Reading, Writing, and Rising Up Ch. 5
Ah, poetry...my nemesis. How I despise thee. This has been my mantra for the majority of my teaching career, but I never let it get in the way of trying to teach my students to love poetry in a way I never have. I do believe that it's okay for some people to like poetry, to write good poetry, and to enjoy analyzing short lines on a page. I'm just not one of those people. I gave poetry a fair shake in high school and even had some poems published in my school's literary magazine, but I never truly enjoyed poetry. I can pick poems apart and teach my students to analyze them for rhyme scheme and symbolism, but all the while, I have to keep my secret hatred for most poetry to myself. Christensen says, "Poetry allows students to crawl inside their own lives as well as the lives of literary and historical characters...through poetry kids can give voices to people whose voices usually don't find ways into classrooms or textbooks, including their own" (126). I couldn't agree more. I've been lucky to instruct MANY students who truly loved writing poetry. It was a break from the norm for them and I always encouraged their desire to write and analyze poetry.
One specific point I found interesting dealt with how teachers use and discuss poetry in the classroom. "The discussions that follow student poetry are simply more engaging than those in which Bill and I provide all the questions and answers" (Christensen 128). What a unique point that is. Christensen has her students not only write "free verse" poetry based on any given topic, but she has them write poetry about the literature they are discussing. Now there's an idea I never pondered before. Christensen provides numerous examples of how her students wrote poems from the perspectives of various characters and how they really got inside what those characters were thinking and feeling through poetry. After reading that, I have a bit of renewed faith in poetry and its place in my own classroom. Christensen details about a need for teaching students to deal with "their volcanic emotions" (132) and I couldn't agree more. I think once I teach my students HOW to write poems that don't rhyme (my 12 year olds think rhyming poems are the ONLY kind that make sense), and we discover how to use poetry as a companion to the reading we're completing in class already, that some of them will start to use poetry as a much-needed outlet. Isn't that what we hope for all along? That students will take the skills they learn and put a personal twist on them? I see that as a valuable reason to include poetry in my classroom this year...maybe I'll just give it another shot.
Image Grammar Ch. 7-9
And here I am, writing the last blog portion about grammar....my OTHER nemisis. =)
I really enjoyed reading about how Noden breaks down the story parts into smaller chunks that are easier to teach. Story grammar is something that I've always taken for granted because there is always at least one student in each class period who can show me the "story hill" and explain the point of the various parts. Noden broke this down further into typical patterns, such as The Quest or The Romance, to help students better understand what they read. Another section I found particularly interesting was scene writing. "When students write scenes designed to stand alone, they often capture a slice of life that doesn't generate a story question. Such scenes help students learn to focus on a limited period of time - a significant incident that creates a mood or highlights a memorable life experience" (Noden 150). This is precisely what my students do when they write their memoirs. We review a few examples that are limited to one scene, or major event, and the authors recreate that scene and the feelings and emotions they had during that time. I'm sure I'll look back on Noden's suggestions next year when the time to write memoirs arrives - I've turned down this page in my text as well.
To help students deepen their writing, Noden offers a variety of strategies. While I find all of them useful and helpful, I especially liked the bulletin board photo collection strategy. My student teacher created a writing assignment similar to this, but what I like about the bulletin board photos is that students are responsible for brining them in and they are a continuous circulation of options for students to write about. They can write a scene, a dialogue, a short story, a narrative, and it offers an option for displaying student work as well. This is another idea I can see myself using, especially when I want my students focused on creating something almost entirely from scratch. I think having an image to start from would be beneficial to my reluctant writers.
A strategy that I hadn't thought about in a while that Noden discusses in Chapter 8 is experimenting with forms. This involves students reworking a piece of writing in another genre. Although I do this a few times throughout the year, it wasn't a "strategy" that I'd put a lot of thought into in the past. This is where the dreaded poetry could come in. I have a ton of ideas that allow my students more freedom on written expression based solely on their ability to rework something into a different genre from what we originally studied. One form of this is the found poem, which I've asked my students to do over the past few years. I use this with a novel we read and students are free to determine the mood and words in their poem as they pull significant lines from the text. I was so impressed with their work the first time I tried this strategy that I posted more than 30 examples in the hallway for others to read. Many teachers commented to me, "I didn't know he was capable of such feeling in his writing" after they read one particularly difficult student's work. What can I say? He found something he liked and ran with it. I know I was impressed with it as well and if it weren't for this strategy, I never would have known his true capabilities.
What I've learned the most from Noden is that it's not the specific rules of grammar that I teach, but rather how I can make them applicable in my students' writing and useful for the rest of their academic careers. I don't remember diagramming sentences or studying the parts of speech in depth when I was a student, but I do remember some of the writing that I completed. I think that's what I'd like for my students: to remember the writing they complete and that sense of accomplishment for a job well done instead of worry over the rules of grammar. I think if I incorporate several of Noden's techniques into my own classroom, my students will only benefit from it in the long run.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Blog 6: Media in the Classroom
Making the Journey Ch. 9
Incorporating "media" into my classroom is one of those things that's always in the back of my mind. Although my district is at the front of many things, it takes time to incorporate technology into each classroom and without technology, it's difficult to teach using media. Christenbury begins by stating that one or two project options that incorporate media is a good idea. I'm working this year to expand my culminating activity lists for each unit to include not only one optinon, but four or five that would allow more student creativity. I did find that my students are sometimes overly focused on the criteria for one project and when I allow them to flex their minds a bit and create their own boundaries on projects, I get really nice results. This is one way that I'm putting my students more in control of their grades and their own outcomes in my class and in turn, I have to relinquish some of my own control. What I've found in terms of media projects is that students today are very technologically savy and many opt for projects that allow them to use media in new and interesting ways, while there are always some who are more comfortable turning in a more traditional project. We have resources available for student use, so I think a good balance is to offer one or two options that involve media and the rest that are more traditional in nature. That way, students can choose to use media if they are comfortable with it or select not to if they are not yet at that comfort point.
One new concept that Christenbury made was about using film in the classroom. I've only ever used films as a culmination to a story or narrative we've read and an opportunity for my students to see how their version varies from that of the director. Christenbury offers a few sources for film study, which approaches the use of media from a totally different perspective. I folded down the page of my text so I can remember to look into those options as a better way to incorporate media into my own classroom. I've also been interested in using blogs in my classroom, and I know other teachers in my building who have done so without too much difficulty, so blogging is another item I'd like to try to help my students build their own media literacy.
Cultural Reflections Ch. 5, 6
In dealing with cultural texts, Gaughan discusses the need for recent materials in the classroom. He states, "I include popular cultural texts that most of my own teachers would have deemed illigitimate" (Gaughan 107). I agree with Gaughan that not including these texts in the classroom could actually be, as he says, a "disservice" since students need to know how to critically analyze the cultures they are surrounded by in the future.
Gaughan also discusses reader response when he notes that his students often bring their own thoughts and ideas to a discussion. Based on the background knowledge that each reader has, he or she makes decisions and draws conclusions based on what they know to be true. Gaughan also asks his students to analyze and question what "truths" they know based on what the medias has shown them. He uses a good example of the television media, which is well-known to have a more liberal slant, and he asks his students to find several sources about the same topic to better arm themselves with the ability to find the real truth. This is a very valuable skill for students to master by the time they graduate from high school.
In chapter 6, Gaughan breaks into a discussion about films and how they are best used in the classroom. He notes that watching films in class is often a passive activity for students, but it shouldn't be. He requires his students to watch a film with paper and pencil in hand, ready to mark down important points for discussion to enrich their understanding. Gaughan says, "I remind students to think about visual images, music, lighting, juxtaposition of characters and scenes, and the other film-making codes we have studied" (143). Instead of watching a movie for the sheer joy of having a "free" day in class, Gaughan challenges his students to react to the film and analyze why it is important to the literature they are studying and the writing they are completing. I think it's really important for teachers to make the connection between what their students watch and how it affects the bigger picture: the unit of study and/or type of writing. If students can use media to deeper their understanding and foster that connection, it's well-worth the effort and class time to use it.
Incorporating "media" into my classroom is one of those things that's always in the back of my mind. Although my district is at the front of many things, it takes time to incorporate technology into each classroom and without technology, it's difficult to teach using media. Christenbury begins by stating that one or two project options that incorporate media is a good idea. I'm working this year to expand my culminating activity lists for each unit to include not only one optinon, but four or five that would allow more student creativity. I did find that my students are sometimes overly focused on the criteria for one project and when I allow them to flex their minds a bit and create their own boundaries on projects, I get really nice results. This is one way that I'm putting my students more in control of their grades and their own outcomes in my class and in turn, I have to relinquish some of my own control. What I've found in terms of media projects is that students today are very technologically savy and many opt for projects that allow them to use media in new and interesting ways, while there are always some who are more comfortable turning in a more traditional project. We have resources available for student use, so I think a good balance is to offer one or two options that involve media and the rest that are more traditional in nature. That way, students can choose to use media if they are comfortable with it or select not to if they are not yet at that comfort point.
One new concept that Christenbury made was about using film in the classroom. I've only ever used films as a culmination to a story or narrative we've read and an opportunity for my students to see how their version varies from that of the director. Christenbury offers a few sources for film study, which approaches the use of media from a totally different perspective. I folded down the page of my text so I can remember to look into those options as a better way to incorporate media into my own classroom. I've also been interested in using blogs in my classroom, and I know other teachers in my building who have done so without too much difficulty, so blogging is another item I'd like to try to help my students build their own media literacy.
Cultural Reflections Ch. 5, 6
In dealing with cultural texts, Gaughan discusses the need for recent materials in the classroom. He states, "I include popular cultural texts that most of my own teachers would have deemed illigitimate" (Gaughan 107). I agree with Gaughan that not including these texts in the classroom could actually be, as he says, a "disservice" since students need to know how to critically analyze the cultures they are surrounded by in the future.
Gaughan also discusses reader response when he notes that his students often bring their own thoughts and ideas to a discussion. Based on the background knowledge that each reader has, he or she makes decisions and draws conclusions based on what they know to be true. Gaughan also asks his students to analyze and question what "truths" they know based on what the medias has shown them. He uses a good example of the television media, which is well-known to have a more liberal slant, and he asks his students to find several sources about the same topic to better arm themselves with the ability to find the real truth. This is a very valuable skill for students to master by the time they graduate from high school.
In chapter 6, Gaughan breaks into a discussion about films and how they are best used in the classroom. He notes that watching films in class is often a passive activity for students, but it shouldn't be. He requires his students to watch a film with paper and pencil in hand, ready to mark down important points for discussion to enrich their understanding. Gaughan says, "I remind students to think about visual images, music, lighting, juxtaposition of characters and scenes, and the other film-making codes we have studied" (143). Instead of watching a movie for the sheer joy of having a "free" day in class, Gaughan challenges his students to react to the film and analyze why it is important to the literature they are studying and the writing they are completing. I think it's really important for teachers to make the connection between what their students watch and how it affects the bigger picture: the unit of study and/or type of writing. If students can use media to deeper their understanding and foster that connection, it's well-worth the effort and class time to use it.
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