Monday, 2 February 2009 - 3:31 PM MST

francine/maxime was at first awkward but i just decided to go with it. I never been around a instructor that would role play on the first day of class.  the rest of the semester seems interesting and i hope to take what i learned back to my community.

Tuesday, 3 February 2009 - 5:46 PM MST

I have known other students that have taken this course in the past.  They informed me that it was creative and interesting, although I was unprepared for Maxime!  It was difficult for me to get into role-playing along with Francine at first, although it became fun and interesting.  I don't know if I will be able to stay in character as well as her when it is time to play the characters we created.

 Kristin

Wednesday, 4 February 2009 - 5:25 PM MST

Maxime, the famous French chef, tricked me once again. Held hostage in the closet, I had time to daydream, make up some new songs and think of some poems while I waited for Maxime to release me. I should have known Maxime was up to something when he was asking all sorts of questions while I was preparing for our children's literature class. In fact, he was working on refining a new peanut recipe of his-peanut wine. I must admit, it is tasty.

Thank you for helping Maxime with his peanut recipe submissions to the Big Ass(ett) Texas Peanut Contest. That was very kind of you. Your recipes are online at https://unm443.tripod.com/peanuts.html

Monday, 9 February 2009 - 9:09 AM MST

Notes for class 2/2/2009

Danielle Johnson from SJC Library started us with a tour of the library and a short Powerpoint on how to use the SJC databases and information websites for young adult literature.

Most of the rest of classtime was spent in the SJC Smartlab.  We set up our websites with the pages we will be using for the rest of the semester.

The last 30 minutes of class Francis did our syllabus review.  She highlighted course requirements and timelines.

Thursday, 12 February 2009 - 11:15 AM MST

I really enjoyed our tour of the San Juan College Library. It was very informative, and although I had been in there before, I never knew where everything was located. I also loved the fact that I could bring my kids when working on class projects.

Tuesday, 17 February 2009 - 5:41 PM MST

There was no class 2-16-09, as it was President's Day.  Class will resume on Febuary 23.

Sunday, 15 March 2009 - 10:09 PM MDT

March 9, 2009

                Today in class we started out talking about our mid term and what all we needed to have done for it. Our mid term is due March 16, 2009. After we got done going over our mid-term we went right into book talks with each other. During our book talk we talked with everyone in the class about a book that we read or are reading for a book list that was really good. This was fun way to hear the different types of books that we are all reading and get some good ideas of some books that we may want to read. We then went over the definitions of realistic and historical fiction and the difference between the two. Once we were done with this we went to our 7th and 8th grade classrooms and began our poetry circles.

                I work in the 7th grade class so I can give a reflection on what happened in our classroom. We started out beginning to explain what a poetry circle was. Francis took over and explained to our class what poetry circle was. We did a poem together about bananas J doing all the steps, and then broke off into our own groups to do a poetry circle. We got all of our words choose in our own groups and gave the students work to have done before Monday and that was to have the poem done to share with those in our little group.  This was a short time to meet with our students because we needed to be over at the SJC library and that is where we went at 2:45.

                At the SJC library we meet with Louise Mae Hoffman, who wrote the book Goulash and Picking Pickles. She started off talking about her life when she first became a teacher then told of her life from then to now, which she is fixing to go into the Peace Corp. She talked a about her book most of all but gave us really good tips as teachers to remember in our own classroom. One thing that I will remember is this:

                What keeps students from writing is because they can not spell.”

Students are so nervous these days about making everything perfect they are scared to mess up. Let them know it is ok to mess up! We all mess up! I recommend that we all read this book. It looks like it will be a really great one.  We went a little late and left at 4:15.  

Tuesday, 17 March 2009 - 2:11 PM MDT

this is for the Feb 23 class.  Sorry its late but here we go.  This was my first day at tibbetts middle school.  we were in the 7th grade class room we just dove into trying to teach poetry. We handed out books journals and encouraged them to write in them. Our first poem was a "i am".. Poem. We did not spend that much time with them because we were going to the farmington public libary for a tour. The tour consisted of literature areas computer usage, reference, teen and children areas also.

Tuesday, 31 March 2009 - 3:56 PM MDT

Hello fellow classmates!  My apologies for posting my scribe a day late.  I had it in my head that I was the scribe for the poetry slam only.  Thanks for the reminder Frances.  Well when we met in Mr. Thomas' room it sounded like everyone had a pretty productive hour.  I must admit that these poetry sessions are quite challenging.  It sounds as if most of us are trying to find our niche in poetry while trying to keep our students interested and engaged.  I think the most important thing that I heard from everyone is that we are making connections to our students.  Our little battle between the Zooks and the Yooks was fun!  I tell you it is hard to crack those Zooks.  They are stubborn!  HA!  HA!  We Yooks have offered many peace treaties.  We will wait for the Zooks to cave.  Is that possible?!

Well that is all for now.  Keep the poetry rolling in you lives and good luck to you all in the rest of our sessions with our Tibbetts students.  They really are great kids!

Nicole

Monday, 6 April 2009 - 9:00 PM MDT

Daniel was sick, so I am filling in for him by scribing today.

We conducted our poetry sessions with our Tibbetts' 7th and 8th graders. This is their testing week so they seemed more docile than usual.  We had the rest of our class at SJC Ron Carter Room where Devin Murray was a guest speaker on Manga genre. He was very knowledgeable about this popular Japanese art form.

Manga is a great fit for students who are reluctant to read and need more visual supports while reading. Plus the illustrations and storytelling techniques are natural ways of engaging readers.

I recommend that teachers become more familiar with manga that would be appropriate in their classrooms. Talk to Devin more or consult your local youth librarian to learn more about manga. Another learning reseource that Devin mentiioned is:

Anime Network at http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/

Also check out:

http://www.mikomi.org/   and

http://librarybooks.org/fiction/adult/graphic.htm 

Enjoy reading this cultural alternative to American comic books.

Thank you, Devin, for sharing your expertise with us today!

Frances

Monday, 6 April 2009 - 9:03 PM MDT

For more information about Manga, visit Devin Murray's webpage at:

http://seishirou5.tripod.com/childrensliteraturewebpage/

Monday, 4 May 2009 - 9:10 AM MDT

This week was our last week with our Tibbetts poetry students.  mrs. Finch was at the district track meet and many of her students were attending a Science event for the first part of our time.

Once we got our students it was free reign on the sport track and shaded lunch areas.  Groups met, wrapped up their projects, and celebrated the last meeting.

 I noticed ice cream floats, candy and other goodies being shared as fun was had by all.

 Francis was also gone this week so we had no follow-up session.

Monday, 11 May 2009 - 9:58 AM MDT

Well the poor ass indians won this jeopardy round even though some were against us and out nutmbered (JK).  We all did a book sell and we went to our book talks on Prince of pond and Sherman Alexie. I guess be ready for round two of jeopardy next week. Maybe we might need a new alex trebek.

Monday, 3 August 2009 - 11:17 AM MDT

I noted that Devin Murray was a guest speaker on manga.  I wanted to discuss some information with him on the subject since I have been in contact before this, but I noticed that his website does not have a contact email address.  Is there another means that I can contact him by?

Thanks,
Jessa