Academy Awards

I know this post is a little late by about three days, but who all watched the Academy Awards? I know I did! I love the Oscars! I am a HUGE film fan and always try to see the movies nominated for best picture. I was very excited to see Slum Dog Millionaire win Best Picture; it definitely deserved it. The story line was beautiful and definitely enlightened me about life in the slums of India. Also, I think Kate Winslet deserved to win Best Actress. Her work is always so deep and makes the viewer think further into her character. You can tell she is extremely talented, and after five nominations, she deserved this! I never saw Milk, but after seeing clips and watching Sean Penn win the Oscar, I plan to see it soon. He is also talented because he went from playing a person with mental retardation, to a father whose daughter was killed, and now to a gay man. Go Kate and Sean!

I think the Academy Awards are a great form of multi-modal literature because they show everyone, including students, how that original piece of writing, the script, can lead into this amazing work of art that can win awards at this incredibly famous awards ceremony. I think it is important for students and teachers to keep up with movies and Academy Awards because it honors talented work. I love the movie business, and though it can be a bit much and not stick to the original book fully, it is still interesting to see the Director's vision of the work. Imagining the text one reads is one thing, but then creating an entire film about it is a complete other thing. It must be extremely difficult to envision these words on a page and make them into this sight on the screen. Film is an amazing work of art and I am extremely grateful to be able to live in a generation with such amazing films. Now that I'm on a tangent about film, I'll bring it back to my original topic: the Academy Awards. The Oscars are a night of glitz and glamor that honor these truly talented people, and students and teachers should keep up with this business. I only wish I was talented enough to win an Oscar! (Maybe in my dreams!).

Multi Genre Autobiography

Creating this multi genre autobiography really made me realize how much these multi-modal literatures have affected my life. It was quite enjoyable remembering my past and finding out what had an impact on me. It definitely helped me realize how much these forms of literature were present in my life. This would be an awesome assignment to do with high school students toward the beginning of the semester because it could help them realize that these popular forms of multi-modal literature are actually English class, in a way. I would then explain to them how I would like to incorporate these various forms into our English class, making it more exciting for the students.

After enjoying everyone's presentations on Monday, I realized how much we all have in common. Many of us listed Dr. Seuss books as our favorites when we were little. In addition, almost everyone had some Nickelodeon show listed. It was as though Nickelodeon and Disney took over our lives as children. (For those of us who had cable, of course). I also enjoyed learning so much about each classmate and felt as though I could bond with them because of our similarities. In fact, many of us shouted in excitement when another peer had the same interest. This factor makes the multi genre assignment that much more positive to use in a high school setting. Not only would the students see the impact these forms have on them, but they would also learn more about their peers, assisting in creating community in the classroom. Overall, I definitely plan to use this assignment in the future!

Technology is...distracting

Thinking about what to blog about took me a long time. What do I find important enough for others to openly read about me? This whole bl0g thing scared me a bit because I do not like the idea of having myself open to other people on the internet. In addition, technology and I do not get along. I know this is sad because as my parents tell me I'm supposed to come from the technology generation. Well, yes, I know how to use technology and will use it if need be, but when it comes to writing papers, all I do is stare at the screen. I cannot get anything productive done with a computer screen in front of me. For that reason, I ended up hand writing this blog before typing it. There are entirely too many distractions with a computer in front of me, which I am sure my future students may experience as well.

The internet is like a hyped-up person with A.D.H.D. One link leads you here and then another there and that one's boring, so I'm going to click this one, and wow look at that! I am sure you get the point and have experienced it at some time. I guess that is why I made links out of each of those, so that you can see what distracts me on the internet. (I created the links after hand writing this and then typing it. I actually got distracted creating the links). Technology in general is full of distractions, so I can completely understand why students would rather play simulation games, watch television, or surf the internet than read the classic novel I will assign in class. Being that I myself am distracted by such things, even though I am horrible at them, I want to somehow incorporate these multi-modal literacies into my classroom. This way my students can get more out of my class rather than just being bored. Altogether, I am excited for this class and definitely plan to utilize what I learn in my own classroom!