The Stoning of Soraya M.

Oh my goodness. After meaning to watch this movie for years, I finally watched "The Stoning of Soraya M." last night. And it took me through a slur of emotions. Intrigue. Disgust. Anger. Sorrow.

The movie begins with a French/Iranian journalist traveling through Iran when his car breaks down near a small town. However, the small town has secrets. Secrets that the outside world would find disgusting and incredibly misogynistic.

I would have loved to show this in my journalism 1 classes (and skip the bloody stoning -- which gives it its "R" rating). With parent permission, I encourage all of you to watch it. It sheds a little light on the injustice happening around the world.

Thank you!

Ah, here we are. The end of the first semester. As my second period journalism 1 students are hunched over their tests, only the sound of striking pencils and the rattle of the heater can be heard.

I'm going to miss this class. All of my journalism 1 classes for that matter. I feel as though each journo class has bonded more in just four months than some of my other classes will do in a year. Perhaps it is the age. I know not all of you are underclassmen, but most are, and I feel comfortable with that age group for varoius reasons. Typically, you aren't jaded. You are fairly certain you don't know everything. You are eager to participate after getting to know one another. You are open to ideas or strategies that your other teachers use. You don't get defensive when criticism is given.

Thank you for that. Don't lose your curiosity, spunk and willingness to participate. Take newspaper and yearbook (shameless plug)!

Thus far what I've learned from your comments and discussions is that to improve journalism 1, we should have more visual aids --- something I am totatally capable of providing you with, so thank you for sharing! And we should blog more, which pleases me. I know many of you were timid to blog at the beginning but the responses and thoughtfulness that went into most posts were fantastic to see.

Among my teacher friends we often discuss questions we have about teens. One of which is, "Why are kids so arrogant? They are convinced they know everything about everything and have no desire to further their education." Now, I know that doesn't apply to all of you, but what many of us have concluded is that social networking has made many teens feel as though their every thought,every teeny tiny emotion needs to be broadcasted to the world ... Because, to them, they are the world.

Most of the time this troubles me, but when you guys share your thoughts on real issues, it's great to read your perspectives. You have a lot of insight to offer, so I encourage you to continue sharing ... just remember to listen to others as well and choose your comments wisely.

I hope you all have a great break and second semester. In exactly one week I'll be in NYC and promise to post photos.

I love this time of year.

The smell of pine and cinnamon, crisp (hopefully) snowy evenings, lounging for hours in my snowflake pants and a cup of nutcracker sweet. I'd take this time of year vs. summer always.

But what I really wanted to share with you isn't all this sentimental jazz, it's consumerism at it's finest. Here is some great junk I had (and loved) in the 90s. I hope it gives you youngsters a laugh.

Reminder

Bonjour, students! This isn't really a post as much as it is a reminder of what you are supposed to blog about. Yesterday you viewed quotes from teachers and community members in Beatrice about BHS students. (In case you were gone, I will list a few of them below so you have something to go off of)

You may blog about:
1) Your reaction to the teacher/community responses
2) Critical thinking/problem solving and an understanding of other ways of life
3) "The Other" in general -- even though many have already done this
4) What you think students should learn about other cultures/religions/sexual preferences

Happy blogging! Remember, when you are done, feel free to blog about whatever you like.

Some of you are missing blogs that were already assigned because you chose to blog about your own thing instead of following the prompts. If this is you, please make sure you go back to my previous posts and find your assignment! 

P.S. Be nice to the sub. It isn't easy walking in to an unfamiliar classroom.


**** Here are some teacher quotes taken directly from the form****

"Without being able to discuss God, many instructors avoid the religion issues.  If discussion is not lead in a classroom setting, it probably doesn't happen.  Church leaders seldom discuss a world view of religion, they more tend to advocate their own belief system."    


"very ego-centric people can spend hours on silly television programs, video games, surfing the web, updating facebook, etc.  A little time learning about the world would benefit without serious pain or injury.  It's a mindset."

"I think many of our students are very closed off to other cultures at BHS. Many times I think it is because the environment they are in (family, friends...) are not very tolerant/understanding of others "not like them" and so that gets passed down to the next generation."

"Not very knowledgable.  Often times their "understanding" is their parents' opinions."

"I am sick to death of kids using "Jew" or "Gay" or "Towel-Head" not to mention other awful things they say to each other.  They are too ignorant to have any idea how stupid they sound."

"Gay is now slang, and they have little appreciation for the actual context, they joke about sexual orientation enough that it makes me realize they are uncomfortable discussing it and having an understanding of views different from their own."

"From their willingness to describe everything bad as "gay" I would guess they have very little understanding of different sexual preferences. Also many feel they have God on their side when it comes to discrimminating against homesexuals."

What can you do with a sentimental heart?

A short and sweet post to help you blog about your weekend.

This weekend was filled with heartache as I put a period at the end of my stay at Lenox Village Apartments, said goodbye to my little kitty, and revisited and reminisced about my alma mater with college friends.

I've always been a person who grieves the loss of time or moments after they've passed. I can honestly remember being sad when 1996 ended (it was a good year what with the Magnificent Seven winning the Olympic Gold Medal and all -- plus, I got a bowl cut shortly into 1997 because I refused to let people brush my hair, but that's beside the point).

For all of you young folks:
My bowl cut (Thanks, Isaiah, for pointing out I had the wrong
 version of "bowl" on this for a month! You keep me on
my toes!) was referred to as the Amanda
Borden (far left); my sisters and I named
our dog Mochie (real name Dominique)
after Dominique Moceanu (third from right).

I've also been oddly attached to animals, especially animals I take care of. So giving Kitty to Ms. Wilbers -- even though I know he/she will be very happy there -- was hard. I cried most of the way from Lincoln to Beatrice Sunday night in anticipation of giving her/him up.

But, I have to be a big girl. I am in no position to have a cat because I have no idea what the future is going to hold for me. I'm ready to begin the ellipsis portion of my life. Decided what my future holds. Take whatever opportunity is tossed my way.

I leave you with this lovely song by She and Him.

Never Ending Search for Stories

I was searching for a short article on NPR that I heard while driving from Lincoln last week, and, instead, I stumbled across a story that will air on All Things Considered tonight.

This story is about Native American children who have been ripped away from their families and put in the foster care system. While this story could have caught my attention any way, I actually heard about this crime (yes, that's how I see it. You can decide your stance) this summer while my friend was taking a graduate class on Native American literature.

His class went to Pine Ridge and talked to residents there, and also to the State Penitentiary in Tecumseh to talk to inmates -- many of whom were in foster care themselves and could never seem to escape the system.

Anyway, take a listen (online at 7 p.m.) or read the story. Feel free to reflect.

What I was actually looking for when I jumped on the NPR site, was this story about British Airports using holograms to help passengers. 

Take a listen and let me know what questions come to mind. As discussed in class, finding stories isn't difficult. You just need to be willing to challenge things you hear. Question everything. How could that work differently? How will that affect other people? What is wrong with this situation?

Happy blogging!

Little Flannery

Last Monday I longed for a relaxing fall break to catch up on school work, my social life and rest to prepare myself for second quarter.

That didn't happen.

Fall break was just one stressful day after another as I made edits to the newspaper (though it isn't close to perfection), graded, graded and graded some more, reunited with friends who I haven't seen in a year and fell in love. Yes, you read correctly. I fell in love this weekend with a tiny, abandoned kitten named Flannery.

Flannery and I graded papers outside on Sunday afternoon.

I had just arrived at a surprise party for my brother-in-law at my dad's farm when my little sister walked up to me with a shaking ball of black and white fluff that was meowing like a broken record. All night, my sister and I checked on the kitten, who ran shakily to anything that moved in the barn and continued to cry helplessly.

After a few hours (it was hard to hold out for so long), I broke down and wrapped the kitten in towels, put her in a box and brought her inside the heated area of the barn. After much persuasion, I convinced my parents to let me take the kitten home for the weekend to nurse her back to health (she had been meowing loudly like that for two days my dad said -- and with no trace of a mother cat returning for her).

Saturday and Sunday passed with feedings every four hours, lots of petting and snuggling and an introduction to my parents' dog, Oscar -- a yappy Yorkie with an attitude problem.

Needless to say I'm exhausted and have grown so attached to Flannery -- named after the novelist Flannery O'Connor whose stories are dark and depressing just like this little kitten's -- that I refuse to let her go back to the farm (my dramatic mind imagines larger Tom cats beating her up). She's become accustom to sleeping on a cozy, dog bed with a heating pad and blankets. High maintenance.

The trouble is, I can't keep her either. Believe me, if I still had a place of my own in Lincoln (this is my last week), I would keep her in a heartbeat. Luckily, it will be a few weeks until she's big enough to jump on things, which is when I was told she has to go. (When Sergio, the cat I had a few years ago, would get mad, he'd stare at you and swat at something he knew you didn't want all over the carpet e.g. juice, pizza, glassware, etc.)

So if anyone has a nice, loving home for a kitten, please let me know. I doubt she'll be as vindictive as Sergio :)

She's getting very rambunctious and loves to
climb on my Asics. 

Dreams are Funny Things

Hello, fellow-bloggers! I sit here eating a bowl of cereal counting down the minutes until I actually have to get up and get ready for school -- your last day of school for the quarter -- and realize that my heart is still pounding from the dream I left fifteen minutes ago.

Having dedicated much of my life to dance, I still have dreams that I am about to perform and I cannot remember the dance, or in this case, I never learned the dance and have about five minutes to do so. The funny thing is that I put so much energy into learning the dance, that when I wake up, I almost always remember at least three eight-counts.

Wait-1-2-3-4, right arm swoop/left leg p-k/lean right 5-6 ... yikes. I'm sure this type of dream isn't a burden for only dancers. Many of you spend your time working hard to accomplish things you strive for, and I'm pleased to hear about them in your blogs and hope you continue to post about what is important to you.

Ok. I am running out of time, and you all are anxious to get on with your assignment for fall break. At the beginning of October, I posted about an article I listened to on NPR about immigration laws in Alabama. While I found the article interesting, I also commented on the way NPR found and used sources from various backgrounds, which fits nicely into our conversation for the past few days.

Please read my post on immigration and reflect on it. However, instead of merely spitting back a few opinions, I want you to think about or search for news stories that you have found interesting or who uses a variety of sources to present factual and unbiased news.

I hope you all enjoy your five-day weekend! Happy blogging!

Fun Features For You (I can't help the alliterations!)

Hello, student-bloggers! I'm so happy with how our blogging experience went today that I want you guys to play around a bit more tomorrow -- share some videos (school appropriate, of course) or Web pages you guys like to view.

I received quite a few questions today about how frequently you will be expected to blog and what sort of content I am looking for.

For the time being, I would like you to blog once a week, and I will try to give you time in class to do so, but we have only nine functioning computers in our journalism lab so you will be expected to do some reflecting outside of class.

For your first blogging assignment (due Tuesday, Oct. 18), please write an explanation of your blog. What does your title mean? Are you hesitant to share your words online? What is your favorite thing to write about or discuss in class? What do you like or dislike about blogging/reflecting?

Remember: All posts and comments must be school appropriate. No swearing. No hurtful comments (even if you are joking -- sarcasm doesn't travel well through text). I have high expectations for you guys, and I know you can all be mature about your reflections and the content you share with your classmates.

Because you guys will be searching videos and what-not to share, I thought I'd post a video of one of my favorite groups to show you how your reflections should look.

This video of Bon Iver is a little grainy, but so amazing I can hardly stand it -- I listened to this seven times in a row the day it was sent to me.

The group, who is from Wisconsin, is performing the song "For Emma, Forever Ago" from the album by the same name while standing in a random hallway in Paris before a show. I love when the camera slowly turns from the band and scans a crowd of Parisians who appear to be stunned by an impromptu a cappella performance.

I went to their concert in Omaha in September with one of my great friends, and we had a blast. The entire audience was in a trance with their performance. It was so tranquil and yet somehow energizing at the same time. That was the second time I've seen them live and can't wait for round three.

Fear of the Other -- Immigration.

At the beginning of the school year, we spent a lot of time talking about biases and why it is important for journalists to be unbiased. 

One of you (you know who you are) raised your hand and asked, "So ... is everyone biased?" and my response was, "absolutely." None of us can escape the years of conditioning that molded us to prefer one thing over another. We are taught at an early age (among other things) that we are a certain gender, and certain genders can do only certain things. 

This conditioning doesn't come from only our parents. We get it from every direction (this is the propaganda we discussed in class as well): commercials, tv shows, movies, friends, teachers, books ... you name it and someone or something has tried to push a certain belief on you. 

I've made it (or at least I've tried to make it) clear that in our classroom, all belief's are accepted and appreciated (unless they are hurtful). You've been asked to write reflections about your lives or topics we discussed in class and never lose credit if you disagree with a view I or any other student present in class.  

With that, I want to talk about the fear of the other. This was one of our reflections that was summatively assessed recently. Some nailed without hesitation and others provided wild guesses about what that phrase could mean. 

"Fear of the other" is a phrase that takes us back to our conditioned biases. If something is different than us, we are leery of it. This fear is present through physical and psychological differences.

At the beginning of the semester, when I was asked (in at least two classes -- I apologize if it hasn't been brought up in yours) if I was a democrat. I responded that I was and that response was met with a few scoffs and rolled eyes. 

Because that was prior to any discussion we had about biases, that response is totally fine. You do not have to believe the same things I do, and I will not push an agenda on you that doesn't relate to our work as journalists. 

I do not know where you stand on immigration laws because this is a topic we don't cover in class aside from whatever bit may be on our current events quiz. However, I heard a story on NPR this weekend about the new immigration law in Alabama and was intrigued by both the content of the story and how it was presented to the listener. Also, the story fits well with our topic of the "other" (at least the "other" for many of you). 

Now, as an authority figure in our classroom, I do not feel that is is appropriate for me to write to you about my views of immigration laws. It is appropriate for me to show you how journalists can be unbiased in reporting stories. 

This story does a nice job of providing a variety of sources and view points for the listener to make an informed stance on their own (of course, it is always wise to seek other outlets for news before making a firm stance on something so controversial). 

I encourage you to listen to the story by clicking the link above. However, if you are listening to it in the classroom, please use headphones or we can listen to it as a class on my speakers. Otherwise, there is a link on the page for the print version of the story. 

Enjoy and reflect on the "other."

Blasted Titles Again ...

Thinking back to July, I remember sitting on my fluffy, brown couch drinking coffee that came from my new Keurig machine and sweating about what this blog would be called. I'd write something -- "Insatiable," "Ms. Kimmerling's Blog," "Bob Loblaw's Law Blog" (a la Arrested Development) -- and immediately anticipate the judgment of such blog titles.

Titles are tricky. They reveal so much and so little at the same time. "Waiting for the Rain" is a book about South Africa during apartheid. Here comes another confession: I've never read it. However, the conflict of the book speaks to me -- no, not the part where one is fighting for civil rights and is continually suppressed by the man. I'm intrigued by the conflict of things changing and things staying the same. 

Since high school I have had the dream of living in New York City. For me, New York represents everything good in the world. Culture, concerts, fashion, writers, art, influence, etc. -- all crammed into five boroughs. That dream took a slight detour as I fell into a rabbit hole of sorts.

I digress. 

However, while that is still my dream, and I'm determined to do it while I am young, I'm ok with how my life is going right now. I miss my kids and school from last year immensely. I miss my friends in Lincoln and working to the bone my first year of teaching. But I also like the students at BHS. You are all so respectful -- maybe it's the age (I taught 8th grade last year). You care about how you do and appear engaged in class. 

I like talking about journalism all day and having the freedom to experiment with the curriculum. I like that I can wake up at 7:00 and be at school at 7:30 -- I really, really like sleep. I like how hilarious my PLC is (if you guys think your teachers are not funny, you just haven't seen them in their prime). 

So the question that is ever present in my mind: Do I really want change?


***Your first blogging assignment is to create and design your own blog -- complete with a meaningful titile.
Enjoy!