Oleanna

David Mamet's play made me feel uncomfortable. It was horrifying to see how far a misunderstanding could go. As a student myself I can relate to Carol and her frustration with the class. There have been numerous tines when I go and sit, take notes and do what is asked of me but fear papers and tests because I usually look like I do not know what I am talking about. Frustration is a part of life and living life is learning how to accommodate and learn new things, such as what to do when you are struggling. Carol obviously took the problem too far by her false accusations, on the other hand so did John. As future teachers we must understand that there will be times when a students does not comprehend the material and we must suggest new learning techniques other than suggesting they are troubled and incapable. John's procedure was unsympathetic and unclear. Their communication from the start was weird and unprofessional. I cannot imagine cutting of one of my professor let alone any adult. I believe this is a play every future teacher should read, I think we could all benefit from it. Issues such as these are rarely brought up. Such topics should arise more often to make the rules and regulations clear for all. I enjoyed the activity we did in class with the corners and opinions. It is hard for me to sit back and watch others force their opinion onto others however. An opinion is just that, an opinion! Everyone is entitled to one and an activity like this can get people going! I held back and watched sparks fly. I enjoyed this play and the activity that followed, I will most likely convert it into my high school level somehow! We'll see!

Library Visit

Our visit to the library was very interesting. I was shocked to see what books are geared towards the youth today. I was extremely shocked to hear that there was a book out there that talks about "sex groups", although she stated that it does not promote such actions but talks about them shocks and worries me as a mother. As an English major I am a little ashamed to admit I never knew of the collection here on campus. I never knew of its importance. Making appointments and such things seems a bit tedious but I'm sure it is all worth it in the end. In the four years that I've been here I think maybe one of my previous teachers brought our class once, and that was to help us familiarize ourselves with the library then, it was not a very good presentation. I wish more teachers would use the library more as a way to show us how to do research and the simple act of checking out books. I know class time is crucial but I do not understand how so many teachers here at Fresno State expect us to be library geniuses and know the library like the back of our busy hands. Overall I was very impressed by the presentation and the information the two ladies offered. I found it very interesting to hear of guest speakers coming to Fresno State but was not to impressed with the prices! At $60.00 per visit I think not! As a student who feeds on Top Ramen and Macaroni N' Cheese on a regular basis such an activity would be out of my league, even periodically.

Guest Speaker

I didn't get a chance to show how much I appreciated Mr. Hanson coming by and speaking to us. I have to admit I was a little shocked at how he called on us unexpectedly. I was a bit nervous he would call on me at any moment. At first the topic seemed a bit complicated but with help from others in the class I was able to stay on track. I literally thought he only covered 2 approaches when he covered 3! I was just a little embarrassed! It is now a little more clear for me to understand why teachers teach they way they do, it all depends on their approach. It was interesting when he described what approach the university used. Knowing this kind of would've been useful to know before entering. It was tough to distinguish which approaches went with what table of contents during our assignment. Our group got 1 out of 3! Although it was hard it was nice to hear his explanation. I hope to hear from him again soon.

Presentations

Tuesday's presentations were great! I am so excited that ours is over, I was sooo nervous! I look forward to presentations for today! Anyhow, I really enjoyed Taryn, Amanda, and Katrina's presentation. As a future teacher I look forward to implementing technology within my lessons. It's easy to sit back and say that we all someday will teach with the help of technology but doing so is a little harder than expected. Class time is already crucial and finding places for technology can be difficult at times and much more work than intended. I enjoyed hearing the pros and cons of using technology within the classroom. Like all things in life there are good and bad things to juggle around. Although there were cons I feel if applied correctly technology can really boost the learning environment. By the way, how appropriate was it for us to follow their presentation! That worked out great. Technology can consist of many things such as the world wide web, PowerPoint presentations, and even video games! In a world where we encourage creativity and originality technology can really help get us and our future students there!

Finally! Home in Trackton!

Awww! I have finally entered the holy land! LOL! Are you ready for this? Are you ready for my first blog? Here it goes... I truly found this particular article interesting. It caught my attention and made me think deeper about the co-existence of oral and literacy traditions. I came into this class with my own interpretations of literacy and well, they have changed ever since. I found the study conducted in Trackton to be helpful in distinguishing that oral and literacy events do not stand alone. The study concluded that, "In short, written information almost never stood alone in Trackton; it was reshaped and reworded into an oral mode." (451). Heath continues to describe that the residents of Trackton made oral and literacy events co-exist however I was shocked to read the following, "Yet their literacy habits do not fit those usually attributed to fully literate groups:" (451). Who are the fully literate groups and how do we determine this? I thought we already established that literate is a hard definition to fill? Although it goes further into describing that they are not fully literate because they do not read to their kids, do not encourage conversations based on books, or the mere fact that they do not write or read long passages of prose, I thought that the other everyday things (that Heath may not consider fully literate) constitutes them as literate, such as them reading the news and writing down addresses. These are things that literate people practice. Here I go again, into the deep deep pit of the definition literate! This is such a tough subject for me to define. Well, cheers to my first blog and I hope to leave this class in May with a firm belief of what is literacy! Or a small background on the subject!