Koch--Chapter 1

There was a time in high school when I really thought that I wanted to write a story based on me and all of my friends. I thought it would be such a good story because there was so much going on in all of our lives. We were all dealing with the death of friends, heartbreaking romances, teen pregnancies, fathers running against each other for mayor, betrayals and more. There was so much going on with the people close to us that the story would have to be interesting.
When I think back to the thought of writing a story about all of this, and I actually try to figure out what I would start writing if I sat down to try to accomplish this, I am stumped. This is why I don't think that Koch's idea of sitting down and just writing is a way to get started on a project.

"There is no need to wait for inspiration; no need to find your confidence; no need to know exactly why or what you're writing; no need to read wise and thoughtful books about how to write; no need to know your story; no need to understand your characters; no need to be sure you're on the right track; no need even for your research to be complere" (Koch 4).

To me, this idea is not a good way to start writing. When he continues he says that "everything comes to you in the process of writing." This is true, but I still think that there should be a starting point, or some type of brainstorming in order for the writing to make sense as it happens. I have to picture a story in my head first; the characters, the setting, everything needs to come from an idea for me. I don't think if I just sat down and started to write anything, jibberish, that a product would result. That is more like journal writing to me.

Image Grammar

In Harry Noden's, Image Grammar, I really like how he not only tells the reader what he is trying to expose, but he also gives detailed examples from novels and other types of writing to show the reader exactly what he is talking about. I especially like the quote on page 26: "Verbs can give you action shots. Specific details can supply the stills." The book goes on to say that the more specific details that are used the more the reader will trust the writer.

I was grading the essays from my ten-day unit and I noticed that I commented a lot on specific details being used to describe and explain quotes being used. I found myself understanding exactly what the student was trying to say when the details were specific. Other essays were harder to read and harder to understand. I think using several details in story writing is essential, and it is important to teach our students to do the same. the following site contains information on how using details will help to make writing richer. http://essayinfo.com/essays/narrative_essay.php

Ten day unit

I finished teaching my ten day unit this week! I had a lot of fun teaching this unit on irony. I used the story, "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe. When I started planning for my plan I thought I was going to need a lot of activities to cover the time, but I was surprised to see that I cannot do more than 2 activities per class period. I did three a couple times, and I felt really rushed to get through everything. I am glad I did my unit early because now I have time to relfect on it, and use what I have learned to create plans for January. Luckily, I will teaching Jane Eyre and Romeo and Juliet. I am using a lot of the ideas from my Jane Eyre wiki. I will change them a little to accommodate my students, but I think they will work well.

I also really like my cooperating teacher. I had one day when my lesson was not so strong, and I wanted to die! She let me go through the entire period trying to imporovise. Afterward, she sat with me (laughing), but gave me good feedback on how I could improve on the problems I had that day. It was frustrating, but I am glad I went through it.