Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas, & Blog Articles
Wow. There was a lot to take in in this group of articles. I must admit, the idea of a comprehensive Social Studies unit that isn’t straight out of a text book and allows students to explore both fictional and nonfictional sources is very exciting. As I said about the trade book unit idea last week, I can see how this is a much more effective and learner centered way of accomplishing curriculum. If done well, as I hope to do, this way of learning, along with the blogging aspect that goes with it should produce a far superior understanding in classroom students. It allows, very easily, for individual learning style and developmental differentiation. It has something for every learner. Those are all of the wonderful, exciting points I gathered from the articles.
Now for the flip side. Granted, I am currently encased in a thick fog of sinus infection confusion, but there was a lot to take in. I am not very adept at discerning the true process of anything complicated in the slightest from an article. It is one of my limitations that I must accept. Therefore, I am excited to see in class tomorrow what this is really all about. I think I understand all the elements: the various books, notebook, blog, and research elements. I just need a little clarification on how they all work. The articles were very good and spoke very plainly but my ability to take a written thought and see it in action is a little lacking. I feel I have a general gist, I just want confirmation that that gist is correct! I feel like I have a thorough background knowledge about the process and theory.
I am loving this Blogging idea more and more…I feel it is superior to a website and is perfect for classroom needs! I love having a place where students can share their ideas, post links and info they’ve found, as well as have a teacher provided blogroll that can help guide them.
I am really looking forward to seeing how this pirate unit plays out. I’m hooked now! I’ve spent the greater part of this afternoon setting up my “Delicious” account and decorating my pirate notebook! Can’t wait to see exactly how I use them!
P.S.- Those sites provided in the bloging article were incredible! I have added them all to my new Delicious set-up. Thank you for providing us with wonderful sources to begin our units with!
Shape Poem Generator
I was just playing around on the internet with all my free time 
and came across this site to help kids create shape poems if they aren’t artistic (like me!) You can print the poem when you’re done, but I couldn’t copy and paste it…still…awesome!
ReadWriteThink Shape Poem Generator
Here’s another one…still not perfect, but a start…you have to register here, but it’s free.
“Integrating Instructional Level Social Studies Trade Books…”
Last semester, Shari Lynn Smiley introduced us to the concept of instructional level books. I suppose that I had had some concept of them before, that, but that was the first time I really thought about their importance and how helpful they could be in the classroom. The very next thought that hit me was, “Wow, that many different books going on could be really confusing and a lot of work for me!” I know that that’s a horrible attitude to take, but there it is. Kids read at different rates, and if reading on their instructional level can move through books relatively quickly. That means I’d be constantly changing and trying to keep up with who’s reading what and are they ready to move forward a level.
I’ve got to say, this concept of the grouped instructional books with a common Social Studies theme is really exciting to me! With a common theme, like our “Pirates” theme, students don’t notice who’s reading the thicker books, they only see that they each get to explore the theme and each group has content they can present and be confident with. I am really blown away by this…I want to do all of my novel reading units this way! If I could find enough good literature (and thanks to the article I now have a guide!) I’d just create theme after theme to keep it fresh, exciting, and to keep the instructional levels easier to deal with! Theme instructional level books feels non-threatening and do-able to me.
I saved this article in my files at home because it really spells out all of the issues I know i’ll need help with when I go back to try to do this. As a student, I just can’t take everything in at once, but articles like this and the “Hot Blogging” article are nice because I can save and go back to them, when i’m ready to start implementing!
I REALLY want to be a good reading teacher…reading is why I want to be a teacher. I want children to love literature. I want to give them that skill, but even more than that, I want to give them the gift of escape and wonder that only reading can provide. I love movies, trust me, more than I can say, but there’s something about the physical process of reading that is satisfying to the soul. I want my students to have that and these strategies are really going to help me with that effort! I’m so thankful!
P.S.- On a more personal note, I’ve noticed as a student that often times I hate the books i’m assigned to read when I start them. Maybe it’s because I didn’t like the topic, but more likely it’s the sheer stubbornness of my character that says “if you tell me to read it, I’ll hate it on principal!” 3 times in the last year I’ve been asked to read books that I hated at the beginning (“Peter and the Starcatchers” being one, I’ll admit, “Al Capone Does My Shirts” being another…). But at some point, I’m never really sure when, I grow to love them without knowing it! It’s like magic! I’ve learned that I don’t always know what I’ll like…I assume I’ve figured out the “kinds” of books i’ll enjoy, then I read a book so far out of that mold and it takes a while to see that you can enjoy more than your “box”. I want to carry this experience to my students. I know they won’t always want to read what I tell them to, when I tell them to, but, if I do my job (the way our teachers obviously have) and pick literature that is good, I know they’ll find the magic in them that I do!
Quotes I “Borrowed” From Leslie :)
“Lean forward into your life. Begin each day as if it were on purpose.”
– Mary Anne Radmachern
Made me laugh and think at the same time…got to love that!
“May the sun bring you new energy by day. May the moon softly restore you by night. May the rain wash away your worries. May the breeze blow new strength into your being. May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life
- Apache Blessing
“Things are only impossible until they’re not.”
– Jean-Luc Picard
Borrowed this from Dr. Calvert’s Facebook page!
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
– Stephen R. Covey
Borrowed from Meredith’s Blog!
History of My Name
My name is Amanda Leigh Phifer.
The name Amanda means “lovable or worthy of love”. I think that’s a lovely meaning for a name, even if I don’t particularly like my name because it doesn’t sound graceful and everybody and their brother is named it. My mom said she named me Amanda because she liked the name, nothing grand or exciting, just a connection. Amanda is used in England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavian Countries, and Portugal, which is kind of amazing! I had no idea how many Amanda’s there were roaming about the world! Another interesting thing I learned is that it is the feminine form of Amandus…I’d never even heard that name before, let alone known I had a counterpart! Colley Cibber (whom I don’t know) named a character in his play “Love’s Last Shift” Amanda. Only once in my life (that I can remember) I have been the only Amanda in a class, and that was this summer!
My middle name, Leigh, means “Meadow” (like the Sopranos!) and is a feminine form of Lee. Again, my mother just liked Leigh with Amanda. Strangely enough, many of the Amanda’s I’ve known have had the middle name Leigh!
My last name, Phifer, is of Swiss and German descent. My mother’s maiden name was Huffman, which is also German. For many generations on both sides my families are German, which isn’t unusual for families that settled in this region.
There are only 12 people in the United States with the name “Amanda Phifer”. There are 620, 834 “Amanda’s” and 6, 124 “Phifer’s” but only 12 just like me!
Some nicknames I’ve had (the ones I can remember-I have a terrible memory!) are…
- Manda (just slightly shorter than my real name…probably came out of laziness! My friends, mother, and sister often call me this)
- Mander (southern form of Manda- High school best friend called me this)
- Panda (rhymes with Amanda- mostly high school friends)
- Pander (Mander+ Panda- my high school best friend- until we were in senior English and realized it meant to cater to lower class individuals and prostitute one’s self- never felt the same about the term again!)
- Priscilla, Drusilla, and Twyla (I was/am very prissy in some ways- don’t know about Drusilla other than it rhymes- have NO IDEA about Twyla- all of these are my mother’s nicknames for me)
- Turtle/ Big Turtle (my sister and I were watching “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” and Gene’s wife calls her sister “Turtle”- we liked it and adopted it)
- Blond Amanda (had a teacher who wouldn’t take the time to learn the difference between myself and Amanda Scoggins, so she referred to me as “Blond Amanda”- which I’m clearly not!)
- A-Man-Duh! (the brilliance that comes from elementary aged boys mouths- probably meant as an insult or to be clever but I always took it as a sign of mental softness!)
Poetry Readings
Poetry is tough for me…I don’t like to analyze writing. I feel like the emotion should be there or it isn’t. I usually don’t “get” poems. When a poem makes sense to me, I love reading it, and poems can create emotion quicker and better than any other form of writing. But when poems are obtuse, I just feel obstinate. I guess that will give me a good point of view as a teacher. I really liked the poems “Prayer”, “They”, and “Pretty Little Black Girl” from Brown Angels by Walter Dean Meyers.
Reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech was tough for me because I knew the dog was going to die. I’m really sensitive to animal death and cruelty and I had to stop when I got to that poem. It was days before I could finish and I know my heart was no longer in it. I could never read it aloud, I could barely read it to myself. Obviously the book was successful because it made me feel (much more than I would have liked). The book built beautifully and I would enjoy using the writer/poem specific poems with my class as we study the mentioned poetry. It would let them know their not alone in their feelings.
I liked the poetry in all the small poems and fourteen more by Valerie Worth but I don’t understand their patterns or rules. I liked “raw carrots” and “dog” the best. I think i’m one of those people who needs a guide like rhyming words, syllables, something to help me construct a poem…otherwise it doesn’t seem like a poem to me. WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES WORDS A POEM?
I understand now that poetry is a celebration of language with vivid images and word music. Poetry should evoke emotion, no matter what form it takes. I need to give my students the experience of having time with every kind of poetry because…what doesn’t resonate with me, may resonate greatly with my students.
Writer’s Notebook
- What are your overall impressions of the book?
This author/teacher sounds like she has a very similar sensibility when it comes to students and writing as I do…although, it’s not always as easy to walk the walk! The book itself is pleasantly easy to read. I feel as though Buckner is having a conversation with me, rather than preaching at me what I need to do. From what I’ve seen so far, I’m excited to keep reading, not only to see how to help my students become great writers, but to see how to improve my own writing.
- What is the purpose of a Writer’s Notebook?
The purpose of a Writer’s Notebook is to have a place to collect and store a person’s writing, hints, thoughts, and technical information about the writing process. It is a very flexible medium that can be molded at the teacher or students discretion into a very personal and successful tool for writing and reading. Put simply, it’s a place to write, whatever, and keep it safe so your ability can grow and flourish.
- What might be your goals as a teacher of writing?
As a teacher of writing, my first goal is to show all students that writing (real writing, not copying down answers) is important and accessible to everyone. I want to increase my student’s self esteem as a writer and a thinker. I want to give my students just enough tools and guidance so that they can give some structure to their thoughts, but I also want to leave enough wiggle room to allow for imagination and creativity.
- Launching the Notebook?
In the books, several strategies, including the “History of a name” strategy, were given in order to help student who struggle with how to begin. I look forward to using some of these strategies myself as I am finding myself disappointed in my lack of ability to record interesting and creative thoughts in my current writer’s notebook. Free Writing has always been difficult for me; I’m a research paper kind of girl! That said, it’s all the more reason I welcome the personal challenge of a Writer’s Notebook. I’ve tried many times (unsuccessfully) to write in a journal. I always got disappointed with my lack of groundbreaking writing, got bored, and quit. This journey will give me a good insight into my student’s feelings on this subject, as well as hopefully improve my ability to write creatively.
- Organization of the Notebook?
According to our author, organization can be determined by the teacher or student. Thus far, I’m of the “less is more” opinion; the less I shape these notebooks, the better it is for my students. Personally, I’m writing on the fronts of each page, dating each entry, and will go back to the backs of the pages once I’ve filled the notebook.
For the Overwhelmed Block II Student…
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.”
– George S. Patton
“Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it.”
– Horace
“A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.”
– English Proverb
“What was hard to bear is sweet to remember.”
– Portuguese Proverb
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
“The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist, the opportunity in every difficulty.”
– L.P. Jacks
“The true way to soften one’s troubles is to solace those of others.”
– Madame De Maintenon
We're almost there!
Welcome to my Blog!
This is my first attempt at a Blog, and I must admit, i’m VERY EXCITED! I’m really looking forward to exploring this medium and learning how to best use it in order to benefit my future students. One of the very best parts about being a student now is learning all of the new and exciting technology that we have axcess to- much of it free. As we move into the professional world of teaching, it will be harder to hear about all of these exciting changes (although i’m sure we’ll have someone in our school who helps us keep up!). My plan is to take advantage of these chances at learning now, so that I can have every advantage possible for myself and my students…here I go!
