Videos of class reading during Finals Week

Hello students, friends, and families--

Today I am working to convert and put up all the videos of the class readings we did in our English class this fall.

As I read these introductions and writings, I feel very fortunate to have been able to teach this class. The stories and feelings that are in these writings are, of course, reflections of true human experience. We always have a lot of diversity in our classes, and I think we learn from those different stories and perspectives, but what I also see is that we have a lot in common, and that by sharing our ideas we can take courage and hope from one another. That makes the work of writing very worthwhile, in my opinion.

I think all the students did a wonderful job and I hope you will also enjoy the work they share here!

Enjoy!

Mike Lohre
Senior Lecturer in English
The Ohio State University

Hobart Elementary School

Hi my name is Ahmed Abdullahi, I am originally from Somalia, I have eleven brothers and four sisters,
I travelled many countries including Africa and some European. I came to United States 4 years ago; I am currently attending Ohio state university in Delaware branch. My dream is to be an accountant graduate in the future.
My strongest memory from my first quarter of English 109.1 was kind of interesting, because everybody was strange to me. But a couple days later on I realized everybody was very kind and friendly. Towards my home works everything was very smooth except my first two essays. The books like Ordinary Resurrection and House of Mango Street were very interesting, according to the characters and teachings I got from. I actually learned how to write MLA style papers, because it helped me my economy research paper.
The type of writing that I am sharing with you is my journal #7. This is about Hobart elementary school I chose this topic because this was one of the best schools I admired, how it managed. Also in the future I have a plan of opening after school program which is same to Hobart school. The theme I thought was very important was the responsibility did by the teacher how he was providing transportation from his own pocket.

Hobart elementary school

The Hobart Shakespeareans documentary was very useful. The students in the school have different backgrounds, from Asian and Latino, which means English, was a second language to the most of them. A lot of the students expressed their feelings towards their understanding, and they stated the difficulties that encountered with them and how poor they were in education.
These 5th grade students actually managed their character to act like Shakespeareans. I think this success is not from their parents. But their teacher who was really having twenty years experience, and he said “I was taught this skills from my home”. He meant that everybody takes his own direction, either by becoming a Pilot or a Doctor. So he chose to be a teacher .the Hobart elementary school took very important step forward which based on teamwork and honest. My response to this documentary, the most important person is the teacher, who sacrifices his and money because of them. He also took the students to the Jefferson memorial, to make the students to remember about the Vietnam War and get better citizens. The teacher also gets the patient of educating those students who are ten steps behind then the regular students. I personally have a wish to finish my dream one day, no matter how long it will take to me , but whenever I get good opportunity , I would like to create programming activities, to educate young

Kara's reading

Hi! My name is Kara Meade, I'm 19 years old and originally from right here in central Ohio. My family moved around a little when I was little and we also lived in Washington the state and connecticut. My major is currently hospitality management. I am really excited about it because I want to do something pertaining to event planning and that could include so much! I would say one of my hobbies is young life because it takes up a lot of my time. I live on campus and I'm currently training to be a leader, so it's nice to have the fellowship that I do at my house.

From my first quarter of college, I would definitely say that English 109.01 was my favorite class. I enjoyed the atmosphere of it with the small class, and in depth discussions. I learned so much about the writing process, I never really knew how much precise details were necessary to complete a well done paper. That was for sure the area I saw myself grow the most, I feel as though a well thought out paper will come with so much ease now. Reading is even an area where i saw myself grow. Active reading was a big help in that, by making my brain depict language better.

The piece of writing I chose to read was snapshot two, characterization of a person. I picked this piece of writing because I actually described my grandpa. I really liked this snapshot i wrote because it brings back so many memories about him and my childhood. He was such an inspiration because he was such a character. No one else can compare to my Papa, I think the theme would just be family.

Growing up around my grandpa, was at times, intimidating to say the least. Papa was an English gentleman born and raised in Kharagpur, India who came to America when he was eighteen. He mostly frightened me as a little girl because of the strong willed presence he brought about the room. He had a deep accent and it was hard for me to understand him a lot, but I was usually too scared to ask him to repeat what he had sad. Papa had grey and black hair that was always slicked with a fragrant gel that matched his strong cologne. I usually envision him in his big hunting boots, suspenders, plaid flannel underneath, and a mad bomber hat to match as he is walking down his long driveway to get the paper everyday. The thing I remember most about my papa are his wise ways, and his stories about world war two, or just silly one he made up. After the death of my uncle when I was little, I distinctly remember sitting on my papa’s lap and asking him what all the beauty marks all over his olive skin were. He just laughed and said, “Oh they are from all my children and grandchildren my girl!” I come from a family of about thirty cousins, so this explanation made perfect sense to me because he had so many all over him. He explained that while every one of his kids or grandkids were being born, he pinched himself in certain places out of nervousness. So I got all excited and asked where mine was, where one of my cousins were, and I pretty much named every relative. He was patient with me and would act like he knew exactly where each one was. The bigger beauty marks were usually where the older kids were. I like thinking back to this memory of my papa because although he was a well known respected man around the town, I can still recall his kind and silly nature towards his beloved grandchildren.

Last English Class Blog

My name is Bansari Ribadiya. I was originally born in India but I've been in the United States for about 7 years. I've moved many times in my life, which I don't mind because I love traveling. I am currently undecided about my major but I am planning on going into the medical field. One of my hobbies is art which no doubt is a huge part of my life.Other than that keeping my culture alive in my community is also a big chunk of my life.

Strongest memory from English 109.01 is sitting around the table and discussing the books and actually talking about how the books were meaningful and not just something we had to read. During these two months I have learned that reading actively lets you remember ideas easily when you reflect back on it. I saw myself grow the most when it comes to writing freely in the journals and being descriptive in the snapshots.

I picked it because I like it (: And I like writing poems...well sometimes.

Linear Intertwined

A long sidewalk made of concrete and stones,

Becomes my path to peacefulness.

Leaving behind alienation to come to a place thats my own.

A path comes to a branch.

There is no longer just a sole.

Duplet.

Picturing which one would be optimal,

A step has been taken.

Startled, the step moved back.

Optimal thoughts have turned into full of doubts.

Then another step has been taken,

Towards the opposite direction.

Terrified the step has gotten a second thought.

Reasoning with the heart and the mind has taken over.

Combat between the two rights.

Which will win this battle.

Heart speaks out and says

Numerous paths but they will only be what the mind and the heart combined make of it.

last blog

Hi my name is Carlos Teos and I’m 19 years old. I was born in El Salvador and I moved to the United States when I was 10 years old. I have an older sister who is 20 and is studying to be a pediatrician and a younger brother that is a freshman in high school. Currently I’m attending the OSU Delaware center and the major that I have pick is accounting. My goal is to become a certify public accountant. One of my hobbies is soccer. I enjoy watching and playing soccer.

One of my strongest memories from taking English 109.01 would be the video about Hobart Shakespearians. This is my strongest memory because taught me to take advantage of my opportunities because not everyone has them. I learned that in order to write a good paper there four steps you need to follow. I think that I grew the most in the annotation process. I think grew I the most in this area because I did not like to annotate at all but now I do it every time.

The piece of writing the I like the most would snapshot four which is the characterization of a place. I picked this piece because I think this is one of the best that I wrote because I used a lot of metaphors. When I used to live in my country I loved to spend time in my grandparents house, and sometimes I would I stay for the whole summer there. This is what inspired me to write about their house. Here is a sample of the piece.

Out of the places that I have visited, been at, or lived at there is only one place that I have a clear picture in mind. This place makes me feel safe because it looks like it’s fortify like it were a castle, four walls really high like mountain Everest surrounding the house. The yard is big like the pacific with some many trees, different types of trees, like coconut trees, mango trees, lime trees and so many other trees that I cannot remember. I took advantage of this because I would eat mangos everyday; they are so sweet like sugar but healthier and so addicting you always wanted more and more. Not only were there trees but also animals, many animals, there were cows all kinds of sizes, small cows big cows and baby cows, there were also pigs, chickens, rosters, dog, cat. In the mornings the rosters would ring like an alarm clock, right after sun rise, signifying that it was time to get up but I would ignore it and sleep like a baby and wake up when I wanted to. The days were long and hot like if you were in the Sahara. If you were out doing something your sweat would drip like a waterfall with in minutes. He would say to me hammocks are the best thing to have for this excessive heat; it was true because the breeze you got from swinging on them was like taking a cold shower. The nights were quiet everyone was inside their homes just before dark and no noise from the twentieth century innovations just quiet and peaceful until the next day came.

Last English Class!! :(

I am Neel Patel, and a freshman at The Ohio state University. I was born in India, but I lived most of my life here. Right now I haven’t picked a major yet, but I am leaning toward computer engineering or something in that field. One of the thing I love doing is playing basketball. I absolutely love the game, and wish to keep playing till I die.

One of my strongest memory of our English 109.01 class would have to be the Hobart Shakespearians movie. It really changed my view on poverty and missed opportunity. Also taught me why education is still the most important piece to achieve in life. This class also helped me to be more creative with my thoughts and the writing.

The writing piece that I am going to share is my first job experience. The job taught me a lot about responsibility and maturity. Also I had some of the best moments at my jobs, and here is one of them…

My first job was at Tim Horton’s. I hated working there, because I was only 16 at that time and all my friends would be playing outside or hanging out and I would be working. Since I was the youngest there, I always got picked on, but there were some good memories that I will never forget. One time a customer came in and asked me for a diet cherry coke. Since we only had four drinks, I mixed the fruit punch, coke, and Dr. pepper and gave it to him. The manager was a good friend of mine so we goofed around a lot. At that time we also had free refills on drinks so the customer came back and asked my manager for diet cherry coke, and he said that we don’t sell that, so I ran up there and told him that we just started selling them like yesterday. The manager knew that this was a joke and he just let me do it. I will never forget this experience I had. Even though I hated working there but I learned a lot and met some of the coolest people in the world.

Our last english 109.01 class

I come from a family of four including me. I grew up in the city of Dublin, Ohio. I have decided that I would study the subject of biology. With this degree I plan to later study radiology or pharmacy. My hobbies are pretty boring video games and working out are the main ones.
My strongest memory from English 109.01 was all of the creative writing we did. The writing process is a lot longer than it seems or what I used to do for papers. I saw myself grow the most as a reader by being able to pick out key events and characters.
My snapshot that I will be sharing with the class is about my name. I chose this snapshot because I thought I did a good job on it. The inspiration for this snapshot was to let people know why my name is what it is. The theme is to get to know me a little bit from what my name is and the way I describe it.
Stephen Livingston is my name. My parents told me that they thought of St. Stephen when they were thinking of names for me, and that’s how I got my name. I don’t really mind the name Stephen it’s not a very unique name kind of like wonder bread, plane and boring. Some people call me Steve-o a stunt fanatic addicted to drugs, but I’m nothing like that so I don’t know why they call me that.
I feel like people get the wrong impression of me when they use that name, but I just let it go. Another nick name is Livo a combination of Steve-o and my last name which is good and better than just Stephen, but I don’t really like it. My favorite name is Livingston; I guess it’s because that’s what my favorite teacher in high school used to call me. I really like the name will because it reminds me of one of my favorite comedians, Will Ferril who is sarcastic just like me. Yes. Something like Will, will do.