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Closing Statement.

Throughout this semester I have looked into the fact that Chick Lit is out there.  It is not only out there for only ‘chicks’ but it is out there for the every day average Jane Doe to read.  And Jane Doe can be any age too.

There have been all kinds of gossip going on about how Chick Lit is worthless, is skanky, is overall just trashy.  But not all of Chick Lit is trashy. One must pick and choose their titles carefully or one will end up with a raunchy Harlequin smut book. 

Chick Lit is popular–according to sales statistics from popular book chains–so obviously these pieces aren’t as negative as they may come off as.  I believe they engage the readers (mainly if not all females) and promote more reading when sequals and trilogies become available, or even when the book starts a series.   Chick lit is what it is.  And it is definitely here to stay….

 About the RSS Notebook….

     I already had a blog of my own but I never really did any research or writings on particular articles I had found.  So this blog was definitely a change from my every day ramblings. 

I had never used Google reader or any other type of aggregator tool.  Therefore starting out I felt kind of in the dark on what to do, where to begin.  But as I delved into it more, and messed around with searches I became more aware of all of the possibilities that came with Google Reader and I definitely liked what I found.  I now use it to keep up to date with my news paper back at home, my own blog as well as the gvsu blogs on livejournal.com, and a favorite webiste of mine called postsecret.com. 

As for using it in my own classroom?  I think it would be a great idea to have my students  use a blog for book reports and use RSS Feeds to find other information out there that was related to their book.  As long as my school has money for computers and also has some internet access—I definitely will include a blog in my classroom. 

Bright Ideas!

Waking up at 5:30 was tough. My earliest class is at 10am, therefore getting up to go to this conference was a chore! But I’m very glad I went!

Jacqueline Woodson was very inspiring. I loved the sound of her voice, the way in which she read her pieces, and her style. I have never really heard much about her other than a few award here and there. Since listening to her keynote address–I want to purchase a couple of her books for my future classroom library!

Ms. Woodsen explained how important it was to have your own voice in your work, and your own voice in the world. Her voice was clearly heard in the pieces she shared with the group that morning. She also claimed that everybody has a story and that each person has a right to tell their story. How you tell it is your choice. She chose to write about it.

I love how she hates the word “but” when sharing your thoughts on others’ work. Ex. I like your story BUT…. Instead she wants people to use “and” in place of ‘but’. THis will put a more positive spin on critiques and will not take away from all of the writer’s positive qualities.

Overall I really enjoyed Ms. Woodsen and would love to hear her speak again.

My first breakout session was tittled: Using Art in an English Language Arts Course

I got a lot of idea on how to integrate art and creativity into my English lessons. We are to use art as an ‘album of evidence of what is learned’ by your lesson and to ‘use art to see what they know and understand’. Something as simple as looking at book covers can be added to your lesson to has an art aspect. Some kids learn better through art according to Gardner so why not include it in your everyday lessons? There were two awesome lesson plan ideas from this breakout session that I plan on including in my pedagogy project.

My second breakout session was titled: Acing the Interview: What Principals Say They Value.

The best part of this breakout session was the role playing situation where we broke into smaller groups (of 8-10) and did an interview simulation with REAL questions that principals from 6 different [local] schools say they have and will ask during an interview. A lot of this information I have already received from the career center on campus…but it was nice to know what principals are looking for in regards to dress, portfolios, thank you’s, and advise in general.

Overall I think this conference was very beneficial to my professional development as a future teacher.

Teen Chick Lit: Who is turning the pages and why?

I remember being a gawky late elementary, early middle school student. My pre-teens and early teens were some of the weirdest times of my life. I was changing physically and emotionally. I wanted to try to fit in with a select group of people and because of this I changed the way I dressed, the way I did my hair, the way I talked, what I watched on T.V., what kind of music I listened to, and the list goes on and on and on. But one thing that didn’t change for me is what I was reading while growing up. I specifically remember reading tons and tons of “The Babysitter’s Club” books and also an assortment of “Sweet Valley High” series books. There was a “Making Out Series” by Katherine Applegate and also a “Fearless” series by Francine Pascal that I couldn’t stop reading. These books are places n the Chick Lit genre. Why was I so interested in these series of books? What made them so interesting and enjoyable that I couldn’t put them down? I searched my Google Reader in hopes of finding some answers to my questions.

According to Dana Yates who writes in the Daily Journal: San Mateo County’s Homepage:

“There is also a new proliferation of chick lit, a genre that gives this generation their own version of Nancy Drew, Baby Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High. The new generation of teen chick lit has the same salacious plot lines with a definite older vibe, which caters to today’s fast growing teens. It’s Judy Blume to a higher level. The stories are compared to a toned down Sex and the City or Paris Hilton escapades.”

Yates also interviewed Jennifer Laughran, a buyer for Burlingame Books Inc., who claims that she has

“stopped short of calling them [the new books] trashy”

when she acknowledges that she read the same kind of books when she was that age.

“I wouldn’t be as big a reader today if it weren’t for those books. There’s nothing wrong with them. It teachers them that reading doesn’t have to be hard. It can be fun,” Laughran said.

This I thought was a great ending article to heave read. It sums up how chick lit can be about some questionable topics and is often seen as trashy. But even with it’s negative drawbacks, Chick Lit is here to stay and is seen as a positive genre considering it engages it’s readers (promotes reading) and is also seen as enjoyable, fun, and not a text book, which I’m sure many enjoy.

Teen lit enters ‘golden age By Dana Yates

Daily Journal: San Mateo County’s Homepage

Full Article