Blog 2: A Question of Justice

Reading, Writing, and Rising Up Intro, Ch. 1, 2, 3, 8

As I began to dive into Linda Christensen's text, I had two thoughts that plagued me. First, I was reminded of my time teaching inner-city students. Secondly, I kept searching for ways to make Christensen's philosophies and practices applicable to the students I teach now (who are mostly upper-middle class and mostly white). Christensen begins by "building a community out of chaos" - which immediately returned me to my first year of teaching in York City. It was mass chaos, even though I tried my best. My students faced all of the same issues that Christensen's students faced, but she had the experience to dig a bit deeper and force them to use language to their benefit. A large part of what she did was make her students angry - angry at their situations, angry at their social injustices, and thus, able to pull anger from the literature they studied and the writing they completed. Christensen taught me that it's okay to upset students as long as there is a way for them to express it and a lesson that can be learned from it. In order to counter the anger, Christensen had to build a sense of community within her classroom. She did that by allowing her students to vent their frusterations, and thus, allowing them to open up and search for answers together in their uncertain world.

I really liked some of the activities that Christensen used to get to know her students - the name analysis and childhood narratives both seem like activities that I could incorporate into my own classroom. I begin the year with a multiple intelligence quiz and an "All About Me" collage that details seven aspects of each student's life. I also found the read-around-the-room sharing strategy useful and might try this instead of the typical "presentation in front of the class" when it comes time to share collages. I'm wondering if this strategy could be used to share what students learned about themselves after the multiple intelligence discussion and then perhaps again to share their finished products, the collages. It certainly might foster more discussion in that first week of school and allow me to set the tone of my classroom for the year.

Christensen writes, "I want my students to question this accepted knowledge and the secret education delivered by cartoons as well as the canon" (40). Because middle school students need a change in pace about every ten minutes, I really liked the idea of incorporating more outside sources (like cartoons, movie clips, poems, and short stories) into my regular lessons. To open the door to discussion about social injustices, as Christensen did, I'd probably use some of the same sources and ask similar questions. My students, while learning about themselves and each other, are prime to discuss why societal norms exist. For students to make a difference though, their culminating projects should extend beyond the classroom. Christensen encouraged her students to think about their audience as reaching past the school walls and by doing so, her students were able to actually have their voices and opinions heard. It's another aspect of teaching social injustice that could impact even those students who are not limited in their means.

Another interesting project that caught my attention was the praise poem. My school has a focus on bullying prevention, so I thought that might be an avenue to use when introducing this type of writing. Most of my students don't struggle with issues of race, language, or even gender, but there are always a few who have been bullied in the past and have strong feelings. For those students who have not been victimized, it could be a good opportunity to remind themselves of their worth and that creativity in expression is welcomed in my class. In order to foster creativity, I'd probably also start using the Essay With An Attitude criteria sheet for longer works. As I teach each essay, I find that my students often end up with introduction and conclusion paragraphs that closely mirror my examples for the sake of wanting an "A" on the essay. If I take some more time and encourage them to express themselves differently with the structure of their essays, I think everyone will end up happier.

Chapter 10 discussed the tracking issues, which was my research topic for another class (perhaps Adolescent Literature?). Christensen has many solid thoughts about the woes of tracking students and I can clearly understand her point, but I'm still on the fence myself. My students are not tracked when they enter my classroom and I have the job of tracking them for the first time in their English careers when I divide them into two levels of English for 8th grade. It's a bit of a daunting task, but when I consider the workload of the upper-level class, it's difficult to imagine some of my struggling students surviving, much less thriving, in that environment. Maybe detracking involves a change in teaching philosophies, as Christensen states. I'm sure that's true, but I'm still not sure that getting rid of advanced placement classes AND lower level classes is the right answer either. I shudder to think what my senior year of English would have entailed if not for AP English class - a place where I could exchange thoughts with my brightest peers and prepare to become an English major in college. How would my education be changed if that AP class didn't exist? Would it have hindered my own academic ability? I'd like to think not, but it's these thoughts that make me question the concept of detracking all together.

Cultural Reflections Ch. 3, 4

John Gaughan begins chapter 3 by talking about names; something that Christensen also spoke about at the start of her text. Gaughan says, "How we 'represent' ourselves to ourselves and each other can empower us, marginalize us, or subordinate us" (64). Gaughan expresses how students begin by discussing their given names and then move into societal names that they were given, both positive and negative in context. Students are constantly searching for the attention and respect of their peers, which makes the name game an interesting topic. "Revealing ourselves through our writing is like standing naked in front of a mirror. Our peers' reactions reflect our evolving self-image" (78). The example that Gaughan gives is from Fried Green Tomatoes and the way that Evelyn Couch crumbles when negative names are tossed her way. This is similar to how students react to negative aspects in their school lives and thus, why a discussion about names could be a positive step.

In dealing with names, Gaughan moves his students into a discussion of bias and how they judge each other based on several different concepts, such as height, weight, and intelligence. Gaughan states, "Examining the assumptions that underlie the language we use is one of the primary goals of my classroom" (105). Instead of keeping bias outside the classroom, Gaughan searches for ways to incorporate it into his classroom to open a discussion with his students. In order for students to completely understand bias, they have to generate responses to writing based on their own thoughts and opinions. Once again, Gaughan has proven that turning the exploration over to students is best suited for all involved.