Choice Reading Response 19- Herman Cain

I noticed this article "Herman Cain drops out of presidential race" on my Yahoo! homepage. Being a bit of a Herman Cain fan (and making the connection that I'd just talked to my good friend about him the day before yesterday), I clicked on it to find out why, and to see if my friend already knew this. Since he hasn't messaged me back yet, I'll write my thoughts about this article.

I'm not at all into politics because I don't have enough prior/background knowledge to side with any particular opinion on anything way bigger than my sphere of influence. I don't even know when to vote for anyone in my home state (not that I would since that would be out of ignorance and almost an abuse of my right to vote since I wouldn't be voting intelligently in favor of what's best for the people). Despite this, Cain strikes me as an interesting candidate. My friend regularly informs me of any political updates, including debates, and from what he tells me, Cain sounds like he knows what he's doing (but that's probably biased based on my friend's opinions). Cain is a businessman, which is unusual since most candidates are involved in government work, but I think that vocation gives him a new perspective, shining light on experts' blindspots.

The article says he's dropping out because of some allegations of sexual harassment and an affair. Oh goodie, another skeleton in a politician's closet; let's do the only rational thing and expose the mess out of it to embarrass the politician. Understandably, the American people shouldn't have to deal with all of these secrets, but to me, this article sounds like some women got bored, wanted 15 minutes of fame, and declared their "personal time" with Cain. The mistress even produced a cell-phone record. Oooh, risque.

Come on. A cell-phone record? That they'd be talking on the phone? Why is that scandalous? She and Cain admitted their long-time friendship; why can't we chalk it up to that? What sucks the most is that Cain's lawyer didn't really deny the allegations; he just said Cain's sex life is private. Awesome. Cain dropping out, then, tells me that this thing might have more of a sticky truth than I first thought. Either that or Cain can't handle the pressure of all of these false claims. Or maybe it's something else entirely.

See, that's why I hate politics; I can talk myself in circles with all of the limited information I have and never reach a conclusion.


Moody, C. (2011). Herman Cain drops out of presidential race. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/herman-cain-suspends-presidential-campaign-184541824.html

Reading Response 16- Tovani Chapter 8

I think Chapter 8 is the entire basis of our class, Mrs. Crawford, hahahaha. As I read the chapter, I kept laughing because everything this chapter covers is what we do in your class. Tovani did bring up a good point about tests, which made me wonder about our final: we're probably not having a traditional paper-pencil-scantron test, are we? Are we going to be writing about what we learned about our learning/thinking and how to apply those things in our classrooms?

I can't believe it's taken me all semester to figure out that you just wanted to know my thinking. I feel like I haven't done the best job with that, but at the same I think my confusing writing submissions (logs and projects alike) reflect the chaos in my head, hahaha.

I did find it strange that Tovani only required two essays in her college-bound seniors English class. Maybe that's because the class was for college prep, and not necessarily a senior English literature class? That's one of my biggest concerns for my English classes is the amount of reading and writing I'll have to do and grade. Fortunately, I think Tovani has given me ways to assessment my students' thinking (and to prove that they've read and written something) without their submitting an essay or test every time. My only issue is that I think students can just as easily cheat on the sticky note assessment and response logs if they only read, say, a paragraph or two out of however many pages. I'd have to have them answer more overarching questions I guess or just break up the reading into even smaller chunks.

Your ideas are most welcome here, Mrs. C ;)


Tovani, C. (2004). Do I really have to teach reading?: Content comprehension, grades 6-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Choice Reading Response 18- ANGEL Quickstart Guide

I'm a work-study for the missionary in residence at Evangel. She teaches several English classes, as well as a missions class; one of these English classes is for the Degree Completion program, and she wants to revamp its layout on ANGEL. So, diligent work-study that I am, I complied. I don't know much about how ANGEL works from a course-editor perspective, so she provided me with the quickstart guide. Today, I needed to refer back to this guide for some technical information.

Aside from being a technical piece, this text was fairly easy to navigate, thanks to the table of contents. I jumped back and forth between sections and determined importance from what I inferred out of the text. For example, I thought I could make each essay a milestone/task on the course calendar, but I can't do that unless I somehow make each essay an assessment. Using the same information, however, I was able to find a place to set access dates for each assignment, which put them on the calendar. I'm still working on automated agents for the course, though I'm not sure if those will work for this course. Agents can unlock/release certain content based on certain parameters (like assessment scores), so I was thinking of applying that information for releasing each essay after the previous one is submitted.


(2009). ANGEL 7.4 instructor quickstart guide. Indianapolis, IN: ANGEL Learning.

Reading Response 15- Tovani Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is all about small group instruction. I'm thankful for this chapter because of its insight into self-management of the groups which has been one of my fears as a teacher. Tovani mentioned that the groups should be flexible in members (meaning they wouldn't be the same kids in the same groups all of the time). She also mentioned designating a quiet area for students who haven't completed the pre-discussion work to do so before joining a group. I thought both were excellent suggestions, the first of which I want to do in several ways. I'd like to have seating charts for my classes, but I'd like to mix up those charts throughout the year. Or I could do "appointments" like my health/lifetime skills teacher did: every student gets a picture of a clock with twelve slots that they must keep in their binder (and the binder must be with them in class in case of spot-notebook checks); students then move about the room, asking each other to be their appointments for a certain "time" slot; once those slots are filled, our teacher would ask us throughout the year to meet with our "two o'clock appointment" for discussion time.

Tovani also mentioned attaching assignments to the ends of discussions so that students would have something to do after their discussion to signal they are ready to move on in the lesson plan. I haven't quite been able to think about how to implement this since all of my experience teaching has included whole-class instruction about a group activity then waiting for each group to finish so I could again offer a whole-class explanation for the next activity.

I had to start and stop the reading because of my attendance at a mock trial (see previous entry), but I think making connections was my best reading strategy this time around.


Tovani, C. (2004). Do I really have to teach reading?: Content comprehension, grades 6-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Choice Reading Response 17- Mock Trial Journal Entry

A criminal justice major, my friend asked me to sit as a jury member on her class' mock trial tonight. The prosecutors wanted to prove that Phoebe was intentionally murdered by her jealous roommate Vicky; the defense wanted to prove that Phoebe was in fact suicidal, and her death had been by her own hands--not Vicky's. During this trial, the jury was allowed to read Phoebe's diary entry, dated the night before she was found dead in her dorm room. The diary entry was short, but it quickly dismissed the idea that Phoebe was suicidal. However, because the prosecutors were looking to convict Vicky of first degree murder, and the jury deemed all of the other evidence at the trial inconclusive, Vicky was found not guilty.

One of the witnesses read the journal entry aloud before one of the prosecuting attorneys passed it to the jury. When I received the entry, I was suddenly struck with how impacting inflection would've been when reading aloud. The entry was punctuated with several exclamation points and a smiley face (determining importance). Clearly this couldn't have been from a depressed girl's journal (inference). Even when another attorney read the entry again in his closing statement, his voice still didn't reflect the excitement I read in her written tone.

Regardless, we the jury found Vicky not guilty. While evidence was inconclusive for first degree murder, evidence for suicide was also inconclusive. Although Phoebe's counselor mentioned Phoebe's occasional pessimistic, down-on-her-luck moments, this entry obviously showed that she didn't intentionally kill herself that same evening (inference). On the other hand, I wondered if Phoebe wasn't just hiding her feelings, or if she had written the wrong date for the entry and something upsetting had occurred soon after to push her over the edge. I think I wondered this because of my own experiences with suicide (making connections). I've had a couple of friends confide in me their desires to kill themselves; I had even considered it myself during my high school years. While Phoebe didn't show signs of depression, that didn't mean she wasn't considering it. On the plus side, like my other friends (still alive, I'm thankful to say), she reached out to a counselor for help for the other aspects of her life.

Unfortunately, when the jury made its decision, the professor for the class announced that Vicky had indeed killed Phoebe. On the plus side, this is only a mock trial, so no one's dead or being convicted/released; and even if it were true, I could only hope that being deemed not guilty of first degree murder would've changed Vicky's ways.



Journal Entry. Mock trial for Criminal Justice class of Evangel University. Professor Myers.

Choice Reading Response 16- 1001 Ways to Save Money...

I've mentioned several times already, and I know I'll keep mentioning it: this book I chose to read is from the Library Sale. 1,001 ways to save money...and still have a dazzling wedding is full of tips for skipping the extra expenses that the wedding industry so desperately wants women to use. While I'm not planning on getting married for a good long while (if ever), I do find the idea of planning weddings to have fascinating aspects. Since I'm not a very girly girl, I don't know everything about weddings. Heck, I just found out that weddings have cocktail hours because of the TLC show Four Weddings. I figured this book would be interesting to read.

Full of information from the engagement to the honeymoon, this book has tips for everything. Check out trunk sales for bridal gowns. Have a limited open bar at the ceremony. Leave wedding gifts in someone else's home while on the honeymoon instead of in the new, but empty, home. This book also has tips on creating some non-traditional elements for a wedding. Have a wedding ceremony of flower girls instead of bridesmaids (which will save a lot of money on attire). Use zinnias, ivy, and tulips as flower arrangements instead of a bunch of roses.

I flipped around in this book to different sections that appealed to me at the time. I read some of the tips outloud to a friend, and I asked questions about certain aspects of the book. I didn't understand why the groom was supposed to purchase jewelry for his bride's wedding reveal or her wedding night lingerie. I didn't know that a rehearsal dinner was really more of a bridal party get together than an actual rehearsal for the wedding.


Naylor, S. 1,001 ways to save money...and still have a dazzling wedding. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, 2009.

Reading Response 14- What Makes a Hero?

Professor Crawford used several text literacies in our short unit on Essential Questions: What makes a hero? She used music, music videos, song lyrics, articles, group and class discussions, and a movie trailer. In order to understand their relation to the unit, we had to understand what we were "reading". Each text required a different literacy to understand the meaning within each text.

A hero can be anyone from any background. Regardless of social status, past history, profession, personality, or anything else, any individual has the power to be a hero. Heroes can reveal a number of qualities, including but not limited to self-sacrifice, courage, strength, endurance, perseverance, morality, and responsibility.

My heroes are people who upset the social balance and encourage an upheaval of cultural norms. Most often these people are martyrs. Although they are murdered for their outrageous change, their influence only spreads. People like Paul introduced the idea of husbands submitting and loving their wives enough to lay down their own lives for their wives' during the cultural era where women were seen but not heard. He also named an unheard of, for that time, number of women who strengthened the new church's power. These people are bold, courageous, and sacrificial. They press on despite the hard times, and they rely not on their own strength, but God's.