The Writing Process: Publishing

Hey Gang,

      Today is Thursday, November 17, 2011.  The blog post yesterday laid out the three ways in which we can submit out digital memoirs.  They are listed below:
Submitting directly to YouTube...
Username: lchristi@waukesha.k12.wi.us
Password:  histlit45

Submitting to sharebuilding...
Share building - 8th Grade - Hist Lit - Digital Memoirs of Holocaust

Submitting to the Bb9 Wiki...
Bb9 - Holocaust - Go Public - Digital Memoirs of the Holocaust - Wiki (Down at the bottom of the page)
      Do not forget also that we are in the last stages of he writing process: EDITTING and PUBLISHING.  We are also in the FRAMING phase of the memoir writing process.  Below you will see both.  Think about your work, the work of others, and what we have done in class so far.  Please post a comment once you have a thought about the process, your confusion, conversations we'ce had in class, or anything you know or wonder about our digital memoirs. 

Memoir writing process. 

Act 1 Downloading Phase

Act 2 Sorting Phase

Act 3 Framing Phase

Writing Process:

Step	Description	Strategies
Prewriting	An activity that causes the writer to think about the subject.  The writer organizes his thoughts before he begins to write.	Drawing Talking Brainstorming Graphic organizers Research Listing Field Trips
Drafting	The process of putting ideas down on paper.  The focus is on content not mechanics	Taking notes, Organizing thoughts into paragraphs, Writing a first draft
Revising	The process of refining the piece of writing.  The writer adds to a writing piece.  The writer reorganizes a piece of writing.  The writer shares his story and gets input from peers or teacher.	Peer editing Conferencing Share Chair or Author’s Chair
Editing	Mechanical, grammatical and spelling errors are fixed in the writing piece.	Checklists Rubrics Editing Checklists Proofreading
Publishing	The writing piece is prepared in final form, including illustrations.  The writer shares his writing with others.	Reading aloud Reading to a group Displaying in the room Printing the books Web publishing

We will be looking at all our hard work soon.  Enjoy!

Yours truly,
C

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher

School District of Waukesha

Waukesha STEM Academy

There are three ways for you to submit your work. See Below...

Submitting directly to YouTube...
Username: lchristi@waukesha.k12.wi.us
Password:  histlit45

Submitting to sharebuilding...
Share building - 8th Grade - Hist Lit - Digital Memoirs of Holocaust

Submitting to the Bb9 Wiki...
Bb9 - Holocaust - Go Public - Digital Memoirs of the Holocaust - Wiki (Down at the bottom of the page)

Good day to you all,

      Today is Camel Day, November 16, 2011.  Digital Memoirs are due tomorrow.  As we work today to finish and submit, let's play with the YOUTUBE option in Windows Movie Maker Live.  You will find a "share" box in the top right corner.  Inside the share box is a youtube option.  When you are finished, try submitting it directly to youtube.  If we need an account we can use mine.  I am intentionally keeping this Blog post limited so you may take the remainder of class to work.  Remember, when we finish we can get started right away in our next Unit of Inquiry: Exploration and Colonization.  Please request a conference with me or another adult facilitator during your memoir writing process.  Whether you are close to finishing, submitting, or completely done, there are things to discuss together. Have fun, think, do, and ENJOY!

Love, peace, and taco grease,
C
P.S. A little laugh from me to you...
http://youtu.be/LcRX0R7_KLg

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher

School District of Waukesha

Waukesha STEM Academy

Repurposing the Textbook...

Wuzzup Teensters,

      Today is Tuesday, November 15th, 2011.  Some teensters have finished their memoirs.  Some teensters have finished their memoirs, but would like to put the "cherry on top" by adding detail or just a little extra.  Some teensters are still only half way to being complete with their memoir.  We are all over the board and you know what...?  That's OK: as long as you are engaged.  By engaged I mean thinking and doing. 
      Today,  some of you will be moving on to explore our next Unit of Inquiry: Exploration and Colonization.  Before we dive in and muck around together we have to make sure we've done a couple things:
1. Completed our memoirs
2. Submitted our memoirs
3. Thought about our next steps
      If you are on path 3 come see me to continue your adventure.  I read some text last night that really impacted how we as a learning community could move forward since we are leaving the Holocaust behind.  I thought about our online textbook as I read these words: Textbooks keep students in the dark about the nature of history.  History is furious debate informed by evidence and reason.  Textbooks encourage students to believe that history is facts to be learned. (Loewen, 2007, 5, 8)  After reading a line like that I had a few questions.  How could we use our textbooks differently?  They still do serve a purpose, so what could that purpose be?  Textbooks are a great learning tool, but they are not the end-all-be-all, so how do we know what to keep and what to toss?  What is HISTORICAL THINKING?
    Your learning target for the day is as follows: I can interact and collaborate with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.  Please make sure you know where you are in the process, and are learning accordingly. 

Sincerely,
C

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher

School District of Waukesha

Waukesha STEM Academy

Back from D.C...

Good morning y'all,

The gorgeous capital building.

      Today is Monday, November 14, 2011.  Over the weekend I received feedback requesting more time to improve upon and complete the Digital Memoirs of the Holocaust project.  We will be extending the due date to Thursday of this week.  This Friday we will be taking the whole class period to sit back, relax, and watch each others' digital memoirs in order to give each other feedback on what we all did well and what we could have improved upon.  As you use the additional time today and this week, think about your work and the process.  How have you used your resources?  Help each other please. 

You have a guest teacher today.  This will be the 8th grade teachers' last day of meetings.  If you finish your project early take time to help others with their projects.  You will have until Thursday, but that is not an excuse to misuse or waste time.  I hope that Friday will be enjoyable and a great learning experience for us all. 

      As you finish your digital memoirs, we will be posting them to the WIKI page under Bb9 - Holocaust - Go Public.  Down at the bottom you will see the Wiki page.  Good luck. Have fun, and enjoy. 

C and T.J.

       

Sincerely,
C
P.S. Please treat our guest teacher BETTER than your treat me.  They are a guest and may need our help here in the building. 

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher

School District of Waukesha

Waukesha STEM Academy

11 11 11...

Hey gang,

      Today is High Five Friday, November 11, 2011.  We have our Great STEM Challenge today!  Your guest teacher will lead you through the day.  Please your time to your advantage.  Your Digital Memoirs of the Holocaust are due on Monday.  You will also have Monday in class to do any finishing touches you may need.  So far your work is looking great! 

      Yesterday, you all heard, saw, and discussed a literary technique called PERSONA.  In the youtube video that I attached is Johnny Depp talking about the persona he took on for Captain Jack Sparrow.  As you watch, think about how his persona as Captain Jack is a similar technique to what you are all doing as you create your memoirs.  Enjoy!
http://youtu.be/T5p2EVcKeCE

Sincerely,
C

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher

School District of Waukesha

Waukesha STEM Academy

Persona in our memoirs...

Good day to you Teenie-Boppers,

      Today is Thursday, November 10, 2011.  I need not remind you that tomorrow is 11-11-11, the day of the Great STEM Challenge.  You will be having a guest teacher tomorrow and Monday as the 8th grade teachers have their alignment day.  What that means is that we have meetings.  Personally, between us, I would want to be in class with you guys and gals, but sadly it's not my call.  So please do your best to help out the guest teacher. 

      Anyways, down to brass tacks!  PERSONA.  Persona is a literary technique writers use to tell a story.  PERSONA refers to the voice through which an author tells the story.  Persona can be the identity of a character or narrator.  Writers develop a persona in order to help an audience see events from a particular perspective; in our case, a historical perspective.  By seing a digital memoir through the eyes of a bystander, perpetrator, victim, or helper our audience will naturally sympathize with that character.  The mood and tone you set in the memoir through soundtrack and text will also help your audience sympathisize with a PERSONA.

      PERSONA is connected to to point of view.  Since you are creating a memoir, your persona should come in the first person point of view.  This brainpop will help you grasp the concept.
  http://www.brainpop.com/english/writing/pointofview/ 
      Username: waukesha
      Password: media
Use your imaginations along with your schema.  Tie your right brain to your left brain and have fun while creating your memoirs.  If you would like to leave a comment for me feel free.  Enjoy!

Sincerely,
C

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher

School District of Waukesha

Waukesha STEM Academy

Word Wednesday...

Sooo...

      Today is Camel Day, November 9, 2011.  Yesterday after all of you lovely students left most of your teachers had meetings to attend over at the Randall Campus.  I joined the Literacy Leadership Team for my meeting, but happened to agitate the Community Leadership Team which I was once a part of.  Mr. Tomsett proceded to call me a TURNCOAT. 

      Now, the name that I was called stopped me in my tracks.  It made me start to wonder.  What is a turncoat?  Where would a weird word like that come from?  What is it's entymology?  Does the word have a historical context?  Did the word originate during a certain era in history: the Revolution perhaps?  So my next step was to find the definition.  I did and sent it via text message to this blog THINK SPOT.  The definition is below for your enjoyment. 

Turncoat:1.
a person who changes to the opposite party or faction, reverses principles, etc.; renegade.

      There are additional resources I added to Blackboard 9 that will help you download video and/or audio.  Ask me to show you! 

Yours Truly,
C

P.S. I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.
Do your best and forget the rest!!

Let the Digital Memoirs Commence...

Totally Tubular Tuesday Teenie-boppers,

      Today is Tuesday, November 8, 2011.  Remember that procedural writing is a genre that guides, teaches, and instructs a reader through a task or experience.  Read the mini syllabus below to become familar with how we will use our time the rest of the week as we create our digital memoirs...

Survey, read, and review this syllabus to understand and complete your digital memoir. 
Memoirs are deep thoughts that touch the essence of an experience.   Memoir is your memory and your study of an experience in life.  Memoir is your thinking really deeply: the meaning below the meaning…  The meaning below the meaning you thought you found.  Memoirs are not biographies or autobiographies.  They are something similar, yet not exactly the same.  The subtle differences make memoirs more like a narrative: a story about a particular experience in someone's life.  Memoirs are a part of a life: not the whole life of a person. 
Your task is to choose a "persona" from the era in history known as the Holocaust.  A persona is the perspective or lens through which you will tell your memoir of the holocaust.  We will be using the program Windows Moviemaker to incorporate TEXT and MULTIMEDIA to demonstrate what we have learned as we explored this dark time in human history. 

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher

School District of Waukesha

Waukesha STEM Academy

Digital Memoirs: mood and tone...

Monday Funday is here!

      Today is Monday, November 7, 2011.  Quick reminders: Friday is the STEM challenge. Next Monday your digital memoirs are due.  Next Monday your historical fiction texts are due as well.  You will have the majority of the week to work on your digital memoirs and also next weekend. 
      Now, down to brass tacks.  Click on the link below to start our class today...
http://www.brainpop.com/english/writing/moodandtone/
Username: waukesha
Password: media

      Ask and ye shall receive!  You all have expressed an interest in seeing some of that digital memoir again so let's roll up our sleeves, get out the rubric, and do some grading.  Woohoo!   As we watch portions of the digital memoir use the rubric to critique what you are reading and watching.  pay careful attention to the MOOD and TONE of the piece.  What do you think the creator/writer is trying to get the audience to think and feel?  Enjoy, and be gentle. 

Yours truly,
C

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher

School District of Waukesha

Waukesha STEM Academy