Day 2 Blog reflection

Take another look at the story you wrote about your classroom from yesterday. Rewrite that story from another person's perspective. Perhaps from the perspective of a student you wrote about, or an administrator watching, or perhaps a co-teacher. Have fun!

Morning reflection Day 2

I am not racist by Joyner Lucas

Day 1/Day 2: Blog post/Creative nonfiction/Story about a student

NOTE: This is a revision of an earlier piece I wrote thinking that it might develop into a possible research piece for the National Writing Project or an article for NYSEC. Certainly, it was a Creative Writing effort at the time for the 3-week GVWP Summer Institute.
I ran into Martin's father (a former colleague who taught science), while he was substitute teaching this year at SOTA. He shared with me Martin's gratitude for all that he learned about writing while at SOTA. I thanked him and told him Martin was like a son to me--a perfect gentleman and always an inspiration. Mr. Wolf was visibly touched. Martin is successfully traveling and doing graduate research work in the sciences right now, but will always be one of the"student" writers I most respect and admire.

Here is my personal narrative about him from a few years ago:

                                                    Science Friday
Martin Wolf was School of the Art’s very own Bill Nye the Science Guy. He even resembled Bill Nye—tall, lanky, dark-haired, occasionally wearing a bow-tie to complement his neatly ironed button down shirt. In every way Martin was the epitome of a budding scientist, and he chose to practice his passion by honoring his friends and my home room students to “Science Fridays,” a series of experiments and presentations designed to impress us all with the awesome power of science.

Recently I emailed Martin regarding these experiments because I wanted to write about them, but felt that, not being scientifically inclined, I would not be able to describe them or do them justice. Martin quickly replied to my email with the following:

“I remember about 4 of the experiments! We can start with the one with clear the water filled balls. Those were polymers! (Which are mostly Carbon and Hydrogen atoms linked together in long chains. There are many different kinds, but the ones we saw absorbed water over night, which made them have an "index of refraction" almost equal to the water they were in, and also really squishy because they are, at that point, mostly water)! So that means that when light passes through them, they bend the light in almost the same way that the water did, and that makes them invisible! I still have some, so when I come home at the end of May, I'll be happy to give you a jar if you'd like!

Another one I remember was something called "Jacob's Ladder." We passed electricity through a transformer that gave it a higher voltage, and then it arced across two copper wires. Also, you can go up to my dad's room and ask him to show you it again, if you'd like! He says he'd be happy to do it.

Another week, we made "floating bubbles!" We had a large plastic fish tank, and made a sea of carbon-dioxide gas by mixing baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar (which is dilute acetic acid.) It's just like your classic make-a-volcano experiment everyone does in elementary school, except this time we were looking for the resulting gas and not the mess that a volcano makes! That gas was carbon dioxide: here's the reaction, if you'd like.

NaHCO3 + CH3COOH ==> H2O + NaC2H3O2 + CO2(g)

In words, the chemicals are (in order) sodium carbonate + acetic acid (forms) water + sodium acetate + carbon dioxide gas

Since carbon dioxide is more dense, and therefore heavier, than the air around us, it stayed in the big plastic fish tank. We could then blow bubbles in to the fish tank, and they would float on the layer of carbon dioxide gas, because our breath, although it contains some carbon dioxide gas, is mostly nitrogen. And nitrogen is lighter than the carbon dioxide, so the bubbles looked like they were floating on some invisible sea of gas!

And finally, the spontaneous combustion! (How can we ever forget?) This one was really simple, but it was still my favorite (Partly because of the chemistry, but partly because of people's reactions...including my own!)

We had a ceramic "evaporating dish" filled with finely powdered potassium permanganate (KMnO4), which looks like a grey sand. Next, we added about a teaspoon of glycerine (it kind of sounds like a cooking show, doesn't it?) and waited about a minute for the reaction to start.

It was...

KMnO4 + C3H5(OH)3 ==> K2CO3 + Mn2O3 + CO2(g) + H2O(g) + HEAT!!!

Or, in words, potassium permanganate + glycerin (yields) potassium carbonate + manganese(III) oxide + carbon dioxide gas + water vapor + HEAT!!!!

And of course, the heat is what we saw as the flames! Here's something to remind you (in case somehow you managed to forget...if you have, tell me how, because that was one of the top ten scariest moments of my life! All I could think of while the smoke filled the room was how I would try and explain to my mom how I burnt down Creative Writing's brand new Mac computer cluster!).

I hope that is a good start! If you need me to be more or less scientific than I was before, just ask! I'll be happy to explain anything and everything however you'd like.”


In typical Martin fashion, he left nothing out, even referring me to youtube videos of the experiments and even making sure that I could turn to his Dad, a colleague who taught science, for further explanation. When I thanked him for all of this helpful information, because I was not “scientifically-inclined,” he reassuringly emailed me back.

“You don't need those videos to be "scientifically inclined." I think we're all scientifically inclined. Science is the manifestation of curiosity, in my opinion. We all cannot know the right names of chemicals...we can't all be able to explain why ice floats, or why cats have stripes. But we all can be curious! It's our just our way. And it's purely curiosity that will drive science onward through the years...not fancy terminology!

So from one scientist to another, I hope you find what you are looking for in your writing. Cheers, Martin!”

And we’re still friends on Facebook:

"Ms. Gamzon, you make me like the elegance of English almost as much as Science!"

Only 98 pages left of Moby Dick, Ms. Gamzon!"

He got an A+ in AP Language and Composition for reading it and writing a paper on it.

But this is what was so special about Martin. Many students post blog comments on my classroom writing posts and lessons and unfortunately, I don’t always read and respond to them all., but this one I found was very special and heartfelt.

“Everything happens for a reason, Martin,” my grandmother told me when I burnt my favorite childhood hat next to the wood burning stove. It was a lovely hat, made of wool so colorful it brightened my day every time I wore it. From a structuralistic point of view, the burning of the hat would be only a sign of the painful times to come. That winter would be the coldest winter in my past. You see, structuralism states that all of humankind’s characteristics: our actions, our deeds, our literature and our lives are a system of signs which are not to be overlooked. Structuralists such as Roman Jacobson, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Roland Barthes attempted to develop a semiology; a form of science which analyzes these signs in our history and literature. Naturally, the Science of English would greatly appeal to me. So, why Structuralism? Why study the events of the past, hoping to decode what may take place in the future? Because it cannot easily be done, and a good mind always accepts the challenge. I would have never guessed that the burning hat, the symbol of the “cold winter” could have meant anything more than my ears would be frostbitten. I would never have known that that particular winter would play host to the death of my grandmother there with me when my hat burned. Nor would I ever have guessed that the rosebush she planted many years before would not grow that spring. A sign so seemingly, painfully obvious was cast aside as I scorned at my silly mistake of putting my hat too close to the fire. And yet, who knows how many symbols are left enduring undiscovered by me at this very moment. Structuralism would dictate that everything, all these little actions, feelings, and decisions, will return to influence the system of life in my future.

Thank you, Martin.

Day 2: Martin's perspective


Science Friday was my favorite day of the week.  Not for the NPR program that I like, but for my very own presentation.  I created Science Friday for Ms. Gamzon’s homeroom and like Bill Nye, the science guy (my idol), I would bring a simple science experiment to her classroom and share it with the students who were already there before 1^st period started.

So far the experiments were well-received by my peers who were familiar with some of them from their chemistry class, but Ms. Gamzon seemed fascinated.  She was like a little child awed by the simplest of chemical experimentation.

Then last week I went too far.  I brought in an experiment that involved the simple mixing of some chemicals that would create a small conflagration and heat simply by contact.  Perhaps I had not measured the amounts properly or had not counted on the fact that fire also involves smoke and smoke in a school classroom is not a desirable thing.

The look on Ms. Gamzon’s face changed quickly from initial fascination to sheer panic as the smoke began to billow upwards from the safety of the container where I had placed the chemical experiment.I had it under control, but just barely.  I mean, I was scared too, and I knew I had just disappointed Ms. Gamzon.  She seemed to think I was perfect and could do no wrong, but I had just flubbed a simple experiment and endangered her students.

I tried to make it up to her later in the year.  She gave us an extra credit assignment in AP English.  If we  independently read and did a report on Melville’s Moby Dick, she would give us an A+ for our 4^th marking period grade.

Not only did we read and do a presentation, but we dressed the part.  I played Captain Ahab, and David was the Great White Whale, complete with a costume we built for the occasion.  The smile on Ms. Gamzon’s face and her laughter at seeing David walk into the room was everything I hoped for as an apology for nearly setting her room (or even the school!) on fire earlier in the year. I knew she wasn’t angry at me, but Ms. Gamzon’s face is so easily read and disappointment was one thing I hoped never to see again from her.

Day 1 Blog reflection:
Tell a story about your classroom.

Diagramming the Opening Sentences of Famous Novels

Love it or hate it, diagramming sentences still lives on. In this interesting creation from pop culture lab, the opening lines of 25 famous novels have been diagrammed. Our discussion went back and forth between those that saw the usefulness of the practice and those who felt diagramming was akin to reducing writing to mathematical formulas. Some interesting ideas did evolve. Marcy suggested labeling Lego blocks with words, with each color representing a different part of speech, and challenging students to put the sentences back. Whatever your position though, this visual representation shows the complexity of our language in an aesthetic form.

Diagramming the Opening Sentences

 “Stop-And-Frisk” by Claudia Rankine

---

I knew whatever was in front of me was happening and then the police vehicles came to a screeching halt in front of me like they were setting up a blockade. Everywhere were flashes, a siren sounding and a stretched-out roar. Get on the ground. Get on the ground now. Then I just knew.

And you are not the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description.

I left my client’s house knowing I would be pulled over. I knew. I just knew. I opened my briefcase on the passenger seat, just so they could see. Yes officer rolled around on my tongue, which grew out of a bell that could never ring because its emergency was a tolling I was meant to swallow.

In a landscape drawn from an ocean bed, you can’t drive yourself sane–so angry you are crying. You can’t drive yourself sane. This motion wears a guy out. Our motion is wearing you out and still you are not that guy.

Then flashes, a siren, a stretched-out roar–and you are not the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description.

Get on the ground. Get on the ground now. I must have been speeding. No, you weren’t speeding. I wasn’t speeding? You didn’t do anything wrong. Then why are you pulling me over? Why am I pulled over? Put your hands where they can be seen. Put your hands in the air. Put your hands up.

Then you are stretched out on the hood. Then cuffed. Get on the ground now.

Each time it begins in the same way, it doesn’t begin the same way, each time it begins it’s the same. Flashes, a siren, the stretched-out roar–

Maybe because home was a hood the officer could not afford, not that a reason was needed, I was pulled out of my vehicle a block from my door, handcuffed and pushed into the police vehicle’s back seat, the officer’s knee pressing into my collarbone, the officer’s warm breath vacating a face creased into the smile of its own private joke.

Each time it begins in the same way, it doesn’t begin the same way, each time it begins it’s the same.

Go ahead hit me motherfucker fled my lips and the officer did not need to hit me, the officer did not need anything from me except the look on my face on the drive across town. You can’t drive yourself sane. You are not insane. Our motion is wearing you out. You are not the guy.

This is what it looks like. You know this is wrong. This is not what it looks like. You need to be quiet. This is wrong. You need to close your mouth now. This is what it looks like. Why are you talking if you haven’t done anything wrong?

And you are not the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description.

In a landscape drawn from an ocean bed, you can’t drive yourself sane–so angry you can’t drive yourself sane.

The charge the officer decided on was exhibition of speed. I was told, after the fingerprinting, to stand naked. I stood naked. It was only then I was instructed to dress, to leave, to walk all those miles back home.

And still you are not the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description.

We Are Teaching Kids to Write All Wrong

We are Teaching Kids to Write All Wrong

What better way to start off this year's Summer Institute than with a spirited discussion of teaching writing? The morning reflection dealt with the disparate views of writing instruction - focusing on ideas vs. focusing on grammar. While we all agreed that grammar and the basic nuts and bolts of writing are vitally important for clear communication, unless there are robust ideas to be communicated, it's all for naught.