Essay for Week 14: Learning, Grading, and Schooling

I really liked this topic for the essay this week so I felt like saving it for the end of the semester in this class.  Having a mother, two aunts, an uncle, a set of grandparents, and a sister who are all teachers as well as having experience myself with tutoring and working in an after school program for several years, I have really been indoctrinated into the school system.  I absolutely love where we've come as a society in teaching and learning, yet I realize that there are many areas that we need to fix.  My background is in grade schooling (under 5th grade) so I will mainly be talking to that point.

For me, I believe that one of the biggest strengths that our school systems have is that our teachers have a great passion for instructing and guiding youth.  While I know there are always bad apples in the group, the majority of teachers I know absolutely love making an impact on their wards and pushing them to be their best.  Even when I was a kid back in first grade, one of my favorite teachers pushed me to strive for more.  I remember she would give me extra material to work on when I breezed through the regular material.  She made learning challenging yet exciting, and I actually got to work with her when I was older in high school.

 My absolute favorite comic series Calvin and Hobbes.  Web Source

However, the flip side to this is passionless teachers who are there acting almost like a babysitter.  For my school and several other public schools I know of, oftentimes sports coaches are put into certain teaching areas that they have no reason to be in.  While I know there are exceptions because I've had several, they care more about coaching than teaching.  Personally, I had a very weak background in history and social studies because our school filled in certain history positions with coaches who would be gone or more concerned with the upcoming games.  I know this can't be helped because its costs the already broke schools lots of money to have lots of teachers in different areas, but regardless the importance of equipping students with a strong education is great because although it is cliche children really are our future.

Week 14 Storytelling: Witchy Woman

Gruntilda finally had some peace and quiet since she moved away from the hubbub of the city, but all of that changed.  You see, Gruntilda was getting up in years, so she decided that it would be best for her health to move to the seclusion and fresh air of the forest.  She had saved her money over the years and used it to contract Wonka Sweets Construction to build the house of her dreams, a home completely made of candy that she had wanted since her youth.  The house was lovely:  wrought black licorice fence, graham cracker siding outlined with pure white icing, and peppermint shingles on the roof.

Candy House.  Web source

Gruntilda loved her new setup, it was everything a retired witch could want.  As she sat in her candy cane rocking chair reading over some old spells sipping her brew, a small noise made its way to Gruntilda's ears.  Nibble, nibble, nibble.   She tried to ignore the noise and continue reading but it wouldn't go away.  Nibble, nibble, nibble.  Too distracted to keep reading, Gruntilda looked high and low for the source.  Giving up, she went to return to her book when all of a sudden, the sugar glass window was smashed and the chocolate windowsill ripped off by two pudgy hands.

Rushing to the window, she found a fat little girl with chocolate smeared all over.  Another crash came from the peanut brittle porch and the roof was gone, and laying among the peanut wreckage was an obese little boy.  Gruntilda broke down and began to weep, her poor dream house had been wrecked by these two unhealthy children.  With anger in her old witch's heart, she spryly grabbed the two immobile children and threw them in her big cooking pot.  She grabbed some potatoes, carrots, celery, and made a nice child stew.

Author's Note:  For this storytelling, I retold the story of Hansel and Grethel from the witch's perspective and made her the protagonist.  I added back story and a reason for why she would be randomly in the middle of the woods.  I also made Hansel and Grethel chubby and inconsiderate because who would eat somebody's house instead of knocking on the door and asking for food.  I decided to end the story with the kids getting eaten, because why not?

Bibliography:  Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm by Margaret Hunt (1884). Web Source

Reading Diary Week 14: Brothers Grimm (Hunt)

Brothers Grimm (Hunt)

Hansel and Grethel- I always thought that Hansel and Grethel used breadcrumbs to find their way but I like this version.  If they were starving though why didn't they try to catch the animals in the woods since they said there were animals?  Also, Hansel's plan isn't brilliant because even if they do make it back then what?

Hansel and Grethel (cont.)- Why didn't Hansel just use the rock technique again?

Hansel and Grethel (cont. again)- So the witch built a house to lure children in the middle of the woods?  Are these woods teeming with children?  The characters in these stories aren't that bright.  I will say that Hansel is by far the brightest though.

Hansel and Grethel (end)- I liked the ending, it had a nice conclusion.  What does the last sentence mean though?  It reminds me of something Jesus might say to confuse people.

Thumbling- This is a pretty interesting story, it reminds me of Tom Thumb or whatever that story is; I bet that this was the original.

Thumbling (cont)- I feel like Thumbling is going to piss off a lot of people with his antics and get in trouble.

Thumbling (end)- I like how these Grimm stories come full circle.  It seemed with some of the other stories it would end up in weird places.

Allerleirauh- A very weird premise for a story, it reminds me of a creepier, incestuous version of Arabian Nights.

Allerleirauh (cont)- What would come from putting a ring inside the soup?

Allerleirauh (end)-  Why didn't Allerleirauh just say who she was?  I get playing hard to get but this was just weird, almost like she was forced into marriage.

Storytelling for Week 13: Naked and Afraid

Winter had hit our forest home in full force so my buddy, Choo Choo, and I had nowhere to stay.  You see, we are fairies and as everyone knows fairies live outside in the buff.  Normally, we live outside through the winter season because it is usually not cold in our neck of the woods.  We tried our best to find somewhere warm but to no avail.  Since we both had no clothes, we also decided it would not be a good idea to snuggle up for warmth.  We tried to find shelter at Mr. Squirrel's house, but his house was completely filled with nuts and he had no room for us.  We also tried Mr. Bear's house but he snored too loud while he was hibernating so we couldn't stay there.  After asking all of our woodland friends for help but getting none, we decided to head to the humans' town to find shelter. 

However, we had just as much luck among the townsfolk as we did among the forest creatures.  The big people’s dogs would scare us off or we couldn’t get into their houses since they were sealed up tight.  Finally as night hit its coldest point, we found an old, rundown cobbler’s home so we decided to camp out in there.  It was shabby compared to the other houses but we didn’t care, it was somewhere that was out of the cold.  We hid and slept during the day so we wouldn’t run into the humans that lived there, an old man and his wife.

One night as we woke up from our daytime sleep, we saw a small bit of leather set out for the cobbler to a pair of shoes.  At first we were going to steal the leather and make some clothes for ourselves, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough leather for two sets of clothes.  With so much free time on our hands, we decided to go ahead and just finish the old man’s shoes for him.

The next night, two sets of leather were laid out but we still didn’t have enough to steal, so we finished the shoes again.  The night after that, four sets of leather were laid out and we had enough, but deciding that the cobbler and his wife were almost as bad off as us, we decided not to steal their materials.

For weeks this continued on, Choo Choo and I would make shoes from the ever increasing amount of leather, and they would always have it cut out.  We decided it was time for us to move on so that night we made ready to snag some leather and hit the road, but luck would have it that we saw the old people watching us from behind a terrible hiding place so we couldn’t make our move.  We finished up the shoes and called it a night.  

The next night, the old people were at it again, watching us from their hiding spot but then we realized there was no leather for us to work with, but instead tiny suits all made of leather.  Now that we had our clothes, we made off back to our woodland home, warm and chaffed in our leather.

Jimmy Fallon as the Leatherman, WebSource

Author’s Note:  For this storytelling, I used The Elves from the Brothers Grimm unit.  I decided to tell the story from the perspective of the elves.  I was also watching old Jimmy Fallon highlights on SNL when I came across The Leatherman, so I used that as a base for my elf characters.  I also made the elves have a motive for making the shoes instead of them just showing up and finishing them.

Bibliography:  The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales by D.L. Ashliman (1998-2013). Web Source

Reading Diary Week 13: Brothers Grimm (Ashliman)

 Brothers Grimm Ashliman

Cat and Mouse in Partnership- I felt bad for the mouse but it was its own fault for trusting its natural predator.
The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids- I think I've read a version of this where its a witch who eats all the children save for one.  I am impressed the wolf could live after being cut open.
The Seven Ravens- WHHHHAAAAT??? The little girl nonchalantly cut off her own finger.  What's up with that?  The beginning is funny to me though because it is the exact opposite of a guy I know.  He was a 4 year starter for the Razorbacks and all he wanted was a boy but he ended up with 5 or 6 girls and he finally ended up with a boy.
Little Red Cap- I think I will finish up my storybook by telling this story from my narrator's perspective as the hunter.
The Singing Bone- An odd story but I liked it.  It reminded me of the story of Cain and Abel from the Bible, especially how the earth tells what transgressed between the two was mimicked by the bone of the brother in this one.
The Elves- I like reading these stories that I haven't heard since childhood.
Herr Korbes- What a weird story, all I could picture when I was reading this was the Wet Bandits from Home Alone.
Old Sultan- Another good story with interesting twists.  I am surprised that I have never heard it though.
Rumpelstiltskin- Its odd that the Miller's daughter seems fine marrying the king even though he threatened to kill her multiple times if she did not do an impossible task each time, it seems like she developed Stockholm Syndrome.  I also don't remember the ending being so violent where Rumpelstiltskin rips himself in half.

Week 12 Essay: Beowulf Reading Assessment

 First Page of Beowulf.  Source

Looking back at everything I have read up to this point, I must say that the Beowulf has been my favorite unit to read so far, even more than Hiawatha which was my favorite up to this point.  I honestly can say that I enjoyed every part of the epic, from the exposition to the conclusion.  I thought that it began strongly, showing Beowulf as a gifted youth who wanted to test his limits.  The background was good as well; it gave enough information to immerse the reader in the world but not enough to bore with pointless information.  This reading fits into my plan to add a new story between my first and second storybook entries.  The character of Wiglaf and the dynamics between him and Beowulf can work out for my storytelling for a transition between my stories, which I felt were too spaced.  The main things that surprised me were Beowulf's age and the story involving the dragon.  After that abomination of a CG Beowulf movie, I just assumed that it followed closely and Beowulf was an older man when all of the story occurs instead of a very young man.  I also didn't think there would be a dragon in the telling of Beowulf, but I thought it was a nice part.  In regards to the story itself, I thought everything worked very well.  The descriptions were phenomenal, when I was reading the unit I could imagine what was occurring with ease.  It reminded me a lot of a game I used to play on Xbox, The Elder Scrolls, Skyrim, which had a lot of similar story telling methods and similar backgrounds and themes.  I was slightly surprised that this was a English story though, I always just assumed that Beowulf was a Scandinavian tale instead.

Beowulf

Storytelling for Week 12: Fighting the Dragon

And so we waited anxiously outside the terrible creature's den, peering through the dark at the terrible dragon's den.  Our leader, Beowulf, a man who's stature, bravery, and fury rivaled that of the beast, drew us near.

"I am at the end of the years and wish to test my mettle one last time.  Help me if I fall, but leave this dragon to me," he fearlessly said.

I stood at the edge of the soon to be battlefield, waiting to see what would come of this meeting of titans.  Beowulf roared out into the night, issuing a challenge to the beast that lurked in the dark of its cave.  Out of fear, our comrades fled, leaving only myself to stand guard in case our leader was bested.  The night was silent as we waited for the challenge to be met, all sounds muffled by the freshly fallen snow and no sounds came from the sleeping woods.

While our Beowulf's roar cut through the quiet, the response that came rumbled the ground, shaking everything near to its core.  From its den, a monstrous black dragon sprung from its hiding, its eyes flashing green and flames seeping from its maw.  The dragon quickly spewed flames at its combatant, who rolled to safety albeit being slightly singed.  To avoid getting cooked from afar, our leader rushed in close and worked the dragon's body over with slashes from his sword, only to find nothing could pierce its black carapace.  Realizing that he could not overpower the beast, Beowulf darted around the massive body of the slower combatant, hoping to find a vital spot unprotected by those impenetrable scales. 

Black Dragon.  Web Source

This kept up for what seemed like forever, neither opponent giving an inch or taking one.  However, Beowulf's age had begun to show.  His breath became ragged and his arms weighed down by fatigue.  As it seemed like the momentum had shifted in the dragon's favor, I took my queue and entered the fray with a yell.  As Beowulf turned, glad to see me join in battle, the dragon used his distraction and smashed him with his large tail.  Rage welled up inside me to see such a fell blow on my comrade.  With a surge of inhuman strength and speed I rushed to the dragon and drove my sword through his eye deep into his head, killing the beast instantly.

I rushed to where Beowulf was flung and held his dying body in my hands.  He looked at me and smiled, his eyes slowly glazing over.

"I leave this all in good hands," he said in his final breath, his soul leaving this earthly plane.  And with that, the great warrior Beowulf was no more.

Author's Note: For this storytelling, I used parts of Battle with the Dragon and The End of Beowulf from the Beowulf Unit.  I told this story from the perspective of Wiglaf, Beowulf's favorite earl.  I left everything other than Beowulf unnamed because I plan on further adapting this for my storybook so I figured I would knock out two birds with one stone here.  The story starts with Beowulf and company hunting down a dragon who rampaged on their village, burning down buildings.  For the most part I left the bulk of my version the same as the original.  Where things change is when Wiglaf joins the battle.  Originally, the two fight against the dragon until Beowulf is struck and Wiglaf finishes off the dragon.  I wanted to add a bit more depth so Wiglaf was partially responsible for Beowulf's death.   There is also a drawn out conversation between Beowulf and Wiglaf but I decided to cut that out.

Bibliography: The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs (1933).  Web Source: Beowulf

Reading Diary Week 12: Beowulf

King Hygelac of Geatsland-  A great exposition that does a good job setting up the location and background that Beowulf will come into.
The Young Beowulf-  I like how Beowulf is developed in this section, he has great strength yet is clumsy, he has great potential yet nothing to prove himself with.  I also like the descriptive words used in this unit.  "[Beowulf  was] scornful of the earls about him and their big talk of little battles," was a great way to end.
The Wanderer's Song- That's interesting that Grendel is part man, animal, and bird.  I guess I hadn't ever really thought what it might be.  I wonder why the author describes everything as being blue, I get that Scandinavians generally are blue-eyed but he keeps describing them as such.
Beowulf's Resolve- I guess I never thought that Beowulf might be young when he fight Grendel, I always thought Beowulf was some older warrior and not just a young man.
Beowulf's Journey- I really enjoy this unit so far, it reminds me a lot of Hiawatha.
Beowulf Lands in Daneland- Guardian of the Beach is an odd position to have, does he serve almost like a lighthouse keeper or something?
Beowulf Comes to Heorot- Is Hrothgar a common name for Scandinavian characters?  I can think of several different characters that all share that name.
The Words of Unferth- It's interesting that Unferth is described as having black hair when most characters are described as blonde, I wonder if that is representative of something.
The Words of Beowulf*- I like how Beowulf is not only a hero with great strength and valor, but also wiser and smarter than those of his age.
Grendel Attacks- A very interesting section, I didn't know Grendel was capable of magic, I just assumed he was some monstrous creature that Beowulf battles.
The Battle with Grendel-  This section reminds me a lot of the Ogre of Rashoman, I was thinking about adapting this part for the storybook but I'll probably just take a couple elements from it.
A New Misfortune- I like how they set up that there is something worse than Grendel, and I am surprised that Unferth is incapable of defeating Grendel even though he has a magic sword.
Seeking Grendel's Mother- This section reminds me of the the typical journey a hero takes to the underworld, but what unnerves me is that he can hold his breath for so long.
Beowulf Battles Grendel's Mother- This section reminded me more of Greek mythology such as Perseus fighting Medusa than something of English origin.
Beowulf's Triumph- A very good conclusion to this part of Beowulf, I liked how Unferth no longer was brooding.
The Arrival of the Dragon- A very interesting section, I never knew that Beowulf contained a dragon.  I also like how they have Beowulf age as someone who still wishes to be challenged.
Preparing for Battle- I think I might tell one of my storybook sections about this section with the dragon, I was wondering what type of monster would be good to include and I think that a dragon would round out my stories pretty well.
Battle with the Dragon- I had to look up how long an ell was and the dragon would have been around 30 feet long. 
The End of Beowulf- A fitting end to this section, everything was well paced and I was not mad that he died at the end due to not having help from the cowardly earls.  I for sure decided to tell my 3rd storybook entry over this section.