Mythology was the main subject of our course for the past two weeks. My experience studying mythology versus creating my own myth was experimental for me. I had never written my own myth. Also, I haven't taken any mythology courses in my college education. This was very new to me. Myths are something that students might not consciously take into account everyday, unless they are viewing it on a screen. I think studying myths is important for students to learn so that they can understand multi-culturality. Understanding that stories are passed down from different and diverse cultures helps to bring in a lot of perspective into the children's minds.   

After having to create my own myth for an assignment,I learned that myths are used as entertainment. They can teach morals as well, but their relevance loses its meaning as people grow older. Reading about mythology was interesting, some stories were silly, sexual or empowering.

Watching other presenters relate material to more advanced material was the most interesting. Connecting cartoon characters to philosophers character ideals surprised me. It suddenly made Freud relevant to psychological and social behaviors in textual representations. I will definitely make sure from now on that I make my lesson plan information relevant to modern day examples. It really made the lessons stick in my mind more than I would have just by taking notes. In my own classroom I would definitely slow it down a notch, fifteen minutes would be too fast for students to write down all the notes in their handwriting. For the lessons we had in class that week, I would have wanted to have taken better notes.

http://jessicafuentes64.wixsite.com/waterbuffalo

Here is the link to my myth website

Exercise in writing about poetry versus writing poetry

Writing poetry and writing about poetry can be very different experiences for each individual. Both are creative exercises, but the act of writing your own poem is more of an emotional experience. Poetry is supposed to be profound and is reflective of inner expression and personal experiences. There is no set form with poetry, there are no rules of grammar. In contrast, academic writing does require this. Being able to address issues in critical essays with proper grammar is helpful for preparing in academic or professional social interactions. Both styles of writing have impacted my personal work in the way that I know when certain assignments call for creativity and when more formal approaches are necessary.

By writing about poetry versus writing my own poetry, I learned that all forms of writing are exercises for the building of any writing skill. Neither, in my personal opinion is more important than the other. Even if you are an individual who is aspiring to write fiction or publish their own poems, you should still exercise your skill in academic settings. In regards to my future in teaching, I can see how important it is to value the creative side of writing. Not all students are going to agree that essays are better than writing poetry or vice-versa. By allowing students to experience both sides of the writing spectrum, educators are giving the young minds of a classroom more variety and freedom to express themselves. In the future I would love to give my students the chance to write their own short stories and poems in the classroom. In my opinion, sharing poetry can definitely bring students together.

Forum 1

My name is Jessica Fuentes. I am a potential assistant teacher candidate attending the California State University of Northridge. I am studying English subject matter for grades K-12. I will graduate in the Spring of 2017, and am aiming to teach English literature to high school students. This blog is dedicated to student teacher related information and education standards.

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley. I am twenty-four years old. In my spare time I enjoy watching films, making creative art and spending time with my family. I am looking for prospective jobs in the teaching field at the moment to begin my career in.

    Media technology is a coming of age utility for the teaching world of today. In my experience as a student I have seen technology such as computers, projectors, slideshows and short films used in the classroom.  Media comes most to play in middle school and high school, but in my experience as a student it is to be used sparingly. More advanced technology should not be used to distract, but to interact with. My philosophy on technology in the classroom entails sticking to the basics. A slideshow  for part of the lecture is okay, but depending too heavily on one screen can be tiring for the students to steadily learn from it. In English classes, I feel that showing performances of plays on the screen is extremely important for students to visualize the text. It is not necessary to show the entire film in class, but taking specific clips that had heavy stage directions can really help aid in comprehension of a text.