212, 517 words later, the End of NANOWRIMO!!!

Ok, so many of you might not be that sad to be finished (or you may be sad because your headphones are now going away!) with what takes many authors years to accomplish! But, you have started something, whether it was an idea, a plot, a character, a setting or any other of the parts of a novel which got you to start writing! I am really proud of all that you accomplished, and I hope we can keep with this creative energy throughout the year. Remember when I first told you that you were going to write a novel? Remember the blank page in front of you? And now, take a moment to cherish what it feels like to put together a title, dedication, and author page, or to see others read your work, or to hear yourself called a novelist or author!?? You should be proud and feel great about what you have accomplished!

Thank you to all who participated and thank you so much to our mentors at Desert Island Supply Company. You all responded quickly in the darker stretches when many students were giving up! Thanks again, and hopefully next year, we will be able to work with you for the whole month of November.

I'd like to recognize Deion Jones for being the closest to achieving our goal in writing his novel entitled, Money, Handkerchiefs, and Deception with a total of 47, 580 words! INCREDIBLE!!!

Also, to Akeria Williams for reminding us through the words of her palindrome-named author, Nevaeh, that "hope is infinite, believing is seeing!" as well as by writing another reminder on Ms. Yeilding's arm on Auburn/Alabama day, (uh hum, War Eagle!)!!!

Thanks to all you NANO-Novelist, keep writing! :) Hope, Love, and Possibility!!!

NANOWRIMO- Week 3

Who thinks we can achieve our goal of 50,000 words? » make online polls
Tags : ms. yeilding ela

I think we can, and here are the top three reasons why...

1. Thanks to the Desert Island Supply Company, each one of you has now been paired with a writing mentor for the next two weeks!!!
They will offer encouragement, suggestions and edit any part of your novel that you would like to send them.
2. Did I forget to mention that if you get the 50,000 word goal, you get your own proof copy of your novel... YOUR words in YOUR novel, that will be AMAZING!
3. Most importantly, I believe in you and I am doing it too ! :)

"We have been created to help each other" ~Grace Lyimo, Kisa Project Scholar

Week 3: NANOWRIMO

Writing Norms:
1. Get help from everyone! (all teachers, writing buddies, and writing families)
2. Earn headphones to listen to music on pandora.com or playlist.com
3. Some days we will all listen to a new type of music.
4. Be respectful of the classroom environment.
5. Come in, sign out your computer and login to NANOWRIMO as soon as you come into the classroom.
6. Check the Holler if you Hear Me Box, Lying Cup, and Photographs for inspiration!

Tentative Schedule: (check calendar and outside of class for details!)
Week 1: Describe and develop characters
Week 2: Develop setting using imagery and sensory details
Week 3: Develop plot
Week 4: Check and edit dialogue, voice and mechanics
Goal: 50,000 words by November 30th, 1,666 words /day, about 167 pages!

Here's another video I'd like y'all to watch. It's about a student in Dar Es Salaam, Grace Lyimo. Through the Kisa Project she is getting an education which she believes will make her dreams come true, and then what does she want to do? Help orphans, beggars and the disabled. She also says we should carry someone else's problems as our own. Now there's some real swagger :)

Look forward also to an upcoming speaker in class, Amel Bahloul Benhssen! She is from Tunisia which is on the northern tip of Africa. She is here on a Fulbright Scholarship and teaching at Birmingham-Southern College.

NANOWRIMO- Week 2

So far, Week One has gone great! I am so excited to read your novels and I have even begun writing mine, it's called Shoes! It's a historical fiction that tells the story of Pandora from her perspective. Many of you are included in the story which tries to tell Pandora's story with a modern, Tarrant twist to it. Hopefully, it will reverse some ideas many people have of her, like the above video "The Lost Generation." Also, maybe think about reversing your story for the same effect as the poem or palindrome!

Try to use some of these words in your novel as well that are also palindromes from http://www.fun-with-words.com

racecar
eye
madam I'm adam

Don't nod
Dogma: I am God
Never odd or even
Too bad – I hid a boot
Rats live on no evil star
No trace; not one carton
Was it Eliot's toilet I saw?
Murder for a jar of red rum
May a moody baby doom a yam?
Go hang a salami; I'm a lasagna hog!
Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas!
A Toyota! Race fast... safe car: a Toyota
Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts
Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?
Doc Note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod
No, it never propagates if I set a gap or prevention
Anne, I vote more cars race Rome to Vienna
Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus
Kay, a red nude, peeped under a yak
Some men interpret nine memos
Campus Motto: Bottoms up, Mac
Go deliver a dare, vile dog!
Madam, in Eden I'm Adam
Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo
Ah, Satan sees Natasha
Lisa Bonet ate no basil
Do geese see God?
God saw I was dog
Dennis sinned

"Wake Up Everybody!"

This weekend I had the opportunity to go see the long awaited documentary, Waiting for Superman, and WOW! It was mind-blowing, mind- boggling, disheartening, depressing, anger-causing, but also passion re-igniting, possibility-believing and determination-increasing. Well, really to be honest, I was left speechless and that is the best combination of words I could get to describe the amount of issues, horrors and possibilities seen in the film.

The above music was included which you might recognize from Akeelah and the Bee. Ultimately, I found that everyday, regardless of the excuses, we must all believe in the cases of Akeelah, Anthony in the movie, and the possibility that lies in each student in our schools. It seemed that the consensus was great teachers, but also community involvement, belief and high expectations must be carried out to all students in all schools. Even further, though, it was not only the failing schools in the urban and rural areas but even in suburban areas, the U.S.'s inability to compete with other countries was made clear. And then in instances of Cannada's Harlem Success Academy, many students outperformed everyone even though they are the students most often dismissed by low expectations.

I think the words of Nelson Mandela in Invictus go right along with what the film insists from all of us, "We all must exceed the expectations we have for ourselves for the sake of our country."

Check out waitingforsuperman.com for ways to take action, starting with Texting POSSIBLE to 77177!!!

I Slam, Therefore I am Workshop

A few Saturday's ago, the Very Infinite Possibilities (VIP) attended the Birmingham Library's 'I Slam Therefore I am' workshop along with the Desert Island Supply Company. We have films of all participants in the workshop, even Ms. Yeilding's first attempt, 'In The Wind' : )

Freedom Writer's: Freshman Year Response (Example)

In the Junior classes, we have begun reading one of my favorite books, the Freedom Writer's Diary. Many students have already seen the movie, but reading the book is completely different. The student's words resonate with issues that many of students all over the country face. So far journal entries have included: segregation, racism, bullying, student action, the undeclared war, revenge, peer pressure, learning disabilities, love, world peace and violence.

Memorable quotes:

"I've lost many friends, friends who have died in an undeclared war. A war that has been here for years, but has never been recognized, A war between color and race. A war that will never end. A war that has left family and friends crying for loved ones who have perished" (16).

"World peace is only a dream because people won't allow themselves and others around them to simply be peanuts. We won't allow the color of a man's heart to be the color of his skin, the premise of his beliefs, and his self-worth. We won't allow him to be a peanut, therefore we won't allow ourselves to come to live in harmony" (39).

Question of the day: "Ms. Yeilding, do you ever just sit in one place and breath?"

Students wrote essays for their nine weeks exams on what is freedom and how does one truly attain it. We also learned about recent nobel prize winning, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa who said, "If there is no freedom in a society and you are a writer, you cannot say, that's not your problem, if there is no freedom, you write." Listen to the interview at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1133828&ps=rs

Also, Cartoon Network has just launched a campaign against bullying as October is National Bullying Awareness month, check this out at

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/promos/stopbullying/index.html



Keep writing guys, you amaze me (when you do)!!! :)