bootism-shoe-religion

Interviewer:Tell me about yourself.

Leo: Well, i'm not all that exciting. I want to go into broadcasting. As most of you know I run the behind the scenes of the Hot Seat. I really don't know why I was put on the Hot Seat. I'm not all that interesting.

Interviewer: Well, as you know the Hot Seat can get interesting at times.

Interviewer: What drew you to Stargirl?

Leo: Well, her carefree attitude. She was so daring on playing her ukele. She didn't seem to care what others thought. I think this is what drew me because that is what I lack in my own life. I don't feel free to express myself openingly.

Interviewer: What scared you most about Stargirl?

Leo: What scared me about Stargirl was what drew me to her. I thought that her carefree atitude was going to be her downfall. Mica high school is a neat little school where everyone knew their place. When Stargirl came she was different. I don't think people knew what to do with her.

Interviewer: Why do you think Stargirl does things nice for people?

Leo: I don't know the true reason why she helps people but it seems to me that she enjoys doing good for others. It just seems to be in her make up as a person.

Interviewer: How did Stargirl threaten the balance that Mica High school had?

Leo: She threatened the balance because she was enthusastic. She helped us start winning sports games. She brought the idea and feel of winning to our school. We as a school were content with losing until we got a taste of winning. This is when things went sour. We wanted to keep winning. She brought spirit to our school. But winning can be equated to evil. She was such a spirited person she cheered for everyone. If you want to win then the other team has to lose. Which means you don't cheer for other team. Stargirl didn't seem to have the concept of competition. It was not in her vocabulary. Put simply she was and earthquake that shook our contentmentinto discontentment.

Interviewer: What is worse conformity or nonconformity?

Leo: I don't really know for sure. I always thought nonconformity was worse. But now I think conformity is worse. (pause) If you ask Stargirl conformity is worse. Because it is not who she was. She wasn't her true self. She was not happy being like others.

Interviewer:What did you think having Stargirl conform was going to do?

In my mind having her conform would help bring my reputation up. It didn't. I think it had a lot to do with me. I was uncomfortable with change. I didn't mind her being herself outside of school but in school she had to be like everyone else. I thought she might be happy because she had more friends. But She wasn't she was actually really sad. But at the time I didn't care because she was like everyone else. I had her conform for selfish reasons.

Interviewer: Have you ever questioned why the student body had issues with Stargirl?

Leo: No i really haven't questioned why the student body didn't like her. Now that I think about it it probably had something to do with their inseucurities, similar to mine. They were not comfortable with change. She off centered the balance that we had.

Interviewer: Do you wish you could take back what happened between you and Stargirl?

Leo: I do regret some of the things that happened but I don't think we were suppose to stay together. I think she came into my life for a purpose and once that purpose was complete she would move on as she did. I'm sure you are wonder what that purpose was. She was to show me who I really am. Show me my insecurities. She taught me a lot about myself. Maybe down the road I would like to see her again.

When I read a YA book I always want to use in my classroom. Not always as lessons but have the book available to my students. I have my own ideas about how I would incorporate a book like Stargirl in to my class. Preface to my ideas. I think that this book has lots of ideas that could be difficult for students to talk about. So i would have lots of writing down of ideas and then we as a class would share. Also I would have a Rule of nothing said in my classroom would leave the classroom. I know this is hard for some. But I would put it to my students like this: You wouldn't want another person talking about you would you? Probably not. So lets keep all sharing that is done in this room in this room. THe walls are sponges absorbing all that is said. I also would have them sign an agreement of sorts and there would be consquences if information leaves classroom. I maybe living in la la land here but this is my ideal. Don't know how well it will work. Here are some of my ideas:

1. Before reading I would have students write about their high school experience. They can put anything they want down. I want both the positive and negative experiences. The only person that will see these Papers would be me as the teacher.
2. introduce the book Stargirl. have discussion about what this book might be about.
3. Students would be required to keep a writing journal as they read.
4. this might be a journal entry or paper. If there was a new student like Stargirl at our school what would happen? and How would you personally treat her?
5. Other journal ideas: do you identify with one of the characters so far?, Compare and contrast Mica HS with our HS., What is wrong with non conformity?, Would you rather be a conformist or a nonconformist and why?, thoughts on change of Stargirl?

Here are some websites with lesson plans using Stargirl that I thought were awesome:

Freedom of Speech

Making meaning

Literature lessons
This website was awesome. It had all of Jerry Spinelli's books with lesson plans to go with them. Also you can search for other authors and get lessons to go with those books too.

Here are some quotes that inspired me:

"How humans have to make sense of world. Students had to assign reasons to Stargirl's dress and actions.
This is human nature."


This quote gets the heart of human nature. In all things we have to understand it. If we don't understand it then we can't make sense of it. Also if we can't make sense of it we assign it something. If I can't understand something then I make meaning out of it the best I can. For example in school the really smart kid was a nerd. He just couldn't be cool. He had to be the nerd. Or the really athletic they were the jocks. The pretty girls were popular. Everyone had to fit in a group. This is how we make sense of our world. The world is a much bigger place than we can comprehend. So we have to make sense of our world on a smaller level.

"She is us more than we are us. She is I think, who we really are. Or were."

This quote is refreshing. I don't think anyone really is there true self. We all wear masks. I know I do. This is the reason I think in the story that Stargirl scares everyone. She is showing her real self, but nobody else is. I think that if everyone really was there true self we would find a lot more similarities between everyone.
The last part of this quote really hits a sensitive spot. The masks we wear ultimatly become who we are. We don't really know who are true self is. I don't really know who I am. I wore so many masks that I think it will take some time to uncover who i really am. The biggest question is will I like the true me? What will she be like. I think that it is scary to take those masks off and uncover the "me". This quote ties into the quote about making sense of our world. I think wearing a mask(s) helps us make sense of our world. We put masks on because this is who we think others want us to be. So when someone doesn't cover up their true self we get scared. So the only way to make sense of them is to categorize them.

"You'll know her more by your questions than by her answers. Keep looking at her long enough. One day
you might see someone you know."

This quote is so complex. If we ask the questions we will understand. We won't understand by her answers but by the questions we ask. The most powerful thing that a person can do is to observe with an open mind. I think it is very true that observation is a wonderful tool to use. The things that are observed in a safe environment vs. an unsafe environment are totally different but the things that are observed in the safe environment are those that reveal the true self.