Meriwether+Joyner



Hello. My name is Meriwether Joyner. Welcome to my Wiki Page. I am a Senior at Clemson University pursuing a degree in Secondary Education and English. I will graduate in May of 2014 after completing my student teaching this semester at Daniel High School. Throughout my four years at Clemson, I have been involved in Alpha Delta Pi Sorority and participated as a volunteer leader in the organization Young Life. This year, I have also been serving as team leader for my Young Life team. In my free time, I enjoy exploring new cities, pursuing my passions in writing, painting and music, and finally enjoying the great outdoors whether hiking in the mountains or laying on a beach. After college, I plan to move to a big city in a different region of the US, adventure around and hopefully land a job most likely teaching high school English.

**Blogs I'm Following:** ** Walking to School: Arguing For a Teaching Profession That Would Transform Education, Restore Our Goal of a Free and Meaningful Public Education for the Next Generation, and Support the Ideals of Our Democracy ** @http://walkingtoschool.blogspot.com/

This blog was voted one of the Top 25 High School Teacher Blogs in 2012 by Top Masters in Education. It discusses current issues going on in Education, teaching and aims to provide well thought out responses to educational reform as well as ponder all of the things that go into being a good teacher in 21st Century America. It is definitely worth a read, and will leave you thinking deeper and laughing through some funny stories with great implications about teaching and the educational system.

=**Donors Choose: Teachers Ask. You Choose.**= @http://www.donorschoose.org/

Donors Choose is an organization that allows teachers to make accounts and post their needs for their classrooms. Then, people from anywhere, can see what the teacher has asked for, such as books or equipment, and donate however much they desire. This is a really great site if you work at a school that has limited resources. It also is great, because it lets people see exactly where their money is going while letting them give meaningfully to education.

**Glogster** A website devoted to creative template posters, Glogster enables users to build multimedia posters in a very approachable, user-friendly way. Glogster could be used in the classroom via an artistic project where students created a book or movie cover for a book they have been reading. It could also be used similarly to create an "About Me" page about a character in a book. It would definitely tap into the artistic intelligences in a classroom, which is sometimes skipped over. The Glogster post I have included is a simple "About Me" poster. It includes one of my favorite scenes from the film //The Break Up// as well as some quirky things about me and a few roles that I play in my life, titles I would associate with myself. I tried to make it really fun, and give you a more well-rounded view of myself than just what I like to do. Also, just the design element will give you an idea about what kind of person I am, what is appealing to me. I hope you enjoy it.

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Bob Dylan from Blood on the Tracks (I had to upload the file)
 * Simple Twist of Fate **

They sat together in the park As the evening sky grew dark, She looked at him and he felt a spark tingle to his bones. 'Twas then he felt alone and wished that he'd gone straight And watched out for a simple twist of fate.

They walked along by the old canal A little confused, I remember well And stopped into a strange hotel with a neon burnin' bright. He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train Moving with a simple twist of fate.

A saxophone someplace far off played As she was walkin' by the arcade. As the light bust through a beat-up shade where he was wakin' up, She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate And forgot about a simple twist of fate.

He woke up, the room was bare He didn't see her anywhere. He told himself he didn't care, pushed the window open wide, Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate Brought on by a simple twist of fate.

He hears the ticking of the clocks And walks along with a parrot that talks, Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailers all come in. Maybe she'll pick him out again, how long must he wait Once more for a simple twist of fate.

People tell me it's a sin To know and feel too much within. I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring. She was born in spring, but I was born too late Blame it on a simple twist of fate.

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Response:

This song, focused on the repeating line, “simple twist of fate,” seems to be saying that it is small decisions and coincidences that run and govern our lives. The narrator is singing about a man who meets a girl in a park, and they have a one night stand. It is this crazy, happenstance that brings them together, and they share a great night together. In the morning though, she ignores the “simple twist of fate,” that he seems to believe is a sign or a governing force that one should listen to, and she leaves him. The end of the song leaves him wandering, looking for her, wishing she would listen to what their fated meeting. And then he turns to looking for a new twist of fate. He looks to happen upon someone else. He believes their souls were meant to be, in a way they belonged together, but in another way it wasn’t right. And he ends up going back on himself, saying it was the twist of fate that brought them together, but also one that tore them apart. They were not right for each other after all. There are definitely themes of love and loss as well as fate and almost predestination. The idea is that we were meant to belong to certain people, and that we should follow the winds that blow us towards people. It will happen. The universe will guide us. Transcendentalism. Fate. And we are the powerless ones.

Why You Should Study Abroad

media type="custom" key="25034438" wordcentral.com Word Central is a great resource, because it simplifies the definitions in ways that help students understand, but does not take away from the meaning of the word. The site was created by Merriam Webster, so it is definitely reliable and good information. It provides different games for students to build vocabulary. You cannot choose the words, but it is a good source for just generally building vocabulary. It also has a daily word, and it gives a sentence as well as definition, synonyms and antonyms which is neat. I could see that being used as a bell-ringer and some sort of point system for using the word in class. Also, there is a really interesting section called "Build Your Own Dictionary," where kids can submit created words and a definition, which I think adds a cool element. Kids should realize they have power to create and change the way we speak. = Technology Project: A Day in the Life of Jimmy Irony (Teaching Irony) = media type="custom" key="25642284"