No Participation = Zero Points (Right?)

Okay, you may think I'm crazy for thinking this, but I believe a student should receive no credit for an assignment that they choose not to complete or submit to their teacher when required. Now that just may seem incredibly ludicrous to you, but this is what seems ludicrous to me:

Many teachers, professors and educators are now choosing to give their students an "incomplete" when the student decides not to submit their assignments. So instead of the student receiving no credit for the assignment - and the punishment that becomes their grade - the student is instead given no grade whatsoever for the incomplete assignment, which in turn would not cause their grade to increase or decrease, which to me reflects no punishment for what was left undone!

In my opinion this is not the most effective idea, because a student can then choose to not submit an assignment, KNOWING full-well that they really will not be punished. Well, again in my opinion, even if this becomes a practiced idea in most classrooms, I will simply choose as an educator to not follow that new "practiced idea." I mean, come on! There are still teachers out there who use extra credit as an option in their classroom, while most teachers state that they do not "believe" in using extra credit in their classroom. *laughs,* so I will simply tell my students that I do not "believe" in not giving an actual grade.

Okay, so that's my rant on this subject.

“Yo Yo Yo,” said Charlie McCarthy!

I guarantee someone out there is twitching their eyebrow at that title. I know mine is (with laughter).

There are certain things that friends learn about from a growing friend, and one of those things that my friends learn early on about me is my love for ventriloquism. Charlie McCarthy is an incredibly famous dummy and character from I believe the ‘50s, and I just love his character. I will admit that I have begun shopping for Charlies online and have been successful (but without the financial means to buy him yet. Oh shucks) Oh, and please note that that previous sentence does not say my TALENT for ventriloquism; I have not yet had the opportunity to pick up a dummy and begin practicing with it, so I am literally physically clueless about how to begin. However, I do enjoy seeing ventriloquist shows and grow incredibly fascinated with their talents.

I was randomly thinking about the research I had done about whether or not rap lyrics would be an effective tool in the classroom and whether or not it led to a good form of pedagogy. So of course I began expanding my thoughts and tried to think of other random tools that could be used in the classroom. I’m sure you understand where this is going. I cannot BEGIN to explain how my mind jumped from rap lyrics to ventriloquism – it’s probably in some rare category of psychology that I have not yet explored – but nonetheless, my mind got there. How crazy, funny and effective could it be to become a practiced ventriloquist and bring the dummy into the classroom, provided that I knew no one was struck with the crazy I’m-scared-of-clowns-and-any-other-form-of-dummy syndrome and that the dummy somehow tied in with what I was teaching?

Some wacky part of me that loves to take these types of risk and step out onto an outside boundary where anything can happen and a new side of an individual can be touched really believes that this use of a dummy could be highly effective. For example, I know that if one of my teachers had chosen to bring in a dummy and was effective with their ventriloquism, I would have been the most attentive student that day because of my love for ventriloquism. But what if the jokes were effective, the costume of the dummy fitting, its personality formal to the topic we were portraying and it somehow all just fell into sync? To come up with a crazy example, what if I dressed a dummy up in the clothing that was appropriate for the Shakespeare time period and began quoting different passages that represented (for example) soliloquies and asides, and the students would have to know what was being portrayed beyond the laughs?

I know it’s a really random idea, but I may very well try pursuing it at some point. We’ll all just have to wait and see. Just don’t be surprised if you see me with a rugged suitcase at some point and hear a voice coming out (since I’d have to learn to throw my voice at some point, you know).

Who Said All Unicorns Were White?

*gasp* I know someone out there probably just did that when they read that title. Part of me, honestly, is gasping inside, too, since I talked to a very good friend of mine and found that this metaphor is technically impractical. Now that I’ve talked to him about it, I found that unicorns are portrayed as white for their purity, and their blood is silver so that they are not overly stained if they were to be injured or something. However, if a unicorn were to do something impure, then they would “evolve” into a horse, more than likely a black horse.

Now, my point (before hearing all this) was that, despite what people may do, they have something good in them. No person is actually bad, only their actions. And whoever said that unicorns have to be white? There are certain stereotypes that follow us around from day one, and it seems that the image of white unicorns is one of them. My metaphor was that each person is alike in some way – we could all be unicorns – but that does not mean that we are all white. Despite the impracticality, hopefully you’re following me.

However, now that I have learned the meaning behind white unicorns, I have another spin to the metaphor. There is a reason why you don’t see white unicorns wandering around; no one is perfect, and everyone is going to have a moment of failure. However, though we may all be black horses, that offers still no reason as to why we should not all be loved and accepted as the same. Though I am only in my second semester’s worth of classes while pursuing my education degree, I am practicing this early. I know that I will have students in the future with faltered pasts and mistakes; they may even have some problems in my classrooms. However, I will remember this metaphor and love them just as much for the mistakes they made that turned them into black horses as I would love them if they were still white unicorns.

I know, it’s a tangent and a stretch, but hopefully you understand.

Carve An Apple Upon My Desktop.

Okay, I know that I am absolutely obsessed with metaphors. However, I came up with a rather interesting concept today. Often the clichéd idea is brought forward of a student, especially in their early years, to take an apple – or an item portraying an apple – to their present teacher as a symbol of courtesy or appreciation. However, as a teacher, it is obvious that there at times could be very little reward coming from students in the form of them directly thanking their teachers or offering them free gifts. But there are subtleties that some overlook because of their quiet appearance: the soft smile of appreciation, the student’s satisfaction at finally understanding what the teacher had wanted all along, so on and so forth.

So. . .what if the teacher created the apple for themselves? Yes, you read that correctly, what if the teacher created their own apple? I mean this quite realistically and metaphorically at the same time. A teacher cannot create an actual apple from nothing; they would at least need a tree! However, metaphorically, a teacher could create an apple. I am seriously half-tempted to carve an apple into my desk (the desk provided by myself of course); and each time I noticed a courtesy or one of those subtle thank-yous and wonderful memories that students may not even realize they are offering, I would use the stereotypical color of bright red and place one dot of marker inside that apple.

I know that probably sounds like a very strange idea, but there’s probably someone out there who thought of that before me, and who knows! maybe they put it into practice, too.

I just have to believe that so many small dots inside an apple carved permanently into the desk that a teacher would use every day would be enough to start any teacher’s day off right.

And right off the bat: Thank you to all the teachers who have taught me the things that have formed me into who I am and all the teachers that will come into my future. And thank you to all the students who will place one more red dot inside that apple carved upon my desktop.
~McKenzie Lynn Sanders

"No More, No Less"

"No More, No Less"
© MercyMe, 2007
http://www.azlyrics.com

I'm not trying to hide anything;
I wear it on my sleeve,
I wear it on my sleeve.
I'm not trying to be something I'm not;
this is all I've got,
this is all I've got.

I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel,
just trying to be real,
trying to be real.
I'm not trying to say follow me;
I'm not the one who leads,
I'm not the one who leads.

Let me introduce myself to you;
this is who I am,
no more, no less.
I am just a man who understands
because of You I'm blessed,
no more, no less.

I'm not trying to prove anything;
It's all about the change,
It's all about the change.

Let me introduce myself to you;
this is who I am,
no more, no less.
I am just a man who understands
because of You I'm blessed,
no more, no less.

Let me introduce myself to you;
this is who I am,
no more, no less.
I am just a man who understands
because of You I'm blessed,
nothing more and nothing less

I hope you stare just long enough to see
the heart that's beating here inside of me.
Beyond all the things you may think you know,
I'm just a kid trying to make it home, that's it.
No more, no less.
Lord, I want to go home,
nothing more, nothing less...

Let me introduce myself to you;
this is who I am,
this is who I am.