This is a week long project for students who are in the 8th or 9th grade. To accomplish this lesson, the teacher must have a good deal of knowledge of the students so that they can be grouped accordingly.

The students will be divided into groups of 4 or 5 students. The students should be grouped in such a way that at least one creative student and one student who is not shy are in each group.

Day 1: The students will be introduced to the poems The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes¹ and Yet Do I Marvel by Countee Cullen². They will be asked to read them in their groups and try to comprehend as much as possible. Teacher lead discussion will be used to help the students understand the poems.

Day 2: The students will write a compare/contrast short essay about the two poems. One essay is due per group so they can work on this together.

Day 3: The students will use the information they learned on the first two days to rewrite both of the poems. The poems will be rewritten in such a manner that the poems still contain the same meanings that the students found but in a modern day language.

Day 4: The students will continue rewriting the poems and will also prepare for the poetry reading.

Day 5: Each group will present their custom written versions of the two poems. They will also read their comparison/contrast essay to the class.

Some notes about this assignment:

• Students should be encouraged to be as creative as possible with their rewrites of the poems. To incorporate more “modern” language, they could make the poems sound like a conversation that takes place on the Internet or use jargon that is prevalent these days.³
• Students should also be allowed to prepare for the poetry reading in a creative manner. The poetry reading should be set up to be a similar atmosphere as could be found during the Harlem Renaissance. The smoky jazz clubs are where these took place, so provide candlelight and maybe some piano jazz in the background. Dry ice could be used to create the smoky environment. The children could wear costumes that fit the time period or if that’s not feasible, maybe hats could be found to give some semblance of the era.
• The instructions are provided in a simple manner because the creativity of the teacher truly comes into play with this type of lesson. The school administration might allow this to be a presentation to the entire school. Parents could be invited and asked to dress in their Sunday best. There are many routes a teacher could take with this lesson to make it fun for the students⁴.

1. Hughes, Langston. “The Weary Blues.” Anthology of Modern American Poetry. Ed. Cary Nelson. New York: Oxford Press, 2000. 504-505. [«]
2. Cullen, Countee. “Yet Do I Marvel.” Anthology of Modern American Poetry. Ed. Cary Nelson. New York: Oxford Press, 2000. 530-531. [«]
3. As long as they leave out the spam language like “Leptovox” and other such nonsense found in e-mails today. [«]
4. Or even the whole school [«]

Posted by Saphrym

“Lord of the Flies” is one of those novels that is taught often within the schools. It can be found most often in high schools and middle schools. However, “Lord of the Flies” is also one of those novels that is sometimes hard for the students to understand¹. Although they may be able to answer questions about it, sometimes the action is hard to follow. To help students understand it, during reading they should have questions that lead them to the most important aspects of each chapter. After reading the movie should be shown to provide a summary of the book and allow the students to see what it is they’ve been imagining. In this instance, the movie directed by Peter Brook in 1963 is the preferred version. But before reading there are a few different activities that can be used to get the students in the right mind for this novel. (more…)

1. I had a tough time with it too when I first read it. [«]

Posted by Saphrym

This is another series I read over the summer. Well, not even close to the whole series yet. I’ve read the first four books. But book 5 and 6 are not available at the libraries around here. I’m waiting until they are.¹ I’ve talked about “Wizard’s First Rule” before. It’s a book by Terry Goodkind. It’s a very adult book and the beginning of an 11 book long series. Ranger’s Apprentice reminds me of a young adult version of the same series.

This is not a bad thing. The Sword of Truth series² is my favorite series of all time and has not been dethroned yet. The Ranger’s Apprentice series has the same kind of concepts within it. In both books there are not as many of the details you’d normally find in a high fantasy novel. What seems like magic is not really magic in most cases. And there are no “normal” fantasy races like elves and dwarfs. This helps the reader to suspend disbelief and allows you to read between the lines even more during both series.³

However, this review is about Ranger’s Apprentice. It’s about a boy who ends up being picked to be a Ranger. He didn’t expect the position and hardly welcomes it, but later he loves it. This book truly has tons of moral issues and political concepts that if the reader really pays attention, can be a huge learning experience.

Again, I highly recommend this series. It’s also a young adult series but this 34 year old loved it and can’t wait to read the rest.

1. Normally I buy the books I’m reading, but if I would have done that this summer, it would have cost a lot of money. [«]
2. the one by Terry Goodkind [«]
3. This won’t be a world where you can buy term life insurance on every corner, but it’s a believable world nonetheless. [«]

Posted by Saphrym

Time for my SECOND favorite series of the past summer: The Pendragon Series. It’s not actually fair to say it’s my second favorite either. I like it just as much as the Twilight series. Maybe even better. But I haven’t read book 10 yet because it’s not out until next year, so I can’t do a “final” review until I’ve read the last book.¹

But right now, I can say I love this story. It’s tough to talk about it without giving away information, but I can say a little. It’s about a boy who finds out it’s his job to save existence. He’s able to travel between multiple realms which in some cases includes time traveling. He’s also very much like a teenager and has the same problems as a teenager but multiplied by many times because of his new responsibility. In other words, the author has made him “real” enough even in this fantasy world he’s created.²

Oh, and you may know DJ MacHale if you’re as old as I am because not only is he the author of this series, but he was also the creator of Encyclopedia Brown. So he has the necessary credentials to pull this kind of story off. And he does so quite beautifully. Each book has a great story, but where he truly shines is the interwoven nature of the story being told throughout the series. This war between “good” and “evil” is enthralling and wonderful.

I’ll sum this up by putting it to you this way: If you buy the first book, you might as well buy the other 8 that are out right now and be prepared to be as aggravated as I am that you have to wait for number 10.³

1. Which as soon as it’s out and sent to me, I’ll be pulling out my box cutter and ripping through the package. [«]
2. Although parts of this fantasy world take place right here on earth. [«]
3. grumble grumble [«]

Posted by Saphrym

Last time I told you guys about my diet, I told you I was 266 pounds. Well, I still am. However, I’ve lost an inch in my waist¹. I’ve been doing a LOT of walking recently and I think I’m gaining even more leg muscles². I’m happy I’m not gaining. Maybe I need to do another splurge to shock my system into losing weight again. Seems to work every time I try. I’ll have a new chart for you guys in a week. I think I can drop at least 3 to 5 pounds by next Saturday. We shall see.

1. still without using weight loss pills [«]
2. although I didn’t think that was possible after walking around at 355 pounds for so long [«]

Posted by Saphrym

Ok, I’m going to write a few book reviews over the next couple of days. I read a bunch¹ this past summer and would like to share my opinion of them. I’m going to start with my favorite series I read over the summer, Twilight.

“Twilight” was written by Stephanie Meyer. It’s the first book in the series and it’s also going to be in theaters in November. Some people have called it the next Harry Potter. I’d have to disagree with that, but I will say that this series is worth every minute that it takes to read it.

The basic premise of this series is that a girl enters into a secret world of vampires and “werewolves.”² She shows no fear of this new world and that’s easy to see because you’re constantly in her thoughts. The author does a great job of letting the reader know the mind of the main character. Just the concept of vampires gets me interested, but her writing style kept me hooked.

My wife originally had been loaned this book by a teacher at the school we work at. She read it and started saying how good it was. I couldn’t help myself, so I started reading it. From the first chapter, I was hooked. I went through the first 3 books rather quickly. The fourth book, “Breaking Dawn,” hadn’t come out yet. As soon as it did, I had it in my possession and, well, let my wife read it first.³ Then I read it.

The fourth book is more mature than the first 3. And it’s not as action filled as the first three. However, it was the most enthralling book of the 4. In my opinion, it was a masterpiece of emotion and drama with tons of the good stuff thrown in too.

I highly recommend this series of books to anyone. For more on them, visit Stephanie’s site.

1. 47 [«]
2. No indoor lighting necessary. [«]
3. I would have got into trouble otherwise. [«]

Posted by Saphrym

This was just fun. My daughter came home and said that are certain days of the year, according to her science teacher, and egg can stand on it’s end on just a regular flat surface. Supposedly it was one of those days a couple of days ago. So I decided to try it. Lo and behold, that’s egg-xactly¹ what happened. The following picture is not trick photography. It also does not use any of the usual “tricks” to making an egg balance like this. It took me a few seconds to get it done as it was very picky about where it would balance, but then it just stood there. I couldn’t help but take a picture².

1. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. [«]
2. May not be as pretty as Wilmington NC real estate, but it still looks cool. [«]

Posted by Saphrym

Well, so far I’m loving Warhammer Online. I’m able to jump in for 30 minutes here and there and actually accomplish stuff¹. I don’t know if it’s because I’m still low level or not, but it’s nice.

The interface is very much like World of Warcraft, but don’t let that fool you. Although the fighting is similar to WoW², there are so many features they’ve added and tweaked that make this very unlike WoW. The public quests are quite fun. I’ve done them over and over just because it’s actually fun to be in a PUG³ in this game.⁴ The classes are all pretty much fun. I’m low level because although I’m normally a pet/ranged guy, I’ve been trying them all out. I’ve created a character for every class and am working on getting them all to 5 so I can see how they play.

The sorcerer is an extremely powerful caster. Can’t take a beating, but gets a deaggro⁵ pretty quick in the game.⁶ The mauler is cool because of the mutating arm and it’s fun to watch him slash away with it. My main, the squig herder, is also fun to play. The witch elf is kind of like the rogue from WoW when it comes to the melee damage she can do.

As for the PvE quests, they are very much like all other PvE quests in other games, however, there is a 100% drop rate, meaning you don’t have to kill thousands of them for 5 items. And everyone who kills it gets the item. Speaking of quest items…

There are many little additions to this game that make it where they have removed the tedious aspects of other games and just allowed you to have fun. For example, inventory management isn’t as bad because quest items are instantly put in a separate tab and take up no space in your main inventory. Quest areas on maps are highlighted so it’s easy to find the general vicinity of your quests.There’s a little arrow on the right of your inventory bags that lets you pick what items you prefer to go into what bags. For instance, I make it put my specific crafting materials and potions in my second bag so I know that most stuff in the first one is able to be sold or worn. The quests do not require long walks/runs so far. Everything is pretty close by⁷. And those are just a few of the little extras in the game. It’d take me another few paragraphs to talk about the loot system, which I believe to be quite nice.

When it comes to the environment, it SCREAMS Warhammer. They’ve done a great job of making it look like there’s a war going on around you no matter where you start. I’m a fan of the tabletop game, and this captures the spirit of it in many ways. Even the ground is littered with rust and bones. Many areas have constant animations providing a very living atmosphere. In the orc areas you have cannon shots raining down around you. In the elven area there are constant interactions with prisoners⁸. In the chaos area, there are cannons that shoot dead bodies. You are one of the ones who helps load them up. The world is very alive and the quests do a good job of making you fell like you’re contributing to that life.

And then there’s the RvR. I haven’t played with it much just yet, but from what I have done, it’s quite an amazing way of having PvP without the normal problems of PvP. The long queue lines for some of the instances get me aggravated, but I’ll just go do other stuff while I’m waiting and sometimes even forget I’m waiting for them. With more people joining every day, I’m betting those lines will get shorter as they match people up.

All in all, it’s been a very enjoyable experience. Will it keep me interested after that first month that comes free with the purchase of the game? I have no idea. I’m easily bored. But for now it has breathed new life into my MMO experience, at least until Stargate, Star Trek, or Champions is released, because I’ll probably try all of those too.

1. Which means you won’t need incontinence supplies to keep you going through a 24 hour session nearly as much. [«]
2. Which is fine by me. [«]
3. Pick-up group, meaning a party of players who just get together. [«]
4. That may be because we’re on the RP server and because of the strict rules about it, I haven’t seen any irritating people yet. [«]
5. An ability to make the enemies stop wanting to attack you so much. [«]
6. I used it often against the dragon in the first dark elf PQ. [«]
7. Other than one annoying quest in the elven lands that has you run all the way back north to turn it in. [«]
8. That you help capture. [«]

Posted by Saphrym

I took a memorization course because of the grocery store I worked at when I was much younger. It taught how to memorize lists of items by creating images of the numbers and attaching them to images of the items within the list. You can memorize a list of 10 things with the information I’m providing.

The way it works is first you need to have the basic number images memorized. You will always use the same images to represent those numbers. The reason why the images listed below were chosen is because they look like or represent the numbers really well. So make sure to have the first list in your mind to begin with. Once you have them, you have them for good. I haven’t used them in a few years, yet I was still able to easily recall them for this post.

Here are the images for the numbers:

1 - A candle. Have it burn whatever the item is.
2 - A swan¹. Have it biting the item.
3 - A sideways W. Have it act like a handle on the item.
4 - A sailboat. Have the item balancing on the mast²
5 - A hand³. Have it grabbing the item.
6 - Golf club. Hit the item with it.
7 - A garden hoe. Have it chopping the item.
8 - Two links of a chain. Have the item going into and out of the links over and over.
9 - A balloon on a stick. Have the item pop the balloon.
10 - A martini⁴. Stir the martini with the item.⁵

Now, in your mind, imagine those pictures for the numbers interacting with the items you’re trying to memorize. So for example⁶:

1. Tire - The candle burns the tire. Could even mention the burning rubber.⁷
2. A book - The swan has taken a bite out of the book and is chewing it.
3. Pencils - The W is attached to the side of the pencil. But now there’s more pencils. You now have a suitcase made of pencils.
4. A computer - The computer is plugged into a socket in the sky and is balancing on the mast. It falls over and shorts out in the water.
5. A mountain - Your hand is holding the mountain. You must be a giant.
6. A water melon - The golf club hits the melon and gets embedded into it. Now you could hit a soccer ball with that club.
7. Homework - Chop up those papers like you mean it!
8. Phone - The phone has sprouted legs and is running through the links of the chain.
9. A spoon - Actually it’s now a spork so it has pointy tips and you pop the balloon with it.
10. A broom - Must be a really large martini if it requires a broom to stir it.

Now close your eyes and try and list the items in your mind. You’ll find that you remember this entire list. Not only that, but if you get someone to call out random numbers, you should be able to tell them the specific item for that number. And finally, get them to call out about 5 or 6 items/numbers, and you’ll not only be able to tell them the item or number that goes with it, but also the items and numbers they did not call from the list.

Try coming up with your own lists. Give your brain time to “forget” between lists though or you’ll end up getting them confused. Oh, and for this to be useful, you might want to make up useful lists. Works great for short shopping lists.

1. looks like one [«]
2. the weirder, the easier to remember. [«]
3. five fingers [«]
4. toothpick and olive [«]
5. Since the days of capresso machines have been around, you could also try making this the overhead view of a cup of coffee and a straw. The stirring still fits. [«]
6. make sure to picture each of these in your mind as you read them [«]
7. Smells are easy to remember. [«]

Posted by Saphrym

I have another school assignment that I just wrote for a class that I’m going to share with you guys. I hope you enjoy these. When I enjoy writing the assignment, I like sharing them with you.

Is change always good and necessary? Why or why not?

The answer to this question depends on the context of the change. If we’re speaking of education, which I’m assuming we are, it also depends on the change itself. Not all changes are good. Not all changes are bad.

For example, the original concept of education in Colonial times was to teach the Bible, and that was about it. No science; no other history; nothing but the Bible. If that was the way education was still today, we wouldn’t have made the advances we’ve made. But even those advances can be separated into good and bad. Sure, the medical advances help save human lives. That’s great. However, warfare advances have helped destroy human lives; not so great. So was the change in education from the Colonial times good or bad or even necessary? It’s all very subjective.

And no change is truly necessary. It’s like the old saying goes, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” But to be honest, not even taxes are certain. There is nothing is this world that any one person must do except die and live until they die. That’s it. They have to suffer the consequences of their actions, but they may choose any action or “non-action” they wish. Same goes for change or the choice of change. But if we’re talking about consequences, the consequences of not changing from the Colonial period’s way of thinking about education would have meant less knowledge. Again, is that good or bad? We have Amish out here who would say it’s neither.

But in the pursuit of education, anything that changes the way we educate in a positive way is good and necessary, as long as the final goal is to educate our students as much as possible, which as teachers, that is our final goal. On the contrary, anything that changes the way we educate in a negative way is bad and necessary to avoid. But again, it’s very subjective.

For instance, No Child Left Behind is viewed by some as a bad thing as it has made teaching into a profession that focuses on preparing students for tests. But it’s good because it holds schools accountable for their educational systems. As I told my daughter today, decisions about anything (including change) should be made by weighing the pros and cons of those decisions and ranking them based on importance. For example:

NCLB

Pros:

Holds schools accountable - 9
Supposedly helps to provide equal funding for schools - 8

Cons:

Causes “teaching to the test” syndrome which is not a truly educational experience - 10
Doesn’t always keep it’s promises for funds - 8

9+8 = 17

10+8 = 18

The cons win in this example, but by a small margin, which means more qualities need to be discussed and weighed.¹

How can teachers positively impact change?

Embrace the positive and fight the negative. I was just telling my wife that if a decision is made that negatively impacts your ability to educate your students, something needs to be done. People need to be told about the problems. Parents need to be involved in the decisions.

However, if the change is positive, embrace it and don’t be scared about it. A recent change would be the introduction of technology.² Many teachers, to this day, can’t stand using technology. But it is a change that has allowed education to be tripled in efficiency and with further improvements, that will increase. It is a positive change in the context of education. It is a necessary change in the same context.

So I’d say a teacher should embrace the positive changes. They should take PD courses to improve their knowledge of the new methods and technology available. The tools and methods available to teachers are constantly evolving, and just like other professional occupations³, teachers need to evolve right along with them.

1. And of course, that is purely a hypothetical example. *cough* [«]
2. Recent in terms of life of the country, that is. [«]
3. such as doctor, lawyer, computer programmer, understanding what a KVM switch is, etc. [«]

Posted by Saphrym