I-Movie Project

As stressful as it was, the I-Movie project was so much fun!
I was fortunate enough to work with four lovely ladies: Amy, Sarah, Maria, and Carrie.

We read the book "The Freedom Writer's Diary". A compilation of journal entries from Erin Gruwell's english class at Woodrow Wilson High in Long Beach, California. The diaries talked about personal accounts in student's lives, and also about what was going on in the class at that time. This is a true story, which made the book that much more interesting. It was also so exciting and sad to read about teenager's lives that are so very different from my own.

Our group spent a lot of time in the library classrooms on the second floor. I created a lot of chalk art, and we had a lot of brainstorming sessions. Ultimately we created our video in a "DVD special features" style. Specific questions, with different people from the book giving answers and opinions. It was a good way to combine everyone's opinions. The process of creating the movie was great, a lot of laughter, and a lot of outtakes.

Amy was generous enough to really do the most technical labor on the project, which I know we all appreciate. It was diffeicult to find times to get together. Expecially when we are all music ed majors, who need recital credits. :)

Overall, the project was a success.

Thanksgiving Conversations

Location: Applebees, Minneapolis, MN
Reason: Dinner before going to see the Broadway musical: "Wicked"

My family is known to have some pretty awesome conversations at the dinner table, for example:
-What does your belly button look like?
-How do we whistle the right pitch?
and so on...

Tonight, we got on to the topic of literacy in elementary schools. My oldest sister Angel, is a first grade teacher in Prior Lake, MN. She talked about how often parents mistake her suggested nightly reading. Many parents think they are supposed to be simply letting their kids read to them (so they will learn), and this can be quite the task for the kid and the parent. Parents are struggling to find appropriate age levels of books, and it has become a hassle.

We then realized what the key to literacy is. Read to your children! And they don't have to be little kid books either! We can read books that are beyond their reading level, but maybe not their comprehension level.

All four of my siblings started reading at a young age, and have all fallen in love with books, as adults. We owe it all to our father. He read chapter books to us. One chapter, every night, for years. He would even let us sit behind him so we could read along, and sometimes we even got assigned a character to read, whenever they had quotations. I know I am a better reader because of this experience. And I believe every child should have that opportunity.

CHALK...The Movie

For the past two Monday nights, we have been viewing the movie "Chalk".
It is set up like a documentary, following the teachers of a high school.

It was a comedy, and they did a great job with it. I laughed a lot because of the sarcasm. But the most funny and sad element about the movie was the reality of it all. Some teachers really don't want to be teachers, and don't know what they are doing. Some teachers only care about nagging on their co-workers. Most teachers talk behind each others backs, and many teachers buddy up with the kids just to look cool.

The movie reminded me that teachers are real people too. It also made me excited to be in a school, as a teacher and not a student. The dynamic levels are completely different and I think it will be a lot of fun to experience.

Luther Alum Teacher Panel

This past Monday night we had the pleasure of conversing with Luther Alumni who are now teachers in the "real world". There was a 5th grade teacher, high school choir teacher, and a elementary special education teacher. I really appreciated the fact that there was a music teacher in the mix, because I feel like we (as music educators) get forgotten at times.

It was refreshing to hear that not everything is perfect about the profession, but that all three of them are still motivated to continue. Their ideas get shot down a lot, you have to keep your energy up, and are always needing to meet state requirements and expectations.

The most interesting pieces I took from the conversation were their answers to the question:
"What do you wish you knew when you started, that you know now?"
Their answers were as follows:
-Ground work must be layed down first, before you can add emotion.
-Parent Communication is huge!
-Discipline should be building relationships with those students.
-Life affects students, and you have to be involved in that.

These pieces of advice also go hand in hand with what I have been taking to the book "The Freedom Writer's", where Erin Gruwell takes a courageous stand on education in her english classes.

From this panel, I am realizing the best way to learn to teach is to be taught, and to talk TO teachers.

School Board Representatives

Tonight we had the pleasure of listening to a discussion by two members of the Decorah school board. I never really knew what a school boards functions were, so it was very interesting. I learned they really only have two functions:(1)Create policies (2)Hire the superintendent. However this takes up a good amount of time and should not be looked down upon.

Many questions were asked regarding their views on the NCLB act, and their answers were fascinating. It was refreshing to finally hear some good things being said about the whole policy. They feel as though the Decorah school district has truly embraced NCLB and it has worked in many positive ways for the teachers and students. True, it makes things a little more costly, but in the end, they are evaluating and have a more solid ground to work from when creating policies and putting teachers into classrooms.

Jim brought up the rising concern of the United States falling behind in academics, compared to many eastern cultures. Immediatley I was annoyed. I hate bringing so much competition into education. However, I really enjoyed the response given. Eastern countries grow children to be academically sound, and that is about it. In the United States there is more focus on the student as a whole. We create more well-rounded people. Academics, social connections, and activities are all stressed as important, instead of only one main focus in academics.

All around, the discussion went very well, and kept my attention. It gave me hope for the schools I will soon be teaching in!

Debate on Education Proposal

Tonight we had a mock town meeting, discussing the opinions different groups in the community have on a new education proposal.

Each group stood and shared their arguments for or against the proposal. Let's just say: it got a little heated.

I appreciated the debate because it was nice to hear that many of my classmates agreed with how I feel about education. Generally, most of us disagreed with the proposal. I feel that teachers need to be accountable for what they are teaching, which means there must be some form of assessment given. However, the pressure should not be on the students, because there are so many variables to how each individual student will react.

I left the lecture feeling frustrated, not knowing what Knick and Langholz actually believe about the proposal. I guess at this point, it doesn't really matter what they believe because as an individual I've already chosen my beliefs.

Writers In Conversation

On Thursday (25th) night I listened in on the "Writers in Conversation" lecture with professors Amy Weldon and Rachel Faldet. Each professor shared excerpts from their own writing.

Amy read passages from her novel-in-progress, giving us character voices and plot development. She was very animated and seemed to really connect her own life to her characters. She re-visited memories from her life, and then based different scenes on those memories.

Rachel shared a finished work she had written about her camping experiences throughout her life. She quoted from old journals and used humor throughout the piece. She also read from a work-in-progress essay about her dead sister-in-law.

I personally enjoyed Rachel's memoir experiences and style of writing more than Amy's.

The two of them have worked together for the past 3(+/-) years, critiquing each others work, and talking out ideas. As they talked about how helpful having an encourager alongside their work was, I was reminded of how all our lives should be. We should always have someone, and encourager, a friend, standing alongside us. Then we can always be encouraged and pushed to go farther. We can have someone to bounce ideas off of.