OWP06

Paper 4 Reflection

Reflection
By
Hafeeza McKinnis

 
    4^th Grade - a new grade level, new curriculum to teach, new units to develop and oh yes, the dreaded state writing test. Would I survive? Just thinking about the state writing test was nauseating. School began in September, and the students had to take the test in January. Impossible!  My students could never be ready for that demanding test. Even as my mind struggled with what was ahead of me, my organized brain was formulating a plan. Relax!
    Yes, time does fly when you don’t have to work. It was already September. This was my chance to put my plan into action. A thorough assessment of my students' writing revealed I had a lot of work ahead of me. How could I bridge that big of a gap? How could these students become writers? Like everything else – I knew we would have to practice, practice, and practice again. The only way to develop fluency in writing is by writing, so we wrote 45 –60 uninterrupted minutes everyday. We brainstormed, we organized, we created sloppy copies, we revised, we edited, we published - and then we did it all over again. It seemed an eternity to January, but it arrived like a bolt of lightening. Fortunately for us, the test could be done in February.
    Finally, the state test arrived. One look at the prompts and I heaved a sigh of relief. If my students did what they were doing all along, we’d be OK. But would they do it? I had five agonizing days of standing by the door watching them labor, too scared to look at what they were writing. But they seemed to be engaged. They were working hard. They were going through the steps. They were using their highlighters, dictionaries, spell checkers, and yes, they were taking their time. From where I stood, it looked good, and the test scores supported it.
    Now summer is half over, and it's just atrocious I am still attending a writing workshop, but effective as I have to constantly reflect on my own writing skills and how I teach it to my kids. My students have certainly come a long way as writers, but now I know we had only been scratching the surface, or maybe laying the foundation. As a result of my positive experience from being a participant at this workshop, I am no longer content to have my students respond to the writing prompt. Now I want students to create, not just write, to craft, not just organize, to reflect, not just revise, to write for themselves, not just for me. And the challenge is how to lead my students into this new dimension of discovery!
    One of the surest ways to help my students is to become a writer again, to relive the passion that once consumed and compelled as I put pen to paper, to relish the fluency of words as they fill the white pages. I need to create, craft, reflect, and write for myself. Through my writings at the workshop, I have rediscovered the strengths and weaknesses of my own writing style, and have challenged myself to write from perspectives I had not even considered before.
    Sharing the fruits of my labor from this workshop with my own children also inspired them to write their own stories. My special needs daughter, the most reluctant writer ever encountered, wrote several stories in her journal – a journal that was lost for the past three years, but suddenly emerged.  My younger daughter, inspired by the writing of several stories posted on the blog, also wrote many pieces using lots of adjectives. Watching them write and enthusiastically reading their stories to me was the most rewarding, encouraging, motivating, and fulfilling experience I had as a writing teacher. I can see my writing having the same effect on the students I am fortunate enough to teach. This is only one of the gems I will be taking with me from this workshop.
    Through this workshop, I was introduced to a multitude of valuable skills for assisting my students and myself in becoming better writers. I am even more aware of the power of collaboration in writing and can see the value of writing as a social process. The variety of lessons, book reviews, and hands on demonstrations gave me an arsenal I am eager to use. I enjoyed the art projects and loved making Picasso faces.  I could see my students totally engaged in activities like these and plan on emulating them.   The many websites and software presented broadened my knowledge and gave superb examples of how easy it was to integrate technology into my everyday writing and that of my students.  Our work with Inspiration inspired me, and I know my students will enjoy creating their stories and reports using this software.
    There is so much to do and teach. My mind is bombarded with ideas, but how will it all come together? That will be the welcoming challenge I now have to work with, and I will embrace it  with eager arms.

 

Book Review 4

                                     
Craft Lessons:  Teaching Writing K-8
Reviewed by Hafeeza McKinnis

    Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8 presents a series of mini lessons on the art of writing. The authors, Ralph Fletcher and Joann Portalupi, have taught writing to teachers for about fifteen years. Joanne was an elementary school teacher and staff developer at the Teacher’s College Writing Project while Ralph is a children’s book author.
    The book is divided into three main sections: primary (k-2), intermediate (3-4), and middle school (grades 5-8). The lessons in each section are geared toward developing writing during the entire writing process, not just the beginning and the end. Each lesson is presented on one page and is subdivided into three areas. It begins with a discussion and then moves on to how to teach it. A list of the resource material needed is also included. Seventy-eight lessons covering fiction and non fiction writing are presented.
    Using surprising imagery was one of the lessons I really liked. The authors encourage the students to write vivid descriptions and then compare them to things they usually won’t put together. One of the unique ideas I found appealing was teaching kids the concept of writing low on the food chain. General ideas are placed at the top of the food chain. Specific details are lower on the food chain. The top of the food chain feeds on the bottom of the food chain. Readers are bottom feeders. I had never heard writing explain this way before and really like the visual it presented.
    The book concludes with a question and answer section that I found very valuable. Many of the questions I had as I read the book were addressed in this section. The answers provided practical information on how to address the concerns I had. I especially like the advice on how to deal with reluctant writers. The authors suggested that the teacher keep the element alive by creating a space in the classroom that reminds student to explore the craft element. A second way they suggested was to return to that element in the classroom from time to time, and provide models for the students to follow. Another area I found valuable was their counsel on what to do when teachers talk a lot about the qualities of good writing and students do not apply it to their own work. Their approach was to break down the writing into specifics students could use and encourage them to use their five senses. Another gem was their response on the scope of how much I can expect students to learn about craft in a single year. They recommended teaching just two or three things about craft each year.
    While I would recommend this book, I would encourage readers to be sure they have all the resources listed for the lessons as I had problems understanding some of the content without them. The author used many examples of good writing to model the concepts presented. However, many examples used were not written in the book, and I didn’t have access to them. That made it difficult to see the effectiveness of the lesson.

 

 

 

Book Review 3

Book Review 3
Experiment with Fiction
The Reading/Writing Teacher’s Companion
By
Donald H. Graves

 Reviewed by Hafeeza McKinnis

     The book Experiment with Fiction is a remarkable book that encourages teachers to work at improving their own literacy while teaching reading and writing to their students. The author, Donald H. Grave, a writing guru for more than twenty years, believes a large part of learning in writing is experimental. Consequently, he considers this book as being  “a series of actions, experiments for personal growth and discovery in the classroom.” He effectively presents this model by including information to assist in teacher’s development in understanding fiction. An “action section” follows this for each lesson, which gives specific ideas on how these concepts can be taught in the classroom. His methodology for engaging students includes questioning, summarizing, challenging, and modeling.
    I was impressed with the way the author got the reader’s attention. He described his first piece of fiction as a whopper that stirred his parents to action. I especially appreciated his developmental approach to writing. He believes that children learn to write fiction similar to how they learn to draw. Beginning artist normally draw just one picture on a page (usually a noun – e.g. dog, house). Then they progress to two objects which are related. At this point, students are ready to begin narratives. By the time children choose to write fiction, it is action packed with little character development. This insight was very comforting to me, as I noticed this with my own students and thought it was a result of faulty teaching.
    I would recommend this book to teachers, like myself, looking for direction in teaching fiction effectively to students. The book is comprehensive and reader friendly. The writing experiments presented are effective, content rich, and easy to adapt to individual classrooms.

Paper 3 The Journey Back

The Journey Back
By
Hafeeza McKinnis

     “What did you find? Kaitlan excitedly asked as she scurried ahead of us to catch up with her sister.   
    “It's a rock, Kaitlan, a rock! Chelsea exclaimed, as she moved the beautiful stone away from her sister.
    “Let me see, Chelsea! Mom! Dad! Chelsea won’t let me see the rock!" cried Kaitlan.
    “It’s my rock, since I found it, and I don’t want you looking at it!” retorted Chelsea
    “It’s not your rock! You didn’t make, and you can’t take it…!"
    The voices drifted off in the wind as the girls continued their squabble ahead of us. My feet lingered as my gaze was transfixed by the seagull ahead, swiftly darting to catch its prey. I reached for my hair, which was blowing in all directions and tucked it into my coat, as the same wind that embraced the waves caressed my face. A shaft of light glimmered on the water as the sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds. My husband, a native Oregonian, speeded up so he could catch up with our two skirmishing girls.
    I unzipped my coat and sat on one of the water soaked logs that furnished the beach. The wind picked up again and I shivered as the cold air enveloped me, but I was now comfortable with it, unlike my first visit to the Pacific. Was it really so long ago that I made that voyage to the Oregon Coast? Now it seemed like centuries had passed, when I was in another world, in a different body!
    I remembered my excitement when I knew I would be visiting the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Now I laugh at myself - my naïve assumption that this would be just like home, my enthusiasm to be the first one in my family to explore the Pacific, my anticipation of relief from my distressingly cold days, my eagerness to feel the therapeutic touch of the water, my fervor to hear the reverberating resonance of the ocean, my thrill to feel the inviting sand between my toes, and the intuition that this one visit would somehow make adjusting to living here easier.  What was I thinking?
    I could vividly recall the shock of standing on this same shore during that  first trip realizing this was no Caribbean beach! What I encountered then was the antithesis of my limited experience. The prevailing fog dancing around the water with fiendish delight was an unfriendly foe. Its accomplice, the squally wind which attacked me with such ferocious force, was an inhuman intruder. How could one experience nature in all its magnificence and majesty in this frosty, aloof, alien place? How could one benefit from the tantalizing therapy imparted when all your senses were deadened by the numbing cold? Yet, as the oceanic symphony permeated the air, I remembered the overwhelming sense of peace that enveloped me as I listened to the spontaneous tempo of the water.  This melody was familiar. I also remembered the flood of emotions that encompassed me as I watched the flamboyant waves prance on the sandy shores. This too was just like home, and for the first time I felt secure. It was inconceivable that this cold, foggy, alien beach would become a harbor of solace enabling me to resolve my conflicting emotions.  But it did!
    Now, as I sat on my water-soaked log, I could barely see the horizon through the gracious clouds. Yet, the harmonious dancing waves with their boundless melody infiltrated the very heavens.  An atmosphere of blissful tranquility engulfed me. The evergreen trees towering majestically toward the gigantic, azure sky lined the coast with a beauty of their own. The ambiance of these imperial, elegant conifers was a peaceful torrent washing over me.   In the distance, the fog had turned inland and was now traveling toward us. We will wait for this welcoming mist to embrace us before we gather our things up to leave. I closed my eyes as the cool, delicate, flowing zephyr bringing the taste of the salt water to my lips cuddled me. The tangy aroma of the sea coupled with the sunshine’s sporadic scintillations as it played with the water worked their enchantment and took me to my sanctuary. I could remain in this perpetual paradise forever. Suddenly, like a flash of lightening, my perfect world was shattered.                 “Mooooom, Chelsea won’t let me see the starfish!”

Book Review 2: After the End

Book Review 2
After the End
Teaching and Learning Creative Revision
By
Barry Lane

Reviewed by Hafeeza McKinnis

 After the End is a unique book that addresses writing as a series of revisions. The author, Barry Lane, is a notable expert on writing who also teaches extensively on this topic in workshops and classes nationwide. His approach to writing is non-traditional and inspiring.  The strategies presented in the book can be used from 3rd grade all the way through to adult writers.

In this book the author portrays revision as the avenue to good writing. The book is a wellspring of ideas on how to bring the writers out in students by encouraging them to revise. The author does this by providing vital, innovative concepts for revision and supporting them with engaging, well written examples from other famour writers.  Some of the areas that caught my attention included the use of questions for developing leads, adding details through the use of snapshots and thought shots, exploding a moment or shrinking a century, graphing characters, cavewriting, and conferencing. I particularly liked his ideas on conferencing. He presented different strategies for the conference which included question conference with a friend, question conference with the teacher, student led teacher conferences, and narrowing the focus to one or two things to discuss during conferences (instead of dissecting the paper). I also appreciated the specific guidelines he gave for using this approach to writing in the classroom. Every chapter in the book ended with creative and doable ideas for classroom teaching and extensions.

While reading this book, I found myself constantly reflecting on my own writing and my personal approach to teaching writing. As I read, my mind was bombarded with thoughts on how to incorporate what I was learning into my classroom. It made me excited to try new strategies and be instrumental in helping students discover the writers within themselves.

I will most definitely recommend this book. I plan on buying a copy for my personal library since there was so much to assimilate. I will need to read it several times and have it available as a handy reference because of the wealth of information it provides.

Web Review: Discovery School.com

Discovery School.com Website Review
By
Hafeeza McKinnis

 Discovery School. com is a teacher and student friendly website that provides a numbers of resources and activities for both students and teachers.

  For the teacher it provides a number of lesson plans and thematic units on a variety of subjects, and educators can use the templates provided to create their own lesson plans, quizzes, activities sheets etc. United Streaming is available through Discovery School for a small fee. Through this service teachers can stream or download over 40, 000 educational video clips for classroom use. Movies are also available for downloading or streaming. Teachers guide and activities are provided to go along with the movies/clips and searching for them is easy. They can be found using key words, grade levels, curriculum strands, or state content standards. Study starters, brain boosters, puzzle makers, and clip art are just some of the other features available at this website.

 Students can use the websites to help with assignments as there is a large homework helper section, or they could just have fun creating word searches, anagrams, math squares, mazes, etc for either themselves or their friends to work on.

 Both my students and I have used this website for the past three years. We especially like the puzzlemaker and have used it to do a number of projects. We often use it to create crosswords and wordsearches using our spelling and vocabulary words. I have used United Streaming videos and clips frequently in the classroom to compliment the classroom curriculum. I have also used some of the lesson plans and activities listed or have made my own up using their templates.

 I would definitely recommend this website as a tool for the busy teacher’s workbox. 

The Turning Tide

The Turning Tide

By

Hafeeza McKinnis

           The potted palms hung their heads as the blistering heat poured down upon their wilted leaves.  Just like the rest of us in the family, were they too feeling the emptiness and desolation that unfolded when separated from a loved one?  The elation felt when the scholarship was awarded to Sis had now rapidly diminished as the days without her lengthened.    While this was indeed a once in a lifetime opportunity many dreamed of, tenacious trepidation abounded like a coiled helical spring just waiting for the release that came only when daily contact with her was established.  You see, apart from the usual family vacations, no one in this dynasty had ever left home unaccompanied for some faraway, mysterious place five thousand miles away known as Eugene, Oregon.  Now, two weeks after the soaring plane transported her to that new era in her life, her messages had become the core of the family conversations.
    “Has she called yet?”  muttered her sister anxiously as she entered the door. This was the question that echoed incessantly throughout the family while they went about their daily routines.  Every conversation  was reenacted by them in their attempt to identify with their sister's new life in an alien realm.  What had they gleaned so far?
    Their sister’s thrilling, enthusiastic speech interspersed with many anecdotes had showcased Eugene, the college, and its inhabitants with vivid clarity.  Despite the spine-tingling stories she related holding her ardent audience willing captives, the quiver in her voice as she asked about family, dinner, and friends betrayed the anxiety, apprehension, and loneliness she felt.  Her brother's  gaze lingered on the pictures she had sent.   
    “The campus is so beautiful. I will like to visit it someday.  Did you know deer that inhabit just the zoo here roam there at will, greeting the world with their soft gaze?” 
     “Life for her must be poignant,” whispered her sister sadly as she listlessly scanned the snapshots of the campus. 
    The girl’s dormitory had now become their sister's auspicious home, and her room mate hailed from Colorado Springs. Although they wrangled constantly on what the temperature of the room should be, they seemed to be like two peas in a pod   Along with her many family photos, a picture of the ocean hung over her bed and as it beckoned to her, she stared at it, willing it to life.
    “Adjusting to another country, culture, and climate can be confusing; but her courage, resilience, and determination will help her,” reflected her brother moodily.  “Right now, her most bothersome challenge is the weather.”
    “Maybe she should have waited until summer to go, but she was so excited to be cocooned in winter, since all she knew was this perpetual summer paradise,” her sister sighed as her mind tried to capture the essence of winter.  "What really is winter like?  According to the traditions, it should snow, but it hasn’t yet in Eugene. Mr. Frost has supreme reign there and maintains frigid, glacial temperatures around 40 degrees." 
    “Living in Eugene is like existing in a refrigerator!”  exclaimed her brother.  “Can one really survive in that climate?  Right now in Trinidad, when its 77 degrees, everyone wears sweaters and jackets.”
    Her bewildered sister now standing in front of the open refrigerator responded,
    “Did you know that the clouds there actually touch the ground and swaddles everything in their path? They call it fog!"
    “Fog! What a fright for anyone to endure!”  shrieked her best friend since the only time fog was seen on the island was in movies just before the ghost materialized.  “That's probably why the sun never shines there.  It is blocked by the mist.  It’s inconceivable that clouds that are always so high up in the Trinidadian sky could actually reach the ground! Maybe the sky is closer to the land in Oregon than in Trinidad."
    “It’s weird that Eugene has such a huge minority population…, but wait!  They are not the minority there, she is!”  her brother exclaimed.   “She is one of the two dark skin students at the school. Every one else is Caucasian, and she still has a hard time telling them apart. The school’s population all speak with that distinguished American inflection…, except they think she is the one with the accent!”
    “How bizarre, that they would think she has an accent when it is so obvious they do!”  countered her sister.  “It would take a lot of time for her to understand the jargon used by many of the students there. Did you know she often has to ask them to slow down so she could grasp what they are saying? What a dilemma –to suddenly be a colored pebble in a sea of white sand!”
    “She called early this morning excited about going to the coast tomorrow. That will be an exciting experience for her. She always dreamed of touching the Pacific Ocean and now she has that chance.   Several students including her room mate will accompany her.  Her obsessive whining about not being able to see the sparkling sea must be driving them insane. It’s great they are so compassionate,”   stated her brother as he lapsed into silent contemplation.
    “What will that coast be like?  Will it have the big, crashing waves she loves to watch?”  he pondered.   
    “Will they play and swim all day on the beach like they do here?” wondered her sister. Lost in their own musings, her sister barely moved her lips as she mouthed,
    “Maybe this experience will provide some peace and tranquility for her!  Maybe this will be the blissful event that will help her feel more connected." So many speculations and questions, but the answers would have to wait. The call tomorrow should be very interesting!

Book Review 1 Writing for Readers: Teaching Skills and Strategies

Writing for Readers: Teaching Skills and Strategies

Written by Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louts

Reviewed by Hafeeza McKinnis

 

Writing for Readers: Teaching Skills and Strategies is a book that provides a yearlong curriculum guide in writing. The book is written by Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis. Both women are teacher educators with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in New York City. This project was started by Lucy Calkins, who now works with many schools on teacher professional development. Natalie Louis is a first grade teacher and the lessons in the book were created for her low writing class. Consequently, the targeted group for implementing this curriculum is the primary classroom. Five sequential units are presented in this book.

The first unit deals with inspiring students to write. The author explains to her class how much she enjoys reading their stories and uses current students’ examples to teach the class how to assess their writing for readability. Next, the authors focus on building vocabulary-one of the keys to good written communication. These chapters deal with words – recording sounds and words (phonics), sight words, and spaces which indicate no words. The unit ends with students using their words to improve their content. The lessons in Unit 3 continue to work on words and content. Sight words are further explored and word walls are introduced. Clarity in writing (writing so others can read) is also addressed here. In Unit 4, partner writing is introduced. Lessons are geared toward students writing for a partner to read, revising with a partner, and peer editing in the areas of adding more sounds, spelling, and punctuation. The last unit in the book deals with teaching students to prepare their writing for publishing, sharing, and reflecting on the readable stories written.

There are 16 lessons in the book. Each lesson plan is explicit and scripted and is geared toward teaching readability (where someone else reads and understands the writing) and independence in writing. Each lesson follows the same format and begins with a connection to something the students had done before, a scripted teaching session, an opportunity for active engagement, guidelines for conference time and after the workshop share, suggestions for accommodations if students need more time, and ways to assess. Pedagogical methods include role plays where the teacher reads a student’s story pretending he/she was the author, partner activities, independent work and reflections, student teacher conferences, partner conferences, and group share.

I would definitely recommend this book to early elementary teachers (K -1st) needing guidance for the writing process. This book provides solid, “how to” writing strategies which is “do-able” in most classroom setting. While it is written for the primary group and recognizes the challenge young writers face especially with their limited vocabulary, it seems too basic for 2nd and 3rd grade. However, the lessons can be adapted to assist struggling, reluctant, and ELL writers in these grades as it provides a foundation that can be built upon. Teachers at these grade levels can also employ the same strategies using more challenging grade level words to increase the content of the stories.

The authors also included several strategies in the instruction which emphasized writing as a process, and concentrated on helping students build vocabulary so they can express themselves. The role playing strategies used by the teacher to instruct is also very effect. However, I would recommend not just role playing using the students’ stories, but also modeling the writing process using the teacher’s own stories of when he/she was six years old. The teacher should not only demonstrate the writing process, but can use a ‘talk through’ process where he/she struggles with finding the right words, deciding the right punctuations, determining if its readable, and so on right in front of the students. I believe that this type of modeling with your own story is a powerful teaching tool, as it serves as a connection between teacher and students since students get to know their teacher through these stories and learn that they do not have to be perfect writers to create good stories.

In my initial reading, it was challenging to figure out how to use the material presented in this book at my 4th-5th grade level since the book was so elementary. However, there were several strategies presented that I believe could be implemented across grade levels. One such area that can transpire across every grade is for students to read their stories aloud, critically analyzing it to see if it is readable through the eyes of someone else. I believe this would give ownership of the writing to the students and could eventually lead to students become more independent writers. Another area that transcends grade level would be the personal word wall. Students can create their grade level word walls and have those in their writing folders to be used in their stories. The actual writing process including the use of the buddy system for generating ideas, revising, editing, and sharing is definitely an approach that can be used at any grade level.

I plan on using several of the strategies presented when teaching my writing class.

 

Welcome to the Oregon Coast

                                        Welcome to the Oregon Coast
                                                             By
                                                Hafeeza Mckinnis             
    Sweat trickled down my back as the jovial sun climbed high in the sky.  I pulled my baseball cap tighter on my head and moved the visor over my eyes as I gazed at the cerulean sea.  The melodic crashing of the waves on the rocks below was nature’s supreme symphony.  A white seagull rapidly swooped, and just as swiftly soared into the sapphire sky with its prize.  Could there be any place more perfect?  I closed my eyes as the lull of the rippling waters worked its magic.  Suddenly, my tranquil paradise was invaded by the shrieking sound of an alarm clock.  Was this just another dream?  I was so homesick!!.
     I had only been in Eugene, Oregon for two weeks, and it was already too long.  How could anyone live in this cold, foggy, rainy, god forsaken place during this time they called winter?  Growing up in the Caribbean island of Trinidad, I must have been insane when I accepted a scholarship to attend college here- a place I hadn’t even heard of until the scholarship. Oh, how I miss the sun, the warm ocean breeze, and the wonderful concerto of the ocean.  I knew in my heart I would not survive another week without seeing the ocean.             
    Hesitantly, I got out of bed, dressed, fought through the fog, and dragged myself to class.  As I entered the main building, my room mate came flying down the stairs.
     “Guess what,” she said.             
    “The sun is going to shine today!” I replied.
     “No silly, we are going to the coast tomorrow and it might even be sunny” 
I couldn’t believe my ears.  We were going to the coast and the sun would actually be out!  I was going to see the Pacific Ocean – the same Pacific Ocean that always seemed to be on another planet!  What an adventure!  Why couldn’t tomorrow be today?  I couldn’t wait until tomorrow!  I couldn’t wait to tell my family back home!              
    I skipped down the hall cheerily greeting everyone I saw.  Of course, I didn’t know who they were, but that didn’t matter.  I was going to see the big waves of the Pacific Ocean crash on the rocks; to hear the sound of nature’s magnificent orchestra as the tides ebb and flow; to feel the warm breeze blowing in my face and hair; to walk barefoot on the sand; and to stare at the distant horizon where the heavens meet the earth.  How could anyone not be happy with that prospect?  I daydreamed through my classes and counted the minutes to my trip.  If only I could make time fly!             
    After a sleepless night, it was finally time to leave.  I bounced up and down like a two year old looking at the birthday cake.  It was going to take about an hour to get to the coast.  I couldn’t contain myself.  I hugged my room mate and began running out of the room.              
    “Be sure to bring you big winter coat,” she called after me for what seemed like the thousandth time since my arrival at college.
I quickly ran back and grabbed my coat. I always needed my coat, but once I got to the coast with the sizzling sunshine, I would be able to shed this heavy weight from my back.             
    We drove for what seemed an eternity and finally the car stopped.
     “We’re here,” my room mate exclaimed.
     “Where,” I replied.
     “At the coast,” she said.
I looked around in disbelief.  I could hear the call of the ocean, but I couldn’t see it.
     “Where is it?”  I asked dumbfounded.
     “It’s right in front of you,” she replied.
I strained my eyes, looking intensely through the thick, impenetrable, ever present fog that blanketed us; but I couldn’t see anything.                
    “We’ll have to walk to it,” explained my room mate.
    As I stepped out of the car, an artic blast whipped across my face and chilled my body to my very bones.  I had never felt so cold, and I was even wearing my big winter coat! My shivering body took a determined step forward, but didn’t gain any ground.  The blustery wind blowing circles around me had embedded my feet in the sand.  How bewildering!  Not even in my wildest imagination could I concoct the events transpiring right before my unbelieving eyes!  But then, the serene harmony of the water penetrated my senses with blissful tranquility.  How odd?  It was so utterly alien, yet strangely familiar!  I just had to see what was ahead.    My quivering feet purposefully set out on their path.  I had come this far.  I had braved the anesthetizing cold, and not even my trembling body could hinder me from accomplishing my goal.  With each step my fortitude solidified until finally I made it to the edge of the water, peered through the surly fog,  and triumphantly set eyes on the Pacific Ocean for the very first time.              
    “Welcome to the Oregon Coast!” exclaimed my room mate.