It's Friday!!!

Updates:

• Vocabulary quiz postponed until Tuesday because of Jewish holiday travel and the football game in Florence.
• Revisions for the college essay are due into Turnitin.com by Sunday night at midnight. Be sure to consult my school website under 1st Nine Weeks Essay Links.

Since traveling is on my mind (I will be going to Mississippi to visit my mom this afternoon), this post deals with travel. Describe for me a memorable road trip. We will be discussing the Hero's Journey next week. Tell about a journey you took that is burned (for a good or bad reason) into your memory forever.

Your personal archetypes

Can you identify with any of the archetypes we are studying? Give some examples of archetypes that exist in your life. Of course, as Jung says, you may not be concious of these... but let's try!

Collective Unconcious

Jung believed that we all contribute to the collective unconcious. Here are some quotes from Carl Jung:

We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.
Carl Jung
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.
Carl Jung, "Memories, Dreams, Reflections", 1962
The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.
Carl Jung, "Modern Man in Search of a Soul"
(www.quoteland.com)

Jung used the following method to interpret dreams:

In order to interpret a dream, Jung used the process of amplification. In essence, amplification involves elaborating on a dream image in order to determine its significance through direct and indirect association. This is achieved by gaining an insight into the dreamer's:

(1) personal associations with the image (direct association). In order to discover the feelings evoked by a particular dream image or symbol. The meaning and significance of a particular word or image can vary greatly between individuals depending on the effect it has had on his/her life.
(2) The cultural significance of the image,
(3) as well as drawing parallels from the symbolism contained in folklore, history, fairytales, religion, mythology, rituals etc (archetypes).
(http://www.kevinwilson.info/dream/jung.php)

So here is the big question. Have you ever had a weird dream that you are willing to share (change the names to protect the innocent)? Write a summary of it and consult this online dream interpretation site to see if you can then interpret your dream. Come on... it will be fun!

Moving on

Well, we have passed the hump and are moving on towards the latter half of the first nine weeks. Don't forget some important deadlines:

Narrative 2nd draft due tomorrow!!!!
Revisions of College essay due Sunday by midnight!!!

Here is your question for today-
Who is your hero? Do you have one? Do you believe in heroes? What movies or TV shows have you seen that exemplify heroic characters?

The South

Since we are suppose to "Change the Channel on Hoover" over to CMT (no more MTV!), I want your thoughts. The South is associated with several stereotypes such as country music, rednecks, fried food, and mud ridin'.

What is your favorite thing about living in the South? Explain your answer and give specifics.

The Narrative Essay Evolves

So today we did Peer Response Groups. This is the first time I have assigned this type of narrative essay and the first time I have used groups for peer response.

• How did you think it went?
• Were the responses helpful, vague, a little of both?
• What did you learn about your essay?
• Has this assignment gotten any better since your first FREAK OUT about its challenging nature and impossible task?

What do you need further instruction with in order to complete your next draft?

Thoughts on ending The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

As you wrap up reading our outside novel (reading quiz Thursday on the rest of the book), many topics come into question. Christopher is a unique character with unique abilities. Think about him as you read the following topics. Respond to one, explain your position, and explain how it relates to Christopher and how it relates to life in general.

1. There is no such thing as normal when it comes to human beings.
2. White lies are aas immoral as outright lies.
3. It is always wrong for parents to seperate.
4. Violence can be a reasonable response to an unreasonable situation.

Vocabulary

Impress me with your skills with vocabulary. Articulate a short paragraph using as many of Unit 3's vocabulary words as you can. It is imperitive that they are used correctly and in a unique way. A feckless response may be easier, but it is likely to make me distraught The CLASS with the best posts will get a special "snack" one day in class.

You will have this week to comment with your best reply and then we will have a vote next week. (Tip: Practice it in Word and copy/paste)

Yawn

So I am sitting in a hotel room in North Carolina at 1 AM and blogging. That is dedication. Thanks for all of the great comments from yesterday. Keep it up.

Here is the real question. You have a very tough assignment ahead of you with this narrative essay. What are your concerns? What is the toughest part of the assignment? What do you need further explanation to do? Have you started drafting yet? Also, if you find any good examples of narratives told in a voice other than the authors, add the link here.

Have a great weekend.

Lessons in life

Your narrative has to have a point, a reason for telling the story. Call it a moral, a theme, or a lesson. You have all heard these all of your life. Maybe they were considered cliche's or adages, but they are still good advice today. Give us your best lesson in a phrase or sentence. Explain it. Yes, this only requires a small amount of writing. Jump on it 7th period!

ex. Pretty is as pretty does.

This was something my mom would tell me when I was jealous or angry about some mean girl getting all of the boys. Mom explained that actions make someone beautiful. I did not agree at the time, but eventually people mature and mom was right.

Great characters in literature

As we explore creating a character, I want you to think about characters that you remember in great detail. I would love to limit it just to literature, but I know many of you are movie buffs and will relate better to a movie character.

Choose a character, list at least 3 character traits of that person and explain why this character is a memorable character. Be sure to tell what book or movie they are from. Finally, explain what their voice says about them. How would you describe their voice/tone/mood?

Also, remember this is not a competition to see who can be the corniest- ex. Stiffler from American Pie because he is.... (C'mon, please be a little deeper than that!)

Voice

In all works of art there is a voice. Music, art, literature all speak to their audiences. Find a song that you feel speaks with a well-defined voice. List your favorite (NOT THE ENTIRE SONG) lyrics of that song as a comment. What is the voice you hear?

ex.
"Its fragile", she says to me.The hair in her eyes, she removes it smiling.There's a wound that I know this song could mend,A step in time for us will never end.

Oh, I'm waiting for the breakdown.Well nothing feels good being under the gun.Oh, I'm waiting for the breakdown.Is it ever gonna come?

Mae "The Breakdown"

Voice is that of a guy who has been hurt before and is waiting for the other shoe to drop in the relationship.

One more thing...

Here is a link to my web page which contains links to the two articles you read today as well as links to information about autism and the author of the book.

http://mtnbrook.in10sity.net/cms/Literature+Links/1715.html

Deadlines and Picking up the Pace

Well, we are officially past the hump! Labor Day is behind us. Progress reports will be coming out soon (yikes). The prewriting is all done. Here are some upcoming deadlines:

1. College Essay- due tomorrow. Turn in the following: rubric, final draft, rough draft, self-editing sheet, peer review, introduction draft, freewriting/webbing, life timeline.

2. Curious Incident quiz on Wednesday. Read through chapter 181.

3. Narrative Essay work- research an exceptionality and develop a character. Character sketch due Friday.

4. College Essay draft will be returned (hopefully) by Monday 9/18. Final revision draft will be due by that Friday.

So, what do you know about a narrative essay? What do you think are some of the important characteristics of this type of essay? What kind of essay (since we have one more this nine weeks) would you like to write after the narrative? Any preferences and why?

Prepare for our guest

Next week we will have a special guest in our class. Read this post about Charlie's school experience. Imagine your first days of school in a new place with a new teacher. Can you explain how you felt and reflect on how Charlie's feelings relate to you?

http://autismland.com

Off to a great start

We are off to a great start with the blog. We are only two weeks into it, and we have already made a ton of connections.

I have a challenge:

Find two websites about autism and exceptionalities associated with it. Put the links in your comments and eventually we will add them to the class wiki.

Have a great weekend. (This post will count for next week if you choose to do it)

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and opinions regarding podcasts and cross country blogging. Special thanks to Ian, Guerry, and Jason for taking the time to comment on the Colorado blog.

Great job this week with your comments in general. I hope that you will visit this site and make it a habit. I know it's not Facebook, but it is a great way to keep up and communicate cross classes and globally.

Speaking of Facebook... If you follow this phenomenon, you probably have noticed the new addition to it. I briefly showed you a service called Bloglines that collects "feeds" from your favorite blogs and news sites. These feeds allow me to see each time a site has added a new feature or has posted a new article or blog post. Facebook, in its wisdom, adopted this feed idea. It is not being met with great reviews. Read this article and respond. Whether you have Facebook or not, you can give your opinion.

Global audience

I am considering doing some cross-country blogging with another senior class in Denver, Colorado. Check out their blog and see what you think about the way they are using it. Would this be helpful to you? Feel free to post some INTELLIGENT, MATURE comments on their blog posts as well.

How could we use this? What would make this experience useful, engaging, and relevant to you this year?

http://smithewl.blogspot.com

Autism

In order to understand the character of Christopher in the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I want you to look at a couple of resources. Comment on them and give your thoughts or reactions to the information here. One resource is a short three minute video. Choose LOW bandwidth and use headphones if viewing at school.

Autism Diagnosis on the Rise
NBC Nightly News; Minutes: 3:13
Low | Medium | High

A blog by a mother of an autistic child. Choose two posts under "favorite posts" to read.

Guidelines for Safe and Responsible Blogging

1. Please, no last names, school names or addresses. This is a class site. This is no place for personal information.

2. Do not link to your personal blog/journal from your school blog; you might reveal information on there that you don't want to reveal on your school blog. Also, only link to sites that you have evaluated and are willing to stand behind the content of the site.

3. If you want to write your opinion on a topic, make sure you are critical of the idea and not of the author.

4. Always make sure you check over your post for spelling errors, grammar errors, and your use of words.

5. Never disrespect someone else in your blog, whether it's a person, an organization, or just a general idea. You don't want someone making a stab at what you are passionate about; don't do it to someone else.

6. Don't write about other people without permission.

7. Watch your language! We're not at home, we are at school, consider this just like a class assignment you would turn in. Keep it professional looking.

8. Make sure things you write about are factual. Don't be posting about things that aren't true.

9. Keep it education-oriented. That means that you probably shouldn't discuss your plans for the weekend.

Compliments of Bud the Teacher's students and YOU!

Vocabulary Helper

This week we have a vocabulary quiz on unit 2. I was considering having a podcast for each unit of words. A podcast is a recording of someone reading the word, definition, sentence, and some synonyms for the word. We would host it online and you could subscribe on iTunes. The podcasts would be created by some of YOU using either your own computer and microphone (I would show you how) or using a computer at school. These podcasts can be downloaded to your computer and/or your iPod so you could study "on the go".

1) Do you think this would be helpful? If so, how would you personally utilize it?
2) Do you have a microphone integrated into your computer or an external microphone?
3) Would you consider making one for a unit? What should be the reward for hosting one?

Here are some examples of some podcasts my classes made last year with our last novel of the year.

Click here to get your own player.