My Blog

Dear Reader

sbwalker — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:45:49 +0000

Dear Reader,

As you enter this blog and its contents, you will see my personal reflections, reactions and responses to twelve young adult pieces of literature read as a part of my course work for a master’s in reading. The titles of each book are on the left side of the blog page. You can explore each book by clicking on the title and seeing my thoughts and project pieces for each title. Or you can peruse the blog in date order and see my chronological journey as I interacted with this patchwork of texts. Additionally, as I reflected on the books I had thoughts about how to use teaching methods or particular genre pieces and those entries are categorized as journals. You can read those all at once by clicking on the journal link to the right of the blog or you can read them with the individual text titles as is your choice.

I have included a variety of genre forms including technology, my own attempts to illustrate words in pictures and my favorite form of expression—poetry. I hope you will enjoy my thoughts in this medium in whichever way you choose to read them.

Happy Reading,

Bethany Walker

Hunger Games–Movie Poster

sbwalker — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:35:08 +0000

As I considered the imagery of this book, there were several places where I wondered if the author had not taken Biblical imagery to enhance the survival intrigue. The illusions to the “Bread of Life” coming from each tribe (12 tribes) made me think of the Biblical image. The poster incorporates the complex relationship of the participants in the arrows, the bread that they all seek and that represent each district and the conflict between the capital and the districts.

Sunrise Over Fallujah–Movie Trailer

sbwalker — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:37:44 +0000

Click link below to view Sunrise Over Fallujah movie trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ7clJyzdhs

Identical–Roles and POV

sbwalker — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:40:13 +0000

How do people perceive me?

I am

a teacher

organized

never let others down

responsible

passionate

I hold myself and others to high standards

I have a variety of intense roles. I am . . .

wife–partner, supporter, encourager, nurturer, passionate, practical

teacher–competent, organized, visionary, learner

friend–encourager, consisten, thoughtful, caring

mom–cheerleader, caregiver, creative, snuggly, reader, game player, practicioner

daughter–responsible, caregiver, consistent, gentle, companion

Reflection on the Multigenre project

sbwalker — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:19:52 +0000

I have really enjoyed the work of this project. It matches my personality as it is done in small pieces over time. When I read a book, I am totally consumed, but then when I move on to something new the consumption is in the new. I find it hard even now to remember the depth of the emotion I experienced in each book eventhough I read each book and every page. I enjoyed the multigenre process because I could respond to each book as I was reading it or as we were discussing it as a class. I could interact with the text in an intense way and then move on.

Tonight as I have reread all of the posts I have made in this project, I am surprised in the rereading of many of the entries. The experience I had when writing each assignment was intimate and unique, yet I had forgotten some of the detail until rereading the blog entries again. The patchwork of the different genres, the intergration of technology, poetry, art and word are a powerful presentation to culminate our work this semester.

As I read the syllabus for this class and came to better understand the purpose of this multigenre project, I decided that I wanted to try technology that I am working to use more with my own students. I felt that it would be the best way to futher my growth as a practicing teacher. I feel much more confident with blogging, using wikis, using voicethread and making digital stories as a result of using the technology for this project.

There are three projects that I did not complete right away as I was reading the book–the movie poster, the movie trailer and one on Identical (any genre). As a result of not doing it immediately, I lost some of the intensity of those stories as I prepared my piece in those genres and as a result, I don’t feel they are the best I could have done. I put off the movie poster because I don’t see myself as an artist and to make art on the computer was daunting to me. In the end I drew it by hand and then recreated it electronically, but I would have prefered a different genre to express my reactions to Hunger Games. The words I recorded to plan the poster were more meaningful to me than the poster itself. For Identical, I think I put it off because the book was so difficult for me. In the end, I used my notes and reflections as the project for this piece. Identical shook me.

I like the flexibility of using the blog to organize the multigenre project. It allows the reader to see the pieces by book title or to read the journals related to that book title or all together as journals about my learning process or ideas. It also is a format capable of holding all of the types of technology in one organized place with easy access to the reader. As an added bonus it records time by showing the posting date of each item. I think that in an interesting addition to the format. I am very pleased with the final product. Thank you for the opportunity.

Bethany

Reflection on lesson plan for Papertowns

sbwalker — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:11:55 +0000

The preparation for this lesson went much more smoothly than the first lesson planning. I don’t think it was due to the difficulty of the assignment or the person I was working with each time, but my ease of the use of skype has helped me to feel more confident with the technology. I got the idea for using voicethread while using it with my students in an extension class and I thought it would be a good tool to introduce to the class. Additionally, it is a unique way to express book recommendations.

Stephanie and I planned well together and the lesson went well, but it is very hard to not have one of the presenters in the room. The feedback is very delayed in terms of reading faces and also Stephanie and I could not see each other. That was the most complicating part of the preparation for the lesson.

The Book Thief–Journal

sbwalker — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:02:29 +0000

The idea of relating color to a day or an event really connected to me. As I think back to pivotal moments and events in my life. The death of a friend, grandparents and now the process of losing my mom, moving overseas, the birth of a child–color represents mood beyond a picture.

I found the process of writing about an event in our lives related to color a powerful way to process and relate to this book. There are so many colors in the book, not just related to death and dying, but to sadness and cold, delight and laughter–even the color of pea soup.

The Book Thief–Reflection poem

sbwalker — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:49:27 +0000

Dedicated to Linda M. Lowrey

My mother who is losing her battle to alzheimers disease with onset in her early 50′s.

The Color of Life in Death

Purple and red

The celebration of

Joy

Life

Slowly diminish.

At first we noticed the fuzziness

Then the anxiety

The diagnosis–heaviness

The slow losing of the soul–

Body last

First the mind and memory

The slow loss of self

Awareness

Belonging

Where is death watching as she dies?

What color will be left?

As she meets her whole self in death

The color of youth

Of wholeness

By: Bethany Walker

Lesson Plan for Voice Thread

sbwalker — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:03:40 +0000

Adolescent Literature

Spring 2009

Stephanie Meadows and Bethany Walker

April 8, 2009

Lesson Plan

Audience: High School literature students

Materials:

Computer with internet access (1-2 students per machine)
External microphone if needed
The Book: Paper Towns by John Green
www.Voicethread.com

Minilesson: 2-3 minutes (minilesson and example sharing)

(LEARN Lesson Plan Format) Link, engage and active learning, reflection, Next steps)

Minilesson Statement: Readers recommend books they enjoy to other readers and listen to book recommendations to get a reader’s perspective on a text.

Intro: Explanation of the book recommendations on VoiceThread.

Link: Students listen to the book recommendations on Paper Towns from the Voice Thread site.

Engagement/Active Learning: Transition from the grad class being students who are being introduced to a book they are about to read to students who have now finished the book and have been asked to leave a book recommendation on the voicethread site.

1. Register for voicethread.com. Step by step.

2. 3-5 minutes to write your book recommendation.

3. Upload a picture of themselves or find one on the internet to represent their voice.

4. Practice recording and or typing a “comment” or book recommendation and posting to the site.

5. A few students will be asked to share their comments posted on the website with the class.

Reflection and Next steps: How do you see this tool being used in your classroom?

Lesson Assessment: Assessment will be completed through peer feedback and criticism.

VoiceThread–Paper Towns

sbwalker — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:00:51 +0000

This voicethread was created to host book recommendations for Paper Towns. Please click on the link below to view the voicethread. If you are not a member of voicethread, please register. Comments are welcome.

http://voicethread.com/share/427425/