Dr. Agriss,
I have learned so much in this quarter and in this Teaching Literature to Adolescents class.
Some of what I have learned came from the work I completed in this course, and some of what I have learned came from my exposure to the work and ideas of my classmates. With the book talk, the biggest take-away with my own effort came with understanding the need to inform parents and school administrators about course content and my rationale. Anthem, and Ayn Rand in general, is loaded, and some parents, like Trish mentioned, would want to be made aware of it and the rationale if their children are poised to study the novel or philosophy of objectivism. I am thankful that I was exposed to so many different and diverse novels that my future students could possibly read or be reading. As a teacher, it is important for me to be exposed to those books and ideas. With the mini-lesson, the biggest take-away with my own effort came with understanding the time-restrictions that lessons can have and that I need to lighten-up and be human with my classes. I believe that my mini-lesson was excellently designed as it started with lower-level learning targets that would cascade into higher-level thinking questions and targets, but because of the time restrictions the class was only exposed to the first part of the lesson, which almost exclusively contained lower-level questions and learning targets, and was not exposed to the end of the lesson, which included the higher-level questions and learning targets. I need to make sure that I manage my lessons and my time better, or I should consider incorporating higher-level questions and learning targets more evenly in my lessons. As an observer and commentator on my classmates' mini-lessons, I came away with many different ideas on lessons to teach novels that I probably will teach. For example, I know that I will be teaching Night in the spring, so it was valuable to observe my classmates' presentations about Night. Regarding the unit plans, the most valuable thing I learned was about how individual lessons combine to create a cohesive unit. The rationale for designing lesson plans changed because I realized that, to maximize student learning, the knowledge of previous lesson plans would have to be built upon rather than cast aside. This change is very important and something that I will keep with me as I become a teacher and have to design many unit plans. For my classmates' unit plans, it was particularly interesting to see the lessons that they developed and the processes undertaken with constructing their unit plans. It provided contrast with what I could do in my own unit plan and enlightened me.
Some of what I have learned came from the theories and concepts that we explored in our readings and discussions. Using discussion as the method for instruction, examining social justice, introducing students to the larger issues of life, and really examining what it means to differentiate instruction altered my thinking about what I would incorporate in my lessons. Discussing critical pedagogy brings an element of, for lack of a better word, morality about what I want my students to learn. Do I feed them hegemonic information, or do I open their minds to a different version about the nature of contemporary society? This dichotomy raises a serious question that I have to consider as I progress as a teacher and it is a dynamic I was wholly ignorant about prior to this class. I also think that the discussion aspect of this class worked extremely well as I was able to debate and forge my own opinions and ideas about critical pedagogy and other theoretical lenses from doing so. It inspires me to structure my future classes around discussion. In addition, reading novels like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and American Born Chinese was very pleasant and a benefit of this class. Those are two young adult literature selections that I probably would have never read had it not been for this class, and I am very happy that I read them as I enjoyed them very much. Plus, I Read It, But I Don't Get It is an important pedagogical book that will help me approach struggling readers and increase their learning. I am glad to have read that book, too.
My participation in this course has influenced my thinking about myself as a teacher. In addition to learning more about the mechanics and strategies of teaching, this class has helped provide me with rationale and an introduction to the philosophical underpinnings that great teachers have. I believe I participated in the discussions enough to where I hope that I increased my peers' learning as well as my own. There were some instances where I made a fool of myself, but I think that those moments were important as well because it increases and internalizes the learning that happens in me. Completing all of the work in this class was hard, but it was made easier by the compelling nature of the work and my own interests in it. I can actually envision myself a teacher now, which was something I couldn't have done at the start of this quarter, and this helps create personal incentives for investing in becoming a better teacher.
Thank you for teaching me this quarter, and I hope you have a joyous winter break,
Dominick
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Response to "American Born Chinese"
Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel, American Born Chinese, is great and can be used effectively in a secondary classroom.
First, since American Born Chinese is a graphic novel it offers a unique strength in its ability to engage a variety of student learners whom may not learn best with traditional texts. Providing options to our student populations helps differentiate instruction to those students because learners will engage better and learn more if they are interested in what they study or read.
Second, American Born Chinese has a style and subject matter that appeals to a lot of students. The mythical kung-fu-practicing Monkey King and his quest for recognition is something that would interest a lot of students who spend hundreds of hours a year playing video games with similar stories.
Third, American Born Chinese includes a lot of themes common to young adult literature: overcoming differences within one's self or community, integrating into other communities, dealing with attraction to others, etc. It includes parallel stories that weave together in the end to present its message.
Fourth, students struggling with reading comprehension could benefit from American Born Chinese too. Helping students find the meaning of words in the context of the graphic novel could be helpful. I wouldn't know what the abacus was unless I looked at the drawing myself. Instead of writing a prediction of what happens further in the story, students could draw their own cartoon of what they think could happen next. Adapting these reading comprehension strategies to a graphic novel could change the pace of a class and successfully help struggling readers.
Fifth, though American Born Chinese is over two hundred pages, I blew through this graphic novel in less than an hour. Due to how quick it is, students may be more likely to read this novel.
Sixth, American Born Chinese is a novel that can be successfully paired with another novel. How does The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian compare with American Born Chinese in its graphic art, with how the main characters encounter and react to differences and adversity, etc. There are a lot of avenues to go down with this text.
First, since American Born Chinese is a graphic novel it offers a unique strength in its ability to engage a variety of student learners whom may not learn best with traditional texts. Providing options to our student populations helps differentiate instruction to those students because learners will engage better and learn more if they are interested in what they study or read.
Second, American Born Chinese has a style and subject matter that appeals to a lot of students. The mythical kung-fu-practicing Monkey King and his quest for recognition is something that would interest a lot of students who spend hundreds of hours a year playing video games with similar stories.
Third, American Born Chinese includes a lot of themes common to young adult literature: overcoming differences within one's self or community, integrating into other communities, dealing with attraction to others, etc. It includes parallel stories that weave together in the end to present its message.
Fourth, students struggling with reading comprehension could benefit from American Born Chinese too. Helping students find the meaning of words in the context of the graphic novel could be helpful. I wouldn't know what the abacus was unless I looked at the drawing myself. Instead of writing a prediction of what happens further in the story, students could draw their own cartoon of what they think could happen next. Adapting these reading comprehension strategies to a graphic novel could change the pace of a class and successfully help struggling readers.
Fifth, though American Born Chinese is over two hundred pages, I blew through this graphic novel in less than an hour. Due to how quick it is, students may be more likely to read this novel.
Sixth, American Born Chinese is a novel that can be successfully paired with another novel. How does The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian compare with American Born Chinese in its graphic art, with how the main characters encounter and react to differences and adversity, etc. There are a lot of avenues to go down with this text.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Response to "Romeo & Juliet"
William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet is a bit different than the other texts that we have read in this class. Its most importance difference: if I end up teaching freshman ELA, it is not a question of if I will teach Romeo & Juliet, but a question of how. Virtually every freshmen ELA class in the country teaches this play and chances are that I will teach it too.
So, how would I teach Romeo & Juliet? The first important thing to realize is that I need to meet the students at their level and teach to that. I love Shakespeare. I find Elizabethan England fascinating. I loved English 350 (Shakespeare with Dr. Smith) and learning about previous works that Shakespeare's plays are often directly based on, how words were pronounced in Elizabethan England, etc. All of this context is fascinating, and high school freshmen don't need to know about almost any of it. In fact, it could be detrimental to their learning if I bring in tangents that I personally love when they themselves are struggling with the basic text, still learning about plot development and character development, etc. Romeo & Juliet is mainly a text to introduce students to for its difficulty and plot development. It is a good introductory piece to Shakespeare, arguably the greatest and most influential writer ever in the English language.
The great emphasis of a unit on Romeo & Juliet would be text comprehension. This could be the first truly difficult text that students encounter. When a large swath of freshmen ELA classes are below reading level, this creates serious challenges. First and foremost, this play will be read entirely in the classroom. Comprehension will have to be checked after every scene and after every act. Teaching students how to read a difficult text like this--how to comprehend a text like this--is the challenge. Some of Tovani's strategies can be useful with this text->making predictions, defining words (thankfully almost all Shakespeare editions have a list of defined terms at the bottom of every page for words that have dropped out of usage), visualizing what is happening, etc. This includes characters, characterization, plot and plot development. Having students understand and comprehend the basics from this text is the goal with a unit on Romeo & Juliet.
In addition to what I typed above, Romeo & Juliet does provide other teaching opportunities. If the curriculum calls for poetry, it could be good to teach poetry basics prior to reading Romeo & Juliet. I could end the poetry unit with a couple lessons on sonnets too. Since Romeo & Juliet begins with a sonnet and includes at least one other sonnet, in addition to poetry, the chance for student comprehension is instantly increased. The chance for student retention of knowledge is increased too as students will apply recently learned knowledge on poetry and sonnets. There would probably be an element of writing involved with Romeo & Juliet. It may be profitable for student learning to teach the Jane Schaffer essay style (or a district appropriate ninth grade essay style) and have students write an essay at the end of the unit on Romeo & Juliet too.
So, how would I teach Romeo & Juliet? The first important thing to realize is that I need to meet the students at their level and teach to that. I love Shakespeare. I find Elizabethan England fascinating. I loved English 350 (Shakespeare with Dr. Smith) and learning about previous works that Shakespeare's plays are often directly based on, how words were pronounced in Elizabethan England, etc. All of this context is fascinating, and high school freshmen don't need to know about almost any of it. In fact, it could be detrimental to their learning if I bring in tangents that I personally love when they themselves are struggling with the basic text, still learning about plot development and character development, etc. Romeo & Juliet is mainly a text to introduce students to for its difficulty and plot development. It is a good introductory piece to Shakespeare, arguably the greatest and most influential writer ever in the English language.
The great emphasis of a unit on Romeo & Juliet would be text comprehension. This could be the first truly difficult text that students encounter. When a large swath of freshmen ELA classes are below reading level, this creates serious challenges. First and foremost, this play will be read entirely in the classroom. Comprehension will have to be checked after every scene and after every act. Teaching students how to read a difficult text like this--how to comprehend a text like this--is the challenge. Some of Tovani's strategies can be useful with this text->making predictions, defining words (thankfully almost all Shakespeare editions have a list of defined terms at the bottom of every page for words that have dropped out of usage), visualizing what is happening, etc. This includes characters, characterization, plot and plot development. Having students understand and comprehend the basics from this text is the goal with a unit on Romeo & Juliet.
In addition to what I typed above, Romeo & Juliet does provide other teaching opportunities. If the curriculum calls for poetry, it could be good to teach poetry basics prior to reading Romeo & Juliet. I could end the poetry unit with a couple lessons on sonnets too. Since Romeo & Juliet begins with a sonnet and includes at least one other sonnet, in addition to poetry, the chance for student comprehension is instantly increased. The chance for student retention of knowledge is increased too as students will apply recently learned knowledge on poetry and sonnets. There would probably be an element of writing involved with Romeo & Juliet. It may be profitable for student learning to teach the Jane Schaffer essay style (or a district appropriate ninth grade essay style) and have students write an essay at the end of the unit on Romeo & Juliet too.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Response to "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian"
First, I must say that I really enjoyed this book. I read all of it in the library yesterday and was pleasantly surprised.
With that noted, this book can be used in an ELA classroom for a variety reasons. At the back of the novel is a 'Discussion Guide' that provides plenty of ideas itself that can be adapted to study guides, projects that could involve drawing to engage more students, classroom discussions, individual or group research assignments, maybe even a field trip to locales in the book, etc. I'm not worried about that. I do want to touch on some subtle strengths of the novel though.
This novel has two real strengths intrinsic to teaching it.
The first strength is reader engagement:
Its cartoons can help appeal to students that may be hesitant on reading a 230-page novel. In addition, the cartoons help engage different types of students, such as artistic students that like to draw; Its relatively local ties may also appeal to students that may be tired of reading about far-off cities and worlds they've never seen and may never see; and that it is a novel, almost a personal narrative written in the first-person from a narrator of the same age as 9th-10th graders, so students may be more willing to engage the text because of that. Additionally, the personal issues discussed in the book make it more likely that young adult readers will connect and engage with this text.
The second strength is its ties to social studies:
The race relations, the history behind the plight of Native Americans and the challenges facing Native Americans and their tribes today, the local geography, the socioeconomic differences between the Reservation and Reardan, etc.
This novel could be used in a social studies/ELA block class effectively because of all it offers.
With that noted, this book can be used in an ELA classroom for a variety reasons. At the back of the novel is a 'Discussion Guide' that provides plenty of ideas itself that can be adapted to study guides, projects that could involve drawing to engage more students, classroom discussions, individual or group research assignments, maybe even a field trip to locales in the book, etc. I'm not worried about that. I do want to touch on some subtle strengths of the novel though.
This novel has two real strengths intrinsic to teaching it.
The first strength is reader engagement:
Its cartoons can help appeal to students that may be hesitant on reading a 230-page novel. In addition, the cartoons help engage different types of students, such as artistic students that like to draw; Its relatively local ties may also appeal to students that may be tired of reading about far-off cities and worlds they've never seen and may never see; and that it is a novel, almost a personal narrative written in the first-person from a narrator of the same age as 9th-10th graders, so students may be more willing to engage the text because of that. Additionally, the personal issues discussed in the book make it more likely that young adult readers will connect and engage with this text.
The second strength is its ties to social studies:
The race relations, the history behind the plight of Native Americans and the challenges facing Native Americans and their tribes today, the local geography, the socioeconomic differences between the Reservation and Reardan, etc.
This novel could be used in a social studies/ELA block class effectively because of all it offers.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Response to Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"
I recently enjoyed re-reading Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart." I first read this novel in my 10th grade non-honors ELA class when I was 15 and living in Scottsdale, Arizona.
I can definitely see using this text if the curriculum asks for multiculturalism of some sort. Even if the curriculum doesn't ask for multiculturalism, the text is still valuable and can be used to teach to other learning targets. It really two stories in one, and how Achebe intersects his topic with his focus allows for myriad teaching strategies. Theme, plot development, characterization, symbols and motifs, the book offers it all.
Achebe's hidden world can be difficult for struggling students to comprehend--in my 10th grade class we read the whole book aloud and never had to read parts for homework (non-honors)--but it is written at a reading level that is very low. Achebe writes with such fluidity, concision and clarity that it is very easy to read. This means that it is a good text that can be shared with struggling readers to encourage them in reading difficult texts. While the reading level is low, the comprehension level can be challenging and provides ample opportunities to have students identify the tribal terms, ask clarifying questions, make predictions, etc. As a teacher I could use this text to provide my students with practice (I have a good worksheet idea in mind that pulls passages from the text) in using contexts to identify words they are unfamiliar with too.
For a higher-level class, concentration on how the two parts compare and contrast, how Achebe maintains the balance between his topic and focus, theme development, etc., all prove that this novel can be used as a valuable instructional text.
This is also a text that can be used in a humanities class as it provides ample opportunities to teach social studies in addition to ELA.
I can definitely see using this text if the curriculum asks for multiculturalism of some sort. Even if the curriculum doesn't ask for multiculturalism, the text is still valuable and can be used to teach to other learning targets. It really two stories in one, and how Achebe intersects his topic with his focus allows for myriad teaching strategies. Theme, plot development, characterization, symbols and motifs, the book offers it all.
Achebe's hidden world can be difficult for struggling students to comprehend--in my 10th grade class we read the whole book aloud and never had to read parts for homework (non-honors)--but it is written at a reading level that is very low. Achebe writes with such fluidity, concision and clarity that it is very easy to read. This means that it is a good text that can be shared with struggling readers to encourage them in reading difficult texts. While the reading level is low, the comprehension level can be challenging and provides ample opportunities to have students identify the tribal terms, ask clarifying questions, make predictions, etc. As a teacher I could use this text to provide my students with practice (I have a good worksheet idea in mind that pulls passages from the text) in using contexts to identify words they are unfamiliar with too.
For a higher-level class, concentration on how the two parts compare and contrast, how Achebe maintains the balance between his topic and focus, theme development, etc., all prove that this novel can be used as a valuable instructional text.
This is also a text that can be used in a humanities class as it provides ample opportunities to teach social studies in addition to ELA.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Response to TPA
The TPA, or Teacher Performance Assessment, is a relatively new teacher evaluation process that EWU recently implemented. All of my official lesson plans are to be done in the TPA format and following the TPA guidelines.
Regarding the TPA lesson format or template, I think that it is a good tool for beginning teachers since it promotes thinking about the different aspects of teaching a lesson that we need to keep in mind: the context for learning, differentiated instruction, management and safety issues, etc. However, as you talked about in class on Wednesday, lessons should be designed with things like differentiated instruction intrinsic within the lesson rather than just having a short paragraph blurb that describes an isolated lesson as demonstrating the differentiation. I am satisfied with using the template as it will help me for when I have to do the TPA assessment this spring, when I am student teaching.
I think that the TPA should include something that covers units or more. I haven't had much training or much education about units or how units combine to reflect the curriculum. At this stage I am still designing individual lessons with the exception of your class and The Composition Process (which requires a week unit plan). How these units link together, how to transition from units, etc., are things that I'll have to observe in the classroom and improvise as I go along.
I think that master teachers may find the TPA overly cumbersome if they themselves were to design lessons using it. Most of the lessons my master teacher uses are ones she has already created. When she needs to make a new lesson, she usually draws on previous lessons. Once you teach for so long I think that you have many of these things in your head and don't necessarily have to articulate them or account for all of them in the precise way that the TPA asks for.
Regarding the TPA lesson format or template, I think that it is a good tool for beginning teachers since it promotes thinking about the different aspects of teaching a lesson that we need to keep in mind: the context for learning, differentiated instruction, management and safety issues, etc. However, as you talked about in class on Wednesday, lessons should be designed with things like differentiated instruction intrinsic within the lesson rather than just having a short paragraph blurb that describes an isolated lesson as demonstrating the differentiation. I am satisfied with using the template as it will help me for when I have to do the TPA assessment this spring, when I am student teaching.
I think that the TPA should include something that covers units or more. I haven't had much training or much education about units or how units combine to reflect the curriculum. At this stage I am still designing individual lessons with the exception of your class and The Composition Process (which requires a week unit plan). How these units link together, how to transition from units, etc., are things that I'll have to observe in the classroom and improvise as I go along.
I think that master teachers may find the TPA overly cumbersome if they themselves were to design lessons using it. Most of the lessons my master teacher uses are ones she has already created. When she needs to make a new lesson, she usually draws on previous lessons. Once you teach for so long I think that you have many of these things in your head and don't necessarily have to articulate them or account for all of them in the precise way that the TPA asks for.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Response to Differentiated Instruction Individual Exploration Assignment
For this assignment I read "Styles of Thinking as a Basis of Differentiated Instruction," an article written by Robert J. Sternberg and Li-fang Zhang and published in the journal Theory Into Practice, 44(3), 245-253.
In the article, Sternberg and Zhang describe how a thinking style is different from a learning style in that a learning style deals with learning while thinking styles are "the styles of which we speak deal with preferred ways of thinking about material." They continue to discuss and distinguish thinking styles for a length of time, bringing in mental governance, scopes and levels to help distinguish thinking styles. Once that is established, they talk about the thinking styles of teachers and how it impacts the way they teach classes, how a teacher's thinking style interacts with his or her students and their thinking styles, etc.
Though the article doesn't discuss it, I think of the idea of Bloom's taxonomy and how questions we develop and ask reach at different levels of thinking and how that affects learning. Sternberg and Zhang do discuss briefly some of the prompts that some people of different thinking styles may ask students, and it seems to me to be fairly segregated between Bloom's taxonomy levels--that is to say, an executive thinker may ask more level 1 questions, while judicial thinker may ask more level 3 or 4 questions, and a legislative thinker will tend to ask the deeper, more analytic level 5 or 6 questions.
Does that mean that teachers with an executive learning style actually teach less because the questions they tend to ask don't require their to think or learn as much? Does it mean that a teacher with a legislative thinking style will be a boon to his or her students?
Ultimately, it comes down to differentiated instruction, something which this article danced around. It is important to recognize our tendencies as teachers and to realize that we have to meet students where they are as individuals to help them learn to their full potentials as students. It would be near impossible to try to understand which thinking style all 180 of your students have in time to adjust how you teach all of the lessons to them individually, so maybe it is just best to leave the thinking style thing in the bag for now and teach to cover all bases effectively.
In the article, Sternberg and Zhang describe how a thinking style is different from a learning style in that a learning style deals with learning while thinking styles are "the styles of which we speak deal with preferred ways of thinking about material." They continue to discuss and distinguish thinking styles for a length of time, bringing in mental governance, scopes and levels to help distinguish thinking styles. Once that is established, they talk about the thinking styles of teachers and how it impacts the way they teach classes, how a teacher's thinking style interacts with his or her students and their thinking styles, etc.
Though the article doesn't discuss it, I think of the idea of Bloom's taxonomy and how questions we develop and ask reach at different levels of thinking and how that affects learning. Sternberg and Zhang do discuss briefly some of the prompts that some people of different thinking styles may ask students, and it seems to me to be fairly segregated between Bloom's taxonomy levels--that is to say, an executive thinker may ask more level 1 questions, while judicial thinker may ask more level 3 or 4 questions, and a legislative thinker will tend to ask the deeper, more analytic level 5 or 6 questions.
Does that mean that teachers with an executive learning style actually teach less because the questions they tend to ask don't require their to think or learn as much? Does it mean that a teacher with a legislative thinking style will be a boon to his or her students?
Ultimately, it comes down to differentiated instruction, something which this article danced around. It is important to recognize our tendencies as teachers and to realize that we have to meet students where they are as individuals to help them learn to their full potentials as students. It would be near impossible to try to understand which thinking style all 180 of your students have in time to adjust how you teach all of the lessons to them individually, so maybe it is just best to leave the thinking style thing in the bag for now and teach to cover all bases effectively.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Response to "I Read It, But I Don't Get It" Chapters 6-9 & Access Tools
This post will cover the access tool listed on page 122: Tips for Reading a Poem.
The poem I will select for this access tool is "The New Colossus," written by Emma Lazarus. It is a very good poem and one that could be used in a secondary classroom or a humanities block that covers social studies and ELA.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
1. Read the poem all the way through, twice.
Done.
2. Think about any background knowledge that you have that will help you connect to the people, animals, or objects in the poem.
This poem is inscribed on a plaque at the Statue of Liberty and was written to help raise money for the pedestal's construction. My great grandmother emigrated from Norway to the United States and may have seen the Statue of Liberty or heard this poem upon immigrating. The poem was written in 1883.
3. Try to make a picture in your head of what's happening in the poem.
I see the Statue of Liberty animated and announcing to the world, to the other countries of the world and their citizens, that the United States is open for business.
4. What do you think the poem is about?
Textual Evidence
Lazarus helps define what the Statue of Liberty means by creating contrast with it and the Colossus of Rhodes. Her use of words and phrases such as 'brazen giant' and 'conquering limbs astride from land to land' help define the Colossus of Rhodes as a statue in memorial to victory in war, and helps define the Statue of Liberty as memorial to something else. Lazarus uses imagery to describe both the location of the Statue of Liberty and its purpose: that "Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand / ... / ... and her name / Mother of Exiles." The port of New York City is referenced as a sea-washed gate, with the sunset gate referencing the idea that the sun sets in the west. This helps contrast the next part in which the nations with citizens that wish to emigrate are usually situated in the east. It also refers to opportunity and wealth, and is hit upon again with the very last phrase of the poem "the golden door!"
Lazarus also references New York City with the line "The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame." This could be in reference to either Staten Island and Brooklyn, or Manhattan and Brooklyn, all of which were way more segregated at the time Lazarus wrote the poem and would have been recognized as different towns rather than just New York City.
Further, Lazarus creates another contrast with the United States and its opportunity with the east, or Europe, writing "'Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!'" This emphasizes the United States as a new nation in the world, one without a deep, troubled past. Lazarus writes the remaining soliloquy as an address to the other nations of the world and their citizens.
Background knowledge
The poem is describing the Statue of Liberty, what it stands for and what it means to immigrants to the United States. It contrasts the Statue of Liberty with the Colossus of Rhodes, and it contrasts the United States, the west, and its opportunities with the rest of the world, the east, and its histories and its troubles.
This is a sonnet written in the Petrarchan style. It uses great imagery, figurative language, personification, anaphora, alliteration, apostrophe, etc. It is a good poem to use to teach some of those.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Response to "I Read It, But I Don't Get It" Chapters 1-5
Cris Tovani's book is a very insightful and helpful collection of anecdotes and strategies designed to highlight the importance of reading and how to teach students to read better.
One of the first things that really caught my attention was the level of student disarmament and the book-wide emphasis on student engagement. These are students that have often disengaged in middle school and "faked it" up until the point you meet them. As described in the early part of the book, most of them had been subjected to negative experiences with reading and had disengaged to the point of being hostile at reading. Their previous classes never tackled reading comprehension because they assumed that all of the students could read, so their previous classes focused on content and left struggling readers increasingly behind. By addressing this concern immediately, Tovani also includes the autobiographical aspect at the start of a class to increase the community feeling and created a positive learning environment in which the students could learn together, much like her reading group in which she had successfully learned to read in her 30s.
Even at the collegiate level, reading comprehension skills may not necessarily be there. On the extreme end, I know that a large number of students in our class (my prognosis from talking with them) glanced over, skipped over parts, or didn't read the Paulo Freire chapters because of their difficulty.
Another great aspect of this text is the wealth of techniques and strategies that Tovani writes about which can be used to great effect for increasing student reading comprehension. It is easy to discount some of these strategies from my perspective as someone who comprehends at a decent level and it provokes me to want to resort to methods that enable my reading comprehension, but different methods could work for struggling students.
Overall, I am enjoying this text and look forward to finishing it over this weekend.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Response to "A Response-Based Approach to Reading Literature"
Interpreting literature is dandy if you have solid skills in scansion and can identify symbols, allusions, poetic techniques, how diction and syntax can affect tone, etc. As teachers it is our prerogative to assist our students in learning and becoming proficient with those skills. Those skills should be the point of reference that Langer describes. If a student can't read Romeo & Juliet then it might negatively affect his or her interpretation of Romeo & Juliet.
I believe that the discursive orientation has been more prominent because it becomes the point of reference to teach and reinforce to students the reading skills I listed above. As the CCSS becomes implemented and students will be educated to higher standards, students that enter the secondary level should already have the necessary skills to provide for literary orientation. This would allow for literary comprehension to take place with reasonable faith that students have the necessary reading skills to make based interpretations and would help create a comprehensive education.
Though Langer argues for allowing students the time and space to evolve interpretations of literary texts and advance their literary orientation (the 8 points), an emphasis should be placed on comprehension and scaffolding comprehension of those texts to students right now until the CCSS have been implemented and bear results. Literary orientation is where we want to go, but discursive orientation needs to fulfill the gap until the CCSS can close it.
I'm not saying that we disallow students to make interpretations at all--we want to lead discussions and conversations that provide for critical thought and interpretations--but that we ensure that the students have the basic skills necessary to make quality analysis and interpretation. As students gain proficiency, their interpretations should be based in textual evidence and reason.
It also seems to me that discursive orientation and its contrasting literary orientation reflect the male-female contrast.
I believe that the discursive orientation has been more prominent because it becomes the point of reference to teach and reinforce to students the reading skills I listed above. As the CCSS becomes implemented and students will be educated to higher standards, students that enter the secondary level should already have the necessary skills to provide for literary orientation. This would allow for literary comprehension to take place with reasonable faith that students have the necessary reading skills to make based interpretations and would help create a comprehensive education.
Though Langer argues for allowing students the time and space to evolve interpretations of literary texts and advance their literary orientation (the 8 points), an emphasis should be placed on comprehension and scaffolding comprehension of those texts to students right now until the CCSS have been implemented and bear results. Literary orientation is where we want to go, but discursive orientation needs to fulfill the gap until the CCSS can close it.
I'm not saying that we disallow students to make interpretations at all--we want to lead discussions and conversations that provide for critical thought and interpretations--but that we ensure that the students have the basic skills necessary to make quality analysis and interpretation. As students gain proficiency, their interpretations should be based in textual evidence and reason.
It also seems to me that discursive orientation and its contrasting literary orientation reflect the male-female contrast.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Response to Social Justice Individual Exploration
For my exploration of social justice I examined the philosophical aspect. I watched a bit of Michael Sandel's Harvard Lecture Series 'Justice,' the episode that deals with social justice (could be pretty good thing to watch in class). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcL66zx_6No
In that episode, Sandel discusses Rawls and how Rawls determined that social justice would best be achieved through something called Distributive Justice, something that isn't new, but something to which Rawls affects through simple philosophical tweaks to fit contemporary society (Egalitarian Distributive Justice through the Difference Principle). Sandel describes how a lot of factors contribute to an individuals success in society, such as genetics, birth order, or that some people are just naturally gifted and it isn't through anything that they themselves necessarily do to achieve success. There are some practical aspects discussed, such as if higher taxation on the rich to subsidize the poor is just, and overall it is very good. "So why should income, wealth, and opportunities in life be based on factors arbitrary from a moral point of view?"
How does this concept of social justice affect us as teachers? As teachers we won't be able to pound the table in support of a fairer tax system like a politician or philosopher. But by excluding that, I think it highlights the relationship between critical pedagogy and culture and how the last class emphasized exploring the link with lesson planning to make 'distant' (old, abstract) texts like Shakespeare relevant to students today to discuss the social issues that critical pedagogy brings up. Through exposing our students to these issues and critical perspectives we can affect social change ourselves, especially if some of those students continue into society and affect social change themselves.
Overall, it is a entertaining and educational video to watch and the series itself is free on YouTube and good.
In that episode, Sandel discusses Rawls and how Rawls determined that social justice would best be achieved through something called Distributive Justice, something that isn't new, but something to which Rawls affects through simple philosophical tweaks to fit contemporary society (Egalitarian Distributive Justice through the Difference Principle). Sandel describes how a lot of factors contribute to an individuals success in society, such as genetics, birth order, or that some people are just naturally gifted and it isn't through anything that they themselves necessarily do to achieve success. There are some practical aspects discussed, such as if higher taxation on the rich to subsidize the poor is just, and overall it is very good. "So why should income, wealth, and opportunities in life be based on factors arbitrary from a moral point of view?"
How does this concept of social justice affect us as teachers? As teachers we won't be able to pound the table in support of a fairer tax system like a politician or philosopher. But by excluding that, I think it highlights the relationship between critical pedagogy and culture and how the last class emphasized exploring the link with lesson planning to make 'distant' (old, abstract) texts like Shakespeare relevant to students today to discuss the social issues that critical pedagogy brings up. Through exposing our students to these issues and critical perspectives we can affect social change ourselves, especially if some of those students continue into society and affect social change themselves.
Overall, it is a entertaining and educational video to watch and the series itself is free on YouTube and good.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Response to "Critical Pedagogy and Popular Culture in an Urban Secondary English Classroom"
There are three issues with Duncan-Andrade & Morrell's "Critical Pedagogy and Popular Culture in an Urban Secondary English Classroom." 1) their "Secondary English Classroom" is an AP class of seniors, 2) the circumstances of that particular school make it unique from an educational perspective, and 3) they co-taught. Their experience is difficult to replicate because of those three reasons.
With #1, it is ambiguous if this AP class of seniors truly counts as a secondary class in the age where many students do running start or other similar programs. It does because the students were together in a high school culture, yet this class could have easily doubled as an English 101 class. Further, the unit in poetry and hip-hop took seven weeks and consisted of a lot of individual student time spent on the project. Students were expected to teach to the class and hold dialogues (as with other units). A lot of this requires immense classroom management and probably couldn't be done with a freshman English class. Also; #3.
With #2, the authors describe how the library contained one computer with virtually no internet access, few books, classrooms without windows, no heat in winter, etc. This led them to teach their curriculum in a manner different than many teachers would today. In addition, one of the wealthiest and elite schools in the country was very close in proximity to their school and allowed for a very easy contrast for students regarding social justice. How easy would that be if it was an elite school they taught at--would students make comparisons with a poorer school as easily? Would they interview candidates for mayor about issues of wealth and why the other school is so poor from the opposite end? It adds an interesting dynamic.
With #3, co-teaching with two master teachers creates the potential for and adds the element of better classroom management and assessment, two issues that could have very well contributed to the students' positive performance in the class.
With #1, it is ambiguous if this AP class of seniors truly counts as a secondary class in the age where many students do running start or other similar programs. It does because the students were together in a high school culture, yet this class could have easily doubled as an English 101 class. Further, the unit in poetry and hip-hop took seven weeks and consisted of a lot of individual student time spent on the project. Students were expected to teach to the class and hold dialogues (as with other units). A lot of this requires immense classroom management and probably couldn't be done with a freshman English class. Also; #3.
With #2, the authors describe how the library contained one computer with virtually no internet access, few books, classrooms without windows, no heat in winter, etc. This led them to teach their curriculum in a manner different than many teachers would today. In addition, one of the wealthiest and elite schools in the country was very close in proximity to their school and allowed for a very easy contrast for students regarding social justice. How easy would that be if it was an elite school they taught at--would students make comparisons with a poorer school as easily? Would they interview candidates for mayor about issues of wealth and why the other school is so poor from the opposite end? It adds an interesting dynamic.
With #3, co-teaching with two master teachers creates the potential for and adds the element of better classroom management and assessment, two issues that could have very well contributed to the students' positive performance in the class.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Response to "Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts"
While reading Peter McLaren’s “Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts," I thought about the comment I made in class recently about how capitalism was the worst economic system except for all of the others. The more I read, the more I questioned whether capitalism was really that bad.
I think that capitalism is necessary because, as an increasingly globalized society and world, we have dug ourselves too far into the hole to try to dig out. I'm not advocating for a retreat on labor rights, or hyper-inflated corporate profit margins, but I think that society has to be ordered to exist in any form like that of almost any society we know of.
What would an alternate society would need to survive? Someone would have to grow the wheat and another harvest the grain, someone would have to run the orchard and another pick the fruit, etc. Can a society like anything in the last couple thousand years really function if the labor isn't divided among social classes? Could society support many humans (I think our current popular is unstable and will be brought down drastically by climate change regardless) without capitalism?
I recently took an ethics test (http://selectsmart.com/philosophy/) that identified my ideology as being in line with Bentham & J.S. Mill. I believe that the desire and search for pleasure is intrinsic with humanity, as evidenced by how pleasurable it is to eat when hungry, how pleasurable orgasms are, etc. At the risk of being an asshole, is it necessarily bad that some people are exploited for even more people to gain? If the horse isn't aware of the stick and at least gets to nibble on the carrot a little bit, is it all that bad if horse and rider travel ground? How objective is that ground, how subjective.. what is the value of it to the rider, to the horse? What I am getting at is.. if the farmer or migrant worker experiences pleasure on a semi-regular basis, what does it matter if it is an illusion brought forth through hegemony?
The matter is that a lot of those people may not have chosen to become a farmer and got 'forced' into it. Capitalism at least does an alright job in providing social mobility in the aspect that maybe half of the people in the system can, if dedicated to it, change roles. What I would like to see is a vastly improved capitalist society, where CEO to average employee salaries are less than 10:1, where social mobility is emphasized more, where the people farming or the people picking fruit can be unionized. I would like to see equal representation of peoples (i.e. male and female, white and black, straight or gay) in most fields of labor (the exception being with women in some jobs since males, due to sexual dimorphism, have 30% more muscle mass naturally and would be better suited for physical labor jobs). Such a society may be hard to achieve today, especially since we have so damn many people and, in a society with great social mobility, probably a lot of people don't want to pick fruit and won't. Should government subsidize undesirable jobs that are necessary? How would that affect the capitalist society?
With a society like that I think that the inherent pleasures that dictate life and society - the biological pleasures created by our bodies/minds - would be just as obtainable. However, more people would have more freedom to choose how they secured those pleasures.. which, strangely enough, is an idea I'd associate with capitalism.
I think that capitalism is necessary because, as an increasingly globalized society and world, we have dug ourselves too far into the hole to try to dig out. I'm not advocating for a retreat on labor rights, or hyper-inflated corporate profit margins, but I think that society has to be ordered to exist in any form like that of almost any society we know of.
What would an alternate society would need to survive? Someone would have to grow the wheat and another harvest the grain, someone would have to run the orchard and another pick the fruit, etc. Can a society like anything in the last couple thousand years really function if the labor isn't divided among social classes? Could society support many humans (I think our current popular is unstable and will be brought down drastically by climate change regardless) without capitalism?
I recently took an ethics test (http://selectsmart.com/philosophy/) that identified my ideology as being in line with Bentham & J.S. Mill. I believe that the desire and search for pleasure is intrinsic with humanity, as evidenced by how pleasurable it is to eat when hungry, how pleasurable orgasms are, etc. At the risk of being an asshole, is it necessarily bad that some people are exploited for even more people to gain? If the horse isn't aware of the stick and at least gets to nibble on the carrot a little bit, is it all that bad if horse and rider travel ground? How objective is that ground, how subjective.. what is the value of it to the rider, to the horse? What I am getting at is.. if the farmer or migrant worker experiences pleasure on a semi-regular basis, what does it matter if it is an illusion brought forth through hegemony?
The matter is that a lot of those people may not have chosen to become a farmer and got 'forced' into it. Capitalism at least does an alright job in providing social mobility in the aspect that maybe half of the people in the system can, if dedicated to it, change roles. What I would like to see is a vastly improved capitalist society, where CEO to average employee salaries are less than 10:1, where social mobility is emphasized more, where the people farming or the people picking fruit can be unionized. I would like to see equal representation of peoples (i.e. male and female, white and black, straight or gay) in most fields of labor (the exception being with women in some jobs since males, due to sexual dimorphism, have 30% more muscle mass naturally and would be better suited for physical labor jobs). Such a society may be hard to achieve today, especially since we have so damn many people and, in a society with great social mobility, probably a lot of people don't want to pick fruit and won't. Should government subsidize undesirable jobs that are necessary? How would that affect the capitalist society?
With a society like that I think that the inherent pleasures that dictate life and society - the biological pleasures created by our bodies/minds - would be just as obtainable. However, more people would have more freedom to choose how they secured those pleasures.. which, strangely enough, is an idea I'd associate with capitalism.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Response to Chapter Two of "Pedagogy of the Oppressed"
I agree with Paulo Freire's cry for a communicative, problem-posing education that fosters creativity (and biophily), though I disagree with the degree to which he characterizes banking education as oppressive and necrophilous.
Ideally, students should spend their own time examining the factual, literary knowledge required to participate in discussion or work creatively on projects or assignments under the tutelage of a learned teacher in the classroom. The background knowledge that the banking system fulfills is necessary in some scenarios, and the discussion-based education Freire details has several practical problems as, for example, it is difficult to anticipate that students whom lack grade level proficient skills or a drive to even attend school will spend the time doing this. As secondary teachers, many students will only go to school because of secondary pressures like parents or that it is required by law. Not all teachers will have the luxury of pigeon-holing the banking system to individual student achievement in the 21st century. While this does not exclude discussion as a legitimate method in classrooms, it does limit its proliferation. In addition, if a student does not understand that assignment, he or she will be unwilling to even attempt the assignment. How humanizing is it to set the work above students' zone of proximal development? It really depends on the student population of a particular class.
There is also an issue with the degree to which Freire characterizes the "banking notion of consciousness." In the paragraph (if you search for the word 'desk' you'll find it) Freire criticizes the notion, he does not realize that the banking notion of consciousness works exceptionally well for abstract topics like liberty, or oppression. You can't touch oppression like you can a coffee mug on a desk, but the banking notion of consciousness allows you to consider and contrast abstract ideas proficiently.
As a teacher candidate, designing units to allow for classroom discussions and assignments that promote creative and collaborative work should be paramount.
Ideally, students should spend their own time examining the factual, literary knowledge required to participate in discussion or work creatively on projects or assignments under the tutelage of a learned teacher in the classroom. The background knowledge that the banking system fulfills is necessary in some scenarios, and the discussion-based education Freire details has several practical problems as, for example, it is difficult to anticipate that students whom lack grade level proficient skills or a drive to even attend school will spend the time doing this. As secondary teachers, many students will only go to school because of secondary pressures like parents or that it is required by law. Not all teachers will have the luxury of pigeon-holing the banking system to individual student achievement in the 21st century. While this does not exclude discussion as a legitimate method in classrooms, it does limit its proliferation. In addition, if a student does not understand that assignment, he or she will be unwilling to even attempt the assignment. How humanizing is it to set the work above students' zone of proximal development? It really depends on the student population of a particular class.
There is also an issue with the degree to which Freire characterizes the "banking notion of consciousness." In the paragraph (if you search for the word 'desk' you'll find it) Freire criticizes the notion, he does not realize that the banking notion of consciousness works exceptionally well for abstract topics like liberty, or oppression. You can't touch oppression like you can a coffee mug on a desk, but the banking notion of consciousness allows you to consider and contrast abstract ideas proficiently.
As a teacher candidate, designing units to allow for classroom discussions and assignments that promote creative and collaborative work should be paramount.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Response to Chapter One of "Pedagogy of the Oppressed"
Chapter one of Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" got me musing about myriad global and historical situations in which it describes and applies, but how does its message apply to me and my role as a teacher? I have very few answers but many questions.
Roussaeu wrote about how "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." Freire has determined that the key is knowledge, and through this knowledge the oppressed can throw off the oppressors and, if the knowledge is true and the key cut critical, refrain from becoming oppressors themselves.
What role does this have in my life as a teacher? How can I affect Sunni-Shia relations or pacify the Temple Mount? How can I help reduce violence against women? How can assist ethnic minorities (especially blacks)? How can I assist Africa? How do I fight corporations? Is having dialogue with my students a solid way of fighting against oppression? Are those the examples of oppression that Freire described?
Can the oppressed/oppression cycle be broken by knowledge or is it an intrinsic result of homo sapiens as pack animal specie? Sexual dimorphic qualities in our specie indicates a strong, natural tendency toward oppression.
Can government help or is government part of the problem?
If the pedagogy has to come from the oppressed, do I qualify if I am a white male from an upper-middle-class background? Does that only qualify me for the economic pedagogy of the oppressed versus racial and gender pedagogies?
How will the upcoming crucible of migration and other effects of global warming play out in terms of oppression?
How does this relate to the story of Siddhartha?
Roussaeu wrote about how "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." Freire has determined that the key is knowledge, and through this knowledge the oppressed can throw off the oppressors and, if the knowledge is true and the key cut critical, refrain from becoming oppressors themselves.
What role does this have in my life as a teacher? How can I affect Sunni-Shia relations or pacify the Temple Mount? How can I help reduce violence against women? How can assist ethnic minorities (especially blacks)? How can I assist Africa? How do I fight corporations? Is having dialogue with my students a solid way of fighting against oppression? Are those the examples of oppression that Freire described?
Can the oppressed/oppression cycle be broken by knowledge or is it an intrinsic result of homo sapiens as pack animal specie? Sexual dimorphic qualities in our specie indicates a strong, natural tendency toward oppression.
Can government help or is government part of the problem?
If the pedagogy has to come from the oppressed, do I qualify if I am a white male from an upper-middle-class background? Does that only qualify me for the economic pedagogy of the oppressed versus racial and gender pedagogies?
How will the upcoming crucible of migration and other effects of global warming play out in terms of oppression?
How does this relate to the story of Siddhartha?
Monday, September 30, 2013
Response to CCSS
After reviewing the ELA CCSS, I say the bar has been set bar higher than previous administrative revamps and presents challenges for us as teachers.
Are there lessons that we can teach that will help students use reading, writing, and research skills proficiently in other subject content areas such as science? Perhaps spending a minute of a lesson on research discussing how to look into topics in science could help students apply skills in unfamiliar settings. Perhaps we could teach a novel like Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea that deals with a lot of scientific issues and we could ask questions of the class that relate to some of the scientific themes of the novel.
Are there ways we can modify lessons to implement speaking and listening? Maybe by using some of the techniques we read in "Discussion in a Democratic Society" we can foster speaking and listening skills in our classrooms. Having students present the information they research and formulate into papers or assignments rather than only submitting assignments should help achieve CCSS too.
Implementing these tougher standards is a significant challenge in a classroom where a significant amount of students may not be reading or writing at grade level. Can we remediate students while achieving more of the CCSS? Most students are uneducated with grammar and language, yet a solid basis in usage is required to write well. Perhaps we can do two usage-based grammatical mini-lessons a week.
Though the CCSS are set at a higher standard, there are clever ways to adapt instruction to help meet those standards. It will require work and dedication, and a bit of craftiness.
Are there lessons that we can teach that will help students use reading, writing, and research skills proficiently in other subject content areas such as science? Perhaps spending a minute of a lesson on research discussing how to look into topics in science could help students apply skills in unfamiliar settings. Perhaps we could teach a novel like Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea that deals with a lot of scientific issues and we could ask questions of the class that relate to some of the scientific themes of the novel.
Are there ways we can modify lessons to implement speaking and listening? Maybe by using some of the techniques we read in "Discussion in a Democratic Society" we can foster speaking and listening skills in our classrooms. Having students present the information they research and formulate into papers or assignments rather than only submitting assignments should help achieve CCSS too.
Implementing these tougher standards is a significant challenge in a classroom where a significant amount of students may not be reading or writing at grade level. Can we remediate students while achieving more of the CCSS? Most students are uneducated with grammar and language, yet a solid basis in usage is required to write well. Perhaps we can do two usage-based grammatical mini-lessons a week.
Though the CCSS are set at a higher standard, there are clever ways to adapt instruction to help meet those standards. It will require work and dedication, and a bit of craftiness.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Response to "Discussion as a Way of Teaching"
I had a great number of interesting thoughts about discussion's place in the classroom and the role and responsibility of teachers in cultivating discussion as I was reading the first two chapters of Brookfield's & Preskill's "Discussion as a Way of Teaching." As teachers we will be teaching more than our respective content areas: reading and writing skills, role modeling, hidden curriculum, social skills, how to be successful students, etc. We will also be expected to foster students to become participants in an active representative democracy. Creating a positive learning environment that promotes discussion will help it "act as a catalyst to helping people take informed action in the world." This positive learning environment, as we read, will be an environment where teacher vocalization is limited, yet the structure of the discussion is guided by a mindful teacher. It may be necessary to do autobiographical work in the first couple classes and have everyone share to encourage hospitality. It can take some time to build mutuality and appreciation in a classroom that maintains critical discussion, but it is all intrinsic to helping students feel like they have a voice and that voice is heard. It is all intrinsic to helping students feel that they can learn safely in that setting.
I also had a number of interesting thoughts about discussion's role in other depths of contemporary society. Internet forums, as one example, are very interesting places where discussion may take place without the guiding hand of a mindful and skilled teacher. Most forums (okay, all forums) I have been to leave me feeling like I am walking around 3000 E. Sprague, however. Is this lack of the teacher a contributing factor to that? Most posters on these forums seem keen on participation yet highly unreceptive to critical discussion and aren't appreciative at all. I also had another idea about subtle psychological changes in environment that could alter the classroom discussion. I've come across studies that denote how Americans can rate people with British accents as more clever and credible than people with generic American accents saying the same exact thing. If we stick a couple Brits in a class at EWU, for example, how would that affect the dynamic of the classroom discussion? Would there be a drop in actual critical discussion because people would unconsciously attribute logicality and credibility to the students whom have British accents? What other dynamics would change? Just kind of a goofy psychological experiment I imagined.
I also had a number of interesting thoughts about discussion's role in other depths of contemporary society. Internet forums, as one example, are very interesting places where discussion may take place without the guiding hand of a mindful and skilled teacher. Most forums (okay, all forums) I have been to leave me feeling like I am walking around 3000 E. Sprague, however. Is this lack of the teacher a contributing factor to that? Most posters on these forums seem keen on participation yet highly unreceptive to critical discussion and aren't appreciative at all. I also had another idea about subtle psychological changes in environment that could alter the classroom discussion. I've come across studies that denote how Americans can rate people with British accents as more clever and credible than people with generic American accents saying the same exact thing. If we stick a couple Brits in a class at EWU, for example, how would that affect the dynamic of the classroom discussion? Would there be a drop in actual critical discussion because people would unconsciously attribute logicality and credibility to the students whom have British accents? What other dynamics would change? Just kind of a goofy psychological experiment I imagined.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Introductory Letter Assignment
Dr. Agriss,
I am a student in your English 493 class--Teaching Literature to Adolescents--and am a teacher candidate in the English Education Department. I have completed most classes for the Secondary English Education BAE degree. I am concurrently enrolled in The Composition Process with Dr. Torgerson and in Education 341 with Mrs. Schultz, and I take the Secondary English Education Capstone, an elective, History of the English Language, and Education 420 next quarter. This is all followed by Education 426 in Spring Quarter.
I am placed at Central Valley High School with Mrs. Galloway teaching Pre-AP Sophomoric English. I am teaching several short stories right now and will be teaching Fahrenheit 451 in a couple weeks.
Some strengths of mine are flexibility and dependability. However, I think my belief that every student can learn and my commitment to helping every student learn is my biggest strength. It may also be my biggest weakness if I am a poor classroom manager though, or neglect some students at the expense of others.
I have several goals for this course. First, I want to learn strategies for effectively teaching students literature, strategies for effectively assessing students regarding what I taught, if my teaching was effective, etc. Second, I desire to spend time learning how to create quality lessons that engage students about literature they may not care about. Third, I aim to achieve a 3.7 or better this quarter and am intent on producing quality work to meet that goal.
I look forward to being in your class this quarter.
Dominick Giguere
I am a student in your English 493 class--Teaching Literature to Adolescents--and am a teacher candidate in the English Education Department. I have completed most classes for the Secondary English Education BAE degree. I am concurrently enrolled in The Composition Process with Dr. Torgerson and in Education 341 with Mrs. Schultz, and I take the Secondary English Education Capstone, an elective, History of the English Language, and Education 420 next quarter. This is all followed by Education 426 in Spring Quarter.
I am placed at Central Valley High School with Mrs. Galloway teaching Pre-AP Sophomoric English. I am teaching several short stories right now and will be teaching Fahrenheit 451 in a couple weeks.
Some strengths of mine are flexibility and dependability. However, I think my belief that every student can learn and my commitment to helping every student learn is my biggest strength. It may also be my biggest weakness if I am a poor classroom manager though, or neglect some students at the expense of others.
I have several goals for this course. First, I want to learn strategies for effectively teaching students literature, strategies for effectively assessing students regarding what I taught, if my teaching was effective, etc. Second, I desire to spend time learning how to create quality lessons that engage students about literature they may not care about. Third, I aim to achieve a 3.7 or better this quarter and am intent on producing quality work to meet that goal.
I look forward to being in your class this quarter.
Dominick Giguere
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