I have mentioned my thesis a few times, but I think I failed to mention that I am doing my Honors research project on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Well, actually, I am focusing more on the 1939 film adaptation...but, for many, that is the only adaptation that exists.
Yes, there was a book. L. Frank Baum wrote it and it was published in 1900. I am utterly fascinated by the popularity and longevity of the film/story. The story, to me, is beautiful in its simplicity.
I intended to research the book so that I would have a knowledge base that would enable me to create a meaningful unit on it for my classes. Presently, I could talk about it all day, so I am glad that I chose the topic with that end in mind. I have coincidentally collected numerous artifacts that will be beneficial in the creation of a unit.
Because I want to be a positive adult in students' lives, I think The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a great way to start off the 6th grade year (crossing my fingers for a 6th grade position): it is a story everyone (yes, everyone) already knows; it's an easy read, but offers many insights; the theme is one that would most certainly set the tone for success, work ethic, and optimism in my classroom. Because middle school is a time when students often begin asking "Who am I?" the quest of Dorothy and her friends is all-the-more relevant.
I recently purchased a three disk DVD set that includes various adaptations of the story on film (before 1939), lengthy radio broadcasts advertising the debut of the 1939 film, documentaries, short (3 minute) segments about each actor in the 1939 film, and much more! There is so much that I can do with this resource!
There was even an oooolllld scholastic magazine replica included with the set outlining various teaching ideas for The Wizard of Oz.
As I was reading the book, the literary element that stood out most to me was irony. The Scarecrow believes he has no brain...but he is always the first to offer an intelligible solution for the problems that he and his friends face. Students could be asked to locate such instances for themselves and provide alternate outcomes that would not be ironic.
Okay. Out for now.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Progress
Well, my last post got me moving.
Sunday was a day well spent on the research of schools around the area that I intend to live. I found one school that appealed to me more than the other 20 that I researched, but I found it hard to judge the schools by their incomplete websites. Maybe it is a good judge? We are, after all, in an era of technology...
On Friday I sent that thank you note to the Henderson County Personnel Director. I feel like my motive shines through as a antic to get my foot in the door, when, really, I was thankful that he showed up at the fair and felt that he should be encouraged to continue doing so. So I had TWO motives; one more genuine than the other.
Also, I started filling out my general application for employment as an NC teacher. Thankfully, it is a handful of redundant questions. Progress! I'm making progress!
Sunday was a day well spent on the research of schools around the area that I intend to live. I found one school that appealed to me more than the other 20 that I researched, but I found it hard to judge the schools by their incomplete websites. Maybe it is a good judge? We are, after all, in an era of technology...
On Friday I sent that thank you note to the Henderson County Personnel Director. I feel like my motive shines through as a antic to get my foot in the door, when, really, I was thankful that he showed up at the fair and felt that he should be encouraged to continue doing so. So I had TWO motives; one more genuine than the other.
Also, I started filling out my general application for employment as an NC teacher. Thankfully, it is a handful of redundant questions. Progress! I'm making progress!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Teacher Freeze. Rant. Stress. Rant. Breathe.
I'm getting nervous.
I know I should have so many forms filled out, and so many cover letters hot off the press, in sealed envelopes, ready to mail. But I don't. Threats of teacher-freezes (who even knew that they could throw that term out there like it's a bi-yearly problem?) are leaving me with sweaty palms and an uncertain view of my next few years. I'm frantically trying to begin writing my Honors thesis, a whopping 30 pages, while the stress of getting a job is knawing at me. I feel like the end of my student teaching was a pause on my teaching career, at least until I tie up the loose ends of my English major. At the job fair, a few weeks ago, a nice man from Hendersonville told me that I needent worry, that counties didn't even know what was going on yet. It was assuring, momentarily. He was the personell director, and he shook my hand three times and told me to be sure to call. Does he really care if I call? What would I say? "Hi, you shook my hand three times and told me to call. Can I have a job? I'm a Teaching Fellow. Surely that should get my foot in the door? At least that's what they say when you sign your life away to them..."
I had a great teacher in High School who mentored me through my successful attempts to be an over achiever (that began to display itself physically through various symptoms of stress); she used to say: "Breathe."
Breathe.
I know I should have so many forms filled out, and so many cover letters hot off the press, in sealed envelopes, ready to mail. But I don't. Threats of teacher-freezes (who even knew that they could throw that term out there like it's a bi-yearly problem?) are leaving me with sweaty palms and an uncertain view of my next few years. I'm frantically trying to begin writing my Honors thesis, a whopping 30 pages, while the stress of getting a job is knawing at me. I feel like the end of my student teaching was a pause on my teaching career, at least until I tie up the loose ends of my English major. At the job fair, a few weeks ago, a nice man from Hendersonville told me that I needent worry, that counties didn't even know what was going on yet. It was assuring, momentarily. He was the personell director, and he shook my hand three times and told me to be sure to call. Does he really care if I call? What would I say? "Hi, you shook my hand three times and told me to call. Can I have a job? I'm a Teaching Fellow. Surely that should get my foot in the door? At least that's what they say when you sign your life away to them..."
I had a great teacher in High School who mentored me through my successful attempts to be an over achiever (that began to display itself physically through various symptoms of stress); she used to say: "Breathe."
Breathe.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Mini-lesson
Taylor and I are due to present our mini-lesson today! I am excited, as I always am when presenting a lesson. We are focusing on the revision process through an descriptive writing activity. We are setting up a table that looks like a restaurant's. We are giving our peers pictures of food that they will have to write a description for so that they may "sell" it to the class. We are going to allow time for revision after the first draft of the feature description. I think that it is going to be fun, and I hope that it is a good example for our peers.
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