All done

Sometimes classes go on forever... this class doesn't. So now its done and thus so am I and so is this. The final post has just been posted. J. C. is out. Later bitches


P.S. its been a great semester

Time to Compute

Computer time for me in highschool was mostly my business tech class with mr. Green. This class was basically a copy of cs. 105 here at western. We learned how to use word, excel, powerpoint, and acess. It was way lame but very helpful. The class work was all out of a book and there was a ton of it so we were all kept pretty busy. Other than that class computer time was rare. There weren't many computers in the classroom. Correction there weren't any computers in the classroom, so computer time always took place in the library of sweetness. I was seldom in the library outside of class and when I was in the library for a class assignment it was usually the same thing. The librarian taught us how to look up books online and how to navigate online. THis happend every year for every class and by the end I wanted to die. When it was actually search time I usually did the work I was supposed to. I was never really one to not do what I was told. SOmetimes however, my searching devolved into googling the wierdest things I could think of hoping for something funny or something naked.

Thank you to Lynley

Lynley, thank you for the new id that replaced my lost id that I'm fairly sure you stole from me. You're a real pal.

Techno class

Technology in the classroom makes education more accesable, interesting, quick (in most cases), and hands on. Also by using technology in a class we are educating our students on how to use technology. Technology should be used with caution however because it doesnt always work as planned. Having a back up plan is always a good idea.

Persona Poem

The revolution begins
Theres a terrible cost
All I have are rocks
Not even rocks
Stones

But I also carry a much
More lethal weapon
A mind
An Idea
Thoughts of a better life
Things you cant touch

Bullets wont stop them
Tanks wont crush them
Propaganda only insights me
To think harder
To think more radically

So I cast these stones
To show my hate
To let you know
In whose mind
The ideas lie
And you'll shoot me up
After it doesnt matter
Because the seed has been planted
And your war machine wont touch it

The revolution has begun

Revision poem

In a world so black and white
I'm angry when people use the N word
Angry that I cant find another job
With all this
Urban sprawl and the constant hum
takes over when all I need
is life to be stilled and for grass to look like a beach
If I could I would
Love to go back to that new years day
Before progress
Before city scapes and starless nights

Cause the city changes everything
Makes us all black or white
Pilling people on top of people
Underneath people
Too close
Too many

I'm angry when people use the N word

Letter to My friend

Rusty,

Its been awhile since we last spoke just thought I'd catch you up on my life/last weekend. It was a pretty interesting night Saturday. I was at a dance thingy for the Air Zoo. For whatever reason their is a lot of old people in Kalamazoo that love to dance. Anyways the funniest part about the whole night was the leader of the dance group was an old guy who looked just like Colonel Sanders except for the fact that he was dressed like Joesph Stalin so the person I was woking with and I refered to him the rest of the night as Citizen or Commrade Sanders, which need less to say was flippin hilarious. There was also a guy there that looked like he was straight out of an 80's porn film. To top it off he was wearing a Badazeled cowboy vest and cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. This was basically my night at the zoo, crazy as always.

Hope things are going well with you. See over break.

Jarney

A Poem

Im
Per
Fec
Tion

Is not a lack of anything
It is not a missing eye
A crippled hand
A crippled mind
A void of thoughts
An inability to connect to your lover

It’s a presence of something not perfect
A socket without a gushy ball and lens
A hand with messed up fingers
A mind that cant connect the dots or color in between the lines
A mind that only thinks white
A distrust of yourself in bed

Im
Per
Fec
Tion

My Weekend

Dear Professor Blank:

This last weekend I had wasn't too exciting or productive. I spent a large amount of my time working at the Air Zoo. The highlight for me came on Saturday night when I was working a night event with a friend of mine. The night event went until 12:00 a.m. and I had been working that day starting at 8:00 a.m. Needless to say by the time the night event was slowing down I was a bit tired and a bit loopy. Anyways my friend and I were working up front at the ticket desk making sure all the people that came into the building were there for the night event and not just people wandering in off the street. The event was some dancing thing for old people. I'm not exactly sure what the group was all I know is that they danced amongst the air planes for a good 4 hours, and they danced to all kinds of music. The song choices ranged from Fergie to country, to Dean Martin to classical. When the organizer of the event arrived Andrew and I could hardly keep from laughing. He was dressed to the nines had a very precisely cut and cleanly trimmed white beard and looked almost exactly like Colonel Sanders, except for the fact that he came in with a very Russian looking fuzzy winter cap and had on a long black trench coat. So Andrew and I got our jollies by calling him Citizen Sanders or Commrade Sanders. Later on in the night one of the younger dancers a man in his mid forties came out to change for his solo dance. This guy was way creepy looking and seemed as if he had just come off an 80's porn shoot. He had a thick poorly trimmed stash a wicked comb over and even asked Andrew and I if we were looking at porn, which we weren't but the fact that he asked was quite odd. When he came back from changing his costume he was wear a cowboy get up and his sleeveless shirt was aglow with what looked like little fake jewels that had been "Badazeled" on. I honestly wish I could say that I kept a straight face upon seeing this sight but I think the tears in my eyes from holding back the laughter gave me away. it was a crazy night but I was plenty glad to get home after that long day.

THe only other thing of any importance that happened this weekend was I met with my group for the last time, which was a bit sad and a bit releaving.

I hope you had an equally entertaining weekend.
John

Firewrite Poem

Global Warming
The fight for oil
Has lost some energy
Over the years
As the Barons of Big Business
Watched their supplies dwindle
Like a candle in the night

But now the battle has once again
Gotten a smog laden, unleaded boost
You see there was an unforeseen
Yet pleasantly delightful side effect
To all this toxic fossilized
Plant matter that we’ve been fiendishly
Pumping into our
Cars
Into our
Atmosphere
Into our
Lungs
Into our
Demise

The heat it creates when it insulates
Melts
Melts
Melts
The ice one
Drip drop
Drip drop
At a time

Freeing up a new untapped glorious wealth of black gold
Enough to line our pockets
Enough to seal your fate
Enough to raise the Asthma count a few thousand
Enough to keep your gas prices just reasonable
Enough to stop the bitching

But somewhere down the oily slope
We slipped
In some environmental bullshit
Something about Global Warming
Something about oil is killing
The entire planet
Whatever that means

Who cares about fifty years from now
Who cares about no ice caps
Who cares about loss of habitats
Who cares about no winters
Or possibly eternal winters

Because the bottom line is
Four billion dollars pure profit this quarter
The bottom line is they’re getting rich
And they don’t give a fuck
Let the peons choke on 3.18 a gallon
Let them choke on the fumes
Let them fry under the UV rays
Let them drown in the streets of their own cities

Preservation of life can’t be drilled
Out of the core of the earth
Which will give them the energy
They’ve grown addicted to
With it we’ll poison their lives
And they will pay us handsomely to do so

Poem

I grew up white
I grew up middle class
I grew up happy
Relatively
I’m not oppressed
I’m not segregated
I’m not told no

But that doesn’t mean
I don’t have problems
I live an easy life
I’ve struggled
I’ve bled
I’ve tried and tried
Then failed and failed

I still get pulled over
I still get made fun of
I still get frustrated
Or angry
I’ve given up

So why does everyone see me as privileged
Because I’m white
Because I’m middle class
Because I couldn’t possibly understand
What it’s like

To not have a penis
To not think about my skin
To not be outnumbered
To not be free in every way

But those are just easy excuses
Reasons to hate instead of try
Because I’ve earned every
Dollar
A+
F-
Friend
Job position
Raise
Firing

And I’ll own them all
So don’t cast your hate on me
Because I won’t bare the burdens
Of your misfortunes

I understand you’ve had a shitty life
Your upbringing didn’t allow for the
Opportunity
Success
Safety
Love

But what would you have me do
Give it all up
So I can live as miserably as you
We are all victims

Group Meeting

Wednesday at 3:30 Jen and I will be meeting in the Library to revise our group teach in light of the changes our teacher has suggested. If Any other group members are available to attend please do so, it is important that we get this worked out before the weekend.

Letter

Dear Walt,

I must say that your song in the movie dumbo has some very racial ideas in it. I am certain that when you made this movie in 1941 the idea of stereotyping African Americans wasn't an issue that received a lot of attention. However, I feel that today a more conscious effort to be nonstereotypical would be better for the youth of our country. Perhaps making the workers a racially mixed bunch- even though that may not be historically accurate- would serve the movie better. Also at least give them faces and payment for their labor. I know your movie didn't set out to racially isolate anyone and I'm sure in 1941 no one gave a second thought to that particular scenes' racial discrimination- and who knows maybe that portrayal is accurate- but in todays politically correct world we all need to be more socially tolerant.

Sincerely,

John Chrisman

Reflection on Wednesday's Class

The lessons of day one were interesting. I had never really thought about the stereotypes that are actively present in everyones high schools. However, with a little observation I was able to easily pick out the characteristics that in my mind defined the stereotypical Prep. I was also amused to learn that everyones high school had unique stereotypes. The discussion into why people create stereotypes helped get the ball rolling on understanding why stereotypes occur.

I felt that the commercial assignment was a fun and eye opening activity. At first glance I didn't think there were really any stereotypes in the commercial I had chosen but again once I looked a little deeper the stereotypes were easy to pick out. Stripping the commercial of stereotypes and then replacing them with new stereotypes was fun, because it utilized my creativity, and educational, because it again allowed us to identify more stereotypes.

I suppose I would have to say that stereotypes are something that we are bombarded with everyday. In most every form of media and society there are stereotypes. They are, in todays world, impossible to avoid.

I think teaching about stereotypes is very important. English is a great subject with which to approach the stereotype topic because there is a lot of great literature that can accompany a unit on stereotyping, not to mention the obvious examples that are present in the world today. I dont think I would have any inhibitions about broaching the stereotype topic with my students I have always been of the mindset that the biggest most controversial topics are the ones that should be touched on and taught/learned about the most. I would be excited and interested to get my students engaged and discussing/thinking about the stereotypes they are subject to and the stereotypes they've created in their world.

Commercial

One commercial I really like thats on tv now is the Snickers commercial with the viking and the pilgrim. The two are at a gas station and the pilgrim tells the viking that they are out of Snickers candy bars and the viking yells NOOOOOOOO!!!! and throws a trash can at a car in the parking lot leaving a sizable dent in the cars rear driverside panel. Then the pilgrim tells the viking that he got them Snickers dark bars instead and the viking yells YEEEEESSSS!!!! again throwing a new trash can that somehow magically appered where the old (already thrown) trash can was. Again he hits the car in the parking lot in the rear driverside panel. I think the commercial is hilarious everytime I watch it because its so over the top, theres no real reason for a viking and a pilgrim to be friends traveling together but they do look quite ridiculous and watching a trash can get thrown into a car across a parking lot is farcical. I already really like Snickers candy bars and I havent yet tried the dark chocolate version (even though I do enjoy me some dark chocolate). But I suppose if I were given the choice between the two I would try the dark one. Yeah I'm pretty sure I would think of the commercial when I saw the dark chocolate Snickers.


I also really like the Messin with sasquatch commercials but I cant remember the name of the beef jerky that its for so I suppose its not that effective.

When I wanted to be a Girly man

I can only think of one real instance when I wanted to be a girl and not a boy. I was in middle school and I was a decent soccer player but not a great soccer player as I had always dreamed I would be. I can remember one day playing soccer in the backyard against my sister and some of her fellow high school teammates and just smoking the shit out of them by myself. And it was at that moment that I thought Golly if only I were a girl I would be awesome at soccer. I don't suppose I took into account the physical differences between boys and girls at that point but this is really the only time that I can recall wanting to be a girl instead of a boy for any significant amount of time. But I'm glad I'm a boy because I dont have to shave my legs and arm pits and wear makeup and all those other things that our society (me included) demands of women. I absolutely loath shaving (hence the beard at the moment) so the less of it I have to do the better. I really have nothing more to say about wanting to be a Girl/Woman.

Poem

Fuzzy Red digits
The brain desperately clings to a dream
But it slips away into Freud’s Library

Consciousness
Invades the body slowly
Starting with the mind
Then alerting the eyes
But pausing at the arm
Void of blood
It is a dead log that must be roused
Painfully

Cool air floods the nostrils
Filling them with the stale air of the room
The body struggles up placing an elbow
Into a cool wet pool of drool

First one foot
Then the other
Makes contact with yesterdays dirty cloths
As each toe probes the articles
A coarse muscle rubs itself around the mouth
Riding itself of the chalky film it’s collected

Suddenly the sleeping arm is attacked
By thousands of prickly pears, cactus needles, porcupine quills, and bumble bee stingers
The arm is given a hearty shake, which only intensifies its pain
So it is left to scream as it angrily awakes

Then the body stands with a chorus of creaks and snaps
Each joint rendering a complaint
Turning off the steady HUUUUMMMM of the fan
Revealing the sound of birds in the dead pine
Which scratches the window with only a gust

But the curtain stays closed
The eyes don’t wish to see the birds
The eyes don’t desire the colorful light of the morning sun
The eyes enjoy the dark, the uncertainty



Sight is overrated as a sense
Taken for granted
The body prefers to use its other senses for navigation
The ones tuned out by the contracting lenses

Chapter 14 Response

Chapter 14 was an interesting read. I admit that I would love to do more multigenre work in the classroom as I think its good for students to engage in different styles of writing for different purposes and different audiences. I feel that exposing students to different genres will give them the confidence to write letters to the boss, or memos at work or newspaper articles, or a number of other purposes. The chapter says that multigenre writing is good for students going on to college however, I would have to disagree with that statement that while a student is in college they will be engaged in a multitude of writing in genres other than scholarly work. Even this blog is something I would consider a "scholarly" sort of writing since I am analyzing the text I have read and I'm quoting/paraphrasing it to support my ideas. Only once in my college career can I recall writing in a genre that isn't on some level scholarly and that was in the one, not required, creative writing class I took. In that class I wrote one short story and five poems. Since that class I really struggle to recall an instance in which I have had to know how to write a descriptive essay, or a newspaper article, or anything of that sort. So based on my college experience I would say that students do not need to know how to engage in multigenre writing in order to succeed in college.

The excerpt in the text about plagiarism I found to be full of good ideas. I was especially interested in the statement that "plagiarism is worth mini-lessons, as in multiple, discussion, and practice". I know that my high school experience with proper citation included one quick "you've done this before right?" and then one half hearted lesson and getting a paper back with the bibliography all marked up. Its my opinion that teachers should spend a portion of class on a few different days going over citation requirements and each of these days their should be some practice of citing sources properly done by the students. Our society places a great emphasis on not stealing the ideas and writing of others. Yet, our teachers/professors encourage and often times require us to quote and paraphrase from the sources. So as a student I can remember feeling lost and terrified of misquoting or incorrectly citing a source. Teachers need to recognize that asking students to quote adds a lot of pressure on the students writing.

Finally I loved the quote at the end of this chapter. "As I see it, one of my jobs is to get the academic community to think in broader terms about what constitutes good academic writing." (89). I think this gets to the heart of why schools (especially colleges) don't bother with multigenre writing. Our society for whatever reason doesn't value nonscholarly work as highly as scholarly work. And for many years now people view anything that isn't a research paper as largely not scholastic and thus not as teach worthy. However, this chapter makes the argument that multigenre writing can be every bit as scholastic as a research paper and can actually include elements of a research paper in much craftier and interesting ways. For example I would much rather write and read a paper on king Richard that contains facts but is composed in a short story genre. It gives the students more writing freedom and gives the paper a more interesting, yet factual story. If the students enjoy it more then they will most likely learn more from it.

New Ideas for Group Teach

Essential Questions:
What is Poetry?
How can we start writing Poetry?
What other elements of literature can be incorporated into poetry?

Activity Ideas:
Students Read Scholarly text on teaching poetry

Group Poem

Discussion of previous poetry experiences

Read different poems from different genres

Songs as poems

Model writing and reading poems

Group Meeting

Sunday didn't work for anyone so lets try and get together this week sometime if we can.... Post suggestions for times. I'm willing to meet people individually if need be. I check my blog you everyone in our groups blog at least once a day so either put on comment on here or put a post on your wall and I'll get back to you.

GROUP MEETING

Sunday at 7:00 p.m. work for everyone... if you cant make it or would like to change the time post a comment. Either I can meet with others individually or we can work something else out. I don't plan on the meeting taking very long, I'd just like to get some more ideas on paper and MAYBE outline some activities.

Also if anyone wants to go over their INDY teaches at all I'd be willing to help with that as well.

Grammar Homework

I found a very interesting article in the ERIC database on teaching grammar in secondary schools called Forgiving Ourselves and Forging Ahead: Teaching Grammar in a New Millennium by Susan Losse Nunan. This article explains a young Texas teacher's frustration when trying to teach her students a lesson about proper comma usage. The article goes on to explain her teaching tactics, which were mostly traditional diagramming, and how they failed. The author then goes on to discuss why grammar is important outlining the oft trumpeted ideas such as it makes for better, clearer writing, and it will allow the readers to take your ideas seriously. However, her best reason to support the teaching and studying of grammar is that through the understanding of more complex grammar students will be able to understand more complex thoughts, and will be able to apply this understanding in their writing.

She also talks about nontraditional ways of teaching grammar. She states "Rules without purpose are meaningless". I really liked this quote because to me it gets at the heart of the problem. Grammar rules are too often dished out with no real purpose behind them. It seems as though the lessons are to be learned simple because the teacher feels they are important, not for any practicable or applicable reason. Her suggestions for teaching grammar to students effectively rely on addressing students individually. She also stresses repetition. Teaching the lesson once and then forgetting about it doesn't usually work. Learning about a particular grammar rule in several different, and unique, ways will help the lesson stick in the students minds. Some examples she gives are using side walk chalk with grammar, and my favorite physical dramatization with grammar.

One of the most amazing ideas of this paper was the section where she talks about how students grammar will usually get worse as they learn something before it gets better. This is often because the students are trying to grasp this new concept and apply it in their own writing. Eventually, and with enough practice, patience, and persistence, the students will master the concept and be able to use it freely in their own lives.

Grammer Response

I will admit I have never been a huge fan of grammar. All through high school only one of my teachers had the courage to try and teach her students the fine points of the English Language. It was hard and grueling and tedious work but I did learn a lot only to forget most all of it by the beginning of my next year of school. It wasnt until last year in college while fullfilling my language requirement that I once again was forced, kicking and screaming, to relearn grammar. It was this second time around that I realized just how important it really is to understand grammar and how much it will help you when writing your papers. Since last year I have been much more dedicated to understanding grammar.
The first twelve pages of the Image Grammar brought back some not so fond memories of learning grammar in High School. However, once I got a few pages into the text I realized that the technique for teaching the grammar was through creative writing which I think is a brilliant idea. Grammar is usually seen as a bunch of rules that must be followed when writing an essay or a formal paper but isn't practicle in poetry or stories. By teaching grammar with creative writing that myth is easily dispelled. I for one love writing poetry and I have found that the quality of my writing has improved dramatically since I've relearned grammar. Plus by allowing the student to do creative writing with grammar it makes the grammar more fun and engaging.
I also liked the amount of examples and the stress on modeling and repetition of the techniques learned. Grammar is somehting that takes hard work and practice and practice and practice if you want it to stick.

INDY Teach

My Text: Slam Poetry

Main Ideas
- introduce students to slam poetry
-have students comfortable using slam poetry

Activities
-Model a Slam poem for students at the start of class
-have students define a slam poem
-get students to create their own slam poetry

Essential Questions
-How is Slam Poetry different from regular poetry
-How can Slam Poetry be used in the classroom???

Ideas I'm Still Debating
-Slam Poetry competition
-MadLibs slam poetry...
-short video clip of slam poets in action


This is subject to change significantly since I can't get my Book until this coming thursday

The English Teacher's Red Pen Response:

What a great article. I think every English teacher should read this. Bleeding all over every students paper doesn't help the student's and doesn't do the teachers any favors either (except maybe make them despair over how poorly they're teaching). I, like every other English student, have heard from their teachers as some point over the years, "you get five mistakes and after that your grade goes down X amount of points per mistake", or something along those lines. This places an unnecessary amount of pressure on the writers and to an extent on the teacher as well since it is they who have to spend the next month laboring tediously over each sentence looking for any and all errors. It also doesn't help if every error on a students paper is pointed out because the student is overloaded with corrections and becomes frustrated with not writing well enough. I also as a student can remember being told that having good ideas is great but that no one would take my writing seriously if I didn't use proper spelling and grammar all while I thought if my ideas were good enough and the paper was readable shouldn't that count for more then a C. Turns out the answer really is yes. And while that doesn't raise my GPA now it certainly is nice to know and will be helpful for when I start grading.
Thats not to say that correcting grammar and spelling has no place. But, it should be done in manageable pieces. Maybe work on comma usage one week, then paragraph structure the next week, and so on. Also the teacher needs to recognize things students do right in their papers at least just as much as they're criticized. Giving students bite size grammar will help them remain confident and will help them work on their grammar.
I also really liked the tone/style of the author in this chapter. The author gave many examples to explain and support their position and the ideas were very clear and straight forward.

Emerging Technologies Response:

I really enjoyed the opening story of this chapter. Doing assignments that are typically done on paper on Word doesn't necessarily count as progressive use of technology in the classroom. Unfortunately this is the closest many classes come to using technology. This chapter seemed to focus a lot on blogs and how to use them as means of communication and for assignments in the classroom. I really like the idea of giving students blogs and having them use those for different assignments because it will allow for greater creativity. "Talking about driving doesn't fit a paragraph the same way that it fits an image that follows me driving down the road." However, the inherent problem with using technology is that not all students (and not all schools) have access to the technology that would be useful in the classroom.
"This isn't about grading as much as it is an opportunity to hear students' connections, struggles, questions, and ideas." I really love this quote too. By not putting strict grades on students blogs they will feel more free to express themselves and there wont be as much fear of the technology.

Group Teach Rough Ideas

Essential Questions:

1. What is poetry?
2. What is the function of poetry?
3. Who can write poetry?
4. What's the difference between poetry and other forms of writing?

Goals:

1. Students should be able to recognize poetry and feel confident in writing poems.
2. Students should be able to peer edit other students work in a meaningful and constructive way
3. Students should be able to interpret poetry

Activities:
What is poetry question- everyone writes one line then is turned into a poem, read round robin.

Have students write a poem

Homework read 4 different poems of differing genres

Peer editing

Where I am From

I am from a warm kitchen in the middle of winter
A cozy hideout with fresh baked sweets that taste like Christmas morning
Our cookies for Santa and twelve pies for the rest of the family
Plus one extra small just for me

The sound of Chipmunks Christmas
Led by that trouble maker Alvin
Rings down the stairs
As I slip into wet boots and snow suit

I am from that cold blast that wakes up your face
As I step on to the icey porch
I hurry through the snow along the side of driveway
Trying to keep up with the snow blower

Just barely quick enough
to not get burried as I go
Blasted with snow
My body breaking its flow

Pretending I dont hear myself getting in trouble

Response to: Starting to Write

Everyone has something to write about. There is always a new story to tell or a new way to tell an old story. There were a lot of great ideas and examples in this chapter. One line I felt I could relate to was "Most writers do not have many fields to plow. My writing mostly comes from my going over and over and over again a few territories." I have found that the subject matter of my writting is the same. I seem to have a handful of ideas, emotions, and memories from which blooms a majority of my writing. I have many times tried to dig up new memories or force writing about differing topics and have for the most part found these pieces to be flat and uninspired. It is much easier to stick with what I know and what I can draw on.

One line from the text that I was unclear on was "I have no specific memory of this incident, but it is true now that I have wirtten it...." I'm not sure how a fiction can become a truth simple through the act of writting. I can write that I flew around the world and relate all sort of wonderful experiences and details but the fact that I have written it does not alter the reality that I have in fact never flown anywhere much less around the world. I through my writting can imagine what flying would be like and could write pages upon pages of ficticious experiences that I'd have on my travels but they may not be accurate and certianly wouldn't be true.

I love this monkey!

Response to: Why I Write

I found that I agreed to a large extent with many of Donald M. Murray's statements and suggestions for becoming a better writter and I also felt that many of his suggestions could be easily used in a classroom to motivate students to write.

Time and time again Donald Murray says that the best way to get yourself to write is by forcing yourself to sit in a seat and write. It doesn't necessarily matter what the subject of the writing is just so long that you are writing. He cites many colleagues and uses quotes from several famous writters from many different fields and of many differing eras. I did feel that he belabored his point a bit excessively; however, the many different examples and views of how one can write best did help generate many ideas for combating excuses to not write.

I agree with Donald Murray's assessment that writing is a necessary act that every person engages in and that the only real difference between people who write are the reasons they engage in writing and the benefits they recieve from writing. He includes many examples for writing such as: To lose myself in my work, to testify, to avoid boredom, to share, for revenge, to exercise my craft to slay my dragons, to discover who I am and several others. Each reason is unique in its own way and each reason demonstrates both the versatility and the necessity of writing in people's lives.

I couldn't help but draw connections to my own writings when I read the section about "Writers Who Don't Finish" and Writers Who Don't Submit For Publication". I, sadly, am guilty on both accounts. I have started and completed probably over a hundred pages of writing for my own personal reasons very little of it is "finished" and even less of it has ever been submitted to anyone for viewing. Instead it sits in a dusty folder locked safely away in the archives of my computer. But I would argue that not all of it has been writen for publication and, while I wont deny the that the idea of publishing some of my work has crossed my mind, I can't imagine someone else finding it much interesting or original. However, Donald Murray's devotion, enthusiasm, desire, and his love for writing have inspired my to once agian pick up the pen and "use the tounge as an eye".

Towards the end of the reading I began to fade the burdensome amount of examples began to wear on my mind and I started to tune out. I have a writing style and system of my own and hearing about others was interesting for awhile but soon couldn't hold my interest. I did finish the reading but by the time I reached "Talent Is Common; Energy Is Rare" my energy was scarce.

I enjoyed this article and I'm sure I'll be able to use many of the ideas is contains to motivate myself and my future students.