Till We Have Faces . . . Or Not?

I've been looking at adding another work to my British literature class. I came across this novel published by C. S. Lewis in the 1950's. It reminds me of the modern fascination with retold fairy tales with some more philosophy and a bit of Lewis' lecturing thrown in. I think we could have some good discussion about the true motivations of all of our behaviors, based on the choices of the "ugly stepsister." Anyway, I am intrigued and would like to try it out this year. The only thing holding me back? Getting 30 copies of the book. I'm not sure I will have the funds for it. But, I would sure like to give it a try.

Finishing off my UEN class

I've been taking one UEN (Utah Education Network) class every three or four months in order to get a lane change (pay raise) eventually. I just finished my assignment for the latest class I've taken on Webquests. So, here is my first webquest ever.

It's on Victorian England, and I hope to use it with my reading of The Importance of Being Earnest next year.

I have two essential questions connected with the Webquest:

1. Why is the face we show the world different from our real face?
2. Why is it so important to "keep up appearances"?

I hope this will spark some interest with my high school aged students, as keeping up appearances is obviously a very important subject for them.

The Twilight Phenomenom

As the mother of two young women and the teacher of many more, it was inevitable that I would pick up and read Stephanie Meyer's Twilight. I don't mean to knock the books too much; I think she is obviously talented as a writer. I don't particularly like the message that her books send to young women, i.e., if you don't have a boyfriend your life isn't worth living.

I came across an interesting article about the book that brings up some interesting questions. One of them is that in a world where young men are increasingly unable to relate to "real" women due to the influence of pornography, is it a only a recipe for disaster to encourage a generation of young women who feel like the ideal boyfriend is one who won't take advantage of them sexually?

On a whole different note, I recently finished Stephanie's newest novel, The Host. I liked this one better than the Twilight series, perhaps because I am so much more comfortable reading sci-fi than gothic romance.

What can I do with this?

I came across this video on youtube. I love it, and I am trying to think of some way my students could do something similar.


(Click the gear on the bottom right and change the quality to HD for the best viewing experience.)
It has a companion article in the New York Times. I think it's just kind of interesting to see some one doing something just to have fun with it.