I’m a former high school English teacher, and I’m currently a literacy researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia. I think that books are valuable – and I think that it’s important to understand how teens are engaging with literature and developing their literacy on Hunger Games-related fansites.

For the past year, I’ve talked with teens around the world.  My study is ongoing, and I would love to find more research participants.  If you’re between the ages of 11 and 17 and live in the United States, Canada, or Australia, will you participate in this study? 

With your parents’ permission, I will talk with you over email or Skype to learn more about your passion for The Hunger Games and how you participate in fansites. Please email me at js.curwood@sydney.edu.au for more information or to join my research. Your real name will be confidential and your privacy will be protected. I’d love to hear your story, and I think that parents and teachers could learn a lot from you.

Why is this research important?  I hear a lot of people say that, “Teens don’t read” or “The Internet is a waste of time.” And I just don’t think that’s always true.  Teens do read – if they have good books at hand. And the Internet is an incredible way to connect with other fans and develop literacy skills.  I think that adults should know about (and care about!) how young people engage with literature and fan culture.

Since last April, Adam and Savanna have been producing a weekly podcast about all things related to The Hunger Games.  Savanna’s a writer for Picktainment and founder of Panem Radio. Adam has been instrumental in bringing The Potter Games and The Fandom to fans around the world. In short, they are unstoppable!

For the past year, I’ve been conducting an online ethnography into adolescent literacy, young adult literature, and fan culture.  I’ve had the opportunity to work with some incredible teens in Australia, Canada, and the United States.  They’ve shared their passion for The Hunger Games with me and given me so much insight into how young people are inspired to write Hunger Games fan fiction, produce videos, create art, and take on leadership roles on fan sites.

My research is ongoing, and I’m always looking for more participants.  (If you’re between 13 and 17 and live in one of the countries noted above, please contact me!)  The fan culture related to The Hunger Games is always growing and evolving.  Case in point: Capitol Couture.

Tune into the Fireside Chat on Monday January 30 at 10 pm EST!  Connect via the Website, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and iTunes.

Photo by andrewmalone

As an educator, it was an incredible experience to closely collaborate with my colleague.  Lora’s expertise was instrumental as our students to engage in multimodal composition, and her energy and encouragement helped me develop my digital literacy skills. I really think that if we want to implement technology in schools, we need to value this kind of ongoing, hands-on, collaborative professional development.

I have previously published an article in the International Journal of Learning and Media about this project.  In “‘Just like I have felt’: Multimodal counternarratives in youth-produced digital media,” [PDF], we developed a methodology called multimodal microanalysis that sheds light on the complex ways in which modes operate in young people’s digital productions.

I’m happy to share that Lora and I have just published an article in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, “iPoetry: Creating space for new literacies in the English curriculum” [PDF]. Here, we explore how our approach to teaching digital poetry changed over time. We argue that the iPoetry project enhanced students’ critical engagement, increased their awareness of audience, and encouraged their innovative use of multiple modalities.

We share the digital poem of one of our students, Blair Mishleau. Blair is an incredible young man who will soon graduate with interdisciplinary degrees in journalism and interactive arts and media. He has recently been accepted into Teach for America, and I know that any child would be lucky to be in his classroom!  Here is Blair’s digital poem that we analyze in the article.

Photo by wasimmons

Your Desires by Blair Mishleau from Jen Scott Curwood on Vimeo.

Not only can you submit a proposal for the GLS Conference, the GLS Educator Symposium is also accepting proposals for workshops.  These workshops are targeted at K-12 teachers, administrators, library media specialists, and post-secondary educators.  Previous GLS Educator Symposium workshop topics have featured rapid game prototyping, mobile game development, early literacy learning, civic engagement and gaming, and digital storytelling and media. The full call for proposals for the GLS Educator Symposium is online and as a PDF. The deadline is February 7, 2012.

These are the opening words of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which is co-authored by John Green and David Levithan.  I love to read when I travel, and I picked it up before heading to the Literacy Research Association conference in December.  Let me say this: it’s the kind of book that can make you laugh out loud on a crowded plane.  But it’s also filled with teenage angst, awkwardness, and heartache.  In short, it’s a great mix of everything.

I loved David Levithan’s first novel, Boy Meets Boy, and I’ve used it in class before.  Many of his books are love stories, and it looks like his latest, The Lover’s Dictionary, is no exception.  Every day for the past 23 years, Levithan has written a story for his friends for Valentine’s Day.  John Green is also a well-known young adult author and his work includes Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns.  I read Paper Towns last year.  While the characters and their pranks are over-the-top, I was drawn into the compelling storyline.  Green is also one half of the Vlogbrothers and founder of Nerdfighters.  I purchased Will Grayson in a local bookstore, and a couple of pages in, I found a handwritten note from a local fan.  It thanked me for buying the book and proclaimed, “Don’t forget to be awesome!”  Here’s a Nerdfighters FAQ:

Will Grayson, Will Grayson tells the story of two Will Graysons who live in the Chicago area.  Other than their name, they don’t have much in common.  They meet by chance in a porn shop (which is not as bad as it sounds).  Neither of them really meant to be there, they’re both a bit heartbroken, and admittedly freaked out to meet someone with the same name.  But soon Will is introduced to O.W.G.’s (Other Will Grayson’s) best friend, Tiny Cooper.  As O.W.G. explains, “Tiny Cooper is not the world’s gayest person, and he is not the world’s largest person, but I believe that he may be the world’s largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world’s gayest person who is really, really large.”

Tiny Cooper is a central figure in the story – so much so that the book could have easily been titled Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Tiny Cooper.  Levithan and Green each write in the voice of a different Will Grayson, and the chapters alternate this first-person narration.  Some of my middle school and high school students used to struggled with books written with multiple narrators, but each Will has a very unique voice and perspective so I don’t think that would be an issue here.  I think that this would be a great addition to any high school teacher’s classroom library, and I can see it be incorporated into literature circles that focus on friendship or relationships.

Over on his blog, John Green talks about his experience with co-authoring a book.  Consequently, I think Will Grayson might be a wonderful example of collaborative writing that teachers could use in their curriculum, perhaps in conjunction with tools like Bubbl.us, Google Docs, or MixedInk.  To open it up to more collaborators and readers, look to Novlet or Protagonize.

Image Credit: John Green

When I’m teaching about literacy and technology, I find it incredibly useful to share videos with my students.  Sometimes, educational research can seem very distant or impersonal to pre-service and inservice teachers.  But when they have the chance to hear scholars talk about their work and see them actively engage in research, it often creates a space for critical discussion.

The New Learning Institute has created a wonderful video series that features noted scholars such as Jim Gee, Mimi Ito, Henry Jenkins, John Seely Brown, and many more.  Here are two recent videos that feature faculty in the Games+Learning+Society research group, Constance Steinkuehler and Kurt Squire.

Constance Steinkuehler from New Learning Institute on Vimeo.

Kurt Squire from New Learning Institute on Vimeo.

The latest issue of the Wisconsin English Journal is now online! I have truly enjoyed serving as the assistant editor for the past two years, and I will miss the wonderful editorial board, authors, and reviewers.  Thank you to senior editor Mary Louise Gomez for such a wonderful opportunity!  Marci Glaus, a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, will take over as an assistant editor, along with Jessica Gallo.

In this issue:

From the Editor – Mary Louise Gomez

Views from the Field: Javon’s Story – Catherine F. Compton-Lilly

The New Adventures of English Language Arts: The Revolutions ARE Being Televised… and Blogged and Tweeted – Dawnene D. Hassett

State of the State: RTI and the Role of English Educators – Emilie A. Amundson

The Critical English Educator: Examining Violence in Literature – Melissa Schieble

Making Research Relevant: Learning from One Another – Jessica Gallo

Tech Tools for Teachers, By Teachers: Bridging Teachers and Students – Carmen Manning, William Brooks, Vanessa Crotteau, Annelise Diedrich, Jessie Moser, Amanda Zwiefelhofer

Profile of an Outstanding English Educator – Karen Kelley Rigoni

Book Review of RTI in Literacy-Responsive and Comprehensive – Mary Guay

Book Review of Why Culture Counts: Teaching Children of Poverty – Lisa Arneson

Book Review of Solution-Focused RTI: A Positive and Personalized Approach to Response to Intervention – Dana L. Hagerman

Student Self-Assessment and the Concept of the Completed Argument – John Pruitt

Microblogging for Professional Learning – Luke Rodesiler

Creating Conversations: Pairing YA Lit with Wikis to Build Reading Communities – Robyn Seglem

Social Collaboration in the Workplace: Questions to Consider and Possible Activities for Your Classroom – Jason Henry Wirtz

WCTE Position Statement on Governor Walker’s Budget Repair Bill – Lynn Aprill

In education, we talk a lot about teachable moments. Over the past four weeks, we have all witnessed extraordinary events in Wisconsin. Governor Walker’s proposed legislation has sweeping implications for K-12 and higher education, the environment, and workers’ rights – both in our state and across the nation.

I am disheartened and upset that these events have largely gone ignored in many local schools. Friends who are public school teachers have been explicitly told to not discuss the issues with their students – even when it is relevant to their content area and their lesson plans would meet key state standards. My sixth grade son has engaged in many conversations with his classmates – but those only happen at the lunch table or during recess. As a teacher educator, I was advised to not talk about Governor Walker’s proposed legislation with my pre-service and practicing teachers. (But I did anyway.  I couldn’t, in good conscience, ignore issues that directly affect their current practicum placements and their future careers in public education).

The classroom can be a place where we can teach critical media literacy skills, where we can show students how to really listen and understand divergent points of view, and where we can model respectful discussions.  We need to take advantage of teachable moments – for our sake and for our students.

But there have been many bright moments, too. My son and I have spent a lot of time at the Capitol – marching, chanting, singing, talking with others… and eating pizza, thanks to Ian’s and donations from around the world.

Megan Schliesman, Dawnene Hassett, and I organized a story hour in the capitol and dozens of families joined us.

Evelyn Galindo-Doucette and I have led a weekly run around the Capitol square, 14 laps (~8 miles) in honor of our 14 Democrat Senators.  This Saturday, we’ll run at the same time as a rally and a tractorcade. (Only in Wisconsin!)

It’s been an eventful week here in Madison, with my dissertation defense (passed with no revisions!), the National Council of Teachers of English – Assembly for Research conference, and protests at the state capitol against legislation proposed by Governor Walker that would eliminate collective bargaining for most union members, deny health insurance to 200,000 children, and make our state universities semi-private.

For the past 11 years, I’ve been a union member in Wisconsin, first as a teacher and now as a teaching assistant.  I didn’t vote for Walker, and I can’t support this legislation. Yesterday, our union leaders agreed to take cuts in pay and benefits, if we could preserve collective bargaining.  Walker refused to budge.  Clearly, this isn’t about money: it’s about destroying unions and taking away worker rights.  In response, our state’s citizens have responded in full force.

This week at the capitol, teachers and other public employees were joined by police, firefighters, and countless others who marched, chanted, cheered, and protested this legislation.  My son has joined in the protest too.  (His sign?  “Governor Walker, love our teachers like they love your children.”)  Yesterday, faculty and students from UW-Madison’s School of Education joined together to march from Library Mall up State Street to the capitol.  Our state and our Democratic senators have garnered national and international media attention, and we know that we’re taking a stand not just for ourselves, but for others too. “This is what democracy looks like!”

A week ago, I submitted my dissertation to my committee. As I await my final oral defense, I have been reflecting on the years that I’ve spent in graduate school. I have had an incredible experience at UW, and I’m grateful for the friends, colleagues, and mentors that I’ve met over the past four years. In preparation for my upcoming move overseas, I’ve been going through my bookshelves to decide what to keep, store, or give away. Here are several books that really helped me in graduate school. You’ll notice that they’re not about theory or methodology – depending on your discipline, there are countless ones that can help you there. Instead, these focus on writing, productivity, and being an academic.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

I love Anne Lamott’s writing – she’s funny, self-deprecating, and incredibly honest.  When I first started graduate school, I didn’t realize how much of my life would be spent writing.  Or, more accurately, preparing to write, trying to write, and attempting to revise my writing.  As a former English teacher, I really enjoy writing.  But it’s not something that always comes easy.  As Lamott says, writing “is a matter of persistence and faith and hard work” (p. 7).  Over the years, I’ve realized that many graduate students tend to be perfectionists.  (Or maybe it’s that perfectionists tend to be graduate students).  This can lead to paralyzing perfectionism, which often manifests itself around writing.  In graduate school, you need to write (and write well) to clear the major hurdles: master’s thesis, preliminary exams, dissertation proposal, and the dissertation itself.  Lamott’s book provides insight into the writing process.  While she focuses on fiction, many of the chapters readily apply to academic writing, including the ones entitled “Shitty First Drafts” and “Perfectionism.”

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

This is the kind of book that you may see in Barnes and Nobles’ self improvement section which, incidentally, is not far from the teenage paranormal romance section.  (Thank you, Twilight).  The premise of Allen’s book is that small changes in our daily habits and organizational practices can result in less stress and higher productivity.  Take email, for instance.  Many of us send and receive dozens (if not hundreds) of emails each day.  Allen offers the “do it, delegate it, defer it, or drop it rule” that can be useful in maintaining a nearly-empty inbox.  He also argues that we need to write down all of the things that we need to do, even the everyday tasks like “take the cat to the vet” or “bring donuts to next week’s meeting.”  Otherwise, we’ll remember at random moments and it will be a source of stress.  The book also tackles issues related to setting goals, managing projects, and generally, staying on top of life.  Personally, I found a combination of using Gmail (and having all email accounts forwarded there), Google Calendar (with various color-coded calendars), and Todoist (which works with the Doings app on my iPhone) invaluable.  My friend Alecia prefers CalanGoo with Google Tasks.  Sarah uses beautiful stationary and hand-written lists.  If you consider all of this within a theory of distributed cognition, it makes a lot of sense.

Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success by Wendy Laura Belcher

In my discipline, graduate students are encouraged to publish.  Sometimes, we work as part of a research team and conduct research, analyze data, and write articles together.  Other times, we work on a project with our advisor and publish from that.  These experiences can be instrumental in exposing us to the peer review process, not to mention helping us land a tenure-track position down the road.  But most of us, at some point, may be working on our own, targeting a specific journal, attempting to organize our writing schedule, or just struggling to move an article from conception to completion.  Belcher’s workbook can be incredibly useful in that respect.  While I haven’t followed it from start to finish over 12 weeks, I’ve referred to chapters here and there.  I used to think that there was some magic that went into writing and publishing peer-reviewed articles.  Now I know that it’s more about applying your ass to a chair and your fingers to a keyboard.  Recently, a professor at my university was discussing, with admiration, the writing habits of another senior professor:  “Before he does anything else that day, he writes three pages.”  While I didn’t have the heart to ask if it was single or double-spaced pages, it did leave an impression on me.  Regular, goal-oriented writing is what matters in academia.

Advice for New Faculty Members: Nihil Nimus by Robert Boice

When I was pregnant with my son, I read all of the books that I could about pregnancy, labor, and delivery.  A week before my due date, I had a sudden realization: I hadn’t read any books about parenting.  I had knew nothing about no-cry sleep solutions, the happiest babies on the block, or parenting with love and logic.  Somehow I was so focused on the task at hand, I missed preparing for the next phase of my life.  For a lot of graduate students, the same can happen.  We’re so invested in collecting data, writing our dissertations, and job hunting that it’s easy to feel unprepared for the next step: being a new faculty member.  Boice’s book offers insight into teaching, researching, and writing – all in moderation.  Over at the Chronicle of Higher Education, Boice’s book come highly recommended, as does Ms. Mentor’s Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia by Emily Toth.  I read them both a couple of years ago, and I plan to reread them again in the coming months.

I’m very excited to finish my doctorate and begin my career as a literacy researcher.  As I make that transition, I thought it may be useful to share some of the resources that helped me in graduate school.  Any other books, websites, or tools you would like to add?

Photo Credit: lowjumpingfrog