1. When I read Tom Johnson's post, I realized there was more than what appeared on the surface. It couldn't really be about pencils. Besides seeing the pencils as computers or technology, I saw other hidden meanings. I kind of even created a metaphor in my blog post by saying teachers need to give students a little bit of the reigns when it comes to their education. I think I was able to see past the surface because of the excellent schooling I have had in the past. I have had some really amazing English teachers that strived to make their students the best they can be. Students learned that metaphors were important to writing. We also learned that you may have to look closer into what you're reading to see a metaphor. That is why I think some people in class didn't see the metaphor. A lot of students just want to read something straight forward and only see the literal meaning on the surface. It's not ignorance, it's just they don't realize. I've been looking at other people's post about missing the metaphor and they all seem to say it wasn't taught well in their school. I can see their point. When I started taking my math class for elementary teachers, I saw how flawed the education system can be. Students weren't getting a good foundation in math, so that when they got to the much harder levels they felt it was almost impossible to perform well. I think this can be said for all other subjects. The students that missed this metaphor probably weren't taught to look deeper into what they read or they were taught so quickly that everything was forgotten. Another explanation could be: burp back teaching. Oh no! They might have had to learn about them so quickly and then only had a few questions on their next test. By the time it was all over they had forgotten it all and moved on to the next topic in class.
2. I have encountered a lot of metaphors that I appear on the image I chose for this post. I have heard people referred to as chickens, guardian angels, and class clowns. I have even heard life and a friend's emotions being compared to a roller coaster. I hope that people who may miss metaphors are starting to realize how much they're used everyday.
3. We need to teach students how important metaphors are. To help them grasp the concept better, we have to provide fun activities. Depending on their age, we can read fun colorful books that have metaphors in them. We can assign a class project, where even the teacher participates. Each person participating gets a medium sized piece of poster board. We would split the poster board in half by drawing a line in the middle with a marker. Then on one half, write the word metaphor and the definition. On the other half, write an example of a metaphor and illustrate it. This could be a fun activity for them. I'm sure if you searched in the right places you could find plenty of lessons or activities that involve metaphors. We can even do what Dr. Strange asked of us. Tell students to keep a log of metaphors they hear. Then, they can tell their class the favorite one they heard. This could lead to a great class discussion.
4. I believe we use metaphors because it adds color to our dialogue. They also broaden our way of thinking. We don't just see something one anymore. Also, we can clearly picture what we're thinking or reading about. I found an example of a metaphor online. It was "time is a river". Like I first said, this phrase would add color to our dialogue. Instead of saying time is really long, we compare it to a long winding river. Second, this metaphor broadens our way of thinking. We don't just see time as time and the river as the river. We don't see time as just being really long, either. We see the river of time with people swimming in it. Some let the river take them slowly to their destination, the end. Some people may be swimming quicker to end and others may be fighting against the currents to go their past. Do you see how that one little statement caused all of that thought and vision? Last, the metaphor gave us a way to view something that may have otherwise been difficult to see. When you think about time, what do you see? You may have just said a river or some other metaphor in your mind. Slow down, you're a few steps ahead! Pretend there isn't any metaphors. You can't measure or view time. Yeah, you can see a clock, but time is more a concept then a thing. Now introduce metaphors, you now have a way to clearly see that concept that you couldn't see before.
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