Chapter 14

Heart of Gold, Chapter 14 is now posted! The chapter brings this story up to 100,000 words ... I can't believe it. I can't believe that I've written something that is 100,000 words, and not even finished yet. Just the fact that I've done it and that people are so fascinated and invested in the story gives me hope for my secondary career as an author.

Anyway, for those who follow the story, look for:

• A change of heart
• A lot of answers ...
• ...and a whole bunch of new questions
• Realizations
• Decisions
• Regulus' arrival in Ireland

No more clues ;)

Should the media disclose political bias?

I am working on my third lesson plan for my Social Studies Methods class. This particular lesson plan is based on the SAC (structured academic controversy) model and, as the government class will begin discussion on the media next week, I have decided to create a debate-lesson about whether or not reporters should disclose political bias, either by revealing their bias in their writing or by participating in the political process.

The model breaks students into groups of 4, with 2 students arguing a particular side at any given time, and has both sets of students take either the FOR or AGAINST side for the argument at some point during the debate. The point is to force students to consider the multiplicity of ideas that come from debates so that they can make an informed decision for themselves about the question. Students read a selection during the class and have a few minutes to prepare an argument with the reading, which they present to the other two students in their group, who ask clarifying questions and then take a few minutes to present the other side of the debate. Then, students switch sides, and do the whole thing over again. After all students have had the opportunity to argue both sides, students participate in some kind of culminating activity. I'm going to ask my kids to express their own opinion and choose a side to give them the opportunity to freely debate the topic for the rest of the class period (they've done this sort of thing before).

The readings I chose:
FOR #1: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/080208vote/
FOR #2: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1128354/posts
AGAINST #1: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/feb/05/local/me-parsons5
AGAINST #2: http://www.npr.org/ombudsman/2008/02/should_journalists_vote.html?sc=emaf

My take? I subscribe to a little bit on both sides. I don't think journalists should disenfranchise themselves. The honest truth is that everyone has some sort of bias and it's ridiculous to think that we are able to report on anything without being affected by our unique perception of the world around us and by our own history. However, at the same time, I still do not believe that journalists should be involved in political campaigning, or that a journalist involved with Greenpeace (an example from AGAINST #1) should be able to report on their organization.

Journalists should do everything that they can to limit their bias, but they should acknowledge that that bias exists and at times it may be appropriate to acknowledge what that bias is. I know that most American journalists would very much disagree with me on that point, including my journalism professors, and this is a large reason of why I decided not to be a journalist. Talking to people outside the profession has convinced me that a primary reason people do not trust the media is because the media does not reveal its bias. Friends and family have hinted, though not outright stated, that they might trust the media more if the media would reveal how it is biased.

Now, I don't think that every journalist should be out spouting all of their personal beliefs. That's just bad journalism. Part of journalism is learning how to build a boundary for yourself and limiting yourself from taking on a story that you know you are unable to report on objectively. Conversely, journalists shouldn't lie to themselves. No matter how much you try to limit bias, it will still show through.

Personal case in point: grading. I've been going through my first batch of student papers. I thought it would be easy, based on my perceptions from class. WOW! Not the case. After reviewing the papers once, I found that I needed to throw all preconceived notions out the window. They are all great papers, don't get me wrong, every student did very well. But I had completely pegged some kids wrong, and I think that that had a lot to do with what I've experienced in my own past and with my interactions with them over the past two months. I've become much more cautious in class since then, rethinking my perceptions of each student and why I perceive them that way. It has been very eye-opening, and I've been trying to grade their papers very carefully.

However, knowing my students the way that I do assures me that they will be able to handle this assignment, and that they will excel at it. I do not have the answer for them because I can see good points on either side, but I feel that that is how the classroom is supposed to be. It's not about me handing down an answer, but about me structuring the lesson so that they can construct their own learning and perspective on what they think about the question.

Hmm, subject-centered classroom, anyone? :) Go Parker Palmer.

Harry, A History

I meant to give this plug a few days ago, but I got a little carried away with the election. :) Not surprising. Anyway, I wanted to take an entry to plug a new book that I think anyone interested in the Harry Potter phenomenon should read. It's called Harry, a History: the true story of a boy wizard, his fans, and life inside the Harry Potter phenomenon, by Melissa Anelli, the woman in charge over at The Leaky Cauldron.

I have not yet had a chance to thumb through the book myself, but I listen to a podcast that Melissa is a part of regularly, and they interviewed her on the show about the book, so I feel like I have some good insider info about it. Melissa is uniquely positioned to write about the whole affair because of her prominent place as webmistress of one of the biggest Harry Potter sites on the Web. Further, Leaky is more than just a fan site, it's a news site, and Melissa is a freelance journalist. She has treated her job as a journalist and not as a fan, so Leaky has a sense of professionalism that is very rare among obsessed fan bases. That's why I appreciate Leaky the way that I do. Finally, Melissa has had the opportunity to enjoy the books in multiple contexts, and to really be fully involved in the online community. She's probably the most qualified person to write this book.

From the interview, it sounds like Melissa spends time outlining key aspects of the fan community, but she also tells her own story of how she came to be a part of the community. I think the fact that Melissa weaves her own story throughout the book shows what Harry Potter has really been for so many people. Harry Potter has created community. I would venture to say that this is because the books deal with so many core issues of what it means to be human: life, death, family, friends, good, evil, sacrifice, forgiveness, love ... just to mention a few. Trust me, there's more, and when you're dealing with such heavy material, it's natural to seek out other people to discuss it with you.

That's why Harry Potter is so popular. Readers are faced with information, story, and philosophy that requires a response. If one really engages with the books, one cannot help feeling a kind of inner transformation as you read them, the kind of transformation that you want to share. Obviously, it pales in comparison to the kind of transformation that occurs when reading the Bible and interacting with God, but it's a kind of spiritual transformation. We are spiritual people and when something touches us in our souls, we have to share it.

I'm looking forward to reading Melissa's take on everything, especially the online communities and fan fiction. In terms of me, I got into the whole Harry Potter thing while looking for a community. I started reading the books in 8th grade (when the 3rd book had just come out) because a club I was part of at school had decided to read them. I got involved in the online communities and in fan fiction in high school because friends of mine were involved in them and thought that I would enjoy them. In doing so, I had a whole new world opened to me, all at the click of the mouse.

Take a look at Melissa's book and take a look at some of the fan sites. They're rather imaginative and cool. The beginning was a community for me, and my whole HP experience has been shaped by community since. I think it's very cool, and I'm glad that someone has chosen to write about it!

Land of the free

Despite all the bad press, really, I'm proud to be an American. As much as I try to remember that I'm also a world citizen, and that my identity as a Christian supersedes any other affiliation that I have, there are some times when being American makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Here are some reasons why I feel that way today.

1. The world goes on. Seasons come and seasons go. Change is inevitable and you cannot continue going in one direction forever. It's natural. Hearing other perspectives is a very good thing. I'm glad that Americans are open to hearing other points of view.

2. We have gracious winners and gracious losers. Barack Obama isn't gloating over John McCain, and John McCain is offering his full support and aid to Barack Obama. The presidency isn't something to treat lightly, folks. This is a job that can literally take years off of your life in stress. Thank God that despite it all, these two men are willing and able to work with each other.

3. I am so proud of our voters for setting records for political participation. That's what it's all about. I helped shuttle 300+ students to the polls yesterday morning in about 3 hours. That's awesome! And over 5 million Facebook users voted! Also awesome!

4. Media coverage last night wasn't bad. The networks didn't call states too quickly and they were showing positive highlights for both candidates. I had to go to bed by 10 and I still really had the feeling that the election could go either way. Props. However, I'm a bit disappointed by the language the AP is using. Landslide? Sweep? Yeah, maybe in terms of the number of electoral votes, but not in terms of the popular vote in key swing states. Virginia came really close, y'all. It's important to remember that honestly, a few thousand changed votes could have produced a different result.

5. Though there is a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate, the margin is close enough that there will still be room for substantive conversation and other perspectives. We have checks and balances for a reason, and they work. Obama will still have to deal with the Republicans in Congress. Honestly, this is a government teacher's dream, as my CT said this morning to our class. The government and the parties are going to have to work together to get anything done. My hope is that they will.

To me, the country does feel a bit different than it did yesterday, and perhaps it is, but I know that this life and this country is more than the person sitting in the Oval Office. A good teacher, a good citizen, a good American will be able to look at the trends, take it in stride, and pull out things that we can learn. I'm excited to see what will happen next.

The day is finally here

Yes, I am going to echo the sentiments of many others: I'll be glad when this day is over. So much has happened during this election that makes me a bit ashamed to be an American. Honestly. Regardless of your political beliefs, there are things going on here that should never happen.

1. The blatant undermining of female candidates ... specifically, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, and really, you can take it back to Geraldine Ferraro, too. Why is it that whenever a strong woman comes forward for office, she is attacked several times more than the male candidates? I do not understand. Despite what I think about any of these women, I'm just glad that they're taking the initiative. How does being a woman make someone unfit for office? I doubt that any of these people would directly state that sentiment, however, their actions speak louder than their words. What they've done to these women shows what's really in their hearts.

2. A campaign that lasts two years ... the first time I heard about Barack Obama was about a year and a half ago. Again, that should just not happen. The presidential system was never designed for two year campaigns. When did the presidency become about who can spend the most money and beguile enough people? I'm not pointing fingers at either campaign, either. John McCain is just as guilty of these as Barack Obama. Historically, campaigns like this are a very recent blip on the radar. Fifty years ago, the campaign started after the nomination. Can you imagine what a two month campaign would be like? I think it would be heaven.

3. Total underpining of the issues ... despite what anyone would say about Obama and McCain, they're only talking about half of the issues they are covering because of minor candidates who add accountability to the system. If this were just the Obama and McCain show, I can guarantee that we'd have a much shorter list of issues on our plates. The problem that I have run into with this campaign is that I have such little trust in the president to do what he says he's going to do anymore. Actually, it's not just the president, it's really any political figure. Because of the nature of the campaign beast, candidates will say anything to get elected. Will they actually follow through? Who knows. I'd like to believe that they will, but I'm trying not to be that naive.


Regardless of all that negativity, there is one thing about this election that has been incredibly heartening: the response of the American people. Never before has there been such an incredible movement to get Americans to vote. The Student Assembly at W&M conducted such a vibrant campaign effort to get students to register in Williamsburg that we actually have to help out at the polls so that they don't become overwhelmed by extra people. Facebook is asking everyone who signs in whether or not they have voted today, and tracking it here. Organizations like The Leaky Cauldron and HP Alliance have taken advantage of the fact that they have a wide fan base and planned events like Wrock the Vote to encourage their fans to register, if they have not already.

That is just fantastic. As a government teacher (and former student) I know all of the excuses for why people choose not to vote:

• the weather is bad
• they feel that their vote will not make a difference
• apathy with the system
• do not align with either candidate
• too busy
• they forget about election day
• they cannot get to the polls in time
• among others

To those, I give this:

• so what? Yes, it's raining outside ... a little rain never hurt anyone
• clearly, your vote DOES make a difference
• I'm apathetic with the system too ... and I voted
• I also don't align with either candidate ... this is about your duty as a citizen
• I have a job, a teaching internship, I'm taking 13 credits, I attend church multiple times a week, I have mentoring appointments, I serve on the Student Assembly ... still think you're busy?
• Anyone who forgets that today is Election Day is clearly hiding under a rock
• The polls are open today from 6 am - 8 pm. You have time.

Truly, I will be glad when this day is over. But it's here right now. So, take advantage of it. And if you're looking for a little humor, here are some articles my dad sent to me:

• Bush: "Can I stop being president now?"
• Obama Undertakes Presidential Internship

PGD-I4: The beauty of competition

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but current gas prices are pretty sweet. I took this picture several weeks ago because gas had fallen below $3. I couldn't believe it! Surely, I thought, the trend could not last long, and it had to be documented.



Well, I was driving to school this morning and I saw that two gas stations near my flat have gas for $2.01.

Yes. $2.01.

How is that possible, you might be wondering. Certainly, gas prices aren't that low in Northern Virginia ... not to mention California. Just to add to the ridiculousness of the matter, only a half mile away, there is a gas station selling its cheapest gas at $2.19.

Again. I'm guessing that this is puzzling.

My guess, based on my knowledge of economic theory, draws on a couple factors about the locations of these gas stations. Gas Stations A and B are located on opposing sides of an intersection that is relatively well-traveled, but not a major route through Williamsburg. Gas Station C, however, is located on one of the five or so major roads. There are also no other gas stations on this road for a couple miles. Further, Gas Station A is privately owned, while Gas Station B is owned by a typical gas station that can be found through most of the U.S.

Therein lies the beauty of competition. Gas Station C has no direct competition, even though it is only located a half mile from the other two. Anyone driving down that major road without insider knowledge about A and B will get gas at C. Gas Station C is located next to the entrance to a major highway, as well as a lot of fast food. Tourists come across it regularly, and they're in a hurry. They want to buy gas and get some food quickly. They are also probably coming from larger metropolitan areas so they think that $2.19 for gas is a pretty sweet deal. In contrast, Stations A and B are in a mainly residential and local area. Plus, locals like me compare gas prices and know where to go.

Further, Station B has to match the price of Station A because it is right across the street. Because A is privately owned, it can set different prices. Of course, it has to make a profit, so it can't set a price below cost (whatever that really is). Actually, they probably aren't making much money. Gas prices at $2 are not sustainable for long. But the fact that both gas stations are selling at that price proves the point. Competition is beautiful. I've been watching these two gas stations set steadily lower prices for four weeks now, and my jaw still drops whenever I drive by and see such low prices. Competition is so good for the consumer, as long as that consumer is willing to do some research.

Granted, this is a very simplistic example of competition. I'm sure there are some economic aspects to the argument that have not been covered, and I know enough economists who could correct those points for me if they wanted to. However, it remains interesting. It is a post-graduate discovery because it is an example of something in real life that I learned about as an undergrad.

Here's hoping for a stable economy ... please?

Technology Modules

One class that all W&M education students are required to complete is a course in technology integration in the classroom. Obviously, this is right up my alley. Even more exciting is the fact that my GA adviser is the teacher! Mark always has great ideas in and out of class for technological integration. His rule of thumb is that yes, technology can do a lot for you, but what should you be using technology for? What is the relative advantage of a specific type of technology in your classroom ... meaning, what does it add to the classroom that you would not be able to do otherwise?

This week we are each meeting with Mark to discuss individual technology lesson plans. I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to do for mine. We have done some class exploration to learn about different types of technology and how they work in the classroom. Here are some class project examples from that exploration (the elementary people did these technology modules as well). I could easily come up with a lesson plan for the technology module I created (podcasting) but I think that I want to explore something different. I am considering blogging, Inspiration, PhotoStory, and Web Inquiry. Ideas?

Also, here is a sample of a movie that one of my colleagues (Eric) created during one of our classes to answer the age-old debate: Pirates vs. Ninjas.

Autumn

Things I love about fall:

1. Fall colors ... they just started coming out in Williamsburg this week! The trees around William and Mary are beautiful. Growing up in California for such a prolonged period of time really made me appreciate having all the seasonal changes. I've been watching for good fall colors for a couple weeks now, and I'm so glad that they've come out in full force.
2. Football ... I've watched almost every VT game this year and most of the UVA games, as well as some of the other games, too. I've enjoyed watching football for several years now, but this is the first year I've really invested time in watching it regularly. It's a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon (while lesson planning, of course!)
3. Fall food ... pie, turkey, cornbread, chili, soup, mashed potatoes, stuffing, all of it. I can't wait for Thanksgiving.
4. Cooler weather ... the days have started getting especially cooler this week, and I'm so excited to be able to wear sweaters again, and use my brand new red peacoat from my parents for my birthday.
5. My birthday! and my sister's ... she just turned 21, heavens ... that makes me feel old!
   

School days

Going to the high school is the best part of my week. No joke. This is probably why I haven't written as much here as I should have -- I've been having so much fun lesson planning and preparing for my time at school. The best part of the experience so far has been getting to know my students. I am currently completing observations in an AP Government classroom and an AP Microeconomics classroom. Initially, I was only interacting with students in Econ because the class does a fair amount of small group work, but I've been able to interact with the AP Government students recently during our political parties unit.

Some of the highlights so far:

1. The kids look up to me a ridiculous amount for not having known me for very long. A couple of the girls have asked me for advice about things. I think this is partially because I'm a young, female teacher and they probably don't know many women in their mid-20s. Regardless of the reason, it's cool.
2. Assisting the students with their political parties project ... they split into groups and created their own political parties and platforms. I helped them make short campaign videos! Go using journalism skills.
3. Direct quote from said political parties project: "Hey, Ms. N---- said it would work, and she's a grad student! We should put it in our platform!"
4. Chaperoning at the Homecoming Dance ... lots of "Hey, Ms. N-----!" and "Why didn't you bring a date?" haha ...
5. Getting to know lots of teachers ... I've also observed in another AP Government class, a 9th grade regular English class, and a 10th grade World Geography class
6. Finding my "teacher voice" and my "teacher demeanor" ... a year ago, there's no way I would have been able to lead a lesson for 90 minutes. Amazing.
7. Lesson planning is actually fun ... which is good since that is all I do. 80% of teaching is planning, I have decided
8. Seeing high school from the other end of the spectrum. I mean, I was never the kid who hated high school, but there were definitely parts of it that I didn't like. This puts an entirely new spin on the whole affair.
9. Seeing how each high school is unique.
10. Meeting dozens of innovative teachers who teach beyond the standards and find ways to make content engaging while getting across the main points.

Don't get me wrong, it's plenty challenging. It's hard waking up at 5am, and there are some days where I don't exactly feel like I'm making a real difference ... but then there are other days that are fantastic. That's part of the job. Luckily, the best part of it all is the kids. I'm so looking forward to getting to know them better.

Things I am hoping to continue cultivating in myself

1. Ability to ask engaging, higher-level questions
2. Relating to all of my students
3. Finding ways to introduce technology in a seamless way
4. Designing real-life lessons that relate to things my students are interested in
   
5. Doing all of it without losing my sanity! :)
   

Wordle

I know I haven't written in a while! I will again soon. But first, I wanted to bring your attention to a cool Web site that my graduate assistantship (GA) adviser, Mark, showed me yesterday: www.wordle.net. The site allows you to paste text in a box and it randomizes it for you in a word cloud to show you the most used words. You can also put a link in to any Web site with an RSS feed (like a blog) and see the most used words there, too. Of course, I couldn't resist. Here are the word clouds for each of my three blogs:

Wonder of Now (this blog):




London Holiday (study abroad experience in London):




For His Renown (attempted blog when I went to the Urbana and Passion conferences in 2006):


Go check it out! And, if you want to see any of these clouds in detail, just click on the picture. You'll be able to read all of the words.

Mark and I were thinking that this could be a cool way to analyze primary source documents in the classroom. He ran the Obama and McCain convention speeches through Wordle and it was really neat to see visually what words they both focus on. Any thoughts on that?

Back to school

I've probably thought of about fifteen different things to blog about in the past two weeks, but as I've been busy with school work and life in general, that hasn't happened.  I've been considering blogging about general technology use in classrooms, the inquiry method of social studies instruction, content reading and writing, and classroom management strategies.  I've also been considering blogging about worship, Philippians, 1 Samuel, and relational evangelism.  Still further, what I have been up to.  It's been a busy two weeks.  Here are some highlights.

1. Student teaching  I got my student teaching placement!  To protect anonymity, my students, W&M, and the high school I am in, I am not going to reveal which high school it is or my cooperating teacher.  However, I will say that I will be teaching government, both regular and AP, come spring time.  I am mostly doing observations this semester.  Of course, the school is somewhere in the Tidewater area, within an hour's drive of Williamsburg.  That's about 10 plus possible school districts.  ;)  Naturally, I am very happy with my placement, and I think that this will be a great year.  I will meet the kids for the first time next week.

2. Christian life  I have been attending services at New Town UMC since June, and I still really like it there.  I also started going to their Wednesday night Bible study with some friends in the end of July.  We are doing an expository study of the book of Philippians, and we're still in chapter 2, haha.  Seeing as we only discussed one verse this week (2:25), this is not surprising.  I really admire NTUMC's commitment to fellowship, doctrine, worship, prayer, and the needs of the congregation.  The church really feels like a family to me, and I've only been there a short while.  I'm seeing God's blessings everywhere I look, and it's just amazing.  I've been attending the Bible study with a couple friends and we're hoping to get more people to join us as the year progresses.  The great part is that we don't just see each other for Bible study, we try to get together outside of church, too, so that we're involved in each other's lives.  This is so important in Christian community.  I have also started singing at Bruton Parish on Sunday nights.  A friend found out that I sing and invited me to sing in the student choir, and it's been really interesting and fun so far.  Definitely a different experience, but one that has been beneficial for me, especially considering my experience with TFC.  I'm glad to have this opportunity to be in open dialogue in that setting.

3. Working hard  I'm working for a different professor during the school year, and I'm having a lot of fun so far.  One project I worked on a few weeks ago was to create screen capture videos as an explanation for how to use Wikispaces.  W&M education students use Wikispaces to create electronic portfolios of their progress throughout the year.  I had a lot of fun creating these videos, so check them out.

4. Reading ... not for pleasure  My month of pleasure reading has ended.  While I have been finding some time to read through the last book in the Twilight series (Breaking Dawn), I have mostly been reading for my various classes.  I'm hoping to write a blog about the Twilight series once I finish it.  :)  I will likely offer some thoughts on other reading materials for my various classes, but I do have a lot to do, so those may be more infrequent.

5. Time for play  Despite the work, I'm still a social person.  The C&I bunch has become even closer than we were over the summer, and I think we're starting to scare some people because we know each other so well.  It's fun.  :)  I also went to UVA this past weekend with a friend for my first Cavalier football game.  I really like Charlottesville, and thankfully we managed to avoid Tropical Storm Hanna!  The rain stopped an hour before the game started.  Fantastic.  I'm going to Virginia Tech this weekend with my friend Laurie and her family, and I'll also get to see Jesse and Caelah!  So, I'm really just having an orange identity crisis between Tech and UVA.  Who do I cheer for?  ;)  There have also been Wii game sessions, dinners, bowling, poker, movie nights, and endless conversations.

Needless to stay, I've already built a life here, and I love everything about it.

Chapter 13

For anyone who reads my blog for my fanfiction updates, this is for YOU!  Chapter 13 is finally up.  I know that it has been 8 months.  I know that I could have spent all the time writing my blog this year writing "Heart of Gold" (actually, the story has approached novel length, so I might start referring to it as Heart of Gold instead).  I greatly apologize for that.  BUT I promise that you will like the chapter.

Some highlights to whet your appetite:

• Liam and Aislinn decide to do something new
• We finally find out what Christopher Devon is so afraid about
• Regulus and Lily decorate the office for Christmas (note: this shows you what month it was when I started writing the chapter, haha)
• Regulus feels mortal peril ... three times
• Regulus gets into a tiff

Go read.  :)  And review!

Is there something more?

One of my readers asked for more information about IVCF in my previous post, and I was really glad to get that perspective.  IVCF is an organization centered on college students, so they have little direct presence in public schools, however, the organization is involved in promoting service among college students.  A lot of that service work happens in the public school sector, so IVCF does affect public schools indirectly.  In fact, IVCF has an entire conference called Urbana devoted to promoting service and missions work.  The conference happens every three years, and really is an amazing way to spend five days -- I attended the one in 2006.  According to the mission statement of IVCF, its purpose is to establish "witnessing communities" on college campuses and universities mostly in the US, but also around the world and to promote the message of Jesus Christ, growing in love for God and for God's Word, God's purposes for the world, and ethnic reconciliation.

I have seen IVCF have a positive impact at every university I have visited with a chapter, and I have experienced the power of this kind of community first hand.  I went to Urbana with only two other people from my chapter (our staff worker and a law student) so I was "adopted" by several other chapters while I was there.  I went to the conference knowing next to nobody, but left with dozens of new friends.  That alone shows the power that the organization has in welcoming students and drawing them into community.

In terms of this kind of teaching and NCLB, there is obviously something missing in modern schools.  We're test-driven and we've lost a lot of focus on developing our students as people and as future leaders.  Beyond making sure our students get good grades and test scores and go on to make our schools look good, we've lost a concern for helping them discover a future hope and goals.  This was always a part of both private and public education until now, and it's rather tragic that this is so downplayed in modern public schooling.

I do not think that any particular group would say that developing students and people and leaders is a terrible goal for schools, but I think that priorities have changed.  This is one reason why I am looking forward to teaching social studies -- you can't get away with this kind of thinking in a social studies classroom.  Social studies has a dual purpose of teaching the subject and promoting citizenship and the discovery of an enlightened life.  You can't teach history without teaching what people thought, and that is a great opportunity to challenge your students with the thoughts of philosophers and great thinkers, from all over the globe.

The fact is that though students can put up a front about not caring about their education, most of them are searching for the answers to life's big questions.  My high school experienced this in a powerful way.  Two of our social studies teachers proposed starting a Comparative Religion/Philosophy elective for the junior and senior class.  The students would spent half of the year studying religion and the other half studying philosophy.  The school and the school board fought the proposition for months, stating that it would be a waste of resources because no modern student is interested in that kind of thinking.  Our schools are full of atheists and deists now.  Who would take such a class.

How wrong they were!  Half of the senior class and a good chunk of the junior class signed up for the course.  They actually had to open three new sections and ask other teachers in the school if they would be willing to teach religion and philosophy.  The class was fantastic because all of the students were interested in the subject matter and in applying it to their own lives.  We all wanted to consider and answer questions about the meaning of life and how we order the way that we think and the way that we make moral decisions.  The county actually asked the teachers to consolidate their notes so that they could promote the class at other high schools.

Clearly, students do want something more, but they need to be presented with the opportunity to find it.  There is certainly room for this within No Child Left Behind and public education, but it takes initiative, planning, and perseverance.  It takes teachers willing to take a risk and not just stick to the properly approved courses, but to reach out and do something more than is required.  If they really care about their students, they will do that.

What matters?

What matters to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship?  Everything.

I've been having fun promoting InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at W&M over the past couple of days.  I'm so excited to be involved with this chapter this year!  Everyone is friendly and I can really see God working in their lives.  For a summary of what IVCF is all about, check out this video.

A future hope

"I want to talk to you about the subject of plans, life plans and how we all make them, and how we hope that our kids make good, smart, safe plans of their own.  But if we're really honest with ourselves, most of our plans don't work out as we'd hoped.  So instead of asking our young people, "What are your plans?  What do you plan to do with your life?" maybe we should tell them this: Plan to be surprised." ~ Dan In Real Life

Anyone who spends any length of time with my immediate family will quickly come to recognize my father's love for movies.  So, the time I spent at home is generally colored by which movies I watch while I am there.  Lexington was not really a prime location for seeing new movies as our theater only showed three movies at a time and the next closest theater was a 30-45 minute drive.  I really haven't gone to the movies much in the past four years, except when I was at home.  However, whenever I do go home, my family is always discussing some movie that they've all just watched and have a million inside jokes for, and then we usually watch it together.  Dan In Real Life was one of those movies this time.

The movie documents the family vacation of recently-widowed Dan (Steve Carrel) and his three daughters, all in various stages of moving through life.  Dan has tried to rigidly control their lives and his own, and this has become even more apparent since the death of their mother.  Much to Dan's surprise, the reunion turns his life upside down, and he has a completely new perspective on the future by the end of it.  This is when he writes the aforementioned quote on plans.

I used to plan out every detail of my life.  I had this idea that by a certain age I would graduate from college, get my first job, be married, start having children, publish my first book, etc.  I think part of that was wanting to give myself something to dream about when I was bored.  Now, I think that it is a good idea to have goals.  We should be encouraging our young people to have an idea of where they want to go and what they want to do, and I think that it can be good to say that we would like something to happen by a certain date.  BUT only if we have the control to make that happen.

In the movie, Dan's problem is that he is trying to control things that he cannot possibly control.  I think that is the major problem with the planning that we do in our lives.  I have had a lot of people ask me in the past couple months where I think I will be teaching next year.  My answer is that I would love to be back up in Northern Virginia with my family, and hopefully a good number of my cousins, but I know that my life is going to be completely different eight months from now.  Everything about my life can change in a day, for better or for worse, and a single event can sometimes have the intensity to alter my views on where I want to be.  There may be a compelling reason for me not to be in Northern Virginia, and I know that I need to stay open to that.

I like the idea of planning to be surprised, because this gets at the idea that the future is hopeful and something to be experienced and embraced, especially if we don't know what is going to happen.  This is something that we need to instill in young people, especially our students, and in "old people" as well.  :)

Happy birthday (to my blog)

My blog turns a year old this week!  I'm proud of myself that I've kept it relatively up to date for the past year.  I posted 55 entries, which is roughly one per week, so I'm satisfied.  We'll see what the next year holds.  I expect that I will end up posting more because it appears that my entries on schooling are engaging and have led to more readers finding my blog, and I'd like to encourage that discussion.

Since my last posting, I have finished coursework for my first term of graduate school, spent a week in Maine, run a lot of errands at home, and almost finished the first book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, entitled Twilight.  I really like it so far.  She is an extremely engaging writer and I can tell from her writing what she considers most important as an author -- characterization.  Perhaps I'm a bit biased because that is the most important thing to me as an author, too, but the best thing about her stories, and the reason I think so many people have fallen in love with them, is that her characters are very real.  She has thought long and hard about who her characters are, how they react, what matters to them, etc and she does not deviate from that picture.  Of course, she confirms that this is the most important thing to her on her Web site, but I guessed that it was before I went searching.

It's good to have a break, and great to be reading for pleasure again.  I told my family that if food is what keeps us physically sustained, then books are what keeps my soul sustained, if that makes any sense.  Along that analogy, Twilight is like candy.  Fast, easy read, and sweet.  I went to get the next two books at Barnes and Noble yesterday, and I'm trying to space out reading them.  Mostly because I know that I have other things that I need to be doing.  Self-control is key.

That said, they're great books, and I highly recommend them.

Further note on schooling

As a student in a teacher education program, I would never presume to say that the current education system is perfect.  I hate the idea of tracking and the fact that students are judged by a test.  I think that that's awful.  I think that students should be able to pursue their dreams, be they music, sports, reading, writing, physics, whatever.  I think that the kind of education that Summerhill and Sudbury Valley schools offer is wonderful, and I think that public schools have a lot to learn from them.  Creativity is one of the most important traits that students should have.

However I think that there is a definite need for accountability in education, and as someone who hopes to teach in public schools for years to come, I am perfectly willing to submit myself to a standard.  Personally, I like having a bar to start from, but that doesn't mean that I want to teach to the bar.  I want to challenge my future students to reach new levels of learning that they never dreamt of before stepping into my classroom.  I want to challenge students to create and to do something with what they are learning.  I always learned the most in classes where my teachers asked me to respond to something and not just learn it, and I loved those classes more than my lecture classes.

As someone who never attended a private school until college, I think that the public school system produces fine students.  I was lucky to have parents who encouraged my learning outside of school and pushed me to realize my best in my faith, my physical well-being, and my artistic abilities.  I would love to experience Sudbury and Summerhill to a fuller extent than I have in just the two-hour video and discussion that we had my class, but until last Thursday, I did not even realize that these schools existed!  Thank you for the thoughtful comments I have received so far and I hope that you'll understand that I totally agree with you, I'm just the kind of person who needs some structure.  :)

"Alternative" schooling

In Ed Psych last week, we talked about two "alternative" schools built on the humanistic, transformative model of education: Summerhill in the UK and Sudbury Valley in Massachusetts.  The transformative model of education is based on the idea that the main purpose of teaching is to mold each student into the learner that they are becoming, rather than giving students a list of facts to process and memorize.  Transformative education says that knowledge exists within the learner and the teacher exists to shape and create and to kindle that knowledge in their students, based on their individual strengths and values.  Schools like Summerhill and Sudbury Valley allow students to learn whatever they want to, without grades or tests.  Check out the Web sites above, and then read what I have to say about the values of each.  There is a marked difference between Summerhill and Sudbury Valley that I highlight below, but see if you can discover it for yourself.

What I wrote for class:

Some aspects of A.S. Neill’s schooling philosophy resonate well with me. I am very attracted to a transformative education in general. I think that students should learn for learning’s sake, and that learning is more than just books and facts, but this is a viewpoint that has been a part of my view of learning since childhood. My parents have always emphasized learning the arts and being physically active, and they involved my sister and me in many co-educational activities in multiple disciplines. Education is valuable because it gives students tools for understanding who they are and relating that identity to the world around them. A transformative education aids in this discovery, especially one along Neill’s philosophy. I like that students live at Summerhill because this emphasizes that learning is done in community and encourages learning to happen all the time, and not just at school. I also think that Summerhill does a good job of emphasizing classroom learning and keeping it separate from playtime. Students at Summerhill acknowledge the value of learning literature, history, math, science, and other core subjects. Further, they take an active interest in the democratic process and are constantly involved in making it work since they live at the school.

In contrast, Sudbury Valley is more like a daycare center. Students can show up whenever they want and leave pretty much whenever they want as well. It’s a larger school, so there is less accountability for what individual students are learning than at Summerhill. Further, there are many more activities than there are at Summerhill. I am sure that Sudbury Valley would consider this a benefit, but I think that students would learn more of core subjects if they were limited to more academic pursuits. I do think that there is value to playtime pursuits, but maybe students should be limited to them for a certain amount of time each day. I understand that students should be able to choose what they want to learn, but I think that this philosophy gives children too much credit. I wanted to be an astronaut until I was in middle school, and I only discovered that I enjoyed writing and history much more than science and math because I had teachers who pointed my skills and gifts out to me. I am not sure if I would have discovered this on my own. Sometimes we need others to point out our own skills before we can see them for ourselves.

I think that students should be able to develop their own path for learning, within limits. I like that Sudbury Valley and Summerhill provide this opportunity. I think that K-12 schools should value the arts and physical activity just as highly as book learning, and that test scores should be devalued in favor of the development of the whole person. On the whole, SOL standards actually do aim toward the development of the whole person, because there are standards for the arts, but they are not required tests. I think that we should motivate students to learn what is on the SOLs, but give them choices on how they want to learn those subjects and be assessed on them. Students should be able to choose whether they want to write an essay or respond in some other creative way to a subject in literature or history. They should be able to demonstrate their knowledge of math or science in a way consistent with their strengths. I think that the SOLs are beneficial in that they offer a standard for what students should know, but that students should be given the latitude to decide what they want to do with that knowledge.

PGD-I3: Dinner, party of one

It's been a while, so it's time for a new post-graduate discovery: you can save so much more money by cooking in than by eating out.  Again, like my other discoveries, this should be intuitive.  I just never realized how much you can save by cooking your own food.

For example, tonight I made a vegetable and kielbasa sausage saute over about a cup of rice.  Pretty good stuff.  I diced and sauteed (in olive oil) a quarter of a green pepper, an eighth of a red onion, and half of a yellow squash, and I also sauteed half of a sliced package of kielbasa (Polish sausage).  I made the rice in my rice cooker.  Grand total?  $3.06

1/2 sausage = $2.25

rice = probably no more than .10

1/4 green pepper = .22

1/2 yellow squash = .25

1/8 red onion = .14

1/2 tablespoon olive oil = probably no more than .10

Okay, add another .25 for my glass of orange juice (if that).  That brings it up to about $3.30.

Just for kicks, I went online and looked up similar dishes.

Olive Garden has a Mixed Grill for $15.50.

Red Lobster has a Grilled Chicken Breast (with vegetables and rice) for $11.25.

Tuscany Italian, a restaurant in Lexington, probably comes closest with Risotto con Vegetali (Italian sausage with rice and vegetables) for $11.95.

Most restaurants would charge $2ish for a glass of orange juice.

I've made my point.

Oh, a subpoint ... fresh fruits and vegetables are a lot cheaper than processed ones.  Further, making one's own pizza and other such items is cheaper than buying it.  A box of 18 Bagel Bites cost about $4, whereas I bought three apples today for $3.44.

Again, the point is simple.  Eating healthy, making your own food, is cheaper than eating out or eating something fried (which you usually will only get eating out).

Life in the icebox

I've been in the W&M Curriculum and Instruction program for eight weeks now, so I suppose it's time for me to write an update about what I've been doing.  I've been busy, obviously, but that's nothing new.  That seems to be what I write about whenever I do a "life update."  My weekly schedule consists of 16 hours of class, 10-15+ hours at my graduate assistantship (depending on the week), who knows how many hours of homework, and 3-5ish hours of prep work for my impending volunteer staff work with InterVarsity.

I have entitled this entry "Life in the icebox" because the 30+ hours I spend on campus each week are spent in Jones Hall and Morton Hall, where W&M campus staff have seen fit to set the thermostat at sub-70 degree levels.  At least, that's how it feels to me.  I've been bringing socks and zip-up sweaters to class/work so that I stay warm.  :)

My schedule in June was a bit more unpredictable, but my schedule for July is standard: work MWF for 5-8 hours, class TR for 8 hours.  Our class blocks are 4 hours long.  I had been dreading this length of time for class, but now it doesn't seem so bad.  It will be interesting to go back to 1 1/2 hour classes in the fall.  I've been learning a LOT about teaching, curriculum, instruction, assessment, tracking, learning styles, educational psychology, educational research, multidisciplinary learning, ... clearly, there's a lot for beginning teachers to learn.

I was very excited about the program at the end of June, but a bit overwhelmed because I had started to realize how much more I need to learn before I start teaching.  Now, almost done with summer courses, I am still very excited and I feel more confident in my abilities.  We have been spending more time thinking about how to teach in terms of curriculum, instruction, and assessment this term, taking into account learning styles and developmental psychology, and I feel like I have a better grasp on what I am supposed to do as a teacher and different ways that I can do it.

I've been so blessed through other students in the program.  There are 44 of us total, 22 secondary education and 22 elementary education.  There are no men in elementary, and only 8 men in secondary.  So, there are a lot of women in the program, but that just matches the contemporary trend in education.  One of the secondary women, Cati, has been having us over for the past few weeks for dinner to just unwind and enjoy one another's company.  Last week there were about ten of us and this week there were about fifteen to twenty!  We're expecting more next week, and we're planning a BBQ.  :)  We all get along very well.

Work has been fun.  I've been working as a technical writer for the Technology Integration Program, mostly rewriting content for their Web site and writing papers that can be handed out at their events about how to use their various programs.  I'll post a link to these once they go up on the TIP Web site, at the end of the month.

Finally, IV.  I'm so excited that I can continue being involved in this ministry.  I have been so blessed by IV through GCF at W&L, going to Urbana, and going to winter camp, and it's wonderful to be able to give back and serve God through this ministry, even at another campus.  Marty, the W&M campus minister, and I have been meeting and talking about discipleship for the past two months and I'm really excited to get to know students this fall.

So, while life in the icebox is pretty cold, the people in the icebox are very warm and my work is fulfilling.  I can't wait to start classroom work in the fall!

Theological worldview?

I found this quiz to be very interesting, especially in light of the fact that I've been visiting a Methodist church in Williamsburg, haha, and I've never before really attended one.  Though, the description for Wesleyan theology here is pretty much accurate for me.  So I guess this is accurate?

I do find it funny that I'm 50% Roman Catholic and 50% Charismatic/Pentecostal.

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 96% Fundamentalist 82% Emergent/Postmodern 71% Neo orthodox 64% Reformed Evangelical 64% Roman Catholic 50% Charismatic/Pentecostal 50% Classical Liberal 39% Modern Liberal 29%

Something Brilliant -- published!

I waited a month before I wrote a post plugging "Maybe Not Today," but I'm too excited about my new story to wait.  "Something Brilliant," a story that I started writing last December, went to validation last night and came through sometime this morning!  I already have two reviews on it, which makes me very happy.  This is my first Ron/Hermione story in a very long time, probably since junior year of high school.  It was SO very much fun getting back into writing them.  R/H was what got me into writing fanfiction in the first place.

"Something Brilliant" came out of a J.K. Rowling interview in which she reveals that Ron's finest moment was when he found out that he was on a chocolate frog card.  I took that idea and ran with it.  ;)  The summary of the story is thus: Ron wants to ask Hermione to marry him, but he's just a bit nervous and unable to think of the best way to do it.  Will Harry, Ginny, and some chocolate frogs show him how?

Clearly, I had a lot of fun writing this story.  It's probably one of my more humorous stories.  On another note, "Maybe Not Today" is now hosted at Checkmated.com, and I'm working on getting "Heart of Gold" (and maybe some of my other stories) hosted at a few other fanfiction Web sites as well.

If you're looking for anything else to read, check out St. Margarets' new story "Beautiful Boy (He Has His Mother's Eyes)" and "Unless We Believe" by MissDaisy1.  Two of my new recent favorites.

Songs of Remembrance

This is a post I have been meaning to write for more than a month, so, it's a little overdue ... but, I've been working on it, so I'm going to write it.  :)  As the GCF (InterVarsity at W&L) head worship leader this year, I tried to expose the community to a lot of different types of worship, from different cultural styles to different levels of volume and pace, to worshipping God for different reasons.  One type of worship that we discussed was giving praise to God for what He has done in the past, recognizing that He still works that way today and praying for His help for the present and the future.  This type of worship stresses God's faithfulness and grace to His people, reminding them of His character and His past actions, and assuring them that His grace and mercy and love and holiness remain today, because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

This type of song/prayer is found ALL OVER the Bible, most notably in places such as Miriam and Moses' song of deliverance after the Red Sea, songs in Judges, David's psalms and also songs recorded in 1 Samuel, Mary's prayer (still prayed in churches today as the Magnificat!) after learning that she would be the mother of Jesus, and Zechariah's prayer (also prayed in churches today as the Benedictus).  Some psalms for blessings and remembrance are 18, 30, 34, 40, 68, 77, 78, 92, 100, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 113, 116, 118, 124, 126, 129, and 146.

Are you seeing my point?  This is a big deal in Scripture.  Remembering what God has done reminds us of His character and His nature, yet we don't often do that in today's churches.  A big part of that has to do with the fact that many people don't read the Bible, so they literally don't know what God has done in the past, and they don't consider the work of God in their own lives.  I didn't want GCF worship to be like that, but the problem is, because of this fact, sometimes using songs of remembrance can be difficult because people don't know WHAT the songs are referring them to.

Two songs that come to mind along this vein are "Your Grace Is Enough" by Chris Tomlin and "Days of Elijah" by Robin Mark.  Both excellent and fantastic songs.  "Your Grace is Enough" is much easier to understand, but there is a lot of imagery used there, and the bridge asks God to, "Remember Your people, remember Your children, remember Your promise," just as He has done in the past.  However, it's "Days of Elijah" that requires a little more explanation.  We started singing this song at GCF in May and it holds a special place in my heart because it's been very important to my home church in Northern Virginia, The Falls Church.  While we were introducing it in GCF, I thought it would be cool to go through the song and find scripture references for the stories it refers to ... I didn't anticipate that this would take so much time!  But it was well worth the effort.  So, here are my notes from that venture.

"Days of Elijah"

These are the days of Elijah, declaring the Word of the Lord

• 1 Kings 12-16 string of evil kings after Solomon's death
• 1 Kings 17-2 Kings 2 Elijah declares God's law to King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in hope of repentance; Elijah also prays intensely and prophesies destruction
• See esp. 18:16-19:21
• Days of declaring truth to a people following idols of their own making, and calling them to see the glory and power of God

And these are the days of your servant Moses, righteousness being restored

• Exodus and Numbers for Moses' life
• Leviticus and Deuteronomy for the Law
• Expressly chosen by God to lead God's people, despite his failures and weaknesses
• Expressly chosen by God to bring law to the people and show them how to be holy
• Days of remember God's holiness and our inadequacy without Him and His saving grace

And though these are days of great trials, of famine and darkness and sword, still we are the voice in the desert crying, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord!"

• Refers to the struggles of God's people throughout Scripture
• See especially the psalms
• Direct reference to John the Baptist, found in Matt 3, 11, 14; Mark 1, 6; Luke 1, 3, 7, 9; John 1
• This is the whole idea, even though this world is hard, we're here to declare who God is and tell of His saving grace through Jesus Christ
• This is a proclamation of the Messiah

Behold He comes, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun, at the trumpet's call

• Matt 26:64, Mark 14:62, Luke 22:66-71 Jesus' declaration of being the Messiah before the Sanhedrin, when He used these words almost exactly
• Revelation 1:7-18, 19:11-8 He's coming back!  description of this

Lift your voice, it's the year of Jubilee, and out of Zion's hill salvation comes

• Jubilee = Leviticus 25, a year of rest every 50 years in which there is liberty for all, servants and slaves are set free, land is at rest, debts are cancelled, there is a redistribution of wealth --> remember that you, too, were once a slave, and all that you have comes from God
• Zion is another name for Jerusalem

These are the days of Ezekiel, the dry bones becoming as flesh

• Ezekiel 36-37 prophecy of breathing life into what is dead, trading the heart of stone for a heart of flesh
• This is about restoration! you're far away, repent and have life
• Hope for the day when we will look to God alone as king

And these are the days of Your servant David, rebuilding a temple of praise

• Judges - 1 Samuel Israel in a cycle of sin and repentance, falling away and disobedience; worst offense is when they ask for a king in 1 Samuel 8
• 1 Samuel 16 - 1 Kings 2: 12 David's story: from anointing to death, David worshipped the Lord with his entire being, but he also messed up in big ways; yet God still chose to do work through Him and for his line to be in the lineage of His Son
• David inspires Israel to worship, though God calls his son, Solomon, to be the one who actually builds His temple

And these are the days of the harvest, the fields are white in the world, and we are the laborers in Your vineyard, declaring the Word of the Lord!

• Matt 9:35-10, Matt 13, Matt 28:16-20, Luke 10 the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few, go out and prepare the fields for harvest
• Idea in Scripture that there will be a harvest at the end of time (Rev 14) and those who believe will be gathered but those who don't will be trampled
• God's people are those who take His message to the world

Back to the chorus:

Behold He comes, riding on the clouds

Shining like the sun at the trumpet's call

Lift your voice, it's the year of Jubilee

And out of Zion's hill salvation comes

So, this song requires a good deal of explanation!  but it's really about God's redemptive power throughout history, and how He continues to work today, and as His children, we have a role in that redemptive history.  Pretty cool stuff.  :)

Obviously, this is NOT a complete listing of all scriptures that could go along with these lines from the song, but it's an attempt to get you started if you want to examine this song further.  I'd love to hear other things you find, too!

PGD-I2: It's a small, small world

Sorry to keep you waiting, here is my second installment of Post-Graduate Discoveries.  I will hereby mark these posts thus: PGD-I# (Post-Graduate Discoveries - Installment #).  My first discovery, entitled "Just say hello" can be read two posts down.  Now, on to the new discovery.

I have come to realize that no matter where I move, even if I know absolutely nobody there, I will find people connected to other people that I know.  This is partially because I tend to gravitate toward Christian circles, and really, gravitating toward community like that makes the world even smaller.  But at the same time, I still manage to meet people who know other people that I know.

Take Marty, for example; W&M's InterVarsity staff member.  We were introduced by a mutual friend, and IV itself is a tight organization, but he knows two of the pastors at my family's church in Northern Virginia.  He also knows one of my sister's sorority sisters from IV Greek Conference, and he's introduced me to four or five people now who I'm becoming friends with.  Granted, he's a really connected guy, but he's an example of what I'm describing.  Several of the people he wanted to introduce me to ended up being in my education classes, which was great, though a little awkward to say, "Hi, I'm Abri, Marty told me I should meet you."  :)  At least it's a conversation starter.

Another example of this is just finding commonalities with people.  My mother says that I could talk to a brick wall and it would talk back.  Now, I doubt that that is the case, but I do tend to find things in common with pretty much everyone I meet -- very useful tool for rush.  Part of that is just because I've lived all over the country and have family all over the country, and, really, all over the world.  But, again, it just makes you realize that the world is small.

One cool thing about having moved so much is that I get to know all kinds of people and experience lots of different perspectives.  I know that no matter where I go, I will get linked in with people both like me and completely unlike me, and that I will be able to find community.  Part of that is being a Christian, but it's also about being human.  We all have more in common than we would care to admit sometimes.

It's a small world after all.

Stuff Christians Like

Okay, so Bobby was the one who referred me to this site, through his blog, but I just can't resist not including the link to it here, too.  For your reading pleasure, here is a link to Stuff Christians Like, a blog about, well, stuff that Christians like.  For example, Frisbee is God's favorite sport.  And goldfish crackers are His favorite food.  There is also a score sheet for the metrosexual scale of worship leaders (the blog author scored a 35), a score sheet for the effectiveness of your prayers based on people's reactions to them, the fact that Christians never sing all the verses of hymns (unless you're Methodist, Anglican, or Presbyterian ... yay for British denominations), a ton of entries about Vacation Bible School (VBS), and PowerPoint as a worship tool.

Basically, it's a sarcastic, satirical blog that is noting absurd trends in modern Christianity.  And it's also pointing people to the truth of the gospel, God, and Jesus.

And it's just plain funny!

Post-Graduate Discoveries, Installment 1: Just say hello

Well, I have been out in the Real World for a little more than a week, officially, and have been making numerous discoveries.  I thought about putting all of them into a single post, but then I realized that it would be a very long post.  So I decided to start a series.  This is hereby the first installment in my post-graduate discoveries series, entitled "Just say hello."  Not all of my posts will be about graduate school, more generic discoveries about the Real World, but this one has a grad school element.  :)

So I have apparently been living in a safe, little bubble for the past four years.  A bubble known as Lexington, Virginia.  A bubble where people greet you in the grocery store parking lot, walking down Main Street, and waiting in line for the ATM.  A bubble where I can chat with my grocer, bank teller, or cafe server because that's just the way the town is.  People talk to each other, even if they've never met.  Of course, chances are, you've seen each other in the past.  It's not that big of a town.

The point is, I've gotten used to saying hi to people and being greeted in return.  Apparently the Real World is not like this.  Who knew?  Now, I'm not completely naive.  I am from Northern Virginia and the Silicon Valley, after all.  I had always lived in metropolitan areas before I moved to my safe, little bubble nestled in the Shenandoah Valley.  This discovery is not one that shocks me, but it IS one that saddens me.

Why?  Because it's nice to get a smile and a hello when I'm walking from my classroom to get coffee with a friend.  Having a brief conversation with the person who is selling me my lunch or helping me make a deposit warms my heart and gives me a little lift to my spirits.  I really think that if people would just smile at each other and say hello, there would be fewer crimes.  I really do.  I remember conducting an informal experiment of my own when I was working at a recreational center as the front desk person just smiling and greeting people all day and watching how their entire demeaner changed.

W&L has a speaking tradition, and I love it.  I wish that there was a speaking tradition everywhere.  For my part, I'm greeting people when I walk by them anyway.  ;)  So my encouragement to you, dear readers, is to be a rebel.  Just say hello, and make someone's day.

Week 1

I am officially a graduate student!  I've just finished my first week at William and Mary, and I have to say, it was certainly fantastic.  I love my classes and the people in them.  We've actually all started to get to know each other because we spent the first hour and a half of both classes interviewing each other and introducing each other to everyone else in the class.  Here is a rundown of everything so far:

Monday

After presenting my in-depth project with my group in journalism, I packed up my car and drove to Williamsburg.  The only education-related thing that I did was meet with two of the Graduate Education Association (GEA) leadership girls, my roommate Ashley and another counseling student, Amanda, for dinner.  Did some unpacking and homework to get ready for class on Tuesday afternoon, and then it was time for bed.

Tuesday

Met everyone at orientation in the morning.  It was pretty long, but it was all valuable information, and I met some great kids.  My first class was in the afternoon, a research methods class.  Potentially boring, but the professor is really engaging and makes the course interesting.  He knows that most of us aren't math people, but we all have to understand this material.  I never realized how important research is to education.  In reality, research drives education.  What is the most effective way to teach a subject?  How do children of different ages learn?  How much rest do kids need during the day?  Should boys and girls learn in the same classrooms?  It's really interesting.  I met with my GA advisor afterwards and we talked through my projects for the summer.  It's SO great to be able to do research on something and use the skills that I have to make an impact.  And, then I went back to W&L to be an undergrad again.

Wednesday

Was rather proud of myself because I presented my anthro paper with minimal notes and minimal nervousness, I just kind of got up and spoke for 20 minutes.  I used to be really afraid of public speaking unless I was teaching something -- for example, in high school I was terrible at oral foreign language tests, but did fine when "teaching" a unit in one of my history or English classes.  It's something I've worked on a lot and know that I just need to keep practicing for when I'm a real teacher.  Anyway, my presentation made me feel great, and this feeling was further affirmed when I went to my first Foundations of Education class that afternoon.  The class is all about equipping us to understand ourselves as teachers and how we relate to the public school system, the community, and the teaching profession itself.  It's very reflective and our prof really makes us think about important issues.  He's very engaging, which is good for a class that meets 5:30-9:30 at night!  I don't think I got bored once.  And he brought us donuts :) as well as a sign-up sheet for everyone to bring in snacks, haha.  It's rather like a Bible study, just with the focus being teaching instead of the Bible.

Thursday

I spent the morning working on the anthro paper, and then went to Research Methods again in the afternoon.  Where Tuesday sparked interest in the subject that I figured would be boring, Thursday added an ambiguity that made me realize how difficult it is to define research.  We spent the first bit of class talking about qualities of good research questions and investigating research studies that appeared to be good on the surface, but really had fundamental flaws.  Then we spent about an hour or so in small groups working on research questions and discussing different steps.  I worked with the two other social studies ladies, Acadia and Sara, so that was fun.  I had never realized that defining research was such an undertaking!  The class is more challenging than expected, but the prof is really good at explaining.  Drove back to Lexington for the LOST finale, and all I have to say about that is ... wow.

Friday

Finished the in-depth project at 2:30!  Also turned in my anthro paper and did a lot of errands, like picking up my cap and gown.  Relaxed in the afternoon in the bliss of no more undergraduate work.  It's a beautiful thing.

And now I'm going back to Williamsburg, for the next few days, and then graduation.  God is good.  :)  I'm tired, and glad that I got through the crazy week.  Hopefully I'll have more time to blog now.

Journalism

One of my best friends got married yesterday.  I miss her already, but I'm so happy for her and her husband.  They're great.  :)  I have two more weddings to go to this summer, and I thought that I would be freaking out more about the fact that my friends are getting married, but I'm really not, because I know that it's right and I'm so happy for them.  Change is part of growing up, but that doesn't make it easy.  :)

Grad school starts on Tuesday!

Okay, so the point of this post: my journalism major.  I've spent the better part of the last five weeks working on my capstone project for my journalism major.  This has at times caused me great frustration.  The journalism school at W&L has professional majors (like me) complete a six week in-depth journalism project to show off the fact that we've actually learned something in the past four years.  Each group of four has a topic that we're supposed to investigate in current events and especially in how it relates to Rockbridge County.  This year's groups are looking at alternative energy, emergency management, the mortgage crisis, and senior care facilities.  I'm in the alternative energy group.  We are supposed to report on multiple aspects of the topic, culminating in 15-20 minutes of video for the broadcast component, four or five print stories, and a Web site to tie it all together with fun elements and such.  My role has mainly been to build this Web site, so I've spent a lot of time learning CSS, HTML, and Dreamweaver templates, as well as going on interviews and all that jazz.

This is a good way to culminate the major in a couple ways.  First, it allows us to look at a topic over a period of time and really get to know it.  This is how journalism is supposed to be.  Granted, getting the story out on deadline, especially if it's a big story, is very important.  I'm not disputing that.  However, I feel that a lot of problems in contemporary journalism could be solved if journalists just took the time to sit down and think about what they're doing, and not just take information for granted.  Second, contemporary journalism is no longer separated.  Broadcast, print, and Web journalists all work together and journalists need to be able to produce content for all platforms.  This is an integrated project that helps to utilize all of our journalism resources.  Third, lots of contemporary journalism is done in groups.  It's better for your story if you can get a range of opinions on how to present it ... this helps with objectivity, and creativity.

But there are some drawbacks to this capstone.  There's not much room here for people who want a journalism major but who aren't actually going to be journalists (like me).  Also, many of these topics are so big that they're hard to cover, even in such an in-depth fashion.  Groups also don't always get along, and that can really put strains on friendships.  The biggest thing, though, is that this is a spring term, the six weeks before graduation, class, and everyone really just wants to be done with it.  Even the kids who are going into journalism.

Either way, it's been an interesting class.  I'll be VERY happy when it's over, in the very near future, but it hasn't been a bad way to spend the last five weeks.  Regardless, I can't wait to go to Williamsburg tomorrow!

Winter Term 2008: Latin American Environmental History

I've been promising write-ups from my classes for the past five months, so here is the first in an installation, a write-up of Latin American Environmental History.

This class was fascinating because I got to study an area of interest that I hadn't yet studied in college (Latin America) in a way that I wouldn't have expected to study it (a focus on interactions with nature).  Environmental history can mean a lot of different things, but in this context, it refers to how people groups interact with an environment, and one another, over time through their lifestyle and how they use resources.  It can be measured in the ways that people groups treat one another geographically, how people groups trade commodities with one another, how people groups directly affect the environment through resource extraction or their living, etc.  It can really be interpreted in a lot of different ways: economically, politically, socially, culturally, religiously.

Why is this a good way to study Latin America?  Because many of the squabbles that people have about Latin America have to do with resource allocation (bananas, sugar, rubber, trees, etc), land distribution (Amazon Rainforest), and indigenous peoples (where they are allowed to live, what they are allowed to do, etc).

We looked at resource allocation and land use in these contexts over time, from pre-Columbian indigenous use to the coming of the Spanish and Portuguese to modern day Communist states.  A few things that struck me about our conversations were that most of the articles we read were written by so-called "Westerners," non-Latin-Americans.  Having family in Brazil, I felt that I had a unique perspective in understanding their point of view that the Amazon belongs to them and not to the world.  One perspective that I had not considered is the idea that a lot of members of the Global South have that we have no right over their environment just because we messed ours up -- they shouldn't have to change their consumption patterns because we didn't plan ours economically.  Now, there are debates on both sides, and I don't know which one I agree with more, but I can definitely see their point.

I was also struck by how many differing ideas there are about Latin American history and interpreting it.  A good way of looking at this is seeing where authors placed blame: on indigenous peoples, on the European conquerers, on Christianity, on governments (both colonial and modern), on capitalism, on communism, on the poor, on the rich ... I think every possible group of people was blamed somewhere in one of the articles we read, but the overarching blame was really placed on the Western world, especially the United States.

The thing that stood out the most to me is how our tastes and whims affect everyone else around the world.  This is especially visible right now with the use of corn ethanol.  Because we're using corn for fuel instead of food, thousands of people are starving worldwide because there is now a food shortage.  This isn't affecting us in the United States so much, but it's affecting developing nations to a large degree ... and corn ethanol isn't even that environmentally friendly ...

Anyway, this was a great way to look at history.  It provided a lens through which to look at events and really see why they matter.  I think one of the main reasons people don't like history is because they don't see why history matters.  Looking at history through a particular lens shows how history has affected people groups and continues to affect us today.  Every article that we read said something about Latin America in the past and Latin America in the present, and about the rest of us.  Understanding these truths about the past help us make more informed decisions for the future, and decisions that include the whole of creation, and that won't just benefit us, the Western Americans.

Forward motion

It's cliche, I know, but the coming of spring has always been one of my favorite times of year (despite the inevitable sniffles that accompany the pollen). Spring came in March in California, but in Virginia it doesn't come for real until April, and even then, you still get some winter weather. :) I think I like spring because it doesn't last very long. Everything is in full bloom for only a few weeks, but it's a lovely few weeks while it lasts. I haven't blogged much this spring because I had finals, and then spring break, and I've been back at school for the past two weeks but have been pretty busy with six spring term credits, registering for grad school credits, and arranging everything to move to Williamsburg.

My Caribbean cruise was everything I expected it to be. The seventeen of us had a delightful time, and we most certainly because "those kids." We were really the only college students on the cruise. I read through two books, ate way too much food, went swimming, saw some shows, and just generally had a great time. Could not have had a better senior year spring break.

Every day closer to May 26 and the start of grad school makes me anticipate this change more and more. I'm just really excited to see what God has in store for me in Williamsburg. I'm really excited about my classes, my jobs, my flat, my roommate, and just living in this historic area, and it's hard because I am not really that "into" either of the classes that I am taking right now. But I know that I will miss everyone here terribly.

Today was a good day. It was good to spend time with some of the people whom I will miss the most after leaving school. My past two weekends have been fantastic also, both at home. This past weekend I went home to support my Mom in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and the weekend before I went home for my grandfather's 80th birthday party. I got to see a LOT of family, so that was fantastic.

Things I am hoping to blog about in the near future:

1. Latin American environmental history
2. Remembering acts of God and Christ in worship
3. Anthropology and violence
4. Global church as the hope for the world
5. Jim Wallis' new book "The Great Awakening"

JKR/WB vs. RDR Books

I have been following, with great interest, the lawsuit between JK Rowling/Warner Bros. and RDR Books over the potential publication of Steve Vander Ark's Lexicon book. The book is based on Vander Ark's Harry Potter Lexicon Web site, which I have actually found a very useful tool in my own fanfiction writing endeavors because it gives me information right at the tip of my fingers so that I don't have to look it up in my books. It's saved me a lot of hours of searching, and there are some great articles on it. The problem with the book form is that 90% of the work is lifted directly from Rowling, word for word, and much of it isn't sourced. Rowling and Warner Bros., rightly, sued RDR Books, the Lexicon's publishing company, as soon as the book was completed last fall and the case just went to court last week.

For full coverage of these events, see this great page from The Leaky Cauldron. Much of my analysis is in agreement with Leaky's podcast from last week, with wonderful thoughts from Melissa, John, Sue, and Frak. I love listening to these four every week and their Harry Potter analysis. Melissa and John were present at the trial as well as their friend Samantha, and there were no other representatives from Harry Potter fan Web sites there, so they are the real fan authorities here.

I have a few points to make on this case, and they are as follows:

• Rowling and Warner Brothers' claims are completely legitimate


• Fair use does not apply in this situation


• Vander Ark should be able to publish his own guide to Harry Potter, but it should be of his own creation


• This book is VERY different from fanfiction


• The media have done their readers, the Harry Potter community, Rowling/Warner Bros., and Vander Ark a great disservice in their coverage


• It should come as no surprise to Vander Ark that the fan community is not embracing him anymore, but there is room for healing


• The best hope for all involved is reconciliation

These basic points are for those who don't want to read my eloquent analysis :) And on to the opinion post ...

My first point is that Rowling has a legitimate claim. Harry Potter is her creation, and she's been extraordinarily lenient in fan responses to her work, for which I am very grateful as it has helped me become a better fiction writer. For the record, fanfiction isn't illegal. Fan Web sites are not illegal. This is because neither of these manifestations of fan response cause the fans to make money. Vander Ark's Web site does not take from JK Rowling's ability to sell her books, but a book form of this Web site for profit is a different story. Rowling announced soon after the publication of Deathly Hallows that she intended to write her own encyclopedia about her world for fans, but that she wanted to do it right so she was not planning on releasing it right away. Personally, I don't think that this gives someone else a license to create a guide like Vander Ark's to her work.

Vander Ark's book is substantially copied material from the Harry Potter books, without sourcing in many cases. One witness in the case counted the book line by line and found that 90% of it is taken directly from the Harry Potter books. IF Vander Ark created a guide to Harry Potter that was in his own words and NOT blatently copied, that would be a different story. Rowling and Warner Bros. are asking him to amend his copy, not abandon the project altogether. I don't think that that is too much to ask. This is the difference between Vander Ark's book and fanfiction -- fanfiction is a creation of an individual author. What I write is completely my own, with the exception that I'm using characters and places and basic plot points from Harry Potter. I'm not making any money off of it, it's a form of fan expression that is legally okay.

One thing that is just terrible to me is that the media has been grating on Rowling for her attitude in this case.  Seriously?  Fair use can't apply here because Vander Ark would be making money.  My dad pointed that out to me, and he would know.  Jo gives to charity, she doesn't just squander her money, and she's provided Vander Ark with so many opportunities here ... and even if she HADN'T, it's still her creation!  This is a thought from John of PotterCast, but really, it's no wonder that the Harry Potter community has rejected Vander Ark in this case.  He's being completely disrespectful and creating a rift that doesn't have to be there.

All that said, there is hope, and that hope is in reconciliation.  The whole world is broken because we are driven by our selfish desires, and Steve Vander Ark is no different from any of us.  Let's not judge as we look at him, but pray for the hope of compromise and forgiveness.  The best road to healing is to recognize when you're doing something wrong.  That's my prayer for Steve.

Keep safe, keep faith.  :)