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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089474/Beck-Laxton-Kieran-Cooper-reveal-sex-gender-neutral-child-Sasha.html

I have been thinking about this article frequently ever since I found it online about a month ago. What most struck me initially was not the content of the article, but rather the vehement response/comments below the article (if you follow the link and scroll down you'll see these). Most people's reactions fell somewhere along the line of equating the parent's actions with some form of child abuse, or generally "screwing their child up". I did not identify with this reaction until more recently when a follow up article was published:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090169/Sasha-Laxton-Gender-neutral-childs-reaction-mothers-questions-sex.html.

Similar to aybala50, I didn't see 'lifting belly' as a feminist poem. When professor Dalke told the class that we'll be reading a 'sexy poem' I thought she meant only 'canzone,' which I found pretty sexy. I didn't even know that 'lifting belly' was supposed to be sexy or even feministy. I definitely should have read it outloud in order to catch something, but it was just too hard to catch the message that the author was trying to say. Before the class discussion, I thought it was a conversation between two people and 'lifting belly' was one of their names.

But, I guess reading various feminist literature work is the point of taking this class. I'm not sure we already discussed this or not during the class, but I guess my question is that why did the author make it so hard to catch the message?

I was overall intrigued and impressed by our presenters this past week and the perspectives and information varied greatly, though related to various forms of literacy. I am interested in the way literacy regarding the written word intersects with literacy in textiles and other art forms. In this sense does literacy mean proficiency in a certain area? The ability to decode and recreate material in that code?

For our presentation on Storytelling this Tuesday we will have students break up into groups to write their own fables on a topic of their choice. Although we will have limited time and limited art supplies we are interested in providing students options to convey their fable through oral and written word as well as illustrations, physical art such as masks and props, and using the body to act out the message.

Having A come in this week was a great “reality check” for me. It also made me think harder about all of the literacies I have gained this semester and year in my field placement. My placement is in a very vocabulary-y school--there are catchphrases for everything, from “catch a bubble” for not talking to “X is off the team, but working hard to turn it around.” When I first started there last semester, I was constantly overwhelmed by the vocabulary. I could usually understand it in context, but I was unable to apply most of it independently. Now, I’ve led a small group lesson, I regularly work with individuals, and I’m preparing to teach a writing lesson to the whole class on Friday. I’m also going to get a pull-out small group for word study.

When I started thinking about this post, word study was really the connection. I recognized so much of what A was talking about--digraphs, blends, welded sounds, the idea of a picture representing every sound. I also learned that my school uses a balanced literacy program. It fits with my experience in the classroom, and it was great to hear a different teacher talk about the same curriculum. I really have developed an understanding of what’s going on in the classroom, and I no longer need (although obviously I still appreciate) my mentor teacher’s input on vocabulary when I’m moving throughout the classroom and working with individuals.

As I thought about this past week's speakers and read through people's posts (i.e. Amanda's reflections on the speakers, and Lucy's thoughts about using music to inspire learning), the main question that kept coming up in my head was: How do we make learning more fun and interesting for kids?

This past summer my internship centered around improving educational disparities in China. Moreover, my focus was on teaching English because that is the subject that separates the rural students from the urban students on the college entrance exam. The main problems surrounding teaching English in China were the teachers' lack of experience, and students' lack of interest, which in turn affected teachers' motivation to teach English. Many students did not see the use in learning English; they said they were never going to use it. And teachers, believing the harsh reality that many of their students would never get the chance to even leave their villages to ever use English, cannot convince students otherwise and easily lose motivation to teach English. In addition, as mentioned before, teachers are inexperienced in English, rarely using it themselves, even with their fellow English teachers. Classrooms also already lack resources in general, let alone any effective English teaching materials. Thus all these factors combined, including many more, discourage (English) learning in China.

            I really enjoyed Tuesday’s lecture in class by Amy because I found the information on the traditional literacy process very interesting. Furthermore, it reminded me why I do not desire to be a traditional educator. If I could achieve her level of knowledge on reading and the reading process, I would consider being a teacher, but I over analyze too much to be able to be a good teacher in action. Being able to think about Tuesday’s lecture in comparison to Thursday’s lecture, I think about learning in a classroom versus learning a new type of capital that the women in Zimbabwe acquired through the women relatives in their lives.

What is a feminist work? I've, for the most part, enjoyed the readings we've been assigned in class. Reading Canzone and Lifting Belly were very different experiences. With Canzone I could tell very clearly the sexual nature in which the poem was meant to be felt (or tasted?). However, with Lifting Belly I was clueless. Despite the fact that I was searching for a hint of feminism and even lesbian sex I missed all of the clues. Until our discussion in class I had no idea what lifting belly stood for and to be honest I was bored and skimmed the whole thing. 

Despite my confusion in content and meaning of these poems, I found myself further confused looking for feminist meaning in the works. Are these poems feminist? In what way? Talking about sexuality from a women's point of view? What makes a literary work, a poem, a movie, or rather anything feminist? 

When I was writing this post, I was trying to come up with some universal key motives that authors have for writing a story.  I suppose I wanted to say that authors write a story to relay a message, specifically in a certain environment that they construct in their minds.  (If anyone thinks that this is not the case, I'm curious to debate whether or not that is true).  So it is the author's job to use words and context in order to give the reader an essence of the story and the environment.  Still, there is a level of uncertainty that is unavoidable - whether this is the author's intent or not.  In class we debated which type of writing allowed more freedom of interpretation - comics or the traditional novel.  The discussion seemed to rely on the glories of being able to have that freedom as a reader as opposed to the narrow view of a story.  On the board, I wrote that when comics are pushed to their limits, they turn into movies.  Movies are a certain visual interpretation of a story, certainly with a narrow view of what the characters look like and how they react to certain events throughout the story.  Often, readers are disappointed by movie interpretations of their favorite books because it is not what they had pictured, the movie was forced to leave out important events, or the movie altered the storyline.  We, as readers, cannot accept the alternate story when film directors change the plot.

This week I decided to write my post on music as a means of developing literacy because I will be bringing my Ukulele to Ghana.  I am still unsure of how to use my instrument as an educational tool.  I want to use it to teach but I still have not completely figured it out.  At the very least I can use it as a tool to show how fun and easy learning an instrument can be.  I would like to use my ukulele to help improve literacy through song but I would also be happy if my ukulele can be music education on its own.  I think it is incredibly important for kids to learn instruments and I wish that I had started at a younger age.   That being said, I wish I had more time and knowledge to use my instrument as a teaching tool.  There are so many ways that music can be beneficial in teaching languages.  First of all, almost everyone loves music, there is so much appeal in everything that has a tune.  Little kids are always humming and trying to whistle.  They view it as a fun thing instead of an educational thing.  I remember when I was little, I always liked it when people sang to me.  I liked it when my teachers sang my class songs, I also liked learning educational songs (such as songs about the names of 50 states), and my parents even sing to me before I went to bed.  When I was little I had so many different people singing so many different songs that I became really interested in learning how to do more with them and actually learn an instr