The presentation on Digital Storytelling yesterday got me thinking about more innovative ways to introduce writing techniques and ideas into the classroom. The assignment that Pen Campbell gave her students, in a lot of ways, reminded me of classic writing assignments givin in middle and high school classes to beginners of poetry and creative prose. It revolved around a personal memory or incident that required lots of deep thought and critical reflection prior to the actual writing...the imagery was important too, since this assignment actually required the imagery to be supported by a visual aide...I can see how students who are new to the process of writing imaginitively and with focus would get a lot of good practice out of this assignment. It puts writers' minds on the writing-track and gets them thinking in new ways that are personal and exciting to them. I can see this kind of assignment as being a good way to get reluctant learners interested in the writing process.

As for my Individual Teaching Presentation, I am really excited about my book because I love his ideas and suggestions for writing poetry. I have selected some activities that i think would go over well in a writing classroom, especially for reluctant learners...I have a good idea of what i want to teach and what activities i want to do, however, i am concernted about the time limit and being able to get it all in there!