Sunday, September 23, 2007
Summing it all up...
Our fellowship took us many places we never dreamed of. Kim is now an avid blogger, Brian has grown to love Irish literature in new ways, and I have learned how to do a great deal with the media tools at my disposal. But even more than these small things, our fellowship showed us that people are people. We all have the same hopes, fears, wants and desires. The wonderful people we met in Ireland, Dana, Stephanie, Katrina, Lynn, and Megan (those infamus Dublin Girls); Jayo and his mates (yes, they did make it to the rave to which they were headed); Ian Steppe, the former headmaster-head coach of the Irish football team-all around Irish man; Justin Colvin, the bartender with an interesting story and interesting tattoos; Gerard Donavan, who was once the Artist-in-residence at Arkansas State U and stated that he'd been to Tulsa multiple times(mostly to experience the nightlife); Our Arctic Monkey comrades who did us a favor of talking for what seemed like hours about the differences between America and Ireland and the state of education, healthcare, and roadtrips (Fioan, that invite still holds true if you decide to tour route 66!): These are all of the things that made our fellowship worth the many days of 4 adults living in 1 small room, multiple travel delays, countless fish and chips (some good, some very bad--it was Beshoff's), and sometimes not being the best of companions. Through it all, we understand that the places we go, the people we meet, the things we do, all teach us what is it to be human. We are enriched as people because we know where we've been, and despite all of the stress of travel, we are still companions and we look for a brighter future.
now the work begins...[Bea posting for Brian]
The most exciting part of our entire Ireland adventure starts now. Now that we are back in session, we are able to share our travel experience with our students.
We have worked hard on designing lesson plans that bring the Irish experience to our landlocked kiddos. Our vertical team of English I, II, III and IV allows us to create a strand of projects, assessments, literary selections and videos that help a student build a well rounded awareness of cultural differences and similarities
Although our motivation for seeking this grant began as a literary pilgrimage, it became much more a method of forging connections between our teenagers and the young people we met abroad. The cards we passed out in Ireland have prompted so many emails and blogs that many of our students are now considering a pen pal program. What a fantastic way to open cross cultural connections.
In English I, Mrs. Piper will facilitate virtual field trips based on our experience. Her students will scrutinize our trip and learn how they may replicate our amazing experience. They will plan a budget, use travel guides and websites to figure out what attractions would most interest them, learn how to speak with travel agents and officials, work their way through a (mock) passport system, design an itinerary, figure out how to blog and photograph, scrapbook and film their trip so that they may record it for posterity.
In addition to a cool virtual field trip, Mrs. Piper’s student will also be introduced to Irish fiction via the novel, Dracula. She is planning on using our footage and souvenirs from both the Brahm Stoker museum and the Dracula museum to make the novel come to life (pun intended).
The Dracula novels will then be revisited as students travel from freshman year all the way through senior year. Each year they will use the novel to a different end. Dracula will fall victim to rhetorical analysis and countless papers on symbolism and author’s purpose. By the end of their senior year, students will truly understand that it takes a lot to kill Dracula
In sophomore and Junior English, I plan on walking students through a unit on how place and setting impact plot and character development... We will investigate the impact of Irish tradition on American authors of Irish heritage. We will seek to understand how living on The Emerald Isle would create a culture of sarcasm, wit and rugged individualism and why Irish culture in America has been the sustained with such fierce intensity. We will work on drawing parallels between Irish and American writers and how the struggles of humanity and the human condition are dramatically similar. It is my belief that the students will reach a greater understanding of the idea of how literature, or any other art form for that matter, helps us cope with human life under any conditions and teaches us the lessons of humanity.
This literary saga will culminate with the senior year. Mrs. Hoxie’s senior curriculum focuses on the British literary tradition. She will now be able to add an amazing new dimension to her course. Her students will trace the development of the English language and the linguistic impact of the Gaels on that development. Oscar Wilde and James Joyce will be regular visitors in her classroom as students turn their focus from simply the ingredients of Irish literature to the techniques of Irish writers. The complicated syntax of Joyce will serve as a fantastic vehicle for rhetorical analysis. Oscar Wilde’s wit and sarcasm will be evaluated for both its relevance and contribution to author’s purpose.
We will keep our cyberspace folks posted on our success and failures, and we would love to have any ideas and suggestions to extend our lessons!
We have worked hard on designing lesson plans that bring the Irish experience to our landlocked kiddos. Our vertical team of English I, II, III and IV allows us to create a strand of projects, assessments, literary selections and videos that help a student build a well rounded awareness of cultural differences and similarities
Although our motivation for seeking this grant began as a literary pilgrimage, it became much more a method of forging connections between our teenagers and the young people we met abroad. The cards we passed out in Ireland have prompted so many emails and blogs that many of our students are now considering a pen pal program. What a fantastic way to open cross cultural connections.
In English I, Mrs. Piper will facilitate virtual field trips based on our experience. Her students will scrutinize our trip and learn how they may replicate our amazing experience. They will plan a budget, use travel guides and websites to figure out what attractions would most interest them, learn how to speak with travel agents and officials, work their way through a (mock) passport system, design an itinerary, figure out how to blog and photograph, scrapbook and film their trip so that they may record it for posterity.
In addition to a cool virtual field trip, Mrs. Piper’s student will also be introduced to Irish fiction via the novel, Dracula. She is planning on using our footage and souvenirs from both the Brahm Stoker museum and the Dracula museum to make the novel come to life (pun intended).
The Dracula novels will then be revisited as students travel from freshman year all the way through senior year. Each year they will use the novel to a different end. Dracula will fall victim to rhetorical analysis and countless papers on symbolism and author’s purpose. By the end of their senior year, students will truly understand that it takes a lot to kill Dracula
In sophomore and Junior English, I plan on walking students through a unit on how place and setting impact plot and character development... We will investigate the impact of Irish tradition on American authors of Irish heritage. We will seek to understand how living on The Emerald Isle would create a culture of sarcasm, wit and rugged individualism and why Irish culture in America has been the sustained with such fierce intensity. We will work on drawing parallels between Irish and American writers and how the struggles of humanity and the human condition are dramatically similar. It is my belief that the students will reach a greater understanding of the idea of how literature, or any other art form for that matter, helps us cope with human life under any conditions and teaches us the lessons of humanity.
This literary saga will culminate with the senior year. Mrs. Hoxie’s senior curriculum focuses on the British literary tradition. She will now be able to add an amazing new dimension to her course. Her students will trace the development of the English language and the linguistic impact of the Gaels on that development. Oscar Wilde and James Joyce will be regular visitors in her classroom as students turn their focus from simply the ingredients of Irish literature to the techniques of Irish writers. The complicated syntax of Joyce will serve as a fantastic vehicle for rhetorical analysis. Oscar Wilde’s wit and sarcasm will be evaluated for both its relevance and contribution to author’s purpose.
We will keep our cyberspace folks posted on our success and failures, and we would love to have any ideas and suggestions to extend our lessons!
Lessons from Ireland: [Bea posting for Brian]
Theory: When Irish eyes are smiling, it is usually because they are seeing double!
Lessons from Ireland:
I have learned that the Irish are a fun loving people. By fun loving, I mean that these folks worship fun like a golden calf. They are willing to sacrifice innocent tourist on the alter of celebration whenever possible. The Irish take their fun seriously!!!
This prompted several hypotheses on why the Irish win the World Cup in fun.
Hypothesis #1 The Claustrophobia of living on an island drives them to drink.
Compared to the wide open plains of my beloved Texas and my adopted Oklahoma, the Emerald Isle is tiny. The hills and quaint rock walls are bound to begin to close in on you. The ensuing irritation at constant confinement would force any teetotaler into a nearby pub for a black and tan.
Hypothesis #2 Anger Issues
I must confess, they don’t call them The Fighting Irish for nothin’! Dubliners will argue about anything. At first I thought their intensity and exaggeration were simply the result of a case of large island envy and a cranky disposition, but then I realized that these folks have a general need to take all human emotions to an elevated level. I mean this with the most sincere respect, reverence and awe, but anger and irritation are true art forms here. The Irish work in sarcasm and biting wit the way Michelangelo worked in marble. It is truly a joy to behold.
This intense tournament of emotion and snap judgments would force anyone off the wagon and into a pub for a pint of Guinness
Hypothesis # 3 The Savage Beauty of Psychosis
Before traveling abroad to Ireland, I honestly thought that no group in the world embraced eccentricity the way that Texans do. I was wrong. The Irish don’t hide their crazy. They have state funded parades to honor crazy. They bring out their crazy, show it off and walk it around. They share their crazy with their friends and relatives and invite it over for dinner as often as possible. We see crazy at 3 O’clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday. We see crazy in the streets. We see crazy in shopping centers and we certainly see crazy in the pubs. I feel so at home here.
Insanity has always produced artists. I should have realized with such a rich literary tradition the Irish would be off the charts.
This festival of the fantastic is enough to force Betty Ford into a pub for a swig of Irish whiskey
Just an observation!
Lessons from Ireland:
I have learned that the Irish are a fun loving people. By fun loving, I mean that these folks worship fun like a golden calf. They are willing to sacrifice innocent tourist on the alter of celebration whenever possible. The Irish take their fun seriously!!!
This prompted several hypotheses on why the Irish win the World Cup in fun.
Hypothesis #1 The Claustrophobia of living on an island drives them to drink.
Compared to the wide open plains of my beloved Texas and my adopted Oklahoma, the Emerald Isle is tiny. The hills and quaint rock walls are bound to begin to close in on you. The ensuing irritation at constant confinement would force any teetotaler into a nearby pub for a black and tan.
Hypothesis #2 Anger Issues
I must confess, they don’t call them The Fighting Irish for nothin’! Dubliners will argue about anything. At first I thought their intensity and exaggeration were simply the result of a case of large island envy and a cranky disposition, but then I realized that these folks have a general need to take all human emotions to an elevated level. I mean this with the most sincere respect, reverence and awe, but anger and irritation are true art forms here. The Irish work in sarcasm and biting wit the way Michelangelo worked in marble. It is truly a joy to behold.
This intense tournament of emotion and snap judgments would force anyone off the wagon and into a pub for a pint of Guinness
Hypothesis # 3 The Savage Beauty of Psychosis
Before traveling abroad to Ireland, I honestly thought that no group in the world embraced eccentricity the way that Texans do. I was wrong. The Irish don’t hide their crazy. They have state funded parades to honor crazy. They bring out their crazy, show it off and walk it around. They share their crazy with their friends and relatives and invite it over for dinner as often as possible. We see crazy at 3 O’clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday. We see crazy in the streets. We see crazy in shopping centers and we certainly see crazy in the pubs. I feel so at home here.
Insanity has always produced artists. I should have realized with such a rich literary tradition the Irish would be off the charts.
This festival of the fantastic is enough to force Betty Ford into a pub for a swig of Irish whiskey
Just an observation!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
Taking the Journey a Little Farther
(Note: This blog is an example of a researched virtual field trip in the form of narrative writing. Once school begins and you (our students) begin to hopefully interact with all the wonderful people Mr. Grimm, Mrs. Hoxie, Mr. Hoxie and I have met while traveling in Ireland, New Orleans, Mississippi, and Belize (as well as other fabulous places!), you will set up your personal blogs the same way by discussing a topic in your blog (it doesn't have to be travel--it could be a current event or personal interest), and embedding quality informative sites in your text. It is my goal that each of you complete at least two virtual field trip blogs this semester. I will give you further instructions once the project begins. I can't wait for us to get started. It is going to be so much fun! Mrs. P)
Hello Everyone!
It is the 3rd of August, and (believe it or not!) our school is just about to start. This summer has gone by so fast. I have had so many amazing travel experiences this summer that I can't help but feel blessed. As you know, I (along with Brian, Bea, and Craig) started this summer by going to Ireland in June on a Fund for Teachers Grant. Since then, I have been many places in between. This past Sunday, I returned from my latest adventure--Ambergris Caye in San Pedro, Belize.
Ambergris Caye is such a quaint place with the most enchanting blue water I've ever seen! My husband and I went with my brother-in-law, Jim, and his wife, Carrie. We had a great time enjoying all the water activities, zipping about town in our golf cart, and eating delicious fresh seafood each night, and (of course!) we met many wonderful people (more about these folks a little later).
We stayed at the beautiful Xanadu Resort which gets its name from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, Kubla Khan--a poem that extols the virtues of a mythical paradise. However, many believe that Coleridge was simply retelling a vivid opium hallucination. Xanadu's beach front property, no matter how unbelievably beautiful, was most definitely a real paradise! The two-bedroom starfish suite #12 that we stayed in was artfully decorated and surrounded by a wall of curved windows that looked toward the ocean. Additionally, the staff at Xanadu was amazing! Stacey, the property manager, was so friendly and helpful. She met our every need before and during our stay. She was extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of the island and arranged every snorkeling adventure for us. Likewise, Martin, Robert, John, and the rest of the staff almost became like family during our week-long stay.
Each day we did something adventuresome. The first day we set sail on the No Rush sailing, snorkeling, and fishing excursion with another family (The Coopers--Joe, Jill, Grant, and Russell) hosted by Captain Stephen and his two shipmates, Travis and Ernest. This particular day stands out as a spot of time for me. This was truly one of the most fun days of my life! Even though it rained hard off and on during the day, Stephen, Travis, and Ernest along with Stephen's sister, Jose (pronounced "Josie"), and nephew, Cade, showed us a great time! Stephen took us on a guided snorkeling adventure where he found two inhabited conch shells. When we got back to the boat, Stephen demonstrated how to clean them and Travis whipped us up some fresh conch ceviche' that was absolutely delicious!
While the Cooper boys attempted to catch our lunch, Ernest took off in a smaller boat to try and catch something big enough to satisfy our growing hunger. In just a short while Ernest (our hero!) returned with a 4 1/2 foot Barracuda he had caught that was ready to be sliced and diced and barbecued once we docked on the other side of the island. Once there, Jose and Cade set about collecting sea grapes, a tart and tangy tropical grape that grows wild all over the island, while Stephen, Travis, and Ernest cooked up a very tasty garifuna style fish barbeque with roasted potatoes and tortillas. For dessert, Stephen collected fresh coconuts and demonstrated how to crack them open for their sweet milk/water and flesh. All in all, it was one of the most unique meals I'd ever experienced.
[Special Note: This Virtual Field Trip Narrative is still a work in progress. ]
http://kimpiper.myphotoalbum.com/
Monday, July 9, 2007
Still Figuring Out Technology
Okay---I'm having trouble figuring out all this technology stuff yet again! I am trying to set up up a group on FACEBOOK where students past, present, and future can blog with other students around the world. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the link set up. For now, you can search "Kim Piper" and there will be a picture of me that you can click on (I think???!!!) that will take you to my facebook. If not, I'll have my son, Quinn, help me figure it out. However, that will be sometime next week because all of us that support this blog (me, Bri, and the Hoxie's) are all traveling to the High Schools That Work conference in New Orleans, LA tomorrow (plus about 10 other wonderful WRHS teachers and administrators!). I love this national conference! I always get such great teaching ideas!
So, if you are unsuccessful linking to the facebook, check back next week for further instructions plus great pics of the conference!
Talk with you soon~
Kim :0)
So, if you are unsuccessful linking to the facebook, check back next week for further instructions plus great pics of the conference!
Talk with you soon~
Kim :0)
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