ENG writting prompt 1

I am going into early childhood education, and working on a minor in visual art. Originally, I chose the visual art minor because I wanted to take drawing classes, photography classes, painting classes and feel justified. Choosing art as my minor has changed my entire perspective of how I interact with my students. In all truth, I would probably not start a writing workshop in my classroom. Early childhood is for children younger than third grade, and my ambition is to teach preschool. Most of the students I would be working with would be 3 and 4. They cannot recognize all of their letters and their attention span is short- really short. In my preschool classroom I would implement an art workshop for a few minutes each day. I would want it to be set up similar (almost identical) to the described writing workshop, but I think with 3-year-olds an art workshop would be more effective.
In High school I took a creative writing class. I learned so much about the game of writing and would consider it a writing workshop class. We meet for about two hours either 2 or 3 times a week, and we wrote. There were a few prompts and some teacher suggestions, but most of the time was spent writing. It was set up rather similar to the writing workshop described in the reading prompts. We could listen to our iPods, sit next to our friends, and each of us had our own notebook. I remember when students would share their work- I was always taken back. In the classroom there were obvious clicks (we were in High School). The emos sat in one corner; the rest of us sat on the other side of the classroom and divided ourselves into socially acceptable and socially rejected. We never did cross into another group’s zone, but I can remember reading our work out loud. It was the one safe time for us and them to share how different our lives were. They wrote things my imagination had never dreamed of. Their images were dripping with descriptions that my mind had never seen. Their words painted thoughts I had never believed were real. It changed my reality because writing became a competition, not a fight mind you, but a sophisticated game using language.
As a teacher my priority is to make my student brave. In my high school creative writing class we all wanted to share; even if we did not read in front of the class. I can remember watching students who I did not believe could care, holding their pencils so tight that their fingers turned white as they poured out all their thoughts into their notebook. We wrote in those notebooks because it was a time when we felt like what we had to say was important, even if we only said it to ourselves. I did not share my writings, because I was too afraid. No matter how proud of a poem or story I kept it safe in my notebook, and awed at the courage of the other students. I let me teacher read them though, and she gave me feedback. One time she told me that she enjoyed reading my notebook because it was like seeing into a map of my brain. I felt pretty sly after that, and I began to share my poems with the girl who sat next to me. When I am a teacher I want to emulate my English teacher. She helped me to be braver, to dare to believe in myself and what I had written. I want to help my students learn how to become brave.
The approach that I would want to use in my classroom would be to set up artistic time. Children are eager to express themselves, but they are still learning the tools of expression. Even when I work with 3-year-olds they want to express something beyond a pretty drawing. Art is different than writing, but I would use similar approaches. I think that the best time for an artist moment would be five to ten minutes after recess. That way the students would not be as fidgety, but it would give them enough time to calm themselves down. We could listen to music, watch a video, or read a story before I would allow them to gather up their art folders. In the classroom I would have different art supplies: markers, crayons, think paper, construction paper… I think that to keep it organized I would rotate the art supplies every other week. Then I would start drawing and use what I was creating to help them think of ideas. One day I could work on a collage, another day I could make an outline of myself. I think that by not directing what they should create I would get a better response from my students, but that if I demonstrate ways to use art and express they can learn. Even a child prodigy draws scribbles, and the purpose of doing the activity is not to make miniature Deviancies. I would have to ask them questions, lots of questions, about their art work. In the book the author suggested making a list of students and when they shared their work, and I would make a similar list- every day I would have two students show their favorite piece to the class and encourage the class to ask questions and comment on their art work.
I think that a workshop works well for other subject besides writing; I obviously want to use it for art. If I teach older students- even Kindergarteners I would implement a writing workshop because students who know how to use language as a tool of expression is life changing.

ENG notes for Writing Workshop

Response 1:
1. They were all skiers themselves
2. They believe in doing as opposed to talking about doing
3. The expected plenty of failure
4. The built on strengths
Time: give students a minimum of 3 hours a week 3 times a week to practice even if it is just journal writing, but allow students set their own pace- work on what they value because in short it is THEIR time. There are plenty of opportunities to direct students. For example if you ask them to find all of the adjectives they put in their paper.
Writing Time: is the time for students to work on projects they have set for themselves
Share Time: take about their piece, ask them to read it, give them feed back…
Space: physical locations I like to write, on my stomach…
A meeting place: SAFE area for everyone to be comfortable sharing work
A place for materials and Tools: create a writing center for simply tools to be stored with various pens, pencils, and paper
Carefully arranged desks or tables: especially for a one-to-one conference (you do not want to look like a bank official)
Short-term Goals: make them realistic and quickly obtainable (establish safe zone for class readings)
1. Write in a variety of genres: narrative, descriptive, persuasive
2. Deepening the connection between reading and writing
3. Learning the writing process; prewriting, drafts…
4. Mastering the conventions of print
Fostering a love for writing time: choice leads to voice, give them ownership over their writing. Allow for jugular thoughts and ideas to come out onto the paper. This can happen by reading various works, books, watching a moving movie, listening to a music video, ask the students to bring in what they feel is important to share before they start writing (allow ipods)
Establishing a Safe Environment
1. Specific praise
2. Let primary children draw
3. Read aloud “from-the-heart” pieces
4. Make writing notebooks- a specific book for these thoughts to come out
5. Write with students (enjoy this time yourself by setting an example)
Creating Workable Classroom Management: make sure that you can take the work load. Set and reset expectations until you feel comfortable, because that will help the students to feel comfortable
A finished book: due dates should not be finalized, but should be ambiguous. Students will turn in their work at the end of the day, but that work will be turned back to them with suggestions and then they can terminate it or continue to write
Unfinished writing folder: a list of topics to write about, ideas students like… simply brainstorm sentences
Finished writing folder: when the work is finished praise the accomplishment and savor the satisfaction. Make a list of the students who have shared their work and allow the students to write their name on a day that they want to share their writing with the class

REG 2

The responsibility of learning. I have been thinking about the word receive for the past few weeks. It is a difficult word for me to understand, because when I think of receive I think of Christmas. All that comes to mind is gifts, wrapped in Christmas paper and a little sticker on it with my name on the to: line and Santa Clause on the from: line. As I have been reviewing the scriptures and blessings I believe that when God uses the word receive he is not talking about a box with a bow on top. He is talking about something much more, but I still have not been able to understand what. This class helped me to think more about what receive could mean.
In sort I want to know everything and was slightly disappointed that I can not know everything all at once. I was wondering why this is the case, not because… well because I get so frustrated when I know that I am not perfect. When I know that I don’t know; I realize that this is an incorrect way of thinking because it is telling myself a lie. I don’t know everything- that is the truth. Another truth is that I can know everything. The last truth is that in this life I am not going to learn everything. The last truth is what helped me to understand why God would not tell me everything at once.
When I learn more I become responsible for that which I have learned. Part of the learning process is to apply the lesson to life. God is trying to keep me from damming myself. Knowledge is not simply knowing, but becoming I guess. The type of learning I want to do is more than filling myself up with facts; part of learning is responsibility. I can see that in God’s plan. That when I learn more I am baptized. When I feel prepared I go to the temple and do work for the dead. Some time in my life when I am ready I will be married in the temple. I wonder if all of these blessings- the blessings of knowledge are based on the pivotal point of me being prepared. Like a little check list or a pre request classes? I don’t know if I believe that is entirely true… but maybe it is.
I mean although I do know people who I would not state were qualified to be married in the temple- who am I to judge. On top of that I do not even know or can not even comprehend the blessings that they have in their life- the blessings of knowledge, truth, and wisdom that enters their relationship because of their marriage. Even if I could know those blessings all I am seeking for is the “cause” of their blessings.
Is that how it works then; like my physics class, blessings are the direct cause or force of my actions. I have been thinking about force a lot lately too. Come to find out physics is amazing, and full of completely new ideas. Stop, stop, hold it right there. I love learning! Is that part of the game of life? I don’t know, but any way. I have been thinking about Newton’s Laws of Physics and I have been pondering the idea that it takes two individual things to create friction or a force… yeah an interaction. So one individual thing and then another individual thing have to have contact. This idea of physics made me wonder about my own individual soul. I came to the conclusion that if I want to interact with other people I need to be an individual- have my own ground so to say. If physics is as true spiritually as it is physically then the only possibly way for me to interact (create a force) with another person is if I am an individual. That is tricky because I don’t know if I am always and individual and I do not know if it is possible for me to become unindividual through my actions. So long story longer… I have to first be an individual.
That means that I have to come to know myself. I believe that the first focus of faith is to come to know God, but the second is to come to know myself: Who I am, what my purpose is in life, and how I am to go about accomplishing that. Oh! Oh! It all relates back to knowledge and how and what I am learning. When I know more I have a clearer understanding of who I am and therefore I become responsible to act to the true nature of my characters. When I receive revelation I become more aware of what my divine mission is and how I am to go about and accomplish that. If I do not know I am not fully aware of my individual self. Like an object, if the object is not complete… I don’t know how it is like an object. I get the fuzzy idea though, the idea that as I learn more I become closer to my true self. It makes me aware of who I am, and I am then responsible for acting that way because if I do not then I am no longer an individual. When I do not act that way I deny myself my individualness and I can no longer act upon other individuals (people, relationships…) it makes me ultimately useless. When I learn a step at a time I can learn to become; I can learn to be the individual. The point when I can be the individual is when I have received the knowledge and then I can receive more as I progress who I am individual- making me influential and effective in God’s plan of happiness.

Random lines

They both came in at the same time the one was well over six feet. He had high check bones and deep set eyes that looked like they were dipped in chocolate- no wait they were milky blue. The other’s eyes were covered behind a set of glasses. I watched their movements while thy sat at the computers. The one was so tall that he hovered abouve the computer screen and I could see his broad sholders protruded out of the monitor. The second was covered by the computer, his huntched over form and the way that he moved his spindly arms behind the screen. I wondered, about boys, and looks, and love, and life, and justice. It seems that at birth; if life were based on looks, there was no such thing as justice.