Feeling Lost

Ever read something and realizing how it did not really make sense? I am sure almost everyone has read something and either felt lost or confused on what was read. Lorine can be confusing to a few readers. One poem that confused me was Watching dancers on skates.

Throughout the poem a few things are addressed in such a short poem. She first states how "Ten thousand women and I the only one in boots" It explains how she is more of an outsider just by her saying she is the only one in boots. It does not really state if she is more lonely or okay with being different and being her own person. She then goes into talking about the Life's Dance. She says "they meet he holds her leg up" by her saying this can mean a few different things to people. "He holds her leg up" I do not really understand the meaning behind why she would have said something like that out of all the skating moves there are. Is she trying to say that the women trusts the man holding her? How she is not very good at skating compared to everyone else because she may not be able to get her leg that high? While reading that statement so many things can run through a readers head on what exactly she was trying to explain.

Lorine poem writing may have made sense to her when she wrote the poems and maybe the whole time she just wanted her readers to think while reading what she thought. At times it is very hard to understand what exactly what she was trying to get across. Her writing diffidently makes readers think.

Role Model

Role Model

Over the years I have had several teachers who were very strict, easy going, easy to get along with, or even rude to certain students. The teacher I remembered the most was my freshman English teacher Mrs. Wender. Mrs. Wender was a teacher for many years at Iron Mountain High School. On the first day of class she made it clear that she was not going to deal with any goofing off or childish games in her classroom. She told us if we goofed off we would be sent right out the door and most people listened because you could tell in her facial expression that she was serious. Mrs. Wender greeted all the students when they entered her class with a nice “hello how are you doing.” She was very strict on certain areas, such as she did not deal with misbehaving students in her classroom. She expected her students to have their assignment neat and due on time, by doing that she really prepared us for the college world. Mrs. Wender always appreciated it when her students tried their hardest. In Mrs. Wenders class you did not just learn how to treat your peers with respect but also future teachers/professors later in life.

She was an older teacher so she had many students including my parents and many other students' parents. Mrs. Wender was always dressed very nice for school. She always wore jewelry, there was never a day when you would not see any on her. By the way Mrs. Wender dressed she showed us as students how we should dress for our job because she was always looking nice. By the way how nice she dressed it also proved that she respected what was expected for adults to dress at work.

Mrs. Wender was a very caring teacher to all the students. If students ever needed help with homework or any other personal problem she was always willing to help them out.

She might have been a really strict teacher but she was a great teacher. I personally got along with her and loved her has a teacher. I am sure many others can say the same about her. The main reason she was so strict was because she wanted us to always try our hardest and not slack off. Mrs. Wender always knew when students were not putting all their effort into work. When students showed up for her class they had to make sure they had everything that was needed for class that day because she would not let anyone go back to their locker to get something. She was always wanting to prepare her students for college professors. With her preparing us for college showed us students really how serious professors will take college!

Mrs. Wender did not give out much homework but when the homework was given, students were expected to do it. Over my years of high school Mrs. Wender helped me out tremendously with my homework assignments and studying for test. Once a week she would tutor me at her house. The tutoring with her lasted 4 years and it was probably the best thing that she could have done for me; she was so willing to help me. When students chose not to hand in homework she got so frustrated because she was there to help the students. If a student chose not to do the assignment the student would normally have to have a talk with Mrs. Wender because she was going to find out why that student did not do the homework. No matter what the studen'ts excuse was for not doing the homework, she did not really care because it was your job to finish the homework just like everybody else. Once Mrs. Wender had the talk with an individual student and they chose not to do the homework, again then she did not really care after that. Her saying always was, “If you do not care about your grade after our talk then I do not care either.” When she said this she just had a very serious look on her face and stood at the front of the class room lecturing all of us again because one student chose to listen and get help from her.

When it came to taking her tests students needed to study. Her test were not to hard but they were worth a large percentage of your grade. Her test were worth so much because she wanted you to actually take the time to study for them. Her projects were also worth a lot because in order to pass the class, you had to do the projects. I remember a time when I had a project due and I was not exactly sure where to even begin. So I went to her class to ask her what exactly I could do. It was a project on Romeo and Juliet and we had to make either a board game or a scene from the play. She was happy I came in for help. We sat at her desk and wrote down on a piece of paper different ideas I could possibly do. She would say a few ideas and then follow up with what I thought about the ideas she had said. Before she would actually write down a possible idea she made sure I agreed with and a few times I did not really agree so we did not write that idea down. After we had several ideas written down we picked what would be the most successful one for me to do. Sitting down with with Mrs. Wender gave me more confidence in starting my project. When it came time for me to hand in the project she was happy with what she saw because all the ideas we thought about I put into my project. If students had trouble understanding something she was always willing to help them if they had questions or concerns about the homework or project.

In Mrs. Wender's class you were taught how to respect other students and your peers. She did not deal with disrespectful kids. If students were acting up in her class they were asked nicely to leave. She would stop everyone with what they were doing just to tell that individual students to kindly leave. Most students did not like how she stopped the class just to kick them out. Mrs. Wender stopped the whole class because the student misbehaving was trying to get attention anyways so stopping the class made everyone look at that individual so the student got the attention they wanted as he/she left the class room. Once that bell rang for class the students had to all be sitting quickly in their seats. She allowed us to talk before the bell and on some days the last five minutes of class, but that always depended on how well every one listened in class. Students were always expected to be on their best behavior in her class.

Most kids in her class met her expectations. I personally met every expectation for her class. I never missed a homework assignment or project. I never once handed in an assignment late or messy. I always made sure they were neat and the way she wanted them. I tried my hardest on all the homework and studying for her tests. I doubled checked before I went to class to make sure I had everything I needed for class that day because I knew if I did not I would not able to go back and get what I needed.

Mrs. Wender was a very great teacher. She who always took her classroom seriously when class was in session. When we had passing time between classes you would see many students just in her class talking to her. Many of the students respected her and enjoyed her being around her. She was the person to go to if you were having trouble with school or even if you needed someone to talk to. She might have been a strict teacher but she was always a great help and a very caring person, willing to help you out if you ever had questions. Many kids went to her for a tutor because she knew more than just English. What I learned most from her is that just because teachers are strict in the class room does not mean the teacher is not willing to help you outside of class. Most students understood she was strict but she never pushed students away she always encouraged them to do the best they could. She really respected her students because she wanted to be respected also as a person. Certain things she taught me in her class I will always remember especially how she treated her students. Mrs. Wender is a huge role model in my life and I hope the day I become a teacher the students will respect me as much as we respected her.

Gender Roles

Kids at a young age find out what they can and can not do according to the gender rules. Parents try to guide their kids in the right way by the type of gender they are. The short story that by Aaron H. Devor describes mainly how each gender should act and the way the parents raise the kids.

My mother taught me how to be the young lady I am today. I came from a house of 3 brothers and a dad so I always had boys around. Of course sense I was the only girl my parents did not want me to act so much like the boys they wanted to make sure I acted like a girl. When I was little I was always the one allowed to go shopping with my mom cause it was a girl thing and to get me out of the house and away from all the boys. They boys hated that I was always allowed to go but my mom explained to them it was a girl thing. I always was put into a dance class. The dance class was a great thing my parents put me in because it allowed me to get away from my brothers and do my own thing.

The boys were always messing around beating up on one another and at times I would get brought into just because I was always around them. They also played with all the boy toys and sense I was the only girl I did not have many girl toys that lasted in my house. My mom always felt bad for me so she started to get me out of the house and do more girly activities.

My mom was not super strict on me not hanging around the guys she just wanted me to get away from them at times. I believe it defiantly helped me be who I am today.  Being able to do girl things with my mom and dance class just let me be a girl and not have to be around all the boys. I was taught at a young age the difference between what role a boy takes and what role a girl takes.