Blogging Around

I read Kate H's blog in which she discussed how her writing changed throughout the year. At first she put a lot of time and effort into crafting her blog but as the year progressed she treated it more like a journal. I commented the following:

It was interesting to read your blog post and I agree with a lot of what you said. For me, however, blogging still takes a long time and I put a lot of effort and energy into the form and content of my blogs. I've had teachers from across the country read my blog (specifically about collaboration) so I think you would be surprised by the broad audience that exceeds just our English class!

Next, I read Alyssa's blog. In her post she talked about her struggles with blogging and the things that made the experience worth while. I commented the following:

Alyssa, I really enjoyed your post. I too often found myself in a mess of thoughts struggling to focus on something specific enough for a blog. I wrote one blog about the dialectic between the individual and the community and it ended up being super long because I could not concisely formulate my ideas. It happens to other people too! I also really love reading other people's blogs and I wish we did more of it. It's really interesting reading about other people's ideas and I'm glad these blogs are public.

Metacognition: Blogging

This year has been my first experience with blogging. I use this blog primarily for English class but also for chemistry. Both classes have really taken advantage of blogs to supplement the class. I think that my experience with blogging this year has been a positive one. I've found it refreshing to be able to share my ideas with anyone who is willing to read them. I like being able to organize and edit my thoughts before making them public for my peers and the world to see. In this day and age we leave behind a technological footprint and it's nice to know that my blog is part of that.

I think that blogging should continue next year and that students should have the opportunity to blog more freely at times. This year we were occasionally given the option to choose a prompt. I think it would also be nice to occasionally blog prompt-free as my chemistry class does. This allows the blog to become more personal and show a new side of the blogger.

However, one of my favorite prompts is the "Blogging Around" prompt. I think that, although it is great to write blogs, it's also wonderful to read what other people have to offer. In English it is interesting to read about the views of my peers on English-related topics. In chemistry I am able to read about an array of different things that my classmates have to share. 

I think that what can be most improved about this blogging experience is integrating it into class a bit more. It would be nice if we could discuss our blogs in class or have our ideas recognized when they correlate with what we're doing in class. This has occurred several times this year and I think it's been beneficial. For example, I know that in one of my blogs I pleaded for a collaborative assessment after we finished one of our books. It was extremely rewarding that this actually happened and that maybe my blog influenced this. Even if our ideas and opinions are not used, I think it would still be nice to have some sort of recognition.

One way that the above could be accomplished is if the teacher whose class we write blogs for commented on them. I know there are a lot of blogs for a lot of students but if every once in a while I received some feedback I would feel more validation for this experience. Until recently I didn't really feel like anyone willingly read my blog and that was rather discouraging. 

Overall, however, I think blogging has been very successful. Mr. Allen has often mentioned that the blogs have helped him get to know us in a unique, efficient way. In chemistry, they serve as a way to connect us and build our class community. I hope that as classes continue to blog they begin to integrate the blogs into class curriculum and thus use blogs to their full potential. 

Best of Week: Growth

This week while discussing The Life and Times of Michael K we reread a poem we had encountered earlier in the year. The poem is called "Stone" by Charles Simic. I remember reading the poem earlier and thinking nothing of it. It seemed like a simple, insignificant, pretty poem. I liked it but it was really nothing special. I felt that, with some thought, I could craft the same poem myself.

However, now that I've reread the poem, I see it rather differently. Because I have so recently read Coetzee's novel I found that a lot of the same themes were present in Simic's poem. There was no doubt in my mind that the poem itself had been inspired by the novel. Now when I read the poem I deeply appreciate it. I see a hundred little things I had skimmed over before. I find meaning in the rhythm and structure of the poem. 

This experience, although just a small in-class exercise, provided me with some profound insight. It is so great to see how much I have learned and grown this year. When I first read the poem I was so sure of myself. I was positive that I had seen into the rather empty core of the poem and that there was nothing for me to gain from such a simplistic, mediocre piece. 

This week I have learned a very valuable lesson. I've learned that, no matter how sure I am about something, there is still so much for me to learn and gain. I've realized that I shouldn't overlook simple things and assume that there is nothing for me to appreciate there. "Stone" and The Life and Times of Michael K have helped me to see that in simplicity there is often profound insight and I should keep my eyes open for it. 

I feel that this week I have felt what the goal of our first semester final was. We were supposed to explain how the texts we have read helped shape and change us throughout the year. I feel that, even more than in January, I have now truly seen and experienced my growth. "Stone" has served as a way for me to measure the shift in my thinking and I'm very proud of it.

Blogging Around

After reading several blogs, I chose to comment on a couple. 

I read Dylan's blog post about the Jane Eyre writing assignment. He wrote about his feelings while writing as well as the process and final result. Since I'm still a bit confused about the writing assignment I left the following comment:

I really enjoyed this post Dylan! Margot and I also worked with the same topic and I experienced similar feelings while writing and after completing the assignment. I feel it was very different from most writing we have done thus far in Academy. I think it's interesting that we all felt a bit weird about it and then, as a class, we ended up showing Mr. Allen that we still have plenty to learn. I feel like maybe we missed something about the aim of the assignment and therefore didn't execute it as well as we could have.

I then came across Emily's blog. I noticed one of her posts was about collaboration. As is exhibited in previous posts, I'm very interested in collaboration so I found it unique to read about her thoughts. She talked about how collaboration benefitted her on her Jane Eyre writing assignment. I commented the following:

Great post Emily. As you probably know, I have many thoughts on collaboration and I think you addressed some good points in your blog. I think that you approached collaboration in a different fashion than Margot and I did and I see that what you did was very beneficial. It's interesting to see how students from the same class working on the same assignment can collaborate in such a variety of ways and produce such a wide range of final products.

Metacognition: Short Stories

We finally finished our first full draft of our short stories. I'm pleasantly surprised with my ending. At first, I was completely dreading having to end my story. Similarly to my poem, I liked my beginning best and felt that it grew weaker and weaker as it continued. To my pleasant surprise, I think I found a good ending for my story! When Mr. Allen was talking about how our brain had been brewing our ending for a while; even if we were unaware of it, I must admit, I was pretty skeptical. I thought there was no way an ending would just come to me. I had about two or three predictable endings in mind, but as I was writing I hit an entirely new one!

Although I'm sure my story is far from perfect, it was exciting feeling like I succeeded, especially because I had been doubting myself for so long. I thought that, because everyone was stressing over endings, mine would be mediocre and dull. Even if it turns out to be pretty subpar, I personally like what I've done. However, I'm still happy to change it, continue the process, and see where things go.

Not only was my ending a surprise, but so was the middle, action-filled part of my story. For me, the easiest and most enjoyable part of writing is vivid descriptions. I found establishing my character at the beginning was a ton of fun for me and I got to play around with her personality and surroundings. However, I became frustrated with the section in which I needed to put pressure on my character. I didn't know how to make the situation sound genuine without losing the attention of the reader.

The middle, pressure point in my story has served as the most difficult obstacle. I don't think it's anywhere near done, but it is improving. When I read my story aloud I actually begin to feel the tension--which I think is a good sign.

I've always prided myself on being the type of person who thinks for themselves and doesn't follow the crowd. However, when it came to writing this short story, that's not how it happened. The negativity and anxiety of some of my peers towards writing an ending rubbed off on me and made me feel unsure of myself. This process has once again shown me that I'm not like everyone else and shouldn't let the views and perceptions of other people change me. If I didn't listen to my classmates complaints I likely would have had less trouble writing an ending and would have therefore been capable of contributing more time to working on my middle.

However, there is no benefit in speculation now. I have learned from this process and hopefully will carry these ideas forward and improve for the next experience like this whether it be through writing or any other process I undergo with my peers.

Metacognition: Jane Eyre Collaborative Transcript

I finally got my wish! In one of my previous blogs I explained why I felt that a collaborative assignment would be the best way to exhibit our understanding of a text read in class. To my surprise, that's exactly what happened with Jane Eyre! 

Our assignment was to create a transcript in which Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, and a fictional academy student had an insightful discussion. Margot and I worked together to create a transcript about love, a central theme in the novel.

What surprised me most was how many times we revised our work. I initially thought that the best way to go about this would be to outline it, cram in the required connections and quotes, and then spruce it up with some eloquent language. Hah, not at all. Although we started with an outline, we later realized that if we wanted to create a compelling, realistic, flowing discussion; that's how we should write it. So we scratched our outline and began by writing a pretty dull discussion.

However, looking back, this was a good move for the assignment. We were more likely to reach an insightful conclusion and realization if we were fleshing out the details before we reached the end. This somewhat reminded me of the short stories we are writing. Rather than creating the framework for the piece, we just jumped right in and wrote; even without knowing how it would all end.

This is a rather new concept for me, which I must admit I'm not crazy about. I'm a big fan of structure, planning, and knowing exactly where things are going. However, Margot brought up the idea of just writing it out. Not only did this turn out to be more efficient, but I think it also helped me look at this assignment through a new perspective. I was surprised at my drive to do this project even though I was unsure of where it was really going. This is one example of where collaboration really helped. I would have never been able to produce a high-quality transcript in such a manner if I had not collaborated with Margot.

This assignment has showed me that although I may perceive myself as an expert collaborator, I still have a lot of work left to do. I thought it was great that we created rules/expectations for collaboration. At first I looked at these rules as unnecessary and a bit of a pain, however they were truly helpful. I'm proud of the responsibility I took for my share of work and the way in which I collaborated. I think that, while I have adequate collaboration skills, more assignments like this are required in order to polish such a set of skills.

In the future I hope to try even more things out of my comfort zone. It isn't often that I do work far out of my comfort zone for school. Luckily, standard projects are simple and comfortable for me. However, I hope that next time I have an unconventional assignment I step even more out of my comfort zone. Whether that means less structured planning, or letting go of my controlling leadership role in a larger group assignment, I am eager to do so!

Change of Mind: Love

In class we watched Once before we began reading Jane Eyre. Since we've watched the movie I have purchased the soundtrack and have listened to it very often. Since I'm either listening to the music or singing it in my head, I've had a lot of time to think about the movie and its effects on me.

When we watched Once we made a list of many observations on the board. What struck me most was the ending of the movie. The guy and girl chose to go back to their significant others and lovers from the past rather than embarking on a new path with someone new. For the girl, this was logical because she had a child with the man. For the guy, played by Glen Hansard, he had love and desire left for his ex girlfriend whom he wrote his music for. So in the end they both did what was "logical".

Hopefully whomever is reading this is as dumbfounded by this as I am. Love, logical? Since when? I understand that some reading this will likely claim I know nothing of love, but be as it may, I never saw love as logical. Classics like Romeo and Juliet are full of love, passion, and rash decisions. Countless other examples in pop culture have portrayed love as reckless and far from logical.

But something about Once made it real. I felt like it was a documentary of sorts where the audience was looking in on lives unfolding. This is where my change of mind occurred. I had always thought, as many do, that love is head over heels, irrational, and overwhelming. While this holds true at times and for certain individuals, this was not the case in Once.

I think that the movie showed the viewer that sometimes what feels "right" isn't always the easy, convenient thing to do. It showed us that in reality, not everyone is heroic and courageous enough to take the leap of faith into the unknown abyss. Sometimes people make the sacrifice to go back to what is familiar rather than taking the risk of ruining everything for something new. 

I think in one sense, it's heart breaking that people can turn away from love. But I understand that and it's not that Once has so much changed my mind, but it has more so opened it. However, sad as the cowardice and caution of the human spirit may be, it's comfortable to know that even when deep emotions are stirring we still have the ability to remain logical and look out for our best interests.

Dialectics: Community and Individual

Throughout history there has been conflict. There have been periods of strong individuals changing things, and there have been times where people have united to make a difference. There are also conflicting views, like socialism and capitalism for the economy. Communism, although arguably impractical and too idealistic, is when the community works for the good of one another. Capitalism caters more to competition and the individual working to better their own specific rank.

On a grand scale, the struggle between individualistic philosophy and that of working for the community is everywhere. There are plenty of examples throughout time and even today where the struggle continues. For me personally, I have come across it often. Lately, I have felt torn because of this struggle that everyone faces.

In my chemistry class, there is a huge emphasis on community. If everyone contributed to the class, the workload would be minimal. However, many people choose to leave it to several students to get the work done. These responsible individuals are left to do more work than is expected, required, and reasonable for them to do. 

When working for the school newspaper community plays a huge role as well. The first day of school we did an activity where we hit one domino and the rest fell down. This symbolized exactly how the paper worked. If one person missed just one deadline, the results could be, and often have been, catastrophic. Everyone needs to contribute their share to help each other out and reach a common goal.

I also started playing lacrosse in high school. I'd always heard about the importance of teamwork in sports, but until recently I was never a part of something like that. I played goalie and saw exactly what it took for us to win. I saw that, alone, there was no way I could save that many shots. However, with the help of the defenders, our team really improved. They helped me and gave their all, and therefore our team won.

However, although many events and experiences have encouraged that sense of community, many others have counteracted that. 

For example, in pretty much all of my classes the bulk of my grade is based on test performance. In many of my classes, too, there is a curve. This means that I am competing with my peers to excel. It's very frustrating for me because I am constantly surrounded with students who are extremely gifted and hard-working. All of these tests and curves not only encourage the betterment of myself individually, but also discourage helping my peers.

I've often seen my friends argue about such matters. I've seen students who wont help other kids in the class with study problems because they don't want to help each other's chances of doing well. 

In one of my previous blogs I wrote about my feelings on collaboration. I think that I do pretty well when working with a group to gain insight together. However, with the current system, that is not rewarded. What is rewarded is individual growth and accomplishment. There is generally little value in reaching a conclusion as a group, and more placed on a conclusion achieved alone.

Although due to the statements above it may seem I am more for the community approach, I am genuinely conflicted on this dialectic. Most recently, I've run into a new conflict on this matter.

On April 25th there is an Invisible Children event in Chicago. This is a cause that has really touched me and I feel very connected to. I've participated in fundraisers for it and on the 25th there is a very significant global event to support the cause. If I chose to partake in this event, I would be doing it for the good of the community and those in Uganda. Although I, as one person attending the event, will make little to no impact, as a group hopefully a lot will be achieved. If everyone had the mentality that I as one person don't matter then no one would show up and thus nothing would be accomplished.

However, I am conflicted because on that same day I was asked to participate in a journalism competition. This competition is also on the 25th therefore making it impossible to attend both. The competition is an individual writing competition. If I did well, I would progress to the state competition. Participating in this would help me as individual. I would likely gain praise from my peers, newspaper advisor, and family. Many have also argued that it would look great for college.

So I am left with the struggle that has been going on as long as man has been around. I'm extremely passionate about both my writing and about the cause in Uganda. If I go to the event for Invisible Children, I will likely make no difference in the atrocities being committed there. If I go to the journalism competition I am not doing what I can to help the global community that I am a part of. I am being selfish in choosing individual gain over morals.

This dialectic has been evident throughout countless experiences both recently and throughout my short 15 year life. I anticipate that many more will come. On both a grand scale and a smaller one, this dialectic is pertinent and timeless.

I read several blogs and commented on a couple.

Crystal's blog was contemplating what would happen if life was a short story. I wrote the following comment:

Crystal I think your blog was great. I have to admit that initially when I saw your title I didn't think any sort of astounding insight could be reached on such a topic. Haha, you surely proved me wrong!

Your post initially reminded me of Sophie's World and the multiple layers of reality and story. It's interesting that what you wrote in one short blog evoked so much feeling within me and raised questions that an entire novel tried to achieve.

Your post mainly makes me reflect on my life. If I had only a few pages to write it down, what would I have? At times I feel like there is so much complexity in my life and so much going on that I could write volumes. At other times I feel it would be impossible to write anything significant at all. A we're learning more about short stories I've thought about this more and more.

I think this could generate great discussion. Even if one doesn't believe in God or Fate or something 'more' propelling their story; what would they themselves write?

I also commented on Eli's blog. He wrote about how much he enjoyed writing the story fragment. He specifically talked about how the process occurred and why it was something unique and new. I wrote the following:

I really loved writing the story fragment too Eli! I think Mr. Allen was right. It doesn't need to be perfect on the first try,but you need to write and let the writing become something you didn't ever anticipate it could be.

I think it's interesting that you discovered your character before your plot. I too prefer to write about someone rather than circumstances. I think it will be interesting to go through the writing process of a short story and see it morph. I haven't written much fiction in high school so I'm eager to see what I come up with and what everyone in class writes.

Good luck with your short story! Great post :)

Best of Week: Discussion

This week we did a lot of discussing in Academy. We just started our short stories unit and have discussed a variety of topics. However, when thinking about this past week it is not the stories that stick out to me as most significant, but the discussions we had about them. I've often found that the problem with class discussions is participation. I have several teachers who count 'participation points' and therefore everyone is eager to make comments in order to raise their grades. While theoretically this may sound like a good way to get kids engaged, this idea often flops. Students end up either making one comment and then zoning out for the rest of class or repeating a previous comment just to get points. I've found that in classes where teachers make it clear they are marking down participation points the discussion is not much of a discussion, but rather everyone raises their hand just to satisfy the class requirement. When a discussion is structured in such a way, I find it is difficult to reach any sort of insight as a group. 

They say two heads are better than one, and I believe it. But this means when they are working together. That was the beauty of our discussions this week. Whether an obvious question needed to be answered, or we were digging for deeper insight into the form and content of the story, we did it together. I truly felt like everyone was listening to one another and therefore the conversation flowed. There were some great comments made and then rather than the next student trying to simply repeat the great idea previously stated, they built upon it. This pushed the discussion forward and helped to make everyones comments more meaningful. 

I think the skills our class displayed this week will be very beneficial throughout the future. Not only will they help with other class discussions in high school but they will also help in the 'real world'. I think that being able to discuss well will help when communicating with others. Regardless of what field I choose to go into, there will likely be a heavy emphasis on communicating successfully with others. When you can converse well and reach insight with a team of people, you are likely doing pretty well. I hope that I continue to improve such skills and that they impact my future in positive way.

What If?: We Got Graded On Collaboration

This week, we had an in-class test on The Heart Of Darkness. Mr Allen encouraged us to talk to one another to brainstorm for the exam. Whenever we have an in-class essay he always tells us to talk to someone whose intellect we trust and come up with something. He tells us that this is the best way to study for such an exam.

This got me thinking, what if our grades were based on the level of collaboration we did rather than the 'final' product? I though of this because a number of us had some great team work and collaboration the night before the exam. A bunch of us went on skype in a chatroom and to audiochat. We answered questions for each other and tried to explain and work things out as a group. We then continued to write an extensive google doc together. The final product, which I used to study from, was an eloquently long study guide we had compiled together. The document morphed into the early morning hours as the majority of the class added their knowledge and questions.

I think that, generally, this experience helped all of us on our exam. Although I still don't know how i did on it, I feel I did better than I expected. However, I think the truly brilliant aspect of this assignment came not in class on Wednesday, but Tuesday night when we all worked together. We've had many opportunities to collaborate before whether it be with a small group, the entire class, the entire academy, or even people around the world. Some of these instances have been complete and utter failures. At first I thought collaboration is simple, but I was incredibly wrong.

I think what we did on our own Tuesday night attests to how far we have come in our work with collaboration. I think we did a great job and have really begun to collaborate effectively. While collaboration is not a skill I anticipated to gain from the Academy, it is perhaps one of my newest and most beneficial skills.

It would be interesting to be graded on collaboration, and I think as education continues to evolve this will become more and more common. Mr. Bretag did a presentation for the Student Advisory Board about technology and the group mentioned that collaboration would become a huge part of education and technology. In the TED projects we did this year, collaboration was part of the grade. I think this was done pretty well, but still has room for improvement.

Collaboration is an important tool in school and the real world. I think every class should find a way to incorporate collaboration into the curriculum. 

Connection: Mr. Kurtz and Hitler

This past week we dove into The Heart of Darkness. At first I was totally lost and overwhelmed, but as the book progressed it really started to speak to me. By the time we reached Part III I was not only enjoying the reading, but picking up ideas that had likely been over my head in the first two parts. What struck me most, other than the answers to the guiding questions, was the depth of each character. In 78 pages Conrad managed to craft deep, complex characters who were easy to relate to and timeless.

When reading about Mr. Kurtz I could not help but writing Hitler! all over my page. Something about him really reminds me of Hitler. I think this is primarily because of his eloquence. Kurtz, like Hitler, was able to dazzle people with his words. Kurtz, like Hitler, was also legendary. Everyone knew him all over the world. Although typically we are used to hearing about people who hated Hitler, there were and certainly still are many Ne0-Nazis. 

To me the Russian trader and Marlow were such Nazis. They bought into what Kurtz said and did. The Russian said Kurtz was not to be judged as any other man should be. This same idea could be applied to Hitler because if Hitler was judged by the standards which everyone is held to; he was certainly no hero. In that same respect, Kurtz was also a monster. He saw heads as decorations and -like Hitler- had no regard for the lives of others.

Kurtz especially reminds me of Hitler in his rise to power because of his concern with the perspective of others. What I mean by this is that Kurtz was extremely worried that people back in Europe would not admire him and he would not receive credit for his accomplishments. Similarly, Hitler on his rise to power was consumed with fame and appreciation. 

I plan on rereading The Heart of Darkness again because so much of the meaning was unfortunately lost on me initially. I think that when I do reread it I will see even more connections between Kurtz and Hitler. I think Heart of Darkness is full of connections between it's characters and situations to things that have happened thus far in history as well as many things that are occurring now.