Casey’s Edublog.

Another thought for a class/unit would be horror movies and urban legends.

They’d be combined–perhaps beginning with urban legends and a discussion of how story telling informs our world and reflects our values.

Then I think a bit of a chronological run starting with King Kong, Psycho, something slasher (probably Halloween), something zombie (probably a Romero–Night, Land, Diary– or two and 28 Months/Days Later), Scream, Blair Witch, something Asian (from 3 Extremes), and Hostel or the like. Maybe something from Silence of the Lambs trilogy, or the Exorcist/Rosemary’s Baby or Alien. And Shaun of the Dead. (That would be lovely.)

The focus would be on the ways in which fears are realized through the creation of horror movies (and maybe even discussing the philosophy of catharsis and the uncanny–although I don’t want it to be too abstract), and the ways in which these fears evolve over time and relate to current events or trends. Also would be the gender studies stuff of slasher films and meta-fictional nature of movies like Scream and the spoofs. We could possibly compare an Asian original to the American remake and discuss what the differences suggest about the different markets (particularly for the Grudge).

I guess it would require some organization… I don’t think it could be entirely chronological, some of the connections that need to be drawn would need to be closer together to have a better chance of understanding. Maybe it’s divided into units–history, gender, culture.

OR. I just realized it could work. The evolution of horror in relation to audience and politics (incorporating the meta-fictional bit in there somewhere as an evolutionary step of the genre based on age of the genre and a reaction to the slasher era). Then the Asian influence could be incorporated as part of the end–that’s a relatively recent development and could possibly lead to the comparison. The Hostel type movie would be the end (unless I want to include a remake of a 70′s for another comparison and analysis).

I dunno. It’s just really revealing to me and the politics of it all is really interesting. One of my favorite things ever and I think it would lead to some really interesting discussions since kids aren’t generally aware of either the history of the genre or the significance. It’s more that just guts and giggles and the patterns of taste are reflections of their world. I could even ask where they think the genre is ultimately going to go–there are only so many remakes possible. **I should probably throw in a Saw… Even though I’m not particularly fond of them…**

Anywho.

Idea. Even if it wasn’t a whole class, I could probably do a little unit just using a handful of movies starting with King Kong, Psycho, Halloween, Scream, Land of the Dead, and Hostel. Just stick with the evolution–include the mini lessons on politics where they fall in line.

New idea for a class/unit inspired by an article in English Journal. (Woot for professional development!)

The idea is simple enough and doesn’t necessarily need expanded upon. First would be a little “language of the genre” (vocab out of the way to allow for easier discussion along the way), and then into the texts. It would be a combination of various media–novel, short story, movie, tv shows?, music? (Year Zero stuff or Manson off the top of my head although there’d have to be a substantial bit of screening before bringing it into class).

Novels: Brave New World, 1984, Feed (haven’t read this yet, but seems interesting based on the article), Frankenstein, Fahrenheit 451, Clockwork (Lathe of Heaven? Wanting Seed? The Trial?)

Short stories: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, Harrison Bergeron, the Lottery

Movies: Gattaca, Equilibrium, Minority Report?, Matrix?, V for Vendetta, Children of Men, Pleasantville, Idiocracy

TV Shows: Firefly, Dark Angel

Music: Year Zero, Feel Good Inc (video, esp), Beautiful People, The Wall?, something from Muse?

The trick then is organizing them all so they relate and build off of one another. (And of course weeding through them so that there isn’t a million and one days worth of stuff to discuss.) Although that really seems easy enough–it just requires a piece of paper rather than a computer screen. The point of the unit/class (beyond standards and whatnot) would be to gain an understanding of the ways in which the genre reflects contemporary fears or draws attention to potential disasters–this in turn could incorporate an issue of debate (is it really a vice/danger? is it truly a dystopia in the making?) or examination of their own worlds in relation to these fears (some of which are much older than they are).

It would start with Frankenstein, for chronology’s sake… although perhaps it would best be included later and then discussed as possibly dystopian (it’s the view of science’s ultimate questionable results). Movies could be compared with short stories/novels in interesting ways. Creative writing possibilities abound (one idea: a dystopia built on their own daily experiences–how can they see their own world morphing into something dystopian and why would that be qualified as one… or something)

So I’ve been obsessing over the soundtrack–which occassionally happens because it’s so flipping good–and this evening while listening to it while I read another book, I had an idea for an R+J project based on the book.

So the initial thing is to read the play.

Then watch Baz’s version in movie form, and while watching analyze some of the choices he made and get a little bit into the ways you read a movie.

From there we’d introduce the music project in which the class would either be divided into groups or individuals would pick a song from the soundtrack (all songs would need to be spoken for, however).  Then they could have a number of choices

1. Analyze the song as a piece of literature and discuss how it’s meaning/lyrics relate to the play–specifically the part Baz used them for if they appeared in the movie, or more generally and openly if they were just “inspired by” instead of used in. They could, of course, always go with the whole “although Baz used it here, it’s really much more appropriate here” in their relation as well (because, let’s face it, I love it when people argue with the creator and seek better ways to do things)

2. Create a collage or some other artistic work to go with the song–either incorporating moods or lyrics and also incorporating lines from the play. This could be a word collage or something more visual. Either way it needs to be accompanied by a short explanation of what it all means and how it all works.

3. Create a music video for the song that depicts (in direct action or symbols) the meaning of the song as it relates to the movie–clips can be used, but it can’t just be the scene as it appears.

4. Find a companion song–either the antithesis or it’s sister/brother–and explain why they make a good pair and how the two contribute to understanding the play.

And maybe some more. I’d only thought of the first two when I started writing. I’m not so sure of the last one, but something about it seems worth trying. I think it has crazy potential, not just for enhancing the understanding of the play and the director’s choices for a movie, but for coming up with some crazy creative things. There’s lots of possibilities, I think. Obviously 1 is really straightforward, and 4 is a little wimpy right now, but 2 and 3 have a lot of open-ended possibility. The bottom line, of course, would be bringing it back to the play somehow. 3 would need to incorporate the things they learned about movies… Heck, 5 could be “make a mini-movie (3-5 minutes) in which you use the song in a way that mimics its relation to the play”

Interpretive dance, so long as it’s accompanied by a written explanation.

Who knows.

But I definitely think it’s worth trying. And kids always need a challenging but fun project after they get through any Shakespearean play.

So I’ve already purged the initial stages of excitement. Time for something a bit more formal.

Possibilities…

Mythology

• This seems the most obvious of all, and would probably be the easiest to slap together. Some digging online has revealed the possible pitfalls that I often forget when I’m away from a classroom–mostly that students have attention spans of goldfish, fear of long novels, and may need a little more help than I’d initially expect with comprehension.
  Initially I was thinking that I’d let students choose one of the innumerable mythological characters from the text and have them do a mini-research–explain who the person was/is, where they hail from, and an example of a typical story (or a story that fits their character as Gaiman portrays it).
  NOW, I’m thinking that it might be a good intro project, so that they all have a little bit of a base in mythology before we read the novel. Instead of using the novel as a starter for mythology, I could use mythology as a starter for the novel–perhaps go over the idea of archetypes and then mix that into the project required for their figure. I’d have to furnish the list and maybe even give them a day to dig around on the internets to get a feel for one they like if they can’t decide on a whim (it surprises me how many won’t do that…), but after that it’d be all them. I could even do the webquesty thing and find different sites that have info on the mythic figures (not the characters) and guide them in their searching. This, of course, would help narrow the searching for stories (although I have a good store of them in tangible form right now) and that might be pretty useful. Woot. Possible webquest just invented… perhaps to be formulated in the coming days of boredom.

Story-telling

• Okay, so this has the obvious relation to the mythology but I was thinking of it more as including the Coming to America portions (which, according to a grown-up blogger who actually taught this, are often skipped over or reluctantly read) and other little interludes. I was also thinking of this in relation to ‘A Larger Memory’ by Takaki–it’s sort of an experiment in recognizing the multitude of stories that make America what it is. In this case, it’s the stories that brought people here (and that people brought with them–ie myths), and you can see the way in which past stories have shaped the worlds that these characters live in. It’s the same for us, and sometimes (almost always, I’d wager) it goes completely unnoticed.
  It’d be a cool little project for students to either find a story from their own history, or find one that resonates with them in some way (the second being the harder of the two). Of course, it could also be a matter of creating their own stories… Their own “Coming to Miss Krall’s Classroom” kind of interlude. It wouldn’t have to be scholastic (in fact, I wouldn’t really want it to be, if given the choice), and it has the possibility of being one of those really powerful things where kids are not just asked to examine their own place in the world (and how they got there), but given the opportunity to define themselves outloud without the fear of being told they’re off base. (I’m not sure that makes sense outside of my own experience, but I think there are kids out there–a few I’ve had the pleasure of teaching–who would understand what that means). It’d be a challenging project–creating your story, and perhaps having to tell it to the class or at least one other person–but I think it’d be a great opportunity not just to explore their own powers of story-telling but the way story-telling shapes history AND future.

Identity

• Okay, so the last leads into this one and, indeed, the personal identity wasn’t something I’d really thought of before so this is now getting split
  Cultural Identity–kids could look at their own roots and see how geography or culture has played a role. This, of course, kind of sucks because sometimes kids don’t feel like they have anything to play on here, and sometimes they really don’t (not everyone knows where they came from). But I guess if I explained the whole scope of “cultural identity” and included things like musical subcultures and whatnot (actually, musical subcultures would be an interesting project in itself in this respect.. the crossroads of economics, geography, culture, history… but that’s a bit heady for most high school students)
  Complexity of identity–this is more of a philosophical thing. It’s more of a challenge to define yourself and then a discussion of whether or not it’s possible. Questions about whether or not you can really define America–Is Wednesday right when he says it isn’t the same country? Is it possible and/or can it ever be possible? How has it changed in the past? Is it different than other countries–Is it easier to say (from an outsider’s perspective) that that’s so -insert country-? Is that why Gaiman (who isn’t American) was able to write this? Why would he use America as the setting?
  Obviously, I’ve thought of identity more as a discussion than an actual project/assessment.
  Even leading on with questions about how what Gaiman has done reshapes the identity of mythology in a modern context (obviously, that’s a little intellectual speak, but if I had time, I could break it down a little more)…

I don’t know. The more I think about it, the more I think that the unit kind of forms itself–I mean it just did, didn’t it? It starts out with the more concrete–the mythology, the archetypes, the research–and then moves a little deeper –the literary devices (a tie-in), the impact of stories, the creation– and then gets super heady –analysis and introspection–. It would be an insanely long unit, but when you think about it, there’s really two units tied in with a more generic (although wonderful) “let’s read and discuss this awesome book” unit (which could even include discussions about whether or not I should even be allowed to teach them this book, and whether or not anyone should be allowed to decide what they can/”should” read).

It just seems so awesome

I definitely don’t think my 10th graders would go for all of that… I mean, I probably could have conned them into it, but they would have given up and I would have had to constantly reorganize everything until it was Frankensteined out of control (not that that’s always a bad thing…). But I think, generally, that it would work better with seniors or maybe juniors. The car crowd.

And I’m not sure it’d lend itself to a conventional final assessment… No big test tying the themes into the book, but maybe a reading journal of some sort could come in handy here. Pain in the ass for me, but more useful to them and easier than trying to get them to spew theory out on a test one afternoon (although my 10th graders were better at that than most would give them credit for). I guess it could be a longer sort of analytical paper–pick one thing and tie it up nicely for teacher. Give them a long time to mull it over, talk it over, write it over and over.

(In terms of Work Sample BS, the preassessment would have to be some sort of random questions, I think, about possibilities for things or knowledge of things, or the power of things?… No idea. It’s kind of there… and might be useful even without having to make the monster. Something to revisit at the end.)

Now all I need is a classroom. And a free curriculum.

It’d be an interesting experiment, I think… even if it flopped. It’s got too much possibility not to try.
Is this where I sound like the “young, idealistic” teacher instead of the cynic? Perhaps the excitement wasn’t completely purged before I started this…

So this is the marker. This blog was previously used exclusively for the projects made for my tech class. Now I’m going to use it as a place to form my ideas for lessons and units when I need the added spice of technology to keep it going or help it start.

Das ist alles.

This assignment takes the wondrous form of a podcast. Animal News (Chapter 1)

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I haven’t had a peer review yet, but here’s what John said:

Good job.

(He’s talkative and I’m sarcastic.)

My podcast is actually an example of an assignment I’d give to my students.

You can look at the assignment here: Podcast Assignment

If you don’t feel like looking at the actual assignment, here’s a shorthand summary:

Students are reporters working on a documentary focused on the events at Animal/Manor Farm. They can do interviews, news broadcasts, ten-years later, or advertisements. This was a broadcast example.

The assignment as a whole has lots of benchmarks attached to it. This particular example attaches itself to this beauty:

EL.08.LI.03: Identify and/or summarize sequence of events, main ideas, and supporting details in literary selections.

How it does what it’s supposed to: The news broadcast, in essence, is a summary. That’s pretty straightforward, non?

How it’s affected my fully myelinated brain: This was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. (That makes me kind of sad). At first I wasn’t sure how I was going to record the thing, and then I remembered that my mp3 player doubles as a digital recorder. Presto Bingo Silly reporter and sillier speeches created.

Then the trouble was putting it all together. I really liked messing around with GarageBand at school, but I live in a PC household (No Macs Allowed) so I had to mess with Audacity. I probably would have ended up using Audacity if it weren’t for my prior knowledge of a program called FruityLoops (John–the man friend–uses it for musical purposes). FruityLoops is a lot more user friendly than Audacity. Or maybe it just felt that way because I’ve used FruityLoops before, and Audacity required a bit too much accommodation for my over-stressed brain. It’s most likely this second theory–I’ve been known to dislike change and trying to adjust to a program that is somewhat similar to one I know pretty well but different enough to be difficult is exactly the kind of thing I’ll shy away from if I can. I’m resistant. But everyone who reads this and is stuck in PC land should check out FruityLoops and tell me that I was right and it’s much cooler. p

All of that said, the stitching together pieces wasn’t bad (it was actually quite fun), and I’m pretty satisfied with the final project (I did–I admit my laziness–get tired of fiddling with the settings for each of the pieces, so it’s not as silky as I’d like it to be, but it’s a lot better than it was when I started).

So that’s the story of the little podcast that could. I wish I had time to do it in my current placement ( Guess it’ll have to wait until fall.

End transmission.

Google Earth=No screen shot. Sorry.

Here’s what Andrea had to say:

Hey beautiful,

I loved this project of yours. I really liked being able to see everywhere that he has lived and he has lived in a lot of places. (Or had lived whatever, I am going to continue talking about him in the present tense) I don’t really have much to say about it or things that you can change. Partly because I have no background knowledge about George Orwell. But this is really good background information and a great tie in with history/social sciences because you can discuss WWI, WWII, and even a little about the British Empire. A great jumping off point.
Andrea

And here’s what Asher had to say:

Hi Casey,

I really like the idea of following around an artist or author to give context to that person’s works. Especially for someone like Orwell, who traveled so much, and whose work was so influenced by the context. Again, putting quotes from the relevant works in the place marks is a good way to connect the author to locations. The only suggestion I might have would be a couple of pics, though I’m not sure whether that would enhance the content all that much. Perhaps links to the books free text versions of the books if they’re in the open domain. Anyway,good job!

Asher

And as always… Here’s the benchmark:

EL.08.RE.14 Read textbooks; biographical sketches; letters; diaries; directions; procedures; magazines; essays; primary source historical documents; editorials; news stories; periodicals; bus routes; catalogs; technical directions; consumer, workplace, and public documents.

What it is: As I explained to my spectacular reviewers, I intended the whole thing to be an introduction to Orwell’s life before he wrote Animal Farm. After the class has gone through the bio, we’d have a discussion on how things from his life influenced the story. (Or something like that).

How this project has impacted my little world: This was the toughest project I’ve had to do so far. It isn’t that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy or get into GoogleEarth–it was trying to tie it into Animal Farm that proved troublesome. I think other novels lend themselves more easily to being great Google Earth topics… Animal Farm, not so much. But George Orwell’s life is pretty interesting and I knew that his history had a lot to do with his ideals (which in turn have a lot to do with the novel), so that was the best connection I could come up with. (I actually think it might lead to a really interesting discussion, and I DO think that without GoogleEarth to highlight the distance he traveled throughout his life to that point, the impact of the bio would be diminished).
The other problem I encountered was the need for pictures. Generally I intended to us the Panoramio pictures of the places (I wanted kids to focus more on the places than on photos of Orwell at specific times), but then I found this picture of Orwell in the Spanish Civil War to throw in. I also couldn’t think of a good use for the hyperlinks until Asher’s brilliant idea (I really owe him one there).
Overall, I think I’d be more inclined to use Google Earth with different novels (either ones that have a specific geographic location like Grapes of Wrath or –my favorite– post-colonial novels in which geography is a key component and the distance between worlds is extraordinarily important).

Final words: I wish I was a science teacher so I could use Google Sky (I was thinking that I could possibly make an excuse if I ever covered mythology… but that’s a bit of a stretch p)

Thus endeth another blog.

I’ve found a new YouTube love. Daft Punk hands. There’s also a really funny Daft Hands version of TNT by AC/DC (they got brownie points for the good musical taste).

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/K2cYWfq--Nw" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

You have to click on the video and go to YouTube to watch the whole thing. (sorry)

There’s also a really great version of Technologic.

I had to share it. I swear that when I found the video I was legitimately working on a project for my middle schoolers.

(Seriously, it had to do with paraphrasing and Kanye West’s sampling of Daft Punk… I couldn’t make that up if I wanted to. Legitimate school business p)

The link to my WebQuest is to your right. (YourMission)

Here’s what the illustrious Diane had to say about it.

Casey,

This is a great, well organized and creative web quest. It is an interesting activity that will give your student a wide exposure to literature through group activity, allowing you to pack a lot of learning into one project. The instructions seem clear, and you provide tools for the students to successfully complete the project. I think I would have been into this when I was an adolescent.

Diane

Yay.

I don’t think I need to say anything else in this entry, and since I’m feeling a little feverish right now I should stop typing while I’m ahead.

Das ist alles.

Since I started with the screenshots, we’ll just have to continue that routine

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And… Here’s what Andrea had to say about it

Chère Casey,

I love your Powerpoint. Not only do your slides demonstrate the use of perspective and its effect on how you “see” a piece but it is a fun game too! I know you already have a lot of slides and don’t really need more but I would add more if possible. The students will love them and the more they can try the more attention they will pay to the lesson. The only other thing I would fix would be the video. I could not get it to open and I don’t think I could even click on it (it was black the screen was black, I couldn’t tell what was what.) Other than that I give you an A+ especially since you used the Eiffel Tower in there, you know I have a weakness for the Eiffel Tower.

Bon chance,
Andrea

The Benchmark:

EL.08.LI.11 Analyze and contrast the use of point of view, such as first-person, third-person, limited and omniscient, and subjective and objective, in literary text, and explain how it affects text

How it relates: The presentation is designed to highlight the differences between various points of view (both first & third as well as limited & omniscient and implicitly subjective & objective). By basing the presentation first on the visual I hope to assist students to better understand the differences between these perspectives (as well as provide a better pathway to understanding for my visual learners). The presentation is basically an initial activity that ends with larger questions about why someone would use one perspective over another (which entails and understanding of how it affects the text & meaning).

Why it is what it is: I designed the presentation as a learning tool–one to be used at the beginning of a lesson on point of view. Originally, I had thought about using it in conjunction with a larger literary text. For some reason I thought of To Kill A Mockingbird, and then imagined the ending questions leading into questions about the way reading the book from Scout’s pov impacts the story that’s being told. After talking to Andrea about the addictive nature of Macro Mysteries, however, I’d probably also continue to use the game throughout the year as one of those end of class “Oh no, I’ve got an extra 5 minutes” games. (They’re just so fun!)

How this project has impacted me: Once again, I’m surprised. I think that my major breakthrough is the realization that presentations don’t have to be the typical boring “PowerPoint Outline of What I’m Saying While You’re Zoning Out.” I really love the idea of powerful images and I like using presentation software as a way to present those images.
I even imagined using it in conjunction with a SmartBoard–In that case, I’d pause the video between the first & third person switch and write my students’ observations on the side of the slide (one side for each) before moving on to the charts. Then the amount of text in the charts wouldn’t be quite as personally annoying–it would just be summarizing/adding to what they’ve already said.
That was a bit of a tangent. Sorry. ANYWAY. Overall, this was a great project and, in addition to softening my admitted prejudices against PowerPoint, I can’t say enough about the way it’s encouraged me to think more about powerful images and the ways that I can use them in my largely linguistic content area.

And we all lived happily ever after. (Happy Spring Break)