Room at the Top

Travel: The Prologue

The following collection of multigenre writing obtains one general theme. This theme is travel. Specifically, it embodies my experience during a specific travel excursion. Each piece adds up to allow you, the reader, to better understand how my experience on this journey through Europe has allowed me to better understand the diversity that this world has to offer. Each piece encompasses a different culture, race or gender. As I add a small glimpse into each of these cultures, you should see how I adapted to their way of life and allowed myself to diversify my own thoughts and experiences. Europe has allowed me to better understand the world and appreciate my culture, as well as those that are different to mine. If I have succeeded, my writing should allow you to have the same experience.

Dear Lindsey,

Things are good here. We’re tired and dirty. I went ten days without shaving, and finally when we arrived in Monterosso yesterday I bought a few razors. They had two blades each, and I had no shaving cream. Do the math. It hurt real bad; I actually bled for an hour and a half straight. Sorry I haven’t called, the only place that had a phone so far was Amsterdam, and the shop was closed by the time we got in. My bag didn’t arrive when we did, but some how it was sent in the mail to the hostel that we stayed at for the night. I’ll explain when I get home. We are sharing an apartment with a few people from Canada; they taught us a new card game that will get us through the long train rides. Anyways about the apartment we are staying in. We got off the train and spent about two hours trying to find a place to sleep. Everyone was booked solid. We ran into an old man pushing his bike and he noticed we were American, and offered to let us stay in an apartment that he owned. It’s nice; we get to stay away from the tourist area. It feels real here. Next stop is Rome. I am sure I will be able to call from there. Hope you are doing well.

Love,

Tyler

Morgan: http://meliser.edublogs.org/

Jamie: http://ringelja.uniblogs.org/

Christie: http://christiedeanna.edublogs.org/

Eric:http: //ideamen.edublogs.org/

Walter: http://kimw.uniblogs.org/

Shakura: http://www.weathesh.uniblogs.org./

Ashley W: http://wrightas.uniblogs.org/

Eric: http://ideamen.edublogs.org/

Eli: http://ebarsy.uniblogs.org/

Hilary: http://hpiette.uniblogs.org/

So after a total of seven posts about technology and social networking in the classroom, and a conference review post, I realize that one general thesis throughout. Teachers need to be creative, and they need to adapt. The internet grows by the day, and is rapidly becoming a tool that will be crucial for everyone to understand. Teacher’s who incorporate this tool into their classrooms not only provide a creative learning tool to their students, but also prepare them for the future with tools that will be necessary to understand. Social networking sites I feel fit well with the classroom if used properly, for example if they are used to better understand characters from books. The introduction of social networking sites does however bring its problems. There is the possibility of bullying, misuse of time, and then the problems that parents have with it all. Speaking of parents, I feel that they can benefit from the use of social networking sites as well. Whatever site the teacher decides to use, parents could be able to track their child’s success throughout the year. As for the RSS technology, I think it is very effective when it comes to gathering information. To hop on Google and have an updating source for news and info in such an organized way is so helpful when writing. I am sure the technology will only grow and become more popular, so students should start to become familiar with RSS now in order to stay ahead of the game. The internet is the future, and a teacher’s job is to prepare their students for the future.

While the conference didn’t focus specifically on teaching methods in the classroom, it did inspire me to be creative, and to encourage my students to be creative. The first session that I attended was the introduction featuring Gijsbert and Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen. The two probably don’t need an introduction as they are known for their farm and children’s books. The couple talked about their farm and their inspiration to start it. Then they moved into the creation and process of writing their books as well. At first I struggled to see how I could use the information they were giving me to use in a classroom, but towards the end, these people taught me the very lesson that I need to be teaching my students some day. The family started with nothing. They had a farm in the middle of endless fields. That didn’t stop them from meeting their goal though. They planted trees, helped animals, dug ponds, and fixed up the house and barn. Years passed and soon their farm was a vibrant, nurturing safe haven. I thought if this farm as a classroom. My goal should be to create a classroom that is a safe haven for learning. It won’t come easy though. I’ll have to plant seeds, help students who need it, and make English something the students can care about.

The second session that I sat in on was “Read for Mama” where the speaker was Lori McElrath-Eslick. She too didn’t talk about classroom issues really, but instead she focused on how important it is to be creative and how much that can enrich your life. Lori focused on her experience illustrating and how important it is to do work that you care about and means something to you. Instantly a light went off in my head. She was repeating the same stuff that we have been emphasizing in class all semester. Lori does her best work when she cares about what she is drawing. Well this sort of relationship is true for anybody. If I can allow my students to write about topics that they care about, and have them do projects that they enjoy, then they will do better work, and will get more out of the assignment. Also Lori talked about the diversity in the classroom and how important it is to encourage and discuss diversity as it is a source for new ideas.

From both sessions, I gathered two important ideas. Plant seeds, and do something that you care about. I can plant seeds if I find a way to offer projects and papers that will give my students think about the important things in life, epically in their own life. The conference was very interesting and I enjoyed hearing the speakers discuss their passion for creativity, I think it is a must see for anyone who needs to remember how important it is to be creative.