I jumped into so many things the first three days that now I have to recover....I went to yoga on Thursday, a new kind which focuses on proper body alignment, a great workout.
Friday I went to docent training for the new exhibition at the Houston Contemporary Craft Museum on Main Street. The gallery is filled with magical costumes made out of paper...strongly recommend that you see it.
Saturday I went to a ceramics class on making garden ornaments....it was so much fun, liking playing mudpies again. We will see in two weeks if any of my works turn out after being fired; sometimes they break.
Now I know I want to volunteer the museum as I love spending time reveling in the colors and textures....I also want to help children or teenagers, so will be looking for the right place do engage in that kind of volunteer work....
Thanks to all of you for listening to my stories so sweetly. I looked at your twitters about Scarlet Letter which we did at the first of the years----you all have definitely improved your writing!
I deleted the banned words list and rules for writing, but I find I still want to correct the rest of the world's writing and speaking!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Maddie's goals for second semester
whoops I forgot to say my goals. Plus I left out a comment in the first sentence.
Goals for this semester:
Finish a monster burito at Freebirds
Find an elmo costume and wear it to
school
Appropriately sing more song quotes in class
Improve my skill on the scrabble game on my phone
Try to make my movie quotes from more than just Zoolander, Mean Girls, and the occasional Anchorman
Enjoy another cake day in class
Have a dance party on the open floor in the classroom
Finish the semester without burning all of my textbooks in anger
Run around as a banana and be chased by a gorilla
Join Latin club and attend a toga party
Dress as a ninja and go unnoticed throughout the schoolday
To be continued...
If you think this doesn't have to do with English class then you have no idea what is in store.
Also, to have the confidence and bravery to be more swift when writing as opposed to my timidness that causes me to waste hours. And maybe to be better at reading comprehension on those psycho timed writings
Goals for this semester:
Finish a monster burito at Freebirds
Find an elmo costume and wear it to
school
Appropriately sing more song quotes in class
Improve my skill on the scrabble game on my phone
Try to make my movie quotes from more than just Zoolander, Mean Girls, and the occasional Anchorman
Enjoy another cake day in class
Have a dance party on the open floor in the classroom
Finish the semester without burning all of my textbooks in anger
Run around as a banana and be chased by a gorilla
Join Latin club and attend a toga party
Dress as a ninja and go unnoticed throughout the schoolday
To be continued...
If you think this doesn't have to do with English class then you have no idea what is in store.
Also, to have the confidence and bravery to be more swift when writing as opposed to my timidness that causes me to waste hours. And maybe to be better at reading comprehension on those psycho timed writings
Monday, May 31, 2010
new email
My email address after June 3rd is annwilliams625@comcast.net
I cannot figure out to get rid of my sbisd email which will no longer be valid.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
My Life is Stories
My Life is Stories
Many years ago I bought myself a set of paper dolls, an extravagant and expensive set, that I justified to myself because I can display them in my high school classroom. The dolls represent “Beauty and the Beast,” which I used in my doctoral dissertation because it illuminates the mystery of female empowerment. I also screen the exquisite and enlightening film, Cocteau’s version, La Belle et La Bete, in my film class. The book was filled with beautiful period costumes, some for coloring, and some for cutting out to dress Beauty in. I experienced a rush of delight just looking at this gorgeous set of paper dolls, one I would have loved to have owned as a child (but which certainly were not available in the 1950s when I grew up.)
One of my happiest memories of childhood consists of the times my mother would take my younger brothers and me to the dime store downtown to let us choose a new coloring book or set of paper dolls. I remember the overwhelming joy of anticipation I felt as I watched her put them up in the cupboard, and how I longed for the moment she would get them out to entertain us that night. These occasions happened on the nights she and my father gave bridge parties. At that time, before television, my brothers and I, already dressed in our pajamas, would sit back in our den with our new books—theirs invariably of cowboys, mine of glamorous movie stars, to color or cut costumes out of. We would play all evening, totally absorbed in the alternate reality for which these characters provided a threshold.
I spent many hours subsequently coloring my books of Betty Hutton, Elizabeth Taylor, or maybe Esther Williams, dressing and undressing them ushering them through a never-ending procession of glamorous and dramatic situations. I imagined buildings with doormen in New York, careers in publishing or on the Broadway stage, sophisticated cocktail parties, and trips to Paris---all fed by my relentless passion for the Technicolor extravaganzas of the fifties which I saw at the local movie theater weekly.
I think back very fondly of those times spent alone in my room, though I remember complaining at the time that I had no one to play with (my brothers would have never understood!). But now I am grateful for the energy I spent dreaming and imagining, creating realms of fantasy and romance because, as an English teacher, I see the relationship of this play to my work. Throughout my life, then, runs the thread of my love of stories and my willingness to suspend disbelief—to involve myself in another realm of experience. I do everything I can to entice my students into these realms, into the other spaces known as fiction, drama, and poetry.
A friend told me recently, “Your life is stories, all kinds of stories,” and I like that depiction of myself. While I was debating with myself whether to buy those fairy tale paper dolls in the little store in Jacksonville, Oregon, a nine-year-old girl appeared beside me. She confided that she had enjoyed playing with the set her grandmother had bought her. For a moment I felt nine again, too, and shared with her the intimacy and enchantment of make-believe. Then I knew I had to have one more set of paper dolls. For me they are a celebration of the stories of my life.
Many years ago I bought myself a set of paper dolls, an extravagant and expensive set, that I justified to myself because I can display them in my high school classroom. The dolls represent “Beauty and the Beast,” which I used in my doctoral dissertation because it illuminates the mystery of female empowerment. I also screen the exquisite and enlightening film, Cocteau’s version, La Belle et La Bete, in my film class. The book was filled with beautiful period costumes, some for coloring, and some for cutting out to dress Beauty in. I experienced a rush of delight just looking at this gorgeous set of paper dolls, one I would have loved to have owned as a child (but which certainly were not available in the 1950s when I grew up.)
One of my happiest memories of childhood consists of the times my mother would take my younger brothers and me to the dime store downtown to let us choose a new coloring book or set of paper dolls. I remember the overwhelming joy of anticipation I felt as I watched her put them up in the cupboard, and how I longed for the moment she would get them out to entertain us that night. These occasions happened on the nights she and my father gave bridge parties. At that time, before television, my brothers and I, already dressed in our pajamas, would sit back in our den with our new books—theirs invariably of cowboys, mine of glamorous movie stars, to color or cut costumes out of. We would play all evening, totally absorbed in the alternate reality for which these characters provided a threshold.
I spent many hours subsequently coloring my books of Betty Hutton, Elizabeth Taylor, or maybe Esther Williams, dressing and undressing them ushering them through a never-ending procession of glamorous and dramatic situations. I imagined buildings with doormen in New York, careers in publishing or on the Broadway stage, sophisticated cocktail parties, and trips to Paris---all fed by my relentless passion for the Technicolor extravaganzas of the fifties which I saw at the local movie theater weekly.
I think back very fondly of those times spent alone in my room, though I remember complaining at the time that I had no one to play with (my brothers would have never understood!). But now I am grateful for the energy I spent dreaming and imagining, creating realms of fantasy and romance because, as an English teacher, I see the relationship of this play to my work. Throughout my life, then, runs the thread of my love of stories and my willingness to suspend disbelief—to involve myself in another realm of experience. I do everything I can to entice my students into these realms, into the other spaces known as fiction, drama, and poetry.
A friend told me recently, “Your life is stories, all kinds of stories,” and I like that depiction of myself. While I was debating with myself whether to buy those fairy tale paper dolls in the little store in Jacksonville, Oregon, a nine-year-old girl appeared beside me. She confided that she had enjoyed playing with the set her grandmother had bought her. For a moment I felt nine again, too, and shared with her the intimacy and enchantment of make-believe. Then I knew I had to have one more set of paper dolls. For me they are a celebration of the stories of my life.
Monday, August 10, 2009
My Magical Summer
I have tried twice, but the sound won't synchronize, and some of the sound is gone.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thing # 8 again
For my Thing 8, I wound up doing a screencast with audio about my summer on my blog for my new students to read.
The lesson about opening my webpage and showing students how to download a document won't work on my iMac because the program I recorded it in is not compatible with the blog. So I did something a little different. I will show my students how to get to my website and my blog on the big screen projector when school starts.
I will say that I wound up learning a lot during the process of trying to get a screencast on my blog. I spent twenty or so hours on it, finally going to the Apple store to get a tech guy to help me. But every time I tried to work with the screencast, I learned something new, so all in all, it was a great experience.
The lesson about opening my webpage and showing students how to download a document won't work on my iMac because the program I recorded it in is not compatible with the blog. So I did something a little different. I will show my students how to get to my website and my blog on the big screen projector when school starts.
I will say that I wound up learning a lot during the process of trying to get a screencast on my blog. I spent twenty or so hours on it, finally going to the Apple store to get a tech guy to help me. But every time I tried to work with the screencast, I learned something new, so all in all, it was a great experience.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Thing 11.5
I still have to finish my Jing, but I have learned so many cool things this summer. I loved the image generators--I found two--Animoto and Bookr which I used successfully. I used the Voki, but did not like that as much; I don't like the cartoon version of me. I liked learning about more apps for my Iphone and thought about how to use Skype in my classroom (the problem is to find another class in our time zone or near it!)
I think I have to run as fast as I can to stay in the same place in this age---the kids are learning about computers so fast and enjoying using so many features of the software. I want to be able to use more technology as well as appreciate what they are producing. Computers must be a part of lifelong learning.
I was surprised by the fun and ease of both Animoto and Bookr--I liked using my own photos as well as those available for us online. These projects were really fun. I really was surprised by how much I enjoyed using my blog for my classes this year--and the kids liked responding on it as well. This has been a joyous experience for me, an extension of what I love to do in my classes--engage with my students and with literature and writing.
I am encouraging every teacher I know to get involved with Library2Play--so I say--just keep it up. Both my experiences last summer and this summer have been enriching. And we must keep learning new things whether we like it or not to keep our brains vital and working!
Oh, and I loved going back to You Tube again where I found the hilarious Black Adder meets Shakespeare which I posted!
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