(Is it Really) the End?

           When I first thought up the idea for this class, I had a specific group of kids in mind, kids who were curious, who enjoyed learning on their own terms, who flew through some books and had to be dragged through others.  Some of these kids missed more school than I would have preferred, many varied wildly in their class participation, but all had passions and interests that they virtually threw themselves into the moment the bell rung to end the day.  To be honest, though I’m generally one for students who play by at least some of the rules, I was intrigued by creating a class where school “misfits” might thrive, and I hope that’s what I did.  These nineteen kids who agreed to a pilot version of Topics in Literature gave me quite a run for my money.  Sure, they sometimes frustrated me with their varying attention spans and tendency towards late work, but they also enthralled me with their topic choices, impressed me with their skills on blogger, and taught me a great deal about both many different types of books and how to run an alternative English class.  It was, simply put, one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had teaching, and I will miss these kids, and this class, a great deal.

           

            They finished up the year on a high note, completing projects like the ones that they did at midterms, and I wish that I could show them all here.  The quality of their writing had clearly improved dramatically, and the reflections they wrote about their experiences were extremely thorough.  They did such cool things, many of which I hope to follow up on! For example, Colten and some NY cousins went to see a Broadway version of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime as a part of a project on autism.  Here’s just some of what he had to say about it:

            Out of all the different aspects of the play, what I found most impressive was how they were able to convey so much with so little.  If they wanted to represent a small room they would display a floor plan type of image on the floor and walk from room to room.  They would pretend there were walls and doors to the point where you forgot what you were looking at.  Watching the play, I felt like I could see a clear picture of Chris’s life and understand exactly what was going on.  The acting was spot on, and I wasn’t able to pick up on any mistakes.  In addition to knowing his lines, the main character had to know many different numbers and equations that would jump into Chris’s head.  He also had to know multiple different acrobatic stunts and memorize all the different places on the stage where there were hidden spaces.  I think he used the grid to locate these spaces.

            While watching the play, not only was I able to imagine the world he lived in, but I felt like I could start to understand how he would think about things.  Even though the book was written very well, I still could never fully grasp how he was feeling and how complicated parts of his life really were.  The overwhelming sensations he often felt were impossible to imagine.  I did my best while reading to envision what was going on, but I knew it was something I wouldn’t be able to understand.  When he was feeling like this, the book would list off everything he was thinking about, but I could read the words one by one, so while I understood it must be overwhelming for him, it wasn’t for me.  Watching the play helped me imagine everything I couldn’t get with just reading the book.  When he felt overwhelmed, they would flood the screen with everything he was thinking about.  Unlike the book, this forced me to look at everything he was thinking at the same time, which allowed me to share his feeling of being overwhelmed.  I felt like I was being attacked and was stressed.  In a few scenes, I had to close my eyes when this happened, which I realized was similar to his solution.  Closing his eyes wouldn’t help because the images were in his head, but he would listen to white noise to clear his brain.  Eventually, he learned that if he doubled numbers over and over again in his head, he could clear away all these thoughts.  In addition, the play helped me understand that when he did something that would be considered socially inappropriate, he had no idea he was doing it.  His counselor helped him get through this and also acted as the narrator for some parts of the play.

            Overall, I really liked the play and would definitely say it was the best play I have ever seen.  Considering I haven’t seen many plays at all, my opinion probably isn’t valuable, but I know my cousins agreed with me, and they have seen a bunch of plays.  The play won best new play and was nominated for a number of other awards.  Even though I don’t watch many plays, I do watch a lot of movies, and I liked this play more than any move I have seen recently.  The attention to detail in the play was amazing, and the acting was spectacular.  The stage was creative and efficient and helped clearly show every scene in the play.  Normally I would say the book is better than the movie, but last weekend, I learned the play is better than the book.  This may not always be true, but in this case, it definitely was.  I would recommend this play to anyone who can get to New York or any other place where it is playing.

            I love Colten’s cultural experience here and also how he reflects on his understanding of the book altering because of seeing a performance like this.  I think it was great that he was able to have a shared experience with his cousins, too, and do something out of his comfort zone while relating it to school.

            Similarly, Riley and Michaela both went out and toured some local monuments dedicated to victims of various wars.  Here’s Riley’s reflecting on one of his experiences:

            The next and final place I visited I had a little more of a personal connection with.  I visited a memorial dedicated to the veterans who had served during World War II and were from Malden, Massachusetts.  This memorial is set in a park named Bell Rock Memorial Park.  I specifically went here because I’m originally from Malden, and I was directed to go here by my aunt because she had mentioned that my grandfather had his put on the memorial.  So I set out to this place in order to find his name on the memorial, and sure enough, I did just that.  My grandfather’s name was John Francis Sullivan, and I wasn’t shocked to find that there were a few John F. Sullivans on the memorial.  My grandfather had served in the Pacific during the war, specifically Guadalcanal.  He had actually received a purple heart, as he was shot in the leg during his tour.  I was always interested in my grandfather’s war history, and I hadn’t ever known that there was a memorial located in the city with my grandfather’s name on it until recently.  I was more than happy to go and see it.  I think that’s about as far as my personal connection with war goes, but this memorial personally intrigued me.  I think it’s somewhat like the personal connection that Johnny from Lord of The Nutcracker, that being in the sense that there is just a personal connection there.

            Upon reflection of my project, I was happy to get to visit all these places.  They’re all very interesting in their own way.  There’s so much history tied to all of these places, like famous events, battles, and people.  I feel I learned a great deal from these places, and I enjoyed my experiences with them.

And here’s Michaela talking about the Holocaust memorial in Boston that she previously hadn’t been aware existed:

            It was really rewarding to be able to see this memorial after having read about people who were so greatly affected by the war.  There are so many numbers etched on these walls that it seems surreal.  I know from history that these events are true, but when you look at a wall that is marked with thousands of names, it really kind of shatters you.  These are people who at any given age in their lives lost all of their rights and were dragged to death camps, where they watched as members of their family lost their lives.  It kind of hit me when I was standing at this memorial beside my mother, how lucky we truly are.  We have never had to worry about being snatched from our homes or losing everything.  However, reflecting back on people who were separated from their families and had no idea whether they were alive or not, it really rattled my brain.

            Taking a different approach, Chris did some research on his grandfather who served in WWII, and Luke interviewed his great-grandfather who’d done the same.  These “projects” were close to my heart at this time, as today, in fact, my grandmother’s youngest brother’s remains are being retuned home for the first time since he was missing in action in the Korean War sixty five years ago.  On Wednesday, my family will participate in a large military funeral in his hometown of Exeter, NH, and since my grandmother got the call at Christmas that his remains had been identified, we’ve all been talking a lot about the war, what it was like for my grandmother to have all six of her brothers gone at one point or another, and we’ve reread all of Elmer’s letters home from the war.  So these projects were emotional for me to see, and I was happy to think that the boys were delving into family history and even having these kinds of sometimes difficult conversations.

            All in all, it was just a really rewarding experience working on a new class with this group.  They were energetic and fun, they had such varying interests, and they read (and wrote) an incredible amount.  I’ve taught many of them for the past two years, and simply seeing each other for nearly every day for that long creates a unique kind of bond.  I’m sure I’m understating things when I say that I will genuinely miss them and that I hope they will keep me updated on what grabs their attention in the future.  I’m not sure I’ll ever teach a class quite like this one again.

                                                                                                                                 CJF :)

(A Short) Fourth Quarter!

            Fourth quarter at Pentucket is always short for seniors, but this year is especially so because we had to move third quarter back a week.  Therefore the seniors are having an approximately six-week quarter, interrupted by various senior activities and duties.  This is too bad because, of course, students are now really comfortable with the routines of class, more adjusted to blogging, and their reading fluency has increased a great deal.  For this reason, I’m still expecting them to read as close to 1,000 pages as possible in the time that they have, but I know that most students will only have time for about eight hundred. 

            Here’s what they’ve been studying:

                        Ben D.L. – adventure

                        Ben K. – exploration

Brayden – surfing

Chris – J.R.R. Tolkien

Colten – autism

Eric – Native Americans

Jak – overcoming childhood obstacles

Jess – hiking

John-Luc – navigation

Kelcy – alternate history

Lauren – autism

Luke – The Maze Runner series

Max – H.P. Lovecraft

Michaela – revealing masks, then inspirational stories

Mike – athletes with addiction problems

Nicolette – addiction

Riley – war

Sean – Manga

Yiannis – fantasy

            Every quarter has seen an incredible variety of topics, which has been one of my favorite aspects of this class.  This quarter, though, not only are students studying a multitude of topics, they are writing about them more eloquently than ever.  This makes sense as I expect that they have written more this year than they have in the past, and each quarter should show some improvement in the quality of their work.  I have found that I could, theoretically, take blurbs of multiple blogs each week to highlight here.  Instead, though, I’ve chosen three students whose work I have not yet displayed.  I hope this class has been a positive experience all around, but I think it’s especially evident in these three excerpts. 

            Brayden has been writing very consistently for the entire school year.  He was one of the first students to really seem comfortable keeping a blog, and he’s been great about uploading pictures and videos to make his entries more visually appealing.  This quarter he is reading and writing about surfing, which I admit to being a bit skeptical of at first.  However, his entries have been so thoughtful, and he’s been making many connections, which I have really enjoyed.  Here he is talking about his first book:

Early in the week I finished Cliffs of Insanity.  It was an interesting book that followed the lives of Irish surfers surfing in some of the most treacherous waters in the world.  The underlying message Keith Duggan was trying to get across was to really do what matters most to you in life.  In reading the book, I was reminded of a quote by Emerson, “Trust thyself; every heart vibrates to that iron string.”  In order to be happy in life, we must all participate in activities that give us the most enjoyment.  We need to listen to ourselves in the same way surfers such as Fergal Smith did.  The last quote in the book further reminds us to really get all we can out of life.  “So try and see them moving through one of those great eternal waves if you can, and remember that they are, like all of us, just passing through” (Duggan 251).  The cliffs in Ireland have been around for years and will continue to be here long after we are gone.  We really need to make the most of the time we have and spend that time doing activities we really enjoy.

I’m excited for Brayden’s surfing/clean-up project and to see what he learns about the effort that it takes to keep these environments as pure as possible.

            Next, Chris has been an inconsistent blogger this year, but this quarter he has really picked it up during his study of J.R.R. Tolkien.  I have had several students choose Tolkien books as their quarter topic over the course of the year, but I’ve seen the most significant change in Chris’s work since he did.  His blogs have been incredibly long, detailed, and very analytical.  Here is just a small excerpt.

This betrayal from Sam may seem insignificant at first, but it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  From that point on, Gollum’s attitude towards the hobbits, Sam in particular, becomes much more sinister and hateful.  All the trust he had in Sam is gone, and although he still at times is torn about killing Frodo, he seems to actively want Sam dead after this incident.  The shame of it that I think had Sam show Gollum kindness in that moment, Gollum may have been able to redeem himself before the end (though it is unlikely either way that the ring would be destroyed without Gollum dying).  This is another example of Tolkien’s emphasis on kindness and mercy to even the lowliest of creatures.

I’m not sure if Chris’ project is going to be Tolkien related or what he could do with that (other than some creative writing himself), but I’ve been happy to see him work to his potential.

            Lastly, Sean is a student I’ve taught for the past two years.  He is a bright kid who is genuinely curious about many things.  However, he does not “play the game” particularly well.  In fact, he generally refuses to play at all.  He’ll read books but not do homework, he’s great in discussion but only if he’s interested, he prioritizes things other than grades.  Some of this is admirable, but it is frustrating to see someone who is so capable earn grades below his potential.  This quarter, however, has been much better.  He chose a topic that I know nothing about and talks about it below:

For my fourth quarter of my Topics in Literature class, I have chosen to read and blog about Manga, a Japanese style of illustration and storytelling.  I am currently reading Naruto.

(SAHS-kay)= Sasuke             

(Or-ROH-CHI-mah-roo)= Orochimaru

The main anti-hero of the story is Sasuke.  He is originally the protagonist’s teammate, reluctant friend, and fierce rival.  Upon the completion of the original “Naruto” series, Sasuke leaves the Hidden Leaf Village in order to grow stronger and exact revenge on his brother.  The story then takes a three year break while Naruto travels and trains, and Sasuke does the same.  When the story returns, however, Sasuke has grown exponentially stronger than Naruto has.  While Naruto is doing things the traditional ways, with hard work and determination, lacking natural skill, Sasuke has been training with the Legendary Sanin named Orochimaru.  This man conducts medical experiments on humans, akin to those attributed to Nazi scientists during WWII, in order to grow stronger.  So, Sasuke has access to these experimental techniques and will stop at no lengths to become more powerful, while Naruto is following a more natural, regular progression.

I think this entire concept can be taken metaphorically and applied to the world today.  The contrast between a genuinely nice person who wants only better in the world and happiness for its people (Naruto), and the cutthroat tycoon who will stop at nothing to earn another dollar.  For whatever reason it may be, that cutthroat man will treat business as if he were Sasuke training for his final fight.  He would use a teacher for as long as he needed him, until he can surpass the teacher, and then discard him and move on.  Sasuke does this with his teacher, Orochimaru, who he kills after the three years of training.  Orochimaru was previously known as infinitely powerful.  And then, they get to the top, but it still doesn’t fell right.  Because they have destroyed personal relationships on the way, the throne is one of isolation as well, which is not success at all in my eyes.

It’s easy to see how thoughtful Sean is and how this topic brings together diverse interests.  I hope that he draws/writes his own Manga for his year-end project!

            So that’s where we are for our shortened fourth quarter.  I’ll write another post soon with project information and my end of the year reflections!

                                                                                                                           J CJF 

A Summing Up - 3rd Quarter

            Before I begin blogging about fourth quarter, which has already begun, I want to send a quick update about third.  Though it was a disrupted quarter in many ways, students got a done of reading done, and I was really proud of their engagement.  My guess is that a little over 1,000 pages is about what an average student at Pentucket would read in English over the course of the year, but I asked these students to read at least that this quarter, and they really came through.  So, first an update on the pages that they recorded out to me:

Ben D.L. – 1071

Ben K. – 1159

Brayden – 1007

Chris – 1015

Colten – 2243

Eric – 1114

Jak – 986

Jess – 1037

John-Luc - 1022

Kelcy – 1410

Lauren – 1208

Max – 1280

Michaela – 1084

Mike – 1354

Nicolette – 1194

Riley – 1379

Yiannis – 1223

These are definitely our highest numbers of the year, and I hope that we can match them fourth quarter, despite that the seniors have fewer weeks to work with!

A couple other highlights of the quarter:

While Eric was posting about food, he was contacted by a health food web site and asked to be a contributor!  That was really exciting news because it’s what blogging is all about, bringing people from different circles together.  I was very excited for him. :)

Max wrote some really neat entries about music, which I know is one of his passions.  He also wrote an excellent synthesis entry about the styles/intended audiences for each of his books. Go on his blog and check it out if you have a chance!

Mike took on a sophisticated topic in reading about African culture.  This led him to read some tough books and work to interpret them on his own.  My favorite part of his final blog, though, was when he wrote about the learning curve he experienced and how the reading gave him a different perspective on his own life.  He said, “More than anything I have come to notice the importance of education in today’s world.  When people think of “strength” and “power” it is commonly conceived by physical traits such as man and gunpowder.  This quarter I have come to understand that it is education that runs our world.  This is something that made me start to think seriously about my own education, which I started to talk about a little bit in my earlier blog.  I am certainly not as far along in my own education as I would like to be, and it is almost been a bit of a wake-up call.”  Right on, Mike!  Education is certainly key, and reading is one way to become educated and to develop critical thinking skills.  I’m so glad you see this.

 

http://www.google.com/imgresimgurl=http://crescentok.com/staff/

This class has been very engaging, and teaching it even recently won me an award in my district!  I love reading the blogs every week and having hope that these kids will continue to read, to seek intellectual development and even the catharsis that comes with reading, on their own after high school.   I’m glad that we have another quarter, and then a final project!, left before it’s all over for the year. 

                                                                                                            CJF

Third Quarter (Finally!)

I tried to write this blog a while ago, but with all of the missing days, we hadn’t made enough progress for me to feel comfortable highlighting a student’s work.  However, now that we are further into the quarter, everyone’s work is really progressing nicely, and I have some new topics to put on display. 

            First, here’s a list of everyone’s new topics:

                        Ben D.L. – science fiction

                        Ben K. – historical buildings

                        Brayden – Navy SEALS

                        Chris – war

                        Colten – Tom Clancy novels

                        Eric – food

                        Jak – addiction

                        Jess – J.R.R. Tolkien

                        John-Luc – weather

                        Kelcy – Stephen King

                        Lauren – medical trauma

                        Luke – war

                        Max – music

                        Michaela – abduction stories

                        Mike – African culture

                        Nicolette – corrupted childhoods

                        Riley – crime

                        Sean – American classic novels

                        Yiannis – dystopian societies

            Secondly, I want to highlight a couple blogs from students who got off to a slow start blogging first semester but are starting to pick it up.  Kelcy is studying Stephen King novels and has written some great posts so far.  Here’s one on magical realism in The Green Mile.  I’m not sure how Kelcy even knew about the concept of magical realism, but she does a great job of explaining it here!

    In Green Mile, King focuses on the genre of magical realism and introduces readers to supernatural elements that take place in ordinary, realistic environments. Before the inmate Delacroix arrived in Cold Mountain Penitentiary, a mouse showed up on E block and went from one empty cell to the next. The mouse seemed determined to see the cell that would soon belong to Delacroix. Paul Edgecombe, the super, had said that it seemed as if the mouse was waiting for Delacroix and that he sensed his arrival. On the day Delacroix appeared on E block, the mouse immediately went to him and climbed up on his shoulder. Delacroix later told the employees that the mouse whispered in his ear that his name was Mr. Jingles. The inmate became obsessed with the rodent, keeping it as his pet and teaching it tricks like fetch with wooden spools. Even the employees were amazed by the mouse because it appeared to be human-like and intelligent. After Delacroix went to the electric chair, the mouse disappeared but Paul had found a stash of wooden spools that Delacroix used to play with the mouse.

                                       http://media.monstersandcritics.com/articles/1221394/article_images/mrjinglestakesashinetodelacroix.jpg

Green Mile solely focuses on the case of John Coffey and as the novel progresses, a supernatural element is revealed. Paul Edgecombe had a severe urinary track infection bothering him for over a week which made it painful for him to perform his job duties. One day when the pain almost overtakes Paul, John Coffey incessantly pleads for him to come into his cell. Paul knows it's against the rules to enter an inmate's cell ,but he ignores that thought out of his mind. Paul sits down on the bunk next to John and he quickly places his hand on top of Paul's crotch. Paul is obviously alarmed by John's sudden touch but he notices the pain decreasing the longer John's hand is there. John Coffey appears to be choking with his bulging eyes and pain etched onto his facial features. He then opens his mouth and a swarm of black insects come out and disappear in seconds. He asks the super if he helped with the pain and Paul is in shock. John Coffey just performed an astonishing talent and Paul had no idea how John knew about his UTI. 

King uses examples like these to express the genre of magical realism and supernatural elements to readers. He does it in a way that isn't too over the top or exaggerated because he wants people to believe that something of this nature could actually occur. It's very interesting to read about because it's so vivid and King does an amazing job of making it lifelike.

            Next, here’s Ben K. answering one of his essential questions:

To answer my essential question "Why are these buildings significant?", old buildings have a great deal of character and often a very rustic feel to them. They were put together like a puzzle rather than slapped together. They are far more thought out and sturdier than modern buildings of the same type.  They were built at a time when nails were very expensive because they all had to be hand made. Because of this, they were only used where absolutely necessary. You may think that there would still be many many nails needed, but only a handful are needed. There are ways to build without them that have existed longer then nails themselves have. The first and probably most obvious is the stone design. This has been around for thousands of years and has proved both sturdy and long lasting. This later developed into brick and mortar. Another way of building without nails is the log cabin. These can be made with either even tiers or alternating tiers. This means that on the corners the logs meet at the same level or they lie on top of each other respectively. For even tiered designs there must have a corner post or something  to connect the logs to. On the other hand alternating tier buildings require no posts and tend to be sturdier. There are countless ways to secure the logs in there place on the corner such as saddle notch where the wood is removed in an upside down U shape to fit the contour of the log beneath it. There is also a method called dovetail where the corner of the log is tapered inward so that the logs cannot slide off the end.

Beyond log cabins there are other ways to build more complex buildings without nails. Framed houses are made using similar techniques to the log cabins. Clever locking joints and wooden pegs are the main tools in the making of a framed house. They are made of mostly posts and beams that  must be put in place in a particular order so that each one locks the last in place. These joints are more solid than any nail. A 10"-10" oak beam has a lot more heft than the 2"-4"s of today. It is like the difference between opening a box of Legos, or customizing your own Legos.  

I also really enjoyed reading this entry about New England barns:

 Barns come in all shapes and sizes, and many are specific to there region. New England's barns are known to have distinct differences to the rest of the country. For example New England's barns were all connected to each other, to the house, and to any other buildings on the property as shown in this picture.

Buildings typically included  houses, barns, workshops, utilities, wood sheds, livestock pens, storage sheds, silos, corn cribs, garages, and other small buildings. The continuous architecture system was created and made popular because of the heavy snowfall in New England. A farmer could tend to an entire day's worth of chores without having to go outside into the snow. Including. collecting fire wood, milking cows, feeding pigs, and getting food for that nights dinner. This design most likely started as breezeways or when a farmer knocked down a wall to access his connected wood shed in the winter. The house was always on one end so that the farmer would not have to walk through the house therefore keeping it cleaner.

 

This barn is a great example of a connecting barn, but it is also an example of another classic New England barn feature, the roof. When it is bent in the middle like this it is called a gambrel roof. they are designed so that there is more room for storing hay than a traditional peaked roof, but it still sheds snow well. As we know here at Pentucket a flat roof could leak or even cave in from the weight of the snow.

Ben's a really active kid, and I can see him pursuing building as a career.  If he does, I hope he'll have a hand in the preservation of some of these historic buildings.  That would ba a really need segue from this quarter's reading!

            So, there we are in the midst of third quarter.  Lots of snow still and end of winter colds and flus.  I’m excited for spring but not for this class to end.  It’s still the most interesting one I’m teaching this year, and I really love reading all of the blogs and seeing the kids hard at work (and learning so much!) every day. 

CJF

Midterm Project Success Stories

It’s been a strange few weeks here at Pentucket, as we have only been in school for five of the last fifteen school days, then we had February vacation, so I don’t have much to report regarding third quarter.  I hope to post students’ new topics and perhaps an example from a new blog next week.  For now, I thought I’d take a bit of time to reflect on some of the outstanding projects that students produced for their midterm.  If you’ve been reading the blog, you saw the assignment in my previous post.  Last year I assigned a similar project to my College Preparation American Literature classes, so many of these students had grappled with a similar assignment before.  I enjoyed what they came up with last year, and many of the students did their best work.  However, understandably, the investment wasn’t as high in that situation as it was simply one project, based on any book that they wanted.  Because of the nature of Topics in Literature and that these students have spent an entire quarter studying something about which they feel genuine passion, I had higher expectations for these projects, and the students did, too!

            So, here are some highlights.

            After studying J.R.R. Tolkien for a quarter, Eric decided that he wanted to create a “hobbit hole.”  He got permission from his parents to refurbish a room in his house, and the results were dramatic!  Here he is talking about his project.  I’ve also included a couple pictures that he uploaded to his blog.

Before I elaborate into the blueprints of the space, I would like to explain the motivation behind the entire mission.  Why on earth would I build a hobbit-hole?  Will I gain anything out of this?  Is this idea completely ridiculous?  All of these are questions I asked myself when the thought of building a hobbit-hole traversed my mind, but I knew that the task would prove to be meaningful.  My fascination with hobbits is not entirely based on cinematic obsession, but rather the lifestyle of the Tolkien-created hobbits themselves.  In both the movies and the books, the most peaceful, content creatures to exist are hobbits. I have always admired the simple-mindedness of the halflings because I believe wisdom resides in simplicity.  As I appreciate the lifestyle of hobbits, so does their creator. While discussing the content of his books to an interviewer, J.R.R. Tolkien said, “I am in fact a Hobbit in all but size.  I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats.  I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humor (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome; I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much.”  The lifestyle of hobbits is not impracticable.  Rather, it is completely attainable.  I desire the simplicity of Hobbits.  What does one need more than good nourishment, a quaint home, and friendly merriment? I desired a place that would include all the joys of living and at the same time be absent of wealth and opulence.  Inevitably, I asked myself, “why not create this dream and bring it to life?” Now that I have completed construction, I have no regrets.

 

I know several people who have been on Eric’s blog and been absolutely astounded by his work.  What a cool idea, and how great that his parents were in on it as well! That’s the kind of thing I hope will happen more and more.

            Next, Jess decided, unsurprisingly, to create a painting in homage to one of the artists that she studied first quarter.   Here’s part of what she had to say about it and the final version of the piece.

           

            For my midterm project, which requires 8-10 hours of work on something relating to my topic, I chose to make a painting.  Because one of Frida Kahlo’s biggest values was individual expression, I made a mixed media piece that allows for just that.  The piece is a square canvas featuring a bust in the center and two small books on either side.  The bust’s face is obscured by mirror fragments, but the simple features are recognizably Frida’s.  I was intending for the viewer to look at the piece and see themselves alongside the famous artist because Frida valued her art just as much as everyone else’s.  This piece translates one of Frida’s self-portraits into a universal “self-portrait” that the viewer can relate to.

           

I think that Frida would have been happy with this piece if I showed it to her.  Since she valued individuality so much, she would have enjoyed the meaning behind this work, found not only in the attachment that other people have to the symbols but the attachment I have with the painting itself.  I spent a lot of time on this, and although it’s certainly not my finest piece, I enjoyed working on it and I hope that this will lead into a further understanding of other artists’ work.

I really hope that Jess becomes an art teacher.  What great experimentation, and how inspiring for her future students that she was willing to take such a risk!

            Lastly, I want to highlight Mike’s project.  Like Eric and Jess, Mike was also in one of my classes last year, the first class that I introduced to this project.  I’m sure he’ll admit that he has not been reaching his true potential in that class until that point.  However, the project really turned something around for him.  Mike’s project on organic food was the best work that he did for me and some of the best work in the class.  I designed Topics in Literature with him, and students like him, in mind, and I’m so happy I did.  Here’s the quote from The Last American Man that inspired Mike’s project, and here’s what he decided to do.

            “I lived in nature where everything is connected, circular.  The seasons are circular.  The planet is circular, and so is the planet around the sun.  The course of water over the earth is circular coming down from the sky and circulating through the world to spread life and then evaporating up again.  I live in a circular teepee and build my fire in a circle.  The life cycles of plants and animals are circular.  I live outside where I can see this.  The ancient people understood that our world is a circle, but we modern people have lost sight of that.  I don’t live inside buildings because buildings are dead places where nothing grows, where water doesn’t flow, and where life stops.  I don’t want to live in a dead place.  People say that I don’t live in a real world, but its modern Americans who live in a fake world, because they have stepped outside the natural circle of life.  Do people live in circles today? No. They live in boxes.  They wake up every morning in a box of their bedrooms because a box next to them started making beeping noises to tell them it was time to get up.  They eat their breakfast out of a box and then they throw that box away into another box.  Then they leave the box where they live and get into another box with wheels and drive to work, sitting and staring at the computer boxes in front of them. When the day is over, everyone gets into the box with wheels again and goes home to the house boxes and spends the evening staring at the television boxes for entertainment.  They get their music from a box, they get their food from a box, they keep their clothing in a box, they live their lives in a box.”

            For my midterm project this year, I used my second quarter topic of nature and transcendentalism, as I felt I could really do something unusually cool with it.  I learned a lot about nature and the connection to it many of us in today’s world lack.  It really was an eye opening experience being able to read many books written or based on men who explain to us not only their personal connection with nature, yet how we can further develop ours…

            This was certainly a new angle to look at while thinking about modern society and how we spend our time.  We are all buried in our phone, computers, and TVs, and so this was the first motivator for my project.  I knew that I wanted to do something outside,, independent of technology, and to do with my hands.  I figured a teepee would be too simple so I decided to build a sort of circular tree house, and spend hours on it outside.  In order to do this I first put my phone away, grabbed an old radio and found a tree with my dad.  We figured we would need around 10 2X4s, some plywood for the base, metal joints for support, and a couple boxes of screws. Once we had started by joining the 2X4s to the tree for initial support, the rest of it was actually enjoyable.  It took around a weekend to complete, 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday.  What I didn’t expect to have happen from the project was too actually enjoy building it however. Listening to some country music and just talking to my dad had been something that really made this project for me.  It was amazing to just be able to put all stresses to the side for a little and have some fun, making jokes, and just spending time with my dad, which I don’t get to do too often anymore with sports and school in way.  Before I started the action for this project, I knew it was going to be cool, but I didn’t know exactly where I was taking it or in what ways I was going to connect it to nature and my topic.  This was really neat because it ended up with me realizing exactly what the quote meant, and more so experiencing it than analyzing it as I have done this year on blogger.  Being able to just hangout, enjoy the crisp weather with a cup of coffee, and relax while working on this project is something that I believe Eustace would see as a step in the right direction for me.  In the end, I feel the project ended up being less about the tree house and more about me connecting and experiencing nature in a way I hadn’t been able to before.  I would consider this a complete success, where my tree house not only ended up working out, but there was a deeper lesson learned in working on it.  Over this quarter it has become more and more apparent that everyone gets caught up in the everyday stresses of life.  Eustace often goes back to speak about past times, years ago when all we needed was basics to survive and be happy.  After putting technology away and basically having fun hanging out with my dad, I completely understand what he had meant by this.  I feel that this also can relate to a psych class I took last semester.  Many people resort to medication and therapy, in which they pay for, and further more go on to sit in another box (dead object) in order to deal with their problems.  I really believe that these “man-made/discovered” options can be easily avoided and replaced with something different.  If people could see what losing yourself in beautiful weather, nature, and a stress-free environment can do for our minds, bodies, and overall well-being, I think that this could be absolutely revolutionizing and positive.  Unfortunately, this may be seen as too “time-consuming,” which really is sad because nature and our natural connection to it from birth has so much more to offer to our well-being than meets the eye.

            Mike is a sweet kid who is just starting to grow into his potential.  I honestly loved not just his project but his reflection on it.  Seeing him talk about his dad and his experience in nature made me proud to be his teacher and excited to see what kinds of connections he will make in the coming semester.

I can’t highlight all of the projects here, but suffice it to say that there were many, many cool ones.  Students interviewed veterans, went on hunts for local, historical landmarks, job shadowed, and wrote fiction.  They considered aspects of their lifestyles that they might want to change, and they were engaged and articulate.  I’m so happy that they threw themselves into these projects in the way that they did.  As I quoted E.M. Forster in my first ever post for this class, “One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.”

More from third quarter next week! J

                                                                                                CJF

Mid-Year Project

            Because of the holidays, 2^nd quarter always seems to fly by!  That’s why, despite that it feels we only recently chose our topics for this quarter, we need to start thinking about our midterm.  Therefore, last week I presented my idea to the class.  Rather than taking a test (impossible with nineteen individualized subjects) or writing a traditional essay about their work during the midterm block set aside for their class, the students are going to work on developing, implementing, and then reflecting on a personal project related to their reading.  As I said, we began brainstorming and completing the initial planning phases last week, so I already know, for instance, that Eric is planning to create a “Hobbit Hole,” and John-Luc is going to take contemporary photographs of local sites of historic significance and compare and contrast them to their original states.  Jess is going to paint a portrait half in the style of van Gogh and the other half in Kahlo’s style, and Mike is going to build an octagonal tree house!  I can’t wait!  The project guidelines are below.  After we finish, I’ll send an update on anything that we plan to adjust for the spring project. 

 Mid-Year Project

Due by 7:30 am on Tuesday, January 20th

            Because this is not a traditional English class, we are not going to take a traditional midterm.  Instead of coming in for a long test for which you have (hopefully!) studied ahead of time, you are going to plan for, complete, and blog about a project of your choice.  This project should be based around an interest that arose during your reading for the semester, ideally second quarter since that will be freshest in your mind.  We will spend approximately five hours of class time on this project.  The rest must be done on your own.  Everything that you do in relation to this project (research, planning, execution, and reflection) must be posted in your final blog of the semester, by 7:30 am on Tuesday, January 20^th.  Please take this blog post extra seriously, as it is the representation of a project that counts for 10% of your yearly grade.  This means that you should write an outline and an initial draft, then self-edit and additionally have someone else look it over before you post a final version for me (and any other viewers) to read. 

             

Guidelines:

There are three stages to the project:  research/planning, action, and reflection.

Between these three elements, your project will take approximately 20 hours.

Requirements:

1.      The project must justifiably relate to one of your quarter topics, ideally 2^nd quarter. 

2.      Evidence of research, planning.

3.      At least ten hours where you take action and do something.  Action must be recorded in written testimonials from other people, photographs, or videos.

4.      Reflection/Blog Post (1,000 words):  This reflection should first lay out what you set out to do and why.  Feel free to post excerpts from your planning and link in articles that relate to your topic or goals.  Next, explain not just your project but the results, the way that it affected you (or didn’t), and its connection to your reading.  You may also discuss any challenges that you faced in completing your project.

Because this assignment takes the place of your midterm, it is worth 10% of your grade for the year.  That means that if you get a zero on it, your grade will go down 10 points.  You have more than a month to complete it, including a week and a half of vacation, so please make sure that you complete it to the best of your ability.

            I hope that it will be a great experience for all of us.  I’m really looking forward to seeing what you come up with and especially for witnessing how choosing your own topics to study has affected you both personally and intellectually.  Whatever we learn from this experience, we will apply to a final spring project.

Good luck! J

            I recently finished my two latest books where childhood is a major motif: All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr and The Interestings, by Meg Wolitzer.  The “children” in these books are closer to teenagers, but they initially seem as innocent as much younger children.  So, what’s my project for the quarter?  Mostly grading theirs, if I’m being honest, though weekends of overnight babysitting for my three nieces and baby nephew, all six and under, should count for something, too!

                                                                                                            Happy Holidays,

                                                                                                                                    CJF