College English 12 Summer Reading Blog Example

The Poet of Tolstoy Park by Sonny Brewer

"After the heyoka ceremony I came to live here where I am now between Wounded Knee Creek and Grass Creek. Others came too and we made these little gray houses of logs that you see, and they are square. it is a bad way to live, for there can be no power in a square. You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle. And that is because the Power of the World always works in a circle, and everything tries to be round . . . . --Black Elk

This passage is at the beginning of this novel. During the Summer of '97 or '98, I read Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth, a fascinating look at how cultures across all time periods and all around the world have the same set of myths or stories. The circle is a powerful symbol of life. I became obsessed with circles for a while. I saw so many incorporated into the architecture in Paris and Madrid during Spring Break of '99. After The Da Vinci Code popularized the idea of symbology, and more people started noticing circles in nature, etc. It's interesting to think that we build square and rectangular houses.

I knew I would enjoy this book as soon as I read this passage. The main character moves to Fairhope in 1925 and builds a circular house in the woods. The story is true. I look forward to learning more about Henry Stuart.

I am also looking forward to meeting Mr. Brewer in August.

2009 Spring DIP Expo

We held our second DIP Expo Thursday, May 21st, from 5:30-7:00 in the volleyball gym. Students, teachers, parents, and community members enjoyed looking at the projects from second semester.

Pride Day 2009

The Third Annual Pride Day was a huge success. Students had a blast playing their favorite games in the stadium and showing off their amazing talents in Andy Idol that afternoon.


Preparation Notes:
Signing up went smoothly this year. Students picked four events with a limit of two tournaments. The same students could not play wiffle ball and kickball. Some students thought there were too many conflicts with the schedule, but if all members of the class signed up for four things, it worked well. We added some new events, as well. Getting someone to type the sign-up sheets helped me out a lot. Next year, I need to recruit someone to type, copy, and prepare clipboards.

Andy Idol: We held auditions/practice the day before due to chorus practice. That worked out fine although it would be nice to have auditions on Tues. or Wed., which would allow students more time to polish their acts

English 12 Blog Assignments for Tuesday, 5/12/09

Blog post: Write a personal response to Frankenstein, 50-word minimum. Share your thoughts about the work. You may include what you liked/didn't like.

Blog post: Pick one (or more) Romantic characteristic. Describe how you will incorporate it into your life.

Mes Fleurs

iPhotos

I'm loving my new Macbook. I can't wait until Maria and I are really standing in front of the Eiffel Tower this summer.

Riverview from The Renaissance

Weekend in Montgomery

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John and I had a wonderful weekend in Montgomery. We arrived Friday evening around 6:00 p.m. After checking in at The Renaissance, we walked over to the old depot and ate at a Thai restaurant. We enjoyed the rest of the evening, sitting outside, enjoying the live music being performed at The Exchange.

Saturday morning we took a long walk, including Dexter Avenue. I never tire of looking at downtown Montgomery and the historical sites. Of course, we went to The Shoppes for a few hours. John was sweet and patient as I looked for some fun dresses to buy for Europe.

The Renaissance has a fabulous pool on top of the roof! After relaxing, we again sat outside and enjoyed live music. Sunday morning we stopped by the coffee bar and went outside, again. We walked around the Riverwalk. After lunch at Dreamland, I had to leave. I was sad to say goodbye to John, but I was ready to see my three boys.

If you haven't been to the Riverwalk area lately, you are in for a treat.

La Classe de Francais

Student Blogs

I'm so proud of my students for creating their blogs. I hope they will enjoy reading them in the future. I wish we could have blogged all semester. We read "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" in class today. I had students think of a special place. We brainstormed a list. I'm including the characteristics of Romanticism here in case any students need to review: emphasis on nature, imagination, feelings, ordinary experiences, supernatural, innocence, the past, simpler times, the Orient, Middle Ages. The poets wrote about hermits, children, and ordinary people doing everyday things.

I guess I feel closest to Wordsworth. I, too, turn to my "inward eye" to remember special places. I often think about the Western North Carolina mountains and Lake Glenville, the beach, my front yard. I've learned patience from watching my flowers slowly grow and bloom. I think about how short and precious life is as I watch these same blooms mature and die just a few days later. I recall the innocence of childhood as I talk to my own boys and some of my students. (Most have moved from innocence to experience.)

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"


I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth

Special Places
backyard, treestand, hard-wood bottom, stream in the woods, beach, field, front porch, tropical forest, meadow, Upper Penisula Michigan (mountains, waterfall),river, tree, hammock in woods, outside at night, lake, bed under the falls, waterfall, sunny meadow at bottom of mountains by a lake, sunrise in dessert (horizon is blurred)

Les Fleurs

I took some new pictures this afternoon.

More Blogging Pix

Here are more pictures of my sweet students.

My Home Boyz

Leslie and Tay have kept me straight this semester.

Creating Blogs in English 12

Today in class students created their own blogs. It was an exciting, educational experience. Blog on, my friends!

Le Jardin

Last January I bought several gardening magazines to get ideas. I decided to add more perennials to my flower beds to fill them out and give me something to look at year round. Last year I planted four roses: three climbers and one ground cover. They are doing well. So far, I've added the following: three Italian cypresses, four yellow knock-outs, and two pink muhly (sp?)grasses together; black-eyed susans, doppleganger coneflowers, and coreopsis in the beds and by the street; two orange cannas by the fence; lots of dianthus, foxgloves, snapdragons last fall by the street and in the beds; and hen & chicks in conch shells and pots on the porch. We've added several trellises to support the roses and jasmine. This morning I'm going to build an arbor for the entrance to the patio and plant a rose that my mother gave me next to it.
I've still got some grasses, Russian sage, and coneflowers coming.

Easter Morning

I set up this blog for my classroom; however, my sister-in-law and others have inspired me to blog about my family life, as well. It's Easter morning, and we are sitting on our front porch. I have traveled to many wonderful places, but my front porch is my favorite place in the world. Jackson is reading Nicole's blog post aloud; John is preparing his Sunday school lesson; John David is relaxing in the swing. The birds are singing, and the flowers, blooming. It's perfect. My neighbor across the street is working in his flower bed so I'll have more flora to enjoy! I am surrounded by Rebirth.

I've got to prepare my SS lesson for today. I think it will focus on HOPE. During the middle of the night, we were awakened by the phone ringing twice. As I tried to get back to sleep, I pondered the Resurrection. For me, it means that no matter how dark our days may be, there is hope as long as we live in relationship with God, each other, and nature.

Every morning I walk outside and look at my flowers. Over night slight changes occur. I watch the buds turn into blooms: hope. Each day the temperature becomes a little warmer: hope. I see students receiving letters of acceptance, signing scholarships, and passing the graduation exam: hope. I talk to members of a family who have just lost their husband/daddy and yet they are struggling to smile and survive: hope. I listen to my boys practice the piano and trumpet as they develop a talent that will bring joy to others: hope. I read the blog of a former student who is in the hospital, patiently waiting to have her baby: hope. I see a nation that is facing its greatest crisis in my lifetime and an energetic, intelligent President, who is struggling to find a solution: hope. Basically, I see many people struggling, just as that little bud struggles to bloom. In the midst of the suffering, I see a strength that is developed through hope for a better tomorrow.

My hope is that we realize God lives through us and among us. It is only by sharing his love with others on a daily basis that we make the Resurrection a little more than new Sunday outfits, candy, and Easter egg hunts.

First Week of 2009

I had a wonderful first week back at school. I am teaching French and two classes of English 12.
In French we began studying airport and airplane vocabulary and 'ir verbs.
In English students wrote an essay based on their "Grand Essentials of Happiness." Students read and took notes on the introduction to The Anglo-Saxon Period. We began Beowulf.
Yesterday, I finished New Moon. It was a fun read.