So I have to be honest, this chapter really makes me want to take up drawing. Pink’s first self portrait definitely resembles the type of art that I create. His second attempt was absolutely incredible. Pink’s experience also proved that the teacher matters! He was very affective at teaching about the right side of the brain, and obviously helped Pink to tune his left side out! Although I am severely more right brained than left, I think it would be really interesting to undergo a class like the one Bomeisler taught and see if I too can forget everything I knew from before and focus more on the big picture.
As a side note, I saw the FedEx logo about a hundred times in the past week! It was fun asking people around me what they thought about the logo. One of my friends and I got into a conversation about the creation and meaning behind logos. She told me of a time in a college marketing class where she had to describe stores and companies as people. For example, what kind of car would Walmart Drive? The common opinion was an old station wagon with the wood paneling. What would Target drive? A new Volkswagon bug. I know it’s a little off topic but I thought it was funny.
When reading about Metaphor Makers, I thought of my students. Teaching my fifth graders to use descriptive language has been so difficult. Now I wonder if those students just haven’t been R-directed enough, or if they just weren’t developmentally ready to understand, recognize, and create metaphors in their writing and speaking.
Lastly, I loved reading about The Boundary Crosser. My favorite part was about giving blended solutions instead of either/or outcomes. I was definitely that kid to always ask, “why not?” My parents didn’t enjoy that so much, but after reading the chapter on Symphony I don’t feel so bad!
6 comments:
Interesting thoughts on whether your 5th graders were r-directed enough or just not developementally ready for metaphors.
You could use your example with your 5th graders... ask them something more relevant to them than "what kind of car would Walmart drive" (just cuz that might be over their head... then again it might not be) and see what happens. Perhaps, what kind of car would certain characters in the reading passage drive and then jump off of that choice (that metaphor) to describe him or her and write with creative language... just an idea =)
Or have them sketch pictures of what characters in a story without pictures might look like!
I really like the idea you and your colleague discussed. i'll pass that on to the language arts teacher in the building. I too was the child who wanted to know "Why Not?" As an adult that question constantly burns inside my brain when I'm listening to other people give explanantion or tell me why something can't work.
All very helpful ideas, thank you! I was not expecting my students to tell what kind of car Walmart drove-- it was difficult enough for my friend's college class to do :) Even the simple concept of it (similes, metaphors, etc.) was difficult for them. But it would be neat to see if they could get the concept by giving them the task to draw a picture or describe a car of a character, without actually telling them that the task has a name.
okay very confusing...when I use my boyfriend's computer it says that I am "Matt". That last post was from me, Erica!!!
Post a Comment