files/abhisv/12675 on November 30, 2007

I’ve begun a weekly podcast just to touch base with all my students. You don’t have to listen to these, but I thought it would be nice to share some of the thinking I have while working with you through the week, as well as give you the chance to respond. If you feel like commenting, comment here or write on your own blog and link back to this one.

This week’s audio quality is a bit low, but it keeps the file size small. I’ll make it a bit better next week.

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Attribution:

Music: Kcentric’s Roaches (Keep It Down) By: Abhi S.V.
Retrieved from: http://ccmixter.org/media/files/abhisv/12675 on November 30, 2007

Original image: ‘Fragile‘ By: Patrícia Soransso Retrieved from: ww.flickr.com/photos/40088472@N00/415094676 on November 30, 2007

Believe it or not, we’ve almost finished the book. For this blog article, I’d like you to write a two part entry. The first part looks back to what you’ve read and done during the past two chapters, and the second part looks back further to consider the themes you think are most important. That second part is meant to be a preparation for your final project, which you’ll begin in earnest next class.

Part 1

During chapters 5 & 6 you were tracking your thinking with a thinkmark. What I’d like to hear is a description of what you have been thinking as you read.

1. Explain to an audience where your mind goes and what kinds of connections you are making while interacting with the book.
2. Feel free to quote from your thinkmark and connect it specifically to the work.
3. Make this part somewhere between 7 and 10 sentences long.

Part 2

For the second part, I want you to think again about themes. Feel free to examine the list of themes the class developed last time and consider which one is most intriguing to you. You do not have to consider the theme that is the most prominent – you can explore something more subtle if you’d like.

1. For this blog article, tell us what theme you are most interested in exploring for your final project and why you’re leaning towards that theme.
2. Then, also explain how that theme plays a role in the book.
3. If you have a line that stands out to you as having to do with that theme, write it down in this blog article.
4. This section of the article should be 5-7 sentences long.

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