Foot - Smart Boards: Benefits and How To

I took Educational Technology 3 years ago and we only used the Smart Board once, so I'm a little bit hazy on the how to of the Smart Board. I thought I might blog about it and perhaps help others while I help myself.

Here is a study giving an introduction about Smart Boards in education, how to engage students with a Smart Board, how to use a Smart Board for the benefits of students with special needs and a teacher preparation guide.

Here is a YouTube tutorial on how to use a Smart Board:

And here is an article giving the pros and cons of Smart Boards.

Even if this blog doesn't help now, it may be useful to safe the links and use them for future reference. Hope it helps!

Foot Pleasure Reading - "Atlas Shrugged" Shrugged Off by Hollywood?

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is a classic tale of the strangling grip of big government, the power of capitalism, and the undying vision of entrepreneurs. This book asks the haunting question, "Who is John Galt"? and if you don't feel like reading this 1069 page novel to perhaps find the answer you can watch the movie...or can you?

Though Atlas Shrugged Part One is playing in theaters now, not very long ago it was almost stopped in its tracks by unwillingness from Big Hollywood to produce the movie. In the link below John Stossel and Sean Hannity speak about the movie's message and the reason behind it almost not being made. This is from Fox News so those of you of a more liberal persuasion will probably disagree with a few of the points, but it's worth watching.

John Stossel: Why Did Hollywood Resist Atlas Shrugged Film

Here is another link to Atlas Shrugged Part One the trailer. Check it out and also check out local listings for movie times and decide what you think of the movie's message for yourself!

Foot - End of the Semester Reflection

The multi-module forms I would like to incorporate into my classroom are the multi-genre autobiography, a blog, story boards, wikis, especially Canotical Text wikis, graphic novels, video games, and of course good ole fashion books.

• I believe the multi-genre autobiography is an excellent way to get to know my students and to gauge their interests. This activity could be done at the beginning of the year and another option is to repeat the activity but have students only cover the year they've been in school. This way the students and myself could see what's changed and if the students grown.

• Blogs are fantastic for group discussions about literature, films, just about any subject imaginable. It is also an avenue to allow students to express their opinions in a safe environment and it teaches how to communicate effectively and respectfully. Blogs can also encourage and help develop critical and analytical thinking.

• I love the story boards for a group activity. It's fun, interactive, requires team work, and it allows students to break up a scene from a book and better understand it.

• The Canotical Text wikis are great! Giving students to power to choose how they can be taught the classics or rather how they can learn them it a wonderful idea. It will give students an opportunity to broaden their understanding of the text and it will introduce them to multi-module learning opportunities.

• Graphic novels of classics or just graphic novels are interesting, textually different from other texts, visually exciting and more "modern". Graphic novels are very popular in teen culture and incorporating them into the classroom is an excellent way to grab students attention.

• Video games in the classroom is a fun, but I fear risky idea in the classroom. I like the idea and the principle behind the idea is sound; but I just don't want my classroom to become a playroom. Education is fun and used in the right way video games can enhance that.

All of the above list can be used to enhance communication. Students either must communicate with each other to complete the assignment, such as in a blog or making a story board, or topics of conversation will crop up such as in the use of wikis and graphic novels. Video games can even enhance communication as students help each other through the game and the activities that are spawned from the game.

Reviewing my blog it seems I am more willing to include pictures and links in my postings. This could reflect my growing appreciation of and skills in technology.

Overall this class was very enjoyable and useful. I am excited about the technology available to us in the educational sphere. It is truly amazing the lessons we can teach through the many multi-module texts available and those yet to come.

Foot - Comparing Naruto The First Test and Pinocchio Vampire Slayer

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and Naruto Volume 1 The First Test were interesting books with

similarities and difference. The biggest being I hated Naruto and actually enjoyed

Pinocchio. But, setting my personal preferences aside, and looking at the technical similarities and differences helped deepen my understand

ing of graphic novels.

Text and Dialogue:

The text and dialogue of the texts were different in that Pinocchio is told from Pinocchio's point of view - he's in almost every single panel and page. Naruto, on the other hand, doesn't necessarily have to be in every frame in order to move the story along. Both story lines are moved along by conversation.

The lettering or font in both texts vary according to what action is occurring, but Pinocchio is definitely more regimented. In Naruto there are many sound effects and the text changes drastically from the conversations to the sound effect.

Naruto had many more emanata's than Pinocchio. Explanation points inside balloon texts seemed the most common.

The most obvious difference in the books was that Pinocchio can be read in the tradit

ion way: front to back, right to left. Naruto takes an interesting spin and you read back to front, right to left. You do move down the page in both texts. I got really confused when I first started Naruto, but as I continued it became easier and easier to follow along and I eventually liked it. This page demonstrates reading from top right to left to the bottom of the page.

Visual Features:

Both books were drawn in black and white. I would have liked to have seen more color in Naruto. But with Pinocchio, which had a much darker theme with the vampires and Gepetto killing Master Cherry and all, so the black and white worked well. The characters were drawn differently - in Pinocchio the characters eyes are almost always totally white and not that the pictures lack emotion but it looks more like sketches. In Naruto the characters are more life like, if not slightly exaggerated. For example when Master Iruka is yelling at Naruto his head gets ginormous. Below is an example of how the darkness works in Pinocchio:

The scenery in both books was set in the village and in the woods. The differences were in how the scenery was drawn and Pinocchio is set in Italy and Naruto is set in Asia. I liked the way Pinocchio's scenery was drawn because it was easier to follow than Naruto. I felt like sometimes there was too much going on in Naruto panels.

Objects were present in both texts. In Pinocchio, like the original novel, Pinocchio's nose is an object of power. Pinocchio uses his nose to kill the vampires and it also acts as a lie detector. In Naruto, for example two objects were significant; his graduation head band and the sacred scroll Naruto stole.

The general layout and design:

The general layout and design of the graphic novels was similar in that there is a mix of bordered panels (the borders were thin black lines in rectangular boxes) and the gutters were about same size. There is a mix of open panels and splash panels throughout the story. My favorite panels were those that were open panels and splash panels because they were like a visual "Bam!".

Angels and Frames:

Both texts have close-ups, head-shots, full-figure shots, and extreme long-shots.

These panels demonstrate full-figure, close-ups, and head shots.

Rhetorical technique:

Both Naruto and Pinocchio have themes of growing up, being lonely, struggling to fit in, and discovering their true purpose.

Neither Naruto nor Pinocchio have parents and they have to make their own way in life even though their villages don't support them and the are outcasts. Both Naruto and Pinocchio have father figures in their lives: Master Cherry in Pinocchio and Master Iruka in Naruto. Both stories are full of action and the complexity of each character finding a quest and purpose for their lives provides an element of classical literature in these modern graphic novels.

Foot - Pleasure Reading - Sookie Stackhouse Series

I'm probably the last person on earth to do it, but I've finally discovered Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse Series. I was looking through my personal library and happened upon the first Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead Until Dark, which I'd started once but hadn't really gotten into. I decided to give it another try and 6 days later I'm on the 4th book of the series!

The HBO series TrueBlood is based off these books and I haven't seen the show yet but the books are so much fun. A link to a website called Fabulous Fiction shows all of Charlaine Harris' books including the Sookie Stackhouse series.

I'm not a Twilight fan, but these vampire books are really fantastic, fun, entertaining, and well-written. I just finished the third book, Club Dead, and I can't wait to move on to the next book!

Foot- Pleasure Reading - Teacher Movie Marathon!

Dangerous Minds

Michelle Pfeiffer is excellent as real-life former marine Louanne Johnson. Teaching English in a tough inne

r-city school, she reaches the "unteachable" through caring and understanding. Very true-to-life, Dangerous Minds does not fall into sentimentality but instead teaches us of the importance of making our own choices and not allowing circumstances to rule us.

Lean on Me

Morgan Freeman plays Joe Clark, the real-life bat-wielding Principal whose goal was to bring discipline and learning to Eastside High School in New York. While he was not always the easiest on the teachers, it would sure be nice if more Principals stressed the importance of discipline and learning in their schools as he did. This film shows the importance of having strong leadership at the top.

To Sir, With Love

Produced in 1967, this film with Sidney Poitier as a novice teacher has a lot to teach us today. Poitier takes a teaching position in the rough part of

London in order to pay his bills. Realizing that his students need to be taught important life lessons more than the curriculum he has been handed to teach them, he throws out the lesson plans and makes a real impact on their personal lives.

Dead Poet's Society

Robin Williams gives an awesome performance as an unconventional English teacher in a very conventional (read conservative) private school. His love of poetry and his inspiring teaching methods have a great impact on his students. The central message of the movie, to live life to the fullest everyday, is not lost. Further, Williams' poetry recitations are awe-inspiring.

Freedom Writers

Hilary Swank plays real life teacher Erin Gruwell who takes on freshman English at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. The school is racially diverse but not well integrated, with students sticking to their own ethnic groups. Gruwell proves to be naïve and out of her element yet her dedication to finding a way to reach these troubled kids is truly inspirational and moving. In real life, a number of Gruwell's students have themselves turned to teaching because of her.

Foot - Film Festival Film Review

Before I discuss my personal response to the film or the any of the other questions from Costanzo here is the Cleveland Film Festival's synopsis of The Children of Chabannes,

"The 1999 Emmy Award-winning documentary from notable director Lisa Gossels, THE CHILDREN OF CHABANNES tells the story of the over 400 Jewish children who fled to France from 1939-1943 to avoid Nazi concentration camps. As World War II began, many parents made the excruciatingly difficult decision to separate from their children in order to save them. Some of those children lucky enough to escape Germany were shipped off to the Château de Chabannes, a public school and dormitory located in an insulated region of rural France and created to house and educate orphaned and displaced Jewish children. The school was established by a man named Félix Chevrier. He was joined by a handful of remarkably brave and selfless educators who gave these abandoned children, most of whom never saw their parents again, a chance to grow up. But as the Nazis advanced, World War II inevitably reached the doorsteps of the Château in 1942, causing the teachers to risk their own lives in order to keep the children from being deported to death camps. Told through interviews with surviving teachers and students of Chabannes, including Gossels' father who attended the school, THE CHILDREN OF CHABANNES is a celebration of humanity and courage during one of the most tragic periods of our history. (In French and English with subtitles) – M.M."

Personal Issues: I have always been interested in the Holocaust and I believe it's vitally important to remember and honor Holocaust victims and survivors and to educate as many people as possible about the horrors and the bravery of that time in our history. The Children of Chabannes struck a really emotional chord in me because not only was it about Holocaust victims but it was about children. The innocence of children should never be exposed to the horrors of this world, but during the Holocaust Jewish children were subjected to racism, humiliation, separation from their families, and death. This subject matter is extremely powerful and so it was very emotionally touching. I definitely feel like other viewers were stuck emotionally by the film because many people around me were crying during the film. Another aspect that I loved about this film was that the "saviors" of these children were teachers! The refuge of Chateau Chabannes was a school and the brave warriors that helped protect the children were teachers. Two sisters, Irene and Renee Paillasou, taught the children valuable lessons not only in the classroom but throughout everyday life. Theirsand the other teachers at Chabannes are truly inspiring.

Technique: The movie was a documentary so there were some great photographs of the children and workers of the Chateau Chabannes. The film was shot in France and so there is an abundance of gorgeous scenery. The music was quant and in my limited experience or knowledge about France, very "French" sounding. The shots involving the schools founder, Félix Chevrier, who was portrayed by an actor, were interesting in that while he walked in the woods, a daily habit of his, is showed only his feet and legs or a blurry glance of his upper half. I'm not sure about the reasoning behind this, but I found it interesting. The narrator was the film maker, Lisa Gossels, and I hated her voice. It was annoying and it took away from the film's content.

Acting: This was a true documentary so most of the "actors" were not actors at all but the actual people who experienced the story.

Plot: I already laid out the plot above, so please re-read that section if there are any questions about the plot. This question asks how "compelling" I found the plot. Well, for the entire film I was completely enthralled. I loved the story and

thought it was wonderfully developed.

Themes: The major issues or themes of the film were hope, courage, heroism, cruelty, learning from the past, the power of kindness, tolerance, and racism. The plot was straightforward but the beautiful themes of the story, courage in spite of incredible opposition and the resilience of the human spirit, were interwoven throughout the entire telling of this incredible story.

Genre: This film falls under the genre of historical documentary. I think this type of film is and has been popular because the lessons of the past are always worth learning. Documentaries, when they are well done, and be excellent learning tool for any classroom, but especially English. I believe literature and history go hand in hand and many historical events, such as the Holocaust, can be better understood though teaching books such as The Diary of Anne Frank or The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reis.

Representation: This film represents the French teachers and workers at the Chateau Chabannes, the French villagers, and the Jewish children. The French teachers and workers are strong, practical, sacrificing, hard working, and selfless. The French villagers are simple, kind, hard working, and set in their ways. The Jewish children are smart, mature, war wearied and worn, and most of all they are simply children. The reasons for these representations are that the teachers and workers gave all they had to help the Jewish people; the French Villagers are seen farming and mulling around their tiny town; and the children are seen leaving their parents behind, running and hiding and enduring extreme hardship, and laughing and playing and enjoying life despite all of its adversity.

Ideology: The idea of tolerance was strong throughout the film. The historical message that the Nazis were part of a horrific genocide was obviously present.

Here are few interesting websites about the film!

Open Letter form Pierre Sauvage to Lisa Gossels, producer of the 2000 documentary The Children of Chabannes

The Children of Chabbanes Movie Trailer

Facing History in Ourselves: The Children of Chabannes