Has this semester flown by. I absolutely loved this class. It took me out of the college stress and brought me to a place of happiness. There was never a day that I didn’t want to attend class. I felt that each class period was beneficial to my learning as a future educator. Each class was filled with insightful comments, suggestions, and ideas. The ideas that people created were so incredible, that I have a list of things they stated and how I can use them for the different stories we’ve read. This class was everything I would want my own class to be about. I want to make reading fun and enjoyable, so the students don’t feel that it is a burden to read. I feel that this class opened my mind so much.

I honestly hated reading, until I came to this class. You made it such a pleasure to read with all the creative things we did in class. I will definitely use half the ideas that came up during this class in my own classroom. I felt that this semester has brought deeper meaning to reading. There’s more to reading than a reading test at the end. Most stories can relate to real life situations and bring in deeper meaning. You want find those deeper meanings, instead of looking for the answer of who is the main character. I really enjoyed every aspect of this class. This has been the best class I have taken in college. Why I say that is because we aren’t learning to pass a test, we are learning in order to teach the next generation of students.

I honestly believe if more teachers taught like you Kim, the whole Chico State campus wouldn’t miss a class unless they were severely sick. I’m trying to make the point that you taught us on how to make a great classroom for our students around literature. You gave us insightful ideas, and prompts that would allow us to become better teachers in the long run. I loved this class because I actually learned things that I would use in my own classroom. I valued this class because I found things that I would do in my own classroom. I feel that a lot of people are just in school to get the grades and pass the test, and are not really thinking I’m going to have to teach this stuff. I definitely feel that teacher’s should teach like you. In regards to what you should do in the classroom, how you should teach this, what grade level would this be appropriate for, and what could you do with this story to make it more enjoyable. There are all these ideas that come to mind once you step into your classroom. You are an amazing individual and I can’t say that more. You value teaching and you value your students learning. Thank you for that.

I’ve learned so much from the series books, to poetry, and fairy tales. I found creative ways to teach all of these. I’m all about creativity and having the children enjoy what they are doing. I feel that creativity can be everything in the classroom. I love working with ideas outside the box. I feel that this class has taught me how to manage a classroom full of literacy. When a child reads a complete story in my class, I will recognize he or she and they will get to put something on the wall. I hope all my walls in my classroom get filled with colorful things. I found this class insightful and inspiring because each person came with a different idea. I really did benefit from other individuals viewpoints around the stories. I honestly had a great time in the class. I don’t think there was one class period that I didn’t smile.

The only thing I would have to improve on is making sure I finish a complete book. I love skipping around and opening new things without finishing one thing at a time. I just need to improve upon that. I feel that I learn more when I open something and finish it. I found learning to be fun in this class. I can tell you, there was not one class that I didn’t learn something. The video you made was absolutely amazing, just like you. This semester has been the best semester in my college experience. Thank you Kim for everything. I will be in your class again, I promise!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline was an amazing book, even though I suck at video games, it was a captivating book. It was a great read! I think this book is portraying how a video game could take you away from the real life. Oasis is a videogame paradise, where they can login to escape their terrible lives that are filled with overpopulation, unemployment and poverty. I found this book relating to my dreams; sometimes my dreams are so good that I don’t want to wake up because my dream is better than reality. I thought the “egg” in the story that Wade was trying to find related to life. You have to go through all these obstacles and keep trying in order to get what you want out of life. There will always be those things that make you hit rock bottom, but you have to get back up and come back even stronger. I think that when you found one “egg,” you accomplished one chapter of your life that had adventure, misfortune, and trial and error. By the end you understand what you misunderstand and learn a lesson from it.

I believe that this book escapes a child from reality for a while, it’s a great book if a child is having a hard time with life. I believe this book will get them back on their feet. It also can relate to identity of finding who you are and who they would want to be in life and trying to find that happy place in your life. The Oasis is a way to find what you love in life and use that to your advantage.

Also the competition part of Oasis makes me think of real life. It’s like everyone is competing to be the best or competing to be the richest, but that’s not the purpose in life. The purpose in life is to find who you are and once you do that you will be a much happier individual. In the end Wade falls in love, which even shows that life isn’t about being the wealthiest individual. I think this story hits on reality and how sometimes as humans we want to escape. I believe that this story is almost like a daydream that is better than reality.

I also think the book hits on hopes and dreams of what you want your life to be like and how you will get there to achieve that. I really enjoyed this book because I felt like I was taken away from reality while I was reading it; it definitely put me in a happy place that I didn’t want to leave.

Versaci stated that the primary goal is to encourage students to see themselves as having a voice in the question of what constitutes literature. The question of how to accomplish what we want our class to learn is to energize and engage students. Versaci explained that we must teach much needed analytical and critical thinking skills and invite students to develop meaningful opinions about what constitutes literacy. He stated that comics could and did address mature subject matter, because in todays world adolescents and teenagers are surrounded by diverse and increasingly complex media, and will often find classroom materials to be dull, irrelevant or both. By teaching through a comic book, teachers can catch students off guard in a positive way as Versaci mentioned. It led students to become more engaged in the given work. Comics are able to put a human face on a given subject, where they can blend words and pictures, so that in addition to the text readers are able to see the characters through the illustrations. Versaci also includes that comic books require an active subconscious and participation on the part of the reader. This is referred to as “closure,” where the reader fills in the details of the empty space. Comic books can also provide a sophisticated and interesting approach to various events and issues. He as well states that his primary motivation for using comic books in class is to provoke students to think more deeply about how artistic value is accorded to particular works or genres. Comics give way to more questions of literature and in the process allow students to understand that all voices, including their own, need to be heard.

Scott McCloud states that vision is one of the five senses that he values most. He stated four basic principles; learn from everyone, follow no one, watch for patterns, and work like hell. In comics formalist-trying to understand how it works, classicist-beauty and craft, animist- believes in content, iconoclast-human experience. With that come thinking, sensation, intuition, and feeling. Comics can refer to life and revolution.

I think reading the comic book genre was different than the other readings we’ve done. I like how there is pictures to go with the texts because it really gets you involved and wanting to read more. The pictures, in my opinion give the words life. They put life into the story and you can jump into the pictures and imagine the comic without even having to come up with a picture because it is right there. Comic books are super fun because the words are everywhere and the pictures are fun to look at. Even though the wording may be short, you can definitely pick out the story plot, the characters, the theme, and what the story is all about. I’m a visual person, so I love looking at photographs while I read. I enjoyed the comic books very much! Comics bring a book into reality; you can imagine the situation because you are visually seeing what is happening while reading. It makes you think ACTION! I think comics are a great way to get kids reading. I think I would start with comics in my classroom and go from there because it is enjoyable and kids will have a blast with it. I think the hardest problem I have with comics is the reading that jumps everywhere, it is hard for me to keep track but once I get on a roll there is no stopping me. I would use comics to write creative stories. I would also use them as a way to express one self; a person would write a story about themselves and create images around those words and could explain to the class how the words relate to the picture and how the picture may relate to the words. It would be a fun,  and an expressive way to get students involved with literature!

1. I think William Carlos Williams is imagining a farm in which a red wheelbarrow is being filled with rain water in order for the white chickens to have water to drink. I would say that the poem has more symbolism than just that. I can’t really analyze it with just its few lines. But if I had to guess, I would think the red wheelbarrow symbolizes life and the water from the rain is what is being put into your life. Like the saying, “is the glass half full or half empty” but in this situation is the “wheelbarrow half full or half empty.” The rain can symbolize all things that have happened in your life, which can cause the wheel barrow to overflow. The white chickens may symbolize purity and modesty, almost like a figure of an angel in your life. What you do with that water is up to you, you can help feed the “white chickens” with the water or you can waste it on yourself. It’s like karma, whatever you do; good or bad will come back to you in time. I could be totally off but it was my interpretation of the poem. I think he felt peaceful about what he was seeing and he really saw the beauty of his life on a farm. The way he uses the image of a wheelbarrow, rain, and white chicken makes the poem symbolize different things in life.

 

2.  So much depends on

     the way he tears me apart

yet says give me time

when I have tears rolling down my face

bright red checks and red eyes

he says he loves me

but I’m loving a lie