Akira's Second Blog

 Agenda:

Take a minute

Blog - Corrections

Week 7: Q, Q, S, L

Reader's Workshop

Homework:

RJ 7.2 The Outsiders chapter three, pages 37-52

    Today's English class started as usual: sitting down to write the Agenda, taking a minute of relaxation, etc. Quickly after taking a minute, Ms. Nakada asked Rin if they wanted to read their blog, who replied with a silent shake of the head "no." Understanding their decision, Ms. Nakada read Rin's blog for them, correcting the few mistakes they made. Afterwards, Rin looked around the class to pick who they wanted to do the next blog. I stared into Rin's eyes, trying to communicate an unspoken plea for them not to pick me. My intense staring must've lost translation considering how they still went through the horrible choice to pick me as today's writer. To be fair, I, the Amazing Akira, have been told how great of a writer and storyteller I am. I mean, that's the only reason Rin would pick me, for my storytelling skills. Is Rin really the type of person to be so cruel as to pick me for pure, utter, torture for their own pleasure? My writing skills shouldn't, however, be the reason they picked me out of all of the other classmates. 

    While I was sitting at the front writing away my first paragraph, the class already finished discussing The Outsiders chapter two. They conversed about a new character, Cherry, and the flashback to Johnny's beating. Ms. Nakada even shared how the book is going to get worse from there. 

    We eventually made it to our question of the week: "How do you take care of yourself during stressful times?" Classmates shared their ways to relax such as listening to music, cooking, cleaning, and working out. Our song of the week was "Numb Little Bug," by Em Beihold. Ms. Nakada told us to focus and think about the tone of the song and its effects. This song had a happy tone, with contrasting lyrics. As relatable as the lyrics are, it made me feel a sense of distance. Her tone makes me feel like she's on edge. Like she's going through her own problems while still trying to look past the foggy air and stormy clouds surrounding her. In a way, this song holds an eerie sense of familiarity. 

    We moved on to our lines, "Tired," by Langston Hughes. I shared how this poem sounds like Hughes was comparing the world to an apple: nice on the outside, rotten on the inside. Since it was Wednesday, we took 10 minutes of our time to have silent reading time. 

     At the end of class, we passed the post-it notes to the end of the aisle and waited to be dismissed for fourth period.